A while ago, I put my hot tub on Craig’s List in Seattle to sell for $3,500. I was promptly contacted by Mark Blakney, a representative of Pacific Hot Tub Solutions in Portland, Oregon, at first by email, then by phone and ultimately he showed up at my house wanting to purchase the hot tub. We spoke at length about the sales terms. I insisted that I wanted $3,000 for the hot tub given that I was selling it to gather funds for my son’s college tuition. He said that he would give me $500 in cash and that the tub would be taken to their showroom and then to the Portland Home Show that was scheduled for the following weekend at the Portland Expo. He assured me that they always sell out all their inventory at that show. But if by some chance it did not sell, the tub would go on consignment at the store. He stated that if a buyer wanted to offer a lower price, they would make sure to call me first to approve the price. None of this happened. I had some Portland friends check on the tub, and it never went to the Portland Home Show, but two months later they claimed to have sold the tub for the amount that I originally was asking for on Craig’s List. But I only received a check for $2,000, but my name on the check was spelled incorrectly, so I thought there was a mistake and that this check was sent to the wrong person. So I called Kim, the owner, to find out what was going on. She said the price was lowered due to work they had done to the tub and the price that was paid for it. But I looked into what they claimed they had done to the tub and found that their “repairs” only cost about $100. I also explained that I was told that I would receive a call if a lesser price was being offered for the tub. She denied that this was their practice and said they did not do anything illegal. As soon as she said that I realized that everything that I was told by Mark was all a ploy to pay a cheaper price for the hot tub. And based on the many negative reviews of their business, it seems many others are unhappy with th
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