Four Winds Spas?

[shopper67]

Has anyone heard of or purchased a Four Winds hot tub through Discount Spas Direct? Any information would help! Thanks.

[LoneStar]

Only suggestion is check them out with the BBB!

Has anyone heard of or purchased a Four Winds hot tub through Discount Spas Direct? Any information would help! Thanks.

[Spa User Guy]

Only suggestion is check them out with the BBB! c

Man is business that poor for you??? Can't you chisel open that wallet and advertise some other way i.e (Yellow Pages or local paper). Just how many people within range of your business do you actually think are reading these lame responses. You are showing no class as a dealer with these stupid responses listing the link to your website.

[dutchspa]

I own a Fouwinds spa, model Key Largo for one year now. They are build in Smyrna-tennessee. The pumps (2 aqualflow 2xpe) are rather loud. They are directly mounted on the wooden cabinet and not on Rubber "pads". It´s funny tough that on their website they say they do.

I had some trouble with this spa:

-One corner of the wooden cabinet doesn´t fit right.

-The subwoofer of the stereo system was broken from day 1.(replaced)

-The low flow function of the pump didin´t work.(wrong "elko" from the Aquaflow company, doesn´t work right on the 50hz european power).(repaired)

-The display of the JBL radio didin´t work.(replaced)

-There were scratches in the schell.

-The ozonator was inop after 2 months(they installed a new one).the new one is inop again.

-Last week i discovered a leak at the valve to adjust the waterfall. Water is now dropping on top of the pump.(the service company will come to repair this).

The insulation of the cabinet could be better, it allowes much draft inside of the cabinet. My electrical costs are (16,53 euro ct per kWh) 80 Euros=104 Dollar per month. Our winter (Germany) was very mild min. 0 degrees centigrade, most of the time it was 4-7 degrees.

the good thing is, it has alot of options like a stereo , led light and steel jets.

[dana77]

Yikes! That is a lot to run it monthly and I can't believe all the trouble. I am currently looking to buy a hot tub and was looking at the Four Winds Honolulu with the TV package. It came fully loaded for only $8000 (US). I knew it had to be too good to be true! I'm so glad I stumbled across your experience.

[spatech (the unreal one)]

Yikes! That is a lot to run it monthly and I can't believe all the trouble. I am currently looking to buy a hot tub and was looking at the Four Winds Honolulu with the TV package. It came fully loaded for only $8000 (US). I knew it had to be too good to be true! I'm so glad I stumbled across your experience.

There are some good bargain spas out there and there are some not so good. I constantly see/hear people say things like "they use the same parts that other spa makers use, Waterway pumps, Balboa controls, Waterway jets, etc.". That generalization is used to sell many spas and while it may be true sometimes it comes with an asterisk (sure they use Balboa controls but maybe they're using a less than steller model from them). The other thing to note is much of a spa's quality is in the design and implimentation as well. Many spas look great sitting dry on a showroom floor. Shop around, wet test and network with other spa owners.

[SPADUDE63]

I own a Fouwinds spa, model Key Largo for one year now. They are build in Smyrna-tennessee. The pumps (2 aqualflow 2xpe) are rather loud. They are directly mounted on the wooden cabinet and not on Rubber "pads". It´s funny tough that on their website they say they do.

I had some trouble with this spa:

-One corner of the wooden cabinet doesn´t fit right.

-The subwoofer of the stereo system was broken from day 1.(replaced)

-The low flow function of the pump didin´t work.(wrong "elko" from the Aquaflow company, doesn´t work right on the 50hz european power).(repaired)

-The display of the JBL radio didin´t work.(replaced)

-There were scratches in the schell.

-The ozonator was inop after 2 months(they installed a new one).the new one is inop again.

-Last week i discovered a leak at the valve to adjust the waterfall. Water is now dropping on top of the pump.(the service company will come to repair this).

The insulation of the cabinet could be better, it allowes much draft inside of the cabinet. My electrical costs are (16,53 euro ct per kWh) 80 Euros=104 Dollar per month. Our winter (Germany) was very mild min. 0 degrees centigrade, most of the time it was 4-7 degrees.

the good thing is, it has alot of options like a stereo , led light and steel jets.

What I really find amusing is that a customer somehow stumbles upon this site, goes through all of the "red tape" to get a log in password and creates a handle with the word "spa" in it, just like all of us dealers do!!! Some competitors will go to all lengths to bash another manufacture by disguising it as if they are customer....to try to sway other customers from buying a certain brand. We should all discourage this kind of behavior because before we know it we'll see the same crap about other brands that we sell. It only then scares a customer from buying any spa!!

[reeffreak]

We have one, I live in the Smyrna area and bought directly from the factory. Honest folks at the factory that I felt I could trust. I've only had two issues in the last couple of years- start capacitor on pump #1, and the check valve for the ozonator failed. Insulation is OK, it's not foamed as full as some of the topshelf brands, but there is a good heaping in the cavity. We added a little in the equipment area. As the other poster mentioned, it is a little loud. Our pumps are mounted on rubber isolations, but you can still hear it when running. I don't claim that it's the same quality tub as some of the bigger brands (but it was about 1/2 the price that the clown dealers around here seem to expect for a six seater). I have no regrets. I'd give them a B, which is what I expected for my $$. 2 yrs later, used it's worth about the same as the big $$ tubs on craigslist around here. I'll prob keep it for another year or two, and then look for another backyard toy.

