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 1997,1998, 1999, 2000,2001, 2002, 2003 The Spa Specialist Inc.  James Arjuna President of The Spa Specialist inc. Click on the Photo for more information on Haven Spas. |
| WHAT
THE COMPETITION THINKS OF THE SPA SPECIALIST AND HAVEN SPAS. (or Why The Competition is Angry with us.) |
| Haven
Spas came out of my personal frustration with the inadequacies of
engineering in the spa industry, especially in the spas that are
selling in high volumes. Because these Southern California
designed spas are so profitable for the factory and the dealers,
obviously I have created some serious enemies with my writings and the
reputation and quality of the Haven Spas. The best way to
defeat the competitors is to have a better product and
sell it for less and that is exactly what we have done. By taking
the
economic "food chain" and reducing it from $2000 per spa in
advertising, marketing
and sales commissions, we have created a way to give you a better spa
for
less. We don't employ expensive marketing methods and we deliver
direct
from Colorado. We have a short food chain, so the money goes into
higher
quality, better service and lower prices. When I began my career in the spa industry, I started in a "fix em all" service center in Denver Colorado. I also have much scientific training and and engineering background, however I am not a P.E. When I would see these "high end"(NOT!) spas in the field, I could see there was something seriously wrong with the spa industry. The pumps breaking down constantly and the filtering was awful. These products were cheaply made and being sold for outrageous prices. I commonly call these products, "dog dishes", because if you go in the grocery store in the pet section, you will see the same basic technology. Cheap plastic formed into a bowel. In the case of spas they are then stuffed with foam to keep them from falling down under the load of water. In modern spas the use of full foam is so antiquated and nothing but an insult to American ingenuity. Since these spas are more costly to use and own, but cheaper to build, they are being touted as "the best". It you take the time to read and get an education from our materials, you will learn all the "in's and outs" of spas and how they are built. You will also know more than the spa sales people. Not only are these old designs poorly made, but they are a terrible design for cold weather climates. They have low horsepower or wasteful of the pump horsepower and weak jets and they are still being sold for upwards of $9,000 (I still can't believe anyone with a brain would not look around before spending that kind of money) These companies use selling techniques that work, like phony awards and sales pitches that are nothing but embellishments, inferences and implications, (basically nonsense). Since I am a "nuts and bolts" sort of person, I understand what is being done to the public on these 25 year old designs that are basically a rip off in today's market. Do you see that BBB logo on our site? Since I believe in integrity and ethics in all aspects of my life, the BBB is the only organization I belong to, except for the new Hot Tub and Spa Consumer Institute. Since I believe in truth in advertising, the only "weapon" I have against these unethical spa companies is the truth and education for consumers. I don't believe in fancy logos and putting lies on anything that I have any part in. I actually believe that a company does not have to use all the sales hype and nonsense to make a living. Maybe that is silly, since that means I will never be monetarily rich, but I sleep well in knowing that we do business in a just and honest way. The only way I know of to combat the hype and nonsense used in spa advertising is to teach about spas and how spas are made. I teach people to find value, by educating themselves. This is not rocket science. SO: Because I am so outspoken against cheap, poorly designed products, and dangerous products, I am much maligned by the spa industry. They make their living by selling at huge profits, because the spa shoppers have no clue what they are buying. I have been targeted by some really strange people in the spa industry, who are trying to ruin my good name and the name of the Haven Spas. You need to understand that I, as a spa industry "insider" have broken the taboo of educating consumers and that has cost spa companies money. They have put together a fictitious web site (which is now down for the forth time) and in it is not one single example of a dissatisfied Haven owner (There are none.). They even have fictitious, supposedly Haven owners posting complaints. I have all the records of all the Haven spa owners and none of them have posted anything on that site. One of my customers, a mechanical engineer from NH posted a positive comment about Haven Spas and his post was immediately removed. If you believe any of the garbage from that site, I feel that you do not know what is going on. They have posted posts that are totally made up by some of these spa professionals. The anti Haven site is full of lies and nonsense. It is all done by spa professionals and scam artists and spa owners who's egos are attached to these poor values. They have many posts that were supposedly made by me, that I never authored. I don't know who was impersonating me, but they went to great lengths to make out that I am a "bad guy". Since they can't make a better spa, the only weapon they have is lies and assaults on my character, the same stuff that is in their advertising and the same lies the sales people use. They use the consumer's fear of purchasing any high ticket item as a weapon against us, while we are one of the few ethical spa companies who don't view our customers as dollar bills. I am writing this at the request of some of my customers to help you to understand that a lot of money is involved by these people selling cheaply made products to the public. It is to their advantage to get