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#3391 - 09/24/10 04:23 PM
Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
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Headnsouth
Veteran
Registered: 09/07/10
Posts: 12
Loc: Atlanta, Georgia
(97.80.172.59)
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Anybody have any first hand reviews on this brand? Thoughts? Likes dislikes?
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#3392 - 09/24/10 07:10 PM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Headnsouth]
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spamannn
Expert
Registered: 07/01/09
Posts: 60
(72.145.36.85)
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Yeah...
Costco sells it, beware!!!
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#3395 - 09/26/10 08:13 PM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Headnsouth]
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Premiere Hot Tubs
Expert
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 74
Loc: Austin, TX
(75.199.112.145)
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For the price, they are not a bad spa but:
* They like to really push their lifetime cabinet warranty, while the rest of their warranty is quite weak. The spa is basically a roto spa with an acrylic shell.
* Who is going to support the warranty in your location? There are no Evolution dealers, although I hear that Strong is fairly good with their phone support.
* My personal opinion, but I think they are rather unattractive.
* I can't predict the future, but many spa companies have gone bankrupt supporting the discount chains. Strong has been selling through Costco for about a year - so we'll see.
* You also have to deal with "curbside delivery" on a very heavy spa (thanks to the roto-mold cabinet).
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#3396 - 09/27/10 07:05 AM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Premiere Hot Tubs]
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Headnsouth
Veteran
Registered: 09/07/10
Posts: 12
Loc: Atlanta, Georgia
(97.80.172.59)
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Thanks for your response. I guess curt ran out of things to say. 
i wish I could see one first hand, I don't like buying without seeing one. I did see a bunch of reviews from the costco site which were the majority were positive.
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#3397 - 09/27/10 08:54 AM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Headnsouth]
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Premiere Hot Tubs
Expert
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 74
Loc: Austin, TX
(75.199.149.26)
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Good Point - That is another disadvantage to any internet or discount chain purchase. You cannot wet test - not even sit in one dry.
I can't prove it but I get the sense that someone in the Costco / Strong world is pushing for reviews basically immediately after delivery, when the "Rose is still on the bush" and the buyer is still very excited. I doubt many reviews, if any, reflect an owner's experience after a # of months and I know they can't be after a year or 2 since Strong has sold the Evolution line for only about a year. You might notice that Costco is constantly changing spa brands and models. If you did want to post something even only a few months after purchase, the model is not longer being sold by Costco, so you can't post a review a few months after purchase.
I just went to http://www.rhtubs.com/cgi-bin/reviews/reviews.pl/noframes/#305 where you will find several 1,000 reviews covering virtually every company that has ever made hot tubs. Interestingly there are none, absolutely NONE, for Evolution, yet I have seen as many as 40 reviews on Costco's website for a single model being sold by Costco - and they all pop up in a matter of weeks! Really makes me wonder about how those Costco reviews are being generated. Personally I would place very little value on them.
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#3398 - 09/27/10 03:24 PM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Premiere Hot Tubs]
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Headnsouth
Veteran
Registered: 09/07/10
Posts: 12
Loc: Atlanta, Georgia
(97.80.172.59)
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I found another pool N spa forum that does talk about the Evolution going back a few years. http://www.poolspaforum.com
While I do like the bigger names in the spa industry namely Sundance and Jaccuzi (that we've actually saw) the price difference is hard to ignore.
I just can't see spending thousands more for setup and service when I can install and service (with a bit of internet help). I've been in the trades for 30 years so I don't mind getting my hands dirty.
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#3399 - 09/27/10 08:13 PM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Headnsouth]
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Premiere Hot Tubs
Expert
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 74
Loc: Austin, TX
(75.199.255.17)
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Headnsouth,
I just checked your link. With the exception of a single comment from May 2009, all other comments are no more recent than August 2009.
I spent about 15 minutes reading a # of the comments (and most are questions, not reviews). I see nothing inconsistent with my comments.
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#3401 - 09/28/10 10:30 AM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Premiere Hot Tubs]
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Premiere Hot Tubs
Expert
Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 74
Loc: Austin, TX
(75.222.114.160)
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I said that wrong. With the exception of a single comment from May 2009 (16 months ago) I found no other comments any older than August 2009 (13 months ago). Like I said, Strong has been selling the Evolution brand for only about a year.
Edited by Premiere Hot Tubs (09/28/10 10:32 AM)
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#3423 - 10/18/10 07:33 AM
Re: Evolution Spa by Strong Ind. sold by costco
[Re: Premiere Hot Tubs]
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spamannn
Expert
Registered: 07/01/09
Posts: 60
(66.192.28.82)
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Sorry Headnsouth...Haven't been on in a while...
Premiere really hit the nail on the head....One thing I've learned in this industry the past 11 years is this. You can always tell the quality of a spa by the warranty that is behind it.
Over the years, I've witnessed all Costco spas having anywhere from a 6month to a 3 year warranty, with the labor being significantly less than parts. Why would you say this is?? Simple, they don't want to pay local (sub-contracted) reps $100's of dollars when they are already selling the product at a 15-20% gross profit to Costco.
Personally, I will never understand how a customer would buy a spa online that they have never seen.. It's crazy to me. What if all the seats are uncomfortable??.. What if they are too deep?? Yeah, you think your saving 2-3k but now you have a 5k box in the backyard that you are not using. Would you buy a car without test-driving?? Would you buy furniture without sitting in it???
Not to mention personally, I've had 10-15 customers buy spas from me in which we were swapping it with a Costco spa... Generally the spas were only 4-5 years old however they were too expensive to repair.
Here is the kicker on the reviews. I did a study on this... I left reviews myself on this Evolution spa... I left a good review and a bad review under two different user names. Guess which one Costco decided to publish and guess which one they didn't... Kinda tough to get bad reviews when they wont post them.
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