So you want to be a middle-man...

On Nov. 3rd 2005 I installed a Balboa pc board on my favorite commercial customer's hot tubs. 24 weeks later, it went bad while still under it's one year warranty. He has 5 hot tubs between his different rentals, and this one was about 5 years old one the original board went out the exact same way. So I called my parts distributor in Arizona and ordered another one based on the board’s 'eprom chip' numbers. With Balboa, this is the only way you can order an exact replacement. Three days later, the part comes, (I know have to pay for the replacement, ship the defective one back at my cost, and wait until they send it to Balboa. Balboa tests the board and makes the judgment whether its warrant able or not. Then they reimburse distributor X, then distributor X reimburses me, then I reimburse the end user) Anyways, I opened the factory labeled Balboa Parts box, only to discover a remote control!!!!!! A flippin' remote control!! So I called distributor X from my customers house and explain the mix-up. The assure me that I will have the right part I ordered the next morning. Okay, cool. A second trip but hey it happens. So the next morning the UPS driver shows up wanting another check including COD charges!!! Long story short, I had to pay once again for the part. Also, I had to pay to ship the defective pc board and the remote control back to distributor X. They rec'd the parts about a week later, and immediately they called me stating that the pc board would not be covered because it appears that the heater screws were loose and arched out. I would not be reimbursed for this part that went defective after 24 weeks of trouble free use. I call that shirking responsibility!!!! As of this blog’s publication, I still have not been reimbursed for the remote control I paid for. back on 5/4/06!!!!!! 9 weeks to get reimbursed for a blatantly wrong, unused part that has probably already been shipped out to a service company that needed one!!!!!! One of these days I will tell you the story about how a local pool supply company that dabbles in spa parts sent me a used spa pack, and how they "handled" it....so stay tuned.