Arctic Spa Repairs?

[yooper829]

You mean somone from Arctic is actually responding here???? I know they dont return emails or voice mails....even my dealer says that there really isnt a tech line to call. Ive recently replaced over $1000 in my Arctic tub, and I spent this money because my dealer couldnt figure out the problem (tripping breaker) and just started replacing parts.....heater, circuit board which was over $700! Still no solution so suggested a Square D spa pak because he didnt reccomend the GE which was working for the past 2 years. Another $150 and still not working. Then he wanted to "TRY" a pump...which still did not fix it. I guess TRY means BUY because now I have another $400 bill for a pump to try. Finally had to hire a electrician who really did not find anything wrong but replaced the wire from the house and Ive been up and running. Does Arctic not train their dealers??? I could have bought a tub off the internet if I known that if I had a problem the solution was to just change parts as I could have done that on my own. Worst thing the parts did not fix a thing and the dealer gave up..but not after charging me for everything! And I havnt even mentioned the jet problems...replaced every jet on the tub and still getting failures. I bought a tub locally because I thought I would get service from both the dealer and the manufacturer. I have gotten neither. Sorry to carry on here but I think people should know what to expect when they buy an Arctic tub. Looks like Im not the only one with problems.

[ottawa_mike]

Andy's Ongoing Onzen (and other) Issues

We purchased an Arctic Spa Yukon in mid-July.

After first 3 months of having the tub we have had:

- 3 Onzen units (now on "version 7.0")

- 2 pumps (high speed capacitor blew up)

- many filter replacements

- drained the tub 4 times

- used about a hundered test-strips (reading 0 bromine each time).

After all that (and gut-wrenching frustration) we had a clear tub for a month. This new Onzen seems to work (more bromine is visibly being added to the tub, and there is better flow around the electrodes now). It took a few weeks for us to be able to enjoy the clean tub because we couldn't relax - we kept waiting for the next problem.

THen the pump started to occassionally ease pressure in pulses. Relaxation all gone again. This time it turns out the filters they gave us are bad and are bloating (they were) so we got new filters. Then we had a heavy use weekend and I thought I would see how long it would take the Onzen to recover the bromine. Tonight, after waiting 3 days I gave up and added powered bromine.

My Thoughts So Far...

- Our tub is a lemon. Probably built on a friday afternoon.

- The service from the dealer has been very good. We got it in Burlington (affliated with Mississauga) and although the call centre has been occassionally grumpy the service tech has been great and it has not cost me anything extra so far. They provided salt and filters after all the water dumping and issues. No charge for service calls.

- I don't know what to expect from the Onzen. Should I be powder-free ? How long should it take to recover from a busy day of use ?

- It's SO HARD to relax in this tub because my eyes and ears are always on the alert for something abnormal.

There are things that I really like about this tub. I really want to enjoy it. But it's hard.

*sigh*

Andy

Hi Andy,

I am a fairly new Artic Spa user and without going into detail about my onzen experience, I am now on the Onzen 7 method also and hoping that the issue is now properly addressed.

I am no expert, but I beleive the Onzen system is designed to provide the ongoing daily sanitizer needs to handle normal usage - in fact, I believe this is true of any approach to sanitization. In situations where you have a high bather load ( several users for several hours) your need to compensate for the surge of use by shocking after the party is over (so to speak).

This is normal and even documented in Artic Spa materials and the concept of having to boost sanitizer levels to compensate for high usage is clearly explained in Nitro's methods of properly maintaining your water balance. Even if you do not have a high bather load, once a week you should shock or use something like Brite Plus ( not sure of the ingredinet name) to convert used chlorine into free chlorine.

Regards,

Mike

PS, I was on sodium bromide to start but switched to sodium chloride. It seems to work better and easier to manage ( and alot cheaper). We have a friend with sensitivities to chlorine but she has not had issues with our tub. Is there a specific reason you are using bromine?

[SteelerPete]

Hey Andy, my summit has had a flo error come up and the tech said he found a piece of plastic in the impeller?? But after he left the flo error came back and the pump seems to be weak and isn't pushing the water out the jets with the force it did before. Does this sound like yours??