In talking to the guys at the factory, they seem to sell quite a few locally, and have some US distribution. The ship quite a bit of product to Europe. They had several spas with the TV options in them in various build stages, all for european customers. As far as problems that the other poster experienced, several of them looked like issues with the radio.. I'm a big fan of the KISS principle.. All that electronic stuff and water don't mix real well- there's a reason the major mfg's put a 90 day warranty on the radios / tv's / etc.. They're failure prone.. Keep it simple, put some nice patio speakers in and create your sound stage from your home audio system.. Much more reliable (and higher quality).

Finally- They're also in a squabble with a supplier over acrylobond (sp?)- this is a spray-on backing that gives the shell it's structure. There was a period in 2009 when they allege supplier problems and delamination of some spas. There was a lawsuit filed against the supplier- I don't know the status of the litigation- I haven't followed it, and I haven't seen any issues with my unit. If you're going mail order, Costco is hard to beat with the return policy. I was heading that way, but jumped on 4W because they had one we liked on the shop floor, I literally picked it out it at lunch, had it delivered, set up, and took my first soak later that night.. Nobody else in town had that kind of price or prompt service. Hope all of this helps.

[reeffreak]

I own a Fouwinds spa, model Key Largo for one year now. They are build in Smyrna-tennessee. The pumps (2 aqualflow 2xpe) are rather loud. They are directly mounted on the wooden cabinet and not on Rubber "pads". It´s funny tough that on their website they say they do.

I had some trouble with this spa:

-One corner of the wooden cabinet doesn´t fit right.

-The subwoofer of the stereo system was broken from day 1.(replaced)

-The low flow function of the pump didin´t work.(wrong "elko" from the Aquaflow company, doesn´t work right on the 50hz european power).(repaired)

-The display of the JBL radio didin´t work.(replaced)

-There were scratches in the schell.

-The ozonator was inop after 2 months(they installed a new one).the new one is inop again.

-Last week i discovered a leak at the valve to adjust the waterfall. Water is now dropping on top of the pump.(the service company will come to repair this).

The insulation of the cabinet could be better, it allowes much draft inside of the cabinet. My electrical costs are (16,53 euro ct per kWh) 80 Euros=104 Dollar per month. Our winter (Germany) was very mild min. 0 degrees centigrade, most of the time it was 4-7 degrees.

the good thing is, it has alot of options like a stereo , led light and steel jets.

Dutch- help me with the kwh cost- Is the 16,53 euro ct / kwh = $0.22 US$ / kwh? That would explain part of the high cost. That's almost 3x the cost around here! I'm not sure if I got the translation right.. Mine is negligible $$ in the summer (dark shell, actually ahve to work to keep it cool). I'm going to guess 50-70 in the coldest winter months depending on use. Middle TN climate. Avg prob $35 or so year round.

[texasradio]

While I can understand that a Four Winds dealer might not be happy with the structure and/or origin of some of these postings, my own research led me to avoid the brand. It has been my finding that "Four Winds" is also sold as "Mira". Now what in the heck is the purpose of having two brands for what appears to be an identical product? That's a red flag to me.

[reeffreak]

While I can understand that a Four Winds dealer might not be happy with the structure and/or origin of some of these postings, my own research led me to avoid the brand. It has been my finding that "Four Winds" is also sold as "Mira". Now what in the heck is the purpose of having two brands for what appears to be an identical product? That's a red flag to me.

It's a strategy to increase market share or sell through alternate brands without creating a consumer perception of competition.. Just like Evolution : Costco :: Strong : Dealer. Or Ford/Lincoln/Mercury GMC/Chevy Sears Craftsman etc.

[JOKERSOAKER]

While I can understand that a Four Winds dealer might not be happy with the structure and/or origin of some of these postings, my own research led me to avoid the brand. It has been my finding that "Four Winds" is also sold as "Mira". Now what in the heck is the purpose of having two brands for what appears to be an identical product? That's a red flag to me.

It's a strategy to increase market share or sell through alternate brands without creating a consumer perception of competition.. Just like Evolution : Costco :: Strong : Dealer. Or Ford/Lincoln/Mercury GMC/Chevy Sears Craftsman etc.

Daryl = Venison

[silverswhispers]

I used to work for a hot tub dealer that sold Four Winds Spas for many years and things have improved a great deal over the last few years. Nearly everything has been enhanced and personally feel they are on par with any hot tub on the market but not nearly as well marketed but that appears to be improving. We often sold them as the best bang for the buck and rarely had any issues. Other brands are great as well but nothing bad with Four Winds Spas.

[rjrobinson]

Our hot tub is less than 6 months old and has just quit working. Despite being "under warranty" we were told to call a "preferred" repair man to come out and look at it. After calling said repair guy for 3 days straight we had no such luck of contacting him. I reached out to Four Winds regarding the warranty and they washed their hands of me because even though the hot tub IS SIX MONTHS OLD, the previous owner of our home bought it and we are not the original owners, despite us paying more than asking price so the owner would leave the hot tub with the house. We have all the original paperwork and warranty's and have a brand new hot tub that doesn't work. Things go wrong sure, but good companies stand behind their products no matter what. The hot tub, the customer experience, the "warranty" is all a let down. If you are looking for a hot tub and want it to work longer than 6 months, do NOT get a 4 winds.

[Dr. Spa]

Don't get anything second hand. I don't believe there's a single hot tub company that doesn't specifically state in their warranty that it's only warranted to the original purchaser.