What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Jun 1, 2011 9:17 PM
Joined: May 30, 2011
Points: 9
I'm going to sum this up because the full typed out saga is 2.5 pages long. 

We bought a Sleep to Live 600 from Sleepys.  The first mattress they delivered was defective and they replaced it.  The second one was nothing like the floor model and the mattress sloped from the blue side to the green side.  They tell us our only option is to do a comfort exchange but we get them to waive the fees.  We do a comfort exchange and get a Pure Latex Bliss Nature.  The PLB was delivered today.  The delivery guys got big dirt smudges on the mattress on the side that ever so conveniently was placed incorrectly up against the headboard.  I say incorrectly because the mattress was not oriented correctly and we can to rotate it 90 degerees.

After the delivery guys leave, I notice a bug.  I look up bedbugs on the internet and start to get very nervous when I realize the bug I saw looked like the bedbug images on the internet.  When my husband gets home, we rotated the mattress and unzip the mattress cover that the mattress came in to check for bedbugs.  When we unzip it, we notice that the foam has one very long continuous crack.

We called Sleepys and were told to call 1800Sleepys.  Customer service was already closed for the day, so we'll call back tomorrow.  We've now had issues with 3 mattresses from this company and they are unable to deliver a product that is not defective.  What would you do at this point?  Obviously I'm going to give them a chance to do the right thing tomorrow and just let us return the mattress and give us a refund, however, we all know that's not going to happen.  I'm thinking out only option is to file a credit card chargeback.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how to handle this?

I should also mention that their delivery guys have gotten dirty hand prints on all three of the matresses of they have now delivered.  Do they do that on purpose because they know it will void the warranty or something?  I even asked the delivery guys to wash their hands 3 times today before I had to insist they do so before opening the plastic on the mattress.  Only after insisting did they put on gloves...

Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #15 Jun 2, 2011 10:17 PM
Joined: Apr 15, 2011
Points: 163
Good points made by many! To Sereya's tip about writing comments about any damages on the bill of lading, I would add that it would be a good idea to make a copy of it for your own records, if at all possible (my computer printer allows me to make copies - maybe yours does, too). I've just seen too many documents go missing, or be altered by the responsible parties, particularly when money is involved.

Good luck - a lot of good advice on this forum. What a great resource you all are!

Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #16 Jun 6, 2011 1:59 PM
Location: L.A. area
Joined: Jan 18, 2008
Points: 1161
m123 wrote:

 

Just a little update.  My husband spoke to customer service.  The representative said he spoke with a supervisor and they are unable to let us return the mattress and get a refund, and they said that our only option is to exchange the mattress for another new one. 

 

We are still debating which route we want to take.  Ideally, they would deliver the fourth mattress and it would be in new and undamaged condition; however, the main word there is fourth.  It would the fourth time we trusted them to deliver a mattress is acceptable condition and they have failed three times.  We obviously have no reason to think the fourth time would be any different.  I think we're leaning towards just filing a chargeback at this point.


It depends on if you WANT another mattress from them or not...

But personally I think you have grounds for a small claims court case here and if you start talking "sue" they'll get nervous and give in. Do not pay a DIME to have your mattress exchanged if that's what you decide to do. In fact they should give you free pillows or something just for NOT suing them or creating a stink. You might mention that you "will" go on the net and bad mouth them if they don't give you a 100% FREE exchange...

Know that ANY stain on a mattress VOIDS THE WARRANTY. So when it was delivered they delivered it with a voided warranty due to the dirt...

I personally think that talking with the Regional Manager (demand his #!) will get this resolved quicker and easier if you use the above method.

This message was modified Jun 6, 2011 by jimsocal
Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #17 Jun 6, 2011 7:16 PM
Joined: May 30, 2011
Points: 9
I'm not sure if anyone really cares, but I have another update for you all.  

They just tried to delivered the fourth mattress, which would be our second Pure Latex Bliss Nature.  Before they even got it upstairs I had to tell them we were refusing delivery because the bag had been taped shut and was partially opened.  Additionally, when they were taking it back out of the house, we could see that the bottom layer of foam was crack all the way up the center of the mattress. We have pictures of all of this.

If the mattress does not arrive in a sealed bag, and had been previously taped shut, doesn't that pretty much mean that it's a used mattress?  I mean, all three mattress that they have removed from my home they have put into the plastic that the (supposedly) new mattress arrived in and taped up, just like how the "new" mattress arrived today.  So, please tell me if I'm making an unfair assumption here, but I it seems to be fair to conclude that the mattress they tried to deliver this evening very well could have been in someone else's house and very well could have been slept on, or in other words, a used mattress was sold to us as new.  That's illegal, no?

A few days ago I posted a complaint on Ripoffreport.com, and Cathy Sable responded with the usual "customer service is very important to us, etc etc, please email at...".  Well, we did email her, and have no heard back.  We have also filed a complaint with the BBB.  I am really hoping that this can be resolved without going to small claims court.  

Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #18 Jun 6, 2011 8:04 PM
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Joined: May 13, 2011
Points: 170
It's possible that someone opened it to check it before delivery.  But then again..... your conclusion is probably more likely given your story thus far.  Cracked foam?  Ugh.
Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #19 Jun 6, 2011 8:18 PM
Joined: Dec 17, 2009
Points: 850
Cracked foam?  Do you have pictures you can share with us?  I would think for latex it shouldn't be the case. As for the packaging I wonder...most beds are just shipped in plastic bags and they are usually heat sealed.  However most beds I sell these days are wrapped in plastic and shipped in cardboard boxes, these are usually only taped shut as they simply don't require heat sealing or they don't want to melt plastic because they want to avoid any odour whatsoever.  I wonder if this mattress is shipped to the retailer in a cardboard box or not.
Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #20 Jun 6, 2011 8:22 PM
Joined: Apr 15, 2011
Points: 163
m123 wrote:

I'm not sure if anyone really cares, but I have another update for you all.  

