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Important
Consumer Warning - Not all Massage Chairs are Built to Last
When it comes to massage chairs, if the price seems too good to be true,
then it’s not true! Massage chairs are high-tech pieces of machinery,
and quality simply doesn’t come cheap. Good chairs can last 10 years
or more with no problems at all, while poor quality chairs won't make
it much more than a year.
4 Rules to Remember
1. Call and talk to the company you are going to purchase from!!!
Is there a person on the other end of the phone that is knowledgeable?
Do they even answer the phone? Can they answer questions about any chair
on the market? If they can't even answer easy questions how will they
fix your chair?
2. Warranties tell you a lot, but get the details. Just because they
say "5 year rock solid" does not mean it is!
3. The best massage chairs come from Japan or Taiwan. If you buy a cheaper
chair, you may get what you pay for. Ask before you buy!
4. Most importantly, if the price seems too good to be true, then most
likely, IT'S NOT! For example, if it looks like a Diamond, but it's
priced like a Cubic Zirconium, then it's a Cubic Zirconium.
Cheap Imported Chairs
We've been a massage chair retailer for over 7 years and take pride in
our industry. But in the past few years, a lot of new massage chair brands/importers
have hit the U.S. market selling cheap chairs, giving our industry a bad
name. Often these chairs are made in China. That's not to say all Chinese-made
chairs are bad, but many are. They look great on paper, with loads of
impressive features, and a truly AMAZING price, but buyer beware! Chairs
"originally" priced at $4000 that are discounted to $1800 for
example, were never worth $4000! Don't be fooled.
The Difference is Quality
Naturally, people want to know how certain chairs can look almost identical
to Premier or Panasonic chairs, and yet be so much cheaper. The answer
is simple: quality. What's on the outside has nothing to do with what's
on the inside. Cheap imitators are just not as well-made as the Premier
and Panasonic chairs that we offer. Remember, in life you get what you
pay for!
Good Massage Chairs Are Extremely Reliable!
Just like quality cars, quality massage chairs rarely have problems. Here
is a list of brands we trust (please note we do not represent all of these
brands). If a brand is not on this list, we don't recommend them based
on past experience and research.
Panasonic
Premier Health Product
Family Inada
Sanyo
Select Brookstones models
Select Sharper Image models
The brands above have a long, positive history in the business with quality
technical service departments and parts on hand.
Great Chairs On A Budget
Not all chairs under $2000 dollars are low quality. The PHP-2022
for example is $1995, gives a great massage and is extremely reliable.
It has all of the high quality internal components of chairs twice the
price, without the expensive bells and whistles. The important parts,
the massage functions, are the same. You just don't get the mp3 players
and other accessories.
Take an example from the car industry; If you want a good car and you
don't want to pay high prices you might buy a Honda Civic. You wouldn't
expect a fully loaded Lexus at the Honda Civic price, and if you found
the Lexus at the Honda price, you would know something was wrong.
How to Get Great Chair and Avoid a Mistake
1. Call and ask the seller where the chair was made.
2. Call and ask about warranty coverage, and get a copy IN WRITING!
3. Ask about the Mean Time Failure rate (Average life span of the chair
before it breaks down). If they don’t know what it is, or won’t
tell you, beware…
How They Make Chairs Cheap
The most common way companies cut costs is by substituting cheaper components
when assembling their chairs. The chair looks the same from the outside,
and the features look the same on paper, but chairs like this will not
hold up in the long term. They use plastic parts where there should be
metal; they use flimsy drive belts where there should be gears; they use
cheap motors with short life-spans, and the chair costs you less as a
result. It may seem tempting, but you’ll end up with an unreliable
chair that breaks down, and poor quality massage that’s loud, clunky
and rough.
Most Chinese Chairs Have Very High Failure Rates
As with anything else in life, you get what you pay for. The massage chair
industry uses a measurement called MTF rate, or Mean Time Failure rate,
to describe the life span of electronic motors. MTF is the number of hours
the chair can run before half of them fail and break down. The chairs
we sell have MTF rates of 5000-7000 hours. Most cheaper Chinese competitors
have MTF rates of 500-750 hours. This means that on average, if you use
your chair for an hour every day, (as most users would) your chair will
last only about 2 ½ years, or less!
