HOUSTON – Consumers just wanted to relax in their very own hot tub, but they say they were more stressed out after paying a local business that never delivered the product.
Primo Hot Tubs and Spas was a BBB-accredited business with no history of problems. In January, the Houston office started receiving complaints that Primo was months late delivering the tubs customers had paid for. By March, they had received a flood of complaints.
"They were still selling the hot tubs, collecting $5,000, $7,000 from consumers for hot tubs that (were) never being delivered," explained Denisha Maxey, with the Houston BBB. "There was no type of communication with the consumer."
What You Can Do
If you paid Primo Spas for service or for a spa that you have not received, call (713) 561-2522. This is the number for Texas Spa Services, LLC. The company is owned by Brandon and Kelsea Smallwood.
Brandon Smallwood worked for Primo Hot Tubs and Spas in the service department and Kelsea Smallwood was the office manager at the company. Primo Hot Tubs and Spas was a dealer for Master Spas, out of Indiana.
Master Spas has hired Kelsea Smallwood to work as a local conduit to the manufacturer. Since Channel 2 started looking into this story in April, Master Spas has reached out to every person who complained to the BBB that they were owed money or a hot tub and has successfully resolved those issues.
The customers with unresolved complaints are those who paid Primo for accessories or products that were ordered from other vendors.
One man had a $25,000 swim spa on consignment with Primo Hot Tubs and Spas. He told Channel 2 he had an agreement with Primo that he would get half of the money when the company sold the spa. Since Primo closed its doors, the man has not been able to get answers from owner Vince Primo or former office manager Kelsea Smallwood on the whereabouts of his swim spa or the money. Neither returned Channel 2's calls and texts inquiring about the same. The customer has hired an attorney to help get his property back.
Owner Vince Primo told Channel 2's Amy Davis by phone that a series of hardships that began after Hurricane Harvey were insurmountable. He is dissolving his business. He said when he closed his doors, the business had less than $2,000 in its bank account. Master Spas called the company's downfall the result of "poor management."