Mattress Forum

I went to a local store that has a couple of stores in the area and was advertising its final closing days - everything must go one particular weekend! I missed that sale, but happened to be passing by the following weekend and saw they were still closing it out. So I decided to stop by and just see what there was. I found a reasonably priced (cheap) mattress and box spring set on sale, laid down, thought it was very comfortable and decided to buy it. At that price, I could afford to replace it in a few years, I thought.

A few red flags made me a little suspicious. First, the fact that the sale was still going on, after the final closing date....Second, that the saleswoman offered me a discount from the lowest price she said they could give me, without me even asking for it....Third, they wanted me to pay cash for a further discount....Fourth, they said they couldn't arrange for delivery -- it was all booked up, they said, but they happened to have a guy in the stockroom who would deliver for me, independently, without the company being involved per se. Well, I put it on my credit card (thank goodness) instead of paying cash to get the extra $5 off, and got the delivery guy's name and phone number (thank goodness).

The delivery day and time arrived, and I got a call from the delivery guy. Lo and behold, he told me they had sold my bed to someone else! No more in stock in that store, alas, but he said they would get one from their other store across the valley and deliver it the next day, and he thought that was okay. I told him, no, that is not okay. I have already taken my bed apart, and it's ready to go, and you promised me my bed delivered today, and now you're telling me you took my money and then sold my bed to someone else? I refused his offer and told him I was going to cancel the sale. Although it was after business hours, he said and no managers were around that I could talk to, he said he would call me right back. About 5 minutes later he called me back and said they were going to upgrade me for free just to make me happy. I told him no, I picked the bed I wanted because that was the bed I wanted, not some other bed. I repeated I was going to cancel the sale. He then put me on with a manager who informed me that it was an "all sales final" contract. I told him I had put it on my credit card and I was not going to pay for it. I told him I would the charge in dispute, and he said they would dispute it. And I said, so will I. He told me my bed would be there at the store the next day, and I repeated I am cancelling the sale.

Long story short, my credit card company backed me up, and it appears I am out of the contract, although they warned me to wait 90 more days to make sure there are no more issues.

This has given me an additional 4 months to research mattresses and hopefully avoid any such shysters again.

I was reading someone's post that manufacurers' labels vary from store to store so that customers can't compare the prices.

My question is: why is the mattress market so full of scams and shams? Any ideas about that? Or what we the people can do about it?