buddysharp

OK, so maybe I'm the victim of a little viral marketing here. Bought the OC 850L at Costco. Got the second to last one for $1,997 - screaming deal it would seem. Crappy touch screen, very basic and faulty on startup. OC customer service was delightful and handled immediately so very happy with customer service. Love the tub, good water pressure, reasonably nice jet configuration and adjustment, overall quite comfortable, good stereo, fair cover, inspected the guts and found pretty good construction.......But, and this is a big one, electric usage in moderate central California climate is off the charts. I used the spa for 15 minutes every other day or so, water temp kept at 100 in Economy mode and electric usage is costing $100 bucks a month. $20 in winter? Yeah, right. Still, tub overall is an overall good value given price and has many wannabe features. Costco did what it always does; approaches a manufacturer with a product they want to market, offers a big order, but at a unit price that makes the manufacturer have to cut costs\corners to make it worthwhile. And that's why most items at Costco have a "special" model number. Probably got some different inside components than the same unit you would buy elsewhere or maybe built at a different factory\country. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt in favor of the consumer.