Transcript of Video Titled “Philip Tyler – Massage Chair Relief Customer Interview”

Philip Tyler: Good morning.

Dr. Alan Weidner: There we go. We got it. Good morning. I can only see from about your – there we go, now I can see you – we’ve got see who you are. Well, Philip, thank you so much for making time today to visit with me. I really appreciate this. Now you’re on the other side of the country, aren’t you? You’re over on the East Coast?

Philip: New York City.

Alan: New York City, and I’m in Salt Lake City, so I appreciate you making time to visit with me today. Now, Philip, I’m just going to kind of ask you some questions about your chair, about your shopping experience, things like that, just for other people who are contemplating getting a chair, getting a chair at all, or are contemplating getting it from us, how your experience might be able to help them in their decision-making process. But maybe, first of all, tell us a little bit about the chair you got, and the process you went through to get the chair, and how you came to decide on that chair, A., and then how you decided on us, and the process of getting the chair.

Philip: Well, you’re the driving force, Doctor. You’ve always been very helpful. You answer the phone personally, which is a big plus. Everybody seems to agree on that, coming from you, and you’re knowledgeable. You answer questions directly. You don’t try to do any hard-sales pitch. You just try to match up the chair with the client, which is refreshing, and very, very comforting. So, the Apex Ultra, AP Ultra, the price point, it was $4300 and change, I think, originally. It went down to $2900, so I said ‘Well, it’s got the L-track, the heat, three zero-gravity stages, it seemed to the best chair available at that price point,’ and it was a good deal financially, so …

Alan: Yeah, yeah, it really is a good price-point chair, for an L-track, fantastic price.

Philip: I’ve had the chair now about four months, five months, and for the most part, I agree with your review of it. It has some very good features. It’s strong, you have to get used to the foot rollers and massagers, because that’s very strong and intense, but after a couple of months of sitting in it, the intensity doesn’t bother me anymore. So, I guess it relieved whatever soreness and pressure was acting up in my little tootsies, and now I can sit there for 15, 20, 30 minutes, and it doesn’t bother me at all.

Alan: Wonderful.

Philip: It has the heating element in the back, I wish the arm-massage portion of it were a little bit stronger …

Alan: Uh huh.

Philip: But it, I mean, you know, it does the job. It would be nice if it had more than four automatic programs, but four is sufficient. I run through them, one, two, three, oftentimes, I’ll do three at a clip, and it’s very comfortable. I don’t have any more soreness in my back. I was having trouble – I had to roll out of bed, prior to getting the chair, I couldn’t just put my – drop my feet off on the floor, so now I can get up normally, with no back pain.

Alan: Wow, that’s fantastic.

Philip: I don’t even have to use the chair every day anymore, that’s how good it is.

Alan: What’s that?

Philip: I don’t even have to use the chair every day anymore.

Alan: Wow.

Philip: You know, once upon a time, I was using it every day to help the soreness in your back, daily, but now, sometimes I go two, three days, I just sit in it for fun, more than therapy.

Alan: Wow, that’s amazing. So, the main purpose of getting the chair for you was low back pain?

Philip: Yes.

Alan: And it obviously answered the bell on that. Any other health benefits you’ve noticed from the chair?

Philip: It’s very good in the shoulders once you remove the – shoulders and neck – once you remove the pad.

Alan: Mm-hmm.

Philip: It’s a little bit soft and gentle, but if you remove the pad, and you’re ready to tolerate a little bit of initial discomfort, it’s very good in the neck. So, it relieves – makes you feel a little looser – and more relaxed in the neck area, and shoulders.

Alan: Do you …

Philip: Oh, I wanted to address, you mentioned in your review of the chair that there’s no place to put the remote, which is rather inconvenient, but what I did is I just put Velcro on the arm of the chair …

Alan: Oh, wow.

Philip: Velcro on the back of the remote, so I place it there, and during the course of my massage, I don’t have to hold it. It’s not uncomfortable in my lap, it’s accessible, but out of the way.

Alan: That’s a great idea. I know when we’re not using the chair, I just put it in the armrest because it hides it, but when you’re sitting in the chair, yeah, there’s really nowhere to put it.

Philip: Mm-hmm.

