Hi -

I'm posting my personal experience with Robert Berman (AKA "buyaspa.com", "usedspasforsale.com") so that hopefully others can avoid being taken in by him.

I have had a HORRIBLE experience with Robert Berman and BUYASPA.COM.

Robert sold me a spa he had refurbished which supposedly was in "like new condition" and had been "water tested". The spa came with a one year warranty. Robert had the spa brought to my home and then made an appointment to come and install the electrical service - that is when the problems began.

Robert missed several appointments to hookup the spa, and then would not even have the courtesy to call or to return phone calls asking when he would show up. He finally came out and said he didn't have time to do the hookup until next week. Eventually, he sent another tech out to do the hookup. The Tech had to rewire the control panel so that it would start, and also change a fitting that wasn't even the right size. Once it did start, it started leaking in 6 places. We also discoverd that has a broken diverter valve, and the air venturi doesn't work. No big deal since it has a year warranty, right? Wrong - here is where the real problems begin.

Well, we have repeatedly tried to contact Robert. Robert will not answer his phone or return repeated phone calls to him to try and get him to honor his warranty. Now that he has been paid, he wants nothing to do with us, nor to honor his contract. So now we are stuck with a leaky, broken spa which we paid alot of $$ for. Currently, the spa has several leaks, a broken Venturi, and a broken diverter valve. When it arrived here, it also had a wrong size valve (which let water run out like a seive) and the control panel was wired so incorrectly that the spa would not even start. I find it very hard to believe that this was ever "water tested". If it was, it says alot about what Mr. Berman considers "like new condition" and says even more about the quality of his rebuilt spas.

The funny thing is that at the beginning of all of this, he asked us to make sure to go to the spa forums and post a glowing review of him and his company.

After all the $$ spent, I am stuck with a leaky, broken spa. I will now have to pay another company to come out and fix it up, since buyaspa.com does not seem to have enough integrity to honor their own warranty.

It is my sincere hope that others can learn from my experience - avoid BUYASPA and go with a reputable dealer instead. I will be reporting this company to the BBB.

If you have a written document detailing this warranty, I would suggest consulting legal advise and persue legal action. A word to the wise, for others as well, when buying a used spa that is said to be in good working condition, don't make payment unless you see the spa in action, or have a written guarentee of the spa's functionality. If you accept a used spa without any written guarentee or visual confirmation, you are buying a spa AS IS and there is little recourse.