News From Costco

[utah]

Ran to Costco today to pick up some groceries and snag some free food samples. Had read the posts about the Elite and decided to have a look on my way out.

The "hot tub" guy was an employee who bought one 5 months ago. Nice guy and pretty knowledgable given the situation. He shared that Costco was replacing Elite and was building inventory from a new manufacturer that would be announced in October. Shared that his store always does a "road show" of hot tubs in the fall but that a memo went out that there would be no road show this year because of a change in manufacturers.

He loves his Elite but shared that just today someone returned their Elite back to Costco. Guess you can return whenever you want. Just hold on to that receipt!

Thought I would share this bit of useless info in case it is helpful to anyone.

Doug

[mepat]

You just can't beat Costco's return policy.

[Jim_The_Jim]

You just can't beat Costco's return policy.

You can beat it by getting a better spa, one that you would never want to return.

One of my Haven Reps used to sell for a mass merchant and regrets ever doing that.

However the Elite is better quality than a Hot Spring spa and it has dual suctions.

[New NW tub owner]

Ran to Costco today to pick up some groceries and snag some free food samples. Had read the posts about the Elite and decided to have a look on my way out.

The "hot tub" guy was an employee who bought one 5 months ago. Nice guy and pretty knowledgable given the situation. He shared that Costco was replacing Elite and was building inventory from a new manufacturer that would be announced in October. Shared that his store always does a "road show" of hot tubs in the fall but that a memo went out that there would be no road show this year because of a change in manufacturers.

He loves his Elite but shared that just today someone returned their Elite back to Costco. Guess you can return whenever you want. Just hold on to that receipt!

Thought I would share this bit of useless info in case it is helpful to anyone.

Doug

Costco sells a new hot tub model every year and the new model arrives in mid-December. The prior year's model is usually sold out by mid-October or so. Last October, after a lot of research, I decided to buy the Costco Platinum Elite hot tub and trotted down to my local store. Unfortunately for me, the store had just sold its last Platinum Elite and there would be no more until the new model arrived. Costco checked their inventory and found only one left at a store in Utah. Shipping would have been prohibitive so we waited until the new model came this year. It turned out to be the Platinum Elite II and it was even better than last year's model with a better electrical controls (balboa controls) and the radio was now an AM/FM/CD/MP3 player whereas last year's was only AM/FM/CD. No idea what next year's model will be but since it's Costco I'm sure it will be an excellent value. It's probably gettin to be too late for this year's model. We love our Platinum Elite II and it has created a high standard for any other manufacturer to beat if they want to sell to Costco's buyer.

P.S. I can't imagine anyone actually returning one of these Platinum Elite II hot tubs to Costco but if anyone were dumb enough to do so, it would make a great deal for someone else to get a 'used' hot tub at an even better price. Probably a Costco employee would get first crack at it though.

[grahamtasia]

You can beat it by getting a better spa, one that you would never want to return.

One of my Haven Reps used to sell for a mass merchant and regrets ever doing that.

However the Elite is better quality than a Hot Spring spa and it has dual suctions.

yaaaaaaaaawn!

[Movinon]

You can beat it by getting a better spa, one that you would never want to return.

One of my Haven Reps used to sell for a mass merchant and regrets ever doing that.

However the Elite is better quality than a Hot Spring spa and it has dual suctions.

Jim, when I was first in the market for a new spa I did tons of research and even came across your web site and found your product intriguing and your sales pitch interesting – Luckily for me I became an educated consumer – You do yourself no favors by trashing the competition – Guess you skipped marketing 101 -- You know what really turned me away from given your product any consideration --- all the venomous nonsense you spew over the internet – Ignorance is bliss and so must be people that purchase your product.

[utah]

Those of you who have the Elite and who live in a climate with a cold winter, what do you feel it cost you to run during the cold months?

Thanks

[New NW tub owner]

Those of you who have the Elite and who live in a climate with a cold winter, what do you feel it cost you to run during the cold months?

