Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Mar 2, 2010 6:18 AM
Joined: Feb 24, 2010
Points: 26
Some of you may have seen my first thread that explains my story:

So after months and months of researching, going from mattress store to mattress store, I finally made a promise to myself that for my new year's resolution I'd finally pick a new mattress.
I had been sleeping on a old, innerspring, sealy posturpedic hand me down from parents. That mattress is probably twenty yrs old

Never had any serious back issues though but that's probably because I'm still young (27) and workout (lift weights) religiously (5 days a week) and eat healthy foods.

So In my search of mattresses I narrowed down my options to Simmons beautyrest, Sealy posturpedic, and Serta perfect sleeper. My old boss whose a Chiropractor has a Simmons so he recommended that brand for me. I ended up going with the Simmons because of his recommendation and the price was great for a king, pillowtop ($800).

I've had the bed since Jan 3rd and I like the new mattress, but don't love it. I've had numerous nights where I toss and turn all night and can't fall asleep. I've also woken up with low, achey back pain that I've never experienced before. I am a stomach sleeper so I know that's bad for your back but I didn't use to feel this with my old, worn out, hand me down mattress.

I have a little over a week left of my 60 day exchange policy and I'm considering exchanging the mattress for a different one. I just get scared I'll choose another mattress and will not even like it as much as the Simmons and I'll be screwed lol! The other mattress I'm considering (went back into Sleep America where I bought the mattress and layed on more beds) is a Serta. This is supposedly there "higher end" model that has a 20 yr warranty and more supportive foam in the hip areas and what not. I think the label says Serta perfect day "morning sunrise" or something like that.

The sad thing is the serta is around $1600 so I'd have to pay  a lot more to switch to that mattress. It would be worth it though if I can sleep a lot better.

Just needing some opinions please to help with my decision. I'm stuck here :(

...............................................................................................................................................................................................

Ok, so by March 3rd, I have to choose my new mattress to exchange my Simmons with. The recommendation you guys gave me was to buy a firm mattress and put a latex topper on it.

For a king sized mattress around 1,000, I really only have a few choices. A Sealy non pillowtop, a serta perfect sleeper, and a Europa firm bed. I had never heard of Europa but the sales lady says they just don't advertise like the big "S" brands. She said there good beds though (individual pocketed coils, 10 yr warranties).

Which of these would be the smart pick? I'm deciding tomorrow so please help!

Thanks...
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #13 Mar 3, 2010 6:02 PM
Location: L.A. area
Joined: Jan 18, 2008
Points: 1161
woofman81 wrote:
Anyone know if you can go to other Sleep America stores for the exchange. I'm sure not every Sleep America has the exact same selection but maybe I'm wrong.
Seems to me this is a question you should ask them, not us.

I was in your exact position years ago. Bought a mattress from a store and when I went to exchange it they had no GOOD mattresses to exchange it to.
I told the guy I'd give him a $50-100 restocking fee to PLEASE not make me buy a mattress here, I wanted to go with a latex mattress that he does not carry. He agreed, I was out $75 or so, and I was happy to have made my mistake , paid for it and NOT get stuck with a crappy mattress I didn't want.
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #14 Mar 4, 2010 7:38 PM
Joined: Feb 24, 2010
Points: 26
Well guys, I did something totally different. I went to a completely different Sleep america store (found out I can exchange at any store).

Told the new salesmen my situation and told him I need a "firm" bed with no pillowtop in a King. Well I couldn't find a Sealy "firm" mattress in a signature or reserve either. I would have had to get the preferred which is the low end of Sealy.

He had me lay on  a Firm Stearns and Foster and I really liked it. I saw the price tag was 2 grand so I shyed away from it but the salesmen said he could do that mattress for 1196.00.

Like I said, it was firm and felt supportive and he told me it had more coils than the sealy, simmons, and serta.

So this is what I'm exchanging my Simmons with.

My other option (400 dollars more) was the Simmons natural latex bed. They have a firm one that felt nice. Both the latex and the S&F felt similar comfort wise so i went with the cheaper one obviously.

I hope I made the right decison....
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #15 Mar 4, 2010 8:23 PM
Joined: Oct 15, 2009
Points: 966
Probably my favorite S brand that I tried was a luxury firm S&F estate (non-pillowtop).   The estate seemed a bit better than the regular S&F, but that was okay too.

