steelerfan

We are a first time hot tub buyer. I have been reading all of the posts on different models and methods on buying a hot tub. Yesterday, my wife and I stopped by a large local hot tub retailer. We began talking with the sales person about the different models and landed on a "floor model clearance". The retail price was $9699, sale price $8199 and the floor model clearance price was $5595. This included cover, steps, chemicals and cover lift. The model was Cal Spa Escape III 864L. Here are some of my questions or concerns. 1. On paper, this sounds like a great deal, but within 15 min, they even dropped the price further to $5299. To me this sounds too good to be true and we all know what that means. 2. It seems like to get a good quality hot tub you need to spend about $6000 - $8000. What price is this based on? Is this the retail price, the sale price or the final price that a consumer pays? 3. I have not read a lot of good things about Cal Spas. This could be the reason for the low price, but are they that bad? Other comments related to this deal or other deals people have encountered are welcome. Thanks