Hot Tubs Brands To Avoid [Jacuzzi, Life, Hot Springs]

After spending thousands of dollars in building your dream backyard, you don’t want to meet the frustrations that come with second-rate hydrotherapy equipment in the name of a hot tub.

A premium quality hot tub should offer you entertaining relaxation exercises for years without any headache.

But with the many brands and extensive marketing done today, you may unluckily land a poorly assembled hot tub with inferior build quality and extremely unsatisfying customer care. 

So before you spend your hard-earned money on a hot tub, the worst brands you should avoid are a must-know!

First, let’s look at the criteria for defining a bad hot tub brand.

Criteria For Picking Out Low-Class Hot Tub Brands

Bad Customer Reviews

Similar to any other product, customer reviews provide one of the best ways of gauging the quality of a hot tub including user experience. 

Instead of depending on the manufacturer’s marketing to make your decision, visiting the brand’s website to see the reactions of their users can save you a lot of pain and regrets. Review platforms are also a good source of determining how good a brand is.

If the reviews are skewed to the negative side for a particular spa manufacturer, avoid the brand.

Product Warranty

You may overlook the warranty section for fancy looks when purchasing your hot tub then run into problems a few years later.

The high cost of hot tubs does not insulate them from experiencing issues time and again. Without a proper warranty, either from the brand or a dealer, you are likely to pay for services from your pocket.

The absence of a warranty for any hot tub is therefore a key red flag. For those with warranties, compare the warranty periods as it translates to the expected lifespan of the equipment.

Caution: Ensure every component of the spa is covered by the warranty.

Exaggerated Energy Usage

Hot tubs may seem a luxury, but that is not a license for it to drain your account beyond measure. Therefore, choose a model that is more energy-efficient and will not insanely inflate your energy bills.

Modern brands construct their tubs with premium materials that go a long way in saving energy. Plug and play designs are also good at cutting electricity costs.

High Cost of Maintenance 

Spending regularly on your hot tub after the costly initial investment is not the desire of any buyer.

When going through the customer reviews and you find comments on frequent repair needs, that should be a red flag despite the brand rating. A good hydrotherapy item should last a minimum of 10 years without several major issues.

No/Small Local Dealer Network

Local dealers for a particular brand are crucial if superior customer service is your thing. They take care of maintenance services and can also handle any other issue that may arise.

While the big box store option may seem cost-effective initially, it becomes daunting later when your hot tub needs service and there is no local dealer to help.

What Hot Tub Brands Then Should I Avoid?

Surprisingly, some of the popular brands may appear in our curated list of the worst manufacturers you should avoid because they have one or more features mentioned above. So let’s get to our list.

Jacuzzi Hot Tubs

If design and performance were the only considerations for a hot tub, Jacuzzi would never appear here. But their warranty service is wanting.

Many components of the tub are not covered and for those covered, getting them replaced by the company in case of wear may be harder than buying it yourself.

Some customers even report they were forced to pay for receiving warranty support.

Besides, there are also reports of their tubs peeling more than expected.

Life Spas

Seemingly, it is the gold standard of an average hot tub brand. From design to performance, they don’t deliver much.

Heating is the central issue that has fueled anger among most of their customers. Frequently, turning off the low-quality heater fitted in the tab is a nightmare.

Generally, the brand does not give long-term benefits to users.

Hot Springs Spas

Without a doubt, Hot Springs produce quality-guaranteed hot tubs and this accounts for their fame in the market. But wait till you get an issue and you need the support of customer care.

You may have to wait in line for days or even weeks to receive a call from them. Also, some customers have expressed their displeasure in the lack of expertise in their service area.

Other brands you need to escape their traps include Saratoga Spas, Arctic Spas, and Hydropool Hot Tubs.

Bottom Line

The cost of installing a hot tub is too high that you don’t want to be frustrated using it. The only safe way therefore is avoiding these second-rate brands at all costs.

Using the guide above, you can find other manufacturers that you should avoid even if we have not mentioned them.