Alan: Do you …

Philip: When I’m not sitting in the chair, it’s because I couldn’t get it in to my house, which you and I have discussed before.

Alan: Yeah, yeah.

Philip: I’m getting a massage, and it’s nice and dark in there when I want it to be. I have light sources, but I cut the lights off, and close my eyes, and for 45 minutes, I’m a very happy human being.

Alan: Do you use the chair mostly in the morning, or at night, or both?

Philip: Mostly in the afternoon and evening, when I’m coming home. That way, I have a safe place to go, I’m relaxed, and I feel perfect after I get out of the chair. I go on in the house, and I’m good to go for the rest of the evening, watch the ballgame, and do whatever I want to do.

Alan: Some people have commented on how chairs have helped them to sleep better, when they use the chair at night. Have you noticed anything like that?

Philip: I don’t think I can really attribute that to the chair. I’ve never really had any trouble with sleeping.

Alan: OK.

Philip: So, I sleep about the same amount of time I did before.

Alan: OK.

Philip: But it is relaxing, you feel relaxed after you finish with a massage. There’s no question about it.

Alan: Yeah, it’s very relaxing. Now, with the improvement in your back pain, have you noticed anything as far as your range of motion, your ability to move, flexibility, things like that?

Philip: Yes, if I drop my keys on the floor, I can bend over directly, and pick them up, you know, without having to squat, all the kinds of machinations just to retrieve my keys from the floor.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: So, in that sense, yes, I’m moving very well now, side to side. Before, before I got the chair, I was actually at the point where it felt as though the lower half of my body, from the waist down, was a separate entity, and I had to actually consciously think about moving forward with my legs, because of troubles in my lower back …

Alan: Wow.

Philip: But the chair has relieved that discomfort, and it’s a normal flow when I walk. My gait is normal, and I’m not having trouble moving around.

Alan: What caused your back pain? Did you have an accident at some point in your life, or was it just from years of being a human being and going through life experiences?

Philip: I think it’s just, you know, advanced age, you know, and I don’t know, just something that bothered – actually, it bothered me when I was younger – so it might’ve been the result of playing basketball, or baseball, or something, you know, you get twinges.

Alan: Well, how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?

Philip: 63.

Alan: 63?

Philip: Ain’t I pretty?

Alan: You look great, yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed 63 at all, and I’m not paid to say that.

Philip: I looked like I was 93 before I got the chair, so you sold me a good chair, Doc.

Alan: Well, how tall are you?

Philip: 5′ 11″

Alan: 5′ 11″, and the chair fits you pretty good at 5′ 11″?

Philip: Right. You had mentioned 6′, 6′ 1″, it’s a good chair for that height, so I went with your recommendation.

Alan: Mm-hmm.

Philip: I think it was one of the other chairs, it was the chair, the Titan 8400, or one of the other chairs, you said would handle somebody taller, with longer legs. This is good, I can see where a little more height might be useful, but for me, I’m in there pretty good, and it’s comfortable, so …

Alan: It’s perfect for you.

Philip: The heating element is in back, but in this chair, for some reason, it also reaches the calves.

Alan: Yes. How do you like those calf rollers?

Philip: The calf rollers are good, and I was surprised by that there was a heating element in the calf as well, which isn’t on the description of the chair.

Alan: Yeah, I didn’t know that.

Philip: Yeah, and I’m trying to think of what else is …

Alan: Have you used the music system at all? Have you ever plugged your phone in to the little cable?

Philip: Yes, primarily, I use headphones.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: Just a little, but if I’m feeling lazy, then I will just plug the MP3 player in to the chair, and it’s adequate, it’s not great.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: Headphones are better, you know, for the, just the full experience.

Alan: So, from the time that you were thinking of getting a massage chair, to the time that you actually made the decision to get one, what period of time was that?

Philip: Oh, that’s an interesting question, because for about 22 years, I’ve had Panasonic chairs that I bought from Sharper Image, way back in the day …

Alan: Mm-hmm.

