About to be married, need help buying mattress!

[typesomethingwitty]

An update:

I ordered Overnight Mattress’s “Cool Bamboo” memory foam mattress (size KING) on February 20. Eighteen later I have no mattress, and the soonest I will get it is March 20. Here is what happened…

After a week of not hearing anything regarding my order, and my Overnight Mattress account showing my payment was received, but my order had not been shipped, I called them.

All their memory foam mattresses were back-ordered. They were awaiting a new shipment of memory foam from their supplier. They told me March 9, today, was when my mattress would be shipped. I told them that was fine, I would still be receiving it in plenty of time, but kindly suggested they do a better job notifying customers when something like this happened. If not for my phone call, I wouldn’t have known.

Fast forward to today, the day the mattress was to be shipping. With the business day almost over and no change in my status, I called them again.

A friendly fellow (“Ben”) told me he had bad news. The shipment of memory foam they had been waiting for was delivered covered in mold. They returned it and we were awaiting a new shipment. My mattress will now be shipped, according to Ben, by next Friday, March 16. Ben said there was a chance it might be Monday, March 19.

I politely asked Ben if they would upgrade me to expedited shipping. He agreed, so my mattress is now 1-2 day shipping instead of standard shipping speed.

The problem:

Any more delays, and I won’t have the mattress before I get married. If they do deliver it March 16 or 19, and do ship it with expedited shipping, I will get it in time. If they don’t, I won’t.

Aside: When something like this happens I can’t help but wonder if I am being had. I paid via PayPal, and I know PayPal allows you to file a claim within 45 days. If this was happening with an eBay purchase, I’d assume by this point the seller was trying to stretch things past the 45-day mark. I am not concerned about this with Overnight Mattress – yet. But if it’s delayed again, and I won’t have it before my wedding, I am going to have to demand my money back.

Hopefully my next update will be reporting GOOD news!

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

Ouch!

I can see how all of this would be worrying for you although my worry wouldn’t be so much about the integrity of Overnight or their willingness to do the right thing as much as it would be on the unfortunate timing of all the events. Dock1 (which is their main company) has a good rating with the BBB and in my experience with them they seem genuinely concerned and committed to the reputation of their company.

What I would suggest is that you give them a call on the 13th or the 14th as they should have a better sense by then of whether they will receive their shipment on time to send it to you in time for your wedding. This is cutting it pretty fine so I would keep up to date with the situation as best I could.

I also sincerely doubt that if you are forced to ask for a refund that it would require a PayPal claim.

In any case I’m hoping for the best for you … and I hope that there are no more glitches in any other parts of your wedding planning. Weddings always seems to have their share of the unexpected though that become part of the funny stories we tell our kids … but they sure don’t seem quite so funny when they happen.

Phoenix

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

I was thinking about your circumstances and thought I’d phone Overnight Mattress to find out what their status was. I talked with Vladimir who I have talked with before and know will tell me the “straight goods”.

Here’s the current situation …

The company was purchased by another owner and this is the main reason for the delays as they transition their ordering systems. There also was a batch of “questionable” foam but this was a secondary issue and not the main reason.

This is good news from their perspective and will result in many improvements once they are once again up to speed but it also resulted in some ordering glitches of some components that led to some unexpected and more extended delays. He told me that the first of the back orders will be shipping out for certain on Monday and if this is still in time (with the expedited shipping you were promised) for your marriage … that he would make sure you were included in these first shipments if you called him (Vladimir) and referred to our conversation about “the guy who was getting married”.

If this doesn’t work for you … he also assured me that any refund you asked for would be issued promptly (within a couple of days).

I hope this fits in with your original plans but I wanted to follow up to make sure that all of this “fit” your schedule or that if you needed to you would have other options.

Phoenix

[typesomethingwitty]

Hey Phoenix!

I didn’t see your update from 3/16 until just now. Thank you for calling OM and checking on my situation! That went above and beyond the call of duty.

Right now, I’m still waiting on my mattress. “Ben” at OM had told me the mattress would ship by Friday the 16th or Monday the 19th, and that I would get an email notification. The 16th came and went without any notification, and I thought the 19th had as well. I logged into my Overnight Mattress account late in the afternoon on 3/19 and discovered my status had changed. Instead of an order number, I had an invoice number. It said my item had shipped! No tracking number was given and no email notification was received, but I didn’t care. With 1-2 business shipping, I would have my mattress by Wednesday the 21st or Thursday the 22nd, at the latest.

