Got Rid Of Our 6 Week-old Jacuzzi!

[Wannago]

Well, after approx 6 weeks of ownership, yesterday we returned our 2009 Jacuzzi J-480 to the dealer, and replaced it with a new 2009 Sundance Maxxus.

The reason is a bit of a long story, worthy of its own post, but it basically boiled down to absolutely deplorable post-sales service by our local dealer, Jacuzzi Premium Spas of Calgary. In a nutshell, after a little over 6 weeks with the tub, not a single one of our tub's issues were addressed / repaired, and no straight answer or explanation was given. As an example, I still had not received a user manual for the J-1000 stereo.

So, being forced to hound the dealer to try to find out what was going on, the store's GM called my wife and told her that we were the worst customers he ever had, and would prefer to come take back the tub, and give us our money back. So...we took him up on the offer. The local Sundance dealer, Sun Spa, was more than happy to get our business, so when all is said and done, we now have a fully loaded Maxxus for the exact same price we paid for the J-480, and to my pleasant surprise, we got a HELL of a lot more tub.

Obviously the Maxxus is quite a bit bigger than the J-480, but in every way, it is far superior.

If you want a powerful tub, the Maxxus is an absolute beast! The power of the jets in the Maxxus literally embarrases the J-480. Power-wise, they aren't even in the same class. When I had the main therapy chair (corner) running at full power in the J-480, I could still feel the actual face of the jets against my back. With the main "man's chair" on full in the Maxxus, I literally have to brace myself against the footwell to avoid being blown out...and I'm 260lbs! If I really try, I can force my back to touch the seat back, but it takes considerable effort.

Before the flaming starts - there is a LOT of jet control available in the Maxxus, so it is very easy to adjust the power of the jets to your liking, in case not everyone is looking to get pummeled. But that's the type of therapy I like at the end of the day.

Even the wrist jets are night-and-day different than the J-480. In the Jacuzzi, when you put your hand over the wrist jets, you could "sorta feel" them, but it was far from being any form of therapy. With the Maxxus, the wrist jets are easily twice as powerful as the J-480, and definitely will sooth tired aching wrists, hands, etc.

Even the Maxxus' heater blows away the Jacuzzi's. In the J-480, if you put your hand or foot real close to the heater outlet, you could detect if the heater was engaged. In the Maxxus, there is no mistaking when the heater is opertating. If you sit on the step, which is above the heater outlet, you can feel the hot water from the heater all around you. And..if you put your hand or foot next to the outlet, it is almost too hot to be able to keep it there for too long. Big difference!

As for the stereo, which is essentially the same as the Jacuzzi's J-1000, it too is better in the Sundance. Mind you, in the 6 weeks we had the J-480, we never actually had all 4 speakers working (just one of the many issues we had), but the 2 smaller speakers in each seat is much better than the one larger speaker in the Jacuzzi. In the showroom, when the salesman cranks up the stereo in the J-480, it doesn't sound too bad...actually pretty good for a hut tub system. However, once you are in the tub and using it, if you are at all into music, you quickly realize that all you hear when sitting in each seat is one channel. The Maxxus actually has 2 speakers in each seat, one on either side of your head, so you hear proper stereo sound in each seat. Last night, at 12:30 am, we were in the tub and had the stereo at what felt like a pretty loud volume when sitting in the seats, but outside of the tub, it wasn't very loud at all and certainly wasn't a disruption to the neighbours.

Before we bought our Jacuzzi back in late August, I did a lot of reading and research. I looked at D1, Arctic, Hot Spring, Caldera, etc., but for some reason, never stopped in at the Sundance dealer. Probably perhaps because they are not located in the same close proximity as most of the other Calgary dealers, and I perhaps "thought" I knew what I wanted. In retrospect, what a HUGE mistake I made. After experiencing what the Maxxus has to offer, we now have what we wanted in a hot tub, and only thought we were getting with the Jacuzzi. Its pretty ironic that it took the neglect / incompetence, etc. of the local Jacuzzi dealer to actually get us into our perfect tub, the Sundance Maxxus. (No...this is not a paid endorsement!)

The Jacuzzi only has one advantage over the Sundance that I can tell. They both have pretty similar waterfalls, but with the raised portion of the Jacuzzi, you are able to sit under the waterfalls and have the water "gently cascade over your shoulders"...which is a nice touch. With the Maxxus, the waterfalls are lower, so you can't get the same effect.