Philip: And I’d been contemplating getting a more upgraded massage chair for years, but the Panasonic, neither one of them would ever die, so I just kept holding out, you know.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: I’d go to Brookstone, Sharper Image, when it was available, but I said no, I can’t justify spending that much money, with these chairs, Japanese chairs, as you always recommend them, you can’t kill them.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: So, finally, with looking at your website and talking with you, I decided well, I’ll just get another chair, and the Panasonics are still working fine, but I’m enjoying your chair thoroughly. So, if I don’t go downstairs to the garage, and I’m feeling lazy, I still got the Panasonics in the house.

Alan: You got your bases covered, man, everywhere. Now, what do you think of that L-track, how do like that L-track feature?

Philip: Well, it’s useful for me because of problem I have with my lower back and tailbone. Once that problem has been alleviated, in the lower portion of the back and tailbone, then they can be a little intense …

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: Sometimes, and not helpful for me. I don’t have any problem there, and I don’t have the biggest buttocks in the world, so I would imagine if you were a little bit wider in the seat …

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: It might be a little less, it might be more useful than uncomfortable, but it’s good because it goes down past the tailbone.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: I’m not sure it does much with my butt, but the fact that it’s strong through the tailbone motion is helpful.

Alan: Yeah. I’m a real big fan of the L-track. I’ve mentioned that in my other videos, but I really think that having the rollers in the butt is a phenomenal feature, heretofore, only addressed by airbags in the butt. So, I really love the L-track, and since you’re a low-back-pain sufferer, I thought it would be good to ask you what you thought of that for your low back, but I’m a big fan.

Philip: You know what would be – some chairs, they offer an extra seat cushion, I suppose I could just throw a towel in there on days that it bothers me, but I never really have, I just sit there, and – you know, because I like the intensity ultimately, even though sometimes it’s a little uncomfortable.

Alan: Now, going back to the intensity thing, you had mentioned that when you first sat on it, the chair was a little intense for you, and you gave a timeframe of how long it took before you felt that it wasn’t – it didn’t, you adapted to it – how long was that?

Philip: I’d say six weeks, this was for the feet only.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: The rest of the chair was fine. The feet, I sat in it, two or three of my friends sat in it, and it was as though you were being tortured during the Inquisition, because of the intensity. Nobody could take it, and I can take a pretty good massage, an intense massage, and I had to move my feet out of the thing. After putting on socks, definitely wear socks …

Alan: Did I ever mention to you about lowering the airbag pressure, because the rollers themselves are only intense as the feet are being pushed down on the rollers, and so if you lower the airbag intensity, which we do with our people in the showroom, it makes it much more manageable. Did you try that at all, did I even suggest that?

Philip: No, I read that on your review, but I don’t know how to do that when you’re in the automatic mode. Don’t you have to go in to the manual mode?

Alan: No, you don’t, and as a matter of fact, you know the little dial on the bottom of the remote, there is one that shows a large – like I don’t even know what is, it’s a large thing, and then a small thing – it looks like a large or small airbag, or an iPhone, or something.

Philip: It’s ovals, I think, a couple of ovals.

Alan: Yes, yes, I think it’s on the left-hand side. You push that, that’ll decrease the airbag intensity, and you’ll be able to feel less intensity from the airbag, which translates to less pressure down on to the foot rollers. And of course, you’re probably past that now, because you’re accustomed to it, but for people watching this video, and are afraid maybe that the foot rollers would be too intense, you can adjust the airbag intensity, and that applies to any chair where the foot roller is too intense.

Philip: OK.

Alan: But there is just a tidbit of information, but you just grinned and bore it for six weeks, until you were numb. I guess that’s OK.

Philip: It feels good, like human massage.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: It’s very strong. [unintelligible]

Alan: I’m having a little trouble hearing you, hold on a second. Can you hear me OK?

Philip: Yes.

Alan: Your voice is really, really, really low.

Philip: I haven’t moved.

Alan: No, there you go, there you go, it’s coming back now, we’re coming back. OK, so, when you were considering buying this next chair, were there other chairs that you were considering, you mentioned the Titan 8400, were there any other chairs that kind of peaked your interest?

Philip: A lot of them did, the Apexes primarily, and once you steered me toward the L-track, that narrowed the field down a little bit. I actually got to sit in the DreamWave, and a couple of others, in a local store here, and I didn’t care for them. So, my choice for this chair is what you said, the L-track, the intensity, but also, I thought I’d actually be able to get it in to my house, because I thought it’d be a little bit more narrow.

