Quite frankly, many North American and European consumers are being taken advantage of.  There is a serious problem with many Hot Tubs being Manufactured in China.  To make matters worse, some North American parts suppliers are feeding these China Companies with American made parts, assisting them in the training and knowledge of how to manufacture a Hot Tub and allowing these Chinese made Hot Tubs to be sold Worldwide.  The problem is, these Chinese made hot tubs - Frankenstein-ed together with various unregulated American made parts, are wreaking havoc across the globe.  There are no safety inspections, there are no "UL" approvals, there are no import restrictions or inspections, and for the most part, there are no warranties.

In other words, many North American parts suppliers are causing legitimate hot tub sales to be taken away from the legitimate Canadian and U.S. hot tub manufacturers and dealers - and passing off these lesser quality hot tubs to the unknowing consumer.  And hey, these tubs are not cheap.  Sure you may get what you think is a $9000 hot tub for $6000 - but let's be real here - it is still $6000 freakin' dollars.  You should demand and expect a certain degree of quality and product back-up for $6000, no ?

For many North American Hot Tub Manufacturer's and hot tub consumers, they are completely unaware of how serious the problem has become! Many local hot tub dealers dealers worldwide are purchasing these China Hot Tubs, and they base much of their decision making in that the equipment and Acrylic sheets are from very high profile American Suppliers.  This gives both the dealers and the consumers the unfounded confidence that these are, in fact, high-quality hot tub units - where in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

And that's the good news !  The real bad news is that many hot tub dealers (as well as their unsuspecting customers) have given HUGE deposits to some of these Chinese companies - without ever even receiving the hot tubs at all !  Remember, there is no Better Business Bureau or Department of Consumer Affairs in China.  There is no Underwriters Laboratories.  There is no Consumer Reports or Best Buy Awards programs there.  There is certainly no Poolandspa.com Best Of Class reporting system in place for Chinese-made hot tubs!

Once again, not all Chinese hot tub manufacturers are bad.  But be aware that due to the current international economic climate, China will sell their Hot Tubs to anyone with American dollars, whether you are an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), Distributor, local hot tub dealer, or a consumer.  So what about North America? Are there Chinese Hot Tubs lurking in our backyards? The answer is an outstanding YES.

Within the Hot Tub Industry, there have been large booths at the Industry Trade Shows with Chinese Hot Tubs on display. Believe it or not, many of the Hot Tubs they displayed were all European models (50 Hz electric, not the 60Hz we use in North America), and therefore were not capable of operating at all in the USA or Canada.  Also many of the Hot Tubs shown in these various Trade Shows were not even "UL" approved.

We have to ask.....where are the Consumer Protection Agencies ?  Where is "UL" ? How is this even possible? Even children's toys from China that are found to be containing lead paint are immediately removed from store shelves nationwide.  Yet, hot tubs, that mix water with electricity, are freely allowed to be sold worldwide with absolutely no regulation ?  This is unbelievable.

But let's put safety aside for a moment (if you can).  All hot tubs break eventually.  Poolandspa.com's E-Commerce store sells millions of dollars of hot tub parts each year directly to consumers who need to fix their aging spa.  Well, we hate to tell you, but Poolandspa.com does not have access to many of these Chinese manufacturered parts.  Poolandspa.com does not have access to the OEM instruction manuals for these hot tubs.  Poolandspa.com does not have access to the exploded parts-views for these tubs. 

And you must understand, we receive parts requests EVERY SINGLE DAY from consumers who thought they were doing a good thing by buying a Chinese hot tub to save some money during the Recession, only to be told "No, we do not have access to those Chinese parts". Wow, does that piss people off.  We feel for these customers, because they earnestly thought they were getting "a good deal" on their family's hot tub.....only to be told that they have to sink another grand into a whole new equipment pack for their "new" hot tub when something goes wrong.

This is so unfair.  It is unfair to the unknowing consumer, it is unfair to the legitimate North American Hot Tub Manufacturers and it is unfair to the untold numbers of parts suppliers worldwide who are being yelled at because the replacement parts are unavailable to them from the so-called Chinese Hot Tub Manufacturers.

Even very legitimate "Big Box" retailers are falling prey to this situation.  Major retailers such as Home Depot, Sears and Kmart (many of which are advertisers on our Poolandspa.com web site - just to be provide "transparency" here) are also unaware that the units they are offering for sale could cause potential problems to their customers.

So what is the answer ?  Well, like all times of progress and change, unfortunately it is the end-user who ultimately gets screwed in the short run.  Because at this point, no one can fix your hot tub, no one can get the parts for your hot tub, no one will warranty your hot tub, and there is no international consumer protection agency who will help you if you feel you were "wronged" by a Chinese hot tub manufacturer.

Again, this article is in no way a racist point of view.  We are just stating the facts as we see them coming in day after day.  The Poolandspa.com Parts Department is on the "front-line" of this battle.  And we hear it day after day.  Consumers who feel taken advantage of.  Hot Tub dealers that have been screwed out of products they have paid for.  Hot Tub service companies who are being screamed at by consumers for not being able to repair the tubs they have purchased.

So our current recommendation on this whole situation is......Caveat Emptor......wait........we will give you the time to Google that........OK, it means "Let The Buyer Beware".  Just be aware of what you are buying.  Be confident of the company and dealer you are purchasing from.  Buy a brand name that you can trust.  Do your research on Poolandspa.com, SpaSearch.org, APSP.org and other consumer-oriented hot tub web sites before you make a purchase.

And finally......if you think you are getting "the same" $9000 hot tub for $3000, you may want to think about that.  As your mother always told you...."If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."  In this case, you might want to believe your mother.