Transcript of Video Titled “Massage Chair Industry Update – April 21, 2016”

Alan: Well, hello, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com’ and today is our biweekly massage chair industry update for Thursday, April 21st, 2016. Beautiful day here in Salt Lake City, we have had some cold weather, and some snow, and plenty of moisture. Of course, I hate to say that to rub it to anybody who’s had a drought in their home, but the weather’s been cold, and now it’s warm again, and it’s just lovely, it feels like spring.

[SCREEN TEXT: Stock Status]

Alan: Anyway, for stock status, I don’t have too much to say on stock status. I think all – the stock status hasn’t changed from two weeks ago – I think everything that was in is still in.

[SCREEN TEXT: New Osaki OS-4000LS]

Alan: Yeah, I think the new Ogawa chair, the new Ogawa Smart 3D, the new Infinity 8500X3, and the new Infinity Evoke, and the new – oh, and there’s a new Osaki chair, called the Osaki 4000LS, and I’m not going to go in to that great detail today, but it does – I’ll just tell you that it has an L-track, it has foot rollers, it has heat. Gee, I should, you know what, let take a look here, let me see if I can find some other stuff about that. I’ve got it printed up at my other office, but – well, I don’t have anything right here – but anyway, that new Osaki 4000LS, kind of similar, maybe a little bit similar body frame, you can tell that they probably come from the same factory as the Osaki 4000T, but the LS has a nicer feature set, it’s a much more modern chair. I think it may have a memory function, it’s got the L-track, it’s got foot rollers. Anyway, I can’t remember all the details – oh, a space-saving feature, but I’ll have that – I’ve got the pictures up on the website, I just don’t have the details on the website, I just have the details I carried over from the 4000T, but I’ll have that up. But anyway, that’s the new chair, it’s going to be $3995 with a $500 instant savings, so $3495, colors, I think it’s ‘Black,’ ‘Brown,’ and ‘Ivory.’ So, anyway, nice chair for $3995, it’s an L-track chair, so that’s another addition to the list of L-tracks, which is getting longer and longer. Anyway, OK, and then as far as the other stock goes, I think everything else is – except though the Executive, the Titan Executive – is out of stock until May. I think we’ve already talked about that, and anyway, everything else is the same as what it was two weeks ago.

[SCREEN TEXT: ZeroG 4.0 Discontinued]

Alan: Alright, the Human Touch ZeroG 4.0 has been discontinued. I’ve had the 4.0 for a while, I’ve got it in my showroom, and as a matter of fact, I’m selling my floor model for $1995, it’s regularly $2995, great chair, not used a lot in our Utah showroom. But they came out with the 5.0, which has the same price point, but has a few additional features, like it’s a little wider of a chair, I think it has the heat, the same heat as the WholeBody 7.1, which is the warm air, circulating warm air patented technology, which is pretty cool. But anyway, the 4.0 has been discontinued, they have some in ‘Bone,’ the ‘Bone’ color, which is like the off-white color, but when that’s out of stock, that chair will not be replenished, there’s no black, no espresso, nothing in that chair right now.

[SCREEN TEXT: Pre-Owned Massage Chair Directory]

