Complaint Review: Cal Spas - Pomona California

Further to this post and as a final update, the following information is offered. As mentioned in my post dated 11-05-04, I discovered that the warranty provided to me by the dealer (Spa Outlet, Inc.) of my Cal Spa grossly misrepresented the terms to me at the time of purchase. Although the salesman told us at the time of the sale that our spa had a 10 year shell warranty and marked this information on the sales receipt rather ambiguously, the spa actually only had a 5 year warranty. There was no way to physically verify this at the time of the sale. It only became apparent when the shell blistered and was subsequently inspected by the spa technician. Since the store I purchased the spa from was no longer in business, my primary contact became Cal Spas. Subsequent to the repairs, which have now been completed, Cal Spas has generously agreed to pay for half of the repairs ($459.87). Although Cal Spas technically did not have to honor the erroneous terms of the warranty provided by the former irreputable dealer, they have offered a favorable resolution in my opinion.

In accordance with Tammie's request, I have just mailed the photos and service invoice in the amount of $919.75 for the repairs to my spa. According to all of the people I have spoken with including the "Factory Authorized Service Agent" who did the repairs, the blisters can be attributed to poor manufacturing techniques. Whether the spa is covered by a 5 year or 10 year warranty is really irrelevant as this is clearly a latent defect. Upon receipt of the above information Tammie has commited to the following: "In order to resolve this issue: Pictures are needed Written Report from the Service Technician Once Cal Spas has received this information, our Warranty Dept. will review for resolution." I will now wait to see how this matter is resolved by Cal Spas. An update will be posted as soon as a response from Cal Spas has been received.

In accordance with Tammie's request, I have just mailed the photos and service invoice in the amount of $919.75 for the repairs to my spa. According to all of the people I have spoken with including the "Factory Authorized Service Agent" who did the repairs, the blisters can be attributed to poor manufacturing techniques. Whether the spa is covered by a 5 year or 10 year warranty is really irrelevant as this is clearly a latent defect. Upon receipt of the above information Tammie has commited to the following: "In order to resolve this issue: Pictures are needed Written Report from the Service Technician Once Cal Spas has received this information, our Warranty Dept. will review for resolution." I will now wait to see how this matter is resolved by Cal Spas. An update will be posted as soon as a response from Cal Spas has been received.

In accordance with Tammie's request, I have just mailed the photos and service invoice in the amount of $919.75 for the repairs to my spa. According to all of the people I have spoken with including the "Factory Authorized Service Agent" who did the repairs, the blisters can be attributed to poor manufacturing techniques. Whether the spa is covered by a 5 year or 10 year warranty is really irrelevant as this is clearly a latent defect. Upon receipt of the above information Tammie has commited to the following: "In order to resolve this issue: Pictures are needed Written Report from the Service Technician Once Cal Spas has received this information, our Warranty Dept. will review for resolution." I will now wait to see how this matter is resolved by Cal Spas. An update will be posted as soon as a response from Cal Spas has been received.

In accordance with Tammie's request, I have just mailed the photos and service invoice in the amount of $919.75 for the repairs to my spa. According to all of the people I have spoken with including the "Factory Authorized Service Agent" who did the repairs, the blisters can be attributed to poor manufacturing techniques. Whether the spa is covered by a 5 year or 10 year warranty is really irrelevant as this is clearly a latent defect. Upon receipt of the above information Tammie has commited to the following: "In order to resolve this issue: Pictures are needed Written Report from the Service Technician Once Cal Spas has received this information, our Warranty Dept. will review for resolution." I will now wait to see how this matter is resolved by Cal Spas. An update will be posted as soon as a response from Cal Spas has been received.

3 years ago I bought a Jacuzzi spa from Home Depot. Last week the pump started to go out. Called Jacuzzi, Spa Crafters, to find out the scoop on the hot tub. The hot tubs sold at HD are different then the tubs sold through a Jacuzzi dealer. Don't know how other then the ones sold through the dealer carry a 5 year warranty on the pump versus a 1 warranty from HD. Didn't check the price at the Jacuzzi dealer. The price was probably more but came with a better warranty, so you get what you pay for. I found Melinda, at their dealer to be very nice and polite. Kind of like the transmission dealer who sold the same transmission. Painted them 3 different colors, sold them for 3 different prices and gave 3 different warranties, depending on the price paid.

