Of all the spa's we looked at we liked the Hot Springs for their reputation and quality. Unfortunately I think we ended up with the lemon of Vangard 450's. A few short months after receiving the spa the problems began to stack up.

The spa outer shell started to come apart. Because the spa was just a few months old and considering the price of our investment I wanted the spa replaced, which they reluctantly did finally do because the first several attempts of the service department failed when trying to re-glue the pieces.

About three years later, the control board of this tub failed to heat in the middle of winter. The $900.00 board was replaced under warranty and away we were.

Again, now that my tub is out of warranty, it appears that the control board has failed after three years. There's no reason that this part should fail every three years. Life Styles spa's has refused to replace this part under warranty as the tub warranty expired in November 06, however, the first control board was replaced in 04, making this part only 3 to 4 years old. If you do not know, this control board is the central brain of the tub that controls everything. A bad control board renders the tub useless.

After recently investing in a new cover, because required replacing after 5 years too, I'm not sure I want to continue to sink money into a tub I've not been able to use without frustration. Hot tubs are supposed to be relaxing, not create stress every time it is used.