On line purchashing?

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OKLAHOMAN

OKLAHOMAN

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Dee and I have decided to purchase a hot tub, a small 2-3 person one to go in our Lanai. We looked local and in OKC and it seems that we can buy from a few different vendors on line the same tubs for anywhere of $1,000 to $2,000 less than locally. We have bought two Large screen TV's on line and were well please with the service but are just a little gunshy on this. Has anyone here bought a spa/hot tub on line and if so who from?
 
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If I had it to do over again, I would buy a used tub. You can often find them for far less than half the cost of a new one. Some people will practically give them away just to get rid of them. Most have been used very little because they become nothing more than ornaments after the initial 'newness' wears off of them.
 
Roy,

We just bought one - from a local place. As a product - I don't think it would make that much of a difference. The things are pretty sturdy and should hold up to shipping. Since our's was local they delivered the spa to the final place. They had a specialized cart to get it through the fence gate, down a little hill & and onto our 15 inch high pad. If I remeber correctly from when we were shopping around, delivery from online places was to the street.

Also - we unfortunately had a problem with the unit starting up the first time. The hot tub was full and it was about 10P.M. when we realized the problem. The temperature was a handful off degrees below freezing. It was very nice having the service crew available. I about blew a gasket that night thinking we were going to have a couple thousand dollar ice cube in our back yard.

Other than that initial problem it has been WONDERFUL!!!

Dave
 
Show the online prices to you local dealer to see if they will match or come close. I did that was some light fixtures a few years back and they gave me a better price.
 
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What about surplus auctions? Any of those in your area? The local spa guy once told me he goes there and looks them over without worring about the pumps because most times that is what needs to be replaced. He then gets them (bids) for 20-25% normal cost of new.
Just get one you like and that isn't cracked.
 
There are, in my opinion 2 keys, one is the features and the other is the installation. 1) Make sure you can see a demo of the exact model you want to buy or something very, very close. 2) How/where the tub is installed is as important as the tub....make sure you can install it where you can drain it and fill it either with a direct hookup or a hose (years ago, we made the mistake of putting ours where we had to use buckets for both). You can probably buy on line but if the local includes installation and delivery you might not save as much as you think --- you're getting too old to try to wrestle one of those around unless you have a good source of help.
 
I bought mine at Costco back in 2008, in 2009 one pump went out...come to find out the hot tub maker had gone out of business. Costco stood by the warranty though and it was fixed at no cost to me very efficiently using a local repair company. I have not had a problem since.
 
Help keep the local guy in business. Ask him for a way better price. And ask him what he has on his that the on line one does not. Make sure you tie it to a ground fault circut.
 
Tom T said:
Help keep the local guy in business. Ask him for a way better price. And ask him what he has on his that the on line one does not. Make sure you tie it to a ground fault circut.
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Personally I wouldn't have anything else on the electric circuit and I think most of them are 220V (don't think I buy a 110V) They might also have built in ground fault protection. It is a good thing to consider though.
 
Ours used 4 strands of #6 copper wire. 220V. 50 amps. An emergency switch/breaker box out by the tub (more than 5 feey away from it). Fortunately I have: 1) a wife that makes great food AND 2) a friend that is a certified electrician that loves great food. He showed me what to do. I pulled all of the wires and installed all of the conduit (he was able to get the wire for me on his account - it cost about half of what the retail stores were charging). He came over and hooked it all up. Then we had a really nice homemade lasanga dinner with garlic bread, salad, and wine - I forget what we had for desert.
 
Only would buy one with 220, and have my licensed electrician do all wiring, As to having the local come down almost 30% the problem is a brick and mortar store has about 30% more cost involved, thats because of sales commissions,store overhead, floor planing and other cost that come with a store.


Smitty37 said:
Tom T said:
Help keep the local guy in business. Ask him for a way better price. And ask him what he has on his that the on line one does not. Make sure you tie it to a ground fault circut.
Click to expand...
Personally I wouldn't have anything else on the electric circuit and I think most of them are 220V (don't think I buy a 110V) They might also have built in ground fault protection. It is a good thing to consider though.
Click to expand...
 
