* Why did you decide to get a spa?

Wanted something to relax in, that and my feet are always cold so it's nice to sit in a hot tub and warm back up.

* Does your spa live up to all expectations?

Mostly.

* How long have you owned your spa?

6 months.

* What accessories/options, beyond the "basic spa" does, your spa have?

Steps, cover.

* What do you like best?

Being able to just hop in there anytime you like, and relax. Nothing better than sitting out at night and watching the stars.

* Is there anything about your spa you don't like?

See list of problems below.

* What might you change if you had to "do it all over"?

I would probably take a serious look at a Master Spa. Their build quality, just from a casual observation, seems better. The best jets on this model are away from the control panel, so you have to sit with the cover fully open to use it. It would be nice if they'd put that chair so you could use it with the cover half open. The previous model year had the "vulcano" foot jets you could put your feet over. You can massage the bottom of your feet using the two "whirl action" jets but you have to sit on the 5th seat where there are no jets. Basically a foot massage and back massage are not possible at the same time.

* Are there any features you now feel aren't necessary?

The waterfall.

* Have you encountered any problems, and if so, how were they resolved?

1) The second pump will not self prime. Not on the initial fill, not on the first refill I did. The manual does not tell you how to fix this. There is an air bleed thumb screw on the pump housing that's supposed to alleviate this, but it does not. You have to loosen the secondary side from the pump housing to purge the air. This is a design flaw that should be fixed.

2) The footwell intake screens have these socks over them. They are absolutely junk. Once you take them off, the elastic is shot and you won't get them to stay on. Again, this is a design flaw that should be fixed.

3) The manual states that the footwell screens are intakes for the second pump. Naturally when the second pump was running and I only felt suction on two of the three screens, I was a little worried. As it turns out, the third screen is a bypass intake for the primary pump in case your filters are plugged. When you turn on pump 1 you can feel a slight draw then. This should be mentioned in the manual.

4) The filter cover doesn't fit well, and the tabs don't hold it in place. The cover floats up and rattles in the shell when the pumps are running. The fix? Duct tape around the tabs to fatten up the thing it grips on. Again, design flaw, seeing a pattern here?

5) I've had a couple of jets pop loose. They snap right back on, but it's kind of annoying.

6) The handles for the diverter valves come right off. They slide right back on, but it's another one of those annoying things.

7) A short power blip causes the computer to go into a weird mode that makes the display show up screwy. Everything still seems to work, but the display lights up a digit at a time. Almost as if the computer is running at 1/1000th speed. A simple power reset fixes this (power off for at least 15 seconds). Fortunately I'd noticed this once before when I was testing my GFI, so I'd seen it before.

8) Currently the heater is toast. Just happened this morning. Sucks for a hot tub that is only 6 months old. And before you blame it on chemistry, it's not, I'm anal about chemistry. I guess we'll see how good my dealers service is.

You might think with this list that I hate my hot tub. Not at all, I love it as a matter of fact. I'm disappointed that something that's half the cost of a new car with 1/100th of the parts has so many little things wrong with it. It should also have a better manual. A primer on chemistry would be a good thing. A simple three paragraph description of the two major systems (chlorine and bromine) would be great. I don't know how people that don't use the internet do it, because the dealer people are inept.

Anyway, I guess I'll have to wait for my service guy to show up. Hopefully he'll have the heater in stock so I can be back in my hot tub in the next couple of days.