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Costco Platinum elite spa


Guest Shelly Solum

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Hey NW, you're focusing on my negative comments on HydroSpa and not on any of the positives I've given them. When people ask about OPINIONS on a mfg, this is a forum, and I think the idea is to offer some feedback to the questions. That's all I've ever done, and I try to be precise and fair in what I offer from firsthand (not hearsay) experience. Plus, there are many complaints against them on the BBB site, there are large threads from Hydrospa owners complaining about a variety of things, and the dealers did tell me exactly what I have offered here. If you doubt I'm just a consumer, so be it. I've posted many times I'm not; just another consumer like you. I can give you the names of the 2 dealers here locally on a PM if you wish so; just write me back. I even stated on one post that their reasons might be motivated from a financial basis as you suggested (selling direct, less commissions, etc) so we may agree there as well. But HS also sells a unit thru Costco but they still have a huge dealer network. It seems like you just want people to sit on negative information they may have and only reserve positive comments. That's not what this site is for. It's to try educate one another in the best way we can without getting meanspirited and hopefully without biases affecting our comments.

As to my comments about their quality, that comes from reading lots of threads and posts here and on other sites. Those are their opinions; I'm just passing them on to prosective new buyers who may not have the time or resources to research tubs like I did. I think everyone realizes here that some of the information on sites like this is not valid or reliable and they take it or leave it. But consumers can try and get a feel for a product or a mfg by compiling information and forming an opinion. And that's all I have been saying about HydroSpa - that in my opinion, there's some questions about them and their products. You may have a great tub and I'm happy for you. I think I would have been happy with their Omni as well. It had everything I wanted at a MUCH LOWER price than what I ended up paying. I just decided not to take the chance.

And is there a large markup on spas? I would agree there is but if you want to buy a specific brand and they are only sold thru dealers, I guess a consumer does not have a choice, does he. In the case of HydroSpa, I was not about to buy one without having the opportunity to wet test one, let alone even see one, even if it was only $7k. And for a major mfg (as they proclaim to be) to not have one dealer in a market the size of Chicago does strike me as strange. There are ways around having independent dealers; such as my Arctic "dealer" who is really a company owned store. They had 5 models to wet test, full compliment of supplies, and full service dept. Hydrospa could certainly opt for this setup but for some reason, they do not and prefer to sell on the internet and Costco.

Bottom line, I'm glad Hydrospa is out there and selling lower priced units to the market. If their products are reliable and they can keep their pricing down, they will be rewarded with more sales and a larger chunk of the market. Only time will tell as with any company in any other industry.

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All hail the Platinum III, with even more jets and the same ZERO salespeople!

http://www.platinumhottubs.com//index.htm

As a woman exclaimed to me in Costco a few years ago (over a different product), "Every year it gets better and it's the same price!".

I bought too soon. ;)

The Platinum III apears to be a version of the Desire by Hydro-Spa.

It does have the foil bubble wrap insullation just under the siding, I added that to my Platinum II already.

I like the new colors. Looks like a great buy. I wonder if the price will go up.

IPB Image

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We just got our new Platinum II installed last night. We are very happy so far. We have owned another spa in the past (was a name brand one..forget what brand it was though) and we like this one even more.

The jets seem nice and powerful, it heated up very fast (we live in Manitoba Canada, and its pretty cool outside already), seats are confortable, and everything seems to work as expected.

Need to hook up the cover remover thing this weekend, and then its all done.

Based on what i have seen and felt so far, i would recommend this tub. The price was great too.

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Hey NW, you're focusing on my negative comments on HydroSpa and not on any of the positives I've given them. When people ask about OPINIONS on a mfg, this is a forum, and I think the idea is to offer some feedback to the questions. That's all I've ever done, and I try to be precise and fair in what I offer from firsthand (not hearsay) experience. Plus, there are many complaints against them on the BBB site, there are large threads from Hydrospa owners complaining about a variety of things, and the dealers did tell me exactly what I have offered here. If you doubt I'm just a consumer, so be it. I've posted many times I'm not; just another consumer like you. I can give you the names of the 2 dealers here locally on a PM if you wish so; just write me back. I even stated on one post that their reasons might be motivated from a financial basis as you suggested (selling direct, less commissions, etc) so we may agree there as well. But HS also sells a unit thru Costco but they still have a huge dealer network. It seems like you just want people to sit on negative information they may have and only reserve positive comments. That's not what this site is for. It's to try educate one another in the best way we can without getting meanspirited and hopefully without biases affecting our comments.

