stonepowerhouse

My intent was not to bad mouth but I can see how it came across that way. My question though I think is valid; You have a nice house, car, you buy quality items for that house and car, you have a nice watch... but when it comes to the spa a lot of people will sell themselves short. If you are buying lets say a stove and you find two, they both have four burners and many of the same features. One cost $750 and one is $250. I think the average consumer would question the quality of the lower cost one, but when it comes to spas most do not. I do not understand that. I'll try to explain, but based on your name and comments so far, I think your mind is set to believe what you want to believe... It is possible that the difference in cost is the result of higher mark-ups and middleman costs. If the stove was sold by X company for $200 and Costco bought 10,000 units and marked them up 17%, they would sell for a lot less than the same stove sold to a distributor and then sold again to a retail shop and if both parties mark it up 50 to 100% more, what can the retailer do to compete?... it is understandable the Spa Dealer would resort to shouting that the Costco spa..er I mean stove is not the same unit and is lower quality... FYI, I paid a Cal Spa technician $75 for a one hour consult on water chemistry and an inspection of my Infinity spa. He looked under the hood and when he saw the name brands of the pumps, the controls, etc.. he was totally impressed when I told him what I paid... I hope that helps you understand...

I think your problem may be that you set it to run for 8 hours in Economy Mode... change it to F2 and EC... that is what I set mine at and it works like a charm. I received no Chem kit, did receive the light blue booklet, and here are the instructions for the Balboa Controls: (note, in order to read them during the day I need to put a T-shirt over my head and the controls to assimilate darkness and then they are visible!) To change between these modes press the temp button then the light button: EC- Economy mode- only heats at filter cycle SL- Sleep mode- keeps low heat for freeze protection ST- Standard Mode- keeps full temp all the time To change these press the Temp button then the Jets button closest to the display screen. F2-F8: Filtration Cycles- how many times the spa filters per 12 hour cycle. FC: Constant Filtration Mode- filters all the time, will not shut off Note: A single filtration cycle can last up to 2 hours. It would have been so simple for Infinity to include a piece of paper with these instructions... I had to get them from Infinity like they were the Pope's secret code handed down through Opus Dei...

Wait til your neighbor has a problem and then trys to get the dealer to fix it. Not a chance. He'll have to call the factory and talk to some disinterested factory customer service rep by long-distance. Good luck with that. Maybe I live in a unique part of the world, but there are lots of independent pool and spa guys that will work on any spa you can name. I used to own a CalSpa and prior to buying my Costco Inifinity Spa I called up the service guy and asked him if he only worked on CalSpas and he said "heck no, I'll work on anything- HotSprings, Sundnace, D-1. etc..." he had never heard of Infinity brand but he said there were lots of spas out there and a lot of them use the same companies for controls and motors so it was not a problem... So, in my area, your warning that no dealer will service my spa if anything ever goes wrong with it, is not an issue....maybe in other areas of the country one needs to consider this, but it was not an issue for me. Is this a big concern for buyers, or just a dealer whining because he may have to start selling at lower margins to be competitive?

Hi Richard, My reading of Laura Brown's response from Infinity didn't specify one way or another whether there would be a problem with delivery. She indicated she didn't know what kind of truck they used. She didn't say there wouldn't be a problem. She deferred to North American Van Lines. Both the Costco web-site and the Infinity Spas web-site have a disclaimer that state: "Extraordinary delivery requirements may necessitate an additional fee to the carrier" August 8 update- Since my initial post Laura Brown responded and waived the $350 charge so my unit was delivered the following week and dropped off at my driveway just like I wanted it. I got my neighbor and 2 helpers to move it about 50 yards and down 3 flights of stairs. Total time was under 1/2 hour. Because I wanted to add an outlet and a disconnect switch I decided to hire an electrician instead of doing it myself... good move as I went off to work and when I came home it was all done, filled and up and running. (aside to spa dealers on this forum who act like you are making a huge mistake but not buying through a local store because service and installation are important intangibles that Costco buyers will come to regret.. The electrician said he sets up spas all the time for people. He makes sure the pumps work and the unit has no electrical problems... so that turned out OK by me. Today I am having one of several guys in my area that offer independent pool and spa servicing come by to inspect the unit, get me started on proper water chemistry and explain the Balboa Control which is a bit confusing to me. I figured I saved over $5000 on a similar D-1 unit, over $3000 over Sundance & Hotspring, so I can fork out an extra $300 to $400 between the electrician and spa service guy (plus the local HS dealer was not going to set up a new box and breaker with outlet etc. for free so the local HS dealer probably would have charged extra for some of the wiring.. in fact, he might have even subcontracted the wiring to the electrician that I hired!).... so far I am quite pleased with the experience, although there was some hassle on the delivery which was later resolved satisfactorily Hind-sight is 20/20, but perhaps contacting NAVL prior to ordering the spa would have been appropriate in this case. I think it's unfortunate for you. I don't think their attitude was 'promise anything'. Are you planning on hiring a specialty spa moving company to place your spa? If so, perhaps having NAVL deliver to the spa moving company might be in order. You can have the spa moving company deliver and place your spa all at once. The cost differential between delivery and placement versus just placement might be minimal. Quotes in my area range (Philadelphia) from $250 to $400 for spa placement. Keep us updated on progress. Good luck. Ken Added comments- The Spa dealers that reply on this forum seem to want us newbies to believe that we are getting a cheaper - poorly constructed- unit and not just a decent spa at a lower price. 1. In my business, when someone tells me that my price seems too low, I respond and tell them that I will gladly charge them more if it makes them feel better. 2. I have a friend that sells mattresses and bedding through a chain of Sleep Shop stores and he said that his mark-up is around 40-50% typically and Costco sells the exact same mattress at 17% above his cost. Of course, he told me that he tells his clients it is not the same mattress at Costco, but it is. 3. The advantages of buying through a local spa are many, and when there is a large saving involved there are going to be some risks and perhaps a few more hassles and things that you are going to have resolve on your own. So far my experience is positive and, OMG, this unit compared to my old CalSpa is like comparing a 10 year old computer to new one... Shot at 2007-08-08

I began researching my new hot tub purchase 6 months ago... I waited until I finally sold my old 15 year old Cal Spa unit and then jumped on the Costco Infinity Spa. Why this model?.. I did my research and due diligence and found too many complaints against Cal Spa and ThermoSpa. I found Marquis, D-1, Hot Springs, etc.. quite expensive, so I began to call Laura Brown at Inifinity since Costco cannot answer any questions themselves. Laura Brown responded to most of my emails and answered 80% of my questions, including an important question to me which concerned the delivery. I specifically asked if there be a problem delivering to my house because large 18 wheelers cannot access the road and a bobtail truck can make the delivery without any difficulty.. this was her reply: Richard, I am not sure what size truck NAVL delivers on, once they contact you to set up the day and time you can let them know your road is not accessible for a 18 wheeler, every NAVL truck sends out 2 drivers that will off load the spa but it is up to the customer to place the spa. Thanks, Laura Brown so what happened after I placed the order on July 2 and was expecting delivery this week?.. The trucking company said Infinity Spa will only deliver in a tractor trailer and refused to approve the delivery as promised... but for an extra $350 I can have them deliver in the bobtail truck I require.. well that sucks, don't you think? I guess their attitude is promise anything to make the sale.. I hope the rest of the spa has more integrity .... Anybody else have this experience yet?..