Hot Tub & Swim Spa Scene NEWS


Red Alert On Warranty Warnings explains Darren.


“There was clearly a batch problem and the shells carried a five year warranty.”


Darren explained that ‘blistering or delamination’ can happen at any factory in any part of the world if the techniques and materials are wrong.


“China had a big problem with blistering years ago, but most established Chinese manufacturers are producing good quality shells these days,” he added.


The three biggest causes of delamination are: •


• •


The wrong type of resin meaning the bonding to the acrylic surface is weak,


Insufficient curing time between fibreglass layers,


Moisture/dust /air bubbles becoming trapped between the layers of fibreglass during manufacture.


ABOVE: There is a call for the industry to work in unison to protect warranties and other guarantees.


One of the UK’s leading hot tub sector businessmen is calling on the entire industry to stand up for its customers, and its own business integrity, over concerns on warranties and consumer rights. Darren Waters, the founder of Vortex Distribution, the European- wide spa parts suppliers and Spafix, the service network and retail division, says these are testing times for the industry that needs to set itself the highest standards of product delivery and customer service. He revealed his Spafix business is just emerging from a long and protracted legal battle which has challenged the integrity of product warranties on hot tubs.


The company has just agreed on a settlement figure which saw the need to bring in specialist legal teams from the Continent to fight their case in the European courts. “We are not a company that lets our customers down lightly, neither do we have mega deep pockets,” says Darren. “It has taken a lot of determination to stay the course, after initially being fobbed off, I decided to just pay the legal fees and see it through, to see if the system actually worked”, Darren continues. “We would encourage others to do the same, not just on behalf of their customers but the integrity of the entire industry.”


BLISTERED SHELLS


The dispute was triggered when several Spafix customers began reporting problems with blistering on shells.


Three customers called to report problems and this soon rose to seven in the same batch dating back to 2014, Darren reveals. “We were shocked when the supplier responded with claims the problems were caused by problematic water chemistry control,”


While Spafix offered its customer replacement spas or an upgrade to a different model; a long and protracted round of negotiations began with its European suppliers “Although the products were being supplied from Europe; the spas were manufactured in China,” says Darren. “We hired a law firm in the suppliers’ homeland to fight our case. At some points, I felt very sceptical about how much power we would have but I was pleasantly surprised with the hard-hitting action that eventually won our case.” Darren says it is not only customers who should read the small print on warranties saying: “We are only as good as our suppliers. “If we let our customers down, by choosing a wrong supplier, it is not the manufacturer, the customer will remember, but the retailer that directly sold them the spa,” Darren points out, and urges: “We all need to be vigilant and support our customers as well as our own industry’s integrity.”


ABOVE: Darren Waters is the founder of Vortex Distribution and Spafix. Hot Tub & Swim Spa Scene NEWS 9


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100