Safe Step Walk-in Tubs Reviews

The installers were extremely nice. They were very polite and they were clean. And any little mess they made, a few little things they had to do. they cleaned it up before they left. It was just unbelievably efficient and nice. I didn't believe they could get it all done in a day, but they sure did. The qualit of work was beautiful. I had other towels hanging in the bathroom, and they didn't even knock them down. They did very good. They got here by a week earlier than I originally said they could. But it wasn't a problem.

We all love the tub. But it can drain a little faster. It seems like it's a little slow sometimes. But cleaning it has been a dream. You can just wipe it off with some disinfecting wipes or rinse it off and then wipe it off. Then my daughter-in-law does the once-a-month cleaning thing. She did it after a couple of weeks because she said she wanted to see just exactly how difficult and how much of a problem it was doing it. She said it was great. She had no problems at all.

The only problem that we have had has been the cover that goes over the part of the hinges that attached to the tub where the hinge on the door. One of those little things popped off. I called Safe Step and told them about it, and they said they would get a serviceman out here. He came out and he was extremely polite. It didn't take him 10 minutes to get it back on there. He said those things come off all the time and that's been a problem with them. He told us that they've been trying to get Safe Step to change the adhesive glue that they attach them on there with but they can't get them to do it. He brought a new cover and put it in there, and then re-attached it with a different kind of contact glue. There was no charge. It was totally covered. He said it was a lifetime warranty.

The tub has made it easier for bathing in a way, but more difficult because I have a problem with my water heater. It's not big enough. I have to wait about an hour and a half to two hours in between for the water to reheat. The water is totally cold after I get a bath. The next person would have ice cold water if they didn't wait an hour and a half or two hours. So in between, we have other things to do. So I need to get a bigger water heater.

My two handicapped girls absolutely love it when we turn the bubbles on. The little teeny, tiny bubbles make the water look kind of milky looking. It makes it almost thick, but it softens your skin. It makes your skin feel better. The tub can also be paired with a YouTube or Pandora or some other music. The music and sound will come through the speakers on the tub, and one of my handicapped girls absolutely loves it. She is crazy about having the music come out of the tub while she's sitting there and having a bath. The tub also has a handheld shower. I can go ahead and wash her hair and rinse it with that handheld shower.

The installation was exactly like TJ said it would be. The crew came on time, which was a big deal to me. They looked at what needed to be done and made some suggestions about the floor. We just bought this house and they found some black mold behind the tub. They were gonna have to take care of that to put up a false wall there. We went extra and got it and got another floor. I'm glad we did that.

The crew told me what time they would be finished and they finished at that time. They came at 8:00 and were done by early afternoon. Even with adding and putting down the floor, they were done in four hours. They were talking about the toilet and we asked them to replace those. They went round the street and got toilets and did that for the other bathroom and this one. Even with that run to Home Depot, they weren't here for more than six hours. They were really fast.

I like the music in my walk-in tub. When you turn on your tub, it announces that the Safe Step is ready and ready to pair with your device. I pair it with my device and I can choose my music before I get into the bathtub. When it pairs, it just picks the music up. You can set the volume on the phone. I leave my phone in the bathroom across from me. I'm funny about electrical appliances and water.

I feel a lot better with my walk-in tub. I like the lights and the microbubble feature is really helpful. My husband had some distortions with the rash stuff and it's really helped him. I had a little discoloration, but not a lot. I had a foot that was giving me a big problem. There's the bidet too, which I never had a bidet before. These things make you feel luxurious. We prepared for our water bill to be really high but it has not gone up significantly.

I take a Safe Step bath three times a week and I really like it. The draining feature is really good. It drains fast. The water never gets cold. It's like a spaceship and so it has temperature control so your water stays the same temperature. It's a spa. It has a heated seat too that you turn on. You just turn on your music, you sit down, and you're heated. When you hit your water feature, you get a back massage with the water. You can do your feet and your back or just your feet or your back. It has a thing for you to turn there.

It has a timer on there and that's good for people who are maybe unable to maybe have caregivers. The nice thing is if you want to stay in there a little longer, all you have to do is reset it. You can stay in there as long as you want. It's a good system. This walk-in tub is worth it. I'm not swelling anymore. I would suggest Safe Step from the standpoint of economy. It's a great upgrade to your home and it adds value.

The only thing is I've got to find a place to get in another Safe Step towel. My husband didn't get one. We have one that we'll use around the holidays. People come over to look at the house, and I go, “Let me show you my new toy.” People go, “Wow!” Most of my friends don't have space. They're getting sold on the showers.