Thanks

I've only had my Elite Platinum II for 2 months and the weather has been warm so I don't have cold weather data. This isn't rocket science, though. Most of the operating electricity cost is for the power to run the heater to maintain the temperature you set for the water. When your tub loses heat, you have to consume electricity to replace the heat that was lost. You can easily measure how much heat your tub is losing under your particular weather conditions, location, and installation by heating the tub up to the temperature you want, getting a thermometer accurate to at least a tenth of a degree (such as an oral thermometer) , measuring the temperature precisely with the thermometer, turning off the power to your tub, replace the cover, then measure the temperature at the end of an hour of cooling to see how much it dropped during the time that elapsed. The heat lost is equal to the temperature drop you measured times the heat capacity of the water (1 btu/lb-F) times the weight of the water in the tub (8.33 lb/gal times the number of gallons). Say your tub holds 325 gallons and the temperature drops by 0.5 of a degree F in one hour. The heat lost is:

Q = 325 x 8.33 x 1 x 0.5 = 1354 Btu per hour.

Now, what will it cost you to heat your tub for a month if it loses 1354 btu per hour and electricity is costing you 8 cents per kwh?

Monthly cost = 1354 btu/hr x 720 hr/month x (1/3413 kwh/btu) x $0.08/kwh = $22.85 per month.

[flibotte]

It will cost a lot more than $23 a month in the winter to heat it. (If you live in a cold climate)

[Chas]

It will cost a lot more than $23 a month in the winter to heat it. (If you live in a cold climate)

No, it may very well be in that range for any of a number of name-brand tubs. That is HEATING cost, running the jets will add to that.

Your mileage may vary, and the cost of a kWh of electricity varies wildly all over.

[New NW tub owner]

It will cost a lot more than $23 a month in the winter to heat it. (If you live in a cold climate)

That's an 'example' calculation to illustrate the procedure, based on a hypothetical measured temperature drop of 0.5 degree F. You have to measure your actual heat loss for your tub in your climate and location.

[tumbleweed]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

[Jim_The_Jim]

Jim, when I was first in the market for a new spa I did tons of research and even came across your web site and found your product intriguing and your sales pitch interesting – Luckily for me I became an educated consumer – You do yourself no favors by trashing the competition – Guess you skipped marketing 101 -- You know what really turned me away from given your product any consideration --- all the venomous nonsense you spew over the internet – Ignorance is bliss and so must be people that purchase your product.

Yea! Right!

I got two emails today from licensed PE's, thanking me for the "NO BS ZONE" on the net. I have thousands of emails like that.

There is nothing wrong with trashing based upon knowledge. Most of my customers take the time to learn and verify what I teach.

We have no competition on any level of spa product. It is up to you to understand. What is the old saying:

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink."

However, Costcos new spas are a hell of a lot better values than any of the major brands. That is what is going to destroy the market for mediocre spas.

[Movinon]

However, Costcos new spas are a hell of a lot better values than any of the major brands. That is what is going to destroy the market for mediocre spas.

So what your saying is you will be out of business soon?

[dlynn]

