Mattress Forum

My Sleepy’s story is like so many of the other customer complaints that I feel responsible to provide you with other details and recommendations in hope that future consumers can avoid what so many others (including myself) have experienced when purchasing a mattress at Sleepy’s.  

First our story:

We purchased a Simmons NxG mattress set from Sleepy’s in 2008. The total purchase price was over $3000.  Yes, $3000 - sleep is important to everyone and a basic essential to human health.  We felt this was an investment in ourselves, our health and well-worth the expense.

Yes, we had the same experience with delivery and mattress removal fees not being clear in the sale process.  We paid without squabbling because frankly, the mattress purchase process in the Sleepy’s store was enough of a game that we just wanted to enjoys our new and very expensive purchase. 

Within a year and half, the mattress began to sag. When you read all the customer sites about Simmons and Sleepy’s, you will see what we experienced called: “depressions” and “sagging like a hammock”.  We weren’t mad, angry or upset – we were pragmatic: consumer items fail and we would simply call Sleepy’s and request their attention to the matter.  After all, we had a superior mattress guarantee. 

Not so:  Calls back and forth to Sleepy's took a pattern of delaying us but we persisted. After about 4 months of back and forth, Sleepy's sent an independent inspector to our home to inspect the mattress.  The inspector judged that the amount of sag in the mattress did not meet replacement standards.  Now we were mad, angry and upset.  The mattress was failing and Sleepy’s was controlling the quality of our sleep and ultimately: the quality of lives.   Over the course of the next two years, sleeping on the mattress was progressively more uncomfortable.   I developed back pain that was so intense at times that I began to empathize with people who say they have chronic back problems.   

In 2010-11 one side of the mattress had visibly failed and we pressed for a second inspection.  We called frequently and unfortunately we had to be relentless to obtain a second inspection.    

I need to interrupt this narrative for a moment to recognize that when I read the feedback of so many unsatisfied (and some eventually satisfied) customers of Sleepy's, a common theme presents itself: PEOPLE LIVE WITH BAD MATTRESSES FOR VERY LONG PERIODS OF TIME IN HOPE THAT AN EVENTUAL SOLUTION WILL PRESENT ITSELF.  Folks; I can say from experience that hoping for an eventual solution is self-defeating and an uncomfortable experience.  You need to seriously consider whether Sleepy’s respects your health and economic welfare.

Without a good rest each day, you are less-likely to be alert and functional. If you are like the majority of reasonable, pleasant people; lack of sleep will manifest itself in ways that are dangerous to your health.  This is a fact according to the National Institutes of Health: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/

Put into perspective another way: If you purchased a car that began to show a defect, you would be at the dealer's door the next business day.   Why we let Sleepy's delay, negotiate and ultimately decline our basic right to receive a quality product backed by a no-nonsense guarantee are an interesting theme we can leave to the psychiatric community because according to most customer feedback; it appears to be a recurring situation amongst many dissatisfied customers of Sleepy’s

Back to our story:  Sleepy's sent an inspector and... This time: Sleepy's granted a full replacement.  We were to receive about $2600 toward the purchase of a new mattress.  And yes, delivery was an extra $250.  It was OK though – we were going to get a new mattress and all the stress was about to go away.   I went to three Sleepy's stores in NJ to shop for the replacement - when I mentioned that we were looking to replace the NxG, each salesperson I spoke with responded with a similar comment that the NxG was discontinued for a reason: it was a failed first attempt by Simmons to enter the memory foam mattress market.  Obviously, on the backs of consumers.  No pun intended.

We purchased another Simmons mattress and eagerly-awaited the delivery day.  Sleepy’s delivery men came to the house on the delivery date and asked to see where the mattress was to be installed.  My Wife showed them our bedroom and one of the delivery men looked at the mattress to be removed, spoke to his colleague in Spanish and then told my Wife there was a problem, it looked like there was a stain on the mattress and they would need to go to their truck outside and call their office.   They gave my Wife some papers and then they drove away.  You cannot make this up. 

This began another two months of debating about what constituted a stain etc, etc…  Now, for all you out there imagining what a stain looks like, I can cut to the chase and tell you one of the most important lessons I learned during this experience:  the return policy for mattresses is so stacked against the consumer that expectations of a “guarantee/warranty” should be greatly lowered. 