Well, the UPS truck has already come to my neighborhood today (3/22), and it did not deliver anything. I still have not received an email notification (in fact, I have NEVER received an email from OM…if not for PayPal’s email when I bought the mattress, I’d have zilch as far as emails go). And there still is no tracking number when I log into my OM account.

So, this means one of two things: 1) I was NOT upgraded to expedited shipping, as “Ben” told me I had been. Or 2) I was not in the first batch of shipments. My new “item has shipped” status could simply mean an invoice has finally been created, and my mattress will be shipped…eventually.

It’s now 9 days before the wedding. While it’s nice to know I have the option to get a refund if I want it, frankly, I just want my mattress. This was the mattress we liked at the price I could afford, so a refund would result in my having to likely pay more for an inferior mattress. Whether this is preferable to not having a mattress at all when my fiancee and I return from our honeymoon, I really don’t know.

Thank you again for your detective work. I will give the UPS truck until the end of my work day (to see if they possibly will make another run in my neighborhood), and then I will give OM another phone call. And I will ask for “Vladimir.”

But hopefully it doesn’t come to that…

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

When I talked with Vladimir … he seemed more than willing to make sure yours was shipped in the first batch but I didn’t have any details about who you were (except a guy that was getting married so he couldn’t look you up in the system. I wouldn’t hesitate to talk with him as he seemed quite willing to track down your order and “expedite” it.

Let us know what happens …

Phoenix

[typesomethingwitty]

Hey, Phoenix!

Latest update:

I didn’t get to call OM yesterday after work as planned, so I called them first thing this morning. I asked for the status of my 2/20 mattress order.

After getting my customer code from me, the man I spoke to said an invoice was generated a few days ago (which I knew) and that it was set to be shipped out “today…maybe Monday.” I asked if I was still upgraded to expedited shipping as “Ben” had promised me during our phone conversation on 3/9, and what day my mattress would arrive. I didn’t get a specific answer to the expedited shipping question, but the delivery date was going to be "Wednesday or Thursday.

Wednesday or Thursday. And I get married on Saturday. Not liking the notion that even a SLIGHT delay would result in me not having the mattress before leaving on my honeymoon, I explained that I was getting married next week and asked if I could speak to “Vladimir” because he knew of my situation. It turns out Vladimir was who I was speaking with, and he remembered “the guy getting married” as soon as I mentioned it.

He was friendly, of course, before this, but once he found out I was getting married in 8 days he made certain to put my mind at ease. He said he would go make sure personally my mattress gets shipped out today instead of Monday, and that I receive a tracking number this afternoon to follow its progress. I asked him if I would get an email confirmation this time and asked him to make a note of how I had not yet received ANY email from OM (not even when I purchased the mattress). He was surprised at this, and told me to call him on Monday if I did not receive an email with tracking number by that time.

So…

Vladimir was very nice and helpful, and your having talked to him on my behalf definitely helped my situation. (Thank you for that.)

If it does indeed ship today, I should receive it on Tuesday. Cutting it close, but at least I’ll have it in time!

Thank you, again, for your help. Keep your fingers crossed!

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

I hope you have the chance to let us know when it arrives.

I know that they have had somewhat of a history of delayed deliveries and some of the recent changes they have made (focusing more on online direct sales rather than through retailers that were selling their mattresses with a wide variety of different “descriptions” and pricing schemes) have been a step in the right direction and given them more control over their product and how it is presented. I’m hopeful that the change in ownership will also improve things more in the direction of faster shipping and better communication with customers because it has been the “weak” link in their customer service (shipping on time and notifying people about delays).

If they can improve this … it would make a big difference IMO and put more of the focus on their mattresses rather than on their customer service … which is the way it should be.

Phoenix

[typesomethingwitty]

Hey Phoenix.

I’ll definitely update and let you know when/if it arrives. I write “when/if” because…

Today (Monday) has arrived, but I still do not have the email or shipping tracking number that “Vladimir” assured me would arrive on Friday, March 23. I logged into my OM mattress account to see if maybe the tracking number is available there, but it wasn’t.

