I am looking into buying a 2-3 yr old Tiger River Bengal.
I called our local dealership for hot springs to ask about delivery and other work should we need it.
He informed me that they couldn't honor any warranty work on the tub since warranties don't transfer.

This seems absurd to me. If Hot Springs delivered the 1st owner's tub, delivered to the 2nd person, why would it matter for the manufacturer warranty. Had I done it myself, I could understand why it wouldn't be warrantied, but if the dealership is doing all the work why would that matter? Is this the way the whole spa industry is or is my local dealer lying to me?

Thanks!

Dealer is not lying at all. The original owner has some sort of degree of responsibility for the tub that they bought. The manufacturer assumes that they will take care of their expensive investment, and whether they do or not, the dealer will cover all or most of the problems with the tub.

Why would the manufacturer cover problems that occur with a hot tub that was sold to a second party? Many times, the reason a tub is resold is due to the fact that people don't use or take care of them. There is simply no responsibility between the manufacturer, and somone who bought a tub second hand that may have been completely uncared for during many years of use, misuse, or no use at all. It just doesn't make sense.

I get calls every week...I just bought a hot tub from one of your customers, they said it was working fine but it isn't heating and it lost 10 inches of water overnight...

Unfortunately, the many tubs that are taken care of and could be warrantied are far outweighed by the tubs that are not and should not be.

That is why.

I guess I would liken it to buying a car. Those transfer and who knows how the previous owner handled the vehicle. Cars cost double what a spa cost. Just seems like good customer service to honor the original warranty. If I bought a TV from Best Buy and sold it to a friend, and I gave them the receipt - they would still honor that warranty.

I see where they are coming from, but I don't agree.