Safe Step Walk-in Tubs

I love the tub and I spent about an hour in it yesterday. But it doesn't take all that much water. I would use that much water in the shower, and I have used it as a shower also. But I love the fact that you can just sit and enjoy and, at the same time, get a body massage. I needed to spend more time getting to know the controls though. I was standing there and watching the installer. He already had the tub filled up before I went, then he would show me the different things to use. But he was just the installer and he didn't know everything about the tub.

On the first time I got in it, I flooded the bathroom. I didn't close the door all the way and I thought I had the lever down, which I pushed as far as it would go, but I needed to put a little weight behind it before and push it all the way. So, I thought that I closed it and started the water running. It started filling up and when I looked out, there was water all over my floor. But that was okay as I cleaned the floor same time I cleaned myself. Other than that, the walk-in is gorgeous. It's so pleasing and with the water massage, I don't think I wasted my money. It will also increase the value of the house if we ever sell it.

Then, I had three guys here for the installation. First off, they came in and laid down tarps everywhere in the house they'd have to go through. Then, they dropped the tub in and made sure that I could get in and out of it before they went about tearing out the old tub and different things in that wall. After that, they were in the crawlspace underneath and found a damaged pipe. They repaired that while they were down there setting everything up, then they put in and tested everything. They were here for about nine hours because the door wasn't feeling right for them. It hadn't been adjusted at the factory. I've also used the tub now for about three weeks and I noticed that I have a leak in the door. And if you're sitting in the tub with the air and the water going, it will bubble up the back. So, you have to have an extra towel on the floor there that you can soak totally as it comes up the backside of the tub. I've got to get a hold of Patrick about that.

Other than that, they did such a nice job with the installation. My cousin stopped by later that night and admired all of their ground work. This is a guy who's particular in his contracting job and he told me that I need to make sure and give them a special thank you for all the work they did. So far, I like the jet action on the tub because I can't get around anymore. I am wheelchair and walker-bound, so I like that can get in and out of the tub. And with the bubbling and even sitting there, I can do bicycle with my legs and give myself a little bit of leg exercises, which I can't do other than there. I've also recommended Safe Step to people who've been in the house.

We were concerned about being able to have hygiene and be able to get cleaned easily and be able to stay clean. A lot of elderly get UTIs because they're sitting around and they're not getting properly cleaned because they can't stand up or they can't sit down. You've got a lot of problems with the elderly that relate to their modesty. But here we are, we have something that we can not only improve our hygiene, but actually improve the quality of the cleaning that's going on with those micro bubbles.

The installation team did an outstanding job. We took pictures of everything when the tub was outside and when they brought it in. The technician had everything with him. We were very impressed with how quickly they got it in. I'm still getting used to it. I'm a little bit timid about trying everything. But I love the rain shower. There's just a whole set of things. It made me smile. Also, it was so wonderful that they gave me a laminated instruction sheet. It helps when I can't figure out what something is. We're very satisfied customers.

They're very nice people in Tennessee. I talked to them several times. They answered a lot of our questions. My husband's a diabetic and he also suffers from neuropathy. I have a skin condition related to allergies to penicillin. Safe Step never pushed things that really were outstanding features. They were very understated. They didn't make any strange claims. There was no exaggeration on their part. We knew what they were saying was true. The product is better than even what they're saying.

Finally, somebody called back later on that evening. They were like, "Oh." When I finally got somebody call me back, they said, "Oh, well, we had called to cancel the appointment because he had an injury and wouldn't be able to work." Later on come to find out, the people they had scheduled for the 30th was who they called. They didn't call us.

They came, put it all in. I went up and saw different phases of what they were doing. They were polite while they were working. Greg, the one in charge, was very courteous, explained what was going on, said this what would happen. When they were done, they cleaned up everything. They even vacuumed around, sealed, did a quick tutorial on how the tub works, and what and what not to do. I was very pleased.

After they were done with the work, my brother was there and they said to just contact the company and they would mail us a receipt. It took almost two weeks to get a receipt. I left a message for Michelle and with the salesman. Finally, someone called me back and he was like, "Oh, that's my department. I'd take care of it." And not even five minutes, it was in my email. I didn't detect a eucalyptus when the aromatherapy was on. But I like that the water stays the same temperature throughout. There are different colors of water.

The product is excellent. I've seen others and they're not the same quality. The installation went exactly as they planned and their warranty on that product is 100% covered now or 20 years from now. People should consider what they need and speak for references from the company. I've seen others that appear to be, but are not as well built and as well thought out. I have no doubt that it would be helpful at this stage but that price tag put my wife in trauma.

Besides the price, the one thing that held my wife back was that she wasn’t sure how the cleaning would fly because it’s so different than a regular shower or tub. The people who came to install it were guys and they were not probably people who clean things at their house so my wife didn’t feel like she had a good answer in her heart on how that was gonna fly later. And to pay all that money and not have that answer was tough. But in retrospect, that part was almost the easiest thing she has ever done. We had some illness in the family and my wife wasn't sure how well she would like the tub as far as catastrophic cleaning. But it was easier than any area of the bathroom she has ever cleaned before. It was good because she had the opportunity to use bleach. She doesn’t like it much but in this case, bleach was a necessary agent and to have it be clean without a whole lot of effort on her part was nice.

The whole thing had shut down too. I got in it, pushed the start button, then it shut itself off. I got out and checked the breaker. The breaker was fine. I checked the reset switch on the tub and that was tripped. I pushed it and it started again. I was back in the tub then it conked out four times. I called Safe Step on a Saturday and they said somebody would get ahold of me Monday. Nobody got ahold of me Monday so I called again Monday. A woman said they'd get it over to somebody and they should be out the next few days. They were there the next day which was good. A friend of mine was thinking about getting a Safe Step tub for himself. When this was happening, he just looked at me and shook his head. But when they came over the next day and changed out the GFI on it there, he said, “Well, at least they’re quick enough.” Those two saved the reputation of Safe Step Tubs as far as he's concerned.

Safe Step sent a guy and he fixed all the holes that were in the wall because I complained about that. He went down and picked it out and said how many screws were showing. And he fixed the drain. But it was the same thing. The water drained so slow and you have to hold the thing up. It didn't work the way it did the first two baths I took. The first time I ever used the tub, I thought it would be easy. I pulled the latch to hold the door and the next thing I know, the water is all over the bathroom floor out into the hall. I know that I have to really pull on that thing to make it tight before I can start filling it. But it shouldn't be like that, the kid said, too. I told the kid when he was here and he said he was gonna send somebody out about it. I'm very unhappy with Safe Step because when I reached out, I didn't have a good experience. And we paid $16,000 for that tub. That's a lot of money.

We finally got everything working right. We had a problem because half that tank would fill up with hot water and half with cold. That wasn't much fun. So now, we've corrected that and we've got plenty of hot water and my wife is in skunk heaven. She's trying to figure out all those buttons. Yesterday was the first day that my wife had been able to use it because putting the hot water to get to. There was a big smile on her face.