I get a lot, and I mean a lot, of inquiries about our massage chairs from around the world. If you visit our International  Orders page you will see that we have shipped chairs to Germany, Greece, England, New Zealand, Iraq, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada (refer to our previous blog post about the Canada stuff), and Chile, among other places.

We just love our international clients; they are kind and gracious and, oh, so grateful for the care we give them when we ship  a massage chair to their country. However, there are some things our international clients get to know when considering buying a massage chair from us or any other US retailer. I have made a list of 7 things that are very important to know before ordering:

1. Warranties are usually null and void as soon as the chair leaves US soil. Now, Panasonic and Sanyo are huge international companies and may have warranty caveats around the world. I have heard of some of our clients getting serviced overseas by local service techs of Panasonic and Sanyo electronics. It is interesting to note that most of our international sales are Panasonic and Sanyo. Human Touch and Omega warranties are not in effect outside of the US, when shipped from a US retailer. Of course, you may never have a problem with the massage chairs and a warranty issue may never come up. If a problem does come up, you can do a couple of things: a.) call the manufacturer and pay for the part that needs replacing, or b.) find a technician in your country that can fix the problem and just pay him/her for the service rendered.

2. Many countries do not accommodate the 110 volt electronic devices, but use the 220 v system. No problem! Just get a transformer/converter that will convert your power from 110v to 220v. We use a transformer, called a step-up transformer, that we buy from a supplier in California, which retails for about $149. We have sold and shipped many of these around the world and they are heavy duty and extremely reliable. They can handle the size of appliance that is a massage chair. You can also check with your local stores in your country to see if they have something that will work. It will save you the shipping, at least. DO NOT plug a 110v massage chair into a 220 v outlet, unless of course you enjoy spending a lot of hard earned money and then seeing your possession burn up immediately!

3. We prefer wiring of funds for international orders. We do accept some credit card orders, but there is a larger chance of fraud with credit cards, so we are cautious when dealing with an international client that wants to use a credit card. Many times, you will have to call your banking institution that issued your credit card to get permission to purchase a high dollar item like a massage chair over the internet.

4. We typically offer free shipping and bonus gifts for all our domestic US massage chair sales, but for international orders those bonuses do not apply. Shipping is just so expensive for both that we cannot do that and consider ourselves to be fiscally responsible. We will get a shipping quote for all of our visitors that request one, but the free shipping is not a possibility.  I will tell you, though, that most of our buyers find that the cost of a massage chair in their country is so expensive that it is cheaper to buy the massage chair  AND shippping from us. We ship most of our massage chairs by air, but once in a while, we get a request for shipment by sea…it is usually a little less expensive, but it takes quite a bit longer to get your new massage chair if you go by sea.

5. No refunds on massage chairs shipped internationally. Make sure it is what you want, because once it leaves US soil, it is yours for the keeping or selling!

6. Every international buyer should check with their local customs office to find out what duty, customs, or sales tax you may have to pay before you can pick up your massage chair. Every country is different, so it behooves you to look into it before making your buying decision so that you are not shocked by some huge tax levied against your beautiful new massage chair.

7. Our toll free phone number, 1-888-259-5380, does not work for international callers. You will have to email or text or online chat with us to get a hold of us to discuss a purchase. I would be happy to give you my personal cell number if you are serious about getting a massage chair shipped internationally. Email me if you ‘d like to talk over the phone and I will send you my number.

I think that is about it regarding international orders. If you have any further questions, feel free to get a hold of us and we will answer to the best of our knowledge and ability.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com 

I see a lot of patients who come to our showroom looking for a massage chair that will remedy their low back pain. Massage chairs, by the way, are a great therapy for low back pain. Many of my patients who get a massage chair don’t come back to my clinic nearly as often as they did before the invested in a massage chair. Anyways, I have had a lot of experience with low back pain and I am going to give you a couple of very good home exercises that will assist you in alleviating your low back pain.

Our experience with low back pain is that folks that present with it typically have tight hamstrings and hip flexor muscles. These muscles are main movers of the pelvis and, therefore, the low back. Here is one step-by-step exercise for each  of these muscle groups:

HAMSTRINGS:
1. sit on the floor.
2. straighten out both legs.
3. if stretching the left hamstring, bend the right leg at the know and place the sole of the right foot against the inside of the left thigh.
4. bend forward towards the left knee.
5. hold a sustained stretch for 10-20 seconds without bobbing up and down. You will feel it behind the knee and thigh.
6. repeat twice.
7. repeat for the right hamstring.

HIP FLEXORS:
1.  kneel down with one foot flat on the floor.
2. make sure the foot that is flat on the floor is ahead of it’s knee (in other words, the angle between leg and thigh should be greater than 90 degrees).
3. if you are stretching the left leg, make sure to hold onto something like a wall or chair with your right hand for balance.
4. reach back with your left hand and grab your left ankle. If your muscle is so tight that you can’t grab your ankle, then grab your foot. If the foot won’t work, then put a finger in the back of your shoe. If that doesn’t work, then grab your pant leg. And, finally, if that doesn’t work, use a small dish towel around your ankle and pull that up.
5. look straight ahead with your chest pointing forward as much as possible.
6. now rock forward on your left knee KEEPING YOUR TORSO ERECT. If you lean forward you will lose the effect of the stretch. Imagine that a string is pulling you toward the wall from your chest.
7. hold this stretched position for 10-20 seconds. Do not bounce. Keep the stretch steady. You will feel it pull at the front of your thigh.
8. repeat twice.
9. repeat on your right leg.

