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I hate waste and find myself wondering where all those barely used comfort swap mattresses go as I know that its supposedly no longer legal to sell them once they've been used. I got kind of a vague answer when I asked the guy at US Mattress if they went to charity but it seemed more like he was not at liberty to say. Anyone know?
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I first became aware of this practice while watching a court show recently where the plaintiff complained about a mattress she bought containing bedbugs. She cut open the bottom and found a VERY used (and dirty and stained) frame and upholstery with bedbug eggs clinging. The only indication the mattress was used was that the salesman scrawled a very small "ref" on her bill and it had no large yellow tag as required by law. Apparently breaking that law results in tiny fines of something like $50. weewillywinky, do you mean components like slabs of foam? At least with those you can more or less see what you're getting, unlike with traditional spring mattresses where a new cover can hide a horror scene. It's really despicable. When I got my new mattress, I had the guys take away an old set (I kept the one I was using) that was being used as an animal bed. Dogs used it, ate messy bones on it and drooled on it, cats used and puked on it. Now I'm frightened it got recovered and sold. For anyone with a sick sense of humour, you might get a chuckle (or shed a few tears) over this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvF3F9olA5Y
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| I have read on line that there are places you can buy returned matresses at much reduced prices. It may depend on the laws of each state but if my IComfort matress has a stain, etc. they will not take it back within the 120 days. If they disposed of them--why would they care? |
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numbernine wrote: Wow - eye opener indeed. Seems like the notion that they might go to charity is just wishful thinking on my part. Thanks for all the info and links! |
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dg219 wrote:
I have read on line that there are places you can buy returned matresses at much reduced prices. It may depend on the laws of each state but if my IComfort matress has a stain, etc. they will not take it back within the 120 days. If they disposed of them--why would they care? Well, one reason they would care is because apparently more landfills are chaging excess tipping fees to mattress dumpers because mattress take up so much space and are nonbiodegradable. As you may be aware, some landfills are able to generate energy from biodegradable wastes. See www.cowpattypatty.com, for example. Mattesses just sit there for aeons, taking up space while they slowly rot and decompose, to the extent they can, which generally ain't much with most mattress these days. Why did I say a zippered cover is a good thing? Because a) you can more easily inspect what is inside, b) replace it if necessary; and c) air and clean the components. This message was modified Jul 23, 2011 by weewillywinky
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| When companies tell you that in order to honor their comfort policy you must leave the mattress in the original package, something is wrong. I'm not positive but they may be circumventing the law that in some States says the mattress can not have bodily contact. I can not think of another reason to leave it in the bag. |
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I can't necessarily tell you what other people do, but I manage a mattress factory, and I can tell you how we handle them. We never sell any part of a used mattress at all. To whoever said it was a slap on the wrist, CPSC has cracked down big time on any manufacturers who sell used mattresses or mattresses with used components, as well as anyone not complying fully with fire retardant regulations. In our state, it is illegal for us to do anything with a used mattress other than throw it away. What we do is put them in a stack outside of the factory, and let charitable organizations or anyone who needs a free mattress come and take them. That way, we have complied by putting them in a trash pile, but people who need them know where to find them. I have heard about companies reusing or reselling old bedding, and that makes people wary of even companies like us who try to be honest. |