I'm sorry that you had a bad experience.  But I don't think your experience is unique.  There are many complaints all over the 'Net and from actual live people I have talked to that what they had delivered to their homes was NOT like the mattress set they tried in the store(s), even though the bar code says it's the same thing.   With all of the cost-cutting and the zero-inventory / just-in-time stuff manufacturers are doing, I suspect that they buy from a variety of suppliers, and they constantly put pressure on them to reduce the cost, and manufacturers everywhere are making cost-cutting decisions that might possibly result in some wide variances in product quality or characteristics.  Garbage in = garbage out, and if major companies are buying from a variety of suppliers on low bid, then I don't find it difficlut to imagine that some mattresses or cars or refrigerators have different quirks and different service lives than others of the exact same model number and bar code.  A cash flow problem may make them switch temporarily from Brand A fantastic foam, to their Brand B or C suppllier, if money is a little tight and they think that the product quality won't suffer too much, or the customer either won't notice or won't pitch a fit about it.

That is exactly why my next mattress will not be a major label like any "S" brand, or Restonic, or Laura Ashley or any of the rest of that low budget mass produced "carp."   I want PREDICTABLE quality and performance from the mattress that I buy.    DO ANY OF YOU MAJOR MANUFACTURING BONEHEADS EVER READ THIS BOARD!    THAT'S RIGHT:   YOU ARE NOT GETTING MY BUSINESS.

Sorry for the hikack.   If I were you, I'd take the loss and return the thing.  There are far too many complaints about "not as demo-ed" or "it now has changed consistency and is a POS" after only 30 to 120 days.

I have worked in manufacturing, in chemical process and heavy industry.   I know the seamy underbelly of it really, really, well.   Customers put downward price pressure on us, we put it on the supplires, everyone bumps down the chain, trying to get someting for nothing.    And sometimes, the product we turn out is:   JUNK.

The good news is that you have come to the right place to try to find a solution, because a lot of us here have tried about everything.  The bad news you already know, how difficult it is to find a good mattress when the industry does everything to hide what is inside, and that it is a very personal choice based on needs, weight.. back or side, lumbar problems, etc.

Before I get lenthy, many folks have made a too hard bed perferct or acceptable with just one inch of latex topper.  In fact, not long ago someone posted about making a Stearns and Foster Firm perfect with a one inch topper. Search 1" latex topper, S&F, Stearns and Foster... etc. to find it.

I have posted several times about one inch latex toppers, having tried a 20 ILD "soft" from www.foambymail.com and a 14 ILD "softest anywhere" from www.Sleeplikeabear.com.

Either might turn the firmer SF that you might swap for into a perfect bed.   The 14 a noticeable bit softer than the 20... and almost double the price.  FBM product had a couple of glue in repairs that dont' affect performance, the SLAB product was perfect.  My body can feel the difference from 14 to 20... but not the quality or price.

The problem we all face is that you just don't know what will work long term until you try it.  I have been through 20 mattresses from dealers that "felt fine in the showroom"  and killed my back when I slept on them for one night or more.  And at least 100 combinations of toppers of memory foam, latex, and now turning to "conventional" ;polyurethane foam from www.foamdistributing.com (also foamfactory Inc that owns foambymail.com)

I am 170 lb 60 year old male, lower back pain, back and side sleeper and am chasing the same solution.  I can't stand the heat of mem foam, it doesn't support the lower back, etc.

Latex is cooler, can improve a firm bed and turn it into something you can sleep on, but you have to fumble through the different topper choices.  www.overstock.com has a vast offering of reasonable toppers.

Back to your situation.  Can you return for a refund less shipping restocking?  How much is the upgrade to the firmer higher grade Stearns?  Here's why it matters:  many of us are using a cheap firm bed basically as a set of springs and building our own "comfort layer" of 1-3 inches of "something" on top, be it latex, memory foam, or conventional foam.  AFter $6000 worth of mattresses, I am "working with" a Serta Perfect Sleeper Auburn Firm... picked up at Sears for $450 and tied on the roof of my car to save $69 delivery fee.  It's easy.

