When car shopping one can easily go from one dealership to another and compare various models with relative ease. Example: a Toyota Camary is still a Toyota Camary no matter how many dealerships you visit. Automobile manufactures make it easy for the consumers to evaluate comparable models through catalogues, Internet sites, and trained sales associates.
The mattress and box spring industry on the other hand does not seem to want to make it so easy, as a matter of fact it is quite the opposite and darn near impossible to compare mattresses. Visit your local store that displays brand name mattresses or even the not so well known mattress brands and you may feel as though you are among feeding sharks. Make an effort to discover out how a mattress is constructed, sales associates often provide you with fluffy feel good answers and forget trying to pin them down to specific mattress details they would rather throw you out of the show room rather than relinquish that kind of information.
Albeit rare, Ford, Chevy, or Toyota rarely position stores across or down the street from one another. The mattress and box spring industry however seems to saturate local markets encouraging every Tom, Dan, and Harry to sell their mattress line regardless of their location. Even worse, is that they now make available too the enormous big box stores, large mattress and furniture store chains a privately labeled line that discourages cross shopping. If the truth were to be told, large companies are at fault for the unfair practice by encouraging manufactures to custom build and tailor special beds that carry exclusive labels. These are exclusive mattresses lines they can claim as their own and are hard for the consumer to shop.
Unfortunately for patrons these manufacturers will display different model names, differ in construction make up, fabric patterns, quilt stitching and even total weight. These comparable mattresses are supposed to share similar construction only offered with a simple change of the fabric color and a change of the name on the label. The reality is that it could be a lower-grade product. Protection of these large retail cash cow dealers is imperative especially in the cases where mattress dealers are in close proximity to one another.
It would seem that getting the mattress specifications would be as simple as asking for them. Not always true, many companies practice low price promises but fall short when it comes time to compare. Example XYZ store sells Brand A with the model name “St. Louis” for $599.While ABC store also sells Brand A but carries the model name “Kansas City” for $649. Even though ABC Company guarantees to beat competitor’s prices they are able to wiggle out of having to so by claiming that the mattresses are not the same.
So what is a consumer to do? Fight back; ask for the written specifications. This is a sheet listing the entire mattress construction and make up. It should include coil count, steel gauge, and each layer of upholstery. It should describe what the layers are and their make up including foam densities and ILD or IFD. What if they won’t or can’t get it for you. Find a store that will.
tempurpedic donated 8,000 mattresses in 1 year and they had more returns is that a lot? Why do they get so many returns?
This is extremely off topic.
Confused, you asked if it was a lot and answered your own question as to why they get so many returns. So I will say this, a person would have to put that number into the context and know exactly how many mattresses Tempur Pedic sells.
Assuming you are referring to Tempur-Pedic International Inc. vs. Waste to Charity Inc. I found little information on the case.
Apparently the alleged contract agreement had forbid the sale of the 8000 Tempur Pedic mattresses that had been allocated for donation to Katrina victims. The suit in federal court accused numerous groups & individuals of unlawfully selling more than ½ of the 8000 donated mattresses for a profit. Apparently only 2,650 mattresses were found.
Are you suggesting that Tempur Pedic donated 8000 mattress returns that they accumulated through their test trial period because they could not get rid them?
I doubt they had 8000 returned mattresses lying around anywhere. In my opinion to have such an accumulation of returned anything from a business standpoint makes no sense at all.
Yes all of the 8000 were return mattresses from people. ALL from 1 year.
Also TP took off all of the used covers that were on the mattresses.
TP own guy said this.
They are still donating lots of returns after this and the charities are selling them again. MY question is still why do so many people return Tempurpedic mattresses?
Very interesting and entirely plausible. Please send link if you have any public info or statements concerning the matter. For 2 years we sold Tempur Pedic and then replaced it with Isotonic. I never got one back, so I do not believe it stems from a quality issue with the 8000 mattresses. They build a great mattress.
According to Furniture Today Magazine they are in the # 4 spot for total number of mattress sales. Never been done by a specialty mattress manufacturer. In mattress $$$ sold, that puts them with the likes of Sealy, Simmons, and Serta and they are in fact ahead of Spring Air. With that in mind 8000 mattresses might be generated from that kind of overall sales volume.
