Backyards & Billiards

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This is the second time I have used Backyard and Billiards. and have been very pleased. The serviceman, Eric, was very polite and professional. He checked the entire spa and found the source of the leaks, tightened everything and answered all of my questions regarding the spa. I was impressed since they do not sell this spa in their store but were willing to service it in a timely manner.

Immediate when I visited store.

Excellent. Working greatt everyday for the last 5 months and weekends for the USAFA cadets who visit..

Our 13-year old Hot Springs spa, which was our third spa, finally needed replacement since the shell cracked by the diverter valves. It was OK over the years but had its problems: several heaters; several jet replacements; new and expensive covers and pillows; 3-4 remote panel replacements, which never really worked right and I gave up on; but no problems with the motors and pumps or ozone generator. I first saw Bullfrog spas at Costco and then tried to research them. Unfortunately, I found it hard to find any reliable, objective reviews. I compared pricing with other Bullfrog retailers and found Costco pricing over $1000 lower. The overall design seemed good and the few reviews I could find seemed good enough to take the risk.
What’s strange about Costco pricing with Bullfrog spas is that if you want something other than what is included in the Costco price, you apparently need to go to the dealer’s location to make the deal, which I did since I wanted different jet packs and auxiliary controls. End result is that I’m not sure I have the protections that Costco offers and, hopefully, I won’t need them. At least the order agreement states it was in reference to Costco, which I would point out to Costco if I need to.
The spa was delivered a week outside the estimated window but this worked better for me. The installation crew quickly placed the spa within 30 minutes. The main issue was with the cover lift installation. I ordered the CoverMate III lifter, which is designed to only require 6” of space between the spa and the wall behind the spa and be almost effortless for my wife to use. The crew stated they had never installed this lift before. On the first attempt, the cover was binding with the spa and wouldn’t fully open. I pointed out that they had installed it halfway down the side of the spa where the instructions clearly stated it was to be installed at the top edge.
Now they were faced with about 10-12 holes in both sides of my new spa if they removed the lift supports and installed them correctly. So for the next attempt they left the lift supports halfway down the side of the spa but moved them about 4-6” further back, leaving two holes exposed in each side of the spa cabinet. They covered these holes with screws and screw caps, which didn’t look too bad. Now the spa cover would open but when closed, the cover was too far back. The crew lengthened the cover arms to move the cover forward. This helped but now with the cover open, it was crooked – the left side was obviously lower than the right. They blamed that on the spa still being on a piece of PVC they used to move the spa into final position. They quickly positioned the spa, removed the PVC, and left.
I checked the spa cover now that the spa was in its final resting place but still found the cover crooked. The next day I removed the screws on the left support arm, measured it so it would match the length of the right arm, and replaced the screws. All was now straight when open and the cover seemed to fit pretty well when closed. Of course now I have an exposed hole left behind where the left arm length was corrected and one side of the spa cabinet was now bowed outward, presumably due to the stress of the lift arm being screwed halfway down its side. Plus the spa cover, when open, now required about 12-18” clearance to the back wall rather than what should have been 6”.
Quite frankly I can live with most of this but I asked Backyards and Billiards to come out to inspect the cover installation. I pointed out the cover was not installed correctly, being halfway down the side of the spa, causing the side of the spa cabinet to bow out and requiring more clearance behind the spa. I also pointed out I needed a screw to cover the exposed lift arm hole. I offered to insert screws along the bottom of the spa cabinet to keep it from bowing out. This was mostly a defensive move since I had low confidence anyone else would pay much care to their spacing and placement. I was told a screw would be found for the lift arm but after nearly four weeks I’ve heard nothing. I’m hoping this isn’t an indicator of what warrantee service may be like if I ever need it. It would have been nice if they would have apologized for the cover installation error and offered to make it right.
So far, I like the Bullfrog Spa. The controls are by Balboa as is the heater and I think the ozone generator. Seems like Balboa should know what they are doing. Too bad Bullfrog doesn’t offer the more advanced control panels that Balboa produces. I like the two speed motors and lack of need for diverter valves. The specifications stated the heater was to be 5.5KW but it came with a 4KW heater. I was told by Backyards and Billiards that Bullfrog found they didn’t need the bigger heater to maintain the temperature with the pumps running in the most extreme conditions. I guess we’ll see when the winter temperatures get down to less than -10F. Still not sure if I should file a complaint for false advertising on this since it seems most specifications say the manufacturer can change them at any time. Too bad we can’t return items then if they don’t deliver an item with the specifications stated when we bought them.
It’s hard to believe any spa is worth the price. I suspect none last much more than 10 years and most require new covers and pillows. Plus the chemical maintenance adds up. Which brings me to a final note: why don’t spa dealers provide a class and instructions on the plain basics of spa water chemistry? I received no instructions from Backyards and Billiards with mine so I searched the Internet and found what I think is a pretty straightforward method. From what I’ve read, the FDA approves of chlorine or bromine as the only acceptable sanitizers – something to keep in mind while the dealer is saying something else. I chose chlorine and bought a good water test kit. So far I think it is pretty easy and I’m getting a feel for maintaining safe water chemistry.
Overall, I’m optimistic that my Bullfrog spa may work out OK. You’ll need to decide for yourself on which dealer is the right choice.

They were very timely in their response and did good quality work.

They are very professional and very thorough. They always go above and beyond when they came out and gave us hints and tips on how to prevent things from happening. Their prices are very reasonable. Their return people are very reasonable. Their customer service is very professional. I would use them again in the future.