Using an expensive S&F for that is a waste,  Serta has interlinked coils, which many have stated are more supportive for lower back problems (you and me.)

The Stearns you (and I) bought is a pocketed coil model like Simmons.  Isolation is good, form fitting is good, but not for lower back.

So if you must swap, do research for continuous coil models offered, and swap for one of those, and plan to try some toppers of varying thicknesses and materials.  You can buy twin sizes while you are experimenting.... then buy another one, cut them to each cover half if you are lucky enough to hit it right first time around.

Both suppliers mentioned will take returns with shipping and restocking fees.

Must run, but good luck and I will check back.

shovel99

These are the posters who fixed a S&F with 1 inch topper:

http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/sf-1-talalay-love-it/13919-0-1.html

The mattresses I have really liked, over the years, are oldies.  One is a '60s White Dove (they are in Cleveland) that is probably built on the Holland springs, and it also has a coil box spring.  My parents had it, and they still use it.  The twin bed I had as a kid had belonged to an adult earlier, and it was positively the hardest mattress I have ever slept on, and I loved it.    The one that I sleep on now is an '80s Imperial tight cover full size that I bought in Nitro, WV (not far from Huntington) brand new for $125 for the set, new but a discontinued model, in the late '80s.  I think it's a Bonnell, and is probably one of their hotel models of that era.   It was on a guest bed until my husband and I split, and I've used it 5 years since and don't have any complaint except I want a queen size now.   I wrote another post about what models I have tried recently, looking for a high quality AND LONG LASTING firm mattress with little foam.   The pocket coils don't seem to have the durability but now they are offering some 13 or 13.5ga, so we maybe will see a little more consistent long-haul performance and hopefully longer service out of them.    Back in '88 or so, I bought a Restonic queen set that was widely praised and got good reviews.  It was jumk.  It sagged under my weight ,land I weighed 120# tback then.   When I married, my big husband broke a spring in it within 2 months.   We replaced it with a tight cover firm Sealy Posturepedic set for $550 in 1993, and he quickly beat that one into a pulp, too, lol.

I need to run out the door and demo a S&F 'ultra firm' in a nearby Sleepys, to see if that is a direction worth pursuing.

I could end up forfeiting $130 if I return it ($200 if they charge me a fee to pick it up). To replace with a firmer S&F ('Ultra Firm' is only available in the next higher grade of S&F) so it would cost an additional $200-$325 to make an exchange and upgrade to the Ultra Firm. Then I'd have to purchase the topper(s) which is going to add up. The cost of this S&F is already more than I wanted to pay, I'm not at all certain how to proceed. 

I believe they will replace mine with the exact same mattress for free.

My dilemma is I'll have about 24hrs to make a decision, so I'll be time pressured. I do not have to work tomorrow, so I'll be able to reflect a bit.

I'll report back this evening: thanks for all the wonderful input and support.

-Lovegasoline

Just consider:  eat the $130 restock fee, or buy from Sears.com the Serta Perfect Sleeper Rivermist firm.  Mattress and box $584.  If you don't need new box spring, will be about $120 less.  Deliver to store... drive it home.  That's what I did.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SP100A421S1979950602P?prdNo=87&blockNo=87&blockType=G87

Or take your $130 hit and buy somewhere local.

Very firm= no padding, or maybe even stronger coils.  Varies with price point.

Will you have another 30 days if you swap?

Inside your 30 days, buy a queen sized 1 inch 20 ILD & 32 ILD talalay latex topper for $89 + $93 delivered here: 

http://www.foambymail.com/LatexTQueen.html

With these you will be able to experiment to try just one inch of soft, two inches of soft, (fold in half to try),

one inch soft over one inch firm, two over one, two over two.

You will have been able to try most of the options of latex toppers ranging from nearly the softest at 20 ILD,

to medium firm underneath.

If you don't like any of it, you can return it all for a small return charge.  Foambymail.com now accepts returns... they

did not when I first started on this quest.

During the same period of time, you can try one inch 4 lb mem cool and 5 lb sensus toppers from overstock.com.  Cheap, but not returnable.

