Unhappy with dealer in TX

[Nuggett]

TexStar Pools and Spa AKA TexStar installs in Arlington TX.

My plan was to buy a spa from Costo and take advantage of their legendary reputation. On Dec 8th 2011 Tony Guajardo, a fantastic electrician, family man and honest tradesman built my cement pad and connected the 220v/60Amp box to my home in anticipation of a Costco spa. Tony asked what spa I was buying and I told him. He said he had been working with other dealers around Dallas for several years and I should consider spending $1200 more to get a better spa, proper delivery, service and setup. I asked him who he recommends. TexStar sells Viking and also provides a better warranty for a service oriented customer. Costco doesnt offer the additional setup, only curb side drop off.

I contacted Dwayne (retails sales) on Dec 10th 2011 at TexStar in Arlington, TX. We discussed a Viking Heritage II over the phone. He spent more than enough time with me and was upfront about pricing, delivery and the time frame of ordering a spa that was to be delivered from Michigan. He was not pushy and very professional over the phone. My residence is over an hour a way from his shop. Mistake #1. Buy Local!

On Dec 12th I called Dwayne and told him I would like to order the Viking Heritage II after the freebies, startup kit and taxes the charged amount on my Citibank was $6840. Dwayne thanked me for my business and said that most factories shut down the week of Christmas and I should check back with him around Dec 28th. So far so good.

I called Dwayne the week after Christmas and was advised the spa was built and ready for shipping. The ship date was Jan 2 2012 and could arrive that Friday Jan 6th or Jan 7th for a Saturday delivery. I was getting excited now about a nice hot soak that weekend.

I heard nothing back so I reached out to Dwayne Monday Jan 9th. At this point I was starting to get turned off by the lack of call back I was getting from my sales guy Dwayne. Dwayne could tell his answers were no longer holding water. He couldnt provide answers on a delivery date or what the Viking factory was telling him. That same day the owner of TexStar, Frank Kovar, a very nice man told me what the delay was about. He was honest and shared with me that he ordered a second spa which delayed my spa to save on the shipping cost. I told him that I appreciated his honesty and he assured me that an in-store credit on chemicals and a cover lifter would be included free of charge. In my mind, that showed quite a bit of credibility because he was honest.

Tuesday Jan 10th I was pleasantly surprised by a text from Dwayne, the sales guy, who told me the tub shipped the day before and I am looking at a nice weekend playing with my new toy.

Friday I called Dwayne and he was going to check the tracking number provided by the shipper used by TexStar. I received a call from Frank Kovar stating that the driver had a heart attack and they didnt know where the spa was located. I was looking at second buzz killed weekend with no spa that I paid for on Dec 12th.

Frank called me Jan 17th to tell me again the spa shipped and it should be in my yard by Friday. All this time he was professional and apologetic I then received a call from Frank Kovar Jan 18th letting me know the spa was going to be here any day, thanks for keeping me informed Frank! Friday Jan 20th the spa could not be located because the driver was taking his mandatory 8 hours break. A cross country hauler definitely needs to the rest to avoid an accident.

Jan 20th the spa could not be located so Frank, the owner, insisted I take a floor model to keep me warm till my spa arrived. NO charge and the loaner is delivered at 9am Jan 21st. Mistake #2. Just get me the product I ordered or refund my money. The delivery guys were pros and very easy to work with. They hooked up the 220 and turned the spa on. 6 hours later the spa was at 101F and I eased my way in. An hour later the spa was at 99, then 98 and then the lights started blinking. The filter and calcium buildup of their poorly maintained floor model cooled off to 92. I unplugged the tub, drained it and asked Frank Kovar to pick it up after the rains subsided in Dallas.

That night I decided to protect myself by contacting Citicards and disputing the charge based on non-delivery of product. Frank spoke to me Sunday morning and told me my card would be credited Monday Jan 23rd. Checked my account the next day and I didnt see the reversal of the charge. He scheduled the pickup of the loaner for Friday Jan 27th and I insisted he return my money Jan 26th which he documented with an email receipt from intuit business services, the credit card transaction service he uses.

Thursday night Jan 26th, the co-owner of Texstar, Rochelle Kovar sent me an emailed a receipt indicating a full refund had been processed. I checked my online account a few days later and no refund had been processed. I sent the billing dispute division my copy of the emailed receipt as requested but it didnt constitute a real receipt on Feb 2nd 2012.

