FAQ

All of our brand-name chairs come with an in-home factory warranty that will cover anywhere from 1-3 years of parts & labor. Some of these warranties will also come with additional parts coverage for a year or two after the labor portion expires. An extended warranty offers you additional years of parts & labor, in-home coverage. It can be anywhere from an additional 1 year up to an additional 4 years, depending on the company and what their factory warranty is. Unless it is being offered as a free add-on, the extended warranty will cost you additional money.

Our company also provides our very own “Peace of Mind Lifetime Labor Warranty” on every chair we sell. When the labor warranty portion of your factory warranty/extended warranty expires, Massage Chair Relief will pay for the labor costs. The customer is still responsible for the parts.

You can read all about our Peace of Mind Lifetime Labor Warranty here:

https://www.massage-chair-relief.com/peace-of-mind-lifetime-labor-warranty/

Most companies will give you 30 days after the date of your chair purchase to decide if you would like to buy the extended warranty.

We have the best return policy in the massage chair business. I know a lot of companies may say that, but for us it is true. Here are the highlights of our return policy:

1. We give you 90 days to return your chair.
2. We arrange for the return shipping.
3. We pay for 100% of the return shipping.
4. We DO NOT back bill you for the original shipping costs.
5. We DO NOT charge a restocking fee or processing fees.

(Please, please, please keep the boxes in which the chair was delivered just in case you decide to return it. If you do not have the original packing material, and you want to return your chair, you will be charged for the return shipping, which is usually quite a bit more without the original packing material.)

If you choose to return your chair, you will need to pack it up in the original packing material and have it ready for pick up by our shippers. If packing up the chair is a challenge for you, we have some suggestions to get that done.

You can read our entire 90-day, unconditional, no questions asked return policy here:

https://www.massage-chair-relief.com/order/#refund

Every chair we sell comes with free standard “curbside” delivery, which means the shipping company will deliver the chair to your property. They will not go inside your home but will drop it off on your property. They use a thing called a pallet jack to move the chair from the truck to your property. Because the pallet jack will not go up or down stairs, they usually will deliver it as close to the door of your home or business as they can with the pallet jack.

If you would like to have the chair delivered in your home and assembled, that is known as White Glove Delivery. More details on that service to follow.

Some shipping companies and some massage chair companies will provide a third delivery option, known as Threshold Delivery, where the deliver company will bring the chair through the threshold of your home so that you don’t have to worry about hauling the heavy boxes into your home. When it is available, it carries an extra charge.

Every chair we sell comes with free standard “curbside” delivery, which means your chair will be delivered to your property as close to your home or business as the pallet jack delivery tool will allow. If you want full-service delivery, where the chair is brought into your home, unpacked, and assembled, you will have to order White Glove Delivery from us, which comes with a cost of $199.99 (some chairs include white glove delivery in the price).

The majority of the massage chairs come disassembled and packed up in 2-3 boxes. The ottoman is usually in one box, the armrests in another, and then the main chair body is in yet another. Assembly instructions are included in the owner’s manual that you will receive with the chair (or you can download the owner’s manual from our website). Many chair models also have installation and assembly video instructions on YouTube.

Most chairs are quite simple to assemble. Assembly typically involves two bolts for each arm rest to attach them to the chair body, as well as clips to attach the ottoman (aka footrest) to the chair body. Air hoses and electrical clips may have to be connected as well, which is very easy to do, with most being letter, number, or color matched.

It may take you anywhere from 30 - 90 minutes to do the entire assembly, depending on your affinity for, and familiarity with, putting things together.

That typically depends on the size and quality control of the factory where the chair is built as well as the quality of the components that are used. Our experience is that the bigger factories tend to have better quality control processes with better quality components. The better the quality of the chair build, the higher the life expectancy and the lower the failure rate (breakdowns). Here are some general guidelines we use for estimating the lifespan of a new chair:

1. For lower priced chairs that are made in smaller Chinese factories, we expect those chairs to last up to 10 years with a 2-5% failure rate.
2. For higher end, premium Chinese-made chairs, we expect those chairs to last up to 15 years with a 1-2% failure rate.
3. For Japanese or American designed and engineered chairs, we expect a lifespan of 15+ years with a less than 1% failure rate.

These numbers are estimates and not definitive. For example, we have seen cheap chairs last 15 years and never have a breakdown and we have seen high end chairs have recurrent problems for some customers. These are general guidelines only.

