Life must be pretty good if a problematic hot tub is your biggest problem, but still, it is extremely frustrating when something that’s supposed to offer relaxation becomes a source of stress and frustration.

Know this: there’s more to a warranty than the length of coverage.  What’s more important is what’s covered, how it’s covered, who will fix it, how soon it’ll get fixed, and the track record of the company when it comes to customer care. 

Some companies have a mediocre-sounding warranty at a glance, but they have an excellent track record for prompt “service with a smile” and go way beyond what’s technically required of them. I also know and have worked with manufacturers who have great-sounding warranties on paper but when it comes to problem solving, it’s “like pulling teeth”, and “like molasses in January”, as my mother used to say. 

And it’s imperative that the place you buy from has its own parts & service department.  When vendors don’t have full-time technicians on staff, they are forced to rely on on-call workers from other companies to do their warranty work.  Many rival hot tub stores refuse to do warranty work for their competitors, and there’s a huge shortage of qualified, trustworthy independent hot tub technicians.  

In some cases, independent repairpersons flatly refuse to do factory warranty work.  There’s too much accountability, protocol and paperwork to bother with.  Factory warranty coverage often pays less per hour than the going technician rate, and technicians can’t make money on parts, so it’s not worth the hassle.   Also, some models are a nightmare to work on, and they’d rather not even try, considering there’s plenty of better, easier and more profitable work available.

 At Hot Tubs Galore, we have our own parts & service department with full-time certified technicians.  Sometimes other stores beg us to do work warranty for them.  It’s an awkward situation for everyone involved, because although we want to keep a good relationsip with our competitors, we’re often too busy serving our own clients to help them.