I then called Dwayne, who is unceremonious and headless at this point. He was on the other line with Rochelle and that she would call me in an hour. Rochelle called me later that day and told me she cant figure out why the money didnt make it to the card and she suspected changing bank accounts with GoPayments/Intuit could be causing the delay. Needless to say my head is spinning at this point as a result of the excuses heard over the last 4 weeks. At this point I am expecting a call on February 3rd from Rochelle so she could release the funds from the correct account.

Getting loud OR abusive over the phone would not solve anything so I had to keep my cool. My personality doesnt always allow this.

TexStar owners seem to be honest and hard working people but the lack of execution and wasting my time for 6 weeks caused me to write this review. They are disorganize and dont have the urgency that other retailer have displayed.

Dwayne the sales guy is either out of the loop on operations or just doesnt give a crap once he charges the card. He gives salesman a bad name. I cant tell if he is a smart a$$ or just aloof to what $6800 mean to a middle class homeowner.

Tony Guajardo (electrician) mentioned above is not affiliated with TexStar and performs the electrical install and cement pads for several unrelated dealers in the Dallas Metroplex. I would recommend him for any job and I plan on using him in the future. Thank you Tony. You take pride and it shows in your work.

Some advice for the folks out there who are planning to buy a spa. Visit the store and do a wet test. Pay by credit card and get a proper receipt handed to you, none of this confirm by text non-sense. It just delays the process if you need to get your money back.

Another transaction style that a reputable store offered me was a $1000 deposit and full payment was signed off when the tub was delivered.

Visit a shop close to you so you can resolve a legitimate issues face to face so other clients with in ear shot might persuade the retailer to move a little faster than, ah well get to it.

To tell you the truth if the loaner would have worked until my new tub was delivered it would have been smooth sailing. Word to TexStar; dont deliver a $3000 loaner spa that doesnt work to a person who ordered a $6800 spa precipitated by three weeks of delays.

At this point I either have to wait on Citibank to fully reimburse my account, not the conditional credit they use to pacify the card holder, for 45 more days. Or they will return my money in the correct manner that MasterCard, Intuit and the banks require each merchant to agree.

Did I mention Dwayne the sales guy……ineffectual!

When this saga raps up I will post new information on when my money was returned, what spa I chose and which retailer I used.

[njmurvin]

TexStar Pools and Spa AKA TexStar installs in Arlington TX.

My plan was to buy a spa from Costo and take advantage of their legendary reputation. On Dec 8th 2011 Tony Guajardo, a fantastic electrician, family man and honest tradesman built my cement pad and connected the 220v/60Amp box to my home in anticipation of a Costco spa. Tony asked what spa I was buying and I told him. He said he had been working with other dealers around Dallas for several years and I should consider spending $1200 more to get a better spa, proper delivery, service and setup. I asked him who he recommends. TexStar sells Viking and also provides a better warranty for a service oriented customer. Costco doesn’t offer the additional setup, only curb side drop off.

I contacted Dwayne (retails sales) on Dec 10th 2011 at TexStar in Arlington, TX. We discussed a Viking Heritage II over the phone. He spent more than enough time with me and was upfront about pricing, delivery and the time frame of ordering a spa that was to be delivered from Michigan. He was not pushy and very professional over the phone. My residence is over an hour a way from his shop. Mistake #1. Buy Local!

On Dec 12th I called Dwayne and told him I would like to order the Viking Heritage II after the freebies, startup kit and taxes the charged amount on my Citibank was $6840. Dwayne thanked me for my business and said that most factories shut down the week of Christmas and I should check back with him around Dec 28th. So far so good.

I called Dwayne the week after Christmas and was advised the spa was built and ready for shipping. The ship date was Jan 2 2012 and could arrive that Friday Jan 6th or Jan 7th for a Saturday delivery. I was getting excited now about a nice hot soak that weekend.

I heard nothing back so I reached out to Dwayne Monday Jan 9th. At this point I was starting to get turned off by the lack of call back I was getting from my sales guy Dwayne. Dwayne could tell his answers were no longer holding water. He couldn’t provide answers on a delivery date or what the Viking factory was telling him. That same day the owner of TexStar, Frank Kovar, a very nice man told me what the delay was about. He was honest and shared with me that he ordered a second spa which delayed my spa to save on the shipping cost. I told him that I appreciated his honesty and he assured me that an in-store credit on chemicals and a cover lifter would be included free of charge. In my mind, that showed quite a bit of credibility because he was honest.

Tuesday Jan 10th I was pleasantly surprised by a text from Dwayne, the sales guy, who told me the tub shipped the day before and I am looking at a nice weekend playing with my new toy.

