Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I found New Shining Image to be extremely responsive to all of my concerns and they indicate they will be working to improve this product. I did return this foot spa and received a full refund as promised which speaks well of New Shining Image. I was asked by them to delete this review, I did not say that I would do that. I am a Registered Nurse. I feel it would be morally wrong on my part not to honestly point out safety concerns that could be a danger to others. AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS ARE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT (CLOCKWISE): OFF Heat and Bubble Massage and Red Light (NO HEAT!) Massage, Red Light, Heat, and Bubble Heat and Bubble Voltage is 110v~60Hz Power: 380 W PROS: 1) The instruction manual says it heats water of any temperature up to 50 degrees C and maintains a temperature of heat of the water temperature. I put cold water in the unit and let it heat the water, the resulting temperature of the water was 122 degrees F (50 degrees C). Upon purchase, I was not familiar with Celsius, and after receiving the spa I looked this up and learned that 50 degrees C is 122 degrees F (which has the potential to scald or burn skin). 2) It has a great drain which makes it easy to empty (IF you have a strong guy to lift it for you and carry it to a sink). It quickly drains to empty. The drain hose appears to be stainless steel and it is flexible. 3) The massage feature is on the floor of the spa and YOU must rub these against your feet, which is usual for these type of foot spas. 4) I'm not too sure about this "infrared light" in the foot spa. It appears to be a simple red light. Look at this web site to see the advantages of using infrared lighting: http://www.nirtherapy.com/infrared-therapy.php I am not sure that this red light actually does emit any significant infrared light. If there is actually infrared light associated with this red light, how much? There is no information about this. There should be a warning against use of infrared light with pregnancy or with persons with cancer. No such warning exists in instruction manual. 5) The basin of the spa is quality made, it is sturdy, thick, unusually deep with a thick rim around it, and heavier than any other foot spa I've seen, walls are very smooth and quite deep. It will contain more water than a usual foot spa. 6) There is a handy measure level on the inside of the basin indicating "maximum level" for the water. 7) The controls give every possible combination for Heat, Vibration, "Red Light (infrared)", Bubbles. There is even one option of no heat with just the Red Light and Vibration. Yes, for convenience, there are are two bubble-heat options on each side of the dial. 8) There is a convenient place on the basin to secure the drain in an out of the way and upright position. The cap must be turned to the right or left to tighten or remove and it isn't hard to do this. The hose did not leak when the basin is filled. 9) There are four wheels (you must attach them-this is easy) which seem to fit tightly into the bottom of the spa. These move in all directions and they appear to be quality made. It seems the wheels will stay in place. The wheels move okay on thick carpet. CONS: 1) This foot spa will heat water to 50 degrees Celsius or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The skin of elderly persons and children is more tender and they can sustain burns at 100 degrees F. CAUTION: Burns will occur with a six-second exposure to 140 degree water or with a thirty second exposure to 130 degree water. Even if the temperature is 120 degrees, a five minute exposure could result in third-degree burns. Do not start with putting very hot water in the unit. There is a warning in the instructions not to put water with a temp over 50 degrees C (or 122 degrees F). If you are a diabetic or have nerve damage in your feet you will get scalded if you don't monitor the temperature or fall asleep with the heat on and your feet in this foot spa!!! WHEN THE WATER IS FULLY HOT (50 DEGREES C OR 122 DEGREES F), I CANNOT STAND THE PAIN IN KEEPING MY FOOT IN THE WATER WHEN IT IS THIS HOT FOR MORE THAN 3 SECONDS! 2) The "water jet" is a water 'bubble" (singular-many-bubbles-at-a-time-one port) that comes up around only ONE point under the foot (on each foot area). The blubber has no force and doesn't stir the water much when the feet are in the tub. I would not think this feature is very therapeutic. I did contact the company and learned there is no adjustment to increase or decrease the bubbles and it appears my unit was working exactly as it should. 