rid of both me and the Haven Spas. (We have still been averaging more sales than most any spa supplier in the country Aug. 3 2003). My book "How Spas Are Made" is considered to be "evil" to them because it hits them directly in their wallets, by educating the public on spas. Our whole web site is dedicated to educating people on spas. I get many email letters from all over the world, thanking me for my work and my common sense approach to spas. The "How Spas Are Made" book was mostly written long before I was ever selling spas and long before the Haven Spas ever existed. I used to hand out 8.5 x 11 copies of the articles to spa shoppers back when I worked in service. I did it to customers who's spas were falling apart and costing them a fortune to repair. I wanted them to realize and learn what a good spa is supposed to look like. I am an insider in the spa industry, exposing the utter nonsense and deception being used to sell spas at outrageous prices and profits to ordinary people, just like you and me. I see this deception as a bad thing, both for consumers and the spa industry. We have been working as hard as possible to offset their lies used in advertising and sales presentations by educating on all topics relating to spas. We don't expect to even get 10% of the sales with this approach, because many people do not have the opportunity to find our site before they buy. I don't know who these people are that have created this web site and other lies, and I have contacted a lawyer to find out what can be done. The problem with the Internet is that it is very difficult to shut down these sites. First of all we have to subpoena the owners of the server to give us the names of the site owner. Then we have to start an out of state law suit, that can cost over $50,000 and we are not assured of any results. The Internet has created a whole new level of the freedom of speech rulings and libel and slander. That is because the Internet is so huge and it is very difficult to find an shut them down. However, libel is still against the law. This anti Haven site has been on five different servers and each time I have contacted the server owners they have shut it down. Once the server owner realizes that it is a lie made up by pool and spa professionals, they shut it down. One of the latest sites, that was on the tripod network, is now shut down as well. After sending the owners one more letter and several letters from our wonderful customers the tripod site is now turned off. The sleazy spa professionals have been e-mailing this to people across the country. This is illegal, but why should I even think they have any ethics, just look at the products they sell. This internet attack site has been a viscous attempt to stop me from exposing their hot tub scams that are legally done to the spa shoppers. It is greed and there is no other word for it. They make so much money on these cheap spas that it is a sin. However, the public doesn't know anything about spas and spa construction, until I started my work and started writing my book. Before I started my writings and continued writings, many people never considered that full foam, tiny circ pumps and cheap shells, types of jet pups, were even an issue. They never bothered to look any farther, because the "salesman" told them it was the "best spa". Now shoppers all across the US are gaining knowledge against these advertising companies. If you don't know what you are buying, why are you buying? That is a question that has puzzled me for a long time. There are many very good spa companies in this world, but the ones with all the money are not "nice". They use any tactic they can to keep selling and keep the public from being educated. The actions of these spa professionals are a perfect example. The sword of the internet works both ways. So, I was advised to start writing more and more on the nature of the spa industry. I have several articles based upon the ANSI standard, UL, and the standards of spa and hot tub design in the manuals for building hot tubs and spas. These bad companies seem to think that they can do any thing they want, say anything and build spas in any way they want, taking any shortcut they can get away with. The National Spa And Pool Institute is a joke. They have all these great ideas and have a lot of knowledge available, but they issue awards based upon who gives the institute the most money. They actually gave an award to Hot Spring spas for a plastic cabinet that one of the Hot Spring suppliers invented and made. They never police the members to see if they are following the pool and spa building manuals for safety. They have been sued and forced into bankruptcy, more than once, because of what their members have done, while at the same time have no control over whether or not the pools and spas are made correctly. I dropped my membership with the NSPI as soon as that ridiculous "greased palm" award was given to one of the most rip off spa companies on earth. Just so you know the spa industry is totally unregulated, except that the equipment must be ETL or UL tested to get a building permit. That leaves the door wide open for any body to give spa building a try. In some ways that is good, but for the most part it is not, considering all the junky spas out there. So, if you are led to the site run by these unethical people or get email from these guys with some "information" that is dedicated to ruining our wonderful reputation, then I hope you will take the time to find out the truth from our real customers, who are willing to talk with you on the phone. I have never offered any money to our customers to support us. They are glad to do it because they really appreciate what we do and they love their Haven Spa. Thanks for taking the time to read this! I hope that my works and writings will help to change the spa industry and produce better products. James Arjuna President The Spa Specialist inc. Return Read what our Haven Customers have to say Click HERE |