A mattress is a test it b4 you buy it purchase. Cars and shoes, are rarely purchased without testing first, mattresses should be thrown into the same group. My guess would be that they sell a lot through TV via infomercials or Internet. A person can’ test the mattress first for comfort or to see if it supports their back properly, more likely to be dissatisfied in my opinion.
Another possibility: weak sales associates suggesting to the customer, just buy it and then if you don’t like it, that it can always returned for another or a complete refund. This is pathetic sales technique to close a sale that benefits no one. The sales associate needs to take the time to help the customer select the proper mattress the first time around. Through a proper qualifying process the associate should be able to determine if the customer is a Tempur Pedic candidate.
What do you think about the whole thing? Love to hear your opinions on the subject.
Tempurpedic is in a lawsuit about donating $15,000,000 of goods in 1 year. They are going after a charity and made the charity and owner go bankrupt because they said they sold some of the mattresses for $ and the mattresses were ment for Katrina but they do not tell you that they have donated mattresses to Waste To Charity since 2003. I thought that this is what charities do to raise $.
TP never said that thousands of mattresses were used returns yes almost 8,000 in 1 year and people needed to go through them before you could give them to someone because again they were used without the about $200 TP cover and without a label or box. What if the used TP mattresses had germs and the charity gave them to a sick person. Would TP be charged if something happened. Do you think that if people knew that TP charges you when you do not like the bed(after they 90 day trial) and want to give it back people would buy one knowing how many returns they get. Is this why TP does not tell people that the mattresses they donate are not new.There is NO box NO TP cover and there is no label on the mattress. Does it hurt the store owners if TP donates these beds in areas where dealers sell the TP brand? I was told TP is still giving the mattresses to a charity that was selling them for $500 a trailer to others.
I am not about to say that TP made the charity go bankrupt without knowing all the details and it very well may not be true.
Posted above are couple scenarios that I think reasonably address the 8000 number. That number may not be a bad number when looking at the overall picture and many other various factors I’m not privy to nor do I know. I do not work for them nor do I sell their products.
I sure don’t claim to understand the legalities of it all, however I do know that many companies and many individuals, people like you donate used mattresses every day to charitable organizations. Based on the little knowledge I have on the issue is seems Tempurpedic made a corporate decision that should have benefited both Katrina victims and the company. Were laws broken? Were people who needed help, helped? Was there intent to harm? I guess those are questions a lawyer will ask and answer.
I have volunteered where used mattresses were donated to families in need. The families were fully aware that the mattresses were used and they had the opportunity to refuse them. Personally I have donated through churches and charities used mattresses and sofas of my own. If that makes me more susceptible to such lawsuits for merely trying to give a fellow human being an alternative to the floor and not wastefully dumping the mattress into a landfill, well that was my choice and I feel did the right thing. I hope Tempurpedic did the same. My point of the article was to deter unscrupulous dealers’ who rebag mattresses that have been returned. Those dealers then sell them as new to unaware customers, a topic touched on in this article. https://www.stlbeds.com/articles/2007/11/26/comfort-guarantees-whos-been-sleeping-on-your-mattress/
A good contract between the charity and Tempur Pedic should have spelled out that the mattresses were previously used waiving TP from the responsibility of warranty blah blah blah. I would think Tempur Pedic had that all worked out in the contract. If the charity was never told about the alleged returned mattresses from customers then shame on Tempur Pedic and in my opinion would be deceptive? I do find it hard to believe that the charity would not of been told. Rather than speculate on details I know nothing about lets see the contract.
Not all charities sell their items to raise money. Some act as the distribution center for those in need and see to that item are distributed.
From what I read there were some questionable things either with the charity or one of its members.
I do not believe it hurts Tempurpedic dealers because the mattresses are being donated to people that otherwise could not afford one. It may have the opposite affect actually helping to promote the brand?
I have been following this case real well and TP valued there USED mattresses that have no labels and no covers on them for full value is that ok to do? $15,000,000. One of the reasons it smells to me is they make anouncements and pres releases when they donate 48 mattresses to the red cross now 8000 mattresses and there is nothing out there at all about this why?
remember 8,000 in one year not counting all that went in the garbage.