As to my comments about their quality, that comes from reading lots of threads and posts here and on other sites. Those are their opinions; I'm just passing them on to prosective new buyers who may not have the time or resources to research tubs like I did. I think everyone realizes here that some of the information on sites like this is not valid or reliable and they take it or leave it. But consumers can try and get a feel for a product or a mfg by compiling information and forming an opinion. And that's all I have been saying about HydroSpa - that in my opinion, there's some questions about them and their products. You may have a great tub and I'm happy for you. I think I would have been happy with their Omni as well. It had everything I wanted at a MUCH LOWER price than what I ended up paying. I just decided not to take the chance.

And is there a large markup on spas? I would agree there is but if you want to buy a specific brand and they are only sold thru dealers, I guess a consumer does not have a choice, does he. In the case of HydroSpa, I was not about to buy one without having the opportunity to wet test one, let alone even see one, even if it was only $7k. And for a major mfg (as they proclaim to be) to not have one dealer in a market the size of Chicago does strike me as strange. There are ways around having independent dealers; such as my Arctic "dealer" who is really a company owned store. They had 5 models to wet test, full compliment of supplies, and full service dept. Hydrospa could certainly opt for this setup but for some reason, they do not and prefer to sell on the internet and Costco.

Bottom line, I'm glad Hydrospa is out there and selling lower priced units to the market. If their products are reliable and they can keep their pricing down, they will be rewarded with more sales and a larger chunk of the market. Only time will tell as with any company in any other industry.

Why are you so down on Hydro Spa that you keep repeating info you have already apoligized for being wrong about. You continue to repeat the BBB thing when you have already apoligized to this board for mixing them up with someone else. They don't have a bad BBB rating. They are a much larger Spa company than your Arctic Spa company and have been making spas lots longer and sold lots more spas.

Go talk up your spa instead of cutting everybody elses. You have a great spa, go talk about it.

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Why are you so down on Hydro Spa that you keep repeating info you have already apoligized for being wrong about. You continue to repeat the BBB thing when you have already apoligized to this board for mixing them up with someone else. They don't have a bad BBB rating. They are a much larger Spa company than your Arctic Spa company and have been making spas lots longer and sold lots more spas.

Go talk up your spa instead of cutting everybody elses. You have a great spa, go talk about it.

The question I have about NW is why he bashes people critical of HydroSpa. I have posted before about information only to have this NW person critically attack what I write. It appears they are an employee of HydroSpa or a hired proefssional forum poster. Beleieve it or not, they exist.

My personal experience as a consumer is that the Hydropsa product is poorly designed and that their customer service is poor. My 4-month-old Platinum Elite piece of junk has not worked properly since the day we bought it. Were it not for Costco's return policy, which we are in the process of availing ourselves of, we would be screwed.

Consumers beware. Don't waste your dollars on a company that does not give a darn about you once they have your monye. Avoid Hydropsa and buy from another vendor.

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The question I have about NW is why he bashes people critical of HydroSpa. I have posted before about information only to have this NW person critically attack what I write.

As far as I can tell you are trying to post about a personal experience with a particular spa.

I would encourage you to feel free to do so.

In fact, thanks for taking the time - I especially appreciated the post awhile back in which you detailed and even corrected your info about the BBB. I think you made it clear, others may want to take the time to reread it.

B)

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The question I have about NW is why he bashes people critical of HydroSpa. I have posted before about information only to have this NW person critically attack what I write. It appears they are an employee of HydroSpa or a hired proefssional forum poster. Beleieve it or not, they exist.

My personal experience as a consumer is that the Hydropsa product is poorly designed and that their customer service is poor. My 4-month-old Platinum Elite piece of junk has not worked properly since the day we bought it. Were it not for Costco's return policy, which we are in the process of availing ourselves of, we would be screwed.

Consumers beware. Don't waste your dollars on a company that does not give a darn about you once they have your monye. Avoid Hydropsa and buy from another vendor.

My wife and I have had the platinum elite II for four months as well.

We love our spa and have looked at all the brands available and can say that we looked for over a year and nothing comes close to this spa for the 4k selling price!

We have a freind that is a buyer from costco and we know that if this spa, customer service was junk then Costco would switch venders immediately as the did with Weslo spas,E machines computers and other sub par vendors. The case with the hydrospa/platinum II is that they have sold the elite version I,II and soon III with great success. My Costco has had no elite spa returned according to member services. I doubt that if other mechants had a generouse return policy like Costco (knowing costco in one store sold at least five per week just this model) They sold out the shipment as well as display weekly could claim no returns in stores as does Costco.