And in a few days, I will complete my try of high quality polyurethane foam 1 inch of "supersoft" over 1 inch of "HD 36" medium firm from www.foamdistributing.com   I am very optimistic that that combo is going to be right for me.. and maybe you with similar back situation.

The "supersoft" feels like somewhere in between the two softest latexes, but more solid feeling... less "bouncy" than latex... almost like firm memory foam (tempurpedic firm product) when you first lie on it.

Both queen sized pieces of this poly foam, and it seriously high quality look and feel and density... cost a total of $36.

The reason that most shy from Poly.. jimsocal calls it Peee Yeeeew.... is that it breaks down faster. I'll buy new ones every other month if I need to to get some sleep... although Ithat won't be the case.

If you can find a latex combo that works for you, it will be a long termer.. the stuff just lasts and lasts.

Good luck.

shovel

These oldie mattresses that I mentioned, they are mostly springs and they must be heavy duty springs like you can't afford to buy nowadays.   That Dove does not sag, after all these years.   The twin mattress, I no longer own because my dad took it to hunting camp and used it there, and he has since sold the camp. 

This evening I went to Sleepy’s, Bloomingdales, and Macys all in NYC, Manhattan (I live in Brooklyn). None of these stores had the ‘J’ level Stearns & Foster in Ultra Firm. The ‘J’ level is in S&F’s Luxury line, not their higher end coil-within-a-coil Estate line.

Macys had two mattresses that felt very good, both from their Macys branded Hotel Collection (made by S&F and variations on their Estate coil-within-a-coil series): the Classic Tight Top Ultra Firm, and Classic Tight Top Super Ultra Firm. The Super Ultra Firm may have even been a bit too hard, but a 2” topper would more than likely make it quite comfortable. These were about $1,500 delivered, mattress only (I have a platform bed). Nice, comfy, and too expensive. A topper would only make it moreso:

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=421041&CategoryID=43092

I tried the S&F Estate line Ultra Firm for about $1,300+ delivered w/taxes. Felt hard, but a topper might make it very comfortable. Again, too expensive. 

Macys also had a Sealy Posturepedic Ivory Mist Tight Top Firm, which felt firm, not a perfect mattress, but decent: $600 delivered.

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=453350&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

On thing I recognize is how challenging is to make objective judgments on comfort by just laying on a mattress in the store. My sense is that it’s going to take 8hrs, in each position (back, side, stomach) to really know the effect a mattress has on the body. But I’m learning.

I applaud those who are taking their comfort into their own hands and tailoring their mattresses, and also those performing mattress surgery. Surgery however seems too severe a measure on a brand new $1K mattress.

I’ve been an active climber for almost 20 years. I try to spend several continuous months a year living outside in the mountains and desert, sleeping under the stars. This means sleeping on a couple of thin closed cell camping pads and a sleeping bag. For years my shoulders have had a torn cartilage injury and they can still be sensitive if sleeping on very hard ground on my side. Nonetheless, in the outdoors you rough it a bit and make  do, sometimes I’ll place some clothing under my sleeping bag to add to the padding.

One season not far back, a friend alerted me to a very rare find: a brand new, large, solid sheet of either 3” or 2.5” thick open cell foam, it was either full or queen size, leaning against a dumpster. I do not know the name for it, but it’s the common, regular, dull yellowish foam used everywhere (even for egg crate packaging). The foam was as new, resilient, fresh. Outdoors folks will often use this foam in a van or pickup truck as a mattress. I took it back to my sleeping area, which was solid rock. Actually, the rock sloped down a little (!) but I folded the sheet of foam in half placing the thick bend on the down-sloping side so the sleeping surface remained level. Effectively, it made a 5” – 6” solid foam mattress on top of solid rock. It was amazed: it was among the most comfortable ‘beds’ I’ve ever slept on! Recall, I’m about 5’11” @ 135lbs, very slender but also very muscular. It was supportive and comfortable, even cushy. In the outdoors, especially when traveling light, one always expects to sacrifice some comfort, but this was really a supremely comfy setup. No back pain in the morning that I can recall.

