The spa I purchased had many issues and wasn't worth the cost I paid for it. Mermaid was slow to repair the issues and some remain. I find the price of their chemicals overpriced compared to their competitors. I find their staff to be generally unhelpful perhaps because they may lack experience in the industry. I will not be shopping there again.
Most Expensive Bullfrog Spa
Here is my experience with Mermaid in a nutshell:
1. I bought their most expensive hot tub in Fall 2016. It arrived damaged, as the acrylic was scratched, the cover was punctured, the fountain feature did not work, the jets emitted a foul smell, and the sconces on the perimeter did not work properly, amongst other issues.
2. Attempting to schedule repairs was a nightmare. Brian, their service manager, and Dave, the co-owner, often took it upon themselves to seemingly demean me instead of finding solutions to remedy the problems.
3. To this day, almost 9 months later, the acrylic matter is still not remedied. Mermaid initially claimed, in writing, that the acrylic company they used was no longer suitable, while then claiming that the cold weather was not suitable for such repairs. We are headed towards the end of June and last I checked the weather is more than suitable at over 30 degrees Celsius.
4. The scones were replaced at least 3 times because Mermaid kept ordering different coloured casings (black vs. grey) and sconces with different styles of lights (3000k (soft yellow) vs. 5000k (cold white)). Instead of checking the scones for quality assurance purposes before leaving my property, Mermaid instead blamed the manufacturer for its errors.
5. My cover lift mechanism is already rusted. They have not remedied the issue despite the fact that I reported the matter while still under warranty.
6. My hot tub cover came with punctured holes on the inside. When replacing my cover, instead of giving me a cover of the same or better quality, they opted for a much cheaper cover that was not sufficient to cover the acrylic exterior of the hot tub. It was a logistical nightmare to finally find another suitable cover.
7. The jets/foul-smell issue still persists. I was promised it would go away in time but it has not. As expected, the smell is unnerving to my guests and family and wholly takes away from the experience of relaxing in a hot tub.
8. When I purchased the hot tub, I was promised that I could pay using credit card instead of certified cheque in order to collect the points. When I went to pay with credit card, I was informed by their former accountant that I had to additionally pay their terminal and merchant fees. Reluctantly, I agreed to pay such fees (approximately $350.00) in exchange for a $200.00 gift card at Mermaid. Low and behold, when I went to use the gift card, it was defective! I ended up having to wait for over 2 hours and make 2 trips back to the store in order to obtain my credit in the form of a cheque instead.
9. In total, I took off approximately 5 days of work to accommodate Mermaid's errors (approximately $6,000.00 lost in wages). However, no sincere apologies were proffered by Mermaid. Rather, I received insults and childish behaviour (hangups). As a matter of corporate responsibility, I requested that Mermaid compensate me in the amount of $500.00 which I would then match dollar-for-dollar and donate the entire amount of $1,000.00 to a worthy charity. Dave, the co-owner, completely disregarded my genuine offer for accountability for a charitable benefit (a tax benefit to Mermaid) and in fact never addressed the issue.
10. Mermaid is well aware of all my concerns and issues but refuses to remedy warrantable issues or take accountability for its mistakes. Personally, as a business owner, I am appalled at the self-expressed systemic maltreatment of customers and clients at Mermaid.
In summary, I strongly urge you to consult other reputable pool and spa companies in the City of Ottawa, as in the words of its own staff members, Mermaid used to set the industry standard in Ottawa but it is now in decline since the previous owners sold out. Do yourselves a favour, cherish your peace of mind, and spend your hard earned money somewhere other than Mermaid.
