Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromChris M

  Date: 18/11/2024

  1 star

  Chris M

  Date: 18/11/2024

  We had sanctuary spa replace one pump and fix another on our hot tub. They installed one pump and left a hole (bleed nipple) unplugged in the face plate. When it leaked, they charged us for coming back to fix the hole they installed. The technician also cross threaded a pipe, causing it to leak. i appreciate that accidents happen, but when I spoke to the service manager Lorne, He explained to me that they were not responsible for having to come back several times for leaks, despite acknowledging that the leaks came from their own actions. His resolution to me pointing this out to him was to simply tell me that they would never come back. This manager also suggested that I use a hammer and a metal screwdriver to hit the plastic cuffs attached to the pump to help undo them. I’m no expert, but hitting something plastic with something metal in the cold generally isn’t a great idea. When the pump was leaking because they had cross threaded the pipe, Lorne told me “ It’s natural for hot tubs to leak over the weekend, that’s fine “. Based purely on dealing with this manager, I would never deal with this company again.

  Sanctuary Spas and Re-Creation

  Date: 10/12/2024

  Chris, sorry for your disappointment. Let’s walk through this. Your request: “Draining tube between pumps needs to be replaced. Also has not run in a year and a half.” Tuesday: we found all equipment disconnected and part of the Circ Pump missing. Our tech replaced the Circ Pump and reconnected equipment and drain tube. To check for leaks a tub must be full and running. Yours was empty until you hauled water.
  Thursday: you reported a leak from a bleed adapter on Pump 1. Normally that style adapter is sealed from factory so we did not check it. Sorry for our oversight. You wanted a tech out immediately. Despite being booked a week+ our tech made it out before his next call so less than two hours later it was fixed. The tub was not full enough to test.
  Friday afternoon: you reported a leaking union you couldn’t loosen. Most people don’t own the proper tools to loosen a union so I suggest using a hammer and flat screwdriver. This is a technique I started using successfully more than 20 years ago as taught to me by someone who had decades of industry experience.
  Not happy with my suggestion you wanted a tech immediately. None were on duty until Monday, which I offered. Waiting represented no risk. Forecast temps were not cold enough to cause damage nor would that leak. With few exceptions, short term leaks don’t damage hot tubs. We had provided instructions to keep your tub warm if needed.
  Monday morning we checked in. You and I rehashed much of the above and discussed your invoice. You said you shouldn’t have to pay for fixing the Pump 1 leak. I explained we billed for it because doing the work on one vs. two trips did not change total labour required. You refused to pay for the second trip. For reasons outlined below, I expressed that if someone refuses to pay we honour warranty but stop working with them. I agreed not to bill for the return trip.
  Reviews exist so people can learn about a business before working with them. While most of our customers are happy we are not the right fit for everyone and not because of something wrong with us or them. Your kind of experience doesn’t happen often but when it does it is for similar reasons.
  Unhappiness comes from unmet expectations so before confirming a booking we send our What To Expect (WTE) document and ask customers to review and agree to it. If it contains something they don’t agree with they are able to find another service provider before work starts. Occasionally some do.
  Almost exclusively unhappy customers have agreed to WTE without reading it and are unhappy about something outlined in it. Eg. …”we warranty the repairs we complete against future leaks… but cannot guarantee that the tub itself is free of leaks...” Ie. We can’t warranty work we didn’t do. We only reconnected your Pump 1 so fixing it was not warrantied whereas the union leak was our work so would have been.
  We do not expect blind trust but find unhappy customers come in lacking a basic trust in our competence and/or integrity. While we often learn from customers, we know our stuff. If someone believes their experience in automotive, plumbing, etc. means they know more about our industry than we do they won’t be happy with us. When customers lacked basic trust, if we kept working together no one was happy, so if we see trust lacking, work ends for their sake and ours. We would rather a customer be happy with someone else than unhappy with us.
  I work hard to ensure fair billing. If I discover I over-billed we make it right, even if they could not find out. Recently I told a customer about a mistake they could not have discovered which, depending on their choice of resolution, could have cost us over $1000 to rectify. As such, while I am happy to discuss an invoice, I interpret refusing to pay as lacking basic trust so when it happens we honour warranty but won’t do new work.
  Chris I am sorry you did not have a good experience. I hope whoever you find to work with will better meet your expectations.