Alan: Oh, one thing we added, which is kind of cool, we added a used chair directory on our website, and if you look up on the any page of the website, on the far right of the website navigation bar, across the top, it’ll say, I think ‘Used Chairs,’ is that what it says? I better check to make sure I’m not leading you astray from my own site. Yeah, ‘Pre-Owned,’ ‘Pre-Owned,’ taking a line from the car business, a pre-owned massage chair, and these ones have current warranty on them. So, whatever’s left on the warranty – some of them are floor models, some of them are returns from the Christmas sale season – but anyway, there’s some great deals on there. Like the, I’ve got a DreamWave, for $6999, it’s three months old, with still the three-year warranty, and of course, all these have our Lifetime Labor Warranty, but I also have the Human Touch Bali on there for $3299, I think, it’s regularly $4999. I have an Osaki 7200, which is regularly $3795, I have it for $2295, I believe. I have an Alpine, which is regularly $5495, I think we have that one for, is it $2599? Anyway, just go to the pre-owned thing, and you can see used chairs that we have for sale, and they all come with a warranty, and with our customer support, so you’re not going to be left hanging, like if you were buying a chair off of eBay, or off of, you know, Craig’s List, or whatever. You’ve got warranty here, because they’re our chairs, and they’re returned chairs, and they’re floor models, and they’re all still covered under warranty. If you buy a used chair from someone else, warranties do not transfer, I don’t know if you realize this, but none of the companies transfer warranties. So, if you buy a whatever chair, Inada, Osaki, Luraco, Titan, Infinity, and you sell it, that warranty does not transfer, but if you buy a used one from us, it does, and so, this pre-owned chair directory will have: used chairs that’ve been returned; floor model used chairs, and some refurbished chairs. Some of the companies want me to sell their refurbished models, which we will do, and we will always put them up on that directory. So, you can always check in and see what’s for sale, but there’s good deals, so don’t – if you like any of those prices – don’t wait, don’t snooze, for heaven’s sake, you’re going to miss out on it.

[SCREEN TEXT: Ogawa Warranty Updates]

Alan: Alright, oh, Ogawa changed their warranties a little bit. They changed up their warranties, just this week, and what they’ve done, let me take a look, they’ve added the Ogawa Smart 3D – and I’m going to talk about that chair in just a minute, one of the features of that chair, that’s a new chair from them, it’s got – that seems like a pretty feature-rich chair.

[SCREEN TEXT: New Ogawa Smart 3D Massage Chair]

Alan: It’s got a tablet that comes with it, and it runs off the tablet, I think it’s a Samsung tablet. Let me see, a Samsung tablet. Unlimited user profiles, that’s what I’m going to talk about in a little while, it’s got 3D rollers, it’s got a 32-inch roller track, 17 auto programs, 3D-roller body scan. It has some pretty cool features, like an air suspension thing, again like a car, I guess, but it makes it what they call ‘The World’s Quietest Massage Chair.’ It has a self-diagnostics feature, which allows Ogawa to diagnose over the phone, through you using the remote control, and make for an easier fix, and it’s got some quick-touch buttons on the armrest, and anyway, zero gravity, mechanical foot rollers, blah, blah, blah, a lot of good features on that chair. Anyway, the warranty on that is, it comes with a one-year, parts-and-labor warranty. Sorry, it comes with a three-year, parts-and-labor warranty. Oh boy, I hope I’ve got this straight, three-year, parts-and-labor, in-home warranty, with a couple of extra years of parts, but you can buy a three-year-extended warranty, as well, for $499. Now, the Ogawa Active – and by the way, if I’m making any of these things wrong, if I’m saying any of these things wrong – Rick, at Ogawa, would you please let me know? The Ogawa Active comes with a one-year, parts-and-labor, in-home warranty, with three years parts, and five years of structure, but you can buy the three-year-extended warranty for $399 on that chair, and the Ogawa Refresh, which is their low-cost offering, they come with a one year, parts and labor, three year parts, and five year structure, but their three-year-extended warranty is only $299. So, for the three-year-extended warranty, $299, $399, $499, up that scale of their class of massage chairs. OK, Ogawa, OK – now as far as the Smart – OK, when I originally got their email about the new Ogawa Smart 3D, it mentioned that it had unlimited user profiles, and memory settings. Well, they have clarified that, and said that it does not have memory settings, but what it has is – and this is how this is explained to me: when a person creates a user on the Ogawa tablet, they will be guided through eight different questions – once completed, a custom program will be designed specifically for that user, and added to the automatic programs list. There’s no limit to how many users, or custom programs that can be created, and will be available at any time for the person to use. Well, that’s an elaborate memory program really, because what they’re doing is they’re really customizing the massage program on that chair, based on the eight questions that’re asked, so kind of like taking a history, and then that automatic program will be forever in the tablet for you to use in the future. That’s kind of like a memory program, hello, it’s just not easy like some of the other chairs, where you just push a button, beep, saved, beep, saved. It sounds like this one, you can actually create your own auto program, and then add it to the list of auto programs, which is pretty daggone cool. Did I just say daggone? Doggone.

