In Part I of this article, I discussed the many features you should consider when buying a massage chair, as well as the durability aspect of your new massage chair. Let’s get on with the remaining 7 “Absolute Musts” to consider when looking into a new massage chair recliner.
#3. Ease of Repair – because of the weight and bulk of a massage chair, simple repairs become a real bother when you have to ship an entire chair back to the manufacturer just to repair something as simple as a tear in the material. For this reason, I suggest looking into a chair that is constructed with a modular design. This makes repair cheap and easy. If a part is broken or material is torn, the modular design will allow you to isolate the damaged part and send it off for repair so much easier and cheaper than sending off the whole chair.
#4. Customer Service – As far as I am concerned, this is probably the most important thing of all. If something does happen to your chair or if you are concerned about any function of your chair, it is so great to have a company that is always available to answer your questions. This puts your mind at ease and you can't put a price on that. So, make sure that whatever chair you buy has a good company backing it up. Whether that is the manufacturer, the seller, or both...you want peace of mind right from the start of your relationship with them.
#5. Price – Even the cheapest massage chair still costs hundreds of dollars, at a minimum…they are not cheap. You will need to invest quite a bit of money to get a new chair you can count on. Prices, however, do not need to be sky-high. Depending on the features you want and/or need, prices can range anywhere from $1000 - $6000. Quite a spread, isn't it? Well, you can get a chair with all the necessary massage therapy features for between $2000 - $3000. If you want real leather vs. man-made leather, an MP3 player, a USB port, or headphones, etc., of course you will pay for those extras. But for the basic features of massage therapy, you do not need to overspend. By the way, when you compare the price of your chair to regular visits to a massage therapist or chiropractor, over time the price of the massage chair is far less than what you'd pay out for all those therapy visits.
#6. Money Back Guarantee – Does your retailer back up the sale of your new massage chair with at least a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee? If not, then you need to be a little skeptical. This is a red flag. This goes back to customer service (#4). They MUST stand behind their product. How else can you feel good about your purchase if it's not backed up by the seller? Some companies even offer 60 or 90 day money back guarantees!
By the way, it is standard policy for virtually every massage chair retailer/distributor that you are responsible for shipping and freight back to the seller if you do decide to return your chair. Shipping, by the way, can cost anywhere from $150-$400.00…it isn’t cheap!
#7. Adjustable to Different Body Sizes - I have seen some chair companies that offer "sizing" for a chair. With some product lines that may be necessary, but with a well-manufactured chair, height and width adjustments are standard and can cater to virtually every body type. Some chairs now even come with a detached ottoman so that the chair can cater to a 6’10” person as well as a 5’4” person.
Most chairs will handle up to 300 pounds of body weight. If you are buying your new massage recliner for a very heavy person, make sure that you get the maximum weight allowance for the chair you are interested in.
#8. Remote Control – Virtually every new massage recliner comes with a remote control of some sort to make chair adjustments. Some remotes come with large and fancy displays, but as long as it adjusts the features of the chair, it doesn’t really matter how large or small it is or how high-tech it looks.
#9. Appearance - this might sound goofy or vain, but I want my chair to blend in comfortably and seamlessly with the room décor of my home or office. Don't compromise on looks for price! You're going to have to look at that chair everyday for as long as you've got it. You don't want to be sitting in a chair you think is so ugly that it creates stress. Especially when you are using your new massage recliner for stress relief!
#10. Satisfied Customers - A salesperson will tell you everything you want to hear to get you into his/her chair. What do real and actual clients think about the massage chair you are considering? Are their testimonials for you to hear or read? If you ask him for a list of some folks who have purchased their chair and you get no response...run! I will trust another buyer, just like me, before I'll trust someone trying to sell something to me. Testimonials should be on every seller's website or literature.
Now you have 10 things that should help you make a more educated buying decision when considering your new massage chair.
Showing posts with label massage recliner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label massage recliner. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
10 Things You Absolutely Must Consider Before Buying Your Massage Chair (Part I)
The massage chair recliner has fast become a great substitute for traditional therapy that most folks will consider when suffering from back pain, neck pain, buttock pain, headaches, and even leg pain and stress.
The vast majority of folks that are looking for a massage chair are experiencing all or some of these symptoms. Massage chairs have been proven to do wonders for each one of these conditions. As a matter of fact, many of my patients that have purchased a massage chair have needed our clinic less and less for treatment of these common maladies.
Some folks just want a nice massage chair that looks good in their living room or office so that they can relax and just listen to their surround sound movie or music system. That's great too!
But if you are considering investing in a massage chair recliner, there are some things you need to consider before buying. What I'm about to tell you will give you exactly what you need and want to know. It's not just as simple as sitting in a chair to know if a model is good or not. There are a lot of "behind the scenes" things that this report will point out to you that will help make your buying decision easier. You've thought of some of them, like price and looks, but I will cover a bunch of things that have probably never occurred to you. This article is designed to make things clearer for you before shelling out your hard-earned money.
So, what do you absolutely need to know before buying a chair? Since they cover quite a lot of information, we will only discuss the first 2 things that you will need to consider. #3-10 will be discussed in Part II of this topic.
#1. Features - The old massage chairs only provided vibration. Well, today's chairs should offer the following:
Kneading – also known as "shiatsu", kneading rolls outward from the spine and feels much like 2 hands alternately rubbing your back. This is why it is said that massage chairs mimic the hands of a licensed massage therapist…kneading is the reason for the comparison.
Percussion/Tapping – this is the light "karate chopping" on a client's back that you’ve probably seen before on TV. Well, that's what this feature imitates. Increased blood flow and muscle stiffness relief is the benefit gained. It feels wonderful.
