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Ebay & Internet Spa Buyer Warning

Advertised on E-Bay Australia (new or 2nd hand), 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 safety, 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 or an illegal potty skimmer 
5. Insufficient suctions per pump, mismatched suctions or unapproved 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 or internet wholesale company, 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 our possession (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 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.

See below extract of consumer warnings and a recent conviction (this is NOT the only Ebay seller doing the wrong thing. And as you can see initial inspections didn't deter this guy from continuing to sell non approved appliances)

 

NSW Fair Trading URGENT PUBLIC SAFETY WARNING
2 April 2014 

PUBLIC WARNING ON DANGEROUS SPAS
DO NOT DEAL WITH GERASIMOS LORD, NICHOLAS LORD, 
URBAN BOUTIQUE PTY LTD, EUROMAX SPAS, EUROMAX IMPORTS, 
WWW.EUROMAXSPAS.COM.AU AND WWW.EUROMAXDIRECT.COM.AU  

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe is warning the public about potentially dangerous spas sold by Euromax Spas, Euromax Imports, www.euromaxspas.com.au, www.euromaxdirect.com.au, Urban Boutique Pty Ltd and its directors Gerasimos Lord and Nicholas Lord.   

Mr Stowe warned the public not to deal with the above entities and if they had bought a spa from any of them to immediately cease using it until they had determined it was safe.
Gerasimos Lord and Nicholas Lord are directors of Urban Boutique Pty Ltd, an online retail store that sells indoor and outdoor spas, saunas and outdoor furniture under the business names Euromax Spas and Euromax Imports, using the above websites. 
The company trades from 95 Griffiths Avenue, Bankstown and 7/14 Davis Street, Wetherill Park. 
This year Fair Trading investigated a number of complaints from consumers who paid large deposits for spas and outdoor furniture from Urban Boutique Pty Ltd and did not receive their goods.  
During the course of its investigation, Fair Trading discovered Urban Boutique Pty Ltd may be selling or offering to sell banned spas that contain potty skimmers without a protective cover. 
A potty skimmer is a pool or spa outlet at water level used as a suction point for the water reticulation system and that resembles a child’s chamber pot or other toilet device and has no protective device fixed to the skimmer box outlet.
Spas that contain potty skimmers must have a protective cover on them that can only be removed by use of a tool. A protective device is necessary to prevent a person becoming lodged or caught in the skimmer box outlet through the operation and effect of suction within or through the water reticulation system.
There have been numerous incidents in Australia and overseas involving uncovered potty skimmers that have resulted in disembowelment, serious injury and death. 
Fair Trading has so far identified spas with the model numbers BG 8520 and BG 8832 that have these potentially lethal potty skimmers but the company websites, which have since been removed by Fair Trading, displayed numerous models of spas that have not yet been inspected. 
Mr Stowe urged any consumers who have made purchases of spas from or had dealings with Euromax Spas, Euromax Imports, Urban Boutique Pty Limited and Gerasimos Lord and Nicholas Lord to contact NSW Fair Trading as soon as possible on 13 32 20.
Fair Trading has asked Ebay to ban the company from selling spas on www.ebay.com.au and www.gumtree.com.au.
See below photographs of one of the dangerous potty skimmers.

Please note that this style of Potty Skimmer has been supplied on imported AND Australian made spas - If they are manufactured by Rising Dragon or CMP we carry a Vane Weir that permanently attaches to these potty skimmers to make them safe and legal. See below the general 'banning notice' associated with this style potty skimmer.