WOW! Nearly three months later, I get a response. Now allow me to set the record straight, which I can document with volumes of emails, phone records and faxes sent back and forth with this merchant.
Statement No. 1: “In regards to damaged spas, the damaged items were small items, like cover lifters, which we can replace quickly, if they are in stock in our warehouse. In this case we had to order the items, as they were out of stock. The customer just took action on their credit card, and got the money back before we could get the parts.”
All I got was excuses. I would repeatedly be told that Lisa (lisa@choosedirect.com) -- Director of Customer Service -- would call me but not once did she do that. They know that if they allow time to elapse, you won’t be able to file any claim whatsoever with your credit card company. I would continue to get emails with false promises from Sameer (sameer@choosedirect.com), always buying more time but never any specifics. For instance, “I am waiting for my new shipment to arrive. I am sure they have extra covers and cover lifter for you.” I still have a leaky hot tub, a faulty valve where the water pours into the basement of the hot tub, a non-functioning lifter, a TV that I cannot play most DVDs on or connect my cable to, and plumbing that leaks water into the enclosed portion of the unit. The credit card dispute failed me because too much time had elapsed and I was only compensated for a fraction of my total loss.
Statement No. 2: “Leaks in the tubs are rare. The plumbing is superb, and we use triple tie banding on all pipes including strong blue pool glue.”
According to their spa tech, he said it is not uncommon that the units have minor plumbing leaks due to shifting in their shipping. The unit comes delivered standing upright on its side and you have to get it unpackaged and lowered onto its base … some 1000 pounds for my unit. I have taken off every panel of my unit and still have not found the leak. I had to drain it for the winter even though I have their polar insulation because of the leaky pipes were causing ice to form within the unit … and I live in the south! I was advised over the phone how to try and troubleshoot the leak. Still haven't found it! Source: Coastside Services -- www.coastsideservices.com -- spatech@choosedirect.com
Statement No. 3: “The customer is wrong about the TV. They are of course made to American standards. A spa technician, not affiliated with us, told him that so he got the wrong idea. We sell many TV spas to the American market, it is our most popular item. They are reliable and made for the American market.”
I love the part about the spa technician not affiliated with them. Ha! Here is an email Sameer sent to Michelle, when I complained about the leaks and other issues: “Hi Michelle (Michelle@choosedirect.com), Please create a case for xxx (copied on email) and have Charles call him to diagnose what part is leaking. Sameer.”
So when Charles called me, he stated that Choose Direct outsources its support to him and said he had recently received one of the spas I had (he confirmed the make and model and said I had one of the new models).
Bottom line, I still cannot connect my cable to the TV and most DVDs do not work in the unit. The spa tech specifically stated the early shipments of this new model had the wrong equipment in them and that he was looking for some type of converter unit but I’ve never heard anything back from them. Specifically, I was told the controller unit installed in my unit is designed for Europe. In fact, he stated that when they noticed the wrong equipment in the units, the parts that the TV and stuff are connected to, they halted production until they got it right. Source: Coastside Services -- www.coastsideservices.com -- spatech@choosedirect.com
Statement No. 4: “Regarding heaters, heaters can go out on spas from time to time. We have a warranty on our spas, and replace all necessary parts when they go bad. We support our products with parts and service. Like a car, a spa has moving parts, and things can happen. We replace them, and get the spa working quickly again.”
The spa tech is the only responsive person in the entire process. He had me go out, tell him what the error code was, and told me that the heater was bad and I needed to replace it. This on a brand new spa. But the heater was sent, which forced me to disconnect the power, remove the side panel, and do the uninstall and install of the unit myself. Took about an hour total. Please do not attempt this on your own if you don’t know electrical. And no, the warranty doesn’t have a tech come to your house. You have to email photos back and forth and the fella, nice as he is, talks you through everything on the phone. So did I mention that the code for the faulty heater isn’t something I could figure out? That’s because I still have an owner’s and user’s manual interpreted from another language that is incomprehensible. The spa tech told me they send him a spa of most models so he can help folks over the phone. When you do a view properties on the manual, it states it was created by ???? – this is Microsoft user in English! You guessed it, the manual was converted from Chinese English and you can imagine how choppy that is!
By the way, nothing in this unit is US made, so even the wiring diagrams and breakers are all foreign. So don’t expect the manual to help you as the translations and diagrams are all incomprehensible.
Thanks you for your response, Mr. CEO. Now the public has the truth. Feel free to make good on the unit at any time and I’ll refund the pithy money I got back from my credit card company.
Why file a report here? Ripoff Report is a permanent record! Other complaint sites copy our content then remove reports for money.
