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Costco Infinity Sun Peak Spa


mcpetran

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I began researching my new hot tub purchase 6 months ago... I waited until I finally sold my old 15 year old Cal Spa unit and then jumped on the Costco Infinity Spa. Why this model?.. I did my research and due diligence and found too many complaints against Cal Spa and ThermoSpa. I found Marquis, D-1, Hot Springs, etc.. quite expensive, so I began to call Laura Brown at Inifinity since Costco cannot answer any questions themselves. Laura Brown responded to most of my emails and answered 80% of my questions, including an important question to me which concerned the delivery. I specifically asked if there be a problem delivering to my house because large 18 wheelers cannot access the road and a bobtail truck can make the delivery without any difficulty.. this was her reply:

Richard,

I am not sure what size truck NAVL delivers on, once they contact you to set up the day and time you can let them know your road is not accessible for a 18 wheeler, every NAVL truck sends out 2 drivers that will off load the spa but it is up to the customer to place the spa.

Thanks,

Laura Brown

so what happened after I placed the order on July 2 and was expecting delivery this week?.. The trucking company said Infinity Spa will only deliver in a tractor trailer and refused to approve the delivery as promised... but for an extra $350 I can have them deliver in the bobtail truck I require..

well that sucks, don't you think? I guess their attitude is promise anything to make the sale.. I hope the rest of the spa has more integrity ....

Anybody else have this experience yet?..

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"Costco is essentially creating a real interest in this type of lifestyle. Agree or disagree, please post your oppinions."

I see your point but it could also backfire. If a person has nothing but problems and bad service it may make them never want to see another spa again.

Bingo.

I can hear it now

"Hot tubs? I had one, and let me tell you from a real owner, it was nothing but a problem. I just feel bad for those folks that spent 9, 10, $12K they really got screwed!!!"

:rolleyes:

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I see your point but it could also backfire. If a person has nothing but problems and bad service it may make them never want to see another spa again.

EXACTLY!

One of the biggest hurdles we face as a quality spa dealer is in having to overcome the horrendous experiences customers have dealt with from some of the lesser products and services being offered. Just 15 minutes ago, a 77-year old woman called asking if we could service her Brand X spa. I told her who the Brand X dealer was and that he was the biggest crook in East Texas. She replied that she already knew this as he had charged her $495 to replace a check valve on her spa a year ago. Told her to call the BBB and report the loser, the same guy who charged someone $1500 to move a 3 person spa 3 miles recently. We would have done it for $200.

There are PREDATORS APLENTY in this industry and they sully it with their filthy products, tactics, and degenerate business practices. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. My dad taught me that when I was 10 years old...it has never failed to be appropriate.

Terminator

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Update - I received an email from Costco today in regards to delivery - they stated that the shipping company should be contacting me by Wednesday for delivery of spa! Great news! Question - Does anybody have any answers on how to get this beast from the driveway to the back yard? I didn't know if I try and tip the driver - he might have equipment to help in this situation. Thanks again for all of your help and I will keep you updated!

MFP

I also purchased this spa from Costco, but I ordered it around the 10th.

Guess what? I received it yesterday.

My delivery, contrary to other peoples experience, went well. The shipping company called me Tuesday to arrange delivery, they also said the could put it in my garage if it would fit.

Well, it was too tall for my garage door, but they were able to put it in my side yard.

I haven't really taken a look at it though, being that its still on a pallet.

As far as how to get it in the backyard?

I am spending some of the savings on getting a professional spa mover to place it in the yard. ($250)

Hope you have a similar experience.

:D E.D.

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. I specifically asked if there be a problem delivering to my house because large 18 wheelers cannot access the road and a bobtail truck can make the delivery without any difficulty.. this was her reply:

Richard,

I am not sure what size truck NAVL delivers on, once they contact you to set up the day and time you can let them know your road is not accessible for a 18 wheeler, every NAVL truck sends out 2 drivers that will off load the spa but it is up to the customer to place the spa.