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I'd have no problems, whatsoever, buying it on line. The FIRST place I'd look would be Amazon. WHY AMAZON? Well, first as an Amazon Prime Member, which costs me $79 per year, I get free shipping (yes, even on hot tubs, big TVs, big lathes, etc). Second, when I price search on line, someone who deals with Amazon usually had the best price. Third, at least for the time being, NO SALES TAX at Amazon. Here sales tax on a new tube would be about $210. And finally, AMAZON Stands behind the products they sell and the shippers they use. If you get a bad product from Amazon, they make it their problem, not yours. If something BIG is bad or broken Amazon sends a truck and a packer at their expense.

Respectfully submitted.
 
Roy, I would go on craigs list and look for people getting rid of them in your area. Sometimes you can get crazy good hottubs for smoking deals. And buying them from a store is crazy expensive.
 
My biggest concern would be service. If it is the same brand as the local guy and it needs service, how happy is the local guy going to be servicing a unit he did not sell? How fast will he get to you? Is he going to send his best techs?
 
Roy, When I was in the market for a Hot Tub I put a "wanted" ad on Craigs List. I received several calls. It seems that lots of people get Hot Tubs and then realize they don't use them much. I got a great deal on a lightly used hot tub locally. We used it quite a bit for a few years but after a few years of little use I sold it ( again on Craigs List ).
 
MarkD said:
Roy, When I was in the market for a Hot Tub I put a "wanted" ad on Craigs List. I received several calls. It seems that lots of people get Hot Tubs and then realize they don't use them much. I got a great deal on a lightly used hot tub locally. We used it quite a bit for a few years but after a few years of little use I sold it ( again on Craigs List ).
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I think that to use them regularily they require more maintenance than most people realize and it takes a lot of electricity to keep the water hot or if you let it cool time and electric to heat it back up. We used ours for about three years then when we went three months without anyone using it we got rid of it. We bought it used and sold it for about what we paid for it....I would look for a used unit a lot of people sell them when they are working just fine.
 
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Not to hijack Roy's thread or to bash hot tubs in anyway, but have never "owned" a tub... we did have one at a house we rented when we first came back to Kingwood from Tucson in '95...even though the landlord claimed it was serviced just before we moved in, I spent an entire day cleaning the tub, then built a cover for it, and painted the deck around it, only to discover the thermostat was out in the heater. After I replaced that, it worked fine, but don't think we ever used it more than half a dozen times in the year we were there. Lots of maintenance, keeping the filters clean, watching the heating elements, etc.... an my wife has a slight heart problem, so hot tubs aren't good for her anyway... was actually glad when we moved and I didn't have to maintain it.
 
We have owned an hot tub in the past and used it almost every day for the 3 years we owned it so we know the upkeep back then (21 years ago) and todays hot tubs with the new Ozone and salt treatment systems are much less maintenance . When we moved from Texas to Oklahoma we left it with the house. Dee will undergo her second hip replacement on March 5th and after the healing of the incision it will be great therapy for her. Nothing like a glass of good wine, a good book on your kindel and relaxing in a hot tub after a long day, can't wait.
 
In addition to cost consider size in relation to how many people will use it at the same time. Two or three people may not be practical. Whatever size you do buy allow for a powerful enough pump to drive the jets, adequate heater to keep the water hot when the jets are on, probably a 220 line and a fence around it if local ordinance requires it. In the same vain water is very heavy to make sure the unit is properly support from below. On a daily basis plan on monitoring the ph level and time for cleaning. Keep it covered with a well insulated, but light weight cover, to keep the water from cooling down. There's alot more to owning a hot tub than the fun part. Enjoy!
 
OKLAHOMAN said:
We have owned an hot tub in the past and used it almost every day for the 3 years we owned it so we know the upkeep back then (21 years ago) and todays hot tubs with the new Ozone and salt treatment systems are much less maintenance . When we moved from Texas to Oklahoma we left it with the house. Dee will undergo her second hip replacement on March 5th and after the healing of the incision it will be great therapy for her. Nothing like a glass of good wine, a good book on your kindel and relaxing in a hot tub after a long day, can't wait.
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Well it was a little longer than that since we had ours, but not a lot - When our 2nd daughter left for college no one was using it....that's probably 25 years ago.
 
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