Thanks,

Pete

P.S. I have the new style filter in the tub right now and not much of a difference

Forget this post I didn't see your reply to my other post Thanks

[carriebelinda]

Hi all, I responded to “Budge” on Oct 24 when he asked for others who were not happy with Arctic Spas to respond, so I did with a bit of a rant about my problems. Although it felt good to rant the problem still persisted!! I was not getting anywhere with the service people and we felt blacklisted because we had no dealer to turn to as we had purchased from the Orangeville bandits that had gone bankrupt. One thing I did notice while reading the forum was James Keirstead’s name and how he was trying to help people with their problems, possibly a light at the end of the tunnel!! I then received message from James and shortly after that I received a phone call from him. Long and short, after a few calls and messages back and forth and a visit from a service tech our tub is working just fine, probably better than when it was installed!! My point is as you read the forums and see these guys from the manufacturer (James & Vern) reaching out, take them up on their offer to help, I am sure if they can they will!! I read a comment in a forum complimenting James for his assistance and at the same time wondering where the dealer is in all this, why is the manufacture going out of his way to help??!!

Thanks again James for all you help!!

Rob

Yes it is true that James is all over this site and yes he is helping ONE CUSTOMER AT A TIME. However it is my understanding that JAMES is an owner not a dealership owner BUT AN OWNER of ARCTIC SPA .......SO I ASK THIS.

If my understanding is correct and he is an OWNER why no recall,

why no I am so sorry we rushed production and we were not ready.

We appoligize for your inconvience (mine being refilling my tub 6 times in the past year) (one, tube collapse because a little peice of plastic was installed at the factory backwards had to refill) (one electrical failure wrong size connectors connected together at the factory refill) (one no bromine producing water looked like potato water after it starts to boil refill) (one retrofit refill) and (one re retrofit onzen 7 refill)(one being the original fill) I am on a water metre this is costing me money, now imagine filters salt chemicals, sometimes replaced by them sometimes out of our pocket.

James do us a favour RECALL, Acrtic spa makes TERRIFIC SPAS, I LOVE MY TUB and by a businss stand point (and yes we have our own business) It will save the name ARCTIC SPA. The onzen system has WAY to many problems, kinda reminds me of the Mac PC commercials and PC is just at #7 now and its been years, its only been what a year and a half for onzen and we are on #7 already.

I have not always had the best service through the service center call center(Burlington) one girl who answered when I asked for a retrofit was furious that a Hamilton store salesman told me there was such a thing and told me and I quote "there is nothing wrong with the onzen system" I told her "I could read".

However Mary is very pleasant and has been a great help INFACT she is the only reason I was willing to try #7 and believe me I will not do #8 we will switch systems.

The service guy NORM( I ask for the same guy everytime because he knows how angry I am and I don't have to go through the whole thing again) is wonderful unfortunatley he can only work with what you give him. I've seen him SOOOOOO many times I think I should invite him for christmas dinner or at least send him a christmas card.

We bought through the hamilton mountain store and they too have been great even when I went there one day and went up one side of Trever and down the other because AGAIN it was broken. Please help us

ALL OF US

RECALL

also I was not given a different filter is this something that i will also experience if so tell me now so I can go get it before it causes a problem.

[James Keirstead]

You mean somone from Arctic is actually responding here???? I know they dont return emails or voice mails....even my dealer says that there really isnt a tech line to call. Ive recently replaced over $1000 in my Arctic tub, and I spent this money because my dealer couldnt figure out the problem (tripping breaker) and just started replacing parts.....heater, circuit board which was over $700! Still no solution so suggested a Square D spa pak because he didnt reccomend the GE which was working for the past 2 years. Another $150 and still not working. Then he wanted to "TRY" a pump...which still did not fix it. I guess TRY means BUY because now I have another $400 bill for a pump to try. Finally had to hire a electrician who really did not find anything wrong but replaced the wire from the house and Ive been up and running. Does Arctic not train their dealers??? I could have bought a tub off the internet if I known that if I had a problem the solution was to just change parts as I could have done that on my own. Worst thing the parts did not fix a thing and the dealer gave up..but not after charging me for everything! And I havnt even mentioned the jet problems...replaced every jet on the tub and still getting failures. I bought a tub locally because I thought I would get service from both the dealer and the manufacturer. I have gotten neither. Sorry to carry on here but I think people should know what to expect when they buy an Arctic tub. Looks like Im not the only one with problems.

