Buying At Watsons

[lorinjer]

Because of the great service we have recieved from them on our pool, we are buying our hot tub from them. They ahve three different brands; Cal Spa, Viking, and Caldera. Right now without wet testing ( we are doing that hopefully within the next week or so) we are looking at the Viking Destiny River Heritage I For $5600. We know we want a 6 seater and neck jets.

Out of those three brands, anyone recommend one over the other?

Thanks

[JOKERSOAKER]

Because of the great service we have recieved from them on our pool, we are buying our hot tub from them. They ahve three different brands; Cal Spa, Viking, and Caldera. Right now without wet testing ( we are doing that hopefully within the next week or so) we are looking at the Viking Destiny River Heritage I For $5600. We know we want a 6 seater and neck jets.

Out of those three brands, anyone recommend one over the other?

Thanks

Where are you located? I would have to say Caldera and I'm sure most would agree. I don't like the Viking because of the plastic shell and prorated warranty, but I do like the way the spas are plumbed without any diverter valves. The Cal Spa warranty excludes pump seals, jet inserts and ozone catridge. www.calspa.com look at owners manual PDF file. The warranty exclusion on the jets can really hurt your pocket if you have to replace 50 jets between $10-$30 a piece. Remember warranty is only as good as the manufacturer, so whatever a dealer might ok or tell you about the warranty means nothing. Warranty is a legal document. Cal Spa has 2-3 diverters on each spa as well! Again the Caldera is my choice because of the warranty and a shell that's not plastic aka "resin". If you want to know if your getting a truly good deal email me. I have all their pricing information! jokersoaker@aol.com WHERE ARE U LOCATED?

[TravelingSpaGuy]

I dont know why people like spas with no diverter valves...if you want keep the spa's diverters possitioned so all seats are on, but if you want extra water pressure its easily added.

I would also choose Caldera. I am actually going against Viking right now in a show and I can tell you 6500 for a Viking is WAY too high. If you live somewhere cold I would suggest Caldera because they will be insulating better then Viking. I am not a fan of Cal at all because I believe Cal would be one of the cheapest tubs around if not for being great at marketing.

You may have gotten great service from Watsons but dont count out other companies being able to offer great service...try to find a dealer of d1 sundance and hot springs, wet test 3 spas you pick out and choose the best one. Usually dealers of those models are more established dealers because those companies get to choose their dealer moreso then small companies who try to creep into a dealer because they will take anyone.

[Pathfinder]

The Cal Spa warranty excludes pump seals, jet inserts and ozone catridge. www.calspa.com look at owners manual PDF file. The warranty exclusion on the jets can really hurt your pocket if you have to replace 50 jets between $10-$30 a piece.

I will say go with the Caldera as well. But Joker you need to update your Cal warranty info as of 07 there is a 3yr no fault and the pump seals and in 06 the warranty of jets was dropped to 90 days. The only prob Ive heard with the jets is the small micro jets braking down.

[JOKERSOAKER]

The Cal Spa warranty excludes pump seals, jet inserts and ozone catridge. www.calspa.com look at owners manual PDF file. The warranty exclusion on the jets can really hurt your pocket if you have to replace 50 jets between $10-$30 a piece.

I will say go with the Caldera as well. But Joker you need to update your Cal warranty info as of 07 there is a 3yr no fault and the pump seals and in 06 the warranty of jets was dropped to 90 days. The only prob Ive heard with the jets is the small micro jets braking down.

Your sadly mistaken on the warranty. www.calspas.com owners manual under exclusion specifically reads "jet inserts" does it not? No mention of 90 days! Jet inserts are listed under exclusions, so how would that transfer into 90 days in your mind?

[Pathfinder]

It was in my 07 Dealer program and documentation for Cal b4 I left the company I worked for that sold them. Unless its only a Canadian deal that we have 90 days. As I do know there were differences between the Canadian and US warranties. So we could both be correct in a sense

[Chris H]

Here is the link to Cal's US warranty. Page 68 and 69.

http://www.calspas.com/manuals/downloads/2...Portable_US.pdf

[Brulan1]

Here is the link to Cal's US warranty. Page 68 and 69.

http://www.calspas.com/manuals/downloads/2...Portable_US.pdf

The dealer can do it to be corteous and eat a little cost to carry them a little further. A good dealer would warrant the jets for at least 90 days.

[Pathfinder]

So from what I read, the ozone cartridge has 1 year, seals are 5 years and it does say jets are not covered. But in my program files for 07 there was a 90 day for jets,but w/e I dont sell Cal anymore but I only saw jet failure on the micros not the larger jets.

[queenwench]

Knowing Watson's like I do, here in Nashville. I would still check out other spa dealers. You may have had a good support group w/the pool but, the SPA tech's are not the same as the POOL techs. It is a different department. Perhaps it's different in St. Louis, as each Watson's are owned and operated by different individuals but, I doubt it.

I mentioned before, in another post to you; check the BBB rating...not only look at the rating but look at the issues people had and how long it has taken them to be resolved. You can ask the BBB for further information on the issues.

http://www.stlouis.bbb.org/commonreport.ht...ompid=310012376

That said: If you are set on a spa from Watson's, my opinion would be to go for the Caldera.

Best of Luck in your search.