Sorry if I offended any Jacuzzi owners, but as we have had the rather unique opportunity to actually use / compare / wet-test both Manufacturer's flagship models in our own yard, I thought I'd tell it like it is. In our personal experience, the Maxxus is a far superior tub than the J-480, in all aspects (so far). If you are thinking about buying a Jacuzzi, do yourself a favor and wet-test a Sundance...especially if you are considering a J-480...the Maxxus will be a real eye opener by comparison. Using cars as an analogy - the Jacuzzi is a fully loaded Toyota Camry, while the Sundance is a Lexus (IS-F...to be precise).

[ttrublue]

What issues did you have with the spa? What was the dealers response?

[Wannago]

Issues:

Firstly, salesman told us the warranty on the J-1000 was 5 years, the same as the rest of the major components. Not so.

Installer broke a trim piece when removing the spa from the dolly. Not a big deal, and they told us they had ordered a new one the very next day. After 6 weeks...still no replacement trim piece.

Tub was bought off the showroom floor, as "new". It was empty, and I never saw power to it anytime I was in the store. When delivered, for some reason there was a CD in the stereo, and one of the speakers was completely dead. When I asked the store's GM why a new tub would have a CD in the stereo, he said he had dry-wired it to demo the stereo and the lights. The invoice identified the tub as "new", which was our understanding, however it arguably should have been classified / priced as a "demo". Anyway, on day 2, another speaker began making squealing/ growling sounds upon power-up. We called it in and were told they would come out and fix the speakers. They showed up after about 1 week, and simply disconnected both speakers, and told us they had ordered in new ones. After 6 weeks...the speakers had still not been replaced, and I suspected that the stereo had possibly been abused while being "demo'd".

Every time we called and asked about the repairs, we were given a different story...ie. the parts girl isn't in today etc. When speaking with the Service Manager, he told us numerous times that he would call us back with an update, but never called. Anytime we called him, all he would say was that he had a truck coming in tomorrow, and would check for our parts and call us back...(no calls). He could not / would not give us any date on our repairs. Even when speaking with the GM, when he would commit to call us back the next day, we would not hear from him.

We never got a user manual for the J-1000 stereo. I asked for one...but never received it.

I reported one of the ankle jets in the lounger was very weak, with almost non-existent pressure...but no one came to look at it.

Finally, after about 5 weeks, the GM gave me a status report on the arrival our parts, but refused to admit that anyone in his shop might have "dropped the ball". I had previously called and spoken with Jacuzzi directly and they said they allowed 2 weeks to have a part ordered and delivered to this dealer. I could see no reason why after 4-5 weeks, at least some of the parts weren't replaced.

After the GM gave me an update on the status of our parts, I called and spoke with Jacuzzi further. It turns out that the trim piece was not even ordered until around week 5, and the speakers were not ordered until the day after the GM and I spoke. For the previous 4 weeks or so, all we had been told was that "we have a truck coming in tomorrow...we'll check it and call you back."

It seemed as soon as we made the deal and paid in full, their attitude completely changed.

They were very slick during the sale, and they claim to have top-notch customer support (they even give you an emergency 24 hour hot line). In our experience, this is all hollow marketing and sales rhetoric.

In contrast, the local Sundance dealer, after coming out to inspect our site, called us and said they would feel more comfortable using a crane to deliver the Maxxus, and provided one to us at no extra cost to us. Further, they even let the Jacuzzi folks use it to extract the J-480 from our yard...again...at no cost to them either.

In the day since we have had it, we have already received a follow-up email form our Sundance dealer (Sun Spa), with a water analysis report, and they will be coming out in 2 weeks to run through the operation of the tub, water chemistry, and address any issues / questions we may have. I feel we have had better service in 1 day from Sun Spa than we got in 6 weeks from the Jacuzzi dealer.

Plus...we now have a kick ass Maxxus!

[Firemedic]

I'm really sorry to hear about your problems Wannago. I'm VERY surprised to hear about Calgary Jacuzzi dealership treating you so poorly. I really thought they were a top notch dealer. Certainly when you make such a huge investment, you expect better, especially right after the sale.

I echo much of your statements about the Sundance line too. A Sundance Optima was my choice for a new tub, but I settled on the J470 because of the dealer. In Manitoba, Spaworks is top notch. My install was great, and I've had no issues whatsoever. You're absolutely correct on the speaker location being far superior in the Sundance. The sound in the Jacuzzi tubs are loud in one ear (right by the speaker) and all you hear in the other is the bass. If you sit in the middle seats (on the step or under the waterfalls), there you have great, great sound. But not in the corner seats. Sundance definitely got that right. In fact, I asked my Jacuzzi dealer if there wasn't some way they could get me a SD Optima (being that they are built in the same building), but he said there was no way. So I settled for a Jacuzzi--which I'm very happy with. (I bought the 2nd best tub to get the best service).

