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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Mattress Mess

So, remember how we were all excited about our new mattress but then we were bummed because it arrived damaged?  Well we began a stream of keystone cop movie like scenarios from there on.  The Mr and I ignored a MAJOR red flag when we bought the thing in the first place, a big red stamp that said "all sales final."  I know...I know...look, I KNOW.  We got swept up in the moment or something but it didn't stop there.  When we picked the most plush one on the floor, I told our sales lady the name on the bed and she said "really?  Are you sure it's not the Ability?"  The Mr went over and looked again to make sure, it said Encourage and she checked it three times and said "hmm, I thought for sure that was the Ability, it must be wrong in the computer."  This was another flag for me but it would come back later.

When we called about the damage, they said that we would need to replace the mattress under their warranty.  I really wanted them to come out to repair the mattress because I thought that was ridiculous that you would replace an entire mattress for a 1 1/2" hole.  So we call back, the manager there (the only person who has the authority to do anything) and he's out, he'll be back tomorrow.  The lady who helped us was also calling and trying to get ahold of Sealy for us to find out if we had to replace or could we repair but Sealy was closed due to a freak ice storm in North Carolina for a few days.  Then when they were open, the manager was out again.  They said they got a note that they are backordered by three weeks and since they found out a repair is not possible, it must be replaced, we'd be a month in to breaking in the original bed and have to start all over again.  We'd have to air it out for a few days while the foam outgassed then crawl, bounce, etc on it to speed up the break in process.  I did not have it in me.  By this time, we've had almost a week to sleep on this mattress and we're hating it.  The Mr starts doing research online and he sees that 2nd red flag I mentioned came back to bite us.  No, it actually wasn't wrong in the computer.  It was wrong on the signs that were draped on the beds.  So in addition to us getting a mattress with a hole in it, we got the WRONG mattress delivered to us.

Insert my blood boiling here.

We went to other mattress stores to test out what Sealy's website said was their softest, the Majesty.  We laid on it and it was softer but still supportive.  The bed we originally got delivered felt like a bed you had on vacation and couldn't wait to get home to get back into your own comfy bed.  I didn't feel that and remembering what the REAL Encourage felt like in the store after having been laid on for a year, I knew it was never going to get much softer.  I also hated how high the mattress was now and with no piping along the side for support when you're sitting on the side of the bed putting on lotion or whatever, I just felt like I didn't even know if I wanted foam anymore.

We've been dicked around for a week by the manager and he says their Sealy contact is on vacation.  I keep urging the Mr to tell him we've contacted the credit card company and they agree the mattress is defective and we'll dispute the charge if we need to.  But you know, the Mr is much nicer than I am.  He continually gives an inch so people can take a mile.  Well, I'd had it by 9 days in and when it looked like the manager wasn't going to call us back by 4:30pm, I insisted the Mr call him and tell him, it needs to be resolved by Monday or we are calling the credit card company to dispute the charge.  Especially since Sealy didn't seem to want to provide a customer service rep to deal with their account when their people are on vacation.  The Mr said he contacted the credit card company, they agreed it counted as defective and we have until Wednesday to get it in by their deadline so we could dispute it or go ahead and do a return.  Well, then it wasn't the Sealy service rep that was out, it would be the buyer who was out at a trade show until the following Wednesday and he knew that when he talked to the Mr the day before.

Oh HELL NO!!!!!!!

The Mr said nope, do the return.  I guess that hole was our saving grace since we had that defective loophole with our credit card company to kind of void their whole "all sales final" crap.  Wednesday (yesterday) they'd come to pick up the mattress and take it away.  After that, I then thought "we're going to be sleeping on an air mattress!" and started to slightly panic.  You know that feeling that you get what you want then you have to quickly come up with a solution?  The Mr found one of the places we laid on the Majesty had a price match policy on anything but Ebay.  So we printed an ad for the mattress (which of course costs $300 more) and their own policy.  I knew going in I wasn't paying the price they wanted for the mattress because it was going to be $2099 PLUS the cost of the box springs (which we got free from the other place).  So we go in and he confirms they do the price matching so he hands her the print out of the mattress set at the online place for $1574.  She said "oh, we don't do non-brick and mortar matches."