I bought a Costco PlatinumII Elite Tub last month after comparing lots of major brands. I was planning to get a Cal Spa when I saw the Costco tub. The Costco tub uses the insulation concept of outer wall insulation and high density foam on the shell (like arctic spas, but the outer insulation is not as thick as arctic). The Cal Spa was available either full foam or outer wall insulation. The Costco tub needs a little added insulation to make it more efficient but for the price difference I can do that. The jet pressure is very good (as good as any of the premium tubs I tried) and the cover is a tapered 5" to 3" model. You can't choose your colors or features but it has almost all of the features the premium brands charge extra for, and when you special order tubs with the features you want from the big boys some of those Premium brands have a clause in their warrenty that cuts the warrenty to 1 year on special order spas (which includes most of the spas they sell, because their standard models are stripped down spas nobody wants and that the dealers don't even carry, they order their floor models with all the features). The outer wall insulation on the Costco tub is only 1/2" styrofoam, I will add R11 Fiberglass insulation to mine. To get the features included on the Costco tub the Cal Spa would have cost me over $9000. I know that the Cal Spa is a better tub in some ways, but I could not justify the extra $5000 dollars, the Costco tub is only $3999. Don't confuse the Costco tub with other mass market tubs at Walmart and Home Depot. Costco gets their tub from Hydro Spa and it competes with other major brands (I know you dealers won't agree, but it does, and I can compare it to premium spas if I want to, because I am the consumer). The same tub from Hydro Spa with very few modifications sells for over $6000 at the online discounters (retails over $8000). The Costco tub has a solid wood frame with removable artificial side panels and a full insulated plastic bottem (Strong enough construction that it doesn't have to be held together with foam). The jet pumps (1-2 Speed and 1-1 Speed) are powerful and quiet, and they have a 35 gpm 24 hr circulation pump, Fiberglass shell (with 10 year warrenty), Air Blower with air jets, Ozone, Volcano feet jets, Manifold plumbing (with lifetime warrenty), Stainless Jets, Clamped soft plastic tubing (not glued PVC), 65 Jets, neck and sholder jets, pillows, 2-50 Sq Ft Filters, aromatherpy, waterfall, CD/AM/FM/Weather/MP3 player and more. I think it is a great value for the money. The warrenty isn't bad (2 years parts and labor on everything else and a Lifetime satisfaction return policy) but it has great access to all the tubing and motors, I will probably do maintance myself, after the warrenty period, it looks simple enough. Everything Hydro spas uses are industry standard parts which are easy to get.

[flibotte]

I think when you get your first winter electirc bill you will rethink the comparison to artic insulation. They have terrible insulation. I am curious to see how you make out with adding the extra insulation.

I have a friend that has the costco spa and she pays about $100+ a month for her tub in the winter.

I love how when Jim pulls random quotes from emails that he has to qualify with the profession of the person. "I just got an email from a doctor, engineer, rocket scientist."

[NightRyder]

My 2 year old Elite I runs about $30 a month in the winter (yes I added insulation), same as my neighbors similar sized Marquis. I wouldn't recommend it, but you could full foam the spa for a few hundred dollars or less. My solution was less than $150 and can be found in the main "Costco Elite" thread.

dlynn: If you plan on using fiberglass make sure you use the kind that is wrapped in plastic like John Manville "Comfort Therm".

NightRyder

[dlynn]

My 2 year old Elite I runs about $30 a month in the winter (yes I added insulation), same as my neighbors similar sized Marquis. I wouldn't recommend it, but you could full foam the spa for a few hundred dollars or less. My solution was less than $150 and can be found in the main "Costco Elite" thread.

dlynn: If you plan on using fiberglass make sure you use the kind that is wrapped in plastic like John Manville "Comfort Therm".

NightRyder

Why should it be wrapped in plastic will the blower pick up the fiberglass?

[Trigger]

Why should it be wrapped in plastic will the blower pick up the fiberglass?

If the fiberglass gets wet it will loose it's r value.

Small furry woodland creatures are also attracted to fluffly insulation. They'll make a nice warm nest in there and could cause some problems.

[etski]

I bought one and now I'm probably going to return it. First of all the filter is pathetic (or maybe just too good). After less than a month the system went into LOW FLOW (LF4) AND INADEQUATE WATER DETECTED (DR4) MODES. Did everything manual suggested and still nothing. Called them, many times, finally was told you need to soak and clean the filters every 2 weeks, but at least once a month! I did this and it fixed the problem, but it's not documented and I never heard of a spa that needed to be maintained like this, once or twice a year clean the filters, but twice a month! Now the spa goes into spasms and pumps start and stop and blower is completely inoperative and they don't even return phone calls! What choice do I have but to return it? What a pain in the ass! Thank god costco has a great return policy, but what a pain to have to move something as big as a hot tub, again! They had a bullfrog spa road show and I'll probably buy that one instead!

Customer Service on Hydrospa is non-existent! Costco should stop dealing with them immediately, and I'll contact Costco and tell them that as well!

