Chris H

I’ve seen the Four Winds previously. I can honestly say that they do not compare in quality compared to the other brands you have mentioned. First of all they only have a two year warranty compared to the other manufacturers having a 5 year warranty. Also take a look at the cabinet where it meets the shell. When I last saw them I was able to put my hand between the opening between the shell and cabinet. That is asking for a bee hive in your spa. Also since they are not a full foam spa, it releases the heat that it is supposed to keep in the cabinet.

I just wanted to make a comment regarding Hotspring. Hotspring offers a Solana TX for approximately $3,500 to $4,000. It can be found here: http://www.solanaspas.com/showroom_tx.html Costco offers a spa very similar found here and it sells for $3,500: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?...p=C&topnav= Not much difference if you ask me and the Hotspring comes from a dealer that services the product and delivery to you back yard. I pay $500 bucks for that.

The fee reduces the amount of nuisance calls. It helps especially when it comes to resetting the breaker or cleaning the filters. Most appliance repair shops charge this service fee.

What are you expecting from a manufacturer when the spa is at least 3 years out of warranty? The problems that you have described all occurred after the warranty period. If it was in the warranty period, I am sure Hotspring would be fixing your spa at no cost to you. I’m just a little confused how you can expect the manufacturer to be responsible to fix something for free when it is clearly out of warranty. I can understand a 3 or 4 month leeway, but a 3 or 4 year leeway come on. That is just unreasonable.

So you have an 8 year old spa that has a leak. If your 8 year old car needed to be fixed at $100 bucks an hour, would there still be a complaint? I think you need to look into the context of your problem. You didn’t spend 1 cent on fixing any problem with the spa for 5 years. Now that it is almost 4 years out of warranty there is a complaint.

$10,000 for the Vista $2,000 for SpAudio $2,000 for SpaStone $14,000 Total Price looks about right. I would doubt the above poster got the price of $10,000 with the SpaStone.

I would recommend the Chelsee from the three that you recommended. Here is why… Sundance and Jacuzzi are owned by the same parent company so you will see a lot of similarities between the brands. Both brands have good, better, and best lines. The Jacuzzi’s good line is the 200 Series and Sundance’s is the 600 Series. The Chelsea is in the 700 Series which is one notch ahead of the 200 Series. For that reason alone, I would go with the Chelsea. I also believe the 700 Series has a stronger warranty than the Jacuzzi 200 Series.

Doc that line was so good I actually laughed out loud. Not an LOL, a LAUGH OUT LOUD.

This is implying that Sundance is working with the rest of the industry against the CEC. So I misunderstood the context of the article. My main gripe is the original comment that they failed. As it stands right now, that comment is misrepresenting Sundance.

TinyBubbles, I agree that they have not been approved. However, I take exception that “The Truth” is saying they failed. Where is that information? Just because they have not been approved means little to nothing. I don't mind someone saying they are not approved, but to state that they failed is misrepresentation. Secondly, the APSP website says “It is also necessary to give additional thanks to the following companies who currently serve on the APSP CEC Spa Advisory Council. Most of these companies have been working behind the scenes for nearly two years with PG&E.” Under that sentence Sundance is listed. I don’t read that they are working to prevent California from enforcing their regulations. Can you give me specifics on that comment as well or did you not read the sentence correctly? Chris

I don’t know if Sundance failed testing. I will assume they did not until you can link me to an article or press release stating this failure. Here is a link from the APSP stating that Sundance is working with the CEC. http://www.apsp.org/188/index.aspx

You should do a search of Four Winds. I read one thread that said they had a $104 dollar additional electric bill due to it, as well as, a few issues in the first year. I would recommend a better brand. Where are you located and are there any dealers for Hotspring, Sundance, or Jacuzzi around you?

Most dealers would not service your spa if you purchased from a different dealer. Service is rarely profitable, so would you service something in which you have no vested interest, probably not. This tactic is going to be standard throughout the industry not just Hotspring dealers. You are trying to play a game with these guys and quite frankly they seem to be very experienced and have seen this game played before. I actually enjoy when dealers hold their ground. It says that they are being fair to their current customers. Look at it from this perspective, it certainly isn’t fair to their current customers that you are want some great deal because you decided to call around for a price. I respect the dealer for holding their ground and taking this type of action. When a dealer is willing to hold their ground, it tells me they are not hurting for sales. It also tells me that the other dealer is hurting for sales when they need to sell out of thier area to generate business. Just my opinion.

You can go to Hotspring's website and look for the energy calculator. The highest amount per kw is 25 cents so it is substantially less than your 36 cents, but it should give you some guidance. I calculated for Alaska at 25 cents and it came to $70 dollars per month.

I know nothing about Swim Spas. I know Chas' reputation. These comments coming from him would give me confidence.