Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: Vanguard on January 24, 2008, 12:05:19 am
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A colleague of mine just bought a spa at Costco this weekend. He had to go pick it up and take it home himself. When he went to pick up the spa, it was palleted on its side. He had to rent some kind of a crane to set it down to put it on his trailer. The staff at Costco would not help him do this and he was by himself. Nice customer support there.
Then, he got it home and now it is sitting in his garage. He now has to wait for a bunch of friends to come over and figure out how to get it to his backyard since the trailer will not fit through his gate.
I asked him what brand he bought. He didn't even know. Just saw that it had a lot of jets, a lot of HP at a good price, so he bought it.
Crazy, but there are shoppers out there who buy these things without doing any research.
I wonder how much money he'll really save in the end. :-/
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Im gonna guess later he will tell you that his tub is better because it has more jets and he got a better deal than you did on your tub because Costco doesnt mark up their tubs.
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Costco is a place to get your TP and toothpaste, not a hot tub. That story to me would be the exact reason why you don't get one there. No help at all with delivery. Who is going to help get in place and get is started and wired up? What about chemical questions? What about when there is a problem when you finally do get it wired up? What about warranty and service calls? For the money that is saved, I don't know if it is worth it.
His tub has a ton more jets in it than yours does though! ;)
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Just saw that it had a lot of jets, a lot of BHP at a good price, so he bought it.
I've heard that many times before. Often from someone who then goes on to talk about the unresolved issues or utility bill shock followed by "I just wish I'd found this spa forum earlier".
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It kills me to see people do things like that without doing any research. I'm sure he thinks he got a "great deal."
Those "great deals" are forgotten once the lack of customer service, warranty, higher operating costs, etc are truly realized.
I'm still trying to talk him in to taking it back and getting a spa from a local dealer.
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I don't think any Highlife spas were sold by Costco.com in our area, however we are on our third sale to customers who bought other brands and have returned them.
I would have gladly taken the tub back to the big box store for them - but they all three had made arrangements by time they found us.
What are we doing wrong to make so many folks buy simply by price and not look at quality/warranty/service/support etc.??
8-)
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What are we doing wrong to make so many folks buy simply by price and not look at quality/warranty/service/support etc.??
8-)
Chas,
Your comment is one that has baffled me for a few years now. Have we become a truly throw away society? I know I haven't. My wife and I always try to educate ourselves on almost all major purchases, we take our time and look into things like warranty and service and build quality. We look into a dealers reputation and how long they have been in business. I myself will normally always buy the best made tools available for work, I have to rely on them to earn my living and I only want to buy them once. I have tried to convince a number of apprentices the value of good tools and then watch them buy cheap offshore junk and complain about it 6 months later. I don't get it!
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Its probably pilates spa made by tatum manufacturing. They make gulfcoastspas and alot of other spas. Hydro spa used to make Brad Tatums spa but I think there was a dispute. If you remember before the bankrupcy, Hydro supplied Costco and now Tatum has a new facility making spas for Costco.MMMMM?
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OK, I'm probably going to get the wrath of this board but so be it.
I have said on a number of occasions that tub ownership is a luxury. People want this luxury and don't ask questions and don't have the money. Someone who buys a HD or Costco spa is looking at - I want a spa, I can afford a spa and look at this spa. It probably is an impulse buy. Society is dictating that humans need this and they buy it. We all need cable TV, XM radio, drive expensive cars, have Mc mansions and own a spa. The list keeps growing of what a need is.
People go to big box and see products that others sell - Delta Faucets, GE Filters, Crest toothpaste and so on. People feel that spas are the same. We are all on here and learned from others experiences or knowlege.I know someone who owns a Walmart spa and likes it as much as I like mine. His only gripe is how expensive it is to run - this could be his complaint with a dealer's spa as well.
I personally shop Walmart for my laudry soap, toilet paper, windshield washer fluid and other lower tech stuff. We walk into HD and see the new spas on their sides, which BTW are now sold with the bottoms enclosed, see the jets read the specs and say WOW - $3,000 cheaper than a dealer.
