Liz writes:
Hi,
I'm in a bit of a mess with a mattress purchase, and I need some help. I have exchanged several mattresses, at one of those large chain stores, over the course of the past 3 month's. I'm currently sleeping on the Simmons Beautyrest Legend plush mattress, and based on your previous blogs, I know that I paid too much money. At this point, I don't care about the money. I just want to sleep! I have been sleeping on this mattress for two weeks, and my back is killing me. I've been on a firm mattress, plush mattress, mattress with a foam topper, ultra plush mattress, mattress with a gel top, and now this mattress. Each time, I find my back hurting in one way or another. Either my middle back is hurting or my lower back is hurting. I just spend last night in my daughter's bed, which is a Sealy Arrondale, and although my back still hurts, it hurts less. Based on my research on the Arrondale, it's a cheap mattress, and based on my research on the Legend, it's a beautiful mattress (high priced, of course).
Is it possible that my back is just such a mess from all of the changing of mattresses, and maybe I just need to give this one a little more time? I'm so confused and I just want to sleep! Any thoughts on my situation?
Thanks for your expertise.
Liz
Liz! Do I have any thoughts!?! Do popes retire?! Does it snow in the desert?! (Woke up to that yesterday morning...pretty cool).
Well, of course I have thoughts. So many, that I'm afraid you might be sorry you asked. You'll want to sit down for this.
Things are as bad as they are, at the big box stores, because it's all about making the sale....any sale....as opposed to making the right sale.
This mind set is many years old, now. The philosophy is to saturate an area with stores and saturate the air waves and newspapers with advertising.
The key is the advertising. Like sheep, you wander into one of these big box stores because it's their ads you've been seeing and hearing for so long.
And then, when it comes time for you to buy, you go there...because you've heard so many good things about them.
You don't know where you heard it, but you heard it to frequently that it must be true. It's a head game and they play you very well.
By saturating an area, they put a lot of small retailers out of business. In some cases, their area has grown so large, that they swallow up other chains.
What drives their businesses is advertising. It, literally, drives people through the door. It's, also, expensive...extremely expensive. In order to pay for all that advertising, the prices have to go up.
But, you don't bother to shop, you just buy.
They have to sell you the first time in. If you leave and shop, you won't go back. In the case of your store, if you call your state's Attorney General's office or the BBB, you won't go back.
All of the money they invest is designed to "make the sale"....the quick kill, so to speak. (Not an exaggeration. Many salespeople refer to you as victims)
The quick sale is enhanced by many things. There is a tremendous amount of hype exuded by the store's appearance and spewed by the salesperson. They are sure to include every catchphrase and buzz word.
In hiring, these people are chosen because of their affability. They are especially trained to believe, themselves, the bull shit that comes from their mouths.
Not only are you dazzled by a river of believable mis-information, you are confronted by a very likable and believable sales person. These salespeople only know what they're told. They don't know very much about what they sell, only how to sell it. And, with a mattress being a blind item, you have no idea what's inside...other than what the salesperson tells you. It's a clear case of the blind leading the blind. But hey, what are you worried about? You can always exchange it if you don't like it. I can see that hasn't worked out too well for you. You can take some solace in the fact that you're not alone...I hear about it all the time.
Not being fooled by all of this is something you learn by having experienced it....as you have. Most of my customers are like you. I get you at a point where you've had enough and are looking for what you originally set out for...that which eludes you through all of the nonsense...a good and lasting night's sleep.
Another thing that the big box stores do, is flood their sales floors with comfortable mattresses. Anymore, it's a sea of pillowtops and memory foam...all designed to "make the sale"...all very comfortable when new.
Remember, they have to make your sale the first time you go in. The focus of all their mattresses is comfort and profit. The salesperson will show you the most comfortable and most profitable items in the store first.
Now, if was just a matter of over paying for a good night's sleep, that would be fine. There are plenty of items that we over pay for, every day. If you get what you want, so be it on the price. What really hurts is when you don't get what you want, along with the privilege of over paying for it....as in your case (again, you aren't alone).
So, hear you are, with a mattress that was comfortable a short time ago, that is no longer comfortable, causing pain. "Soft mattresses cause pain"....a simple rule of thumb.
OK Liz. It's time for a break. Get yourself a glass of iced tea. I'm just getting started.
This specialty mattress chain store thing goes back only 30+ years. At first, growth was slow, with many small chains restricted to their geographical areas. Overtime, a few chains grew and many smaller chains were swallowed up by the large chains. For some years, it was still ok. It didn't matter where you bought or what brand you bought, you couldn't buy a bad bed.
17 , or so, years ago...enter Tempurpedic. Memory foam is introduced on TV infomercials. I remember seeing the ads back then. Like now, they show you a piece of foam that is pressed into...and when the hand is pulled away, the hand print still remains in the foam. I remember thinking, "Who, in their right mind, is going to think that's a good idea!?!". Frankly, I didn't think they'd survive. But, I was wrong. They survive and thrived and grew and legitimized by getting off TV and into stores. As time when by, Tempurpedic grew to absorb more and more market share.
Sealy had been the industry leader for many years. In a panic over reduced market share to Tempurpedic, Sealy relinquished that title to Tempurpedic. Sealy, Simmons, Serta and all the other brands, scrambled to make a memory foam mattress to compete with Tempurpedic. They all claimed to have a superior product. Of course, all memory foam is junk. All they could do is produce an equally lousy product, but not charge as much for it....not having the advertising overhead of Tempurpedic. But still, they all took to the dark side in their embrace of memory foam....and corporate greed found its way into the mattress industry.
Before you knew it, all mattress were being made one-sided. The hype, "you don't have to flip your mattress anymore". The reality, "you can't flip your mattress anymore". You now have half the mattress you used to buy.
Adding memory foam to almost every mattress increases the comfort level and decreases longevity. So, Hooray! We can sell more mattress by shortening the number of years before you're ready to buy again. No more 10 to 20 years waiting for you to need a new mattress. Today, that sea of pillowtops and memory foam mattresses is a mine field. Few, are the good mattresses, and mistakes are easy to make.
The Legend plush is an over priced piece of junk. The store that carries it, over sells it...telling you that it is at the top of the Simmons line. Nothing could be further from the truth. But then, when you shop at that store, you really should bring a priest with you to give the truth the last rights.
Get rid of it. It's too soft and not providing proper support. The Legend is also available in firm. Trade what you have for that one and you should sleep a whole lot better.
Thanks, Pete
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