My prediction for walk-in showers is it’s short-lived because you're talking to people right now who are 50 to 65 and still pretty mobile. I tried to look at our house in 10 to 20 years. I do not suggest those showers because who's gonna help you walk in it? A lot of the stuff that TJ pointed out was tested by the Arthritis Foundation. I have arthritis. There's a non-slip surfacing on the bottom of our walk-in tub. There are handrails inside the tub because those do not do me any good outside of the tub if I need to stand up or I need to get out. Those are things that are important.

The other thing that I'm concerned with is I wanted to put some things on the walls for my mom to put her shampoo and stuff in. I selected a heavy-duty sticker that goes on to it and then they hook in. I was cleaning the spot where I wanted it to be, and it feels gritty like sandpaper. It's everywhere except in the tub itself. The outside and the inside of the tub are smooth, but anything above the top of the actual tub is not. They said to clean the pipes out with a cup of bleach, a tub of water and dishwasher. I tried some bleach on it. That didn't touch it. It doesn't say in the book to try vinegar, but our salesman said it works better than the bleach. I tried vinegar on it. It didn't touch it.

I tried some Dawn and a cloth, and that didn't touch it. The only place it was smooth is where I started to put the sticker on and pulled it off, and that pulled the grit off. So, I called the company today, and they were supposed to get back with me in five to seven business days. It'll be, unfortunately, the same guys that came out. We have used the tub being very careful about it. So, we have used it. When I called the company, they said, "Well, did you step in it right away?" I'm said, "No. They said, wait 24 hours." We actually waited almost 36 hours. So, we waited longer than we were required to. We've been very careful with it. There have been a few things mom complained about, but they were because she didn't understand something.

Overall, I love the tub. The microbubble therapy is wonderful. All the bubbles make you feel like your legs just wanna float to the top. The rainfall shower thing feels so amazing. Having the handheld as well makes it nice and easy for my mom and me. I'm more apt to shower than I am to take the baths just because I'm always in a hurry. If I'm taking a bath, and my mom would fall, I can't make the water drain any faster than it'll drain, and you can't open the door. There's a lock on it, but the water pressure is pushing outwards. So, pulling the door inward to open would be difficult, but I also love that aspect of it because the water pressure is helping hold the door close making it less likely to leak.

The product is a $20,000 investment, but it gives my mom back her independence. She can get in the tub when she wants to. The light, the ability to do the aromatherapy, and the jets are wonderful. The fact that you can fill it up as full as you can and soak down in reminds me of the old clawfoot tub we had when I was a kid. It's amazing.

As far as the company, they answered the phone when I called. I wasn't having to leave a message and have somebody call back. They were courteous and were more than willing to help me. Somebody is supposed to call me and get this scheduled to fix within the next seven business days. So, I'm really happy with that. Everything that I wasn't happy with is probably a matter of better training their people to have the customer first and come up with a solution or maybe training the consumer of, "Hey, you're gonna feel like this is rough.” It's just to me, if it's rough, it may hold bacteria and stains.

It was pretty difficult for me to get from the printed information all I needed to know to operate it. So, it's been a struggle to work through it these last two weeks. I kept pushing buttons until I found out what works. I read and reread the directions. It caused me to study the directions very detailed and that's probably good for me to do. But it would be most helpful if I saw a demonstration. The first thing I discovered was that I did not have an adequate hot water tank. So, we had to take out the hot water tank and put it in a new hot water tank to satisfy the needs of my Safe Step. It was pretty easy to go back and see what each knob was for later. Safe Step did a good job in the depiction of those things in the material. But you have to study about it.

I was very upset about not having a good indoctrination into the features of it. I told this to Chris, and the project chairman, a lady by the name of Morgan, but she was not in the office. But over a two-day period, I'd have four calls asking if she called me back so I could make these comments. I called back two days later, which was the week of the Fourth of July, so I knew everybody was moving around and having their parties and picnics. But I didn't get any callbacks when I left messages at all.

I called the maintenance department. I did not get a name from the lady that was there, but she promised to have someone call me back as soon as possible, which I assumed to be in a few hours, but I've never heard from her. I've gradually learned to operate the Safe Step. I'm 95 and I've had to work it through by myself. I love my Safe Step. It's a wonderful piece of equipment. It's hard to get in and out of somewhat, but it does a great job and I hope I'll get better acquainted with it as time goes on.

One of the reasons I put in the step-in tub is it became uncomfortable to stand in my shower and scrub without a handle at my age. I'm not stable. I went with a Safe Step so that I could sit down and wash my body without having to worry about falling. I'm a pretty big person and my first realization is how small the tub is. So, I have to be very careful getting in and out.