Based on this, I can easily understand how 2”- 4” of high quality topper foam, over whatever suitable foundation, can make for a totally comfortable supportive bed. I must profess that I’m not certain if I’ve ever felt latex foam. Of course, I’ve been read many accounts claiming it to be a superior product for both mattresses and toppers, and I’m curious to see what the hoopla is all about. On the other hand, a few years back a girlfriend had a memory foam mattress topper and I disliked it … it felt too ‘gummy’ and too ‘slow’.

Is there a source to test or view latex toppers and/or foam in NYC? I'd like to check into this.

******

Back to my return/exchange dilemma. Sears.com is difficult to get a clear answer from customer service. Every operator I call gives me a different policy. I do not want to have to eat the $200 to return this, but this mattress is too soft for me. I have less than 24 hrs to make a decision how to proceed. Btw, I do not have a vehicle here in NYC. WIth enough notice and persuasion, I might be able to get a friend in NJ to help me out with his pickup. 

Any ideas, please keep them coming. 

Thanks so much for the ideas.

Shovel you have come at the problem in a very flexible and efficient manner. On your own mattress, are you doing it as a surgery or simply adding toppers?

One thing I see often mentioned is coil count. I understand that gauge, metal, and construction combine to resulting in the spring system's support, but all things being equal, is a higher coil count from a manufacturer more desirable? I notice the Serta mattress you reference has a relatively low coil count.

Some mattresses I tested felt like laying in the back of a moving pickup truck or laying on a trampoline, I'm exaggerating of course, but the nature of the mattresses movement had a resemblance. I suppose that is the nature of intertwined coils, it feels a bit funky to me. The feeling of isolation and form fitting has a lavish effect and is one of the features that drew me to the S&F. I may be a little loathe to surrender that. I'll try to search on lower back pain and coil design.  

Your topper strategy is very well though out and clever method of testing without expensive irreversible commitment. I wish you well on your PU/HD36 trial. As I mentioned up thread, I slept for about four months on a block of open cell PU foam of some common variety and it did the job wonderfully. Come to think of it, the other really good sleep in the last few years was in a rather nice hotel near an airport on a layover, I can't recall the hotel chain but the mattress was pure heaven and no back pain in the morning ... and I'm usually reluctant with hotel beds due to fears of saggyness or softness.

I'm feeling very much time pressured as I believe I have to make a decision today, or get stuck with this mattress. I don't feel as if I have it quite figured out just yet. The Sears store is also a very long commute to the other side of the city, numerous transfers subways/buses (I'll keep the Home Depot rental in mind TC, I remember seeing those vehicles parked at the store). 

Last night latest try - poly foams 1 inch soft- 1 inch hard.  was a disaster.... waaaaaayyyyy too hard. I got up at 4 am and started playing musical toppers.  I should disclaimer my advice as coming from Thomas Edison.... just before he discovered the electric light!  It was said that after his 10,000 failure, he was asked "you have failed 10,000 times... don't you think you should give up?"  He replied" I haven't failed 10,000 times, I am getting closer, because I have eliminated one more way it can't be done!"

At 4 AM I resorted to an earlier attempt that was OK:   1 inch of 4 lb eco friendly memory foam from overstock.com (laugh) which is pretty good mem foam for cheap, but laughable streaky green!  Under that was 1 inch of 20 ILD latex.  I have been experimenting with a section of firmer foam on the bottom layer from the lumbar region to feet, (1 inch for example) for more support there, because I read that mattress makers do that to support the greater weight  "zoning".  Last night it was the 1 inch of latex (firmer than mem foam)  from lumbar to feet on the bottom and from lumbar up to head softer memory foam, then a complete layer of 1 inch of memory foam.  I believe that will be the ultimate solution, but not there yet.

I have not resorted to surgery.  I hate to destroy what could be the wrong matttress so I can't sell on craigslist for even $100-200.