As for the comparison to a spa that cost 6,8 and yes 10 thousand dollars... you bet it does! let's compare the 56 framd dual pumps, Balboa E.L.series spa pac (not the cheapy plastic case) but the high end with metal cabinet. 24 hour 1/15th hp circ pump, cd ozone. new thermal insulation on panels as well as tub base abd foam on tub. Our electric bill is about 35 dollars a month and we use the spa everday minimum 30 minutes. Temp is always 100 with economy and sleep mode not used. very reaonable and in lne with freinds H.S. Sovereign and another freinds Sundance Optima as energy goes.

Take a look at the plumbing, non blue glue fitting with lifetime warranty. Sundance? Hot Sprigs? I think not! Shell warranty ect is very on par with much more expensive spas.

The Hydrospa sterline leisure is the same tub albeit different shell being only blue(starry night). This tub retails for more the ten thousand dollars and is the same tub, check it out, all componets are the same!

As for servive, our freind's Sundance spa needed service due to a leak and where without a tub for two months! After two incompetent attempts to fix it they finally did but had to wait for parts. Hot Springs, same issue but three weeks wating for parts. Nothing different than what you seem to be experiancing. I am sure that customer service will assist and resolve your issue especially since they want to be one of costco prefered vendors.

I dont know why everyone is into bashing a great spa and getting very aggitated when one compares the 4k tub to the 10 k tub. Hyundai blew the lid off the qualty vs. price, vs brand loyalty myth over the last few years only to rival Honda and Toyota this last year with the Hyundai Sonata.

There is a huge markup in spas that costco simply doesn't take like the major brand salesman and stores do. I know someone that sells Sundance and I had to sit down when I read the dealer profit margin on their tubs. They could come very close to Costco/ Hydrospa if they choose but they dont.

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My wife and I have had the platinum elite II for four months as well. We love our spa and have looked at all the brands available and can say that we looked for over a year and nothing comes close to this spa for the 4k selling price! We have a freind that is a buyer from costco and we know that if this spa, customer service was junk then Costco would switch venders immediately as the did with Weslo spas,E machines computers and other sub par vendors. The case with the hydrospa/platinum II is that they have sold the elite version I,II and soon III with great success. My Costco has had no elite spa returned according to member services. I doubt that if other mechants had a generouse return policy like Costco (knowing costco in one store sold at least five per week just this model) They sold out the shipment as well as display weekly could claim no returns in stores as does Costco. As for the comparison to a spa that cost 6,8 and yes 10 thousand dollars... you bet it does! let's compare the 56 framd dual pumps, Balboa E.L.series spa pac (not the cheapy plastic case) but the high end with metal cabinet. 24 hour 1/15th hp circ pump, cd ozone. new thermal insulation on panels as well as tub base abd foam on tub. Our electric bill is about 35 dollars a month and we use the spa everday minimum 30 minutes. Temp is always 100 with economy and sleep mode not used. very reaonable and in lne with freinds H.S. Sovereign and another freinds Sundance Optima as energy goes. Take a look at the plumbing, non blue glue fitting with lifetime warranty. Sundance? Hot Sprigs? I think not! Shell warranty ect is very on par with much more expensive spas. The Hydrospa sterline leisure is the same tub albeit different shell being only blue(starry night). This tub retails for more the ten thousand dollars and is the same tub, check it out, all componets are the same! As for servive, our freinds Sundance spa needed service due to a leak and where without a tub for two months! after two incompetent attempts to fix it they finally did but had to wait for parts, Hot Springs, same issue but three weeks wating for parts. Nothing different then what you seem to be experiancing. I am sure that customer service will assist and resolve your issue especially since the want to be one of costco prefered vendors. I dont know why everyone is into bashing a great spa and get very aggitated when one compares the 4k tub to the 1o k tub. Hyundai blew the lid off the qualty vs. price, vs brand loyalty myth over the last few years only to rival Honda and Toyota this last year with the Hyundai Sonata. There is a huge markup in spas that costco simply doesn't take like the major brand salesmanm and stores do. I know someone that sells Sundance and I had to sit down when i read the dealer proffit margin on there tubs. They could come very close to Costco/ Hydrospa if they choose but they dont.

They are not the same as the Sterling Leisure Prestine. The Prestine has some features the PlatinumII does not have, but the shell, jets, pumps, and electrical are all the same. The Prestine has sweep 90 plumbing, metal frame (not wood), and better insulation. For the money the PlatinumII is one of the best buys on the market. And the electrical warranty is 2 years on both tubs.

It is so hard to measure power use of the tub. My power bill one month was $16 less than the year before (I didn't have the tub last year). The next month my power bill was $19 more than the year before. There are other factors that effect power usage. I don't think I saved power by getting a tub one month and used more the next because I had the tub. The net effect has not been much yet even with a cold month last month. I did add extra insulation to my tub. I am sure my usage will go up more in the winter.