Sounds like your happy now anyway....enjoy!! You guys had snow the last couple days, must have been awesome in the new tub!!

[Wannago]

The colder weather is indeed welcomed - perfect hot tubbing conditions...although it was not exactly ideal conditions for the removal of the old tub and installation of the new one...damn chilly!

[Mackenzie3]

Wannago, Thanks for sharing your experience.

I am also trying to do research before I buy, and your post got me thinking on what is "normal" service after you buy the spa. Is it really normal for them to send someone out for a "weak jet"? I totally understand for something glaringly broken (the stereo and trim) but I guess I had imagined that once the spa was set up I was basically on my own. The idea that they would help with water chemistry or jet strength was not something that had occurred to me. Or even that they would accept a return of the spa, I mean it sounds like they had some pretty bad service I am surprised they were willing to do a return. Did you pay anything or get all your money back (including delivery/pickup)?

[Wannago]

We got all of our money back. Although, when they delivered our J-480, they also took away and disposed of our old, dead, hot tub (for free,as part of the delivery). Because of the level our relationship had degraded to, they decided to charge us after-the-fact for the disposal. It was only 150 bucks, so it was not a big deal.

You raise a good point about what is "normal" service though. Obviously damage done during install, and defective speakers should be repaired, and in my opinion, so should a weak jet...at least it should be looked at. When you spend this kind of money on something, I think you should be able to expect that everything work perfectly.

As you have probably have already seen on here...WET TEST before you buy!!! My wife did not want to wet-test in store, so we dry-tested and did as much reading as we could. In our case, had we actually wet-tested the J-480 against the Maxxus, we never would have bought the J-480.

[hottubdan]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

[Wannago]

That's basically it Dan...We understood that "sh!t happens", and simply wanted things corrected. The dealer, for reasons known only to themselves, provided us initially with false information, then were completely reluctant to give us any additional information, and then finally gave us more misleading information regarding our repairs. I don't know about their other customers, but that was completely unacceptable to me and I was not willing to sit idly by and wait in perpetuity.

After a couple of outright denials about things they had told us, we gave up on trying to deal with them verbally, and resorted to email, so that what we were being told was in writing. I also made initial inquiries with the local BBB and the Alberta Fair Trading Act, and notified the dealer that I was prepared to file formal complaints with both agencies.

Apparently, rather than simply being up front with us about what was really going on with our replacement parts, and when we could expect to have our tub's defects repaired, they preferred to call us the worst customers ever, and suggested they take back the tub - so we agreed. I honestly wanted nothing more to do with this dealer, if this was they way they serviced their customers. Obviously, they didn't want a customer like me either, so I guess it was a good move for both parties...however I feel I came out much more ahead....I got a bigger, much better tub for actually about 100 bucks less, from a well established local dealer, who have already demonstrated better customer service than the Jacuzzi dealer.

[bart6453]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and voila!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

[shovelhd]

I am a Jacuzzi owner and you did not offend me. I would say that your primary gripes are with the dealer, and your issues with the tub itself are buyer's remorse. The Maxxus is just a better fit for your needs. I have no issues at all with my Jacuzzi heater. It can raise the water temp 10 degrees/hour from cold, and if I put my foot over the outlet when it is on it will burn. It's not a new heater, either. I don't have a lounger with wrist jets, but I have no complaints at all with jet power and functionality.

Good luck with your new tub.

[Eric W.]

I know when I bought my new tub, I expected everything to be perfect and it was. Had I bought a demo or used tub, I'd overlook things that I wouldn't when I bought new. Also, with the current economy, the dealer may be behind with his distributor or the manufacturer, so parts may be slow in coming until he's more current.

With a major purchase like this, once the trust is broken between the customer and vendor, it's hard to feel good about your purchase. Getting your money back is the best possible situation here.

[ChevyB]

Wow, surprised to hear this about Jacuzzi Calgary. We shopped around before we bought our J365 from them this spring and all the staff have been great. I think the original service manager quit this summer, not sure on that, but have always had good follow up from the staff and the GM. Granted nothing has gone "wrong" with the tub but sale, time to delivery, actual delivery and post sales questions and answers have been great. They even replaced a panel with just the slightest scratch, i told them not to bother but they did anyhow as the guy said it was not perfect, a small manufacturing defect.