3) You MUST use the drain to empty the spa. It appears you cannot pour the water off the side of the spa because of the control panel. Instructions are specific saying NOT to do this. 4) A PCT heater heats this spa. These are heaters that are self limiting, which means that as they approach their design operating temperature, electrical consumption is automatically decreased. PTC heaters are supposed to be incapable of overheating, supposedly then making it unlikely water would become too hot and someone might be scalded. NOT SO WITH THIS UNIT, the PCT heater is set too high. The instruction manual says this foot spa is heated by a PTC heater with double protective insulation "which results in the desired temperature in a short amount of time". THIS IS TRUE. IT GETS VERY HOT PRETTY FAST. There is no thermostat for the consumer to adjust or read the temperature. Our experience is when we put lukewarm water or even cold water in it....it did heat up the water, but when left on heat the water will became dangerously hot. 5) The drain has a grey plastic cap on it which could easily be misplaced or lost. It should be somehow attached to the drain hose to prevent this. If the cap were to get lost, this would be a MAJOR problem as water won't stay in the tub without the cap. 6) The spa is big and it does weigh more than a typical foot spa basin, with water added it is entirely too heavy to me to lift safely. It will not fit in an average sink, so you probably can't fill it with a sink faucet. Instructions say NOT to turn it from the side to empty it. You MUST use the drain hose to empty the basin. I think it would be difficult for most women(unless you are very strong) to lift this spa (filled with water)to a counter next to a sink or to set it in a bathtub to drain. If you have carpet, rolling it a great distance (filled with water) might be difficult and you must bend over and push it along. That might be hard or impossible for many people. 7) The massage feature is not relaxing for several reasons. First,it is a little tiresome to move your feet against it, but our biggest issue is all of these are very, very rough if not almost sharp. Even to just set your foot upon them is uncomfortable. There is a roller for the foot arch which is way too rough. Fortunately this roller can be removed and we did that. 8) The "high frequency vibration" is too loud. We turned it off. 9) I am suspicious that the Red "infrared light" is really therapeutic. 10) "OXYGEN Bubbles" is a bit misleading. These are AIR bubbles with no supplemental or pure oxygen. There should be more of them and they should have more force to be really therapeutic. 11) The instruction book doesn't go into much detail. It does not mention one way or another if you can use Epsom Salts or other bath salts. Some of the reviews of the product by users said yes you can. I don't see why not, but nothing like that is addressed in the instruction manual. CONCLUSION: I would not recommend this product primarily because it could be dangerous as the water does get hot enough to scald or seriously burn someone. Diabetics and the elderly should keep this in mind and not use this unit without very close supervision of the water temperature with a thermometer. It would be impossible for many reasons for an elderly or disabled person to use is foot spa without the help of another person. I am also disappointed with this foot spa as I expected all the features such as the bubblier and the vibration to be enhanced over what is common. For the steep price and how EXTREMELY & HOT it gets, a thermometer with instructions to monitor the temperature should be included. The instructions don't even hint that the unit will heat water to the point of causing scalding or third degree burns. ****Minus one star-as the price for this foot spa COSTS WAY TOO MUCH! The heater are the ONLY features we found that makes this unit different from the others on the market. ***Minus one more star-because I feel the bubblier should make more bubbles and have more force. The bubblier is so mild that is not therapeutic. **Minus one more star-because it will get water DANGEROUSLY hot!! It will keep WARM water very warm to DANGEROUSLY HOT, and it will make cold water very warm,and EVENTUALLY MAKE THE COLD WATER DANGEROUSLY HOT. The temperature MUST be monitored or the water will become HOT ENOUGH TO BURN OR SCALD SOMEONE. SAFETY IS A BIG CONCERN WITH THIS UNIT AS IT WILL GET THE WATER WAY TOO HOT. I cannot recommend this foot spa because safety issues in how hot the water will heat makes it DANGEROUS for some people unless it is CAREFULLY monitored with a thermometer. I have been completely honest and unbiased. I hope this review is helpful. Happy shopping!