Buyer-s-Guide

There's nothing wrong with having more jets but the air pressure and water pressure must back it up.

SCAM - First off, there's almost no private label hot tubs that have original manufactured components for their tubs because its not really theirs to start with. All of these hot tub companies offer longer than average warranties.

How in the heck can a young hot tub importer offer lifetime warranty when they haven't even been selling tubs that long. How can the "label brand" owner give a 5 year warranty when the factory just gives 2 or 3 years? The best way to see out if you have been scammed is to know if the brand on tub's control pad mtches its brand on the serial plates.

Sneaky companies have a way of covering this but if you uncover the truht and find out who they are importing from, you will understand how they do it. WHEN THE TUB HAS MALFUNCTIONS THAT CAN'T BE FIXED, THIS IS WHEN YOU KNOW THE WARRANTY IS NOT REAL. Do you really think a company like this will care about you after the sale? They just want quick money. When you do need their help, good luck not having to pay full price to replace a part. I look for legit companies that I know will be there in the long run.

Know the warranty's small pring and get a copy of it before you sign a contract. Find out if the warranty covers parts and labor and how much. Are there any other expenses if you need to replace the tub under the warranty? Who pays for shipping or local pick up?

Some fine print might say they won't fix the tub if it has damage from chemicals or sunlight damage, or abusive situations. Some have other restrictions regarding serviceable parts. Read the fine print before buying a hot tub. This can include lights, stereos, speakers, DVD systems, Televisions, jets, filters, pump seals, etc. Always make sure to find out if you have to pay the freight charges to and from the service center if you need to send your hot tub in to get fixed.

I think it's wise to make sure you buy from a company that has been in business at least 10 years. Warranties do not mean anything if the "distributor" of the company goes out of business. Always check the manufacturer's warranty, not the dealers warranty. Many dealers are now adding extra warranty coverage and then go out of business. It is very easy to become a dealer. Anyone can become a dealer if they have the right qualifications and can afford to buy stock.

The warranty on the shell is has nothing to do with the warranty you would want on the shell's surface. Some companies have a surface warranty. This is not a structural shell warranty. This warranty covers you if you start getting those air bubble pockets from normal usage. The warranties should tell you which types of care you should use to preserve the surface of your shell.

It doesn't matter what brand you are trying to get. Almost 99.99% of these hot tub companies all claim they have exclusive hot tubs with exclusive technology, but they're pretty much all the same thing; ALL IMITATIONS. Even when you find just two nearly identical hot tubs with different brands, they will have different literature about them. If you asked them which hot tub is better when you compare them, they will tell you that their tub is better. HOW SO? IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME TUB! When you catch them on a lie like this, so many other of their lies start getting exposed. I am not going to waste my money on those manufactures again. AND I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THEM TO YOU EITHER!! I don't buy for a company that makes things up. It is so hard in the hot tub industry because most of them play this game.

BELLS AND WHISTLES:

There's hot tubs out there that that seem to have the answer to everyones needs. Usually, these hot tubs have the cheapest technology. You want a stereo? You want color therapy? You want a plasma TV? You want me to add more features to make you believe my hot tub is the best? You need a water filter? You need a magazine subscription?

How bout a frig... or a sink? It usually doesn't go that far, but I'm sure you get my point. All of these bells and whistles can be included if you wanting to be ripped off and sold to people who enjoy being excited for just surface value. Would you prefer having a high end hot tub that is right for you or some generic hot tub that is just fair but has every bell and whistle in the book? I thought these are are supposed to be therapeutic hot tubs, not make a living in their tub.

SCAM: Beware of bells and whistles that can distract you from quality hot tub components and engineering. My goal is to separate the cheesy bells and whistles from those important features of a hot tub.

Don't be fooled by a hot tub dealer that picks out one or two really good features of their hot tub that other hot tubs don't have just to hide the 20 other low quality features of the hot tub.

The conversation of someone trying to sell you on bells and whistles usually starts out like, "we are the only hot tub company that...." or "no other hot tub company in the industry has this feature". Then they ask you, "do you want a hot tub with "our feature" or a hot tub that does not have "our feature"?

Here are a few bells and whistle examples:

Beware of cheap ozonators. Some are really good but cheap hot tubs usually have cheap ozonators that don't really work.

Volcano jets: These are jets on the floor of the hot tub. This is nothing more than affects and are not theraputic.

Don't let colored lights distract you from a quality hot tub. If you need lights, its cheaper to get one with your hot tub instead of installing lights later which can be really expensive.

Neck massagers: Some of the newer hot tubs have neck pillows so that you don't have to get your hair wet by trying to get a neck massage from the water jets. These pillows are filled with jets that focus water in different areas of your neck by a swirl type motion. The cheaper pillow massagers have mono jets that focus on one area and don't cover the whole neck.