I am now questioning the wisdom (for me at least) of the latest mattress (my "base") being continuouls linked coil.  The last time I slept "pretty well" was on a 12 year old lower to middle range simmons beautyrest.  I have not slept on anything but a beautyrest since 1973... until my mattress nightmare started 5 years ago to accommodate my Princess with a firmer mattress.. and the first 5 or six we tried were BR.   The beautyrest has their industry changing pocketed coil which was the industry standard for accomodating spine curvature in an inner spring mattress.  Then others found ways around the patent, and foams arrived.  Foams can be more mechanically tied together by cell structure than the independent coils.  See:  bowling ball.   Maybe the extra firm linked Serta is too hard to accommodate without a ton of expensive latex, and I have found that to me it feels to jelly like unstable when I am perced on top.  So SCRATCH MY SUGGESTION TO BUY A LINKED SPRING MATTRESS WITHOUT A BUNCH MORE IN STORE RESEARCH BY YOU.

Coil number, design, and gauge are a good question.  The larger the gauge number, the smaller the diameter the wire.  The smaller the coil diameter, the small the footprint it can leave on your body, so all else equal, more is better.  Simmons has more smaller coils, but supposedly from many posts they are not tempered. (Simmons typically 15 ga down to 13 ga. ) To an engineer.. that means:  not a spring!  On the other hand, the comfort layer if poly foam which was heavily used up until perhaps the last 10 years when mem foam and latex came invogue.    The upstart of the separate vs linked, tempered vs untempered issue is that Simmons has reputation for softer accommodation and caving in earlier than Sealy.  Sealy rates 6% higher on a website that has amalgamated all the net ratings of matress types.   66% pos for Sealy, 61% Simmons, 59% Serta, and memory foam 80%, latex 79%.  Sealey and Stearns (common ownership) use larger coils, stiffer gauge, fewer, and are tempered.  I think most of their models are linked springs.

Hotel mattresses.  I sleep better on most hotel mattresses... quite a few in my travels, and pursued thought of buying one either asking the owner which one (ought to buy the exact one!)   or a hotel mattress program.. they all have them.  If they didn't have a program, they couldn't tell me which one.. or the makers so obfuscated what was what by changing names and private labeling ... even in their hotel mattress program (read comments of failed attempts to do this by buyers) that I wasn't willing to throw another $1200 to 2000 at the problem.

Wanted to give you the update, and sorry I can't be of more immediate help.

Good luck, shovel99

Regarding tests:  I have spent hours lying on the mattress in the store.  Up to 2 hours at a time.  I even thought about asking for permission to sleep over!  Could you talk Macy's into that?

In the many hours of in store vs.. at home sleeping overnight, what felt fine... perfect etc. in the store ALWAYS was too firm by the time I got it home.  May be just me with "need firm for my bad back" in the back of my mind.  The problem is that I need form fitting for side, too, and that damn compromise is my problem.

First line of defense: talk sears into giving you more time, but if not, I would take it back and eat the restock fee.  At least get them to agree to credit it back of you change your mind and buy another sears mattress?

Good luck,

shovel99

I ended up giving this mattress to a friend who is heavier than I am(I only weigh 125# and am 5'6")and she got a couple of months out of it before it started to kill her back as well.  ( I had been reduced to sleeping the perimeter of the bed because the entire middle was horrible...it was a CA King and 4 nights/week  I have the entire bed to myself).  Looked good, sucked to sleep on.

If you like pocket coils, and need to get another S and F. do go up to the next level and get something with less P/U foam inside...it dies really quick.  I know this particular bed feels good in the store...,my mom wanted to buy one and I didn't let her.  She's going to Better Bed this week for her new bed. 

Please listen to me...save your back...find a friend with a truck and move the sucker yourself....just don't keep it!

Kait

I am about to call Sear.com again.

If I can exchange without a pickup/delivery fee and/or without a restocking fee, and also get a 30 day return policy on the replacement mattress, it may make sense to select another mattress at Sears and at least channel the funds, which would otherwise be lost, into that.

But, several factors influence this:  foremost is if I can select an appropriate mattress and its pricing at Sears is good. I had put off purchasing this mattress for a very very long time due to my finances. Unfortunately, I do not have a cushion of funds to lose while making wrong decisions.

