Soon To Be New Owner Of A Bullfrog 362!

[Crusher]

Thanks to everyone who share their valuable experiences and expertise on this forum. Our Bullfrog will be deliver Monday and we are really excited. The deciding factor was our comfort level with the local dealership (i.e. BBB report, owners experiences, customer service, etc.), price, warranty, overall design and construction quality of the spas. Will share delivery experience and usage later this month.

[Don & Geri Smith]

Thanks to everyone who share their valuable experiences and expertise on this forum. Our Bullfrog will be deliver Monday and we are really excited. The deciding factor was our comfort level with the local dealership (i.e. BBB report, owners experiences, customer service, etc.), price, warranty, overall design and construction quality of the spas. Will share delivery experience and usage later this month.

Crusher, Good luck with your new Bullfrog, and YES, we especially will be waiting to hear of your complete experience with this hot tub. Geri and I live in Montana, and are looking for our first hot tub! From our investigations we have been told to avoid ABS as a construction material in hot tubs and are lookng into the exact reasons why. Were you aware the Bullfrog tubs have this materal in their construction and know anything about this particular issue?

Don & Geri

[Crusher]

Thanks to everyone who share their valuable experiences and expertise on this forum. Our Bullfrog will be deliver Monday and we are really excited. The deciding factor was our comfort level with the local dealership (i.e. BBB report, owners experiences, customer service, etc.), price, warranty, overall design and construction quality of the spas. Will share delivery experience and usage later this month.

Crusher, Good luck with your new Bullfrog, and YES, we especially will be waiting to hear of your complete experience with this hot tub. Geri and I live in Montana, and are looking for our first hot tub! From our investigations we have been told to avoid ABS as a construction material in hot tubs and are lookng into the exact reasons why. Were you aware the Bullfrog tubs have this materal in their construction and know anything about this particular issue?

Don & Geri

Thanks for the well wishes. Yes, I was aware of the ABS material for the frame, but unaware of any specific issues. Bullfrog does offer a Lifetime Warranty on the frame, so I considered that a +. The Bullfrog Spa has performed great, no issues, quiet operation, well insulated, energy efficient, and excellent construction. I like having the flexibility of swapping the Jet Paks around the seating positions. I have zero complaints with ownership experience, to include the local dealership.

[Don & Geri Smith]

Thanks to everyone who share their valuable experiences and expertise on this forum. Our Bullfrog will be deliver Monday and we are really excited. The deciding factor was our comfort level with the local dealership (i.e. BBB report, owners experiences, customer service, etc.), price, warranty, overall design and construction quality of the spas. Will share delivery experience and usage later this month.

Crusher, Good luck with your new Bullfrog, and YES, we especially will be waiting to hear of your complete experience with this hot tub. Geri and I live in Montana, and are looking for our first hot tub! From our investigations we have been told to avoid ABS as a construction material in hot tubs and are lookng into the exact reasons why. Were you aware the Bullfrog tubs have this materal in their construction and know anything about this particular issue?

Don & Geri

Thanks for the well wishes. Yes, I was aware of the ABS material for the frame, but unaware of any specific issues. Bullfrog does offer a Lifetime Warranty on the frame, so I considered that a +. The Bullfrog Spa has performed great, no issues, quiet operation, well insulated, energy efficient, and excellent construction. I like having the flexibility of swapping the Jet Paks around the seating positions. I have zero complaints with ownership experience, to include the local dealership.

Glad to hear everythng is working out for you and your new home addition, so far. I would be curious what the exact wording is of the warranty and what limitations may be stated. With all the hot tubs available and many offered only over the Internet, I am firmly believing it is best to work with a local long standing company for selection, sales and service, ESPECIALLY service.....

Don & Geri

[JerimiahR]

Don & Geri,

Where in Montana do you live? Have you stopped by any of the Hot Spring dealers yet? I'm curious what you've heard about the use of ABS in spas. It's interesting you've heard from someone any specific point that ABS in general is bad. Did they give you any specifics as far as what specific components/parts they were talking about?

If you're in the Bozeman, MT area, stop by and see me sometime. I'd love to chat with you folks and see if we can help you two find the right spa.

Take care!