Hello,

I am sorry for the troubles you have had with your spa, and that the dealer did not service you appropriately. We provide service training for dealers, however they still have to actually come and attend the training. Without knowing the dealer I cannot say whether their techs have attended training. Can you email me your spas serial number so I can look into the issues you have had?

Then we can talk about what your current issues are and how we might solve them.

Kind regards,

James

[James Keirstead]

Yes it is true that James is all over this site and yes he is helping ONE CUSTOMER AT A TIME. However it is my understanding that JAMES is an owner not a dealership owner BUT AN OWNER of ARCTIC SPA .......SO I ASK THIS.

If my understanding is correct and he is an OWNER why no recall,

why no I am so sorry we rushed production and we were not ready.

We appoligize for your inconvience (mine being refilling my tub 6 times in the past year) (one, tube collapse because a little peice of plastic was installed at the factory backwards had to refill) (one electrical failure wrong size connectors connected together at the factory refill) (one no bromine producing water looked like potato water after it starts to boil refill) (one retrofit refill) and (one re retrofit onzen 7 refill)(one being the original fill) I am on a water metre this is costing me money, now imagine filters salt chemicals, sometimes replaced by them sometimes out of our pocket.

James do us a favour RECALL, Acrtic spa makes TERRIFIC SPAS, I LOVE MY TUB and by a businss stand point (and yes we have our own business) It will save the name ARCTIC SPA. The onzen system has WAY to many problems, kinda reminds me of the Mac PC commercials and PC is just at #7 now and its been years, its only been what a year and a half for onzen and we are on #7 already.

I have not always had the best service through the service center call center(Burlington) one girl who answered when I asked for a retrofit was furious that a Hamilton store salesman told me there was such a thing and told me and I quote "there is nothing wrong with the onzen system" I told her "I could read".

However Mary is very pleasant and has been a great help INFACT she is the only reason I was willing to try #7 and believe me I will not do #8 we will switch systems.

The service guy NORM( I ask for the same guy everytime because he knows how angry I am and I don't have to go through the whole thing again) is wonderful unfortunatley he can only work with what you give him. I've seen him SOOOOOO many times I think I should invite him for christmas dinner or at least send him a christmas card.

We bought through the hamilton mountain store and they too have been great even when I went there one day and went up one side of Trever and down the other because AGAIN it was broken. Please help us

ALL OF US

RECALL

also I was not given a different filter is this something that i will also experience if so tell me now so I can go get it before it causes a problem.

Once again, I am sorry for the troubles you have been having with your onzen system. I do understand your frustration at having to change out your water so many times. It is inconvenient. To be clear we have not recalled the earlier onzen systems, because although there seem like many through reviewing the forum here, statistically the number of spas with problems with the onzen system compared to the number of systems in the field (there are more the 4000) is still rather low. There have been a number of other issues that contribute to many of the problems reported which have made solving individual issues challenging for us. Hence the number of revisions....Each one improving on some particular issue of performance for the system.

Now we did test the system considerably before introducing it to the market. Unfortunately, few issues cropped up in the testing phase.

Again, I am sorry for the difficulties you have been facing with your onzen system. If you can send me your serial number I can look into it further and see where we are at.

Kind regards,

James

[James Keirstead]

I'm starting to feel everyones pain regarding Arctic Spas. Tub is slightly over a month old and I'm already regreting my purchase.

Had about two days of clear water. Best advise from the dealer was to go to a local swimming pool company to see if I could get some type of acid to get my stubbornly high PH down. The local Hydropool dealer has been more help and he didn't get $11,000 dollars of my money!