Friday I called Dwayne and he was going to check the tracking number provided by the shipper used by TexStar. I received a call from Frank Kovar stating that the driver had a heart attack and they didn’t know where the spa was located. I was looking at second buzz killed weekend with no spa that I paid for on Dec 12th.

Frank called me Jan 17th to tell me again the spa shipped and it should be in my yard by Friday. All this time he was professional and apologetic I then received a call from Frank Kovar Jan 18th letting me know the spa was going to be here any day, “thanks for keeping me informed Frank! Friday Jan 20th the spa could not be located because the driver was taking his mandatory 8 hours break. A cross country hauler definitely needs to the rest to avoid an accident.

Jan 20th the spa could not be located so Frank, the owner, insisted I take a floor model to keep me warm till my spa arrived. NO charge and the loaner is delivered at 9am Jan 21st. Mistake #2. Just get me the product I ordered or refund my money. The delivery guys were pros and very easy to work with. They hooked up the 220 and turned the spa on. 6 hours later the spa was at 101F and I eased my way in. An hour later the spa was at 99, then 98 and then the lights started blinking. The filter and calcium buildup of their poorly maintained floor model cooled off to 92. I unplugged the tub, drained it and asked Frank Kovar to pick it up after the rains subsided in Dallas.

That night I decided to protect myself by contacting Citicards and disputing the charge based on non-delivery of product. Frank spoke to me Sunday morning and told me my card would be credited Monday Jan 23rd. Checked my account the next day and I didn’t see the reversal of the charge. He scheduled the pickup of the loaner for Friday Jan 27th and I insisted he return my money Jan 26th which he documented with an email receipt from intuit business services, the credit card transaction service he uses.

Thursday night Jan 26th, the co-owner of Texstar, Rochelle Kovar sent me an emailed a receipt indicating a full refund had been processed. I checked my online account a few days later and no refund had been processed. I sent the billing dispute division my copy of the emailed receipt as requested but it didn’t constitute a real receipt on Feb 2nd 2012.

I then called Dwayne, who is unceremonious and headless at this point. He was on the other line with Rochelle and that she would call me in an hour. Rochelle called me later that day and told me she can’t figure out why the money didn’t make it to the card and she suspected changing bank accounts with GoPayments/Intuit could be causing the delay. Needless to say my head is spinning at this point as a result of the excuses heard over the last 4 weeks. At this point I am expecting a call on February 3rd from Rochelle so she could release the funds from the correct account.

•Getting loud OR abusive over the phone would not solve anything so I had to keep my cool. My personality doesn’t always allow this.

•TexStar owners seem to be honest and hard working people but the lack of execution and wasting my time for 6 weeks caused me to write this review. They are disorganize and don’t have the urgency that other retailer have displayed.

•Dwayne the sales guy is either out of the loop on operations or just doesn’t give a crap once he charges the card. He gives salesman a bad name. I can’t tell if he is a smart a$$ or just aloof to what $6800 mean to a middle class homeowner.

•Tony Guajardo (electrician) mentioned above is not affiliated with TexStar and performs the electrical install and cement pads for several unrelated dealers in the Dallas Metroplex. I would recommend him for any job and I plan on using him in the future. Thank you Tony. You take pride and it shows in your work.

•Some advice for the folks out there who are planning to buy a spa. Visit the store and do a wet test. Pay by credit card and get a proper receipt handed to you, none of this confirm by text non-sense. It just delays the process if you need to get your money back.

•Another transaction style that a reputable store offered me was a $1000 deposit and full payment was signed off when the tub was delivered.

•Visit a shop close to you so you can resolve a legitimate issues face to face so other clients with in ear shot might persuade the retailer to move a little faster than, “ah we’ll get to it”.

•To tell you the truth if the loaner would have worked until my new tub was delivered it would have been smooth sailing. Word to TexStar; don’t deliver a $3000 loaner spa that doesn’t work to a person who ordered a $6800 spa precipitated by three weeks of delays.

•At this point I either have to wait on Citibank to fully reimburse my account, not the conditional credit they use to pacify the card holder, for 45 more days. Or they will return my money in the correct manner that MasterCard, Intuit and the banks require each merchant to agree.

•Did I mention Dwayne the sales guy……ineffectual!

•When this saga raps up I will post new information on when my money was returned, what spa I chose and which retailer I used.