Alan: Narrower.

Philip: So, when I saw the price drop $1500, it was the wall-hugger feature.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: That was one thing I was looking for also. So, overall, I’m very satisfied with the chair.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: I mean, it has everything else. The arms, for instance, sometimes in the automatic mode, it’ll trap both arms, and that’s the first time I’ve seen that with a chair. Normally, you can always remove one arm, or the other.

Alan: Right.

Philip: Now, if there’s an emergency, and you’re having a heart attack or something, you can’t yank your arms out, but I thought that was strange. That’s only, I think, in the first automatic program. It locks both arms in, not the whole time, but sometimes, so …

Alan: What’d you make of the stretch program on the L-track? It’s different than the other types of regular chairs.

Philip: This is the only one I’ve experienced. It’s a nice alternative to the intensity of the other three automatic programs.

Alan: Uh-huh.

Philip: It pulls you out, I use it primarily at the end, just to relieve some of the compression that has gone on with the earlier automatic programs.

Alan: Right. How far back do you usually recline the chair when you use it, do you go all the way back?

Philip: All the way back, I use the third zero-gravity position, because then it feels as though you put on the music, and then you’re lost. You’re up in the air, it’s like it’s suspended, it really is zero gravity, you’re in a spaceship, and you’re headed for the moon.

Alan: Good. I don’t know if you noticed how the airbag, the shoulder-airbag mechanism kind of can go in or out, three different settings?

Philip: Yeah, I have pretty broad shoulders, but just to make my, it holds you better if you move it in a little bit.

Alan: Yeah.

Philip: Even if you don’t need to move it in, I suggest you move it in one notch, depending on the width of your shoulders, so that when you’re in the stretch mode, it actually holds you in there a bit more tightly.

Alan: Ah, great suggestion, I did not ever think of that. That’s a great idea. Well, is there anything else you can think of about the chair, or about your experience, that you might want to chitchat about, that I haven’t covered?

Philip: No, I think that’s pretty much it. I’m enjoying it. I’m glad I got it. I’m grateful for all the help you gave me during the purchasing process. Congratulations on your new store, by the way.

Alan: Thank you, thank you. We’re excited about it, but let me tell you, it’s been a pain in the rumpus to get it going. We’re trying to get the insurance worked out, and the, oh my goodness, it’s a nightmare.

Philip: What part of California is that?

Alan: It’s in Southern California, in a city called Cerritos, but yeah, it’s going to be a little wider than our showroom here in Salt Lake, and a little deeper. So, we’re going to be able to put more chairs in there, but boy, we haven’t even done one bit of construction on it yet, because of insurance-liability issues, and permits, and getting permits, and design plans approved. Oh my goodness, and then I feel kind of out of the loop, because I’m here in Utah, but we’re still planning for an October open date, I just don’t know when. But you’ll see it on the website, and we’ll be talking about it.

Philip: Well, if you have trouble opening a place in New York, I’ll come see you.

Alan: We’re coming there next.

Philip: Southern California, I’m more likely to visit you there than in Utah, but nothing against Utah, you know, I’d rather see the Lakers than the Jazz.

Alan: Yeah, well, that’s exactly why we’re opening the store in Southern California, because Utah’s not exactly a huge national hub, but California is, more so. But we’d love to have you come out either way, Philip, if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

Philip: Well, I’m glad we got a chance to do this, finally.

Alan: Yes, thank you. I really appreciate your time, and taking the time to set it up on your computer, with Skype and whatnot, and make time to visit with me, I really appreciate that.

Philip: Alright.

Alan: So, if you have any other tips, or suggestions, you know, just email me, or you know, put them in on the comments section on our blog, or on our YouTube channel, we’d love to hear any input that you have, so but I really appreciate your time today, and your valuable input. It’s been a great interview, thank you.

Philip: Thank you, Doc.

Alan: Alright, have a great day.

Philip: Take care now.

Alan: See you. Bye bye.

Click on the following link to watch this Massage Chair Relief Customer Interview on our YouTube channel.