World of Spas

You asked for it.

After years of turning them down, I finally decided I'd get a hot tub for my family. I ended up at Dynasty World Of Spas, and they had a lot to offer that some of the other's didn't (in terms of quality and longevity). I worked with a person who called himself one of the owners, to ask some questions and make sure we were getting the right tub. I selected a hot tub that seemed like the right one for us.

I was surprised that there was no offer to come out and assess the area to ensure that everything would be a fit and that we were getting the right tub. Why would you NOT do that as a standard practice? So, I asked for this to happen. The response seemed awkward - it really felt like doing this was a huge inconvenience for them.

I asked for the measurements required to get the thing into my yard, because there are some awkward areas and juts that need to be accounted for. I got those numbers - I needed 42" clearance between walls/fences/etc to get the tub in standing on it's end, and I needed 96" clearance height. I checked these and we had enough room. I was concerned, however, about a couple of areas where room might be tight during the move, and reiterated that it would be best if someone could come out to validate this. I stand convinced that this should be mandatory, on the part of the vendor, before completing a sale - you know, to make sure the customer gets what he's expecting, has paid for, etc. I called back asking again for someone to come out, and again it was a lot of "If you have the 96" and 42", you're good" - but I insisted, and they said they'd have someone come out and do that - someone would call me later that week, if I recall correctly. I dropped a 10K deposit on the tub.

I did not hear back from anyone, so I called again. The fellow I spoke with on the phone sounded like he would rather be having his lungs removed through his eye cavities than be helping me, but I wouldn't let him off the hook. He asked me for the spelling of my name, then got it wrong and pulled up someone else's account. It was quite literally the equivalent of "My name is spelled J-O-H-N-S-O-N", and he saying "Got it, Mr. Cooper, I'm looking at your invoice now". I had to spell my name for him four (4!) times, until he finally broke and said something to the effect of "I will have to have someone call you back". He assured me that would be the same day; funny, I didn't feel reassured at all.

To the surprise of no one, I didn't get a call back, and a few days later, I still hadn't heard anything. I called the store again and got someone who sounded way more interested in helping me, we'll call him Todd. He said he'd get on it, and I ended up with his personal cell phone as well in case things went south. I was feeling much better about my chances.

At some point, in the interim, I received a call from a lady in Red Deer, apparently the head office and where the deliveries are scheduled from. Let's call her "Abby". She was very impersonable, another person who really sounded like they would rather be doing anything at that moment than talking with a paying customer (I mean, they've already paid, so why do I want to waste any more time talking with them)? She offered to coordinate the trip out, but because I already had a local person seemingly on top of it, and because I'd been left waiting for others to no avail several times, I'd stick with the commitment I already had.

(Are you beginning to see a problem here?)

However, no one called, no one came. I ended up calling Todd's cell number and he said he wasn't surprised and that there were some people there who had been providing poor service for awhile and he was going to talk with someone about this. In the interim, he would come out and do the assessment that afternoon. Lovely!

He came out, and confirmed everything would fit. He was nice, apologetic, and helpful.

I then booked a delivery date, Friday August 8, between 11AM and 1PM. The delivery was incumbent upon my return from holiday and my digging and burying a ditch for the power cable. I got the work done, and left on vacation. I made arrangements to leave early for my vacation, so that I could be home to help with the hot tub installation and prepare the area for my family to arrive home. I also have 2 daughters with birthdays in the ensuing weeks, and they were thrilled that they could each have a hot tub party for their birthday.

I received a call on Thursday August 7th, and was told that the delivery schedule had been messed up and would it be OK if they arrived early - between 8-10. While this was an inconvenience for me (you know, the paying customer), I told them that would be OK, but to call me ahead of time to make sure I was around as I had some errands to run close to home. She told me they would call about 30 minutes prior to arrival - perfect.

So, Friday the 8th rolls around. It's 9:00 and nothing yet, so I drive to a store 10 minutes away. I get a call from the delivery person (we'll call him Gord) around 9:30, and I prepare to drive the ~8 minutes home. Gord sound irritated that I wasn't there, and that there is NO WAY they can get the hot tub in. We talked for a minute, that we'd had a measurement and an assessment done - by them, and I told him I'd be home shortly. He seemed to understand, and seemed frustrated - not at me, but at whomever had failed to tell him to call ahead, and at whomever had not done a good enough job of scoping the site.