Thanks,

Laura Brown

Hi Richard,

My reading of Laura Brown's response from Infinity didn't specify one way or another whether there would be a problem with delivery. She indicated she didn't know what kind of truck they used. She didn't say there wouldn't be a problem. She deferred to North American Van Lines.

Both the Costco web-site and the Infinity Spas web-site have a disclaimer that state: "Extraordinary delivery requirements may necessitate an additional fee to the carrier"

Hind-sight is 20/20, but perhaps contacting NAVL prior to ordering the spa would have been appropriate in this case.

well that sucks, don't you think? I guess their attitude is promise anything to make the sale..

I think it's unfortunate for you. I don't think their attitude was 'promise anything'.

Are you planning on hiring a specialty spa moving company to place your spa? If so, perhaps having NAVL deliver to the spa moving company might be in order. You can have the spa moving company deliver and place your spa all at once. The cost differential between delivery and placement versus just placement might be minimal. Quotes in my area range (Philadelphia) from $250 to $400 for spa placement.

Keep us updated on progress. Good luck.

Ken

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Update - Still no word on shipping and to top it off, Costco is not responding to my emails. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since order date and I have not rec'd a call from the shipper. Since the site did state approximately 4 weeks from time of order(when I ordered the spa), I am quite concerned. Especially when there are customers on this site that have rec'd their spa and ordered after me. It looks like Costco will not be able to deliver this spa in 4 weeks -

Thanks!

Still spaless in Indiana

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New here and just posted to the other Infinity thread. I ordered an Infinity the week of July 16th and have an ETA of Aug 3-10. Will keep you posted as to actual delivery and how it all works out. Very interested in hearing others experiences as they take delivery.

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ok, update - i received an email from Costco that requested I call the shipping company. Where is this so-called excellent service that Costco is supposedly famous for? Why aren't they calling the shipping company? Well, anyways I called the shipping company early Monday morning. left a voice mail and have not heard back. I will let you know of any updates. Thanks for listening!

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ok, update - i received an email from Costco that requested I call the shipping company. Where is this so-called excellent service that Costco is supposedly famous for? Why aren't they calling the shipping company? Well, anyways I called the shipping company early Monday morning. left a voice mail and have not heard back. I will let you know of any updates. Thanks for listening!

In reality why would you want Costco to call the shipping company? You need to call so you can coordinate with the delivery people when to have it delivered. Costco would only be a 3rd wheel if they tried to get in teh middle of that. With this e-mail, Costco is no longer in the spa equation (unless you ever get to the unenviable position of having to return your spa).

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ok, update - i received an email from Costco that requested I call the shipping company. Where is this so-called excellent service that Costco is supposedly famous for? Why aren't they calling the shipping company? Well, anyways I called the shipping company early Monday morning. left a voice mail and have not heard back. I will let you know of any updates. Thanks for listening!

Send it back brfore you get it and get a dealer backed spa delivered the correct way.

John 104 degrees

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ok, update - i received an email from Costco that requested I call the shipping company. Where is this so-called excellent service that Costco is supposedly famous for? Why aren't they calling the shipping company? Well, anyways I called the shipping company early Monday morning. left a voice mail and have not heard back. I will let you know of any updates. Thanks for listening!

Send it back brfore you get it and get a dealer backed spa delivered the correct way.

John 104 degrees

The dealer deliverd spa will only be a few thousand more. It is up to you.

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Update - Still no word from the shipping/delivery agent - However I did check my automated bill that I rec'd via email and it states "please allow approximately 4 weeks." (not 4-6 weeks which was stated in a previous pos -_- t). I will be contacting Costco again and will keep you updated. Thanks!

I'm the one who stated 4-6 weeks. The costco site did say 4-6 weeks and recently changed it to 4 weeks.