Rolling - in our clinic, we have a $2800.00 table that patients lie on, called a "roller table." Basically, wheels just roll up and down the muscles on either side of your spine. Here are the benefits: 1.) gentle moving of the spinal bones, and 2.) stretching of the spine and the muscles around it. Patients love it...and the roller table only rolls! Your massage chair should do so much more than just roll (and for a lot less money!).
Foot and calf massager - many of the new chairs have an attached ottoman that has a calf and foot massage feature administered by an airbag system. This feature is a real "must", especially if you spend a good portion of your day on your feet.
Full recliner – if you want your massage to be as deep as possible, you need to get a chair that has a reclining feature. And the further back the recline, the greater the intensity of the massage. The reclining uses your body weight to make the massage deeper. A lot of chairs don't recline much farther than 135º. You will want 170 degrees or more for the more intense massage option (by the way, the further back your chair reclines, men, the more it imitates a bed...especially important if you're ever forced to sleep on the couch!!).
#2. Durability – a well built chair should give you many, many years of wonderful problem-free pleasure. Even though you most likely can't know how good a motor is or how well built the chair really is, there are some other ways to know if a chair is a workhorse and is going to last a while:
Warranty – a longer warranty will give you greater confidence initially when looking for a chair. You want a company that stands behind their chairs and what greater way to show that than by a warranty. But, beware of long warranties that are so limited that if anything goes wrong there are so many loopholes to not cover your chair that it is as if you had not warranty at all.
Reputation – is the manufacturer of the chair well-known? Are they easily accessible if there ever is a problem? How can you tell? A toll-free customer service phone number to the manufacturer would be great. The length of time in business is probably a good indicator of how good the manufacturer is. Does the chair/company have any professional endorsements?
New vs. Used - there are a lot of used chairs out there, but just like a used car, you never quite know what you are getting. You can bet the warranty has expired, but you have no idea how the previous owner treated the chair. Who knows...maybe it was in a home that had kids jumping on it like a trampoline (that's exactly what happens in my home!).
In Part II, we will discuss items #3-10.
The vast majority of folks that are looking for a massage chair are experiencing all or some of these symptoms. Massage chairs have been proven to do wonders for each one of these conditions. As a matter of fact, many of my patients that have purchased a massage chair have needed our clinic less and less for treatment of these common maladies.
Some folks just want a nice massage chair that looks good in their living room or office so that they can relax and just listen to their surround sound movie or music system. That's great too!
But if you are considering investing in a massage chair recliner, there are some things you need to consider before buying. What I'm about to tell you will give you exactly what you need and want to know. It's not just as simple as sitting in a chair to know if a model is good or not. There are a lot of "behind the scenes" things that this report will point out to you that will help make your buying decision easier. You've thought of some of them, like price and looks, but I will cover a bunch of things that have probably never occurred to you. This article is designed to make things clearer for you before shelling out your hard-earned money.
So, what do you absolutely need to know before buying a chair? Since they cover quite a lot of information, we will only discuss the first 2 things that you will need to consider. #3-10 will be discussed in Part II of this topic.
#1. Features - The old massage chairs only provided vibration. Well, today's chairs should offer the following:
Kneading – also known as "shiatsu", kneading rolls outward from the spine and feels much like 2 hands alternately rubbing your back. This is why it is said that massage chairs mimic the hands of a licensed massage therapist…kneading is the reason for the comparison.
Percussion/Tapping – this is the light "karate chopping" on a client's back that you’ve probably seen before on TV. Well, that's what this feature imitates. Increased blood flow and muscle stiffness relief is the benefit gained. It feels wonderful.
Rolling - in our clinic, we have a $2800.00 table that patients lie on, called a "roller table." Basically, wheels just roll up and down the muscles on either side of your spine. Here are the benefits: 1.) gentle moving of the spinal bones, and 2.) stretching of the spine and the muscles around it. Patients love it...and the roller table only rolls! Your massage chair should do so much more than just roll (and for a lot less money!).
Foot and calf massager - many of the new chairs have an attached ottoman that has a calf and foot massage feature administered by an airbag system. This feature is a real "must", especially if you spend a good portion of your day on your feet.
Full recliner – if you want your massage to be as deep as possible, you need to get a chair that has a reclining feature. And the further back the recline, the greater the intensity of the massage. The reclining uses your body weight to make the massage deeper. A lot of chairs don't recline much farther than 135º. You will want 170 degrees or more for the more intense massage option (by the way, the further back your chair reclines, men, the more it imitates a bed...especially important if you're ever forced to sleep on the couch!!).
#2. Durability – a well built chair should give you many, many years of wonderful problem-free pleasure. Even though you most likely can't know how good a motor is or how well built the chair really is, there are some other ways to know if a chair is a workhorse and is going to last a while:
Warranty – a longer warranty will give you greater confidence initially when looking for a chair. You want a company that stands behind their chairs and what greater way to show that than by a warranty. But, beware of long warranties that are so limited that if anything goes wrong there are so many loopholes to not cover your chair that it is as if you had not warranty at all.
Reputation – is the manufacturer of the chair well-known? Are they easily accessible if there ever is a problem? How can you tell? A toll-free customer service phone number to the manufacturer would be great. The length of time in business is probably a good indicator of how good the manufacturer is. Does the chair/company have any professional endorsements?
New vs. Used - there are a lot of used chairs out there, but just like a used car, you never quite know what you are getting. You can bet the warranty has expired, but you have no idea how the previous owner treated the chair. Who knows...maybe it was in a home that had kids jumping on it like a trampoline (that's exactly what happens in my home!).
In Part II, we will discuss items #3-10.
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