Once I get some video made of these exercises, I will post them on this blog for your instruction.

Exercise combined with your massage chair will be a powerful combination for your better health.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

As you can see on our website, Massage Chair Relief is a member of the Better Business Bureau. It is important to me that we strive to abide by standards of performance and integrity as established by the BBB.

Today I received a broadcast email from the Better Business Bureau, the major points of which I want to talk about today. This email was describing some company that was scamming their patrons by not sending the product ordered or by sending damaged goods.  Apparently, quite a few folks had been duped by the company and were “none-to-happy” about it!

In the e-mail, the BBB laid out some very good guidelines when purchasing online. Buying online takes a lot of faith and trust on the side of the buyer. Who knows if a company is legitimate or just a fly-by-night company trying to scam money from unsuspecting patrons? Well, these guidelines will minimize your risk when buying any product online, whether it is a massage chair or a book:

The BBB offers these tips when buying online:

• Know who you are buying from. Check out any unknown companies through the BBB, www.bbb.org. Look for the BBBOnLine seal. This seal tells you that you’re dealing with a company that has a good reputation for satisfying customers and a secure Web site for processing your payment.
• Make sure the Web site is secure. At the point that you are providing your payment information, the beginning of the Web site address should change from http to shttp or https, indicating that the information is being encrypted. Your browser may also show a symbol, such as a padlock in the lower right corner of the window.
• Use a credit card to purchase online. Never use a debit card or the numbers from your bank account. Under federal law you can dispute the charge if you use a credit card.
• Print out documentation. When you complete your order, print out the order and information about the company’s location, so you will have it for future reference.

Great advice!

Here is what Massage Chair Relief is doing to instill confidence in our visitors when shopping or buying a massage chair on our site:

1. we have a secure shopping cart/check-out process – you will notice the https:// on our checkout page.
2.  we are members of the BBB – they are our watchdog to make sure we are abiding by their strict advertising and operating guidelines.
3. we have opened a brick-and-mortar store, which we feel adds some legitimacy to our business. If we have a physical store location, folks can rest assured that we are a real business and not simply a “boiler room” operation.
4. my name and face are on the home page! Pretty bold, but I want folks to know that the buck stops with me. I wouldn’t put myself out there if I didn’t stand behind what we were selling.
5.  we have enrolled the services of Trust Guard to verify the security and privacy on our website. You can see the small rectangular boxes on each page to let you know our site is safe.
6. we sell only top brand massage chairs. The suppliers would not allow us to sell their massage chairs if we were shady. They trust us and we act in a way that earns their trust.
7. a toll-free phone number that you can call to talk to a real person. We are always available for contact.

Well, I would hope that you got something from this post. Perhaps the tips from the Better Business Bureau will save you some heartache in future purchases.

Let us know if we ever do something that feels “sketchy” to you. We want your experience on our website to be excellent. Not to say we never make mistakes, but we strive to correct any issues and make sure your confidence never wanes on www.massage-chair-relief.com.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Great question! We get asked this all the time. The plain and simple answer is that it depends on the plan! You get to call your insurance plan, your flex account managers, or your HSA account to find out if they will cover a massage chair. We do know that many of the plans do cover the massage chair since it is rated as a medical therapy and not a piece of furniture. So, this simple fact qualifies it for coverage and benefits.

I know at the end of the year, many of you are trying to use up your flex money so that you don’t lose it. Well, wouldn’t a massage chair be a wonderful thing to get and a great way to keep your hard earned money. Of course, you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to use your health benefit dollars. You can order one today. Most of the time you can just use your account credit card and run it as a regular purchase. No fuss, no muss!

But, be sure to check with your administrators to make sure it is a qualified purchase for your plan.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

We get a lot of inquiries from Canada for our massage chairs. Many of you that are in Canada want to know how much it would be to ship a massage chair to Canada. Apparently, the same chairs in Canada are quite a bit more expensive there than they are here in the US. So, many of you contact us wanting to know what the shipping costs would be to see if you can still get the chair for less than what you would pay for it in the Great White North.

Being from Edmonton, Alberta, I am kinda sensitive to the Canadians! Here is a suggestion for you to minimize your shipping expense (especially if you live in a larger metropolitan city in eastern Canada):

Rather than have the chair shipped to your home, which can cost anywhere from $500 – $900, just have the massage chair shipped to a northern US town/city and go across the border yourself to pick it up and bring it back home for you. We offer free shipping on all massage chairs sold in the continental US. So, the only expense you would have with your massage chair purchase, would be the gas of driving down to the US town/city, and the customs/duty expense when bringing the chair into the country.

By the way, make sure you contact customs officials in your country before ordering a chair so that you know what other costs you will have to look forward to. Each country is different but most of them have customs/duty fees associated with imported product. For more information on all of our international orders policies, check out this link:

http://www.massage-chair-relief.com/international_orders.html

One of our Canadian clients had his new massage chair shipped to an airport in northern Michigan. He then came across the border, picked up his chair, and, in the process, saved himself about $500 USD. If you live further north, like in Edmonton, where I am from, this strategy might not be as useful, since you have to travel quite a bit further…the time and money commitment is going to have to be weighed against the savings in shipping.

I hope this little blog entry has given my Canadian friends some ideas about saving money buying your new massage chair from www.massage-chair-relief.com. Oh, and by the way, after years of disadvantageous dollar exchange for the Canadians, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. Now, the exchange favors the Canadians. This assists you even more in the purchase of a new massage chair from the US.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

P.S. GO EDMONTON OILERS (try not to finish in last place!!)