Original > Hot Tub Forum
First Time Purchaser Help
castletonia:
Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Where I work, we don't charge deposits for wet tests, but are considering it. For reference, we only sell hot tubs and build inground pools. I had a customer and his wife in on 3 different occasions looking at a Caldera Cantabria and Hot Spring Envoy NXT (expensive spas). They were also looking at a Sundance Aspen and some big Maax Spa. I already had the Cantabria filled but had to drain and move a Grandee NXT in order to fill up the Envoy NXT, which we had to move. Altogether, about 2 hours of work and then I had to have the Envoy heat up and make sure water chemistry was right. Well, something came up and they couldn't make it in on the Saturday to wet test. In good faith, I offered to come in on a Sunday, which we are closed on, and accommodate them. Guess what, they never showed and ducked my calls for the next few days only to leave a message on the store answering machine after hours saying they decided to buy the Sundance.
Call it my job or whatever you want, but I did a lot of work, made the extra effort only to get stood up. If that is not reason enough to charge a refundable deposit, I don't know what is. I try to see the good in people and generally speaking I know when a customer is not someone I care to do business with, but things happen. If anything remotely like this happens to me again, I will start charging a refundable deposit.
If you choose to eliminate a dealer and brand because of their practice, that is your right to do so. If it is a reputable dealer, then there will be no issue getting that refund if it doesn't work out. If its a shady dealer, its in your best interest to look elsewhere regardless. Rules, warnings, regulations, policies, etc are in place for a reason. Most people are trustworthy but the few that are not ruin it for everyone else.
BullFrogSpasMN:
--- Quote from: silversun on December 20, 2018, 07:57:06 am ---This risk feels inherent to your industry, and should be factored into your calculations without having to pass this on to the consumer, because it absolutely erodes any trust or goodwill, and sets off alarm bells in the customer.
This happened to me during my hot tub purchase experience and I instantly crossed off the dealer from the list.
Don't listen if you think you have it figured out, but consumers are giving you valuable feedback.
--- End quote ---
this is what it comes down to for me...I'd rather be the guy/I am the guy saying 'No problem, give me 48 hours and it'll be ready to test" rather than "Well Ma'am I'll need to collect your credit card number before we discuss this any further" I have 5 dealers within 10 miles of me and bills to pay, so I love appearing much more "helpful" than the next guy down the road...just my opinion, others may vary. With that said I have a huge showroom with 4 or 5 various 50 or 60 amp hookups, a forklift than can be driven onto the showroom floor, etc so in other words I can 'make it happen' fairly quickly and easily, some dealers don't have that luxury so that needs to be taken into account.
Roeboat:
I don't see a problem leaving a check that doesn't get cashed if I come back.
Piper Matt:
aug0211: Good luck with your exciting search! I tried several of these same tubs and quickly settled on Sundance as my favorite brand with Hot Springs a close second. It sounds like you have the opportunity to wet test an Aspen. Jump on that and give it some serious consideration.
Sundance's powerful jets drew me to the brand generally. With the additional third pump on the Aspen, I can divert three of the four corner seats to full, dedicated power. I really like this feature. In the Optima, it looks like you can only get two of the four corner seats on full blast. Plus, the Aspen's additional pump lets me run the foot dome jets while getting full power in the other seats.
Oh, and there are also two "whirlpool jets" in the Aspen that I didn't think I would use all that much. However, they are great for relieving sore muscles with intense and focused therapy. Sometimes you have to contort yourself to hit the muscles that need attention, but I continue to be surprised at how many different ways you can sit comfortably in this tub and get a different hydrotherapy experience. This might be something to consider for both your daughter and yourself.
Size-wise, we discovered that you can really stretch out comfortably with another person or two in the tub without bumping feet, which is a nice feature. It's usually just one or two of us in the tub, but the extra size seems to make a difference. And the "love seat" bench is surprisingly comfortable. You can even scoot forward and rest your head on a little groove on the lip of the tub.
When wet testing the Optima, experiment with the diverter knobs to get a sense of the tub's versatility. Ditto for the Aspen.
As silversun pointed out, the Kingston and Claremont are much more shallow than their 880 series cousins. My local dealer has a Kingston on the floor right now. The seats don't look nearly as molded as they do in the 880 series models. My dealer said the 980s are more of an entertainment tub than a solitary soaking/hydrotherapy tub.
It sounds like you're a serious buyer and are choosing a model. I don't understand why the dealer wouldn't be more accommodating.
Michael Russell:
Some people are ignorant.. In a few circumstances it may save you some time and effort to charge a deposit, but in reality from my perspective it may also cost you some sales.
I buy and sell a lot of stuff on Kijiji (we use it over craigslist here in much of Canada). The number of times I have been stood up, or showed up to find the item gone or not at all as described is crazy. As I say people are ignorant. Move on and get the next sale...
Mike
--- Quote from: castletonia on December 20, 2018, 02:10:41 pm ---Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Where I work, we don't charge deposits for wet tests, but are considering it. For reference, we only sell hot tubs and build inground pools. I had a customer and his wife in on 3 different occasions looking at a Caldera Cantabria and Hot Spring Envoy NXT (expensive spas). They were also looking at a Sundance Aspen and some big Maax Spa. I already had the Cantabria filled but had to drain and move a Grandee NXT in order to fill up the Envoy NXT, which we had to move. Altogether, about 2 hours of work and then I had to have the Envoy heat up and make sure water chemistry was right. Well, something came up and they couldn't make it in on the Saturday to wet test. In good faith, I offered to come in on a Sunday, which we are closed on, and accommodate them. Guess what, they never showed and ducked my calls for the next few days only to leave a message on the store answering machine after hours saying they decided to buy the Sundance.
Call it my job or whatever you want, but I did a lot of work, made the extra effort only to get stood up. If that is not reason enough to charge a refundable deposit, I don't know what is. I try to see the good in people and generally speaking I know when a customer is not someone I care to do business with, but things happen. If anything remotely like this happens to me again, I will start charging a refundable deposit.
If you choose to eliminate a dealer and brand because of their practice, that is your right to do so. If it is a reputable dealer, then there will be no issue getting that refund if it doesn't work out. If its a shady dealer, its in your best interest to look elsewhere regardless. Rules, warnings, regulations, policies, etc are in place for a reason. Most people are trustworthy but the few that are not ruin it for everyone else.
--- End quote ---
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