Chas, you are doing nothing wrong; people become programmed into thinking that everything is the same. The product may or may not be. I personally own 2 Hyundais and yet people call them POS and make fun of them. IMO they are just as good as a Honda or Toyota and better than a lot of other cars out there. I am not a car affectionato so that may be the case of why I like them. Of course if this was a car forum all the Honda and Toyota crazies would blast that statement (all forums seem to be alike!). Not everyone has the money nor the knowlege to see that maybe there is a difference.
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I personally own 2 Hyundais and yet people call them POS and make fun of them. IMO they are just as good as a Honda or Toyota and better than a lot of other cars out there.
Hyundai is a different animal IMO. They were once a total POS (my B-I-L owned one, it was a hunk of junk).
They really worked at turning that image around and seem to have chanegd a lot of people's opinions (after a decade+ of making a bbetter product) but some just still remember the crap they used to put out.
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Hyundai is a different animal IMO. They were once a total POS (my B-I-L owned one, it was a hunk of junk).
They really worked at turning that image around and seem to have chanegd a lot of people's opinions (after a decade+ of making a bbetter product) but some just still remember the crap they used to put out.
Good point and I think the reverse holds true as well - a well known name: "Jacuzzi" "[size=8]the makers of[/size]Hot Spring" make people believe that they are the same quality thats in a dealer, at least in the past. The stuff that Costco or HD sells now is no name brand spas.
I also believe people don't know the difference - look at how many people own a spa and how many frequent these forums - a small precentage.
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I don't know which Costco thread to put this in but I will put it here.
My real life experience in this Costco versus the Small Fry is in regards to a mattress that I just bought. As many of you know, buying a mattress is worse than buying a hottub. Each dealer has different names even though they have the same brands and the sales people are horrible.
I ended up practicing what I preach on here and buying from a local dealer that I think will give me exceptional service down the road if I need any. I found a comparable mattress at Costco, but I did not think it was that much of a deal. Here is what it did not include: delivery, setup, removal, and a frame. For me a difference in dollars to have to buy a frame and deliver, setup, and remove it wasn’t much of a deal for me.
One of the major points for me in differentiating between the local dealer and Costco was my knowledge from the Highlife that was sold at Costco.com. I knew there were very distinct differences between the Sovereign sold in the store and the Highlife sold at Costco.com. I made an educated decision because I believe Costco probably provides a mattress that may appear to be similar, but in reality it has at the least minor differences. They do have that return policy though.
Trust me I tried doing research at whatsthebest-mattress.com and they are worse than us on here.
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I agree. Most people do not know the difference. Just look at my colleague that just bought his spa. He has no idea there is a difference. If he did, he would have bought from a dealer.
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Trust me I tried doing research at www.whatsthebest-mattress.com and they are worse than us on here.
OMG, I thought you were kidding around, but curiosity got the best of me.
I cannot believe there really is a "whatsthebest-mattress.com site!
And you should see what their Terminator has done with a mattress, a zamboni and photoshop!
BTW, JA is banned over there too!!
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OMG,
I cannot believe there really is a "whatsthebest-mattress.com site!
There's a lawnmower and jetski too..... and some other I can't remember.
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This is the most ironic thing - and you might think I'm kidding but I'm not:
I bought a new Cal King mattress at Sam's club. After four months, it is useless. There are two deep valleys, one where Mrs. Chas and I each sleep, and a mountain range between us. And, of course, we have no dealer to help us out.
We have called Sam's club, and they said they would be glad to let us return the thing for a full refund, which is what we plan to do.
And then we are going to shop some dealers, look at What's the Best - Mattress.com, post some questions, and buy something we can enjoy for years to come.
The extra embarrassing part is that our old bed was a queen sized pillow-top mattress which we had for many many years. It is still in great shape, and we moved it to our guest room. My niece lives with us part time, and she sleeps on it and raves that it's better than her mattress at home. I didn't even bother to go look at the label and try to get something like it.
D'oh!
8-)
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I sleep on a King size Simmons Beautyrest Euro Top. The second best money I ever spent. It's the heaviest matress I've ever picked up before. I almost had to have my dealer use a crane for delivery.
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Funny Chad, I just PMed Chas about that same mattress...I bought the model that prevents movement shifts from one side to the other side of the matterss...it really does what it says, you can bounce on one side and not even feel it on the other side. The pillow top is wonderful!!
