Posted on 02/03/2023

Buyer Beware - Hot Tub Expos & Blowout Sales

50% off? How can I pass that up?

"They are intentionally misleading their potential customers"

You can find one of these expos or blowout sales almost every weekend near you in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and beyond. This alone should tell you that the deals there are not out of the ordinary. They're on TV. They're on the radio. You see them on your social media. As a matter of fact, they normally spend lots of money on advertising these sales and that cost gets passed along to you, the customer! They spend tens of thousands of dollars on TV, Radio, Social Media, Google and other advertisements, along with the money they spend on renting out convention centers every weekend. Moving the tubs from city to city, all of this costs money. They usually have high pressure salesmen who get paid high commissions to lure you into purchasing a hot tub at any cost. They offer coupons falsely representing up to $5,000 off. While their ads claim you can save 50% or 20% on a hot tub, this simply is not true. They can't afford to compete with your local hot tub store's prices after incurring all of those costs. A sale that runs all the time isn't much of a sale, afterall. They claim that "Everything Must Go", but in reality they'll be doing another event the following weekend in another town near you. Knowing this, they are still okay with making people feel like they're getting a one time deal that's "This Weekend Only", and they've been doing it for years.

Aren't several manufacturer's showcasing their products?

Unfortunately, there is only one hot tub manufacturer at these events. They are intentionally misleading their potential customers by saying there will be many different brands and the largest display of hot tubs in the region, when they know that there is only one hot tub manufacturer at the show. This manufacturer may have different lines of varying qualities under different names, but who is the manufacturer? It never tells you whose hot tubs will be on display on the ads or on their website! They don't display their company name either! Why would someone knowingly make such an investment with a company who is willing to be so misleading about what they're doing and hides their company name? Most companies proudly display their name in their ads and on their websites. Some shoppers may be attracted to these sales because they haven't been informed enough to know and haven't been warned. Some people will read this once it's too late, and they've already started to regret their purchase from a dealer who does business in such a shady manner.

They aren't local

These traveling swim spa and hot tub expos travel far and sell hot tubs to people who many times, are left without someone to service their hot tub when they have trouble. The salesmen at blowout sales always tell you that they have service centers and technicians in the area that can help if you experience a problem. We know this isn't always true, because we end up providing that service to those customers in a lot of cases. It's best to purchase a hot tub from a local dealer who'll be there if you have questions, or need prompt assistance with your hot tub. It's nice to be able to walk into your local hot tub store and talk to someone who you're familiar with, someone you spoke with over the phone that knows about your hot tub and remembers guiding you through the purchase and installation of your new hot tub.

Are they good hot tubs?

The hot tubs sold at these not-so-special events are usually decent products, depending on which brand of hot tubs they have. They will usually come with an industry standard warranty. They have most of the same functions and features as other hot tub brands. There will be a few differences as there is from any brand to another. They're usually made by manufacturers who stand behind their product and their warranty. The problem is not with the quality of the product, but with the high prices and deception used to get oblivious customers to purchase their products.

What about the dealer? Are they reputable?

Try to look up the reviews of the product and the dealer before you go there. Oh wait, you can't do that, because they don't have their company name or product names listed on their ads or their website. How do you read their reviews, then? Why would they hide this information? Instead, you'll have to go to one of the events and deal with deceitful salesmen in order to find out what brand of hot tub is there, just so you can perform your own due diligence. The ambiguity of the whole situation is too offputting for me to trust someone with my purchase of such a high dollar product. Hot tubs are not cheap, and I want my purchase backed by someone who's honest and openly willing to display the brands and their company names on their ads and website. Maybe the dealer would have good reviews, and maybe they wouldn't but it sure doesn't look like they want us to know about it.

If you want to know more about what to look for when making a hot tub purchase, checkout this page: Hot Tub Buying Guide