Personally, I think the "buy from a local dealer" mantra is overhyped. I considered a Evo spa from Costco but found this forum and it made me think more about it. I had enjoyed many years of trouble-free service from a Sundance spa so I decided to go to a Sundance dealer to check out new ones. When I got to my local (about 45min away) Sundance dealer, I discovered that he had gone out of business and that the location was now occupied by a Marquis factory store. Long story short ... I ended up buying a Marquis spa as I had read here that they're considered to be in the same tier of spas as Sundance.

The delivery went fairly smoothly. It was mainly grunt work in removing my old spa and setting the new one on my pad. I did the electrical hookup myself after he left. But, the installation of the cover lifter was a nightmare. The delivery guy (a subcontractor) was supposed to install it at the time of delivery and he botched it up. So, the dealer sent another guy. This one was a pretty young kid who admitted he was a subcontractor who only did this part time. He botched it up even worse. The manager of the store promised he would come by and do it himself but something always came up. I finally dug out the instructions and fixed it myself. By the time it was done, the side of my spa looked like Swiss cheese with all the holes from the wrongly positioned brackets.

As for the chemicals, the dealer gave me a Spa Frog, startup supply of various chemicals and some test strips. The instructions provided were very basic. When I finally found this site and the Hot Tub Water Chemistry forum, I realized how worthless the dealer's supplies and information were.

Bottom line, I like my spa and don't regret the purchase. However, the support I have gotten here from Waterbear, Chemgeek and others has far surpassed anything I have received from my dealer.

[Spa_Guru]

FYI, the reason your spa lights were blinking is Balboa, the maker of the spa equipment, has a 24 hour one time only automatic GFI trip, if the GFI is not properly hooked up, the lights will blink and the tub shuts down. If the GFI trips properly, the tub only shuts off once.

Viking Spas are hardly top tier, but that should be no surprise to you, you were shopping for a cheap spa, and ended up with the typical result of doing so.

The dealer apparently hasn't learned yet that the customer who pays the least expects the most and complains the loudest.

Old old old story

[Trigger]

isn't East Texas Hot Tubs in your area? i'd call Chris O. (AKA an old poster Terminator)and see what he could do for you.

[Nuggett]

At 11am, on the dot, Dolphin Pool and Supply on Forest Ln, Dallas, TX delivered my J-335 Jacuzzi. I am not here to promote a retailer, nor the brand I bought so spare the debate. My purpose in joining this forum is to share a good experience vs poor experience. The delivery crew removed the hardware on my gate and put a blanked over the tub to move it through my 36 inch gate safely. Details are important to these guys. Thank you Larry (owner), Robert (senior tech) and the two other delivery guys who came out to the house. The tub was placed on the slab, hooked to the 220 and filled. They then assembled the step, ozonator and the cover lifter. With the delivery came a package of full size bottles of chemicals. I am using a proclear mineral cartridge with non-chlorine shock. The water had very little smell and when I woke up this morning my skin was not torched. This setup was more good advice from Midia. They spent an hour with me on the different scenarios on how to use the chemicals since this is my first experience with a pool/spa. I spent $8000 on this tub including the tax. My three doctors refused to RX me for the tax because it is against thier policy. Not happy about that but I can't really complain to a doctor that improved my life by repairing a shoulder and knee. I didn't get the spa for past injuries, only for relaxation.

Midia, my sales consultant, thanked me with a gift basket of scented fro fro stuff. Her sense of humor inspired the gift because when I wet tested she put it in the tub. I expressed it was less than manly to have this in a spa. Very funny Midia. FYI don't smoke this stuff it is meant for the water!

P.S If I am bored should I mark the spam in the forum or does it get removed by the moderators?

[waterbear]

P.S If I am bored should I mark the spam in the forum or does it get removed by the moderators?

It gets removed by the mods daily (I am on two or three times a day myself to do so and the other mods are active in removing spam and blocking spammers too. The spam comes and goes in waves and right now it's on the high side. It is actually faster if you let us handle it and save the report a post for offensive non spam posts or other such nonsense.

Thanks for asking!

