Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: Swell-Tub on May 14, 2008, 10:46:50 am
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Now take a blood pressure pill before you read this post. I don't want to excite anyone. It seems that we have a majority of Hot Spring dealers on this website. I notice when someone buys a HS product there are lots of congrats and everyone celebrates. If someone buys something else then the other brands seem to come together and send congrats. So it is a little like a small group of Japanese motorcycle owners sharing a site with a large group of Harley owners.
So I was thinking was this a Hot Springs site that people with other brands crashed or was it a site intended for all hot tub users? :-?
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Now take a blood pressure pill before you read this post. I don't want to excite anyone. It seems that we have a majority of Hot Spring dealers on this website. I notice when someone buys a HS product there are lots of congrats and everyone celebrates. If someone buys something else then the other brands seem to come together and send congrats. So it is a little like a small group of Japanese motorcycle owners sharing a site with a large group of Harley owners.
So I was thinking was this a Hot Springs site that people with other brands crashed or was it a site intended for all hot tub users? :-?
(http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/student/idioms/idioms/images/hit_nail_on_head.jpg)
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First, let me say that I'm not a hot springs dealer. I did spent a very short amount of time in 2007, working for a HS dealer.
So....I understand your sentiment. There is a lot of HS talk on this forum. However, when you consider they are one of the top selling spas of all time, it would make sense.
You would have people looking for their first new tub asking about them, people who have had them for a long time looking for technical support, and chatter about their new models.
Also, if you at someone like Chas' posts, who is a HS dealer in California, he sends his congrats out when someone buys a hot tub, not just HS.
Just my two cents....
Mark
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Now take a blood pressure pill before you read this post. I don't want to excite anyone. It seems that we have a majority of Hot Spring dealers on this website. I notice when someone buys a HS product there are lots of congrats and everyone celebrates. If someone buys something else then the other brands seem to come together and send congrats. So it is a little like a small group of Japanese motorcycle owners sharing a site with a large group of Harley owners.
So I was thinking was this a Hot Springs site that people with other brands crashed or was it a site intended for all hot tub users? :-?
What I notice is when someone buys Hot Spring there are congrats from Chas, Spiderman, Term… and some additional congrats from others as well. When someone buys Jacuzzi then we can expect JJ, yourself and some of the Jacuzzi guys welcoming him as well as congrats from others. When it’s Arctic we'll see a warm welcome from GoArctic, Waterboy, Tom, etc. along with congrats from some non-Arctic people. When its Marquis ...
Maybe part of it is the number of people who bought/sell/rep Hot Spring versus some of the others although brands like Jacuzzi, Arctic and Marquis seem very well represented on this site.
Here are the most recent posts I saw where someone bought/received a new spa. There seems to be a fair distribution of congrats. Certainly more Hot Spring people respond to new Hot Spring owners just as more Jacuzzi people will respond to a new Jacuzzi post. In general I think most respect the other top brands out there. A few may have an ax to grind (or hammer ;)) but I think at times we fan the flames and then complain about the heat from the fire.
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1210287335
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1208405639
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1210385504
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1209575516
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1209253086
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No.
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(http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/student/idioms/idioms/images/hit_nail_on_head.jpg)
No, to the poster and no to the Quoter. Not in at least the 5 years I have been involved. Now are the HS guys the most vocal, yes, perhaps, but I would blame the rest of you more than them for that.
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Congrats to all who have bought or sold hot tubs.
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When someone buys Jacuzzi then we can expect JJ, yourself and some of the Jacuzzi guys welcoming him as well as congrats from others.
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1210287335
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1208405639
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1210385504
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1209575516
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1209253086
For the record I'm on all but one of your referenced posts. I think it is great when anyone buys a new hot tub.
Scott :)
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Thanks for giving me the links so I could cover the ones I missed!!
8-)
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Hi -- Mike in arkansas here (just recovering from Chemo Therapy for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma--and for the record I am clear of the disease after about 6 months of treatment and $250,000!! :-[). I purchased a Viking Spa (i realize it is not the best but it was all we could afford) and I never felt put down by anyone on THIS site. (However I HAVE been banned from other sites!).
