I couldn't agree more. When someone knows a little bit more about a subject that yourself, it's easy for them to come across as an 'expert', hence why it's so important to understand what questions you should be asking.
In terms of the brands, you're right again. The market is currently saturated with brands claiming to be 'industry leading, best in the business etc', but they just don't live up to these claims. I've got friends who bought hot tubs online for next to nothing, and brand new! For me at least, when a hot tub has music, lights, all of that stuff... yet comes in half the price of the top brands in the industry like: Jacuzzi, Arctic Spas, Vita Spas etc then alarm bells should be going off. There's a reason why they're so cheap, they might look alright form the outside, but inside they're far from pretty.