So, about 45 minutes ago I called OM (as Vladimir told me to do if today rolled around and I did not have an email or tracking number). Sadly, I didn’t get to speak with Vladimir or any other representative at OM…I was on hold for that long. After being “first in line” for about 15 minutes, I would be redirected to a “sorry we missed your call” voice that would then ask me to leave a message. Not wanting to leave a message, I would hang up, immediately call them back, and get back in line to speak to someone in person. By the third time this happened, I finally just left them a message. I’m going to call them back every hour, until I get a hold of someone (or someone calls me back, whichever comes first).

The lack of a tracking number means it is highly likely my mattress did not ship on Friday. And if it doesn’t ship by Tuesday, I’m highly doubtful I will have my mattress before the wedding. I try not to be pessimistic, but OM has given me little reason not to be so.

I’ll continue to pray and keep my fingers crossed, though. Thank you for your help throughout this process, Phoenix.

Update later in the afternoon:

Still have not been able to reach ANY representative at OM. Call, stay on hold for 15-20 minutes, then a “sorry we missed your call” voice asks you to leave a message. It’s as if everyone took the day off.

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

I find this very odd to say the least. I thought I would do some tracking down of my own to see if I could find out what was happening.

I called Overnight mattress and reached the regular “you are “x” in line message” and the wait time. It eventually reached the point where I was first in line and then a voicemail system came on. This happened 3 times. The third time I left a message.

I went to Coverest and tried the number there and no matter which option I chose in the menu system it went to the same extension voice mail.

I then went to Dock1 and tried the phone number there. I got 1 half ring and then nothing.

I went to their bbb page and called the local number there. I received a generic message saying “hello and thanks for calling (with no name mentioned). We are either on the other line or it is after our business hours … etc.”

I then called Black Lion who sold some Coverest products but which have been removed from their site. The CSR there told me that they had not been able to reach them on their commercial order line for about a week and so decided to remove them from their website. I found this odd since both of us were able to reach them last week on the Overnight Mattress number.

As of this point, I have nor received a call back from them.

I’m listing all of this here without drawing any specific conclusions but to keep you and any others that may be following up to date.

This could be part of the transition to new ownership or it could be something else entirely. Either way … it is enough for me to attach a caution to any dealings with them until this whole scenario gets resolved.

I’m hopeful that this will resolve itself with a reasonable explanation and results … in your case in time for your wedding. While my conversations with them have never given me any indication that anything was “wrong” and Vladimir was always appeared to be very open with me (at least that I could discern even with some very pointed questions) … it sure doesn’t give me any good feelings about them. If you haven’t heard from them by the end of the day with a verifiable tracking number … I would consider cancelling the order either with them (if they can be reached) or through Paypal.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of such “uncertain” news when I know it’s probably the last thing you needed to hear.

Phoenix

[typesomethingwitty]

Hey Phoenix.

This is worrisome indeed. From about 9:50 EST this morning to 5:30 in the afternoon, I tried and failed to speak to a representative at OM. Your not having any more success, any ANY of the numbers you tried, doesn’t bode well.

Is it just further glitches in their new system? I hope. If my mattress was shipped on Friday as Vladimir promised, shipment tracking number or no it should be arriving tomorrow (Tuesday). And if it doesn’t, and if I am once again not able to speak to an actual human at OM, I’m going to have to cancel the order.

And I won’t bother trying to cancel through them (moot point, anyway, if I can’t even reach them on the phone). I’ll go through PayPal. But, such action will ensure I won’t have a mattress by my wedding. And it could be up to a month before PayPal returns my money. Which means it’ll be up to a month before I’ll have the funds to purchase a new mattress. Not exactly how I envisioned my gift for my wife-to-be to go down.

I’m hoping I will be surprised tomorrow…that a shipment will arrive on my doorstep. I’ll let you know.

Thanks, Phoenix.

[typesomethingwitty]

Tuesday morning update:

And now, this morning, you can’t even reach their automated message system. You call, hear nothing for about 15 seconds, then you get a busy signal.

REALLY not optimistic about receiving my mattress this afternoon…

Lunch update:

I can once again reach their automated message system. Of course, after being on hold for 15 minutes, I once again hear the “sorry we missed your call” voice that asks me to leave them a message. Except now, I can’t leave a message because the mailbox is full.

