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Spa covers of thick rigid foam gradually get waterlogged and cave in, like mine did. So when I saw an ad for an innovative design at SpaCap.com, I got interested. The Spa Cap is essentially a large air bladder enclosed in a couple of layers of heavy-duty marine vinyl, so it sounds like a promising product.
It is not. Its insulation qualities are close to nil, and worse, the company's got the worst customer service this side of Attila the Hun.
I bought a Spa Cap, and after watching the company's online instructional video, I installed the cover appropriately. From that day, our electric bill skyrocketed. During the previous year, when we used a foam cover, our electric bill averaged $100 per month. With the SpaCap in place, our first month bill was $177, the second was $362, and the third, $571!
Of course, I turned off the tub and phoned SpaCap. I left several messages and then e-mails, and never got a response. I finally reached a woman in SpaCap's office, having possibly caught her off guard. She listened to me and asked me to send them a photo of the installation. I did that the same day, waited a week, and then began calling and e-mailing once again. Finally I reached the same woman. She told me the company's president had concluded I hadn't tacked the cover down with enough fasteners, and he'd already shipped me more fasteners. I'm glad I didn't wait by my mailbox.
I returned the cover to SpaCap, enclosing a request for a refund under the warranty, which covers workmanship and materials for three years. Since it didn't insulate worth a fig, it wasn't a genuine spa cover, so was completely defective. As you might guess, I heard nothing further from them.
If you go to SpaCap's website, a subpage, "R-Factor Testing Results, " offers data on the product's insulation capability. The study, done by Dr. H.F.Poppendiek of Geoscience Ltd. of San Diego, CA, seems to suggest that the SpaCap provides about ten times more insulation capability than a rigid foam cover. But if you read it carefully, it’s actually incomprehensible.
So I wrote to Dr. Poppendiek, asking what the story was. He replied that something was radically wrong with the information on SpaCap's website. It was not in conformance, he said, with the technical data Geoscience Ltd. supplied. Dr. Poppendiek wrote, "I'm not sure whether someone at SpaCap doesn't understand the data or whether my findings are being misrepresented."
Why did that not surprise me?
The Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/spas-and-hot-tubs-supplies-and-parts/spacapcom-in-lynden-wa-13025291#ratingdetails) gives SpaCap.com the grade of F, their lowest rating. The BBB says there were 41 complaints filed against the company, which failed to resolve or even respond to a significant number of the complaints.
If you Google "spa cap, " you'll find websites such as www.doityourself.com, which feature numerous other extremely negative reviews such as mine.
In sum, SpaCap's product is lousy and may actually be fraudulent, and their customer skills are even worse.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I ordered a spacap in April 09 and never recieved it ! I emailed and called dozens of times and recieved no response. There is a plethora of bad reviews online for the company that I somehow missed when I ordered it. Stay away from Spacap.com.
If there is an attorney who wants to help me out, please do !
Thank you for your review. I couldn't agree more with you. So glad we are in the digital age as I hope these posts will educate others prior to purchasing from a terrible company. I am NOT a happy customer...I would NOT buy a Spa Cap. I used mine for 3 years and it started to take in water. I sent it to them for evaluation and they told me the cap is not repairable. They state there are cracks that are taking in water which they said is my fault due to adding too many chemicals to the spa. I religiously check my ph levels weekly, only adding chemicals when the ph is off. Who wants to sit in a tub of water full of chemicals? Our philosophy is less is better. I asked Marlis Sliger, "so basically what you are telling me is that I am S.O.L.?" She responded, "yup." They will not repair, credit, or replace the product. I should have checked with the BBB before purchasing the Rolls Royce (cost-wise) of spa covers. Do your homework before buying a Spa Cap. Buyer BEWARE!
I too bought a Spa Cap and after 2 years it leaks air and deflates - then it fills up with rain. The Spa cap people give me the crap about PH being wrong. This is the worst $500 I ever spent. They won't do a thing. They laugh at you. Don't be taken - especially if you are in a snow state. These caps don't last, don't insulate well, and deflate in the cool and expand in the sun. They are not as advertised...
I agree 110% ! However you failed to mention the office "lady" is obviously 90 years old, and completely incapable of actually doing anything! DO NOT buy ANYTHING from this place~ ours didn't fit right, and our electric bill could easily be the price of a nice little cottage's mortgage!
I suspected two years ago when I first purchased my Spa Cap I was in trouble, when they double billed my credit card and refused to refund or credit my account. A year after the purchase mine also started to leak, they told me also it was my fault so I fixed it with silicon
RTV. About a month ago the outer cloth surface separated from the vinyl bladder and sunk.
These people are thieves, Stay away!
I too noticed the "lady" taking my order told me not to use chemicals, or to shock the tub with chemicals ("they just tell you to do that to make money" she said), because all you need are minerals. She would include some minerals that do not damage the cover. This led me to ask how often do spa chemicals damage their cover. She said that the cover does not break down due to spa chemicals, but just to be on the safe side I should use less than recommended or just use minerals. If their spa cover is so impervious to chemicals as she tried to imply, then why is the company blaming users for using wrong pH (and therefore excess chemicals).
Wow! As I read these reviews I have the same story! Its not the product for me though. We live in NE Ohio and my first SpaCap lasted 5 years! We then changed our spa a bit. Ours is an inground spa. We put a nice stone wall around it to help reduce the amount of dirt and leaves that seem to get in. I ordered a new custom cover. Well it did not fit precisely but I knew that it would still do its job. Well less than 2 years later one of the 3 bladders on the inside broke. We have no idea how. I called the owner, he gave me some suggestions and I searched for leaks and tears and to no avail. He then said I had to ship it back to him at my expense and if it was a manufacture defect he would replace it. Well $130 in shipping and several attempts at phone calls later, I was told that the cover failed because someone jumped on it! Imagine my anger as this is impossible with the height and the age of the people at my house. When met with this frustration he then changed his tune to say it was my hot tub design. Well knowing the product worked I asked if we could compromise, I would pay for materials and we can redo it. He agreed to a fee, I paid it immediately and I was told 3-4 weeks. I asked for some changes to the cover as well, mostly in the size of skirt. Again agreement in emails and phone calls. Then the waiting game... 3 months later, countless emails asking about status. He keeps telling me they are re-engineering it. I thank in profusely. 3 months after the orignal due date I get my new cover, exactly the same as the old one. No changes, no re-engineering, in fact more ill fitting than the first one! What a liar this guy is. Attempts at emails and phone calls have suddenly fallen on deaf ears. What a crock. Stay away from this guy unless you can steal the product or make your own, do not deal with the owner.