magicjimmy

This is my entire history with LA Spas. You should read from the bottom up for a chronological history. Buyer beware! While generally happy with the spa itself, the customer service is horrible. ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** Sir, I feel best to cover it with a cover designed for the purpose. However… Since you do not seem to be willing to make any other arrangements that would be more convenient or less costly for me, the customer, I supposed I am forced to send you the defective vinyl at my expense. I will send it signature required, at my expense, so that I can prove who signed for it and the date received. I will also, at my expense, come up with some kind of method of protecting the spa shell from the sun that will still allow my wife and I to use the spa. We use it nightly by the way. We can not just leave it uncovered as this would void the warranty on it. I would think you guys could arrange for a loaner from the local dealer or something, however, that kind of service does not appear to be something LA Spas is interested in. This is the third issue I have had with this spa purchase in less than a year of ownership. All of these issues have turned into much bigger problems than they should have been merely to substandard customer service. I would like to have the company CEO’s email address please. Thank you. James Essex Tucson, AZ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Customer Service [mailto:customer-service@laspas.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 08:05 To: Jimmy Essex Subject: RE: Spa cover Sir, You’re free to cover it however you feel best. I have forwarded your email to the customer service manager. Regards, Hung Huynh Tech Support 1311 N. Blue Gum St. | Anaheim, CA 92806 b (714) 630-1150 f (714) 238-1428 www.laspas.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jimmy Essex Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 4:05 PM To: Warranty Cc: Service LA Spas; Customer Service Subject: RE: Spa cover Is this what you consider good customer service? I have reattached the photo and am cc'ing your service and customer service departments this entire discussion as this is an unacceptable solution to the problem. I can easily escalate this further if need be. The choice is yours. We are talking about a $300.00 retail spa cover here. Not a $6500.00 spa which is what you propose I risk damage to by leaving the spa shell exposed to the sun. A tarp and wood planks? Seriously? -----Original Message----- From: Warranty [mailto:warranty@laspas.com] Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 08:38 To: Jimmy Essex Subject: RE: Spa cover Hello, Our warranty is no different than any other cover manufacturer warranty. If leaving it exposed will cause a risk to the spa, I advised that you cover it up with tarp and wood planks. All is see on one side is that it is discolored or dirty. Regards, Hung Huynh Tech Support 1311 N. Blue Gum St. | Anaheim, CA 92806 b (714) 630-1150 f (714) 238-1428 www.laspas.com ________________________________ From: Jimmy Essex Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 4:28 PM To: Warranty Subject: RE: Spa cover Sir, So what am I supposed to cover my spa with until you decide what action to take if I send it in now? It is summer in southern Arizona and the sun and heat here will destroy the spa shell if left uncovered. As you can see from the photo attached to my original email, the vinyl on one side of the cover is clearly defective. I would prefer you send out a replacement and then I will happily return the original to you at my expense. This will keep me as a happy customer and will avoid my spa being left unprotected from the Arizona sun. Or, as an alternative, you could ship one to the local outlet and I could exchange the defective one when I pick it up. Let me know. Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: Warranty [mailto:warranty@laspas.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 08:46 To: Jimmy Essex Subject: RE: Spa cover Hello Mr. Essex, Attached is the cover warranty. Please remove the vinyl skin and send it back to LA Spas @ 1311 N. Blue Gum St., Anaheim, CA 92806. We will inspect it and either replace or repair it if deemed to be covered under warranty. Regards, Hung Huynh Tech Support L.A. Spas 1311 N. Blue Gum St. | Anaheim, CA 92806 b (714) 630-1150 f (714) 238-1428 www.laspas.com _____________________________________________ From: Jimmy Essex Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 6:22 AM To: Warranty Subject: Spa cover Hello, The vinyl on the cover for my 2009 HEET model spa has seriously deteriorated in the past two weeks. I would like it replaced under the warranty that was provided to me by LA Spas when my spa was installed. It has been less than a year since install. Thank you. James Essex Tucson, AZ New leak in 2009 Heet by LA Spas Nov 7, 2009 After suspecting a slow leak for several weeks now, I finally removed the access panel to the pump area of my spa. I discovered that the motor shaft seal on the #2 pump was seeping. It gets worse with the pump running, but, it does seep all the time. I called the local LA Spas dealer and spoke with Isaac at 10:31 am. After explaining the problem to him, he stated he would go ahead an order a new pump for me. He stated it would take 5 to 10 days to get it. I said that was fine. I then asked him to call me when it came in to schedule an appointment for replacement. He said he would. Dear Mr. Essex, I am sorry you are having trouble with your new purchase. I have contacted the store manager at our Tucson store, Isaac for action. I am checking on your steps with our order department. I have confirmed with Isaac he does have your no charge filters as stated on your contract as well as a no charge chemical kit for your troubles. I have also confirmed that the service man, Tucker, will be at your home on Saturday for service. I do again apologize for your troubles, I hope that when Tucker completes your repair on Saturday July 18, you will begin to enjoy your LA Spa for years to come. As soon as I have the information on your steps, I will be in contact with Isaac in our Tucson Store. Kind Regards, Nancy Robinson Customer Service Manager L A Spas Inc Phone (714) 630-1150 Ext 139 Fax (714) 238-1428 nancyr@laspas.com From: James Essex Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 