Double Cover for Buyers

With many hot tub sellers you are dealing with a sole importer who is selling direct. This tells you two things, the trade do not want to buy his spas and / or he is maximising his profits for a quick killing, by cutting out normal business costs.

The risk this exposes you too is that however big such a company claims it is, it  is still essentially a “one man” or “one family band”. If the company fails the whole lot goes, leaving customers with no back up or service. As has been shown by previous failures of mainly internet hot tub sellers, the new importer is not interested in dealing with old customers of the previous importer, unless it is for expensive parts or services.

So while you might think you are smart buying “direct” you lose the accountability and service of an established local business buying through a larger specialist distributor.

Plus many such direct suppliers are in remote parts of the country and simply cannot provide cost effective after care or warranty cover, just to come north to south, or visa versa, costs well over a £100 in fuel alone and takes a day.

With local companies operating dealerships for major brands you have the protection of their position in your local business community, plus the distributor they are buying from, then the manufacturer. This is a much more secure line of supply with support and service provided at a several levels rather than just one company direct selling a “no name” brand or own brand product from a shaky manufacturer.

A classic example of this has been the collapse of low end manufacturers out

of Florida. Established importers never deal with such companies, but newer speculative importers think they have discovered cheap lines and start selling direct, then find their suppliers go bust leaving them with no service or support with many importers then choosing to go bust. Companies out of Florida that have gone bust include Tatum, Hydro Spas and Gulf Coast making things very difficult for their importers.

Another danger is where a north American manufacturer desperate for sales sets up a UK office, and are then encouraged by their UK management to expand into expensive show sites using commission sales people all backed by heavy marketing costs. Once corporations discover just how much money they are losing in the UK, (that is not like the USA for operating a “store”) they simply pull out, leaving both customers and employees in the lurch.UK company law is such a joke, many hot tub companies go bust to get rid of liabilities like warranty and service and then set up next day having bought all the stock cheaply off  their old failed company, to then sell it all off and disappear over the horizon, this is known as Phoenixing and amazingly has been legalised by a process known as Pre Pack, all to suit con men to con the public.

Always ask a company or individual if they have been involved in a hot tub company that has gone bust over the last few years, or search the internet with the name of the company you are buying from but..with administration after it, you will surprised what comes up, especially the companies that “big themselves up”.