The door is delicate, but working around the door to get in is a challenge. Also, they didn't put the drain in the right place. If the drain had been forward and away from the door, instead of right where you have to step in, it would have been much better. It's right under your feet where you sit. You have to be mindful of that all the time. If it was in the middle of the front, your feet would not step on it regularly. When I stand up to get out, I have to separate my legs and get in an awkward position so I can open that door. Also, it would be a little better if you could open the door and stand in front of it when you're drying down with your towel. As it is now, you have to stand awkwardly.

The tub is very expensive. So, you should think it would be a little more foolproof. Sometimes the bells and whistles are a little heavy. The music and the light colors don't mean a whole lot to me. But the movement of the water does. The convenience of having the little handheld shower is wonderful. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the concept and I'm sure that I have the right tub.

In the end, I did something that he advised me not to do. I put in an electric gas hot water heater. For the most part, it was not big enough. He told me it wouldn't work and everybody else tried to tell me it would. If I would have listened to him, I've been better off. We get by with it. We use mostly the shower part and the hot water heater has no problem keeping up with the shower. It's when we use the tub part that it doesn't keep up.

That aside, the installers were very polite and nice. I had a few issues due to the way things were when they tore everything out and when they put them back. But they were very cooperative and they did things that they didn't have to do. They did them because I asked them to. They took the shower out. Where it was, it was a bigger spot than what they are gonna cover back up. I had a piece that was going to show that had glue on it. I asked them if they could tear that off because I had a piece that they could put up there. That's what they did.

They did excellent work. I didn't have all my flooring done so they left the flooring. There was a piece in front of the tub that they couldn't cover because I have to put my flooring down and finish it out. The shower was there so I couldn't do anything until they got the shower out. They left me a piece to put in front of the tub so I could finish that up. I asked them if they could leave that for me. I was very pleased with their work.

The only problem I have is the tub is a little small for me. I’m 6’1”, 220. When they brought the tub in to do the installation, they didn't let me get inside of it. I looked at it and I was thinking, “Oh, **.” But I thought, “Okay.” I got it mostly for my wife. She’s on oxygen 24/7. She has a hard time getting around. When she takes a shower, she would get too short of breath. I did the tub for her so it could be more convenient, less stressful, and where she could more or less enjoy it.

Safe Step is fine. I have some friends who are as big or bigger than me. I would tell them, “Use your own judgment.” Anybody that's been here has looked at our tub and thinks it's really nice. I've gotten in it and I take a shower, which is fine. I've taken two baths with it and it works out because you slow the water down a little bit and the hot water will keep up. You just can't have it on full blast. If you cut the water down a little bit, it could keep up. After you get so full with it, take the shower part and just fill it up with the shower part.

I've looked at it and it is obvious that the parts aren't aligned in a way that the latch can smoothly move over the door striker to close it. So, other than a couple of attempts the first week, it has gone unused, and my mother has had to use a shower in a tub. Stepping into the tub is a hazard for her. She falls regularly. She and I have been calling to remedy this situation for two months now. A few weeks ago, two people (a salesman, and an installer, I believe) showed up and looked at it.

They said the door was warped and ordered another one. They said they would return and install it when it arrived. It was delivered to her house two weeks ago. I happened to call their customer support line again that day. The customer support person on the other end of the line said she could see the tracking information and knew that it would be delivered that day and be available for installation. The installer never returned.

I called again last week since no one has come to install the door and was told that a customer service manager would be called immediately (not the first time I'd been given that answer). Still nothing. I called again just now. Someone with an off-shore accent answered the phone and took my contact information. I'm sure I'll have to call again after this Memorial Day weekend.

There seems to be a pattern here of the company responding to all low reviews, apologizing and giving customer service contact info. I expect this review will receive one also! At my mother's age health situation, three months could be a significant portion of her remaining life. Is a year's worth of independent bathing worth $30,000, or six month, or three months? Calling once per week hasn't gotten us anywhere. I feel the next step is to sue.

The first time that the installation team came out, we couldn't find the turnoff valve. I went out there and started cutting my grass, and the turnoff valve was something I've been seeing all the time and couldn't find it. So, the installation gentleman had to come back. But he was very good. They showed and talked to me before they put the tub in and told me what the situation was. After everything was in, he went over everything. But that was a lot of information they’d given to a person who's in his 80s. I had to use the manuals he gave me because I had forgotten when he left out of here how to even turn the main switch off. But the setup was beautiful. I couldn't be more pleased with that.