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Mattress Firm Houston - Sun Capital Partners, LP, LLC, Etc. Boca Raton, FL ripoff- purchased most expensive mattress and REFUSED to exchange as PROMISED at purchase AFTER 8 WEEKS of RUNAROUND due to manufacturers poor quality (Stearn and Foster) Boca Raton Conglomerate Owner Florida and Nationwide (purchased in Dallas)
My wife and I purchased the MOST expensive mattress in the store in 1999, assured that "this would be the last mattress we would own, or at least for the next 25 years." We were also assured by the fact that, it's maker, Stearn's and Foster, were the oldest maker of beds in the world. Our sales rep FURTHER assured us that, since we PURCHASED the SCOTCHGUARD protectant, we would be COVERED, should we have any stain, and a technician would be on his way with scrub brush in hand the second we would call with a problem stain.
What we got instead was a slap in the face when my wife and I both were told by our doctor that her sleepless nights and the excruciating pain between my shoulder blades was most likely being caused by our MATTRESS!!! (How could this be when you spend $5000 on a mattress? It came with gold plated corners for gosh sakes! It was supposedly the best ever built, etc, etc.) We checked the warranty information at Stearns and Foster, and learned "comfort" was not a covered item, and that all warranties are handled through the seller, Mattress Firm.
Oh well, I thought, we'll just have to buy another bed, since this one is no longer "comfortable"... but wait, WE PAID $5000 for this mattress and got less than 5 years of use out of it...better call Mattress Firm! My first call was not too bad, the salesperson was helpful, and said that he had seen many of this particular mattress get returned on warranty exchange due to "indentations" in the mattress(himself included as well as a couple of other store employees), and I should have "no problem." Boy, were we ever in for a runaround.
Now, keep in mind that the pain between my shoulder pain is constant and does not improve (my wife has "learned to live with not sleeping well")- so I had been sleeping in the other bedroom on our other "much cheaper mattress," for the next couple of weeks until relatives came to stay, while hoping to receive a new mattress SOON (SINCE THEN I have been literally sleeping TURNED AROUND, with my feet where my head should be so as to keep my right shoulder from sinking into the indentation in the mattress while I sleep. My doctor was right! My pain went away in a few days).
The salesperson faxed me paperwork to fill out, in order to set-up an inspection to get a new bed. I completed it, tore off my mattress tags and faxed all of it back to him. Apparently someone did not receive the paperwork the first time when I followed up a week later so I had to submit it a second time. This time I was also instructed to take pictures of the bed and email them, showing the depression. I used a long flat ruler and a measuring tape. I took a digital picture and emailed it to the email address of the salesperson. I called 2 days later to find he hadn't received it. He asked me to resubmit. I did. I called him the next day and he had not received. I sent a THIRD time and called him 20 minutes later and he said he still did not receive, but could not check anyway because the computers were down!!!
I asked him to call me back, and check with their computer guy to find out what gives. He called me back and said that he just discovered that the anti-virus settings were updated to not allow employees to accept attachments any longer whatsoever, even if it is someoone like me trying to send my email pictures to get my warranty processed. He suggested I email the photos to the administrator. I did, and called the next day to see if he had received them. He didn't. I re-sent. I followed up the next day and he had FINALLY received them. However, there SEEMED to be some "yellowing" on the mattress fabric from the way the picture looked (Question: could camera angle and lighting perhaps make something white appear "yellow"?...just a thought), AND the way I showed the depression "would get my claim denied" (Question: Does there really need to be an instructional video on how to exchange a defective mattress?
I believe one is needed here, give me a break), and suggested that I call SCOTCHGUARD for my warranty there and that they would buy me a new mattress if they could not get the (non-existent) stain out. He also suggested that I run a long piece of string accross the mattress and show the depression that way, instead of my ruler method (all this BEFORE they send out an inspector BEFORE they send out a driver to pick up the mattress? What a joke! How many hoops should a customer jump through to get what they paid for?). So, ONCE AGAIN, time to call in the wife because "pull off all the sheets honey, it's mattress flipping time" (this frigging mattress weighs a TON by the way, and is a b***h to move, and may I also add that my wife makes it very clear to me that she doesn't like to have to re-make the bed) in order to take all these frigging pictures a second time that I could have done right the first time HAD SOMEONE TOLD ME!!!
Oops! I don't have any string!...So add a couple of days in there to go to Target and wait for the weekend, not like I have to EARN A LIVING or anything!!! I carefully pull the string out over the bare mattress diagonally, I take careful pictures that leave NO DOUBT that there is a 2 inch depression in both sides of the mattress. Now that's handled. OOPS, I forget to mention the DISAPPOINTMENT in dealing with SCOTHGUARD on the supposed "warranty" we had purchased. "Do you have your original receipt?" Yes. "Do you have the original warranty certificate that accompanied your warranty when you purchase it?" Uhhhhhh...No...why? "I'm sorry sir, we can't help you unless you have the original form." Crap! What now. The Scothguard rep says that "most stores" keep a copy of the warranty information on file and I could request a copy from them, and that they would process my claim with that information (I mean, give me a break here, my receipt plainly shows that I paid for the product when I bought the mattress.
This is yet another petty way that companys try to screw people by denying claims) Again I call Mattress Firm, seeking relief. The salesperson is clueless as to what to do. She gives me the number to the regional manager. I call him and he doesn't call me back after 3 days. I call again and he's at another store. I'm given his cell phone and I leave yet another message. I don't know how many days go by but I finally get an apologetic call by the manager who tells me that Mattress Firm no longer sells Scotchguard. Oh, and, by the way, we have no copies of the warranty forms ANY MORE. Great. So much for getting the stains removed for me.