[Don & Geri Smith]

Don & Geri,

Where in Montana do you live? Have you stopped by any of the Hot Spring dealers yet? I'm curious what you've heard about the use of ABS in spas. It's interesting you've heard from someone any specific point that ABS in general is bad. Did they give you any specifics as far as what specific components/parts they were talking about?

If you're in the Bozeman, MT area, stop by and see me sometime. I'd love to chat with you folks and see if we can help you two find the right spa.

Take care!

Jerimiah,

Thanks for your post. Nice to get some dialog going further than other threads.

The use of ABS that I have read are here and #4 here.

We live in Missoula and no, we have not gone to any local dealers as yet. Our self education about owning a hpt tub is taking some time, and the 'Internet library' is quite large.

Don & Geri

[JerimiahR]

Jerimiah,

Thanks for your post. Nice to get some dialog going further than other threads.

The use of ABS that I have read are here and #4 here.

We live in Missoula and no, we have not gone to any local dealers as yet. Our self education about owning a hpt tub is taking some time, and the 'Internet library' is quite large.

Don & Geri

The second link took me to some spam site. Looks like it goes to www.xxxx.com/shopping.html. So it's no good.

The first link, I'd take with a grain of salt at least, considering it's a free Angelfire website (that's about the same as reading someone's personal blog essentially.

However, they do seem to make some sense. While they point out worst case scenarios with ABS backed Acrylic, they don't seem to support it in any fashion. So it's a little biased. It's funny how folks do that. They reason that manufacturers who us ABS backed Acrylic shells only fill their spas with dense foam insulation for "structure" purposes. And seem to forget that most people prefer to fill the walls of their home with insulation for a reason.

If a spa does leak that is "fully foamed" it is indeed more difficult to locate and repair that leak. However, it has been my experience (with Hot Spring at least) that they tend to leak at a much smaller rate. In fact, the spas I've seen that require plumbing related repairs are usually spas that are left empty in the winter (without being properly winterized).

This is an age old argument that goes back and forth, and both sides will stab at each other whenever they get the chance. So be very careful about the information you find. To be honest, I'd suggest you stop by local dealers and look at the spas for yourself, ask a few questions, and hear everyone's stories. There's much more difference between brands than simply shell materials. So I'd caution you on making a decision based on the one issue.

Good luck to you guys in your hot tub search though! I hope you two have a good shopping experience once you head off to look at spas.

[Don & Geri Smith]

Jerimiah,

Thanks for your post. Nice to get some dialog going further than other threads.

The use of ABS that I have read are here and #4 here.

We live in Missoula and no, we have not gone to any local dealers as yet. Our self education about owning a hpt tub is taking some time, and the 'Internet library' is quite large.

Don & Geri

The second link took me to some spam site. Looks like it goes to www.xxxx.com/shopping.html. So it's no good.

The first link, I'd take with a grain of salt at least, considering it's a free Angelfire website (that's about the same as reading someone's personal blog essentially.

However, they do seem to make some sense. While they point out worst case scenarios with ABS backed Acrylic, they don't seem to support it in any fashion. So it's a little biased. It's funny how folks do that. They reason that manufacturers who us ABS backed Acrylic shells only fill their spas with dense foam insulation for "structure" purposes. And seem to forget that most people prefer to fill the walls of their home with insulation for a reason.

If a spa does leak that is "fully foamed" it is indeed more difficult to locate and repair that leak. However, it has been my experience (with Hot Spring at least) that they tend to leak at a much smaller rate. In fact, the spas I've seen that require plumbing related repairs are usually spas that are left empty in the winter (without being properly winterized).

This is an age old argument that goes back and forth, and both sides will stab at each other whenever they get the chance. So be very careful about the information you find. To be honest, I'd suggest you stop by local dealers and look at the spas for yourself, ask a few questions, and hear everyone's stories. There's much more difference between brands than simply shell materials. So I'd caution you on making a decision based on the one issue.

Good luck to you guys in your hot tub search though! I hope you two have a good shopping experience once you head off to look at spas.

Sorry about the bad link. It appears that this site deleted the body of the link.

The additional information was at spaspecialst dot com website.

We will not choose a hot tub with only one criteria in mind, that is for sure....

Again, thanks for your input and direction.

Don & Geri