I could understand at a high level what the challenges might be, but also have the flexibility, as house owner, to make accomodations - for example, there is a stair case coming from the upper deck to the ground that may or may not be in the way - I have plans to replace it next year, so I'm in a position to say "Hey, no problem - I'll tear that straight out and away we go." There are other areas of my yard that are more than flexible to make this happen, but I wanted to look at the options. He was going to call the manager in the meantime.

I got home 10 minutes later and Gord was gone. GONE. Didn't wait for me, didn't call - just on to the next jog. I wanted to better understand what problems were in front of us, so that I could work on solutions. I did not get the opportunity to do that.

I cannot recall if "Abby" called me, or if I called her, but according to her, we should have had Gord come out, not Todd. She had offered to do this, and it was basically my fault for choosing Todd (who I have no reason to believe was not qualified) over the person she offered. We discussed what a foolish position that was for her to take, and that I had been more than patient, more than done my part (actually, pretty sure my part only involves paying you the money I owe you and providing you with the information and access you need), and that I expected a solution. All I had heard thus far are loose depictions of the problem, and a basic feeling that "I had screwed up and they were going to lazily, reluctantly, sort of, pseudo-help". Which is not a particularly comfortable position to be in, given that I've done absolutely everything in my power to make sure this went smoothly.

RE: leaving right away - they later told me that the delivery guy is really busy. Well, I should hope so - everyone is busy. We are all busy. However, we are also bound by our agreements, not to mention MORALITY, to deal with things as they come. I imagine the installation would have taken an hour or so of their time, so not sure why the sudden need to race away. 15 minutes could have saved you a lot of hassle. That is is a week later as I write this and nothing has happened is negligent and abusive.

I'm told by "Abby" that "we'll need a crane". Now, I have no idea what that means, exactly - does a crane need a road blocked off? I don't have an alley, how is that going to work? How far can a crane reach? She doesn't know anyting about the crane side of the business (she actually said "you know as much as I do about it" - what a ludicrous thing to say to me, what possible gain could be made of saying you don't understand a key aspect of your business that you are expecting me to pursue?), and that someone (we'll call her Rachel) will be calling me back to discuss that. I chose not to hold my breath.

Tuesday the 12th rolls around. I still haven't heard from anyone. So, I call the CalGord office and ask to speak with the manager, we'll call him "Barry". I want to make it very clear that Barry has been amazing through this - he listened to me, and he heard me. He understood that all I wanted was a little time with Gord to look at the area together and formulate a plan. He was going to get the right person to call me back.

I get a call shortly after from Rachel. It's not often you feel like someone is trying to suck every ounce of positivity and hope out of you; this was one such time - just a really horrible-sounding person overall. I don't recall being afforded the opportunity to finish a single sentence on our initial call - everything was an interruption. Her tone was aggressive, here's how the call started:

"Hi Cale, it's Rachel. I've been away, and I'm really backed up. I'm sorry I didn't call you the exact instant I got back in the office." I'm not going to fib; I sensed that might have been sarcasm. Her position seemed to be one of a martyr, that she was going out of her way just by calling me - I really felt like I was keeping her from something important. (Rachel, for future reference - it's known as "bedside manner" - when the patient is sick and scared, try and raise their spirits instead of delivering the death blow). She was quite insistent that I'd told Barry that a crane was not an option. I told her that I had never told him that, and that I wanted to explore options. She reiterated that I'd insisted on no crane with Barry, and we seemed to be moving backward instead of forward. She seemed to want to explain how this was really all my fault, and I found her impossible to work with, said "You know what - I don't want to continue this discussion with you, please have Barry call me", and hung up. I decided not to wait for her to choose to pass along the message. I called Barry and explained what had happened, told her that Rachel instisted he had told her no crane, which he didn't understand either. He would call Rachel and sort it out.

I was very clear with Barry - we go forward, not backward. I'm not interested in what has happened, what should have happened - only that I wish to work out the best way to fix the problem so we can all be happy. I mentioned that there were some options in the yard that I could look at, perhaps removing the stairs, and a few other options, saying only that we might be able to make it happen without the crane. I wanted someone here to walk through the site and lay all the options on the table, then decide which was the way to proceed. Barry completely understood, and was very helpful. He also gave me his personal cell, and I could tell that this was a pain point for him but he chose to do it because it was the right thing to do. I appreciate this, still.

Rachel called me back again the next day. She started the conversation this way:
"Hi Cale, it's Rachel from Dynasty World of Spas. I'm the person you hung up on."

Then there was silence. I'm not sure what she expected me to do after telling her I no longer wished to carry on the discussion with her and to have Barry call me, but the only thing I've ever done when finishing a call is to hang up the phone.

