I wrote a blog post a couple of weeks ago that talked about my experience with Panasonic after one of my clients experienced some trouble with a damaged Panasonic 30007 massage chair delivery (www.massage-chair-relief.com/blog/general/changes-at-panasonic-thank-goodness-i-hope/ ).  I am happy to announce that Panasonic has stepped up to the plate and offered to pay for delivery of a new chair and pick up of the damaged massage chair.  I don’t know if my blog post or the letters from  my client made any difference, but I am just happy that my client has a chair that is working for them now!

On another Panasonic note…I just heard yesterday that Panasonic is raising the price of their 30007 model by $450. I have been told by inside sources that the reason for the price increase is NOT because of an increase in the cost of production, but because Panasonic does not like it’s retailers/dealers selling the chair for so low. Remember in that same blog post I wrote a week ago what I thought about the lack of integrity in Panasonic’s terrible pricing policies (or lack thereof)? Well, who knew that this would be their answer!!

So, rather than police their retailers to maintain price and product integrity, Panasonic decides to raise it’s price by almost $500 to get retailers to charge more for the massage chair. Oh my…it’s a wonder that so many retailers, including myself,  put up with this for their clients and for themselves.  I have no idea if the price of the their other models will go up as well, but I am sure I will find on Monday morning price increases across the board.

For  now, I will keep my 30007 price at $3999 to see how things work out. But, I will also tell you, for sure, that I will not be doing any low price matches on Monday until the new pricing has filtered through to all the retailers. As it was, I was doing price matches that left me with such a minimal profit margin, that if the credit card that was used by the buyer was an American Express  card (which charges me 3.5% on a purchase) and if shipping was to the furthest corner of the country away from California (which is where the chairs ship from) I came extremely close to losing money on the transaction (in one or two situations, I actually DID lose money).

But I asked for that now, didn’t I, with my 110% low price match guarantee. So, I have to sleep in the same bed I make.

Well, there you have it folks. On Monday morning, the Inada massage chairs AND the Panasonic chairs are all going up in price. “Just another manic Monday…”! It will be so interesting to see how you, the consumer, reacts to all of this. By the way, if you are planning to beat the price woes, you had better give us a call this weekend to place your order. Call 888-259-5380 or call Steffanie, my showroom manager, at 801-680-4229.

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