Drained the tub last weekend (cloudy water) and as I was wiping the light lens with a soft cloth, it shattered in my hands.

Service has been brutal. Was scheduled for yesterday and they were a no show. I did get a call in the morning claiming the techs van had broken down (my sister-in-law who also has an Arctic Spa has had a few of these my "the van broke down" stories too) but a promise to call later with an update. End result no tech, no call. I had to call this morning to get some information and now scheduled to tomorrow! I've got an empty tub sitting in below zero weather waiting for what's likely a $2 part. Attitude I got from Service was essentially, too bad so sad!

I'm going to speak to Sales about the return policy. I'm sure they're smart enough not to have one.

Sorry I missed your post. I would like to see what we can do to help. Can you send me your spas serial number so I can review your service file and get back to you?

Kind regards,

James

[James Keirstead]

Andy's Ongoing Onzen (and other) Issues

We purchased an Arctic Spa Yukon in mid-July.

After first 3 months of having the tub we have had:

- 3 Onzen units (now on "version 7.0")

- 2 pumps (high speed capacitor blew up)

- many filter replacements

- drained the tub 4 times

- used about a hundered test-strips (reading 0 bromine each time).

After all that (and gut-wrenching frustration) we had a clear tub for a month. This new Onzen seems to work (more bromine is visibly being added to the tub, and there is better flow around the electrodes now). It took a few weeks for us to be able to enjoy the clean tub because we couldn't relax - we kept waiting for the next problem.

THen the pump started to occassionally ease pressure in pulses. Relaxation all gone again. This time it turns out the filters they gave us are bad and are bloating (they were) so we got new filters. Then we had a heavy use weekend and I thought I would see how long it would take the Onzen to recover the bromine. Tonight, after waiting 3 days I gave up and added powered bromine.

My Thoughts So Far...

- Our tub is a lemon. Probably built on a friday afternoon.

- The service from the dealer has been very good. We got it in Burlington (affliated with Mississauga) and although the call centre has been occassionally grumpy the service tech has been great and it has not cost me anything extra so far. They provided salt and filters after all the water dumping and issues. No charge for service calls.

- I don't know what to expect from the Onzen. Should I be powder-free ? How long should it take to recover from a busy day of use ?

- It's SO HARD to relax in this tub because my eyes and ears are always on the alert for something abnormal.

There are things that I really like about this tub. I really want to enjoy it. But it's hard.

*sigh*

Andy

Hey Andy,

I am sorry for the troubles you have been having with your spa. I'd like to see what I can do to help. Can you send me your spa serial number so that I can review your service record?

Kind regards,

James

[James Keirstead]

Hey Andy, my summit has had a flo error come up and the tech said he found a piece of plastic in the impeller?? But after he left the flo error came back and the pump seems to be weak and isn't pushing the water out the jets with the force it did before. Does this sound like yours??

Thanks,

Pete

P.S. I have the new style filter in the tub right now and not much of a difference

Forget this post I didn't see your reply to my other post Thanks

Hey Pete,

Can you give me a call about this tomorrow?

Thanks,

James

[SteelerPete]

Hey Carrie, we bought our spa at the same dealer and your right Norm is fantastic!!!! And don't give my man Trevor a hard time LOL he is by far!!! the best sales rep that Arctic has and I've been to all the stores in the southern Ont area because my job has me on the road all day. But that been said I feel your pain because I've had similar issues and we love the Summit for comfort and therapy but everything else is a pain in the butt.

Pete

[Cloudy_Waters]

After my rant here a couple of weeks ago I’d like to acknowledge the assistance I’ve received from Vern Nelson from Blue Falls and Jody Gamracy at the factory store. I was contacted promptly by Vern and we’ve been communicating almost daily. The advice/information I’ve received so far seems to be working and I’m guardedly optimistic.

Thanks Vern and Jody you’ve provided the after sales service that my dealer was unwilling/able to provide.

[J. N.]

