Jump to content

Spa-Zoro!

Members
  • Posts

    7
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Spa-Zoro!

  1. youll need to hold the assembly in place, or re-tighten the nut holding it in place. You may also need to pull outward once turned to vent the drain if you get just a trickle.
  2. Nice, very spa friendly post, and such compassion for the people that lost their jobs recently. Guess, least it wasnt your brands of choice, no surprise seeing you three get your licks in before the body is cold... Why dont we wait and see what happens. Hydro Spa has been purchased BY ANOTHER COMPANY, and by my sources is operating under a completely different business model. The people I have talked to state that the new parties involved are talking quality from word one, traditional dealer model, and direct feedback from customers, technicians, etc will be factored in design. Staying away from mass-merchant spas on purpose and focusing on QUALITY. Having purchased just the assets of Hydro Spa, im not sure why anyone would assume that they are required to honor anything from the past, but regardless they seem to be weighing each situation on a case by case basis even though they dont have to. Whether the peanut gallery here likes the old Hydro Spa or not, its hard to debate that this company has been around a very long time (near 25 years is it?), has a following, and a very large customer base, it may have been a very good purchase for a new company, especially with receivables out there like the Gulf Coast lawsuit. Fact of the matter is, they arent legally obligated to honor anything prior to last Friday, and ARE legally obligated to warranty anything they sell moving forward. Not sure what anyone would have to fear as far as purchasing if they or the new dealer base are providing the dealer based service this very board usually touts as king. What I have to ask is, why the sad faces and bashing before this company has even had a chance? Scared or just childish?
  3. Im sorry, I still dont agree. If the spa is at 100 or 90 and its 30 degrees outside, its still going to drop at near the same rate regardless, the curve isnt that steep. Once the spa has cooled to the new setting your still paying very close to the same amount to maintain 90 as you are 100 AND you still need to heat it 10-14 degrees to use it. 10-14 degrees, depending on the kW of the heater 1.5-6.0 for most home use spas, can take anywhere from 2-6 hours of continuous use of your most expensive component to get up to using temp.
  4. I tend to think if your using the spa daily then your probably costing yourself more money (though likely only slightly). Your spa needs to then heat 12-14 degrees, causing your heater to run 3+ hours solid instead of just a few minutes every few hours. If your the type that the "newness" has started to die down, and only get a chance to soak on the weekends, you may see some savings by turning it down during the week. Most of this is subject to brand (insulation, cover, etc) and proper usage (avc's closed, cover on, etc).
  5. And once again, derailed by one party or the other with nothing to do with the original topic. Of course your not getting the same spa for triple the price of a Costco type (when you buy from a dealer), but what exactly are you getting from one place or the other? I think the idea was to put aside brand bias, and personal preference on the sales philosophy and compare spa to spa? Great idea, but there are to many variables. Would almost need a thread per discussion, maybe one a week where actual OWNERS chime in. Maybe the original poster could pick two brands to get the ball rolling so consumers can get some good hands on feed back on what their purchase is like after the sale? A post that described the actual differences in what you get for your extra 1, 2, 4, 8k etc would be very helpful. I for one, would be happy to spend 500 more for more pressure, someone may be happy to pay less for a spa they can tinker with. It would need to be heavily moderated. Subjective info would need left out, yup local service company 103 may in fact service more Infinity spas the Hot Springs, but by the common voice of this community thats because of the outstanding dealer support of said brand (or any dealer brand). Its not relevant. Id also be interested in some past data. Lets look at Gatsby Spas that someone mentioned. Their mass retailer spas are 10 years old or so, moved over 75000 spas from Sams, Lowes, etc, where are these spas at now? There is market data that could show the value and quality of these "cheaper" spas, why dont we ever see anyone talking about it? They cant all possibly be in the landfill, and I cant believe in that cross section there isnt one disgruntled customer, what gives on those?