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They are not the same as the Sterling Leisure Prestine. The Prestine has some features the PlatinumII does not have, but the shell, jets, pumps, and electrical are all the same. The Prestine has sweep 90 plumbing, metal frame (not wood), and better insulation. For the money the PlatinumII is one of the best buys on the market. And the electrical warranty is 2 years on both tubs.

It is so hard to measure power use of the tub. My power bill one month was $16 less than the year before (I didn't have the tub last year). The next month my power bill was $19 more than the year before. There are other factors that effect power usage. I don't think I saved power by getting a tub one month and used more the next because I had the tub. The net effect has not been much yet even with a cold month last month. I did add extra insulation to my tub. I am sure my usage will go up more in the winter.

I agree! I thought the platnum II had sweep 90 plumbing, sorry must be the meds as i am writting one handed due to a broken wrist. >How do you plan on insulating the cabinet? I havr already sealed the lip of the spa with rolled foam rope but I am debateing which is easier tha being to use the refective bubble wrap in conjunction with the styrofoam panels or remove them altogether and replace them with 3/4 " insulation board with refective side facing towards the inside of tub. Any ideas?

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wow, I gotta get some of that kool aid. I actually like the costco tub for the price but some of these posts crack me up. It seems like 95% of the posts on here talking about how great thier platinum elite spas are have had them like 2 days- 4 months. I think I've seen like 4 posts in the last few weeks talking about how the tubs electric bill is the same as a quality tub and they are basing it on like 2 or 3 months of summer electic bills.

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I have only had the tub for a week, what else can i say?

We have four kids...and are using the tub at least three times a day.

Can't believe i ever thought a water fall would be nice to have. Seems like a gimmick...but guess alot of spas come with them.

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At the risk of being hammered again by dlynn, I simply want to ask the question (as a fellow consumer), how in the world can Hydro mfg a spa with what appears to be as many features as the $9-12k spas for a third of the price. Even assuming huge dealer markups (30%?), this difference leaves a lot of money unaccounted for. And before you guys start throwing spears my way, I have in the past complimented Hyrdo on the supposed quality components and fine engineering that they appear to use. As I also mentioned, I did not have the choice of buying one from Costco, thereby not having the luxury of their excellent return policy. One last question to dylnn, paintnsunni, and any other HydroSpa customers, would you have purchased one of their standard models such as the Omni or Sterling Leisure direct from an internet source?

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At the risk of being hammered again by dlynn, I simply want to ask the question (as a fellow consumer), how in the world can Hydro mfg a spa with what appears to be as many features as the $9-12k spas for a third of the price. Even assuming huge dealer markups (30%?), this difference leaves a lot of money unaccounted for. And before you guys start throwing spears my way, I have in the past complimented Hyrdo on the supposed quality components and fine engineering that they appear to use. As I also mentioned, I did not have the choice of buying one from Costco, thereby not having the luxury of their excellent return policy. One last question to dylnn, paintnsunni, and any other HydroSpa customers, would you have purchased one of their standard models such as the Omni or Sterling Leisure direct from an internet source?

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I would have had no issue dealing with online for the tub but that being said I was able to look at the tub, remove a panel and actually talk with people online rather then a salesman as to there experiences and opinions. As for the markup, Costco negotiates the lowest vendor price then adds there customary 14 percent. Now the question I have is rather then say whats missing at the 4k? As what more as in price difference of motors, jets, controlls, shell, ect. I highly doubt the spa pac used on"high end" tub is worth 6k more or the shell.. go look at replacement parts for Sundance. H.S. ,Clearwater ect. Id bet that the pumps an controls are within 200 dollars total and are the same design. so that gets us to the shell. Is that shell on the"high end" tub worth lets say2k more? I doubt it. Now we are down to the insulation, full foam is that more costly the other methods by 1k? I doubt it. When our freinds come and soak we dont discuss what we paid as when we did the first day they got upset due to the H.S. they had was more then 10k! I could throw mine away in a mere 60 months and do a few repairs, buy another tub and still be ahead of them. In saying that, I like their tub but I like the platinum no less. So the question I have is why is there such a huge gap in price? I dont see Costco or hydrospa makeing excuses as to why they are selling this spa at a wholesale price remember the rest of Costcos name is Wholesale..... I'd ask the dealer to show you the difference in actuall value and not perceived "name brand" emotional value. I went to a spa dealer to compare the Costco tub to theirs and the best they could say ws they wouldn't buy a hot tub at the same place they get there toilet paper! Nice jab but no real reason that there simillar tub cost thousands more.

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