Coast Spas Coast refused to honor their warranty when my hot tub caught fire due to a fault in workmanship the business that doesn't give a dam consumer Langley British Columbia

I re-read Joseph's response here and noticed that I didn't address his statement about the size of the hot tub that was given to me as a replacment and the follow-up from my end. It's pretty obvious by my post here and the number of follow ups that I've made here that I like to talk and I don't mind explaining my story or speaking my mind so what the heck.

My original hot tub was a Paradise model with 30+ jets in it. It was 4 1/2 years old. The replacement I received is a brand new PARADISE model. They occupy the same footprint. To the best of my knowledge they hold the same volume of water. The new one might hold more water than the old one but it's certainly a far cry from twice the volume. As to size they're practically identicle. The cabinet on my new one is much nicer and is a tad larger. This was actually a bit of problem to me as my deck needed to be modified to allow it to fit. The size of the replacment was very important to me because the deck that surrounds my hot tub was built specifically for that size tub. That said, the model that I was given as a replacement is significantly better than the one I had on several points. It's new. It has 5 or 6 more jets. It has fiber optic lighting. The equipment pack is much much better. These are not things I demanded or even asked for. They were offered to me and I considered them a bonus and compensation for the FIRE! I was offered Coast's top of the line tub with a TV, DVD, Stereo system and I declined. I didn't want anything more than I what I felt I was entitled to.

Getting my hot tub replaced was not as simple as posting a website. That would have been great if the 30 minutes I spent putting a website together and $32 I spend to buy the domain name would have done it. Instead I spend a week chasing customer service and warranty people in long distance calls to Canada. I took time off work to have an insurance adjuster come and inspect everything and process a claim in case Coast wasn't going to take care of me. I spent a week smelling the stench of a burnt wood, plastic and insulation laying outside my master bedroom. I spent a week staring at a an ugly burnt out hulk of a tub laying in my otherwise beautifully snow covered yard. I spent a week chasing my two boys away from the wreck every time we went outside to play. I took time off work to have the old unit picked up. I took time off work to have the new unit installed. I could draw this out more but I think it discounts the 'all I had to do' comment rather nicely.

As to the 'website' and my follow up letter. I posted a website that contained pictures and my story. I purchased a domain name and hosted it on my own server. I did that in an effort to get the right persons attention so I could get something done about this. When Coast contacted me I took my site down while I was on the phone with them. That's all I wanted. I also followed up with Coast and sent them a letter thanking them for taking care of me and resolving the situation. I raved in my letter about how great the situation turned out for me and how they salvaged my opinion of them. I told them they could use the letter however they saw fit.

I'm a very happy Coast Spas customer now. I have recommended them to my friends and specifically suggested the dealer that replaced my tub. By Joseph's tone I am a bit fearful to contact him if I need service on my hot tub. As he says, I guess only time will tell. It was never my intention to damage him, his business, or Coast. I just wanted my situtation taken care of in a way that I thought was fair. As you can see by the date on this it's been a while and up until his 'heated' rebuttal I had moved past it. However, I feel it's important to make sure that the things said here were answered and to at least make an effort to show people that I was not trying take advantage of anybody or the sitution. I only wanted what I read the warranty to entitled me to.

Hands down the dealer the from Medina is a class act. After speaking with Coast Spas I was contacted by this dealer and they took care of the replacment. It was done at no charge to me and it was done very VERY professionaly. I have nothing but good things to say about the dealer from Medina and would recommend them to anybody looking into a spa. They believe in customer service.

