Stevenson Pools and Master Spas

[NeighborFromVA]

Stevenson Pools - Master Spa - Spa Expo

Make sure you know before you go - I wish I could rate this business zero stars. Stevenson Pools is the regional installation partner of Master Spas of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Master Spa conducts a series of "Expo" events across the country. We recently purchased a spa at on of these events and we'd like to share what we learned so that other consumers can make an informed decision.

1.The definition of Expo: While you might think that an "Expo" would involve many vendors competing for your business, this is not the case. These events are arranged solely by Master Spa and they are the only vendor in attendance.

2.Salesmen: All salesmen at the event are contracted by Master Spa. Due to the contract nature of their relationship, salesmen have no responsibility or power after you hand them a check. We really liked our salesman. He said he would make sure all the pre-sale information we discussed would make it to the installation vendor and gave us his cell phone number with the reassurance that we could call him if there was any problem. When problems started, we rang him up and learned that he was powerless, though he was able to provide some advice. I would assume that not all of the contracted salesmen would be so responsive.

3.The Installation partner: Master Spa contracts with a local company, in our case Stevenson Pool, for delivery. If there are problems with delivery, Master Spa doesn't have much ability to resolve them. Their customer care will listen and follow up with the installation partner, but they cannot directly influence results. Since there is only one installation partner in the region, they will be very busy right after the "Expo" installing the direct sales and again 6 weeks or so after the "Expo," when spas that were ordered start coming in. In our experience, Stevenson Pools was too busy to respond to us without two voice mails, one email, and a two day wait whenever we attempted to contact them. The installation manager was indifferent when told he needed to be more responsive. To add insult to injury, when he finally responded to us via email (never phone), the message indicated that it was sent from a Blackberry. This indicated to us that we were being actively ignored, since our email must have been immediately available to him.

4.Our problems: At the "Expo" we brought detailed photos and measurements of our old broken spa that was inset into the deck. We were assured that the installation would be "no problem" by the salesman and that it could be done in one day even if they had to cut up the old spa to remove it. The salesman assured us that he would provide all the photos and measurements to the installation partner. This "no problem" installation ended up with us taking three days off work in order to watch the bumbling efforts of the Stevenson pool installers who ignored all the photos and measurements, didn't bring enough people or the right tools to remove the old spa, and finally told us that we had to rebuild our deck in order for them to deliver. They also didn't deliver everything we bought until 13 weeks after our purchase. They were indifferent and unresponsive throughout the experience. Master Spa customer service failed twice to follow up with us when we tried to get their help. They were sympathetic and apparently followed up with their installation partner, but very limited in their ability to resolve problems.

Now I'm sure that some folks get a great deal and are treated respectfully when they buy at a Master Spa "Expo," but I'm here to say that if I knew in July that I'd still be dealing with problems from this purchase in October, I would never have bought a Master Spa. Stevenson Pools is a company that does not respect customers and I will not do business with them again.

 

[baltomoreon]

A different opinion from a similar perspective

I too have purchased a Master Spa product, a H2x swim spa. It was purchased in April of 2009 by a dealer outside of Westminster MD that was the assigned dealer for the Balto area where I live. I too had problems with my spa but from my problems, and their resolution coupled with my enjoyment of the use of my swim spa I have arrived at a different opinion of Master Spas as a company and Stevenson as a servicing dealer.

First, my spa had to be craned into my backyard and engineered into a deck for a built in application outdoors. The thing weighs 2500lbs empty and holds 2500 gals of water and water weighs 8 lbs a gallon so it's no small feat to build a sturdy enough platform and no moving or adjusting after completion. Waterworks my first dealer did a nice job setting the unit down on my driveway and the rest was up to a rather talented group of construction types. Once installed, it was accessible for service but all of the traditional access was tight. This is to give you some feel for how hard the problems that popped up were to resolve simply by the dynamics of the location of the swim spa.

After installation I had problems initally with the spa seeping water around the skimmer. Waterworks came out and repaired it. Apparently the crane ride opened the skimmer seal and it needed re-epoxying it has never leaked since and I wasn't billed.

The next set of issues occurred while Waterworks was in the process of ending their relationship with Master Spa. I had problems with the swim motor which looks like an oversize washing machine motor that is attached to a prop that is used by large shaft driven electric motors for bass boats but Master uses them to move the water in their propulsion end. The motor ultimately had to be replaced master had changed motors (in fact went to a more powerful unit) which then meant that my prop needed replacement, as well as my motor controllers. It took some trouble shooting to get this done and Waterworks quit about half way through this endevor. Master then recruited Stevenson to step in and clean this up. This was December of 2009. Once Stevenson got involved, they came out the first week, saw what was needed ordered it from Master and showed up the following week and fixed it.

The end of September 2010 I had controller issues for my swim motor. The swim motor still worked it was simply hard to operate. I called Stevenson and told them I also ordered a new cover from them (the winters are hard on these spa covers). Before they could come out to fix it my spa end stopped working entirely. I described the problem over the phone to them. Two weeks passed and Stevenson showed on the day promised with every part they needed to completely fix my swim spa. I am now back in business, thanks to them again. Also I have never paid a penny of milage of service charges even though technically my swim end of my spa only had a one year warranty.

It's a long story I know, but this is a pool I use every day except when we had the three record snows it took 24 hours to get it back up to speed on each of those occasions. It has a bunch of mechanicals contained in it multiple pumps, heater units, filters (static and electronic), motors and props, if you don't expect something to need maintanece then you are being unrealistic in my opinion. The true measure in my mind is how do you deal with the issues that the swim spa kicks up in normal use? Stevenson is fabulous in this regard.

I only posted this because frankly when my spa died and my first dealer went out of the trade in December of 2009, I did a google search of Stevenson Pools and came up with this topic and my heart sank. That is the problem with the internet, one persons opinion can become the standard and it shouldn't because opinions aren't fact. I know there will be people who read my piece and think "I don't want that kind of problem I am not buying a swim spa" That's their choice, but I want people to know that I am throughly satisfied with my swim spa. If had bought it from Stevenson to begin with, I would have two less weeks of downtime at least over the past two years. Finally Master Spas as a company stands behind their product.

 

[1Blondie]

We went to buy a cover from Stevenson for our hot tub. My husband called and was very rudely spoken to by a young female voice. She did not know s*** and you could tell we were bothering her. He asked to speak to someone else and was told "noone else is here. She did not offer to take a message or help in other ways. We will not do business with someone who is nasty. (Yes, we do walk out of places) We called Merillat and ordered a new cover right over the phone. The lady that helped us was knowledgeable and friendly. The cover arrived quickly and it fits perfect. We only deal with Merillat.