Can't get dealer help!!! I don't know if it is unwilling or unable, but my fustration has climaxed. FLO error on tub...called dealer last Saturday, they charged me the $95 trip fee UP FRONT for a Monday Appointment. Monday came and went with no tech. Called on Monday evening and was told the tech was there, he talked to Kevin. My name is Justin. Tech was not here. Called back and was told they would be there FIRST THING tomorrow!! Tuesday at noon, no tech. Called again. The same lady answered the phone was told me, "Your appointment is for the 7th, it's always been for the 7th." Then, why oh why did you tell me he was running late Monday and would be at our place FIRST THING Tuesday?

So, I get to look foward to a week of no usage...and by reading here, at least a new pump installed.

Joy.

[summit11]

Can't get dealer help!!! I don't know if it is unwilling or unable, but my fustration has climaxed. FLO error on tub...called dealer last Saturday, they charged me the $95 trip fee UP FRONT for a Monday Appointment. Monday came and went with no tech. Called on Monday evening and was told the tech was there, he talked to Kevin. My name is Justin. Tech was not here. Called back and was told they would be there FIRST THING tomorrow!! Tuesday at noon, no tech. Called again. The same lady answered the phone was told me, "Your appointment is for the 7th, it's always been for the 7th." Then, why oh why did you tell me he was running late Monday and would be at our place FIRST THING Tuesday?

So, I get to look foward to a week of no usage...and by reading here, at least a new pump installed.

Joy.

Hi Joy,

Can you PM your spa serial number and your local dealer to me, and I will get in touch with them.

Vern

[J. N.]

Joy was a sarcastic comment...not my name. I'll get the model number when I get home from work.

[summit11]

Joy was a sarcastic comment...not my name. I'll get the model number when I get home from work.

Thank you for submitting your information - I talked to Christian this morning. Let me know how things are progressing as this moves forward.

Vern

[CStaples]

Can't get dealer help!!! I don't know if it is unwilling or unable, but my fustration has climaxed. FLO error on tub...called dealer last Saturday, they charged me the $95 trip fee UP FRONT for a Monday Appointment. Monday came and went with no tech. Called on Monday evening and was told the tech was there, he talked to Kevin. My name is Justin. Tech was not here. Called back and was told they would be there FIRST THING tomorrow!! Tuesday at noon, no tech. Called again. The same lady answered the phone was told me, "Your appointment is for the 7th, it's always been for the 7th." Then, why oh why did you tell me he was running late Monday and would be at our place FIRST THING Tuesday?

So, I get to look foward to a week of no usage...and by reading here, at least a new pump installed.

Joy.

I wanted to let everyone know that I am the local dealer for this customer. There was a misunderstanding on the time of the service call. I called and talked to Justin. Although there was a misunderstanding at first, we have worked it out. While I cannot do anything to go back and fix the past, I can take steps to help this from not happening again. He gave me suggestions on how we can improve our communication with him and I sent him my email address to contact me if he has any problems in the future.

Christian Staples

Arctic Spas Utah

[James Keirstead]

I wanted to let everyone know that I am the local dealer for this customer. There was a misunderstanding on the time of the service call. I called and talked to Justin. Although there was a misunderstanding at first, we have worked it out. While I cannot do anything to go back and fix the past, I can take steps to help this from not happening again. He gave me suggestions on how we can improve our communication with him and I sent him my email address to contact me if he has any problems in the future.

Christian Staples

Arctic Spas Utah

Thanks Christian,

I think this is a very appropriate way to handle the situation.

Take care buddy,

James

[bvent]

Hi Everyone

My Arctic Spa (Oakville) has just gone out of warranty. It has been a lemon from the word go. So far, every part on the tub has broken down and been replaced (while still under warranty) so I figured we were good to go. Now, it has gone on the fritz again. It is a FLO error, apparently pump 1 is completely seized and the tub is cold. Norm, the world's best service guy came out and is going to replace pump 1. But, this same pump has already been replaced twice in the past five years.