I asked how I could help her, she reiterated that she was ther person I hung up on, and that she was calling back to work out a solution. She tole me that Barry was trying to save the crane cost and then attacked him and how he had handled our conversation. This didn't win her any points, I'm not sure what she was trying to accomplish. She continued to interrupt me, tell me that she's trying to help me - and wouldn't listen to "let's move forward, let's arrive at a solution". I finally told her that she was a very miserable person to deal with, very unsuited to a customer service role, and asked who her manager is, who she reports to. She very arrogantly said "It's me". She sounded like she was holding back laughter - "Gotcha, now what are you going to do!"

I was stunned, but should not have been surprised, given the rhythmic precision with which her operation functions. She continued to talk AT me with all the experience of someone who has never spent a minute of their life in a state of introspection, before I finally said "Now I AM going to hang up on you". I hung up while she was still chastising me.

She then called me back 3 times in about 5 minutes. Funny thing is, I was on a call with one of my customers, and couldn't take her call even if I wanted to - which I didn't. Found it in very poor taste to keep calling me, like a teenager who doesn't understand how to control her emotional response. She finally left a message saying that she felt it would be best just to get Gord out. Um, duh.

After my call with my customer, I called Barry - who, at this point, is thinking "I'm the middle man here" - and I told him "look - you are the only person who is being helpful, and I need you to own this. You apparently can communicate with Rachel better than I, so please let's let me work with Rachel through you, so we can all get this done". He agreed and has continued to be that conduit.

Barry would get in touch with Gord, and Gord would come out one afternoon this week.

Thursday (14th), I had not heard from anyone, so I sent a note to Barry saying I hadn't heard from Gord. Barry had given Gord my number, and he planned on dropping by on Friday afternoon - perfect.

Friday at 2:00 PM, and unsurprisingly, I have yet to hear from Gord, I send a note to Barry asking if he'd touched base with Gord. I'm told that he has my number, that they'd chatted this morning, and that Gord is planning on a visit today. I thanked him, told him I'd appreciate a time confirmation so that I wasn't stuck at home all afternoon, and he understood and would do his best.

At 3:00, Barry tells me Gord should be calling soon.

At 4:15, I tell Barry that I've still not heard anything.

At 5:00, I tell Barry that it is now Friday evening, when can I expect to hear from Gord?

It is now Friday the 15th, at 4:45 PM. I have not heard from Gord. I have sent Barry a couple of notes today, and he has tried to get in touch with Gord. I'm not sure if he's been successful or not.

At 5:10, I get a call from Gord, who tells me he never committed to arriving on Friday, and that he's not coming out today.

I spent 5 hours at my home on a nice day waiting for someone that would never come. Dynasty, you've proven, time and time again, that my time means absolutely nothing to you.

I ask you - is this how you'd like to be treated? Do you like having your time wasted? Do you enjoy having your plans, and those of your family, ruined by the carelessness of someone who was given the honor of accepting your hard-earned money? If so, head straight down to Dynasty Spas - they've got it down to a science.

We have removed the description of our service to date to allow the company in question adequate time to perform the services paid for in the warranty provided with the hot tub. We will post a detailed review once the warranty items have been completed, hopefully this will be a positive review.

We just received delivery of our Caspian Hot tub and absolutely love it!! We were able to use it this past weekend and had friends over, it fit all of us comfortably with room to spare. The service has always been the best and the staff is always happy to answer any of our questions. I will recommend them to everyone I know, great company to deal with!!!!

how can I explain this, went into to the Red Deer location and talked to Rochelle about a hot tub, super great advice she even encouraged me to go around and compare with every other dealer in town. Went back and ordered my hot tub from her. Has been super to deal always a fast response to questions and has stood behind her product %100