There reputation as top notch dealer which is also reflected in there A+ rating with the BBB was one of the main reasons we purchased. Hopefully things are not changing at the dealer with different staff etc.

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and viola!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

I couldn't agree more. One thing I've learned in this business is that there is definitely two sides to every story and the truth usually lies in the middle somewhere.

Wannago, for all I know and for the point of this argument, I will assume you are 100% correct in how you describe the situation that has transpired. With that said, when you came on here with your "city dealer VS country dealer thread a few months ago...I honestly said to myself "I don't think I would sell this person a hot tub". Just an honest instinct that I had, no disrespect.

I think we have decided 4-5 times over the years to just not sell tubs to people for one reason or another and have picked up 2 or 3 tubs and refunded money to customers who were unreasonable or unhappy with the tub for whatever reason.

With that said everyone sounds happy and it seems like you got a great tub...hope you enjoy it.

[bart6453]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and viola!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

I couldn't agree more. One thing I've learned in this business is that there is definitely two sides to every story and the truth usually lies in the middle somewhere.

Wannago, for all I know and for the point of this argument, I will assume you are 100% correct in how you describe the situation that has transpired. With that said, when you came on here with your "city dealer VS country dealer thread a few months ago...I honestly said to myself "I don't think I would sell this person a hot tub". Just an honest instinct that I had, no disrespect.

I think we have decided 4-5 times over the years to just not sell tubs to people for one reason or another and have picked up 2 or 3 tubs and refunded money to customers who were unreasonable or unhappy with the tub for whatever reason.

With that said everyone sounds happy and it seems like you got a great tub...hope you enjoy it.

Your attitude at the beginning of an event has a direct effect on the successful outcome of the event.

This is true as much for the customer as it is for the salesperson.

[hottublady]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and voila!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

LMAO P.I.T.A ha ha ha ha!- that is funny never heard of that!

[Jacuzzicalgary]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and voila!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

[Jacuzzicalgary]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and voila!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

There is definitely more to the story and this former client is leaving out some major details (including the fact that Jacuzzi actually called them and admitted they made a mistake in the information they had passed on to this client).

The bottom line is that this client made it very clear that they would not be satisfied no matter what steps we took to address their concerns.

We don't have any clients who are unhappy with the products or the services we have been providing as an award winning dealership for 5 years.

We gave this client their money back only when they made it clear they were questioning our honesty and integrity as a company. I'm happy to hear they found a hot tub they feel they will enjoy- Life's too short. This is the first time in our company's history that we felt there was no other way to satisfy the client- so draw your own conclusions.

[tony]

Well, the money ultimately flowed to the same manufacturer, so I guess everybody is happy now.

[bart6453]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and voila!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

There is definitely more to the story and this former client is leaving out some major details (including the fact that Jacuzzi actually called them and admitted they made a mistake in the information they had passed on to this client).

The bottom line is that this client made it very clear that they would not be satisfied no matter what steps we took to address their concerns.

We don't have any clients who are unhappy with the products or the services we have been providing as an award winning dealership for 5 years.

We gave this client their money back only when they made it clear they were questioning our honesty and integrity as a company. I'm happy to hear they found a hot tub they feel they will enjoy- Life's too short. This is the first time in our company's history that we felt there was no other way to satisfy the client- so draw your own conclusions.

Good for you.......I know exactly how you guys feel.

When it's a no win situation, no matter how much you hate to give the customer what they want.....it's just easier to go with the flow and give them their money back.

In the end you leave with your integrity, the customer leaves with their money.....we all know who really feels worse in these situations....and I will give you a clue...it's typically not the business.

[Wannago]

There has got to be more to this story. I can't imagine a dealer taking a spa back like that.

In my line of business we call it a PITA........

Pain

In

The

Ass

There is a point at which you realize that no matter what you do the customer will never be satisfied. At that point it is by definition a "no win" situation.

It is better to "divorce" the customer than put up with the continued work load that serving them would put on the business. At the same time, no matter what you do, or how good your intentions as a business, it will just continue to make the situation worse.

I have bought back $25,000 motorcycles just to get the monkey off my back.

I am not saying it's Wannago's fault, sometimes it just happens. It can be as simple as the customer and the salesperson both having a bad day, then people get upset, and plant their feet on both sides...and voila!