What Tammie doesn't mention is that the box indicating "Quarite/ Acrylic Plus" is ALSO marked on the sales receipt. We were told at the time of purchase by the dealer (Spa Outlet Inc.) who is now out of business, that the spa had a 10 year shell warranty. There is no way to actually verify this without destructive testing. We were given the warranty paperwork at the time of the sale which confirmed the fact that the model we thought we purchased had a 10 year warranty. In addition, it was me who called and paid for the "Cal Spas service representative". At no time did Cal Spas make this option available to me. The service representative determined by looking at one of the broken blisters that the spa shell was actually not the Quarite Plus type. It was then that I realized that the dealer misrepresented the spa to me at the time of sale and in fact my warranty was only 5 years. Based on Cal Spas position that my spa was no longer under warranty,I authorized the service representative to make the necessary repairs and he is about half finished as of this writing. I do have photographs of the blistering and I'm sure the service representative will provide any necessary reports. I guess I am confused why Cal Spas is now asking for these things when they have already indicated that they are not willing to cover the repairs to my spa, as it is technically out of warranty. As soon as I receive the report from the service rep. I will forward same, along with the photographs to Cal Spas for their review. I guess I have to ask why after nearly 2 months you are now asking for additional information.

Cal Spas is more than willing to resolve Gary's spa concern. Cal Spas has carefully reviewed Gary's Sales Agreement, and found the following stated on Sales Agreement: Spa Model: Hawaiian System 2000 Year: 1996 Color: Blackstone Shell: "Quarite" circled "Quarite" box masked "X" "Standard" box marked "X" This was brought into question. Their was a Cal Spas service representative out to evaluate the spa and found the shell to be "Quarite." This explains why the dealer circled "Quarite." Quarite shell has a (5)five year warranty Under Warranty terms (Mr. Krage's Warranty copy) specifies: 5 year Warranty "Warrants the shell structure/surface finish its Standard Altair and Quarite. In order to resolve this issue: Pictures are needed Written Report from the Service Technician Once Cal Spas has received this information, our Warranty Dept. will review for resolution. Thank

I am upset because my 7 year old Cal Spa has developed over 13 blisters in the shell. According to your "Factory authorized service agent" this IS a defect in the manufacturing process! This has nothing to do with how the spa was installed, maintained or used. It has everything to do with Cal Spas poor product. It is unfortunate that the dealer misrepresented the spa to me at the time of purchase. My original sales receipt DOES have the box checked indicating "QUARITE / ACRYLIC PLUS". If Cal Spas considers "WORLD CLASS CUSTOMER SERVICE" includes sending a 750 lb., 7ft. square spa to them for evaluation, they must be living in another "WORLD". The fact remains that I had to contact a "Factory Authorized service agent" myself in order to get any type of resolution. Keep in mind that Cal Spas did not offer this option to me at any time. Their solution was to blame me for the defects and invalidate the warranty. And furthermore, your "Warranty" makes absolutely no mention of sending the spa back to you for evaluation or freight charges. And yes Tammie, both you and Peggy were extremely rude to me over the phone, and that is precisely why I will never own or recommend another Cal Spas product to anyone. I have also noticed that Peggy has received several other complaints about her demeanor in some of the other Ripoff reports filed against your firm. And, your very own "factory authorized service agent" indicated that both you and Peggy were uncooperative and unreasonable with him! It's apparent that your idea of "WORLD CLASS CUSTOMER SERVICE" doesn't include the customer or service. It's just a matter of time before people realize that your spas are not built to last and they are not backed by any type of reasonable customer service. It is not me who will need the "good luck", it's you Cal Spas.

I am once again responding to Gary's accusations againist Cal Spas. We understand that you are upset regarding the mishap with your spa, but as I stated to you, in October, Cal Spas is willing to evaluate your spa, but you would be responsible for sending the spa back to us. If you refer to your "Warranty" you will see that we are not responsible for any freight charges. As I am going over your receipt at this time, I am once again looking at your spa being Quarite and not Plus. I don't know any other way to explain this too you. I don't believe that our representative was rude to you at anytime, because we strive for "WORLD CLASS CUSTOMER SERVICE." If you are willing to send you spa to us than we will evaluate and go from their. If not Good Luck! Consumer Affairs Controller