There are different processes that go into a chair construction. Among other things, every chair has a design phase, engineering phase, manufacturing phase, assembly phase, quality control testing phase, and a programming phase.

The majority of the massage chairs on the market have all these processes done in China. Some companies have their chair designed, engineered, and built in China and then exported to Japan or Korea for assembly, testing, and programming. Another company we represent has their non-critical parts built in Taiwan and then exported to the USA for assembly with their US-made electronic components, quality control testing, and programming. Yet, some other companies design and engineer their own chairs here in the USA or in Japan but have them built, tested, and programmed according to their specifications in China.

The simple definition of zero gravity is a reclined position where the body weight of the user is evenly distributed. On a chair that roughly translates to the seat being tilted up 30 degrees from horizontal and the chair back reclined so that the chair seat and chair back articulate at approximately 120-128 degrees. The legs and arms are elevated, knees and elbows bent, and head tilted forward. You can read more about the details, as well as see the position visually, in this article written by Dr. Weidner:

https://www.massage-chair-relief.com/blog/zero-gravity-what-exactly-is-it/

Some massage chairs come with a function that allows you to memorize a program and your settings in that program. That can be a pre-set auto program or a custom manual program that you create for yourself. The chair with this feature will memorize your body scan, your roller depth adjustments, your airbag compression strength, your roller speed, and, in the case of a custom manual program you create for yourself, where the rollers go, what they do, what airbags you’ve deployed, whether you turn on the foot rollers, and what position you recline your chair. Without the memory function, you must reset everything you like about your past program(s) and start from scratch each time you sit in the chair. With the memory function, you just have to select the user program you created before and it will bring up the remembered program and associated settings.

Virtually all massage chairs come with an S-track, which means the track on which the massage rollers move follows the S-shape of the human spine down to the tailbone area. The L- and J-track chairs have an extended roller track that continues beyond the tailbone area and travels underneath the seat. The L-track chair roller track extends immediately adjacent to the seat at an approximate 90 degree angle to the S-track, thus the “L” shape, and the J-track chair roller track extends under the seat but at an approximate 45 degree angle to the S-track. Very few chairs have the J-track configuration.

Since the L-track rollers are just an extension of the S-track, some call them an SL-track. Again, all L- and J-track chairs also have the S-track feature.

There are three types of stretches in massage chairs: full body extension stretches, segmental stretches, and hip distraction stretches.

Segmental stretches are available in very few chairs anymore but involve stretches to different areas of the spine, most particularly the neck/shoulders, the back, and the hips. It is a stretch that utilizes airbags and rollers to work on one segment at a time.  

The mechanics of the full body extension and hip distraction stretches are very similar but differentiated by whether the massage chair is an S-track or and L- or SL-track massage chair. Both stretch programs involve the chair reclining, shoulder airbags inflating to pin the shoulders back, and airbags in the feet and calves inflating to hold the legs while the ottoman drops down.

The difference is that in an S-track chair, the chair back can move independently of the seat whereas in an L- or SL-track chair, the chair back and seat are always articulating/moving together, thus always keeping the body in the L-shaped position and not flat, like the S-track chairs. Because the S-track chairs can recline to close to horizontal, the full body extension stretch is provided. Because the L- or SL-track chairs cannot full recline horizontally, when the ottoman drops it tends to pull on (or distract) the hips rather than extend the whole body, like the S-track chair does.

The full body extension stretch of the S-track chairs is quite a bit stronger than the distraction stretch of the L-track models. The trade-off is that the L-track gives you a roller massage on the buttocks muscles, whereas the S-track chairs provide a much stronger extension stretch.

J-track configurations were created to try to get the best of both worlds…an full body extension stretch as well as roller massage to the buttock muscles. Theoretically, the J-track chair would recline back with the seat being closer to horizontal than the L-track seat, thus facilitating a stretch that is more full body extension than a hip distraction stretch. In reality, however, it is still more of a hip distraction stretch.

Before the L-track chairs came along, you would always have to allow set up your chair 13-18” away from the wall behind your chair. This is to protect your wall from the reclining chairback. If it is too close, and you recline your chair all the way back, there is a 100% chance that your chair will hit the wall. The results in scraped paint, dents in the wall, or, even worse, full blown holes in the drywall.