It is fairly easy to recognize the dealers -- they make no attempt to disguise themselves. I have gleaned lots of good information from some objective observations from many people here about chemicals and general spa care, etc. (not to mention the PODs).
I confess I do not know the origins of this site but I don't feel any undo pressure to purchase Hot Springs (or Jacuzzi's or Artic or any other brand). I have not seen any bad mouthing of a competitors spa (unless it is a name that will be unmenitoned and that really has nothing to do with the spa itself but more the individual that promotes them and bashes anyone else).
For what it is worth,
Mike
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Mike, Glad you are doing well post chemo and hope you stay in remission!! :-*
DOn't bash your Viking. That is my first spa experience==my mother had a Viking 1 or 2 --the big old round tub==nothing like soaking in it after an evening shift and having a cigar and a wine cooler. Very basic, but I loved it!!
It has been my personal experience that I still get requests to try the HS line, and the tubs just don't do much for me or my appeal. I did look at Caldera, and we were very interested in it at first very early in our spa search, and the dealer was very knowledgeable. But as we continued to look, we wanted different things and more jets and different placements, which was limited on the Caldera line when we looked. If there was a HS dealer along the route we traveled our first Spa seeking day, we would have looked. So, I know where Scott is coming from.
To each his own, and after many wet tests, I want an Arctic Tundra (I have been in the Kodiak LE and Klondiker LE). Waiting for the hubby to decide. :-/
;)Chrisi ;)
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I want an Arctic Tundra. Waiting for the hubby to decide. :-/ ;)Chrisi ;)
A line from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" applies here - "The man is the head of the house. But the woman is the neck, and the neck turns the head." ;D ;D ;D ;D
You'll love your spa - they make a great addition to your life. I have had more memorable conversations with my kids (now grown) and my wife in our spa than around the table.
8-)
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The history of this site as I know it (I've only been around here for some 10 years ;) )
This site is owned by What's the Best, Inc.. There used to be MANY sites under the "umbrella"... whatsthebest lawn mower, jet ski, vacuum, matress, etc (I've used a few of the sites in the past and listed ALL of them following this post). The intent of the site(s) was/is simply to make money from banner advertising (notice the banners at the top of every page, or the "Ads by Google" on the left? EVERY time on of these is clicked, the owner of the site gets a commission).
Ok, so sometime ago two things happened. First, the owner of the site managed to get Hot Spring Spas to directly advertise on this site (see the link at the bottom of every page that says "Click Here for the Best Spas Around). Now in my opinion this in no way makes Hot Springs a controller of this site. HS has a very good rep, and there's rarely any complaints online about them. There's nothing for them to "control" here, they probably get a pretty good ROI on their ad, and I'd guess the owner of this site is making some nice $ from it.
Number two. It was common knowledge here a while ago that the owner was trying to sell this conglomerate to abbysguide.com. Originally whatsthebest.net listed ALL the sites under the umbrella. For a while, there was a note on that home page saying that soon all sites would be moving to abbysguide. Currently, if you go to whatsthebest.net you're referred to abbysguide (it's been this way since about Jan 28, 2005).
MY assumption is that the owner sold ALL but this site to abbysguide. This site may have been quite profitable and he held it back feeling that abbysguide wasn't offering enough for it.
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the original Whats-the-Best websites:
Air Purifiers
Audio Receivers
Bikes
CD Players
Camcorder
Christian Colleges
Coffee Machines
Cordless Phones
Credit Cards
DVD Players
Digital Cameras
Digital Copiers
Dishwashers
Dryers
Fax Machines
Fishing Boats
Gas Grills
Hair Loss Remedies
Home Control Systems
Home Fitness Equipment
Home Theaters
Hot Tub
Jet Skis
Lawn Mowers
MP3 Players
Mattress
Microwave Ovens
Minisystems
Motorcycles
PDAs
Plasma Displays
Point and Shoot Cameras
Ranges
Refrigerators
SLR Cameras
Sewing Machines
Snow Mobiles
Snow Throwers
TVs
VCRs
Vacuum Cleaner
Video Projectors
Washers
Water Filters
Wireless (Cell) Phones
camcorders
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Congrats to all who have bought or sold hot tubs.