[SCREEN TEXT: Congratulations to Human Touch – ADEX Awards]

Alan: Anyway, alright, now, what else have we got cooking? Oh, Human Touch won some ADEX awards. Now, these ADEX Awards are awards for design excellence, and I remember when I first started carrying Human Touch chairs. I don’t know if you realize this, but when I first started this business 11 years ago, 11, 12 years ago, Human Touch was the only game in town, really, and that was the only chair that we carried, their chairs. Of course, now the industry’s kind of blown up, and there’s all kinds of chairs, good and bad. But anyway, Human Touch used to win these ADEX Awards, back when I first started, and these were for design excellence because you know, Human Touch designs and engineers their own chairs. You know, they just don’t go in to China, and see what the manufacturers have, and say ‘OK, let’s change this one little thing, and slap our name on it.’ They actually design and engineer their own chairs, and so their designs, ideally, Human Touch is, really, their strong point is making a massage chair look like a regular chair, and sometimes there’s been a bit of a tradeoff between function and features, or you know, function of it as a normal chair, and then the features of a regular massage chair. Like some of the chairs, like the ZeroG 4.0, or the 5.0, or the Human Touch 7450, or the 7120, they do not have arm airbags, or shoulder airbags, but now they’re starting to integrate these more. The Navitas Sleep, which I think is a fantastic chair, that chair has got all the bells and whistles, but it has a unique design to it, and that’s one of the chairs they won an award for, was the Navitas Sleep. The ZeroG 5.0, again, another chair that may not be rich in some of the, you know, miscellaneous-type features, like arm airbags, or shoulder airbags, but it’s a great, functional, good looking massage chair that looks like a recliner, and they won an award for that one too. So, and they won some awards for their Perfect Chairs, and some of the other chairs that I don’t put on my website, because they’re not massage chairs, but congratulations to Human Touch. David, and his group over there really – they’re really a quality setup over there – and to be honest with you, I think that this Navitas Sleep, to me, is the best thing that they’ve ever come out with. Now, no disrespect to all the other chairs I carried, and sold, and represented over the years, but this Navitas Sleep is a pretty doggone cool chair. I like it, and it’s got actual calf rollers, which can be a little intense at first, if you’re not used to it.

[SCREEN TEXT: SoCal Showroom 562-865-4607]

Alan: But it’s got, I think, 36 programs, auto programs, it’s got shoulder airbags, arm airbags, everything that you want in a chair, foot rollers, zero gravity, it’s just a really unique chair, and you can try it out at our California showroom. I don’t have it in my Utah showroom yet, because I don’t have room for it, but we’re making room for it, and we’re going to get that chair here, but go try it out at the Southern California showroom. It’s awesome, and our number there is 562-865-4607, and anyway, I’ll write it up here so you can see it, but check out the Navitas Sleep. Anyway, they won an award for that, congratulations to Human Touch. That’s pretty dog – I’ve used doggone now, three times – that’s pretty darn cool.

[SCREEN TEXT: Valuable Shipping Lessons!]