We have also replaced the main circuit board, pump two, mysterious power failures/short circuiting which they blamed on our electrical supply and had us call in an electrician and replace our breaker box, millions of blown jets, etc. etc. My husband wants to drain the tub and plant flowers in it, because he is so disgusted with the bad quality of this tub. It wasn't so bad when service calls were free, but later into the warranty, getting charged for the calls when obviously the tub was sub-standard was infuriating.

Now, I am really wondering how much more this money pit of a hot tub is going to cost us.

Beware people thinking of buying this product.

Best wishes,

BVent

[James Keirstead]

Hi Everyone

My Arctic Spa (Oakville) has just gone out of warranty. It has been a lemon from the word go. So far, every part on the tub has broken down and been replaced (while still under warranty) so I figured we were good to go. Now, it has gone on the fritz again. It is a FLO error, apparently pump 1 is completely seized and the tub is cold. Norm, the world's best service guy came out and is going to replace pump 1. But, this same pump has already been replaced twice in the past five years.

We have also replaced the main circuit board, pump two, mysterious power failures/short circuiting which they blamed on our electrical supply and had us call in an electrician and replace our breaker box, millions of blown jets, etc. etc. My husband wants to drain the tub and plant flowers in it, because he is so disgusted with the bad quality of this tub. It wasn't so bad when service calls were free, but later into the warranty, getting charged for the calls when obviously the tub was sub-standard was infuriating.

Now, I am really wondering how much more this money pit of a hot tub is going to cost us.

Beware people thinking of buying this product.

Best wishes,

BVent

I am sorry for the issues you have had with your spa. Do you think you could send me your serial number so that I could review the service history on this spa?

Kind regards,

James

[bvent]

Hi James

It looks like AOEX44639. It's a Yukon, manufactured 02/04.

Bvent

[bvent]

Hi I goofed A04EX44639.

BVent

[James Keirstead]

Hi I goofed A04EX44639.

BVent

Hello,

I reviewed your service history. In fact, you are correct. You have had more service issues then I would expect on one of our spas. I am very sorry for that. We do everything we can to buy the best components possible for our spas, and most of the time we have very few problems. After looking through the service history I think I see a pattern regarding the pump. I'd like to help. Can you pm me your phone number so that I can phone to discuss?

Thanks,

James

[gordholio99]

Hi everyone:

I'm getting very close to replacing my 25-year old (yep, 25!) Beachcomber hot tub. I've been thinking strongly about moving to a tub manufacturer that uses thermal insulation rather than full foam because it makes sense to me that future "interior" repair issues would be far easier if the serviceperson (probably me) could easily access the hoses and clamps and other bits and pieces rather than digging through tons of blown insulation. For that reason, and because brands are somewhat limited up here in B.C., I figured Arctic might be the answer.

But, despite some who say Arctic is a top brand, there are simply so many highly dissatisfied Arctic customers at so many discussion forums all across the Internet that I have now ruled out Arctic as a possibility. I really had no other choice when considering where to spend my ten thousand dollars. Honestly, from jets that pop out (apparently now somewhat rectified) to FLO errors to sludge to pump problems to apparently poor customer service and oodles of other complaints, Arctic now has a bad 'Net rep. And yes, I realize the Internet is a great place for people to bitch and complain, but when I see this many pissed-off customers, many of whom have repeated, seemingly never-ending problems, I can only go with what I see.

On top of all that, I can't even find an Arctic dealer here in the Vancouver area.

So why am I even posting? I guess to let Arctic know that all the marketing in the world can't cover up what appears to be the grim reality of the situation. Granted, it looks like there are a few Arctic people on this forum who are trying to rectify some of the problems, but how did it get so bad in the first place?

Moreover, NOBODY should have to get to the point where they feel their ONLY option is to air their valid gripes online. The manufacturing process should have been far, far better to begin with, and the customer service should have been far, far more responsive/helpful. Hard to believe Arctic didn't forsee that these days, word of mouth is no longer confined to private conversations between neighbours.