UPDATE Sep 2014
A couple of months ago I paid $150 to have a technician come out and replace the bluetooth stereo and fix a light that had fallen (only the parts are under warranty at this point - my tub being 8 months old at the time). Recently the same light has fallen again along with another one - I requested service on it and was told someone would come fix it. One month later without a response I emailed again only to find out that girl no longer works for the company. So, I emailed another of the girls I had spoken with previously and she told me she contacted the manufacturer and said I should open up the tub myself and either silicone or tape the light into place. When I complained about having to do this to a $12,000 tub she said that I could contact the manufacturer myself and gave me the number. So, I guess writing a bad review really did remove my entitlement to any customer service and warranty work as it seems I am on my own now with the manufacturer. Another note of interest is that I did not receive any of the product used to bribe me to remove this poor review – so it really was a bribe. If I were to do this over again I would buy a $3-4K tub off of kijiji and suffer any consequences.
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1. The salesman led me to believe that the financing was a 1 year no payments, no interest. I discovered about 1 week before delivery that this was not the case when I was sent the contract. When I said I no longer wanted the tub because that's not what was agreed to I was told I couldn't do that because it was a custom tub and could not be sold, I was told I signed the sales contract and I can't back out of it now blah blah blah (this is where I wish I would have stuck to my guns and said no - I don't want it). 2. I specifically requested the tub be shipped with bromine instead of chlorine as I am allergic to chlorine. I was very very clear to the salesman that was a deal breaker. The tub was then delivered with chlorine and I had to make a special trip into the city to exchange it. To be fair when I got to the store they gave me 2 bottles of bromine which was nice of them. 3. I paid extra for the 'white glove' treatment on delivery - they were supposed to show me how to set it up and go over my chemicals. I was given a quick sheet and a chemical kit and wished good luck. 3. The salesman also told me that my spa would only cost me about $30 in the winter and $15 in the summer. He failed to go into detail about that only being the base of what it would cost me and not 'average cost' if you actually use it - you have to add for every time you open the cover, sit in it, and use the jets, it all adds to the cost. It is more reasonable to say it will cost on average $60-80+/month depending on usage. On top of this my bills tripled the month after the tub was installed - the first while I was given many excuses with regards to it being a cold winter and everyone's bills went up. After 4 months of complaining that my hot tub should not cost me $250/month to run they finally went over settings with me. I phoned the store and got a settings sheet emailed to me which was confusing and didn't work. I then went over the settings on the phone which for whatever reason didn't stick. After 6 months I finally requested that someone come out and look at the settings. This cost me $90 and my bill is finally going down. It would have been very helpful and probably saved me about $1000 if someone was sent right away. After the first few months I did complain and was given $100 store credit and 2 free filters. This was nice of them but it did not make up for all the trouble or the money that I was out - what else can they do? 4. Getting the tech here took about a month - after several reminders that he had not even called me to make an appointment. 6. The flap on the intake doesn't work very well, it doesn't allow enough water to flow through in order to not have scum buildup in the filter area. After a few conversations I ended up removing the flap - it works great now but I am disappointed that I paid $12000 for this tub and part of the filtration system is poorly designed. 5. I have been waiting about 5 weeks now to get someone out here to replace a burned out light and look at my stereo as the bluetooth doesn't work more than a couple feet away from it. I have had to send a couple of reminders for this as well... after requesting an update twice they finally tell me they are ordering a new stereo and are waiting for it to come in. Would have been nice if they had called me to let me know instead of leaving me waiting. 6. I wrote a quick poor review on here and now I am changing it because I just got off the phone with the manager. She claimed her goal was to have me happy with my spa and make up for my experience. It was extremely frustrating talking to her because she cut me off a lot and gave me all kinds of 'auto response' reasons why I shouldn't be upset, what I should have understood and even tried to say I was crying over a burnt out light. She went on to say I wasn't taking ownership of it and that there's no reason I shouldn't have understood the directions as they are so simple and clear. She called her salesman and her tech to verify the things that I said and obviously they claim it was me who misunderstood (I have a witness too, my roommate can verify as that's what she understood of the deal too). Finally when she asked what would make me happy I told her at this point I don't think there is anything, my entire experience was long and frustrating - and continues to be. She can't do anything about all the money I've spent and she can't change my loan so I get the interest free that I was led to believe I was getting. It's not getting any less frustrating for me to deal with them even though the girl I deal with the most has tried really hard. So she offered me some free product in exchange for removing my poor review - there it is... she just wants the review down. Saying this will probably make it more difficult to deal with them as I am still waiting for things to be fixed and she probably won't send me the free product she offered - but I don't care it's the truth. I am an unhappy customer and I wish I could go back and stick to my guns and not have this thing delivered in the first place... but I can't and my Saturday has not been made any better by that phone call.

I called Dynasty Spas for service and Gary called me back a few hours later to arrange a service call about a week later. Gary replaced the burned out power pack in 15 minutes. We were very happy with the speed of service and friendly attitude.

We bought our hot tub two years ago approx. recently we had to replace the lid because of hail damage. I appreciate that when I called Rebecca in red deer if she was not available she got back to me immediately. She was so helpful in answering questions and I felt she cared about giving me good service. Awesome job!! Thank you!

The girls up in the Red Deer location were very understanding and tried to rectify our little problem. Great customer service and I would recommend buying from Dynasty Spas anytime.