www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
Pool&SpaIndustry JUN 2011 SPN
29
‘BISHTA PROVIDED THE SUPPORT WHEN I NEEDED IT’
Blue Lagoon Spas owner Paul Buckley wanted urgent help from BISHTA when a warranty issue caused by a change in hot tub dealerships couldn’t be properly resolved
P
aul Buckley, owner of Blue Lagoon Spas in Crewe, freely admits that he had been a member of trade association BISHTA for five or six years – and in that time didn’t really need them. “We paid for membership and carried the certificate and for me it was important to be a part of complying with a Code of Ethics and to follow industry rules and regulations but that was it really.” But then things changed. And as far as Paul is concerned one difficult set of circumstances which has been dragging out over the past few months has proved beyond all question the importance of belonging to a trade association. “I look at what has happened to me over the past five months and the support I have had and I can say BISHTA has been fantastic in supporting a small business like mine, providing help, advice and most important getting something done.”
The circumstances which alarmed Paul concerned the change in dealership terms with his former hot tub supplier, whose products he was selling successfully.
“The hot tubs were OK, top value and the margins were good. I like to make sure exactly what customers are getting so when we got a tub in I’d unpack it, check it thoroughly
before the customer got it, and there were no problems.” Half way through last year there started to be an issue with some of the hot tubs imported from the United States. Blisters started to appear on the acrylic on the tub seats and foot wells.
“There was certainly something happening and it looked like there was no bonding between the acrylic and the fibreglass,” added Paul. He reported it to the US manufacturers and they said they had taken on new moulds from a new supplier but they didn’t think the problem was a serious one. Yet it was still causing Paul and his customers heartache with a product which he admits ‘wasn’t right’. While these problems were going on two things happened. Hot tub manufacturers HotSprings from California approached Paul about selling their tubs. A HotSprings dealer in Cheshire had closed down some time before and the company was looking for a new dealer to take over the area. The second thing was that the original distributor informed Paul that another Lancashire company was to be appointed exclusive distributors for the range. “It meant if I wanted to sell the tubs I had to buy from within the UK with all the implications to the margin
“I look at what has happened to me over the past five months and the support I have had and I can say BISHTA has been fantastic...”
and it applied to spare parts as well.” Paul went back to HotSprings and put their products on display. “I decided to stock them side by side and let the market decide. It then became clear I couldn’t go on dealing with the original hot tub supplier and so my concern was that any warranty claims for my customers had to go to the new company and were out of my control. I knew there was a problem but I couldn’t get a satisfactory response from them or the UK dealers who must also have been aware of it.
“I went down to HotSprings UK and started talking to Ray Wells who is on the BISHTA committee. He took the time, looked at it and gave me some good advice and suggested I talk to Chris Hayes. He listened and spoke to the distributor, who readily agreed to source a replacement tub, which is on its way and I feel much happier now about the warranties which apply to my previous customers. “BISHTA provided the support when I needed it – you can’t ask for more,” he added.
Paul, a toolmaker engineer by trade, started in the industry eight years ago when he and a colleague both bought a hot tub and saw a gap in the market and approached SpaForm to give them a dealership. “It started as part time and for six months I had two working lives but eventually I took it full time and focused on getting customer support right.”
He says HotSprings offer his business a ‘high quality product’ which he is delighted to be selling. “We do all our own warranties, installations and servicing and I’m someone who is committed to putting the customer first. “We’ve just had the best April every. Over one weekend the 15th / 16th / 17th and 18th we sold eight HotSprings spas so maybe this is going to be a great year.” spn
i FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
F BLUE LAGOON SPAS ( 01270 586655 :
www.bluelagoonspas.co.uk
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