Verify BEFORE We Buy

When we, as consumers want to purchase pool, spa or outdoor leisure products, deciding where or who to purchase from can sometimes be overwhelming. Our options range from a local retail or service provider to ecommerce retailers to bidding sites. Making the decision of where to purchase from is even more daunting with prices fluctuating as much as 75%! To make the process less confusing, we need to be pragmatic and answer a few questions to make our purchasing experience more delightful and less risky.

Here are a few key points to clarify before we make our next purchase:

Verify the Warranty

Local companies can often offer better, longer warranties through the manufacturer that can offset any immediate savings we may get buying a product online. Take into account a single service call with a part replaced can be $200 and much more. Equipment breaks and when we need service after our purchase, our savings can easily be negated by a single service issue.

Verify the Company

Are they experienced installing, working on and repairing the equipment? A company that services the equipment we are purchasing knows more about the equipment in the field than even the manufacturer. Their insight to issues, repair and parts replacement cost can be invaluable when deciding what equipment to purchase. A little extra investment on the front end will be rewarded on the back end when we learn the risk and reward from a company that actually KNOWS the equipment. We are making an informed, educated purchasing decision.

Verify Licensing

Are they licensed in our State? If they are not licensed to do business in our state what is our legal remedy if something goes wrong? Is the equipment we are buying in compliance with the federal, state and local codes? If we purchase equipment that could endanger our structure or family, why were we not advised by the company we purchased from? Ask about local codes before making any purchasing decision to ensure we are not taking unnecessary risk.

Who will warranty the equipment?

Warranty is valuable and knowing who to call and when to call for warranty is important. We need to verify the company we are purchasing from either does the warranty themselves or have resources to coordinate the warranty when we need it. If they tell us to call someone else; that is a RED FLAG!  Know in advance who will facilitate the warranty, what the numbers are and verify that company before they come into our backyard.

Is the Equipment what we need?

Are we purchasing the right product(s)? If no one has been out to look at our equipment and consulted with us, how do we know we are getting the right part or product for our backyard? A good company will provide options only after they have seen where it is to go, what our expectations are and what, if any compatibility issues there are with our existing equipment. If we fail to do this leg work in advance, it can be very costly when we find out we didn’t get what we needed.

Our backyard is our paradise and being able to enjoy it extends to the experiences we have in maintaining it, the service we receive and the ease of support we are provided throughout the life we plan on using it. When we take some extra time before we make a decision to ask a few questions, we may not be able to avoid all possible issues which may arise, but we can at least mitigate our risk.

For more information or to answer any questions, please visit Dale’s Gas at http://www.dalesgas.com/ or email us at service@dalesgas.com. Dale’s Gas is committed to supporting pool, spa and backyard leisure product owners. When service matters and it does, Dale’s Gas is Central Florida’s #1 choice for backyard equipment sales, service and support needs.