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

I can once again reach their automated message system. Of course, after being on hold for 15 minutes, I once again hear the “sorry we missed your call” voice that asks me to leave them a message. Except now, I can’t leave a message because the mailbox is full.

This is also what happened to me. I agree with you that this is not good and if I was in your shoes I would initiate a Paypal refund. It can always be reversed if the mattress arrives. I’ve left a message on every number I know of that is accepting messages but they didn’t answer my message from yesterday and I’m not so hopeful that they will call me back on the others either.

I sure don’t like to see these types of things happen … and that’s probably the biggest understatement I’ll make today.

Phoenix

[Traxion]

hey typesomethingwitty, i ordered my mattress from them on 2/21. i found out they were on back order as well. called a couple time for my order status. the last time i was able to reach someone was Vladamir on 3/15 and he said they were supposed to go out the following monday. I’ve been trying to reach them all day today and to no avail am I reaching anyways.

I was ok with waiting for a good quality mattress but at this point I’m not sure what to do. I can’t reach them to cancel or even find out the situation. Would my best option be to call my credit card company?

[phoenix]

Hi Traxion,

Based on the information I’ve been able to gather or received from multiple sources … I would not wait any longer for delivery and dispute the credit card charges as soon as possible.

Phoenix

[Traxion]

Update: called them earlier today during lunch and didn’t get a response. Called them about 5 minutes ago and there’s a message that says they are out of business, so start the paypal dispute ASAP and you should have your money back in a couple weeks. Hopefully my credit card company can do the same.

[typesomethingwitty]

Hello, everyone. First off, Traxion, sorry for not noticing your comment/question before now. Though, I DO have a good excuse (I was getting married and going on my honeymoon!)

I’m glad Phoenix was able to give you guidance, and I hope you’ve been able to receive your refund.

An update:

On March 27, as it became clear something was off with Overnight Mattress, and as it became obvious I would not have my mattress before my March 31 wedding (even though I ordered way back on February 20), I initiated a PayPal dispute.

The next day, March 28, I escalated the dispute to a claim.

PayPal gave Overnight Mattress until April 7 to respond with their side of the story. Of course, as expected, they did not respond. So, on April 8, PayPal ruled in my favor, closed the dispute, and within a week later my money had been credited back to my Visa card.

The upside:

• I was able to get my money back. Being out $700+ for any extended stretch would have been a major pain.

• I got married! Though Mother Nature did get in the way (it was to be an outdoor wedding), the wedding happened as planned and we had a wonderful honeymoon.

The downside:

I was not able to have a new mattress as a wedding gift to my wife, as I had planned. Upon returning from our honeymoon, we used (and are still using) the old full-size bed I have owned for over a decade.

The two Tempur-pedic pillows I had purchased (to go with the new memory foam bed from Overnight Mattress) are very nice, though. And the 1" topper a relative loaned us has made the bed more than tolerable.

Next step:

I’m not really sure. In theory, I can just take the $700+ and put it towards a different mattress. The problem is, right now, with “married life” in full swing, my wife and I have other uses for that money. Which means…buying a new mattress is going to be pushed down the priority list for the time being.

Thanks:

To Phoenix, for your amazing help throughout this process. I’m sorry it didn’t have a happy ending, but I really appreciate all your help. You went above and beyond.

Down the road, when the time comes where we make “buy a new mattress” a priority (which could happen next week, or a year from now), I’m sure I’ll be back.

Thanks again.

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

Thanks for your comments and kind words … and most especially congratulations on your marriage

I’m glad the refund happened and while it certainly wasn’t the most ideal outcome … at least paypal came through for you and you didn’t have to pay for someone else’s problems! I’m also happy that you were able to find a “sleeping system” that works for the time being and if nothing else it would be kind of “cozy” sleeping in a double bed.

I know too how important it can be to have everything turn out right and the “gift” that you planned was quite touching to me … but in the end … the biggest gift you will ever give each other is yourselves

I’m looking forward to helping in whatever way I can when the time comes once again to choose a mattress.

Phoenix

[typesomethingwitty]

@Phoenix

Thanks for your comments and kind words … and most especially congratulations on your marriage

(…)

I know too how important it can be to have everything turn out right and the “gift” that you planned was quite touching to me … but in the end … the biggest gift you will ever give each other is yourselves

I’m looking forward to helping in whatever way I can when the time comes once again to choose a mattress.

