R. and S. Goldsmith in Hamilton

Because of word of mouth, we bought our hot tub from Bud‘s Pools (approx. 4 1/2 years ago), and, we diligently followed all recommendations as to maintenance procedures and water testing. When we shut it down for summers, we let Bud's know and we were told it would cause no problems. This fall, when we opened and fresh filled the hot tub, the jets on one side did not work. My husband, Robert, called and they promptly sent a service man to diagnose the problem. (We were told that a service call was $95 per hour). Since it did not take him long to find that the problem was a motor which had seized up, we didn‘t worry about too much cost. Robert mentioned that the motor should be under warranty because we have had the tub for under 5 years and this was a major part. The service technician said that he would check into it. Someone called a few days later and said that the motor was fixed and ready to be put back in. Since we heard nothing about cost, we then assumed that everything was covered, (going by our auto mechanic, who calls to get our OK if he finds that our car needs more work than what was originally anticipated). That was until we received a bill for almost $400. When I called and spoke to a couple of service people and a manager, I was told that it was the manufacturer who only gave 1 year warranty on the specific rubber seal that we needed to have replaced. Apparently, the motor could have gone just after a year, that it was a common problem and that it was probably “leaking for some time”. (If we had been told that it was normal for a motor to seize in a year, we may not have bought such a top of the line hot tub. No one said we had to have the hot tub checked for leaks and corrosion annually. Who could say that it had not started leaking 6 months into the warranty?! A few months before, this same pump was the problem when we went to use the tub one day and the water had almost all emptied. Bud’s also denied having a record of this incident, but later admitted that it was there. In a nutshell, I was informed that nothing could be done….that we should be happy that our hot tub was fixed and running….and that we were actually UNDERCHARGED by a relatively new employee by about $70...and that we actually got a deal!!! My husband got on the phone about 5 minutes after I got off, to further argue our point….and the manager offered to take $50 off! Apparently a WOMAN calmly discussing this problem is not enough!! I was told that “there’s nothing we can do” quite a few times and then my husband calls and receives $50 taken off the bill? Robert was told then that he should have kept the “electric motor lubricated with water”. This sounded ludicrous in the first place because it is a SEALED motor….and, if it were true, we should have been informed when we bought it, just like we were informed that, to keep the warranty active, we needed to have the water tested at least twice a month. Robert has worked on and fixed many motors all his life, and has friends who do the same, but since we were sure that a major part like that would be covered, we went through Bud’s in Ancaster, where we had bought it. We just want to let people know about, what we think, is a rather shady way to treat good customers. Everyone at Bud’s pools has always been friendly and helpful, until we had a problem…and it is our word against theirs. The next day, still feeling like we were taken, Robert called the manufacturer and explained our issues and he said that he would cover the cost and we would pay the deductible of $100. R. and S. Goldsmith