Spa Buyer Warning

Currently advertised on E-Bay Australia, are numerous Chinese imported spas without correct Australian / State Electrical Safety Certification, C-Tick Approval or compliance with Australian Standards.

All spas, spa and pool equipment are 'Prescribed Articles' requiring stringent testing and APPROVAL for sale in Australia. This pertains to the electrical components either individually or as an entire spa unit. Connection to supply, repair of or supply of parts for, a spa or spa equipment that is not APPROVED, is not permitted. Replacement spare parts should also not be supplied for non approved spas, or spa equipment.

There are many international approvals that the equipment may be marked with that allow sales in various parts of the world such as CE, UR, TUV, but NONE are the Australian Approval.

What does this mean? If in doubt, demand proof of Approval, and compliance with the Australian Standards which pertain to electrical, plumbing, and many other areas of safety and operation.

Australian Standards that need to be complied with are AS/NZS 3136:2001, AS 2610.2:1993, AS/NZS 60335 part 1 and AS/NZS 60335.2.60:2006, to name but a few.

Please note - this does not mean that ALL spas and equipment on E-bay are non-compliant

Some of the issues of note, with these spas and/or equipment:

(One or more of the following... maybe even all !)

1. No electrical safety certificate
2. No C-Tick (EMC compliance)
3. No filtration - What-so-ever !
4. No surface skimmer
5. Insufficient suctions per pump or mismatched suctions
6. False claims of Australian manufacture
7. False claims of USA manufacture
8. False claims of compliance
9. Absolutely no after sales service, support or spare parts (because its not legal to install them in the first place!)
10. Limited generic availability of parts to suit these spas, in Australia - you'll have to replace ALL electrical / electronic parts and probably need to replumb sections of pipework and fittings as well ..... just to comply.

These are serious issues, and in some cases, serious breaches of Australian electrical safety standards as well as serious entrapment dangers amongst other issues.

Whilst the inclusions and price look like great value for money on these spas, they are in fact a very bad buy.

Not only are you buying a non approved spa, endangering your family, friends, and home, but also risking a lack of service and support that can only be provided by seasoned spa dealers in your local area. The electrical (and other) components utilised on these spas are not available freely within Australia, and nothing is directly compatible.

If you are contemplating purchasing a spa from E-bay, we highly recommend you INSIST on proof of compliance with Australian Standards, Electrical Safety and C-Tick approvals, before you bid/purchase.

We strongly recommend you TRY ANY SPA BEFORE YOU BUY - never buy a spa that is unavailable for 'test soaking' - it just may have something to hide.

If anyone has had the misfortune to have been swindled by these spa suppliers, and wish to help shut them down for the benefit of all consumers, please email us with your experience and information.
We have already had people reporting their bad experiences including all of the above issues. Unfortunately in at least one case, the supplier is fully aware of their non compliance, with false information as to the product, on the invoice supplied. We are sure this is not an isolated incident, and that all suppliers are aware of these issues. The Queensland Electrical Safety Office (or State equivalent) would love to hear from anyone with complaints regarding these spas, as well.

In addition to the complete spas, individual spa components such as pumps and heaters without compliance, have also been advertised and sold. We have in stock (and NO, not for sale!) numerous components including touchpads, electronic controls, heaters, ozonators, and have personally seen the pumps, blowers and other equipment used. At a glance, some components will NEVER be approved - heaters without proper protection to name but one .... and yes, this is the very same one as an Ebay item being sold daily right now with false claims of Australian manufacture and /or compliance!

Please be wary of this expanding problem - if in any doubt - don't bid ! - Buy from a reputable dealer, or contact us for advise.

In all cases, when purchasing anything from E-Bay for high valued items, we strongly recommend you do not bid unless you can confirm legitimacy of the seller by direct phone contact. If you feel it necessary, ask for address, ABN, and other details. Our opinion - As a buyer, you are very much left out in the cold when E-Bay purchases go bad (from personal experience!). Make sure you have other means of tracking sellers down.
Most of these sellers also have private bidding and feedback - what are they hiding? Well, I suspect they're hiding false bids to raise the price and bad feedback comments from view.

On top of that ......!

There is also a Seller advertising on E-Bay for a 'spa wholesale list', where the winner of the auction receives a LIST of manufacturers. However, unless read carefully, the listing appears to be for the purchase of a spa - way too many people are being ripped off by this play
on words and deceitful marketing (this practice is not restricted to spas, but many other products also) - Even if you understand this to be a list, do you really think a company is going to wholesale any product to a consumer - I think not! - Please don't get caught out.