[Spa_Guru]

At 11am, on the dot, Dolphin Pool and Supply on Forest Ln, Dallas, TX delivered my J-335 Jacuzzi. I am not here to promote a retailer, nor the brand I bought so spare the debate. My purpose in joining this forum is to share a good experience vs poor experience. The delivery crew removed the hardware on my gate and put a blanked over the tub to move it through my 36 inch gate safely. Details are important to these guys. Thank you Larry (owner), Robert (senior tech) and the two other delivery guys who came out to the house. The tub was placed on the slab, hooked to the 220 and filled. They then assembled the step, ozonator and the cover lifter. With the delivery came a package of full size bottles of chemicals. I am using a proclear mineral cartridge with non-chlorine shock. The water had very little smell and when I woke up this morning my skin was not torched. This setup was more good advice from Midia. They spent an hour with me on the different scenarios on how to use the chemicals since this is my first experience with a pool/spa. I spent $8000 on this tub including the tax. My three doctors refused to RX me for the tax because it is against thier policy. Not happy about that but I can't really complain to a doctor that improved my life by repairing a shoulder and knee. I didn't get the spa for past injuries, only for relaxation.

Midia, my sales consultant, thanked me with a gift basket of scented fro fro stuff. Her sense of humor inspired the gift because when I wet tested she put it in the tub. I expressed it was less than manly to have this in a spa. Very funny Midia. FYI don't smoke this stuff it is meant for the water!

P.S If I am bored should I mark the spam in the forum or does it get removed by the moderators?

You paid a fair price for a decent product, and consequently, the experience is night and day different, thank you for posting both of your experiences. I had some dealings with the boys at Dolphin back in 2004, good people.

[PreservedSwine]

FYI, the reason your spa lights were blinking is Balboa, the maker of the spa equipment, has a 24 hour one time only automatic GFI trip, if the GFI is not properly hooked up, the lights will blink and the tub shuts down. If the GFI trips properly, the tub only shuts off once.

Viking Spas are hardly top tier, but that should be no surprise to you, you were shopping for a cheap spa, and ended up with the typical result of doing so.

The dealer apparently hasn't learned yet that the customer who pays the least expects the most and complains the loudest.

Old old old story

So, it heats up to 102,, and *then* cools off, at which point the lights flash because the GFCI was wired improperly?

[Nuggett]

First week with the Jacuzzi-335 is going well so far. The pumps, heater and lights are working as expected. The controls are easy to use, even my kid is learning to man the deck so I can chill. I called the guys at Dolphin twice this week after my PH reading was too high. I threw two doses of acid (decreaser) in the tub a few days apart. It didn't push down the PH much and the alkalinity maintained the 90-120 range. The water was clear with no smell. I do notice that the water line has a light white haze to it. Next weekend I am going to take a sample up to the shop just to make sure that the test strips are giving me the right information.

Later that day.....I added some more acid and the PH came into range and the alkalinity held steady.

[Nuggett]

Everything is going well from a product and customer service perspective. The Jacuzzi bought from Dolphin Pools is meeting my expectations. These folks pick up thier phones and return calls! Thank you Midia.

A few tips from a first time spa owner.

Chemicals. Buy a test kit from Taylor because the strips will drive you crazy. Test your water before you turn on the jets (with or without air); It causes the PH to sky rocket and you could adjust your water when it doesn't need it.

Sliver ion in line cartridge, with an ozonator along with MPS is fine if you only use the tub once/twice a week. Check out the wonderful articles about keeping a low 1ppm chlorine recipe while you are using the "new toy" everyday. I opened the tub up one day and it was becoming a mess. I had to blast it with chlorine/bleach and waited two days while my chlorine went below 5ppm.

Clean your filters more often than once a month. The more you use it the more you have to tinker with it. The industry articles for spas is based on using the spa less often than a new user would. JMHO.

Summer logic for the Jacuzzi series tubs. I bought the tub when the ambient temperature was in the 50's so the circ pump was on 24/7. The bubbles from the foot well were obvious everytime I opened the cover. Last week it was 82 degrees. I opened the tub to find the bubbles, from the ozonator, were not there. My tub is set for 98 and the water temp was 100. The spa will protect itself by shutting down during the hot summer days. I could get a few more hours of circulation by wedging something under the cover to allow the heat to escape......Texas is 95-105 in the summer.

Redneck treat. Since it is not fun to sit in a 100 degree tub while it is 90 at night my friend suggested the following. Buy a small top load freezer. Get a bucket and a can of soup. Fill the bucket with water, place it in the freezer with the can at the bottom. You now have a floating beer holder that will lower the temp of your spa. Enter at your own risk.

My electric bill went from $100 - $135 but I expect this to go down next winter as the usage decreases.

Thank you Waterbear and ChemGeek....these guys spend a lot of time helping others. A true virtue these days!

Later,

Josh

[Nuggett]

Update and observations.

I finally received my dispute letter in the mail from Citibank, two months after they promised it. What a headache....use AMEX if you have access.

