We Recently Purchased a Hot Tub at One of the Best Hot Tub Dealers in California

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Dear Mr. Manners,

We recently purchased a hot tub at one of the best hot tub dealers in California. Of course, news like this travels fast among friends and family, so everybody knows that we now own a hot tub.

We love our hot tub, but with it came a few problems. First, we have experienced a sharp rise in the number of unannounced guests that ring our doorbell all hours of the day. The funny thing is many of them are either wearing their swimsuits or have them with them. It’s almost as if they come over expecting to use our hot tub. Other unannounced visitors aren’t so obvious. They stop by under the guise that they really just want to pay us a visit and find out how we are all doing. It’s funny, within the first few minutes of conversation, the subject of our hot tub inevitably comes up. At this point, it is quite obvious why they are visiting.

And then there are those who call us and ask if they can come over and use our hot tub.

Now, we aren’t opposed to having family and friends over on occasion to enjoy our hot tub, but this is getting to be too much. How can we handle this in the best way possible?

Sincerely,

Annoyed Hot Tub Owner

 

Dear Annoyed Hot Tub Owner,

This is a difficult situation and you must be delicate when dealing with these people. You could explain to them in a polite manner that you don’t want them using your hot tub, but this may not be effective with all.

Mr. Manners is fully aware that some people feel entitled to make themselves at home in your home and when confronted about it, they don’t always accept this as the truth. You could take the approach this way: Tell them the hot tub is for immediate family members only. Some people are just plain rude and you must be direct with them.

You could also tell them that you have a no swimsuit policy for your hot tub and see if that garners a reaction. Of course, this could backfire in the worst possible way. Especially if your friends are expecting to do some hot tubbing without swimwear.

You could lie to them and give them an excuse as to why they can’t use the hot tub. For example, you could tell them the hot tub is in need of repair or that somebody else is currently using it. While this might work in the short-term, at some point you will simply run out of excuses as to why the hot tub can’t be used. You are basically painting yourself into a corner.

Mr. Manners is all about being as direct as possible. Simply tell them you just don’t want them in your hot tub and to kindly leave. If you feel this is just too harsh approach, start scratching yourself all over, twitching a bit while you do so, and tell your visitor, “Of course you can use the hot tub, I just got out of it and I feel great!” And then collapse on the floor.

Best Regards,

Mr. Manners