sharkman009

I'd like to add at levels high enough to maintain a spa you would also smell and taste the copper in the water.

Your right but non chlorine shock is not recognized as a sanitizer either.

OK lets deal with facts. As I said before and I'll say again not all dealers are shady or cheesy. I'm glad to hear that there are MS dealers out there that are not operating as the dealers we have seen. Fact: A company came into our area recently(two months ago) and did a parking lot sale representing themselves as Master Spas. Their invoices said Master Spas. There were plenty of things about this sale that I could go into but heres the bottom line. Customers paid for spas that have still not been delivered, They cant contact the dealer that sold them their spas. They contacted Master Spas direct and Master Spas told them sorry it wasnt us and we cant help you (According to the customers that came in our store looking for help). The customers told us that the manufacturer was not only of no help but was pretty rude to them. Now if the customers had no info on the dealer to go off of I may be able to believe by some stretch that maybe Master Spas had no idea who this dealer was but the customers had found that the dealers name was Mid west spas and all of the spas that had been brought in were purchased from the Las Vegas show where they had been displayed for a national show. Now there is no way that Master spas could not know who this dealer was. And in my opinion it would have been in their best interest to do everything that they could to help these customers. This is only one of the examples that I could tell you about. And for the record Windsurfdog I really dont care how my statements sound. You say that The insurance scam was not only limited to Master spas but I can tell you the only dealers that I have heard of offering this were MS dealers. Maybe since it sounds like you know of other dealers that were tied into that you could educate us. Nobody needs that kind of fodder.

For Sure.

Its going to be tough to give you an exact amount because there are a lot of factors involved such as approximate annual ambient air temperature, how long the spa is left open when used etc. I think you will be ok if you get an energy effecient spa. The last study that I saw for Hotspring showed a medium sized spa in Casper Wyoming with an average temp of 45 degrees taking 220 kilpowatt hours per month to operate. I think most well insulated spas should be within dollars of eachother. Hope that helps.

Your right. I should have shopped Costco for it. I wonder do you think you could take it back after you ate it if you didnt like it?

You could do that or just go out back and get a big stick.

Good Luck.

You shouldnt lose any water. Or very little.

Jack, Be careful with the kids getting in at the high temperatures. The heat can be bad for them if they sit in the spa too long. In some areas like ours its even illegal to allow anyone under 14 to use a commercial spa. The reason is that their hearts beat a lot faster than an adults and when they get into that hot water it increases their heart rate. I turn the temp down on mine when the kids want to use it. Our doctor told us there shouldnt be a problem if its at 100 or below.

Why is it that when someone else hears your opinion and doesnt agree with it that they have some alteriar motive? The perception that people get for a lot of MS dealers is their own fault. And some of the fault is MS fault. Not all dealers are like that but look at the different complaints you see out there or the shady deals that have been made. How about the insurance program that offered consumers a $12,000 spa and told them they could get all their money back in 5 years. Master Spas reputation is their own fault and only they can change it.

This thread should have been labeled spam recipes. Or what goes good with spam. I just orderdered some seaweed over the internet. I'll let you know how that goes.

Ya that s HUGE difference. You could buy a Tiger river Caspian for that price.

The flow of the jets is important but the positioning of the recliner is important too. If you sit in a recliner that lays you back farther you will have more of a tendency to float out especially women as their chest cavity is bigger. Also I'm taller and when I sit in a spa that the recliner is shorter I feel cramped. Another thing is you can sit in a spa dry and then sit in it wet and its going to feel totally different as about 70% of your body weight will float.

As they were going through a growing trend their quality control began to suffer an I wasnt comfortable with some of the things that were being done with the product line at the time.

matt, Which model is your spa? If it is a classic your going to have a harder time moving it on its side. Spatech was right keep the spa off of the equipment side. If you can get a flat trailer like a snowmobile trailer they work great. Get a couple of guys and a piano dolly to roll it around on. If you need to go across grass or dirt with it make sure you take some sheets of 1/2" plywood to roll the spa across to get it to your trailer. If you find out which model it is I can tell you how much it weighs.

Ok Steve here goes! Just kidding. I would have to say that one of the most important reasons to wet test is not only for the comfort of the seating but also to actually try the therapy jets. We see products that advertise huge numbers of jets and when the customers get the spas home they find a lot of the jets have little or no flow out of them. Another question with customers is the recliner. I wouldnt own a spa without one but everyone has different wants and needs and we all know that some people have a tough time staying in a recliner. Recliners will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. I have sat in some brands that I couldnt stay in the seat. Another good reason to try before you buy. My opinion.

Thats why it is a good thing to have these discussions. This may bring up points that some may never have considered. Something that isnt a big deal to you may be a big deal to the next guy.

I think if you look around most of the manufacturers realize that they have to have products in that price point to be competetive. As you said before not everyone can afford the best. Your right on the features they have to take things off to get the spa into those price points. When a manufacturer focuses on price somethings got to give. Marquis builds a good spa. I was a dealer for them and Ive done warranty repairs from back when they were Pacific Marquis. Boy that was a long time ago.

The things you are saying are true but the problem you have is not all spas are built the same and there are huge differences in operating costs on different brands of spas. I have customers that purchased spas that cost them $70 a month to operate with regular usage. The other things you mention are important factors as well but you cant leave operating costs out of the equation. Unfortunately most customers dont know what to look for when they purchase a spa. Thats wht it is so important for a customer to do their homework and learn as much as you can. My opinion

Bob, Maybe I misunderstood your post. Did you purchase one of the 220 volt models? If so it should be able to maintain temperature even in cold weather conditions. Now if the wind is blowing that will have a huge effect on temperature.

Im not trying to plug what I carry but Watkins makes a line called Hot Spot and a 7' spa called a Mallorca that we sell for $5000.00. As has been said before prices are going to vary from different areas. Where are you located?

Another key thing to take into consideration is the actual jet pressure coming from each of the jets. I can remember listening to a presentation once where the salesman said "this spa puts out so much pressure the only thing missing is the seat belt to hold you in the seat." I have sat in some spas that you could not sit in front of certain jets because it actually hurt from the pressure. thats why its so important to wet test. My opinion.

There are spas that are comparable with full foam insulation and a good synthetic cabinet available for $4400 to $5000 in our area.

Not a big surprise but thanks for that info.