Further to the above, and in an effort to gather more information for what appeared to be inevitable small claims court action against Cal Spas, I hired an independant spa technician to validate my claim. What I discovered in this process is that the spa I purchased was grossly misrepresented to me at the time of sale by the dealer. The spa was purchased from The Spa Outlet Inc. in Santa Clara, CA which is unfortunately now out of business. The salesperson represented to us at the time of purchase that the spa shell had a 10 year Cal Spas warranty and even checked this option on the sales receipt and attached the 10 year warranty. After having the spa checked by the impartial 3rd party, I was informed that the spa is not the type with the 10 year warrranty, but only a 5 year warranty. This does NOT by any means justify the deplorable customer service I received from Cal Spas or the fact that my 7 year old Cal Spas still has a major manufacturing defect. Both Peggy Hamblin and Tammie of Cal Spas were extremely rude, accusatory and uncooperative during this entire ordeal. This has confirmed to me and I hope others that Cal Spas sells an inferior product backed by deplorable customer service with the attitude that "the customer is always wrong". Stay away from Cal Spas products, they do not represent themselves in a professional manner and I feel they sell a product with a planned obsolescence of less than 8 years.

My warranty is NOT expired. The sales receipt specifically identifies my spa to be the "Quarite/Acrylic Plus". The box for this option is checked on the sales receipt. Cal Spas has numerous copies of this already. Furthermore, this is the EXACT text of their warranty: "Shell Structure/Surface Warranty: Cal Spas warrants the shell structure/surface finish of it's Altair Plus and Quarite Plus spas not to peel, crack, wrinkle, blister, yellow, efface, or delaminate for a period of Ten years from it's purchase date". The spa was purchased on 12/31/1996, which by my math makes it 7 years and 10 months old. The last time I looked 7 years is less than 10 years and it certainly didn't "exipred(sic) 4 years ago". And to accuse me of "mistreating" is ludicrous. If they even bothered to actually LOOK at the spa rather than making false accusations over the phone, perhaps they wouldn't be in the predicament they are currently in. Not only is the spa covered with the original "Cal Spa & Billiards" insulated cover, it is located under a shaded gazebo. The only time it is uncovered is when it's in use, which is typically in the evenings and for less than hour. Tell me how that constitutes "mistreatment". The only mistreatment going on here is to Cal Spas customers. I'll see you in court Cal Spas. We'll let the judge decide who is right.

I am responding to the negative information that Gary is saying regarding Cal Spas. Gary's warranty is expired, his warranty exipred 4 years ago. The spa had a 5 year warranty. According to his receipt, it states plan that he was covered under Quarite not Acrylic. I personally spoke to him and advised that Cal Spas is willing to evaluate his spa, but he is responsible for shipping the spa back to us. A spa does not blister overnight, why is this problem just now being reported to us. This is a 1996 spa. If this spa was under warranty their would be no problem for us to make the necessary repairs. Also this could be a result of mistreating due to spa not being covered.

October 27, 2004 Spoke with CSR "Tammy" today concerning the coverage of my blistered spa under warranty. Their remedy was for me to send the installed and wired 750 lb. spa to them at my expense for evaluation under the terms of their warranty. The terms of their warranty specifically state the following: "In the event of any malfunction or defect covered under the terms of this warranty,a Factory Authorized Service Agent of Cal Spas will repair the portable spa. To obtain service, contact the Factory Authorized Service Agent in your area, there will be no charge for parts, labor or the freight costs for parts necessary to repair the spa. After One Year, a Thirty-Five ($35) dollar trip charge must be received at the time of service" There is absolutely no mention of sending a spa to them for inspection. When asked why they couldn't send a "Factory Authorized Service Agent" to my home to inspect it in accordance with the terms of the warranty, their response was that was not what their decision was on how to handle it. They are digging themselves in deeper and the costs to mitigate this matter are continuing to rise.

October 27, 2004 Spoke with CSR "Tammy" today concerning the coverage of my blistered spa under warranty. Their remedy was for me to send the installed and wired 750 lb. spa to them at my expense for evaluation under the terms of their warranty. The terms of their warranty specifically state the following: "In the event of any malfunction or defect covered under the terms of this warranty,a Factory Authorized Service Agent of Cal Spas will repair the portable spa. To obtain service, contact the Factory Authorized Service Agent in your area, there will be no charge for parts, labor or the freight costs for parts necessary to repair the spa. After One Year, a Thirty-Five ($35) dollar trip charge must be received at the time of service" There is absolutely no mention of sending a spa to them for inspection. When asked why they couldn't send a "Factory Authorized Service Agent" to my home to inspect it in accordance with the terms of the warranty, their response was that was not what their decision was on how to handle it. They are digging themselves in deeper and the costs to mitigate this matter are continuing to rise.