We couldn’t find a stain.  We both have perfect eyesight.  Now I was thinking that the replacement deal was some sort of mistake and Sleepy’s was stonewalling us in order not to replace the mattress. When this sort of situation happens, you really don’t have much to go by – how often do you buy a mattress?  I was now arguing (nicely because emotions and yelling gets you nowhere - even though my Wife is screaming and everyone in the house is disturbed.  I’ll chance a guess the Sleepy’s folks are laughing hysterically at this by now.  I can only wish you never have to go through this in your lifetime. ) with Sleepy’s to send another inspector to the house and I would meet him/her – I wanted to see the stain that two delivery men saw that the prior two inspectors had not.  Sleepy’s was unwilling to do this.  I offered to take pictures of the mattress and send them to Sleepy’s to prove there was no stain.  This was eventually agreed to. 

The response back was: We see a stain and since the manufacturer will not credit us for a stained mattress, we cannot credit you for a stained mattress.  Yet, that is exactly what they did – they offered a credit of $750 back toward a replacement mattress that we would be required to purchase at Sleepy’s.  I see this situation frequently mentioned in the mattress consumer guides on the internet.  The following quote is from a dissatisfied Simmons customer:

we purchased our simmons beauty rest 4 yrs ago, after 2 yrs we finally got so fed up with the sag that we called, the furn store sent out someone to "inspect" our mattress and they replaced it. Only 11 mo later we are having the SAME PROBLEM with the new mattress. We had a small ring on the top of the mattress and were told that we broke the guarantee bc of it! It is NOT a stain bc it came out when we wiped it with a cloth and little carpet cleaner...however they said they cannot help us bc it is against policy to accept a STAINED mattress. Can ANYONE tell me even if this IS their policy, how on earth does a small ring or even any size stain have anything to do with the mattress company standing behind their EXPENSIVE, but poor quality mattresses????

The “stain” as it turned out is a very, very faint ring approximately 5 inches in diameter – similar to when a watermark is left on a silk napkin when the water dries.  Looking at it today, I can understand why we never saw it – the term “stain” to me = dirt, mess, indelible mark.  I would guess the folks in the mattress industry deal with some awful situations.  This, I can say, is not a situation where were we performed some ritualistic sacrifice leaving behind horrific “stains” of blood.  Or, where kids scrawled with markers across the mattress.  Or where an incontinent senior citizen (apology to incontinent and senior citizens) this was a barely-visible 5 inches in diameter ring where we (or the kids) spilled water. 

So, we have a completely failed mattress (read about the Simmons NxG on the internet and you will get the gist of what a failed NxG means…) and a 5” diameter “stain”.  One has absolutely NOTHING to do with the other but, one completely NULLIFIES any and all warranties.

Another quote from a dissatisfied Simmons customer about “stains” and his/her perception that Simmons (and perhaps other mattress companies) use this as an almost foolproof method NOT to accommodate customers with failed mattresses:

I think the Mattress companies have that stain-voids-the-warranty for two reasons. One it let's them upsell stain protection, and two it gives them an easy out. I'm seriously considering contacting my state Assemblyman here in California to sponsor legislation that A) Forces manufacturers not to create one-off product names so that consumers can't comparison shop and B) Not allow them to limit warranties based on stains unless the stain is proven to have contributed to the defect.

And another dissatisfied Simmons customer about getting stuck with a failed high-end Simmons mattress:

We had the exact same experience except that we paid almost $4000 for the top of the line firm Black Label by the time it was delivered. We had spent $3000 on a Simmons mattress a year earlier and it completely collapsed, so this was the "exchange" we ere allowed for an additional $1000. My husband and I are not sleeping well and we both have back pain now so it is going to go. We are going to buy a quality mattress from Costco because they are the only organization that stands behind their mattresses and will take returns (which we hope never to have to do). I have never tried to return a mattress in my life until I went high end and Simmons. Quality control and customer service are obviously non-existent so DO NOT BUY.

It is my intention NEVER to purchase another Simmons product nor set foot in a Sleepy’s store again.  The Sleepy’s experience was one of unnecessary haggling, poor customer service and in the end, the insult of Sleepy’s reneging on their own replacement offer to us.  I hold Simmons responsible for selling a failing mattress (not my opinion: Sleepy’s reps and the internet mattress buying guides both confirm that the mattress model was a not up to par and certainly not worth the steep price).   I hold Sleepy’s responsible for offering us a replacement opportunity based upon their own inspection and subsequently refusing to honor their agreement. (In doing this, either one of two situations is plausible:

Sleepy’s is admitting that their inspector was not up to his job function to inspect mattresses or, perhaps even more disturbing:

Could Sleepy’s employ this method to get additional mattress sales from dissatisfied customers?  After all, when you spend $3000-$4000 on a mattress, get offered $2500 in replacement then eventually get offered $750, only the most determined person will walk away.  Most of us will take whatever we can get to cut our losses and get back to a full night’s sleep. 

I hope this helps other people looking for a mattress.