With the advent of the L-track chair, the engineers accounted for this by utilizing a forward sliding base of the chair or a “scooping” recline when the chair was turned on. What this did was allow the user to place the chair only 1-4” away from the wall, depending on the model. There are some chairs that don’t even need 1”! We call those wall huggers. But, buyer beware! There are still some L-track chairs that require more than 4” away from the wall. Make sure you know when you get your chair. The best thing to do when you get your new chair in your home or business is assemble the chair away from the wall and then recline it all the way. Once it is in a full recline, slide the chair up against the wall (maybe with 1” clearance to be safe) and then turn it off and bring it upright. Now, you are far enough away to avoid wall damage.

In the massage chair industry, 3D is a term that signifies the ability to adjust the depth of the rollers so that you could create a more intense or less intense roller massage experience. In scientific terms, the 3D’s represented the x, y, and z axes. The x and y axes represented the side-to-side and up-and-down motions of the rollers, respectively. All chairs have those motion in those two axes, but not all of them have movement in the the 3^rd axis, the z-axis, which is forward-and-back. That is how the roller depth adjustment became a staple in the massage chair roller mechanisms. Some marketing genius came up with the 4^th Dimension (aka 4D) idea. It is not really a dimension but alludes to the ability to adjust the rhythm/speed of the rollers. So, if the speed or rhythm of the rollers can be adjusted, it has been deemed the 4^th dimension. And, most chairs have some sort of roller speed adjustment anyways, whether that chair as 2D or 3D rollers.

Published height recommendations for massage chairs are sometimes misleading. A company may say that their chair fits someone who is 6'4" tall, which may be true, but the rollers may not reach the top of that person's neck. Sure, that 6'4" tall person’s body may physically fit in a chair, but if the rollers don't reach to the top of his/her neck, they may be left "wanting" for lack of a full neck massage. Trying out the chair is really the only way to know for sure if you will fit in a chair AND get a full neck massage. This is not usually a problem for someone who is 6’ or shorter, but for the taller folks, it can be an issue.

Yes, massage chairs are safe for kids. If your child has any medical condition for which massage is a contraindication, then you may want to consult with a physician about the use of a massage chair. Literally hundreds, if not thousands, of children have used our massage chairs in our showrooms over the years and we have never seen an adverse reaction or response to that therapy.

Yes, massage chairs are safe for women who are pregnant. However, as with the children, if there are any medical conditions for which massage is a contraindication, please consult a physician before using a massage chair.

In pregnancy, a woman’s body secretes a hormone called Relaxin. The body begins secretion of this hormone and is detectable by week 7-10 and is produced throughout the pregnancy. This hormone relaxes the mother's muscles, joints and ligaments to make room for the growing baby. The effects of Relaxin are most concentrated around the pelvic region; softening the joints of the pelvis can often lead to pain in the area. A massage chair can really help with offering some relief of that pain. Because of the effect on the pelvis,  the L-track might be a great option for massaging that area.

Of course, pregnancy also introduces a whole bunch of new postural strains to mom’s body. Those postural strains can result in muscle soreness and achiness. A massage chair is fabulous for those aches and pains.

For new chair owner’s, we recommend sitting on a chair for one session and then seeing how your body responds. If you are pretty sore after one session, drink lots of water and wait until the next day to try again. If you do get sore after a massage chair session, you will find that the occurrences of soreness will taper off over a relatively short period of time. When that happens, use it as much as you want, being sensitive to any body soreness.

Using a massage chair for too many successive sessions may not cause any body soreness for you, but may cause some overheating of the roller mechanism in the chair. Overheating of the roller mechanism can result in a grinding sound in the back of the chair. That is the chair’s way of telling you to take a break. We recommend not using the chair for more than 30-60’ in a row. Give it a chance to cool down before using it again. If you do hear a grinding sound (or any other unfamiliar sound!), stop the chair immediately and let it cool down. Just like your body, too much overuse often results in “symptoms”, whether they be muscle soreness or chair soreness!

If you are a California resident, you are probably familiar with Prop 65. This Proposition mandates a full disclosure of any carcinogenic materials that may be part of the final product, including massage chairs. I would suggest watching this video interview with Nicholas Beese, of Johnson Health Tech, one of the suppliers of massage chairs. He goes into detail about Prop 65 as it relates to the massage chair industry and how some companies are in full compliance and how some are not. Good info for anyone concerned about carcinogenic products, no matter where you live.

Yes. We offer Affirm financing and Synchrony Bank financing.

1. Affirm Financing – up to 36 month financing plans, with 0-30% interest (based on your credit).
2. Synchrony Bank Financing – up to 48 months/0% interest financing plans.
   
   https://www.massage-chair-relief.com/financing-program/