I will say though that by virtue of your extremely long post about this that you have very clear and precise expectations for your purchase, this by definition can make it very hard for a business to make things right by you.

anyways....pretty cool that you got your money back. Good for you!

There is definitely more to the story and this former client is leaving out some major details (including the fact that Jacuzzi actually called them and admitted they made a mistake in the information they had passed on to this client).

The bottom line is that this client made it very clear that they would not be satisfied no matter what steps we took to address their concerns.

We don't have any clients who are unhappy with the products or the services we have been providing as an award winning dealership for 5 years.

We gave this client their money back only when they made it clear they were questioning our honesty and integrity as a company. I'm happy to hear they found a hot tub they feel they will enjoy- Life's too short. This is the first time in our company's history that we felt there was no other way to satisfy the client- so draw your own conclusions.

Whoever is posting on behalf of Jacuzzi Premium Spaz of Calgary....go ahead, tell everyone the rest of the story, including the major details....I'm dying to hear it!

[Wannago]

I couldn't agree more. One thing I've learned in this business is that there is definitely two sides to every story and the truth usually lies in the middle somewhere.

Wannago, for all I know and for the point of this argument, I will assume you are 100% correct in how you describe the situation that has transpired. With that said, when you came on here with your "city dealer VS country dealer thread a few months ago...I honestly said to myself "I don't think I would sell this person a hot tub". Just an honest instinct that I had, no disrespect.

I think we have decided 4-5 times over the years to just not sell tubs to people for one reason or another and have picked up 2 or 3 tubs and refunded money to customers who were unreasonable or unhappy with the tub for whatever reason.

With that said everyone sounds happy and it seems like you got a great tub...hope you enjoy it.

Thanks Dan.

Likewise, regarding my previous thread which you have referenced above, I recall feeling how you would not be the type of dealer I would be interested in buying from either. This too is just an honest opinion, no disrespect. Funny thing though, EVERY single dealership I went into here in Calgary was very interested in having my business, and were even kind enough to allow me to put deposits down - just to help me with my purchase. I guess your dealership would be quite unique here in the Calgary market.

I have never - ever- had a business dealing like this. Be it houses, cars, stereos, TVs, hockey equipment or even cheeseburgers - I have never once been treated like I was by this dealership. I grew up in an era where there used to be a saying, "the customer is always right", however, it seems more and more that in the hot tub industry, this edict has been replaced with "there's a sucker born every minute."

Perhaps this could spawn the birth of a new, retail-oriented phrase "disposable customers." Definition - say whatever you can to make the sale, ignore them and blow them off afterwards, and then in the small minority of cases where a customer becomes overly bothersome (ie. actually expects defects to be repaired and attempts to hold you accountable), simply give them their money back and flog the product on the next unsuspecting and hopefully more docile sucker. This certainly is easier that honesty, integrity, and commitment and will avoid all those money-losing warranty repairs. After all, we are still in a recession!

You can call me unreasonable if you will, however you are not qualified to make that statement. Although we all have different levels of what we deem as acceptable and reasonable, consumers DO have certain rights, and some dealers clearly, for whatever reasons, would prefer to not deal with customers who insist those rights be upheld.

If you at all act in "real life" like you portray yourself on here, then I guarantee that if you were in my shoes, you would have felt/acted the same way - if not worse.

All I care about is that I am now very happy with our new tub and our new dealer, and they too are happy to have our business (at least they haven't sent the crane out yet).

This thread was not meant to polarize dealers on here (be it hot tubs, motorcycles, whatever....) against all us lowly customers who dare to be unhappy and vocal about the way they have been treated, but that seems to be the way this forum goes.

I was simply posting to help others who may be on here doing some research and perhaps considering dealing with Jacuzzi Calgary, and let them know about our experience, so they can make an informed decision.

Anyway, thanks again for your feedback.

[spatech (the unreal one)]

We don't have any clients who are unhappy with the products or the services we have been providing as an award winning dealership for 5 years.

EVERY dealer has had unhappy customers at one time or another, it happens for one reason or another to all. Sometimes its the dealer dropping the ball (even good dealers do sometimes) and sometimes its an unreasonable customer (and some are so unreasonable you don't want them to be your customer) yet often its a combination but if you're going to say you've never had an unhappy customer you're going to loose some credibility.

In the end we seem to have a customer that is now happy since the divorce and a dealer that is happy he is clear of the issue.

[d1dennis2009]

Wannago,

Sorry to hear that things didn't work out, sometime these things happen to all manufacturers. A manufacturer is only as good as the dealers that support it.

