New member,... some questions
Aug 17, 2009 1:49 AM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
Hello everyone. I am a new member and I have a couple of questions.

I have been sleeping on a water bed for over 20 years now. The most recent bed is now 10 years old and the floatation material seems to be wearing out as it wants to bunch up on one side. It is a California King and I sleep in it alone, mostly I am a side sleeper. I am 6'2" tall and weighed 210 pounds.

I have been thinking about all natural, organic latex mattress. I have been reading quite a few of the online retailers websites. I have pretty well narrowed it down to two companies. Sleep Ez, primarily because of all the good posts on this site regarding them, and also Savvy Rest because they have gotten other reviews on other sites that were good. I have talked with Savvy Rest by phone and they were very helpful and courteous. However their pricing compared to Sleep EZ is quite a bit higher. The one thing that does concern me about Sleep EZ is the fact that they seem to believe that blended Talalay is not only as good as natural organic Talalay but in some ways superior. This makes me wonder if I were to purchase an all natural Talalay mattress from them, would I actually get a mattress that would have a great deal of synthetic material in it.

Savvy Rest is very adamant about the fact that their mattresses are natural organic latex, whether it is Dunlop or Talalay processed. I have been quite impressed with their customer service department and was leaning towards them until I found this site and all of the great references to Sleep EZ.

Can those members of this forum who have used one or the other of these companies post their experiences regarding the concerns that I have listed? I would appreciate it very much, because as you all know these mattresses are quite expensive and those of us who are living on Social Security just cannot afford to make a mistake. Savvy Rest does not have a return policy for the whole bed only a 90 day exchange policy for a layer of latex. It seems that Sleep EZ is more liberal. Any and all recommendations would be welcome.

Thank you

Don
Re: New member,... some questions
Reply #7 Aug 22, 2009 4:25 PM
Joined: Nov 19, 2008
Points: 53
eagle2,

Thanks for the additional information about foamorder.  I understand why you're traveling out of state to try out a mattress. I almost did the same, since I live in an area where latex mattresses are not available, certainly not organic. I took a risk with FBM, but luckily it worked out for me because there's no way I could have repacked the mattress or topper and shipped them back. Good luck and please report back to us.

Ilene

Re: New member,... some questions
Reply #8 Aug 22, 2009 5:21 PM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
Beanie wrote:
eagle2,

Thanks for the additional information about foamorder.  I understand why you're traveling out of state to try out a mattress. I almost did the same, since I live in an area where latex mattresses are not available, certainly not organic. I took a risk with FBM, but luckily it worked out for me because there's no way I could have repacked the mattress or topper and shipped them back. Good luck and please report back to us.

Ilene


IIene: Is FBM the same as foamorder.com? Or is this the abbreviation for "Flow Bed Mattresses."?

I just received the sample talalay from Flowbeds. The samples of talalay from Flowbeds seem to be the same as the talalay samples from Savvy Rest. I assume they both use Latex International. Savvy Rest uses COCOLatex from India for there dunlop.

At this point in time I am quite torn between the two companies. Both companies are excellent natural 100 percent organic suppliers of latex mattresses, it seems to me. But FloBed's does not use anything but talalay. But they have the very best return policy and seem like a company that does everything they can to take care of their customers and make them satisfied. Their cost for returning a layer of latex is quite a bit less expensive than savvy rest. They also have a 90 day period in which you can return the mattress and get your money back without any restocking fees. Savvy rest does not have a return policy and their exchange policy gets expensive due to their freight charges. But Savvy Rest has Dunlop!!