The stains weren't bad, not much more than what you would expect from a white mattress after nearly 5 years of sleeping on it, and there was one red spot from our daughter. So I handled it myself and purchased a $40 spot-scrubber at wal-mart and spent a couple of hours cleaning this thing with some help from my mother-in-law. It turned out pretty well because you couldn't even tell that there was even a stain there before, and the mattress looked very clean- so I guess the Scothguard worked, even though it required elbow grease, a dirt-devil spot cleaner, and time on our part. Nevertheless, with the stain part "handled" I moved on to re-submitting my new pictures showing the indentations and no stains. These were received within 48 hours by the original salesperson via their computer guy. What a pain in arse. A week goes by.
I call the salesperson. He's not working today. I call another store, and the salesperson there tells me "oh, expect it to take a couple of weeks before you hear anything...it usually takes about 45 days for the whole process. " 45 DAYS!!!? All this time and now it's an ADDITIONAL 45 days!!? you have got to be kidding me. I don't think this is rocket science, but then again I could be wrong... I ask for the name of the contact person who handles warranties, and her reply was "there is no one particular person who is assigned to it. It's done in the spare time of certain salespeople." Great, I'm thinking, get ready to get screwed by yet another faceless uncaring number in some big company.
Another week goes by, still no call. My original salesperson is wondering himself why nobody has called me back to schedule the inspector. Exasperated, I call and ask for the names of all the "higher ups" and get names and numbers of ALL the Regional Managers. I call and leave messages with all of them. I call and leave some very loud voicemails demanding a callback on my warranty inspection. 3 days go by, and now the weekend is coming. Surprisingly, Late Friday afternoon, I get a call from a person claiming to be an "independent inspector" who wants to come and view my mattress. I ask him how he got my number and his response was "I just got a call to call you. You weren't on my list, but I was told to call you." I asked him how many days notice he receives on new clients, and his response was "I usually know about a week in advance."
Anyway he comes to my house 8am the next morning. He gets out his own string. He confirms my findings on the depressions in the mattress, the major defect in the mattress causing us the problems. However, after he writes out his "report" he notes that there are "multiple stains" on the mattress, and that there is a "tear" in one corner of the pillowtop. I ask to see what he is referencing. He just said it was "general" but showed me the 2 inch TEAR in the fabric on one corner. SO WHAT!!! Nevertheless, he said that mattress companies will not accept mattresses that are deemed "unsanitary" due to "stains," but I shouldn't worry about it because it wasn't too bad. Unsanitary?
The last time I checked, everybody in my family showered regularly, and we try to keep our pissing contests and crap fighting outdoors, or at least in the living room. We also EAT in the DINING ROOM. Unsanitary? What the hell crap is this supposed to mean? Anyway he leaves, and about this point it has been 7 weeks since the beginning, with 5 of those sleeping backwards (and counting). About 10 days later I receive a letter stating that my claim has been denied because of STAINS and a TEAR, and that "This decision is final." What a UN-pleasure it has been doing business with MATTRESS FIRM...a business that can't seem to get it's crap together, and then tells you it's your fault by denying your request for service when you need it. It's sad to find a company that feels it has to squeezes its profits by short-changing its customers. Shame on you, Mattress Firm. I will not recommend you to my friends. I have already found one friend who, surprisingly, had the same experience (his had METAL RODS sticking out the sides of the mattress but was also denied due to being "unsanitary."
He's going to help me picket this weekend, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.) Who's going to pay my chiropractor?
Dan
Fort Worth, Texas
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Dan
Fort Worth,Texas,
U.S.A.
The Ripoff Report BOOK...the BEST $21 I ever spent!!! thank you RipoffRevenge.com!
#2Author of original report
Wed, March 02, 2005
WEll, in short, they replaced my mattress. I did just as the book from www.ripoffRevenge.com
just as the book instructed, I followed the simple step in #1, and step 2: never having to go to step 3 or 4! just like the book said, most people never have to do!
It turned out that the principals of the company that PURCHASED mattress firm all listed their email addresses, so they each received a copy of the report early Monday morning, and then I started faxing at 9am my time.
By 10:30am the president of mattress firm called me and we worked it out!
I am now catching up on all that lost sleep on a new mattress.
It turned out that one of our good friends had the same experience and wasn't able to get his mattress exchanged for the same reason, even though the defect in his mattress was much more obvious...metal sticking out of the mattress pad.
He gave up and bought another mattress, but was almost disappointed to NOT be able to picket with me after I told him we had worked it out.
Though I am happy with the final outcome for me personally, I can't help but wonder what others have lost as a result of the attitude of this company towards warranty exchanges. Sadly, it seems pretty standard in the mattress industry from what I see others posting about other companies.
When the president had their warranty person call me directly to process the now- approved exchange, I asked him why it took more than 8 weeks to process my original request only to be denied. He had no answer.
If your back is bothering you, an exchange should happen expeditiously, not in several weeks while you suffer in pain like I did.
Having fought insurance companies for healthcare reimbursement as a doctor myself, I understand the strategy: frustrate the person wanting to get paid long enough, and they will eventually go away.
My suggestion: hire someone to professionally clean your mattress before it is inspected and BUY the RIPOFF REPORT BOOK!!! NEVER GIVE IN!!! Thank you Ripoff report!!!