This weekend I emptied my tub for the first time and refreshed the minerial cartridge from ProClear (jacuzzi brand). I opened the drain at 6pm Friday and still had water draining at 7am on Saturday. I am going to invest in a submersible pump to speed up the process. When there were only inches of water left in the tub I used a mild acid wash called "off the wall" to clean the shell. This product seems to work great but please use rubber gloves as my hand were lobster red for a few hours. Less is more with this product. The whole cleaning and draining only took about two hours and I bet think I can do it quicker next time. Once the spa was filled up and heating thier was a huge difference in water quality and shell sparkle was night and day.

A few thoughts on my first refill. First thing I noticed were the bubbles in the water caused a lot less distortion. The weeks running up to the refill I noticed the "dull water" was not allowing me to see the bottom of the tub with the jets running. After the refill the bottom was visible with full jets and air circulating. Before the draining of the J-335 the water was clear but it had a mildly soar smell to it. After the refill, with the temp at 98 the water was crisp and had a faint smell of freshly cut wood. I can only attribute this smell to the mineral cartridge being new, combined with the fresh water.

Now that I am comfortable with the process I am going to use a lot less chemicals and won't have to test the water but once a week. My PH reading was 7.8 with fresh water. The weeks leading up to the refill my PH would dive down to 6.8-7.0 and it would require a blast of sanitizer and ALK UP to clarify the water. This time around, the newness has worn off, and I will not have to chase the chemicals and I bet I can get an extra months use out of my water.

My electric bill was $117. A few things that contributed to this. My use was in line with the manufactueres KW consumption ratings. I consistienly used it 3-4 times a week and kept the temp around 98. Jaccuzzi says it will cost about $25 a month in electicity and I think they are correct. My chemical usage, including oxidizer, shock, Alk Up, filter cleaner and the amoritization of the mineral cartridge is around $20 a month, So if you add up the fiter replacement coming at the end of they year, chemicals and electricity it costs about $50 a month to maintain this spa.

I have no regrets buying this four months out because the hard ware runs like a champ. I told my sales rep that it runs like a Toyota Corolla and I love it. Midia said, " a Corolla?" OK....How about a top of the line Camry with leather seats!

[Chas]

I don't recommend using such a harsh cleaner on the shell. I have had tubs for many years and only empty, wipe off any greasy spots with a gentle soap, and then refill.

[hjames710]

I don't even use soap, I always use baking soda, and it comes out great. Just rinse it well and your done.

[Chas]

Yes - baking soda (or "Spa up") works well, and will not need to be as well rinsed: no foam later.

Thanks for the reminder

[Nuggett]

It's starting to get hot in Texas and the J-335 is still running like a champ but...The summer logic is driving me crazy. This logic will stop the circ pump if the water temperature is 2 degrees above the set temperature on the tub. This makes sense because we don't want to fry the pumps, circuit boards and other critical parts. I have the tub set at 98, it's 95 outside and my water temp is 100. I open the cover and the water is funky. I had the spa programmed on F-6 ( only heats on the cleaning cycle) setting thinking the 4x30 minute cycles would clean up the water. It didn't. TA and PH are within normal readings. In the winter I have it set on F1 (heat all the time and a 30 minute cycle per 24 hours).

I went to Dolphins pools to get about $100 worth of supplies....Filter cleaner, Alk Up, Oxidizer, mineral stick and anti foam. Should be good for 2013. When I was in the store, Midiam, who sold me the tub, asked me how things were going. We engaged in a conversation about how the tub at my house was behaving. With a great amount of confidence (reading the manual twice) I shared with her the facts of the situation. She told me to prop open the tub with something to allow some of the heat sneak out. I said too many bugs get in, based on last years experience. She looked puzzled and smiled. "what are you using to wedge it open?" Soccer Ball. She smiled again and said, "try a tennis ball". Doh!

Midiam told me that in 24 hours she would get back to me....Email inbox next day....Midiam sent an email with a number of details based on experiences from others in hot climates. Set the tub on F0 and allow the tub to cycle 5 minutes a day. Build up of heat from the F6 setting running for 30 minutes four times a day was adding to the problem. Placing a smaller wedge under the cover allowed heat to escape and will keep the bugs out. Once we get over 100 degrees in Texas the summer logic will be overwhelmed but instead of the circ pump shutting down for 8 hours a day it may only shut down for 3.

The sale is never over with these folks in Dallas.

[Spa_Guru]

You can also set your spa to cycle at night when hear buildup is less of a problem.