A most perplexing situation. I absolutely need to get to a dealer and try out the various types of latex and firmness layers to make a truly informed decision. I should know quite a bit more by the middle of next week. I will be sure to report back and give you all my impressions.
This message was modified Aug 22, 2009 by eagle2
Re: New member,... some questions
Reply #9 Aug 23, 2009 8:08 PM
Joined: Nov 19, 2008
Points: 53
Sorry for the abbreviation. FBM is foambymail.com,  not foamorder. FBM carries the least expensive latex mattresses and many folks on this board have had good results ordering from them. However, many other people have not been happy with the quality of the latex because of apparent irregularities in the product (i.e., irregular holes, ILDs, etc.) The web site is pretty cheesy and the company doesn't seem to be straightforward about the source of the latex. Having said that, once the latex is inside the terry cover (an upgrade) with perhaps a separate mattress cover on top (I have the Cuddle Bed), it is very attractive with no indication of any imperfections. Their range of ILDs is more limited than the other companies you are considering. And they don't offer organic. Hope this helps.
Re: New member,... some questions
Reply #10 Aug 23, 2009 10:44 PM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
Beanie wrote:
Sorry for the abbreviation. FBM is foambymail.com,  not foamorder. FBM carries the least expensive latex mattresses and many folks on this board have had good results ordering from them. However, many other people have not been happy with the quality of the latex because of apparent irregularities in the product (i.e., irregular holes, ILDs, etc.) The web site is pretty cheesy and the company doesn't seem to be straightforward about the source of the latex. Having said that, once the latex is inside the terry cover (an upgrade) with perhaps a separate mattress cover on top (I have the Cuddle Bed), it is very attractive with no indication of any imperfections. Their range of ILDs is more limited than the other companies you are considering. And they don't offer organic. Hope this helps.

Beanie: Thank you for the response. When you indicate that they do not offer organic, what do you mean?

This company claims to be selling Talalay latex foam from Europe. Is it a blended latex foam? Part synthetic and part natural rubber?

This is the problem with so much of the mattress marketing today. It is so difficult to really find out what the actual product is. I have lived my life around synthetic latex without any problems. But I have never owned a bed that was purely a synthetic bed. The problem with synthetic latex is that the quality can be all over the place due to the fact that there are no government regulations stating what the product must be. This business about the "organic latex" I believe is over hyped. They are selling a great deal against synthetics. In the end what is really important is the quality of the latex. How does it feel to sleep on? Does it indent prematurely? How long will it last? And last but not least, how much does it cost?

This company, foambymail.com,  claims to sell you a piece of six inch Talalay California King size for 609 dollars and 99 cents with free shipping and handling. Therefore a bed of two pieces six inches thick would give you 12 inches at a cost of 1,219 dollars 98 cents

Comparing this to FlowBeds, Savvy Rest, and SleepEZ and they are cheaper by a minimum of 1000 dollars to 1500 dollars less money. Something does not seem right somewhere.

By the way this company has had 13 complaints to the BBB in the last 36 mo. All resolved. However, Flowbeds has not had a complaint in over 7 years and savvy rest has only had one I believe, while, if my recall is correct, SleepEZ has had two or three. Just a thought. Everyone should check out the BBB for themselves.

But like I am so fond of saying, "If it works for you, where's the beef?" And we can throw this one in for good measure."If you're happy, you're happy!" "If you're not, you're not!"
This message was modified Aug 23, 2009 by eagle2
Re: New member,... some questions
Reply #11 Aug 24, 2009 5:55 PM
Joined: Nov 19, 2008
Points: 53
eagle2 wrote:
Beanie: Thank you for the response. When you indicate that they do not offer organic, what do you mean?

This company claims to be selling Talalay latex foam from Europe. Is it a blended latex foam? Part synthetic and part natural rubber?

This is the problem with so much of the mattress marketing today. It is so difficult to really find out what the actual product is. I have lived my life around synthetic latex without any problems. But I have never owned a bed that was purely a synthetic bed. The problem with synthetic latex is that the quality can be all over the place due to the fact that there are no government regulations stating what the product must be. This business about the "organic latex" I believe is over hyped. They are selling a great deal against synthetics. In the end what is really important is the quality of the latex. How does it feel to sleep on? Does it indent prematurely? How long will it last? And last but not least, how much does it cost?

This company, foambymail.com,  claims to sell you a piece of six inch Talalay California King size for 609 dollars and 99 cents with free shipping and handling. Therefore a bed of two pieces six inches thick would give you 12 inches at a cost of 1,219 dollars 98 cents

Comparing this to FlowBeds, Savvy Rest, and SleepEZ and they are cheaper by a minimum of 1000 dollars to 1500 dollars less money. Something does not seem right somewhere.

By the way this company has had 13 complaints to the BBB in the last 36 mo. All resolved. However, Flowbeds has not had a complaint in over 7 years and savvy rest has only had one I believe, while, if my recall is correct, SleepEZ has had two or three. Just a thought. Everyone should check out the BBB for themselves.

