Spa & Pool Outlet

We recently completed an exhaustive search for a new hot tub in the Raleigh /​Durham /​Chapel Hill area. The 2002 hot tub that had been in the house we bought had died a couple years ago, and we were ready for a new one.
We researched national reviews on the internet, both about basic quality and performance, as well as customer service — both of the hot tub manufacturer and the dealerships we might be purchasing from.
We visited multiple hot tub dealers on one day of intensive shopping, then returned a week later for wet tests at each one for the brand of hot tub each carried that we were seriously interested in.
Our ideal hot tub would be sold to us by someone with a quality brand at an inexpensive price, who did their own delivery, installation, and service, who had an impeccable reputation for customer service. Of course, you immediately start running into trade-​offs, the big one being price.
When all was said and done, we finally decided on a Master spa Twilight series hot tub, one of the smaller ones. It had enough jets, a lot of power through them, comfortable seats, and what looks like solid construction.
Let me say here that a wet test is indispensable to a hot tub purchase. Each place had a bathroom to change in, and welcomed wet tests.

Spa & Pool Outlet is located in a warehouse-​like building off 401S of Garner. It is the most unremarkable location and building of any of the places we visited, but who cares.
The operator of Spa & Pool Outlet is a pleasant easy-​going man who speaks frankly and directly. Cost estimates were available on demand, including base rates for each tub, and a total «out the door» cost including taxes. He was easy to negotiate with, and upfront about his pricing and what he is selling you.
We have a rural house on a sloping lot (front to back, and left to right). The hot tub location is a screen porch on the rear side of the house opposite the gravel driveway and is 10′ off the ground. We were informed that he would have to rent a special fork lift to be able to remove the old hot tub and put in a new one, and he quoted us a price on the extra expenses.
All kinds of difficulties and complications then arose. Not the least was that when an actual fork lift was found that could be used in our location, it was $ 300 more than he had quoted us. And he did not charge us for the extra.
And the ground was wet and soft and the fork lift tore huge rents in our back yard — it was so bad out there that they were almost not able to get up to the porch area.
The operator, and his delivery and installation crew were excellent workers, and when finally they were done, they then spent an extra hour with borrowed shovels and rakes filling back in the ruts and trenches dug by the huge balloon wheels of the fork lift.
With every complication or difficulty, the owner of Spa & Pool Outlet stepped up and demonstrated what good service is to us. By the time the hot tub was installed, and the old one taken away, I was already convinced that we had picked the right place, just by his attitude and all their hard work alone.
The gentleman who helped us get the hot tub up and running is also the service technician, and was obviously comfortable with what he was doing.
The hot tub came with steps, a cover and cover-​butler, and starter chemicals and filters.
We’ve been enjoying the new hot tub all this week and are very pleased with our decision.
There are a lot of factors in selecting a new hot tub, and the internet is full of contradictory statements about what is better in nearly every regard, requiring more than a grain of salt when evaluating the data and the opinions.
What mattered to us was getting a solid quality product from someone we expected to have a long term relationship with. That relationship is already off to a good start, and so we recommend Spa & Pool Outlet.
As necessary I’ll post updates to this review over time.