I’m curious, if a consensus is that interconnected springs perform better for lower back pain, what ‘spring chassis’ are people going with? Is there a make/model that is modestly priced that has good springs and with a minimum of shoddy padding? I’m pretty much certain that I will not perform mattress surgery on a brand new mattress…any modifications would more than likely be by adding topper(s) to a too firm mattress (of course, if committed to the mattress and farther down the road it becomes unusable, then yeah I could see doing mattress surgery to replace the foam). At least that is how I see things now. I think I also need to be careful in overcompensating for the present soft mattress by buying an absolutely rock hard mattress. Yesterday, I found myself asking the salesmen to show me the firmest mattresses they sell; they are the only one I was interested in.

What about the firmer end of the Sealy Reserve line?

Unfortunately, if I return my S&F mattress to Sears, I lose $200 (approx. 25%) of my budget. It's looking rather grim. 

PS: regarding S&F reviews: I had read that S&F previously had made some poor foam choices in their mattresses and experienced an unusually high level of sagging and returns which damaged their reputation and that in 2009 they redesigned and spec’d their mattresses & foam. Possibly many of the negative reviews relate to the mattress’ redesign.

PSS: Shovel, sorry your back wasn’t pleased. LOL, I too asked a salesman if I could sleep overnight ; )

Good news. I spoke with Sears and they told me that they are going to treat this as a defective mattress. 

Therefore, whether I do an exchange for a different model or decide to return the mattress for a full refund, I will not be charged any pickup/delivery fees, or restocking fees. Of course, if I pick out a different mattress, I pay (or get credited) the difference in price,  but the original transaction is maintained, so that the 18 months at 0% financing on my purchase stays in effect. It took numerous calls and transfers to speak with a customer service rep who had the authority and responsibility to give me a definitive answer, but now that I have it, I think that's very fair policy from Sears. They also granted me a couple additional days (till Friday) to make up my mind as I'm at the 30 day warranty deadline today. Kudos to Sears' customer service.

Now that's taken care of, I really need to survey my options and arrive at a solution. 

So where do I resume my search? Do I look for a spring bed that is well constructed - and since all the modest priced major brand mattresses appear to be constructed with low grade foams - look for one with as little padding as possible and adjust comfort with topper(s)?

Perhaps go downward in mattress quality/price and use the money saved for the toppers?

Oh, the salesman in Bloomingdale's suggested I might like a horsehair mattress, but didn't know where I could shop for one.

Do I need to enroll in a PhD program?

I'm guessing all the foam mattresses will be beyond my budget. 

With a limited budget, and many folks confirming that your expectation of buying one that you will both like.. and last any length of time is out of the question... I recommend that you find the stripped down solid Sealy posturepedic from the reserve line.  736 better coils on the reserve line, and without the expensive foam, will be cheaper.. both of what you want.

It is terrible plowing through Sears.com's abysmal search engine but I found this at sears.

Sealy Posturepedic Theory Firm Queen Mattress Only

It has 736 tempered 14 gauge coils.. good.. should last.

Minimum layers of crap foam to go bad.. on which to lay your latex.  Wore out before finding this with box spring, but hopefully you can get this or something close in budget... and with two x one inch of talalay latex (start with just one inch, 20 ILD).... maybe we can get you into the luck out zone.  Given that you have a similar sleep pattern and back situation as I do, you will not likely want much more than 2 inches at $90 each anyway.  Or experiment with the cheap foam I have experimented with budget constraints?

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM240649799P?prdNo=31&blockNo=31&blockType=G31

Or search www.usmattress.com for models and excellent descriptions of what is inside, and ask Sears for a comparable model to which they can point you?

Good luck,  gotta fade.

shovel99

If you're still shopping, you could look at Keetsa at 69 Mercer in Soho. They sell an innerspring mattress that uses latex comfort layers instead of P/U foam, as well as several memory foam models. I've never been in but they look like good products on the website, and aren't too outrageously priced.