Now THAT was funny! My type of humor! ;)
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Or Administrator (or whatever fancy title Bill has) has a Dynasty and our Moderator has a Marquis spa. If anyone wonders if a certain spa manufacturer controls this site I guess they would know. Somehow I doubt anyone has given them instructions on skewing the content to favor any certain brand because I'd imagine they'd quit those high paying positions if that were to occur.
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The history of this site as I know it (I've only been around here for some 10 years ;) )
HS has a very good rep, and there's rarely any complaints online about them. There's nothing for them to "control" here,
I keep telling them I accept bribes, but they seem to have this honor and morality thing going on.
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Swell-Tub this message board is what it is.
There is some truth to what you say,
but there are also some great things that
happen here irregardless of any bias towards certain brands.
Some of the most biased "my brand is the only brand"
characters on this message board can also be some
of the most helpful people to tub owners of all brands.
Most of the dealers & techs that frequent this site
are quick to offer advise to anybody and everybody
and usually they are right on the mark. Heck they
have been dealing with these issues for years.
In all honestly it's probably human nature to cheer a little
louder when someone buys the brand you sell or own.
So Swell-Tub if the "cheer-leading" gets under your skin
a bit try to ignore it and just look at the many positive
aspects about this message board and there are many!
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As someone mentioned, (Spa tech??) the folks who run and moderate this board don't even own Watkin products, and a corporate spokesperson from Artic is also a regular poster here. Spa Dr, another regular poster owns his own company that sells covers, chems and other supplies that could be seen as directly competeing with HS dealers.
There has been many many many anti hotsping threads in this forum that would have never seen the light of day if this was a Hotsprings site.
I do think though that some of the most helpful people on this forum and most proffesional are Hotspring dealers and sales folks. I think it's a reflection on the company: the quality of the people they hire, and how they are trained.
That being said, lately, this place seems to be a Jaquizzi fest lately. Two years ago, Jaquizzi was hardly mentioned.....
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ZEP,
This board has been a great resource for me. As I have mentioned before if I had not found this site I would have bought a Coast Spa without wet testing. I got to meet WebBoy at BullFrog International. I almost got to meet Micah down in Southern CA. I have had many phone conversations with JJ. I PM with Chrisi quite a bit.
I have received a lot of great information from this site. Chas has given me some good information. So I appreciate the support I get from this site. I just get a little worn down by the HS against everyone else tone that happens on this site. That is why I asked the question.
Thanks,
Scott :)
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I do think though that some of the most helpful people on this forum and most proffesional are Hotspring dealers and sales folks. I think it's a reflection on the company: the quality of the people they hire, and how they are trained.
Jeez! That makes me feel good. :'(
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Jeez! That makes me feel good. :'(
Sorry Jim. I wans't trying to put down any other dealers here. No way. I think the majority of the dealer posts here are quality folks, and you're one of them. that comes through in your posts. I just get a bit defensive when it gets implied this might be a covert HS site...that's Crazy Jimmy talk.
But did you catch my last sentence:
That being said, lately, this place seems to be a Jaquzzi fest lately. Two years ago, Jaquzzi was hardly mentioned.....
That's gotta make you happy. The Jaquzzi family seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.
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Thanks! And yes I caught that, was more or less just poking fun. And its Jacuzzi. ;)
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I have offered on many occasions to help with the Moderation load around here and have been refused in no uncertain terms. Bill is doing a fine job, and Bonni helps when he goes on his frequent crusies ;D neither of these folks work for or take any money from HS or this site.
8-)
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Jeez! That makes me feel good. :'(
Some of the most knowledgeable people on this site are certainly Hot Spring people. At the same time, some of them are Jacuzzi people (yeah, even you JJ), Arctic people, Marquis, etc. I think it’s a good mix. If you've got a spa made by one of the major spa brands you stand a great chance of someone being on here that has the information you're looking for. There may be more representation of certain brands based on the number of people but quality wise, we have very good people representing (in one manner or another) many different brands.
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We have seen a few Hot Spring spas that we like.
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We have seen a few Hot Spring spas that we like.
Excellent! Which ones seemed to be the most interesting to you?
And welcome to the board, by the way.
8-)
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We have seen a few Hot Spring spas that we like.
Hot Springs are great. Also check out the Caldera's they are very impressive.....
Scott :)