11:48 AM To: Customer Service Subject: Fw: My new spa UPDATE July 14th, 2009 11:30am 10am has come and gone and no sign of anybody. I called Leonard again to find out he wasnt coming at all now. Apparently Isaac said that this being a warranty issue, Leonard could not repair it as he would not be paid for it. Apparently some guy named "Tucker" is the service guy that is going to deal with it. Leonard told me that Isaac was supposed to call and let me know all this. Of course, as usual, Isaac never calls. So, in a three way call with Leonard playing relay man, Isaac, I assume, has now said that Tucker will be here Saturday July 18th to repair the bad union. I'll bet ya no one shows up!! This is getting totally rediculous. And did I mention, since I emailed the first part of all this to you guys, I have yet to recieve any kind of response. Good going gang. NOT the way to stay alive in a recession!! If I have not recieved some kind of response from the corporate office by the end of business Wednesday, July 15th, I will be posting this email as well as any updates to it, to as many websites as I can find posting reviews for spa manufacturers. Thank you. James Essex ----- Original Message ----- From: James Essex To: customer-service@laspas.com Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 1:26 PM Subject: My new spa Hello, On Sunday, June 7th 2009 my wife and I ordered a new 2009 HEET model spa from your Tucson, AZ factory reps who were at a local home show. The rep we bought from was named "Mitch" and he was supposedly down from the Phoenix store to help out. At the time of order Mitch told us that it was impossible to give me a delivery date due to the factory being closed on Sunday. He did however promise that it would only take two or three weeks to get our new spa delivered. For the next 3 weeks, I had to call the local store to get any status reports on my spa. He stated the factory was promising delivery in Tucson on Thursday July 2nd. More than 3 weeks. Most times I spoke with the local store manager Isaac. He often was busy or had to contact the factory for more info and would promise to call me back. He never returned those calls. Finally, on Monday July 30th, I called Isaac again and found out the spa was ready to leave the factory. He just needed to find a truck to pick it up. Finally, my spa arrived in Tucson on Thursday July 2nd and fortunately the local store was able to arrange installation that afternoon. My new spa arrived without the matching steps I was promised in the sales contract as well as the extra set of filter bags I was also promised on the sales contract. Installation seemed to go well. "Danny" was my installer and was very polite, respectful, and knowledgeable of the product. He explained that the store would drop off the new steps when they arrived as well as the filter bags that they were out of. After completing the install and showing me how everything worked, Danny left and I was a "happy camper". Until later that afternoon. I began to notice water seeping out from under the spa. I called Isaac who asked me if I had checked all the unions and the drain to make sure they were tight. Silly me. I just kind of assumed a brand new spa under warranty would not require ME to fix it upon installation. Anyway, Isaac promised to come out first thing in the morning. On Friday July 3rd I called Isaac at 10am to confirm he was coming out as agreed. He said he was leaving for my house shortly. This is a 30 min drive at the most. Isaac showed up at 1:30pm with another man I later learned was named Leonard. Upon investigation, they discovered a union leaking behind pump 2. They did their best to tighten a union in a very inaccessible spot and finally got the union to stop leaking. Once again, I thought I was a happy camper. On Monday July 6th, I went into the local store to pick up some chemicals. At that time they still did not have my filter bags or steps. Last night, July 12th, I noticed seepage from underneath the spa again. Since it was late at night, I could not do anything about it until the next morning. Today, July 13th, In anticipation of the questions I was asked the first time this happened I removed the access panel and found the same union that had been repaired before was once again leaking. I called the local store and talked with "Greg". After explaining the issue to him, he suggested I call "Leonard" and tell him since he was the one that came out the first time. He gave me Leonard's number. I called Leonard and he is scheduled to be here tomorrow to try and fix the union. He expects it will require the spa to be drained. So here we are... After ignoring the bad customer service reviews on the internet about LA Spas' poor customer service, I opted to buy anyway based on product construction and value as best as I was able to tell. I even paid more for my HEET model than the comparable model I was considering from a different manufacturer and dealer would have cost me. I made the assumption that being I was in the same city as a factory outlet, I would get better service than I am seeing. Instead I have received a product that "out of the box" had issues. 2 weeks later the issue still exists. I am having to call Leonard and arrange my own service as the store apparently does not do this for it's customers. I will probably have to "eat" the cost of over 400 gallons of water and the cost of start up chemicals for a product that was defective upon delivery. Suffice to say, at this point I am not a satisfied customer. It will be interesting to see if Leonard shows up between 9 and 10 am tomorrow as promised. It will also be interesting to see if he is able to repair the leaking union once and for all. I understand my filter bags are now in stock and I will be picking them up at the store this afternoon. My steps, at this time, are still missing in action. How the factory can ship a new spa without the matching steps escapes me. However I feel the local store should have ordered them immediately upon discovery that they were not sent and should have delivered them to me by now. No such luck. At this time I am waiting to see what happens next before adding a copy of this letter to the many poor customer service reviews that most informed spa buyers research before they purchase a new spa. Thank you for your time. James Essex Tucson, AZ