[dlynn]

I bought one and now I'm probably going to return it. First of all the filter is pathetic (or maybe just too good). After less than a month the system went into LOW FLOW (LF4) AND INADEQUATE WATER DETECTED (DR4) MODES. Did everything manual suggested and still nothing. Called them, many times, finally was told you need to soak and clean the filters every 2 weeks, but at least once a month! I did this and it fixed the problem, but it's not documented and I never heard of a spa that needed to be maintained like this, once or twice a year clean the filters, but twice a month! Now the spa goes into spasms and pumps start and stop and blower is completely inoperative and they don't even return phone calls! What choice do I have but to return it? What a pain in the ass! Thank god costco has a great return policy, but what a pain to have to move something as big as a hot tub, again! They had a bullfrog spa road show and I'll probably buy that one instead!

Customer Service on Hydrospa is non-existent! Costco should stop dealing with them immediately, and I'll contact Costco and tell them that as well!

Who ever told you to only clean the filters once or twice a year, every dealer of every brand I have talked to told me you need to at least spray out the filters with a garden hose weekly or every 2 weeks depending on the amount of use. If you have a lot of junk filling up the filter it won't flow properly. You should not have to soak the filter in cleaner than often but at least look at them on a regular basis and spray out the gunk when needed. I checked my filters after the first 5 days of use and was suprised at how dirty they were I expected there to be extra junk from shipping. The Costco tub has no different filter maintance than the Bullfrog, if you try only cleaning their filters twice a year you will have the same problem. The Costco tub has 100 sq ft of filtering capacity, that is a very common amount of filtering I have seen some of the major brands with only 50 sq ft. Don't blame Hydro Spa for dirt in your filter. Do report to Costco if you don't get good customer support from them, that will help us all.

[Chas]

After less than a month the system went into LOW FLOW (LF4) AND INADEQUATE WATER DETECTED (DR4) MODES. Did everything manual suggested and still nothing. Called them, many times, finally was told you need to soak and clean the filters every 2 weeks, but at least once a month! I did this and it fixed the problem, but it's not documented and I never heard of a spa that needed to be maintained like this, once or twice a year clean the filters, but twice a month!

So sorry you haven't heard of it, but it is life with any spa: the first month is always tough on the water and the filter. I tell our customers to change the water and rinse the filters at the end of the first month. Sometimes they have to CLEAN the fitlers at that point as well. Clean=soak in filter clean solution, Rinse=squirt off with the hose only.

After that they can play it by ear. But to complain that a spa has a problem just because there was no dealer to give you the scoop on how to maintian it doesn't seem fair. You made the choice to buy a spa without the benefit of a local dealer to help you run the thing...

Now the spa goes into spasms and pumps start and stop and blower is completely inoperative and they don't even return phone calls! What choice do I have but to return it? What a pain in the ass! Thank god costco has a great return policy, but what a pain to have to move something as big as a hot tub, again!

I would sure call every day, email and fax as well. You need to find out if this is something as simple as your dirty filters were. You may have not gotten them very clean, or there may not be enough water, or the skimmer may be haning up. All easy to fix. Before you return, you might even pay a local service man to come take a look at things. He might find a simple fix - and for $75 you just saved yourself the job of moving the tub back to Costco and then shopping all over again.

They had a bullfrog spa road show and I'll probably buy that one instead!So let me see if I understand this correctly: you bought a spa from Costco, and had trouble because nobody could show you how to care for it. You are now having trouble getting service because there is no local dealer who cares about you or your spa. BUT you want to go do the very same thing again?!! What is the value of your time, your frustration and your sore muscles from moving spas? You don't seem to be coming out ahead here.

Customer Service on Hydrospa is non-existent! Costco should stop dealing with them immediately, and I'll contact Costco and tell them that as well!I don't know about that. It might very well be true. But the point truly is that when you buy from an Internet dealer or a big-box, you give up a very important part of the deal: the dealer! Thanks for sharing, I hope you get your spa working. But I also hope you don't expect something you are not going to get.

