Like many people in the Phoenix area, we are planning on having a pool and hot tub put into the backyard of our new home. You can’t really test out a built-in pool before you buy it as they are virtually all custom.
It turns out, you can test some hot tubs. We started our search with the nearest place that offered trials, Desert Hot Tubs in Tolleson. They are a dealer of Hot Springs and Caldera spas. We were interested in the Enovy, but we tried the only one they had available for trial, the Grandee. It was from the same range, but was bigger and with slightly different options.
Here is the video of us trying it out. Apologies if we come off delirious. We had moved in about 2-3 weeks before this and everything was very, very full on:
Trying out hot tubs sounds like it would be fun and it was an interesting experience, but it was also yet another reason why one of the biggest insults I could lob at someone at this point in my life is salesman.
The fellow at the shop said he gets most of his business via word of mouth, so I’d like to contribute. He led us to think there was some chance we could get the specific hot tub we wanted fairly quickly because at the time I had a friend who was supposed to visit a few weeks later. He was happy to waste our time only to tell us we couldn’t get it for at least a month rather than a week. He didn’t tell us the full truth until we had come back and done the test.
I didn’t mind so much that he couldn’t get it as soon as I wanted it, but I did mind being misled. He must have thought that just testing a hot tub was going to be blow our minds, make us stupid and agree to give him several thousand dollars even though it wasn’t under circumstances we were happy with.
He was also extremely dismissive of any questions we had that he didn’t know the answer to and frequently insulted the elderly section of his clientele whenever we asked about possible tech features or warranty issues.
Strangely, it seems like the more expensive the item, the more dehumanizing the service. The hot tub experience was poor, but a hot tub is still much, much cheaper than a house. That is where we really had trouble. The king of poor salesmanship is the man who sold us our house.
As soon as he made the sale, he lost all interest in speaking to us or giving us any meaningful updates on the progress on our house. He would only tell us when things were happening, not when there were delays. This turned out to tally with the experience of pretty much everyone we’ve spoken to in our new neighborhood. We were all left to think that we were moving a lot sooner than any of us actually did.
We haven’t actually spoken to said salesman in person at all since November when he bashfully told us our house would not be ready until February when he had let us go on believing we would be moving in November or December. He mainly marred the experience of getting an otherwise lovely new home in a beautiful neighborhood from a quality builder.
To the builder, William Ryan Homes, I would just like to say, it was mainly the mountain view and the floor plan that sold us, not the man you wasted 6% on. We bought this house despite him, not because of him.
Needless to say, by hitting my salesman stereotype button, the man in Desert Hot Tubs in Tolleson will not be getting our business when we ultimately do buy a hot tub.
It is a great pity Best Buy don’t sell hot tubs and houses because they win, hands down, at best customer service we’ve had in a really long time. Our local shop is located at 1408 N Litchfield Rd, Goodyear, AZ 85395 and it can boast two of the nicest, most helpful sales guys I’ve dealt with in the last year and a half. One of them patiently talked us through dozens of TVs on the day that we picked out our 75″ Sony Bravia. Another of the fellows there helped us decide which games console to buy when we got our Nintendo Switch. They both gave us thoughtful, honest advice that helped us make more confident purchases in both cases.
Long story short, it seems like if you are buying something more than a few hundred or thousand dollars in cost, the chances of a thoughtful, normal human being selling you it just falls off a cliff. The bigger the stakes on the purchase, the greater the chance that anyone who can sell it to you will mar the experience.
If anyone has any advice on a good hot tub brand or any other Phoenix area landscaping advice for a couple about to put in a pool, a hot tub and an outdoor kitchen, do let us know! We are in the planning process as of the date on the blog and most advice is very welcome. Sleazy salesmen need not apply though, naturally 😉