To verify, I googled the following: --> infinity sun peak site:costco.com <--

Google returns both a live link and a cached copy. If you click on the "cache" keyword, you can see what the contents of the web-site looked like the last time google crawled that site. The cache (as of today) states "The estimated delivery time will be approximately 4 - 6 weeks from the time of order."

I even saved the cached copy - if anyone's interested, I'll e-mail it to you.

Regards,

Ken

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To Clarify a point Costco is a Dealer for Hydrospa,Gulfcoast and Infinity. They might be a no service & no frills dealer but none the less a Dealer. The only time you dont have a dealer is when you buy it directly from the manufacturer and pay the manufacturer.

Who says you cant return a spa back to a real dealer I know many companies that have a 30 day policy. Less set up and delivery fees. This is where wet testing plays a big part. Also if you get a lemon many dealers will replace your tub and go beyond what is needed to make you happy. For if a customer isnt happy the world will know it. I havent had it happen yet but at the other companies I have worked at we've exchanged tubs because the customer either wanted a smaller or larger tub. I also had an instance where a customer bought the tub had it set up then had to return it 2 days later because he bought it without his doctors ok. The doctor told him NO TUB!! he got a full refund.

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Ken - Just to clarify delivery time frame - When I ordered the spa, the web site showed "approximately 4 weeks." This was also printed clearly on my receipt that was emailed to me. If anybody is interested, I will post or email receipt, whichever is preferred. Thanks!

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Send it back brfore you get it and get a dealer backed spa delivered the correct way.

John 104 degrees

The dealer deliverd spa will only be a few thousand more. It is up to you.

He would be in it instead of it being in a truck :o:rolleyes:

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Update - I received an email from Costco today in regards to delivery - they stated that the shipping company should be contacting me by Wednesday for delivery of spa! Great news! Question - Does anybody have any answers on how to get this beast from the driveway to the back yard? I didn't know if I try and tip the driver - he might have equipment to help in this situation. Thanks again for all of your help and I will keep you updated!

MFP

We ordered our Infinity spa on 7/8. It was delivered on 7/31. The driver and his buddy charged us $75 to set it in place - well worth the $75. Electrician came today - the spa is filled and heating up. Of course it's about 90 degrees outside here in Bethany Beach, DE but we are still psyched to use it!

Sandi

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Update - I received an email from Costco today in regards to delivery - they stated that the shipping company should be contacting me by Wednesday for delivery of spa! Great news! Question - Does anybody have any answers on how to get this beast from the driveway to the back yard? I didn't know if I try and tip the driver - he might have equipment to help in this situation. Thanks again for all of your help and I will keep you updated!

MFP

We ordered our Infinity spa on 7/8. It was delivered on 7/31. The driver and his buddy charged us $75 to set it in place - well worth the $75. Electrician came today - the spa is filled and heating up. Of course it's about 90 degrees outside here in Bethany Beach, DE but we are still psyched to use it!

Sandi

Have a great time sandi!! happy tubing :D:D

john

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We ordered our Infinity spa on 7/8. It was delivered on 7/31. The driver and his buddy charged us $75 to set it in place - well worth the $75. Electrician came today - the spa is filled and heating up. Of course it's about 90 degrees outside here in Bethany Beach, DE but we are still psyched to use it!

Sandi

Congrats! Share some pics and report back both good and bad experiences.

Ken

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We ordered our Infinity spa on 7/8. It was delivered on 7/31. The driver and his buddy charged us $75 to set it in place - well worth the $75. Electrician came today - the spa is filled and heating up. Of course it's about 90 degrees outside here in Bethany Beach, DE but we are still psyched to use it!

Sandi

"piling on..."

Welcome to tubbing -- I feel I'm almost there but that's another story (!)

Always like to encourage folks (as did kengorman) to SHARE SOME PIX when you get 'em...

Just a suggestion :: you may want to start a new topic (of celebration) while the 'COSTCO is GREAT crowd' battles the 'COSTCO sucks crowd' as 'the truth is probably somewhere in the middle crowd' looks on in this topic...