[NightRyder]

I have to agree Chas, this guy needs to seriously consider buying from a reputable local dealer if he returns the Costco spa or he's likely to end up in the same fix again.

NightRyder

[fisrt timer]

bought a Costco PlatinumII Elite Tub last month after comparing lots of major brands. I was planning to get a Cal Spa when I saw the Costco tub. The Costco tub uses the insulation concept of outer wall insulation and high density foam on the shell (like arctic spas, but the outer insulation is not as thick as arctic). The Cal Spa was available either full foam or outer wall insulation. The Costco tub needs a little added insulation to make it more efficient but for the price difference I can do that. The jet pressure is very good (as good as any of the premium tubs I tried) and the cover is a tapered 5" to 3" model. You can't choose your colors or features but it has almost all of the features the premium brands charge extra for, and when you special order tubs with the features you want from the big boys some of those Premium brands have a clause in their warrenty that cuts the warrenty to 1 year on special order spas (which includes most of the spas they sell, because their standard models are stripped down spas nobody wants and that the dealers don't even carry, they order their floor models with all the features). The outer wall insulation on the Costco tub is only 1/2" styrofoam, I will add R11 Fiberglass insulation to mine. To get the features included on the Costco tub the Cal Spa would have cost me over $9000. I know that the Cal Spa is a better tub in some ways, but I could not justify the extra $5000 dollars, the Costco tub is only $3999. Don't confuse the Costco tub with other mass market tubs at Walmart and Home Depot. Costco gets their tub from Hydro Spa and it competes with other major brands (I know you dealers won't agree, but it does, and I can compare it to premium spas if I want to, because I am the consumer). The same tub from Hydro Spa with very few modifications sells for over $6000 at the online discounters (retails over $8000). The Costco tub has a solid wood frame with removable artificial side panels and a full insulated plastic bottem (Strong enough construction that it doesn't have to be held together with foam). The jet pumps (1-2 Speed and 1-1 Speed) are powerful and quiet, and they have a 35 gpm 24 hr circulation pump, Fiberglass shell (with 10 year warrenty), Air Blower with air jets, Ozone, Volcano feet jets, Manifold plumbing (with lifetime warrenty), Stainless Jets, Clamped soft plastic tubing (not glued PVC), 65 Jets, neck and sholder jets, pillows, 2-50 Sq Ft Filters, aromatherpy, waterfall, CD/AM/FM/Weather/MP3 player and more. I think it is a great value for the money. The warrenty isn't bad (2 years parts and labor on everything else and a Lifetime satisfaction return policy) but it has great access to all the tubing and motors, I will probably do maintance myself, after the warrenty period, it looks simple enough. Everything Hydro spas uses are industry standard parts which are easy to get.

Ahhh, the blissful Costco tub topic. Its late and I dont really feal like going on about this, but I almost lost my dinner when I read someone on here comparing a Costco tub to an Artic for insulation. Whoever said that needs to understand that concept is only part of the insulation trick. Implementation and execution is another. This is where the comparison ends. Dont brainwash yourself into thinking the costco tub is anything like an artic except for the fact that they are both called hot tubs. Low build quality, low end components, weak service, no delivery, no wet test, radio shack speakers are definately not commonly found at spa dealers. To also make the comparison that Hydro spas competes with major brands is like saying that Kia completes with mercedes just because they both make cars. Wow, both companies make hot tubs, whats your point???? Hydro spas are like Kia's, it doesnt make them as good as a mercedes just becasue they are in the same market. I think the numerous posts of people with problems and trouble dealing with the company proves this. Was this post done by a costco rep???? These are the posts that just get me unglued. People that think the costco tub is as good as tubs that cost 10k. It doesnt happen. Dlynn, you got a 4000 dollar hot tub, and no it is not any better than the tubs in front of walmart and home depot. I have seen Hydro spas in front of such stores. I would also put them in the same ballpark if not below Keys tubs. You get what you pay for. In this case its a good return policy. I like costco but for their good deals on food, not hot tubs. You saved alot of money for now. good job! Now you get to spend it all in improvements, additional cost to run the tub, additional headaches when Hydro spa isnt any help when you have problems, have the tub delivered or the cost of you doing it yourself and then the additional cost to take it back and use the great return policy. Well, I have already gone on londer than I wanted to. Good night! Enjoy!