Just my opinion.

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

I couldn't agree more. One thing I've learned in this business is that there is definitely two sides to every story and the truth usually lies in the middle somewhere.

Wannago, for all I know and for the point of this argument, I will assume you are 100% correct in how you describe the situation that has transpired. With that said, when you came on here with your "city dealer VS country dealer thread a few months ago...I honestly said to myself "I don't think I would sell this person a hot tub". Just an honest instinct that I had, no disrespect.

I think we have decided 4-5 times over the years to just not sell tubs to people for one reason or another and have picked up 2 or 3 tubs and refunded money to customers who were unreasonable or unhappy with the tub for whatever reason.

With that said everyone sounds happy and it seems like you got a great tub...hope you enjoy it.

Thanks Dan.

Likewise, regarding my previous thread which you have referenced above, I recall feeling how you would not be the type of dealer I would be interested in buying from either. This too is just an honest opinion, no disrespect. Funny thing though, EVERY single dealership I went into here in Calgary was very interested in having my business, and were even kind enough to allow me to put deposits down - just to help me with my purchase. I guess your dealership would be quite unique here in the Calgary market.

I have never - ever- had a business dealing like this. Be it houses, cars, stereos, TVs, hockey equipment or even cheeseburgers - I have never once been treated like I was by this dealership. I grew up in an era where there used to be a saying, "the customer is always right", however, it seems more and more that in the hot tub industry, this edict has been replaced with "there's a sucker born every minute."

Perhaps this could spawn the birth of a new, retail-oriented phrase "disposable customers." Definition - say whatever you can to make the sale, ignore them and blow them off afterwards, and then in the small minority of cases where a customer becomes overly bothersome (ie. actually expects defects to be repaired and attempts to hold you accountable), simply give them their money back and flog the product on the next unsuspecting and hopefully more docile sucker. This certainly is easier that honesty, integrity, and commitment and will avoid all those money-losing warranty repairs. After all, we are still in a recession!

You can call me unreasonable if you will, however you are not qualified to make that statement. Although we all have different levels of what we deem as acceptable and reasonable, consumers DO have certain rights, and some dealers clearly, for whatever reasons, would prefer to not deal with customers who insist those rights be upheld.

If you at all act in "real life" like you portray yourself on here, then I guarantee that if you were in my shoes, you would have felt/acted the same way - if not worse.

All I care about is that I am now very happy with our new tub and our new dealer, and they too are happy to have our business (at least they haven't sent the crane out yet).

This thread was not meant to polarize dealers on here (be it hot tubs, motorcycles, whatever....) against all us lowly customers who dare to be unhappy and vocal about the way they have been treated, but that seems to be the way this forum goes.

I was simply posting to help others who may be on here doing some research and perhaps considering dealing with Jacuzzi Calgary, and let them know about our experience, so they can make an informed decision.

Anyway, thanks again for your feedback.

Wannago, the 4-5 people that we decided not to sell to and the 3 tubs that we took back is out of 5000+ sales just to give you some perspective. So don't make me out to be like the Soup Nazi in the Seinfeld episode.

Out of the 3 that we took back:

One person became afraid when his 2 year old son put his foot near the area where the heat discharges and said it burned him. He asked if we would take the tub back and we did.

The second guy lost his job shortly after buying the tub, asked if we would take it back, and we did.

The third person was so ridiculously unreasonable that we decided that it made better business sense to take the tub back then to continue the relationship.

One of the guys that we didn't sell to was a real beauty. I think he came in 25 times for what seemed like a total of 100 hours. Some of our customers thought he worked there. I don't mind people doing reasearch but this guy was unvelieveable. Tried to get us to work some sort of insurance scam (which of course we laughed at). There are about 25 more good stories but I'll get to the end....

He finally bought a tub and came in the day before to ask about 600 more questions. We had 7-8 tubs going out the next day and one of our employees had them all lined up on the far side of the building to get them ready with lifters, ozonators, etc... He asked casually if his tub was one of the ones over there...which it indeed was.

After he walked out the door, we all kind of joked "why are we selling this guy a tub?" Well, one of the guys had gone out back and came around the side where the tubs were and noticed the customer pulled over near the tubs with his hood open to his truck. After he left we went over there and he had taken grease from his engine and smeared it all over the shell and back-side of the cabinet of his own tub. I', guessing he was going to ask for a discount or something when they delivered it.....which we never did.

Again, good luck with your tub and hope you enjoy it.