Today we discuss the warranty of the Human Touch massage chairs. Now, the warranty coverage is a little different depending on the chair you are looking at. For the “Elite” Series, i.e. HT-7450 and HT-9500x, the coverage is 1 year parts and labor, in-home, 3 years of parts only, and 5 years of structural/frame coverage. For the “Signature” series, i.e. the rest of the full body massage chairs, the coverage is 1 year parts and labor, in-home, 2 years parts, and 3 years structure. For the iJoy chairs, the coverage drops to 90 days parts and labor, in-home, 1 year parts only, and then a 2nd year of structural coverage.

Now, here are the salient points of the Human Touch warranty:

1. The warranty begins at the time of purchase and is NOT transferable. I was a little surprised when I first read this because I had thought it was transferable. This is important to know if you think you may ever sell your chair.

2. The warranty does not cover problems arising from improper installation, unauthorized repairs, alterations or modifications of the original condition, improper use of the electrical/power supply, loss of power (please use a surge protector, folks! We had a lightning storm and the power to our showroom was lost…when it was restored one of our massage chairs was on the fritz and, according to this warranty, would not have been covered), dropped product, transportation/shipping/handling damage (that would be covered by the shipper ‘s insurance), failure to follow operating instructions, theft, abuse/misuse/neglect/vandalism, environmental conditions (i.e. flood, fire, corrosion, sand, dirt, windstorm, hail, earthquake, or exposure to weather conditions (don’t set it up in your backyard!!).

3. Your original sales receipt will be required for any warranty service, so keep that in your records as a proof of purchase.

4. Should anything go wrong with the product, report it immediately to Human Touch at 800-355-2762 or via email at csadmin@humantouch.com.

5. To make sure your warranty isn’t voided, operate the chairs the way they were intended (see owner’s manual!), perform any telephone, email, and/or chat diagnostic procedure as instructed by Human Touch staff, and allow only authorized service professionals (supplied by Human Touch) to work on your chair.

6. Like the Inada warranty, Human Touch will, during the in-home service and Parts warranty periods, repair or replace any defective part. If the part is not available, Human Touch will make a reasonable effort to locate a compatible replacement part and, if that doesn’t work, they will replace your product with the same or similar product. Of course, this will be done and determined at the sole discretion of Human Touch. In the event that you choose not to accept the replacement that Human Touch offers they will no longer be responsible for making repairs under the warranty coverage.

7. Replacement parts or replacement chars will be provided to you at no charge during the in-home portion of the warranty. During the part only warranty coverage period, Human Touch will provide the parts to you at their expense, but you will be responsible for shipping of the part to your home. Should there be any duty or brokerage fees, you would also be responsible for that. This also applies to a replacement product.

8. If Human Touch wants you to return a bad part or a chair that is being replaced, Human Touch will pay for the return shipping.

9. The warranty only covers chairs sold in the USA and in major metropolitan areas in Canada. No coverage outside of those geographic areas.

10. The standard warranties do not apply to rental, business, commercial, institutional, or other non-residential users or non-prescribed locations.

So, that’s about it for the Human Touch warranty review. It is pretty standard, but the one thing that you must be aware of is the fact that the warranty is non-transferable. Should you ever decide to sell your chair during the warranty period, it would not be wise to advertise that the warranty is in force should someone buy it from you. Just sayin’.

I think I should also mention that Human Touch has an exceptional customer support department. I have been dealing with Human Touch for 10 years or more and I think I can confidently say that I’ve never had a bone to pick with the way they supported the chairs I’ve owned or th0se of my customers. The only issue I have had is when a model was phased out and the parts were not available a couple of years later. But, even in those circumstances, Human Touch really does do a good job at supplying a replacement product to the customer.

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