[dlynn]

Ahhh, the blissful Costco tub topic. Its late and I dont really feal like going on about this, but I almost lost my dinner when I read someone on here comparing a Costco tub to an Artic for insulation. Whoever said that needs to understand that concept is only part of the insulation trick. Implementation and execution is another. This is where the comparison ends. Dont brainwash yourself into thinking the costco tub is anything like an artic except for the fact that they are both called hot tubs. Low build quality, low end components, weak service, no delivery, no wet test, radio shack speakers are definately not commonly found at spa dealers. To also make the comparison that Hydro spas competes with major brands is like saying that Kia completes with mercedes just because they both make cars. Wow, both companies make hot tubs, whats your point???? Hydro spas are like Kia's, it doesnt make them as good as a mercedes just becasue they are in the same market. I think the numerous posts of people with problems and trouble dealing with the company proves this. Was this post done by a costco rep???? These are the posts that just get me unglued. People that think the costco tub is as good as tubs that cost 10k. It doesnt happen. Dlynn, you got a 4000 dollar hot tub, and no it is not any better than the tubs in front of walmart and home depot. I have seen Hydro spas in front of such stores. I would also put them in the same ballpark if not below Keys tubs. You get what you pay for. In this case its a good return policy. I like costco but for their good deals on food, not hot tubs. You saved alot of money for now. good job! Now you get to spend it all in improvements, additional cost to run the tub, additional headaches when Hydro spa isnt any help when you have problems, have the tub delivered or the cost of you doing it yourself and then the additional cost to take it back and use the great return policy. Well, I have already gone on londer than I wanted to. Good night! Enjoy!

I knew my post would pull out the critics that can't stand that there is a Hot Tub out here with all the features for half the price. Their only resort is name calling, saying everything is cheap and the speakers come from Radio Shack and no dealer to deliver or service it. Do your own research and look at the tub yourself, don't go by these hot shots that only discredit everything consumers say and call us dumb. Read the forums from Costco Elite owners and you will see a lot of people that think they got a great buy. I know the 10k tubs are better, but they are not 6k better and I have all the bells and whistles that those 10k tubs have. And the Parts are all industry standard, not sub par. And the speakers and stereo equiptment are not from Radio Shack they come from Aeware, one of the major makers of spa stereo equiptment. I know mine is not as well insulated as an Arctic, but for 6k less I can improve upon mine and live with it (I looked at the Arctic and the best thing they have going for them is their well insulated housing, I did not like the feel and layout however, my cheap Costco spa is much more comfortable and the jets are just as strong as the Arctic). And if you think this Costco Elite is the same quality as the Walmart and Home Depot spas that tells me you have not seen it and have no idea what you are talking about, I looked at all of them and the premium spas. The local dealers of the name brands have seen it and know of its value because after I bought it and went to them for chemicals they admit that I got a great buy for the money, and I have had 2 major dealers offer to service it if I ever need service, they have said there is no problem getting parts for the Hydro Spas because they use standard parts unlike some of the major brands or discounters. Sorry to ruffle you Know-It-Alls feathers, but I am satisfied with my purchase. I could not have got these features anywhere else for under $7000 and I looked alot. I had already priced out and decided to get a Cal Spa with less features for $7800 (and I know it is a better spa) when I read about the Costco spas here on these forums, so I went and looked at them and for the price savings, I was sold. And I understand all the down sides and took that into consideration when I bought it, I know it is not a premium spa, but it is a great value. And if you want to compare spas to Cars the Hydro Spa is more like a Ford (average) and no spa is as good as a Mercedes or a Lexus. And, yes I know you will call me more names, and that you think all consumers are stupid, so go ahead all wise one.