Alan: Alright, you know, that’s just about it, that I have, as far as things that I wanted to talk about, regarding you know, industry information, but I want to just mention one thing about shipping. Now, shipping, and I’ve mentioned this in the past, shipping can be the bane of my existence. Everything, it can go smoothly from the order process, to the sales process, to the processing of the order, to the getting of the chair, and enjoying the chair, but it’s the shipping, between the chair shipping from the massage chair company, or from our showroom, to the customer’s home or business. That is an area where we run in to some problems, and that – or not many, but when we do have problems – that’s usually where the problems are. Either it’s something’s been damaged, something’s been lost, they were supposed to get white glove – the customer’s supposed to get white-glove service, but they forgot the white-glove service, or whatever – that’s usually where we struggle with some issues. Well, one thing that all the shipping companies pretty much have in common, which people think is a problem, but is not, and I’m giving the shipping companies some credit here, is the timeline of tracking. So, when you get a new chair from us, you get tracking information. Well, the tracking information may not show up on the link that we send you, or the computer link of the shipping company, for 24 to 48 hours after the chair ships, because it’s got to get, you know, registered in to the computer system of the shipping company, and then it shows up, and a lot of the – and often – it’s not up to date during that first 24 to 48 hours. Sometimes, chairs ship so fast that you will get a phone call from the shipping company even before we send you the tracking information, which is great, but kind of goofy. But anyway, where some of the problems are, are in the beginning, when you are looking for your tracking information, and you don’t see it, because it hasn’t registered yet. So, some customers flip out and they think ‘Well, you sent me the wrong tracking information,’ or ‘Is this a scam?’, or ‘Are you trying to pull the wool over our eyes?’ No, no, no, nothing like that. For heaven’s sake, you know you can reach me any time. You know that we’re never going to do that, anything, anything remotely close to that, and if we do, it’s completely ignorant, or by accident. We would never do something to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. We’ve never been that way, I will never be that way, but if you have a problem with us, call me about it, if you have a problem with the shipping. The second problem is, people will check the tracking information, and it’ll say ‘Chair is delivered.’ Well, they call me, and they say ‘I haven’t received my chair.’ That delivery is – when it says it’s delivered – it’s delivered to the terminal closest to you. So, the chair is actually in your neighborhood at the local terminal for the shipping company, close to you. It has just not been put on to a local delivery truck, and taken to you, and they will call you before they do that. So, if you look at the tracking information, and you don’t see – and you see that your chair’s delivered, and you don’t have it, don’t freak out, that just means that it’s at the local delivery company. Now, for white-glove service, which usually takes an extra week, usually it’s one week for regular delivery, two weeks for white-glove delivery, and that’s just general. Don’t take that as gospel truth because you’ll order a chair, white-glove delivery, and you might get it in three weeks, you might get it in one week, but just know that it can vary, but that’s the general: one week for standard; another week, or two weeks total, for white glove. Well, when it says the chair has been delivered, and you haven’t got it, and you have white-glove service, that means, not only that it’s just in the terminal and they haven’t sent it out on a delivery truck, they have not also contacted the white-glove agent yet, to hand it off to the white-glove agent, which is the local delivery that’s going to actually come in and do the white-glove delivery for you. So, when you see that your chair says ‘Delivered,’ don’t get upset, don’t think that, again, we’re trying to pull, you know, the wool over your eyes, or that we’re liars, it just means that the chair has been delivered to the terminal, and it either has not been put on a local delivery truck, and they’ve called you to set up a delivery time. Or if you order white-glove delivery, it means that it hasn’t been handed off to the white-glove agent, and when it is, or has been handed off to them, they will call you to schedule delivery. So, it’s all pretty benign, there’s nothing malicious going on, just trust me on this one. Trust me, I sound like I’m shifty, just by saying ‘Trust me.’ We will earn the trust, but if you have any questions, just call, or any doubts, just call me for heaven’s sake, I’m always here. Somebody’s always – someone will answer the phone – or get back to you as soon as possible. Well, I think that’s just about it, eh? I think we’ve got everything covered, anything that pops up – you know, we’re coming into the summer season, which is usually a slower season – we don’t see a lot of activity with new models, we don’t see too many discontinuing of models. But just, it’s usually – things kind of slow down in July and August – but then, of course, we gear up for the fourth quarter again, and things go nuts, but that’s the funnest part of the year, for me, anyway. Well, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com.’ This has been our biweekly massage chair industry update, and I’ll see you again in two weeks. If you found the video helpful, this video helpful, please feel free to thumbs up ‘Like’ us on our YouTube channel, and of course, share us on all your social media platforms. We appreciate you helping us spread the word about massage chairs. Of course, I say that every video, but I mean it, please help us spread the word. If you have any questions, give me a call. There we go again, 888-259-5380, and I’ll gladly – me, or someone at the other showroom, or anybody will – someone will help you. Have a fantastic day. We’ll see you in two weeks. Bye bye.

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