My advice: Never, ever buy through AQVA.
I cannot think of a word strong enough to convey how abysmal AQVA's service was, and I write for a living. Perhaps that purchasing a spa from AQVA was how I discovered the formal consumer complaint process says enough.
After struggling over weeks even to get a quote, I was finally promised a dedicated sales representative who would ensure good service. I can only laugh about that now.
The first time that representative contacted me to arrange the delivery of my spa, I was excited. Then, the day after it was supposed to arrive, they called again to arrange delivery, as if that first conversation had never happened. At this point, I was getting a bit concerned, as I had booked builders for my bathroom renovation based on the first date. But I had added in a few extra days to allow for delays.
Then they rang the third time to arrange delivery, as if neither of the last two times had ever happened. I moved from concerned to worried and had to delay my builders. But I was promised it would arrive this time.
Imagine my stress then, when the builders had pulled everything out of my bathroom and the spa still hadn't arrived. And didn't arrive the next day. At this point, I was calling and emailing my "dedicated sales representative", often without response, or getting condescending messages about how I had been told it could take a few extra days because of COVID delays (which had not been part of the initial conversations).
When I decided I needed to speak to a manager, I called the main phone line, where the receptionist promised to leave a message and get a manager to call me back. I never got a call. When I called again the next day, I was told I was being transferred to a manager but was hung up on in the process. Every time I tried calling after that, I was transferred to a voice mail.
When I mentioned in an email to the sales representative that I had been hung up on when trying to speak to a manager, their exact response was: "YOU WERE NOT HANG UP ON.... IT WAS THE MESSAGE BANK!"
I did not add the capitals; that was the email.
I left voice mails, emails, Facebook messages and direct requests to my sales representative, asking to speak to a manager. After finally finding no recourse, I called the ACCC and was advised to put in a formal complaint through my local consumer watchdog, which I did.
Even after informing the sales representative and the main contact email address that I had made this complaint, and that one of my resolution requests was to speak to a manager, I never received a call.
My spa did finally arrive. But nearly two weeks after I had been told it would.
I now don't believe the warranty I received will ever be honoured if there is a problem. I honestly believe I will be completely ignored if there are any issues. Which, for a $7.5k purchase including electronics, is deeply concerning for me. read more