Thank goodness YOUR tub arrived -- you've earned a free pass to the "Hot Tub Water Chemistry" forum !

/

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. I specifically asked if there be a problem delivering to my house because large 18 wheelers cannot access the road and a bobtail truck can make the delivery without any difficulty.. this was her reply:

Richard,

I am not sure what size truck NAVL delivers on, once they contact you to set up the day and time you can let them know your road is not accessible for a 18 wheeler, every NAVL truck sends out 2 drivers that will off load the spa but it is up to the customer to place the spa.

Thanks,

Laura Brown

Hi Richard,

My reading of Laura Brown's response from Infinity didn't specify one way or another whether there would be a problem with delivery. She indicated she didn't know what kind of truck they used. She didn't say there wouldn't be a problem. She deferred to North American Van Lines.

Both the Costco web-site and the Infinity Spas web-site have a disclaimer that state: "Extraordinary delivery requirements may necessitate an additional fee to the carrier"

August 8 update-

Since my initial post Laura Brown responded and waived the $350 charge so my unit was delivered the following week and dropped off at my driveway just like I wanted it. I got my neighbor and 2 helpers to move it about 50 yards and down 3 flights of stairs. Total time was under 1/2 hour. Because I wanted to add an outlet and a disconnect switch I decided to hire an electrician instead of doing it myself... good move as I went off to work and when I came home it was all done, filled and up and running. (aside to spa dealers on this forum who act like you are making a huge mistake but not buying through a local store because service and installation are important intangibles that Costco buyers will come to regret.. The electrician said he sets up spas all the time for people. He makes sure the pumps work and the unit has no electrical problems... so that turned out OK by me. Today I am having one of several guys in my area that offer independent pool and spa servicing come by to inspect the unit, get me started on proper water chemistry and explain the Balboa Control which is a bit confusing to me. I figured I saved over $5000 on a similar D-1 unit, over $3000 over Sundance & Hotspring, so I can fork out an extra $300 to $400 between the electrician and spa service guy (plus the local HS dealer was not going to set up a new box and breaker with outlet etc. for free so the local HS dealer probably would have charged extra for some of the wiring.. in fact, he might have even subcontracted the wiring to the electrician that I hired!)....

so far I am quite pleased with the experience, although there was some hassle on the delivery which was later resolved satisfactorily

Hind-sight is 20/20, but perhaps contacting NAVL prior to ordering the spa would have been appropriate in this case.

well that sucks, don't you think? I guess their attitude is promise anything to make the sale..

I think it's unfortunate for you. I don't think their attitude was 'promise anything'.

Are you planning on hiring a specialty spa moving company to place your spa? If so, perhaps having NAVL deliver to the spa moving company might be in order. You can have the spa moving company deliver and place your spa all at once. The cost differential between delivery and placement versus just placement might be minimal. Quotes in my area range (Philadelphia) from $250 to $400 for spa placement.

Keep us updated on progress. Good luck.

Ken

Added comments-

The Spa dealers that reply on this forum seem to want us newbies to believe that we are getting a cheaper - poorly constructed- unit and not just a decent spa at a lower price.

1. In my business, when someone tells me that my price seems too low, I respond and tell them that I will gladly charge them more if it makes them feel better.

2. I have a friend that sells mattresses and bedding through a chain of Sleep Shop stores and he said that his mark-up is around 40-50% typically and Costco sells the exact same mattress at 17% above his cost. Of course, he told me that he tells his clients it is not the same mattress at Costco, but it is.

3. The advantages of buying through a local spa are many, and when there is a large saving involved there are going to be some risks and perhaps a few more hassles and things that you are going to have resolve on your own. So far my experience is positive and, OMG, this unit compared to my old CalSpa is like comparing a 10 year old computer to new one...

costcospaxq1.jpg

Shot at 2007-08-08

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