Well, mama was dealing with Aunt Flow, fresh off an argument, 9 days of sleeping on a rock and getting bent over by the place we bought our mattress and I blurted out "well, I'm not paying that price you're selling it for."  She said she could check to make sure and then said "yeah, we don't do online dealers like this."

I said "because your website says the only retailer you won't match is Ebay."
"Oh really?"  she said.
"Yeah" I replied and was hoping the Mr would slide the paper we printed over.  But she began typing again and said "yeah, I can go ahead and do that for you."

Great.  How long do we have to wait now?

The next day.

We didn't want to deal with that on a Saturday but agreed to have it delivered Monday afternoon then it could air out in the guest room for 2 days and when they took away the other mattress Wednesday, we could flip it on in there.  So that's what we did.

Take 2

The guy's who delivered the mattress came to take it away and he asked if we got the wrong one and the Mr said not only that but that it had a hole in it.  He apologized for the inconvenience even though he is a sub-contractor and doesn't work for the company we bought it from.  Well it was nice someone apologized even if it wasn't the person who needed to.

The wrong mattress was just plain hard and uncomfortable.  The Mr and I were talking about what a piece of crap the Encourage was and how we both felt that even though we both slept harder, we would wake up feeling sore and unrested.  We both felt a gravitational pull toward the middle and I even rolled toward the middle a few times even though the mattress appeared flat.  I also would wake up on the wrong side of the bed...literally.  I would wake up on my left side and I'm a right side sleeper.  It just screwed us up all the way around.  I couldn't get it out of here fast enough.  The new bed is much softer even in it's hardest state and I know we'll have an adjustment period with this one as well but not feeling like I'm sleeping on the sidewalk will be a major plus.

Good God man, I mean really!?  Why can't we just not have to fight for every single thing we buy!?

It's like this every damn time which is why I keep our couches and furniture for as long as possible because I don't want to deal with the inevitable poo storm that comes with it.  We are cursed or born under a bad sign or something.

Do your major purchases (furniture, cars, vacations, etc) go smoothly or do you seem to have to fight tooth and nail to "earn" it?

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14 comments:

  1. I am so glad to be rid of that first mattress, if for no other reason than to start over fresh with a new mattress place that offers the 100 day guarantee. That makes it easier to take the time to actually break in the new mattress and see how we really feel and make a more informed choice should we need to change anything again. I slept pretty good last night but I do feel like my body finally adjusted to the firm one and now needs a few days to adjust again but this one shows great promise now and I am happy about that.

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    1. Me too. That thing was not comfortable at all and I knew that the second I laid on it at the store which is why I said no to it. Figures they'd deliver that one by mistake. I'm just glad for the hole so we could get out of it! I feel much better with the 100 day sleep guarantee so if we find we don't like that one either, we have some recourse.

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  2. Our mattress purchase (13 years ago) went smoothly. Our recent furniture purchase (couch and chair) did not. When they came to deliver it, they only had HALF of the couch (it's an L shaped couch, they only brought bottom part of the L). We had to wait for the chair (since it was one of those "pick your fabric and we make it for you" things). When the chair came (almost a MONTH later) we got the rest of our couch.

    Then, the chair was funky. When you sit in it the back kind of thunks (like it's not attached properly). The hubby was miffed but he never called to complain and it's too late now. I don't much care because the chair was more for him than me (I only sit on it if he's in my spot on the couch).

    All this happened AFTER we had made a trip to Ikea (our first stop to get furniture) and they had NOTHING in stock. And you can't just buy it and ask them to get you one. No, you have to watch the website and then rush into the store when/if they actually get more. Eff that shiz. So we went to a "real" furniture store only to have that go pear shaped, too.

    I'll say this, I'll NEVER buy from Levin Furniture again. Nope, nope, nope.

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    1. Oh man, there's no way I wouldn't have called on the thunk. There is nothing worse to me than spending your hard earned money and getting a piece of shoddy workmanship. Heck I even got a new nightstand a year later from Crate and Barrel after writing a scathing review of how they botched the handling of the entire order (whole bedroom suit.) We will never order from them again. It seems no furniture company is interested in making high quality, built to last pieces anymore.