They just tried to delivered the fourth mattress, which would be our second Pure Latex Bliss Nature.  Before they even got it upstairs I had to tell them we were refusing delivery because the bag had been taped shut and was partially opened.  Additionally, when they were taking it back out of the house, we could see that the bottom layer of foam was crack all the way up the center of the mattress. We have pictures of all of this.

If the mattress does not arrive in a sealed bag, and had been previously taped shut, doesn't that pretty much mean that it's a used mattress?  I mean, all three mattress that they have removed from my home they have put into the plastic that the (supposedly) new mattress arrived in and taped up, just like how the "new" mattress arrived today.  So, please tell me if I'm making an unfair assumption here, but I it seems to be fair to conclude that the mattress they tried to deliver this evening very well could have been in someone else's house and very well could have been slept on, or in other words, a used mattress was sold to us as new.  That's illegal, no?

A few days ago I posted a complaint on Ripoffreport.com, and Cathy Sable responded with the usual "customer service is very important to us, etc etc, please email at...".  Well, we did email her, and have no heard back.  We have also filed a complaint with the BBB.  I am really hoping that this can be resolved without going to small claims court.  

ma
Sure, we care! You know, your point about possibly being used mattresses is a good one. I did a little checking online, and it looks like federal law allows reselling mattresses, so long as a red or yellow is attached indicating the materials reused. Apparently, some mattresses are recovered and resold. There are also some states that regulate sales of used mattresses, but apparently enforcement is lacking. See the links below for more information. It seems entirely possible that this company is engaged in reselling used mattresses without saying they are used. How else account for the cracks, bedbugs, and stains? Come to think of it, what are the reputable companies going to do with their comfort exchange mattresses? It can't be cheap to dispose of them, and why let all that good stuff go to waste, anyway? I imagine there must be a submarket in selling "gently used" mattresses to "used market recyclers" as they are called in the second article below, or even possibly some budget mattress outlets. Could it be....? I'm just sayin...At any rate, if used mattresses are being sold as "new" and not beling labeled as such, I believe that is a clear violation of federal law, at least. You might try that angle.

Anyway, see these for more details.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5340515_laws-resale-used-mattresses.html

http://www.rtoonline.com/content/article/Apr08/ISPA-UsedMattressEnforcement042508.asp

Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #21 Jun 6, 2011 8:47 PM
Joined: Jan 5, 2011
Points: 17
weewillywinky wrote:

 

ma
Sure, we care! You know, your point about possibly being used mattresses is a good one. I did a little checking online, and it looks like federal law allows reselling mattresses, so long as a red or yellow is attached indicating the materials reused. Apparently, some mattresses are recovered and resold. There are also some states that regulate sales of used mattresses, but apparently enforcement is lacking. See the links below for more information. It seems entirely possible that this company is engaged in reselling used mattresses without saying they are used. How else account for the cracks, bedbugs, and stains? Come to think of it, what are the reputable companies going to do with their comfort exchange mattresses? It can't be cheap to dispose of them, and why let all that good stuff go to waste, anyway? I imagine there must be a submarket in selling "gently used" mattresses to "used market recyclers" as they are called in the second article below, or even possibly some budget mattress outlets. Could it be....? I'm just sayin...At any rate, if used mattresses are being sold as "new" and not beling labeled as such, I believe that is a clear violation of federal law, at least. You might try that angle.

 

 

There are several mattress liquidators I found in Florida, and on at least one of their websites they state that they get their mattresses through multiple ways including customer returns. They discount them extremely heavily but still...

 

Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #22 Jun 6, 2011 9:17 PM
Joined: May 30, 2011
Points: 9
Budgy - I do have pictures.  I'm going to try to post them but I'm not entirely sure how, so if they aren't showing up, it's because I didn't do it right.  Also, the Pure Latex Bliss mattresses have an inch of foam under the latex.  It's the foam that's cracked, not the latex.  We measured how deep the crack is, and it's about an inch, so the crack basically goes all the way to the latex and then stops.

WeeWilly - I don't think I came across the sites you linked to, but I did some googling as well and found pretty much the same info.  

 

The first picture is the mattress we still have in the house, so the third delivery.  The second picture is the mattress we didn't accept delivery of today.  The dark line in the yellow area in the crack.

This message was modified Jun 6, 2011 by m123
Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #23 Jun 6, 2011 10:22 PM
Joined: May 30, 2011
Points: 9
Okay, here's a shocking update for you.  We just got an email from the guy we spoke with earlier.  He forwarded our request for a refund to his manager, and she approved it!  He said he'll be contacting us tomorrow to arrange the pick up of the "merchandise" for Wednesday. 

So now I guess it back to the drawing board for which mattress to buy.  Any suggestions?  haha

Re: What would you do? Having big problems with Sleepys
Reply #24 Jun 6, 2011 10:44 PM
Joined: Apr 15, 2011
Points: 163
m123 wrote:

Okay, here's a shocking update for you.  We just got an email from the guy we spoke with earlier.  He forwarded our request for a refund to his manager, and she approved it!  He said he'll be contacting us tomorrow to arrange the pick up of the "merchandise" for Wednesday. 

So now I guess it back to the drawing board for which mattress to buy.  Any suggestions?  haha


Woohoo! Not a day too soon! Hopefully, this lesson will be learned not just by you, not just by us, but by that vendor. That would truly be a win-win-win situation. CONGRATS!