What If The Chair Has A Good Warranty?
I know what you’re thinking, “who cares if my chair breaks…
I have a 5 year warranty.” That’s fine, but remember, a warranty
is only as good as the company that’s backing it up. Over the years,
we’ve seen literally dozens of fly-by-night massage chair companies
set up shop and then close down before the chairs fail. Companies like
Panasonic and Premier have been making massage chairs for a decade or
more, so you know they’ll be around to back up their warranties.
In fact, they’re around right now… Give them a call and see
for yourself. (Premier Health Products: 800-956-6195)
Warranties That Cost You Later
Even if you can get one of these shady companies to honor your warranty,
with a Cheapo, you’ll have to ship the entire chair back to the
place of purchase. This will cost you time, money, and a huge hassle,
IF the company is even still around! Companies like Premier allow
customers to ship just a small portion of the chair, saving you hundreds
in shipping costs.
Beware of Imitation “Japanese” or “Taiwanese”
Chairs
China is not known for having high quality standards (you’ve probably
heard recent news reports about lead in children’s toys), so many
companies selling Chinese products have begun adopting Japanese or Taiwanese
names. Don’t be fooled! If you see a $1,500 chair with the same
features as a $4,000 chair, something doesn’t make sense. Even if
the name sounds Japanese, a chair like that is certainly not Taiwanese
or Japanese-made; it’s an imitator!
Cutting Corners with Quality
The majority of Chinese manufacturers are trying to make the cheapest
products possible, and they cut a lot of corners to save money.
1. Plastic Massage Roller Arms - Roller
arms on a good quality chair from Panasonic and Premier will be made of
extra durable, long-lasting steel. The massage arms are what drive the
functions of your massage chair, and they’re probably the most important
part of the massage. Plastic or flimsy metal in cheaper Chinese chairs
can bend or even snap over time. In addition, flimsy metal arms that bend
might not even be covered the warranty, if you have one. Believe it or
not, we’ve heard of companies denying these claims, saying that
the arm is just bent, not broken, thus not under warranty! In some cases,
damage like this occurs in as little as 1 month!
2. No Service Technicians – Most
of the cheap Chinese manufacturers don’t have service technicians
in the US, which makes repair almost impossible. They often can’t
even get parts for their own chairs!
Things To Ask Before You Buy
Origins of Chair - Before you buy any massage
chair, call and ask the seller where the chair is made, and try to get
the phone number of the manufacturer. Make sure you find out how long
the company itself has been in business. Web sites can be made in a day!
So don’t be fooled, find out how long the have been in the massage
chair business.
Service Specifics - Also, if the chair carries a warranty,
make sure to get a copy of the warranty IN WRITING! If they won’t
provide this, do not buy their product. If you really want to be sure,
call and pretend you’re a customer with a broken chair. See how
they handle your claim. More than likely they’ll tell you, “we
are the importer of the chair, and we will fix it”. An answer like
this should raise a red flag: Ask “who are you?” “How
are you going to get parts for brand X?” “Who would fix my
chair, and can I talk with that person?” “Do you do any of
your own R&D?” It's important to have answers for all of these
things before you waste your hard earned money on an unreliable chair.
If you follow these tips you will be able to spot the Cheapo brands when
you see them. They will promise the world and deliver far less. Don't
get hustled, do your research and you will love your new massage chair!
If you have any questions about this article or any massage chair on
the market, let one of our experts help you make the right decision!
EliteMassageChairs.com
(800) 328-1065
Click
here for our quality massage chair inventory
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Panasonic EP30005
The Brand New Real Pro Ultra. Look here before you pay the
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Premier
PHP-2030
body scanning, heat, 3D foot
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Premier
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zero
gravity massage chair, 5 auto programs, 8 motors 27"
stroke and more! |
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