But like I am so fond of saying, "If it works for you, where's the beef?" And we can throw this one in for good measure."If you're happy, you're happy!" "If you're not, you're not!"

eagle2... I mentioned organic only because your original post suggested that's what you are looking for. Maybe I misunderstood. FBM claims to sell Talalay latex and they say it's all "natural" (not organic), but they do not provide any certifications or source information and the quality is suspect from a visual point of view. They may buy "seconds" although they don't say so.  I didn't really care about any of that when I made my purchase.  I've had my mattress for about six months and it is exactly the same today as on day one, no indentations or anything like that. But I have no idea how long it will last.  If I recall, the warranty isn't as long as warranties from other companies (10 years vs. 25.) The drastic price differences are due to quality of the latex (maybe just visual but hard to ascertain), return policies, customer service (or lack thereof), quality of packing/shipping materials (see older posts about FBM's packaging), and web site. Compare Flobeds web site with FBM; er, a substantial investment vs. pennies.  Regarding BBB complaints, frankly I never check this even though many people swear by it.  While it's great that Flobeds has a perfect record, I don't view FBM's 13 complaints in 36 months as a negative because (1) the complaints were resolved and (2) it says nothing about how many have been sold to satisfied customers (13 out of how many? 13 million? .... there's always a complainer in the crowd). Anywho, that's just my two cents. I really don't have any long-term experience with latex like some of the other folks here, so maybe someone else can chime in. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.
This message was modified Aug 24, 2009 by Beanie
Re: New member,... some questions
Reply #12 Oct 24, 2009 9:10 PM
Joined: Jan 27, 2009
Points: 61
SleepEZ - 3" Latex Topper - A Total Waste of Money!
Although SleepEZ has fantastic service, and the staff is very knowledgeable, they do NOT have latex toppers worth buying. Since getting our topper in December 2008 and our replacement in March 2009, we have discovered that we would have been better off burning our money in our fireplace. I called SleepEZ and explained that our second topper also failed and is permanently compressed to less than half the 3" it is supposed to be. I also explained that there are large, permanent, uncomfortable 1-1/2" to almost 2" deep divots in our bed (they were measured and photographed). We put the topper on a brand new Sealy Latex Weybridge with matching boxspring (received 4 days before topper arrived), so our mattress was not the problem. We spoke to and emailed Jeremy about all of this, but were told in so many words..."tough luck". They were kind enough to switch out our Medium/Soft ILD topper when it first failed, but we only found the second and firmer one did the same thing within a few months. What happened to that 10 year guarantee they promised at first? Yeah...right. Hey, this company will do most anything to help you and get that sale, but the products they are selling at SleepEZ do not last. There is something drastically wrong here, and they will not stand behind what they sell. When you put your hand above and beneath the topper, you can actually feel how thin and compressed it is where we sleep compared to the edges. My husband and I are not heavy people being 190 and 135 lbs., respectively. This is product failure at its best! We feel customers should know about this problem. SleepEZ does not care and will not help at all. After researching, we have found there are many complaints about them out there. Bottom line...the topper was a total waste of $445! Buyer BEWARE!
Bad experience with SleepEZ
Reply #13 Oct 24, 2009 9:49 PM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
tdrj: Sorry about your problems with SleepEZ. I am curious, was the bed that you put the topper on indented in any way? Were you trying to fill a hole in your bed with the topper?

You say you took some pictures. I know I would appreciate having an opportunity to look at these pictures, I am sure other board members would as well. Thank you for posting and telling us about your experience.

I am in no way trying to defend SleepEZ. But it just seems to me that latex cores were meant to be put on a flat and solid surface. There has been some discussion lately about foundations. Particularly the slatted foundations that seem to be so popular and prevalent for latex mattresses. There is a good thread about this.... it can be found here.
http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/fbm-foam-latex-1-year-update/6943-0-1.html


Re: New member,... some questions
Reply #14 Oct 25, 2009 12:59 PM
Location: NC
Joined: Feb 21, 2008
Points: 72
I feel for your loss of $445...Was your topper blended or natural talalay latex? Just wondering--does your Sealy mattress have any divots? Since blended talalay is supposed to last longer that natural, your report will help in future latex decisions.