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With all this talk of mattress surgery here, I'm starting to think that not one S brand manufacturer (Sealy, Simmons, etc...) makes a ready made quality innerspring mattress with decent quality latex over top. Am I correct? Heck, I could search out Ikea and find a couple of mattresses that have latex over individual coils. Trouble is I only have room for a twin and it must be an XL. Ikea has no XL. I would think a range of quality latex over a good set of individual coils would make an awesome bed. Is there some sort of conspiracy by the S brand mfrs (perhaps they know a bed like this might last a long time), or another reason they seemingly don't make such a thing? This message was modified Jul 9, 2011 by slpngoc
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DoreenA wrote: Holy cow! How tall is that thing?
Too tall. I'm not really understanding the towering height of these beds. I'm fairly tall for a woman - 5' 8", yet I had to climb up unto these massive beds when testing them at the store, and then kind of slide off. Anyone shorter would need a step stool or would have to take a flying leap from their doorway just to get on. When did bed vendors become as shady as used car salesmen? Why are there thousands of complaints about all the "S" beds (especially pillowtops) all over the net - all about the same things: Early and massive sagging on very expensive beds, and flimflam warrantys that seemingly cannot be enforced or can be voided on a whim? What the heck happened in the last 15 or so years? Why can't we get a good product that will last from companies that used to be reputable? I guess this is why all these mattress topper companies came into being...? I told the salesguy at the Natural Mattress Store I bought a S&F about 3 weeks ago. He said they used to be better, but about 10 years ago the big companies really amped up their marketing and cheapened the inner materials a great deal. I think about a water heater company, Hoyt, that used to make great water heaters that lasted a very long time. They have been out of business for a while. So, I guess the game is to make the mattresses good enough so people won't think they're horrible, but build in something where they will be just good enough for 8 years. |
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Thanks for the insights, Slpngoc. Very interesting! Was it about ten years ago they introduced the pillow-tops and quit making mattresses flippable, too? It's a rather brilliant marketing scheme, it appears, because pillowtops feel so soft and confortable at first, when you lie down on them on the showroom floor, compared to the old style, when we all knew you had to buy them firmer than you liked, but they'd soften in time. Without realizing these mattresses won't last like the old ones did, since mattresses used to be something you'd buy once in a decade, at most, people pay the thousand$ thinking that's par for the course these days, thinking that is necessary. Then too, the practice of renaming mattresses at different stores, renaming mattresses every time you turn around, the special hyped up names like "smart foam" and "Trump" mattresses and no authentic or meaningful discussion of the materials that are actually used, and the meaningless and confusing labels like Socal, I think it was, pointed out the other day -- well, I'd say all of these factors taken together do, in fact, point to a deliberate scheme obviously designed to make it as confusing as possible and nearly impossible for your average buyers to know exactly what they are paying for. Not only is it a considerable loss out of pocket, which cannot be justified in today's economy, there are also the very considerable hassle factors involved, getting those hefty and sizeable mattresses moved. in and out - no easy task. And disposal problems are considerable, too. I've read discarded mattresses are filling up landfills now. No wonder so many landfills are running out of space! And of, course, we pay for that with our tax dollars and loss of available land. And then, too, PU foam being a petroleum based product -and we all know how hard petrol is to come by these days, and what we get involved with to get it. Well, all in all, it's an unconscionable terrible waste of limited resources. every which way you cut it. It should be against the law, and some day, it probably will be. Then those companies will fold, too, or have to change to change their game. The sooner the better - not a day too soon. Maybe this forum will help to change things. It sure has helped me to learn about what is really going on. |
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I got some massive insight by the owner of Select Sleep Mattress, a local mfr. near my house. The owner, Don, used to own the Spring Air mattress company. He broke down the costs to a mattress manufacturer - 1) mfr. must pay $50k to each store to put their mattress on the floor, like 6 spaces. Each additional bed space is another bunch of thousands 2) mfr has to pay some kind of 'spiff' (sp?) fee for each mattress sold 3) mfr has to pay fees to the seller 4) mfr. has to reimburse advertising costs to seller These things drive the cost of big name mattresses through the roof. Plus, they have to have different mattress fabric covers and names for each retailer, then they have to deliver a mattress within short time to the retailer which increases storage space. All these things combine to drive up big name costs and consequently you get cheaper materials inside for your money. If things fall through with Sears, I'll be going to this direct to public mfr. for my bed set. |
| btw, I was told that individual coils may not last as long at crease points when put on an adjustable bed. Maybe that's why when you see a 'specialty bed' with thick slabs of memory or latex foam, typically it will be an all foam bed. |