As to the guage of the wire run to the hot tub, to the best of my knowledge, it was properly sized. The service from the breaker box was a 10 guage wire, hooked to a disconnect within 20 foot of the hot tub. There was then a 20 foot run of 10 guage from the disconnect to the hot tub. At any rate, the fire department said that the fire appeared to have originated in the equipment pack contained within the hot tub. The breaker in the house blew as soon as the problem was severe enough but the equipment pack and eventually the hot tub continued to burn. The hot tub had been in service for four and a half years with that wire in place and had had several in-warranty service calls made on it. I would assume the person, who was a factory authorized warranty representative, doing the in-warranty work would have inspected the installation to make sure that the work could be covered in warranty. At any rate, I'm not an electrition or an expert in this field and I can't say what did or didn't cause the fire. All I knew was that my in-warranty hot tub caught fire, all the safeties from the hot tub to the breaker box had worked, and I was being told the manufacturer wasn't going to do anything about it. They weren't telling me this after inspecting the wire or anything. I would have been 100% satisfied if they had come down, found too small of a wire, and sited in the equipments manual that the wire was in fact too small of a guage, and that they could not warranty it. That's not what was happening to me. I was being avoided and simply told that I was not going to be taken care of.

In closing, I posted this report in an effort to get the companies attention as I was having trouble getting any resolution to my situation. The dealer that the hot tub was purchased through was no longer a Coast Dealer, the warranty representative I had been dealing with was no longer a warranty representative, and I couldn't get the right person from Coast to talk on the phone with me. I was frustrated, angry, and felt like I wasn't getting a fair shake.

Obviously, the dealer feels that the hot tub was improperly installed and that's their perogotive. When Coast told me this dealer was going to replace my hot tub I had a discussion with them about several details. I was concerened that the dealer would resent me and not take care of me because I would be costing them the trip here, the hauling away of the hot tub, the install, and the replacement. I was assured by Coast that they would be fully compensated so that they would have incentive to think of me as a 'customer' and not just a 'problem'. I hope what Coast told me was true. I understand this wasn't Joseph's fault or problem and that he got involved way after the fact. I appreciate all the help and quick service from this dealer. Like I said, I would recommend them to anybody.

I do apologize for the delay in posting a follow up here. I honestly forgot I had posted this. I had filed a complaint with the BBB and the Ohio Attorney General all at the same time. I got those taken care of after arrangements for my hot tub to be replaced had been made but I forgot about this. THAT was my fault BUT it wouldn't have happened if the fire hadn't have happened and if I had been able to get resolution within the week that I considered fair. It's important to know that I had been told, in writing, that the hot tub was not going to be replaced. Again, I had been told this with no inspection of the hot tub or the installation. I considered my situation unfair this as my last resort.

Perhaps I was a bit hasty! Coast Spas called me shortly after I created this report and the took care of my situation. They replaced my hot tub, removed the old one, and made me a happy customer. The problem was actually with my dealer. Coast sells to dealers and dealers are responsible for taking care of my customer. My dealer let me down and Coast took care of me. Was I frustrated? YES! Was it Coast's fault? Probably not. Bottom line, they took care of me and I wish I could just retract this report but maybe seeing here that they took care of me is better.

RIP-OFF REPORT:

THIS GETTLEMAN JAMES WHO SENT YOU HIS PIC AND COMPLAINT, WAS HE EVER ASKED BY YOU IF HE WAS AT FAULT? RUNNING THE WRONG GAUGE WIRE TO YOUR SPA GUESS WHAT IT CAUSES.....AN ELECTRICAL FIRE!!
BY THE WAY I AM A COAST DEALER IN OHIO WE DID NOT SELL JAMES HIS SPA BUT WE REPLACED IN NO CHARGE EVEN THOUGH WE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM OR THE SALE PER COAST SPAS!!! HE HAS A BRAND NEW COAST SPA THAT IS TWICE THE SIZE AND FEATURES AND ALL HE HAD TO HAVE IS COMPUTER SKILL TO POST HIS OWN FALSE WEB SITE AND THE MEANS TO CONTACT YOU! IT KIND OF GIVES A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT...

SO IN CLOSING JAMES WHERE IS THE WEB SITE AND THE FOLLOW UP REPORT THAT YOU HAVE RECIEVED A NEW SPA!!! YOU GUYS DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT THOUGH...OR DO YOU? ONLY TIME WILL TELL!!