Not sure how long it will last, but probably as good of a choice as any of the others.  Funny how much the price dropped when you complained about it...

Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #16 Mar 5, 2010 12:40 AM
Joined: Feb 24, 2010
Points: 26
sandman wrote:
Probably my favorite S brand that I tried was a luxury firm S&F estate (non-pillowtop).   The estate seemed a bit better than the regular S&F, but that was okay too.

Not sure how long it will last, but probably as good of a choice as any of the others.  Funny how much the price dropped when you complained about it...


Yeah I'm kinda pissed the lady at the original Sleep America never even showed me that S&F mattress. She obviously wasn't willing to go down on the price as much as this other guy at the other store.

The Simmons latex mattress was nice as well but it's dunlop latex which I read wasn't as good as the Talalay?

The lady wouldn't even go below 2 grand for that Simmons latex while this other would do 1593. Shows you just how bad these salesmen can play with pricing

Also, the S&F seemed almost comfortable enough that it might not need a topper. I'll probably sleep on it a night or two and see if I need to soften it up with the topper or not.

PS-I think it might be the luxury edition you're speaking of as well Sandman
This message was modified Mar 5, 2010 by woofman81
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #17 Mar 5, 2010 2:29 AM
Joined: Feb 24, 2010
Points: 26
Yes, it is the luxury "firm" model with no pillowtop

I went to Stearn and Foster's website to double check.
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #18 Mar 5, 2010 2:55 AM
Location: L.A. area
Joined: Jan 18, 2008
Points: 1161
woofman81 wrote:
Yes, it is the luxury "firm" model with no pillowtop

I went to Stearn and Foster's website to double check.
I think you made a good decision. I'm not sure but I think the S&F springs are a little better than the Sealy springs, so if you ever need to do mattress surgery you'll be in good shape.
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #19 Mar 5, 2010 3:14 AM
Joined: Feb 24, 2010
Points: 26
jimsocal wrote:
I think you made a good decision. I'm not sure but I think the S&F springs are a little better than the Sealy springs, so if you ever need to do mattress surgery you'll be in good shape.

Hearing that from you alone will help me sleep better tonight lol :)

I'm crossing my fingers on this one. Hope it suits me much better than the Simmons did.
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #20 Mar 5, 2010 5:02 PM
Joined: Jan 16, 2010
Points: 45
Does anyone know what the S&F Estate is called at Sleepys? :-(
Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #21 Mar 5, 2010 5:47 PM
Joined: Oct 15, 2009
Points: 966
Slides wrote:
Does anyone know what the S&F Estate is called at Sleepys? :-(


Usually the estate has dark brown detailing.   You can look at a picture on their website.  It usually says it on the mattress, but you can ask as well.

I don't know of any real reviews of the estate over a long period of time.  So, their still is possibly an issue of the foam quality and how long it will last.  Some of the older S&F models had sagging and foam issues like all of the other S brands.

Re: Two more days left to exchange my Simmons Mattress (didn't like it)
Reply #22 Mar 5, 2010 7:49 PM
Joined: Feb 24, 2010
Points: 26
sandman wrote:
Usually the estate has dark brown detailing.   You can look at a picture on their website.  It usually says it on the mattress, but you can ask as well.

I don't know of any real reviews of the estate over a long period of time.  So, their still is possibly an issue of the foam quality and how long it will last.  Some of the older S&F models had sagging and foam issues like all of the other S brands.


Correct Sandman, the estate has the dark brown detailing. I got the luxury line which is a lighter brown/tan detail.

So I did a interesting test today since I noticed now that different salesmen can give better pricing. I went into ANOTHER sleep America store (I'm not crazy I swear haha) and acted like I was a regular price and got a quote for the mattress I agreed to yesteday (the Stearns and Foster luxury firm) and sure enough, the guy quoted me 1061.00 compared to 1169.00 from the guy yesterday.

The other catch was I hadn't layed on a Stearns and Foster estate firm bed yet (a step up from my luxury model). The guy quoted me 1331.00 for a firm estate Stearns and foster. I had no idea I could get it that cheap.

I still went with the luxury firm but I'm almost wondering if I should upgrade for another couple hundred bucks to the estate firm?

The only knock on the estate firm was that I could tell it had more foam on top so it didn't feel as "firm" as the luxury firm I chose.