  6. Im not saying a spa pack costs a manufacturer $100, im saying lets add another $100 to what the mass-merchant base spa already covers to add "quality", because I am assuming that the Costco spas do use a spa pack, heater, motor, etc. Looking at some recent spas at Costco, lets look at Hydro Spa. The spa had a 2 year parts and labor, 10 year surface, same as the Sterling Leisure line that they build, thats fairly respectable (and before the "but they are out of business" stuff starts, they arent they are chapter 11 AND that isnt what this post is about). Is it really reasonable to assume that their spas that listed for $8000-9000, but sold at a dealer, had a whole different crew of oompa-loompa's that hit the manufacturing floor and drew from a different stock of parts? Are are we again arguing business philosophies instead of which spa is best bang for the buck? Regardless, lets say the figures to build in some "quality" were double, even triple what I put down loosely on paper, do you really think they are making a full $2k per spa? Its going to balance out either way. You cant knock a business by volume model when its done correctly (IE Costco or the Walmartian juggernaut), just like you cant avoid the benefits (and costs that come with them) when purchasing from a dealer. You just cant knock a dealer based model when done correctly either. Both are sound, and depend 100% on your situation. Im not saying Hydro Spa didnt have their quality issues, and that may be what sets them apart from other "high enders", but that rarely gets argued. The discussion almost always devolves into your an idiot if you buy a spa at X price, here is what your not getting by not shopping local, blah blah blah. You can build a quality spa for a mass merchant, if the quality is there, the warranty doesnt matter really does it? You really think Jacuzzi and Hot Springs are sacrificing their name at these big box stores by shaving quality or putting in shoddy equipment in their mass-merchant accounts or are they making a business decision for the future of the company? Lets say they move 100 spas through a dealer, but can move 10000 through a WalMart, thats a whole lot of customers that are going to be out of warranty in a short period of time (what 1-2 years?) and lets face it thats where the real money is in the spa industry. The aftermarket, afterwarranty, and chem/accessory sales and service. As stated somewhere else here today, there is no point in doing business to break even. We are all fooling ourselves if we think our manufacturer of choice isnt in this game to make money (regardless of their philosophies and business methods), so why argue about it constantly? I can honestly say if I were shopping, and could identify half the people on this board I would go out of my way to NOT buy from them, so how is the constant attitude good for business? How many sales are you really netting by bullying over the internet? How do you know I even have a Sams, Costco, or hot tub dealer even in my town before you ALL spout off? To a degree I am very limited by where I live no?
  7. To the cracks me up, and facts requesters, help me out please. Costco's business model, according to Wiki, is to mark up a product no more then 15%, and relies on bulk sales and membership sales (which is pure profit) to run the business. Lets say they sell a spa for $4000, that means they are buying it for $3500ish. We have to assume that the manufacturer is making at least a little money on each unit, so lets just for the sake of arguement say $500 per unit, leaving a mfg cost of $3000. Just how much does everyong think it costs to build a $10000 spa from the base spa above? Lets take that $3000 above, and beef up the electrical system (extra $100), stereo (extra $50), insulation (extra $75), "better" motors, blowers, heaters, etc (extra $200) - keep in mind, these "premium manufacturers" are buying in some serious bulk at the tune of 30k spas per year or more. So what do we have, an inflated mfg cost of $3420 with the super-duper version the top of the liners are using... Now lets say they get a little more then the "big-box" $500 per spa, Lets say they get $2000 per spa, bringing the cost to a dealer up to $5500ish. Thats still a very long stretch from $10k imho, but its not a bad thing either as noted below. Quick note, 30,000 spas built x $5500 per unit = $165 MILLION dollars in sales, how many manufacturers are reporting these kinds of numbers? Nobody is thinking of this arguement in any rational sense. Costco isnt evil, its just not keeping its doors open selling or supporting spas. Lets say a dealer does make $5000 per spa, if they sell two per week thats still only $500k per year to pay overhead, employees, warranty, etc. There are families to feed, but that doesnt mean your getting 3x the spa, at least not in my book. You have the two schools, if your mechanically inclined, or can follow what technical support is telling you (or you have some wrestlers as friends for a spa return), I really dont see how you can lose going to a Costco like store. If your not mechanically inclined, want to support local business, dont want the hassles, then a dealer is the way to go. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but this board gets way to caught up in the stupid ford vs. chevy arguement sometimes. From a numbers point of view, a spa is a spa is a spa. It heats the water. If it has the seating, size, jet lay out, and warranty you can be happy with, all with a price you can afford, then sit and enjoy! A spa sale is a spa sale, and helps the industry as a whole.
×
×
  • Create New...