[James Keirstead]

Hi everyone:

I'm getting very close to replacing my 25-year old (yep, 25!) Beachcomber hot tub. I've been thinking strongly about moving to a tub manufacturer that uses thermal insulation rather than full foam because it makes sense to me that future "interior" repair issues would be far easier if the serviceperson (probably me) could easily access the hoses and clamps and other bits and pieces rather than digging through tons of blown insulation. For that reason, and because brands are somewhat limited up here in B.C., I figured Arctic might be the answer.

But, despite some who say Arctic is a top brand, there are simply so many highly dissatisfied Arctic customers at so many discussion forums all across the Internet that I have now ruled out Arctic as a possibility. I really had no other choice when considering where to spend my ten thousand dollars. Honestly, from jets that pop out (apparently now somewhat rectified) to FLO errors to sludge to pump problems to apparently poor customer service and oodles of other complaints, Arctic now has a bad 'Net rep. And yes, I realize the Internet is a great place for people to bitch and complain, but when I see this many pissed-off customers, many of whom have repeated, seemingly never-ending problems, I can only go with what I see.

On top of all that, I can't even find an Arctic dealer here in the Vancouver area.

So why am I even posting? I guess to let Arctic know that all the marketing in the world can't cover up what appears to be the grim reality of the situation. Granted, it looks like there are a few Arctic people on this forum who are trying to rectify some of the problems, but how did it get so bad in the first place?

Moreover, NOBODY should have to get to the point where they feel their ONLY option is to air their valid gripes online. The manufacturing process should have been far, far better to begin with, and the customer service should have been far, far more responsive/helpful. Hard to believe Arctic didn't forsee that these days, word of mouth is no longer confined to private conversations between neighbours.

Hello,

I am sorry that you feel this way. We, of course, do everything we can to support all our customers within reason. There are a couple of reasons for the volume of posts you see regarding Arctic. One is simply the volume of spas we have sold. We sell more spas in Canada then anyone else, and as such would expect more people to talk about us. The volume of complaints, while more then I would like, is still so small for the number of spas we have in the market, that I think you may be reading more into these then there really is. Also, we support what we sell through dealers all over the globe despite many individual dealers struggling in these tough times. Unfortunately, when that occurs sometimes local support for customers can suffer. We have always tried to support any customers even when a dealer cannot. Finally, we have worked hard to be a leader in innovation in our industry. Without going into detail, I will say this has been a double edged sword for us. On one side we have a product that I am really proud of, but we have certainly felt some pain along the way. Issues like jets popping out (an industry wide problem BTW) has been solved with a new jet design that is industry leading. Similarly issues with our new onzen system are getting worked out, and it is still, I believe, where our industry needs to go to deliver a easier to use, more enjoyable product to the end consumer. Mark my words, many manufacturers will follow this trend. So yes we do take some bullets trying to be first.

That being said, there are industry independent consumer satisfaction surveys done annually in which we are one of only a few brands that have actually qualified every year since its introduction. You can check it out yourself at Spasearch.org. The sample sizes for this are much larger then what you are seeing here on the forums. If you want to really know what we are like, I think something like that would give you a better indication of what our product and company are really like.

Finally, I will say what many of the experienced posters on the forum agree on. If you are faced with a choice of two spas you really like that are of equivalent quality, you should buy a spa from the local dealer that you feel will support you best.

Kind regards,

James

[gordholio99]

Hi James:

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I'm very aware that the complaints I see on the Internet aren't fully representative of the experience of ALL your customers. I mentioned that in my first post. As we all know, the Internet is a great place to get your bitch on.

However, when you turn to all the popular forums and see page after page after page of generally angry complaints directed toward Arctic (and so many Arctic customers straight-up warning others away from the Arctic brand), that would seem to indicate a real trend. And that's sad because I know Arctic is Canadian (as am I) and I do like the easy access to under-shell plumbing your system delivers.

I will check out the site you mentioned and I'll try to keep an open mind while doing so.

But even if I magically reverse the opinion I've formed in the past few weeks of serious research, it seems I couldn't even see an Arctic in person unless I traveled somewhere outside the greater Vancouver area. And I don't want to go to Calgary or even Vancouver Island to buy a hot tub. Am I correct in thinking you currently don't have a Vancouver area dealer?

Thanks.