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It sounds ridiculous but I ended up buying from the guy that posts on the blog below. He was the least expensive of the bunch, sells throughout the country, and in my opinion very knowledgeable. I would recommend him if you narrow it down to a Sealy or Stearns and Foster that he sells. I bought a floor model that was in his showroom for 6 months with a brand new box spring.
http://blog.pennlive.com/mattress/
Chas,
Tell me how your experience goes if you don't mind.
Chris
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Tempurpedic. Nothing else comes close.
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Tempurpedic. Nothing else comes close.
Gotta disagree with you here. We bought one 2 years ago and we HATED it....slept on it for about 4 nights and neither of us could get comfortable. We had them come and pick it up. We wound up paying an additional $400 between shipping, etc. and we got a top of the line Sterns and Foster and we LOVE it. It all depends on the person....my sister loves her Termpurpedic.
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I got rid of my 2 year old Kings Down for the Simmons and wouldn't trade it for anything! I swear, it saved my back and I love not waking when my husband rolls over or gets out of bed.
Back on topic, I was in BJ's today and looked at a Key's Backyard tub that they were selling for about $3,000. It was up on it's side so you could see the bottom of the tub. The base of the tub was rough wood painted to match the skirt surround and the bottom was covered with a thin mylar sheet stapled to the wood. The warranty was 5 years for the shell and 3 for other parts. If you would compare that tub to any of the name brand tubs, the difference in construction would be very very obvious. I can't imagine looking at a top level tub and then buying something like this. there is no comparison at all. :-/
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We've had a Select Comfort bed for the past 10 years. Works for us. Mrs. Brewman likes sleeping on concrete, me not so much.
Not the cheapest bed in the world, but it is nice and comfortable.
But dammit, everytime we jump on the bed we spill our wine all over the sheets, so maybe the tempurpedic thing is the way to go. Either that or we just buy burgandy colored sheets.
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I too was at BJ's todday and they had that 6 person Key's spa for $2700. My wife took a look at it and said - 'here you go'. My thought was wow, you can buy 3 of these for the price of 1 premium tub. Did it look like a premium tub - absolutely not! But if you look at some secondary lines of tubs, they don't look too "premium". That was one of the things I liked about the Artesian Island series - they looked premium.
This may be the thinking of people buying one themselves. Boni mentioned the quality difference but I doubt buyers think that way. They trust that certainly they wouldn't sell garbage - most people will probably stop using the spa before it gets to the point of being useless.
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What are we doing wrong to make so many folks buy simply by price and not look at quality/warranty/service/support etc.??
8-)
10% of the population buy things solely on the lowest price, 10% buy the most expensive and the other 80% buy for value
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I wonder how many shoppers think that looking at a hot tub dealer will be worth their time. Many of them probably think it's like going to a car dealer - why go out of your way to get hassled by a salesperson who doesn't know anything, and pay more for the privilege? Sure, there are some good & some bad hot tub dealers out there, but the average consumer expects bad service everywhere, since that's what you get at 90% of the stores in this country.
For example, I'm trying to learn how to cook - after years of "cooking" via opening up a box or picking up a phone, I thought it would be better & healthier for me & the missus to eat right. I always assumed that people who work behind the counter of the meat, deli, & other grocery departments know what they're doing - in the same way I know what I'm doing in selling books.
Not true! I walked into three different grocery stores yesterday looking for a particular cut of meat (English-cut plate ribs), and not ONE of them had a clue what I was talking about. They didn't even know what animal (a cow) it came from! I mean, you're a butcher - you'd think learning the parts of a cow would be the first day on the job!!
At the other end of the spectrum, I stopped by my local hot tub dealer yesterday. I've been having a problem with one of my jets popping out. I thought maybe the jet itself was the problem, so I brought the "defective" one in to have them take a look at it. The salesperson paged a service guy, who came out with a replacement jet, and the jet body from inside the tub - just to give me a demonstration of what was going on. They then gave me a replacement part (free of charge). I went home & did exactly what the service guy said, and now it's running perfectly. Did I mention that I bought the tub used, it's well out of warranty, and it's 10 years old? Try getting service like that from Costco!