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  3. One word - costco. I now buy 99% of all my large purchases there. Easy to deal with, they'll take a return no questions asked for like literally ever, and a wide variety of products with good reviews. My dad just needs an adjustable bed for health reasons - any other store 10 grand plus for the king size (they wanted the one with the ability to have it split, because my mom doesnt really need it, but my dad needs to be elevated to sleep comfortably. Costco - great reviews, 2700 dollars DELIVERED.. AND the president of the mattress company called me directly three days later to thank me for the purchase. Costco WIN!

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    1. That's great that they have a good return/exchange policy and more importantly good prices and customer service. All practically unheard of these days!

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  4. Most of the time we have had pretty good luck. There have been a few things that have been horrible, my favorite was a minor purchase. Hubby found a pair of shoes in the store he liked, grabbed a box marked with that style and his size, and then got home to find out that the shoes in the box were worn out. Someone had swapped theirs for a new pair. Yes, he should have checked and I believe that was mentioned a time or three in the ensuing conversation, but it was still funny.

    As far as major purchases we had one car buying fiasco, another nearly averted fiasco, and this latest new car the lot totally stopped caring the second we drove off the lot. They owe us the title and extra key, neither of which were forthcoming. After a couple calls the title is being Fed Ex'd today but I have to go to the lot over an hour away on a Wednesday between 2-4 to get the key. I went to another dealer down the street from them on a Saturday morning when I was in town anyway and got two copies already made with no fuss and no muss. I still want the key they owe me, but getting there at the right time is a hassle.

    I'm just hoping my new couch is going to be easy. The place is going out of business so if there is a problem I will have to deal with Sealy directly and the nearest store will be in the same town as the car dealership.

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    1. Oh man, that's gross on the shoes! I mean, yeah I totally would've looked at them to make sure they weren't two right shoes or something but I can't believe the nerve and dishonesty of some people.

      We had the same problem with getting both of our cars titles! We had 2 DAYS left on our temp tags and they were a week late and we called and had to yell at them to overnight them to us or we would be forwarding any tickets to them for expired tags. We had them the next day. They should be FedExing that key to you as well for the inconvenience. Tell them you haven't filled out their survey yet on the experience or Yelped them yet. Sometimes that's enough to light a fire.

      I hope all goes well with the couch because trust me, you're gonna have a heck of a time getting through to Sealy if you have an issue. :-\

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  5. Every time I make a furniture or a mattress purchase, we have an issue. One time, we ordered a sectional and they sent two of the same piece!? We had to live with 2 couches, that only had arms on 1 end, so the cushions kept sliding off, etc. for over a month before a new one could get sent to our house. Talk about ANNOYING.

    Glad you got it all figured out!!! :)

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    1. Ugh, that is seriously annoying! This sounds like a more common occurrence than I would've thought based and yours and the above comment. Nothing like not getting what you ordered. *rolling eyes*

      Let's hope so! We still have about 97 days under our guarantee to make sure it's the right mattress for us. I'm praying my back pain clears up with this one.

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  6. we need a new mattress, as in ours is 15 yrs old, but I'm freakin scared now. All I know is I want it to feel like the holiday inn express mattresses.

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    1. LOL, don't be scared! Get what you need but do a lot of research first. Online reviews, go on the manufacturers Facebook and Twitter pages because people LOVE to call them out on those pages. We had a Serta before and loved it but you know, there are complaints about those too. Just make sure you lay how you sleep in bed and take as much time as you want. DEFINITELY go with a place that has a money back guarantee or a comfort policy. We went through Mattress Firm the second time and they have a 100 day policy and you have to give it 30 days before you can invoke it. Just be proactive and you should be fine. We had red flags and ignored them because we wanted to be nice. Don't do that. ;-)

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  7. Luckily, my husband and I have had pretty smooth major purchase. However, my husband is extremely type A and plans things down to the minutia and reads a hundred million reviews before purchasing anything (including small purchases, which is sometimes very annoying). Our mattress is actually from an online retailer called Bed in a Box. They're supposed to be a competitor of the Posturpedic memory foam mattress but at like 1/4 of the price. We've had it for 3 years and LOVE it!! The only negative is that is sleeps hot, but that's only a slight problem in the summer.

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    1. Your hubby and I would get along in our type A-ness. We read all kinds of reviews before purchasing. I know some people find fault in anything but I've gotten some great info from in depth reviews. I'm hoping since we have some cooling foam and half springs that we don't have the hot sleeping issue because I would not be happy with that. We'll see in a few months! :-)

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