There are bells and whistles out there that that seem to be the answer to everyone's needs. Usually, the models like this with the most bells and whistles are the cheapest in technology. You want a good hot tub? You want a free filters? You want aromatherapy oils? You want me to add more features to make you believe my hot tub is the best?

You need a DVD player to go along with your hot tub? You need some free cleaning supplies too? SCAM - If you're talking to a hot tub company and they start talking about elaborate things that really just shouldn't be topics for a product, just hang up on them. So many of these companies have imitation knock off models that they need to talk about other things unrelated to hot tubs to get your mind off of the simple fact that they can't prove their technology and that their tub is really inferior. They just talk about what their (made up) competitors are doing to them, pretending they are better when they're exactly just the same as their neighbor. If you get a bad sense about a company, JUST HANG UP!!

Shady ways to getting out of warranties

There are weasels out there that will do anything to get out of the warranty. And I do mean anything to keep that profit they just made on you.

There are so many things these hot tub companies will tell you that they make you feel stupid for doing something you did to ruin the hot tub even if it really wasn't your fault. They might say, "We cannot honor the warranty due to chemical abuse. You were not responsible in the chemicals you used to maintain the hot tub. This is after the fact that someone at that company told you to put it in there and your water was fine. They will say you misunderstood them.

If you know what their shady tactics are to get out of a warranty, that same story can change to, "We are sorry your leak. You must have a leaking seal which we cover under your warranty. We are sorry that the water leaked onto the motor and ruined it. We will send someone out to fix it for you".

Once they know you are on top of things, their story changes almost every time. Rarely, a hot tub company wants to take responsibility. They will do almost everything they can to make you think it was your fault.

Make sure they don't charge you shipping for the parts that need to be replaced. You might have to pay 300 dollars for the heavy shipping. And, make sure they don't try to charge you for the traveling expense for one of their service people to come out 70 miles away.

#1 reason why warranties are refused:

The most common complaint I get is when a person finds their own repair person to come out and fix their hot tub. The manufacturer will say that they have not authorized or approved anyone but their own service people to fix your tub. This can be after waiting a month for someone to come out after arguing over whose fault it is and making an appointment for their service person to come out and look at your hot tub. This can take a month if you don't demand faster service.

Another way they get out of warranties is when you replace just one part of the hot tub with a used part. This is their way of saying the fixed your hot tub. Read the warranties carefully. Some say they give a 10 year warranty but will only fix it once during that time for free.

Here is another common way they also get out of warranties. If you have a broken part on your hot tub and you replace it yourself, they can that they voided your warranty because they don't allow their customers to fix the hot tubs.

Another excuse is when they have record of you saying you are going to use your climate at location A and then you move to location B later on. Some warranties say they will not honor the warranty if the hot tub is moved from one climate to another or even one home to another or sold to another person.

Shell Warning: LEACHING PLASTIC

Make sure your tub is BPA free. Taking a bath with water that is similar to a water bottle sitting in the sun all day that tastes like plastic is just as bad if not worse. The skin can absorb toxins more in hot water than in cold water. Hot tub water that sits in the sun in tubs that leach is the worst of all. Just make sure your tub is BPA FREE. If you want to know how bad it is, I have bought BPA free water gallons and they do not leach like the BPA containers. If I wouldn't drink water that tastes like plastic, I will not soak in it. Using the sticker will lower the cluster size of the water to absorb even more plastic from NON Bpa free tubs. This is the ONLY time I will not recommend a sticker for the tub. In this case, I would want to be more hydro-phobic.

See my "Knowing if you bought the wrong hot tub page" here.

Knowing your water source can mean the difference between getting a hot tub that requires expensive mantanence or one that is just right. Water can be hard, soft, low or high TDS, low or high pH, and other factors that can affect your hot tub.Know your water source!

If you are in doubt about the type of water in your area, know your local water report.

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My site is based on the experience I had with each tub. Most people are reading reviews that in the end is just a fake review site that TRY TO SELL YOU THEIR BRAND IN THE END. I would never rely on review sites and someone trying to sell you a hot tub unless they will put it in writing that they will let you return it if it doesn't meet your expectations. (ON COMPANY LETTER HEAD BY THE OWNER, NOT JUST A TEMPORARY SALESPERSON that probably won't be there 6 months later when you want to return it.

SCAM - If you hear any shady hot tub company trash talking another company, that company is shady. Hot tub companies I talked to tried to scare me into thinking that other hot tubs will break down and gave me lists of problems I would have. They try to confuse me and make me paranoid and act like they are the savior by selling me their tub. YEAH RIGHT. Their tubs are junk, that's why they need to build up fear!!! They're not selling to me. They're trying to capture my imagination of the dark side. They want me to feel insecure. It's like "buy their tub and come back to me when they won't help you when your hot tub breaks down". LISTEN" I'M NOT A LITTLE BOY! DON'T TRY TO SPOOK ME YOU STUPID WEASELS!

Knowing if you bought the wrong hot tub!

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