Hi, Phoenix (and anyone else who may be reading)!

As difficult as it is for me to believe, I am approaching our 6-month wedding anniversary. It may not be an anniversary typically known for lavish gifts, but after the “buy a mattress for me and my bride before the wedding so we can begin our marriage with a new bed” saga ended in disappointment (i.e. The company Overnight Mattress going belly up), and after enduring almost six full months sleeping on a decades-old, full-sized mattress; I can’t think of a better anniversary gift for my wife than acquiring – at long last – a new bed for us to share.

The lowdown:

I have convinced my wife the earliest we can afford a new mattress is November. This allows me to, one, surprise her when we get it early. But two, because “buying a mattress” was on the agenda for November, we’ve spent the past several weeks researching mattresses together. So, I know exactly what kind of mattress she would like us to get. And after testing out latex mattresses (which were not available anywhere in the area for me to test drive back in February, but ARE available now), what she would like is a latex mattress.

The choice:

The latex/polyfoam mattress manufacturer on Amazon you have recommended elsewhere in the forum.

Since February, when I last looked at this manufacturer, they’ve been pretty busy (if all the Amazon customer reviews are to believed). Back then, their mattresses only had a handful of reviews. Now their Queen alone has 52! And all are overwhelmingly positive.

The (small) dilemma:

Beyond more customer reviews since February, this manufacturer also has more mattress options. Now, in addition to the 10" standard latex mattress (King size), they offer a 12" Eurotop latex mattress.

The standard has a 5.5" foam base beneath the 3" latex. The Europtop has 8" of foam base. The other difference – besides the $150 price gap – is the Eurotop is a zipper top that allows the 3" of latex to be interchangeable (just like interchangeability offered in the Overnight Mattress memory foam mattress I originally attempted to buy).

The question:

How big of a difference does the 5.5" versus 8" of high-density foam base make? With my larger size, should we opt for the Eurotop with its 8" foam base (and accept the “interchangeable zipper” feature as an added bonus)? Or will the standard 5.5" foam base be sufficient?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks again for all your help in the past, and thanks in advance for whatever gold nuggets of wisdom you’re about to give me!

[phoenix]

Hi typesomethingwitty,

Welcome back!

It’s hard for me to believe as well that the Overnight Mattress saga was 6 months ago … and I didn’t even get married in the meantime so I have no “excuse” for time going by so quickly (except getting older of course)

How big of a difference does the 5.5" versus 8" of high-density foam base make? With my larger size, should we opt for the Eurotop with its 8" foam base (and accept the “interchangeable zipper” feature as an added bonus)? Or will the standard 5.5" foam base be sufficient?

The main benefit of a thicker base layer (with the same material) would be more “gradual” compression and that it can be more adaptable to different sleeping positions for heavier weights. If you imagine for example a 3" layer on the floor … it will go from as soft as possible (very light compression) to as firm as it can go in the space of 3" (or a little less) before it can’t compress any more. A 6" layer will have much more room to absorb the pressure more gradually till it reaches maximum firmness and will also spread the weight around more (as you sink in more it will start to bear weight under some of the more recessed areas of the body that are compressing the foam) so it won’t reach the bottoming out point or become as firm with compression. This can be valuable for heavier weights or larger body sizes and shapes that sleep in several positions where the mattress needs to adapt to different body profiles without such a sudden shift from soft to firm.

Much of the “feel” of a mattress comes from the comfort layers so it won’t make as big a difference in “feel” although it will “help” the pressure relieving layers more.

As you mentioned … it also has the benefit of being able to exchange the comfort layer if necessary. One of the members here also mentioned today (which I didn’t know) that you can also choose separate firmness levels of the top layer on each side of a King Size.

The costs involved in a layer exchange are in post #14 here.

So the 5.5" base would be “sufficient” but IMO the extra thickness would be a benefit for your weight in terms of performance … regardless of the exchange options.

Phoenix

[typesomethingwitty]

@Phoenix

Welcome back! It’s hard for me to believe as well that the Overnight Mattress saga was 6 months ago … and I didn’t even get married in the meantime so I have no “excuse” for time going by so quickly (except getting older of course)

Thanks! I’m glad I am back picking your brain again months, as opposed to years, later. After the Overnight Mattress debacle, I thought it WOULD be years before I’d want to mattress hunt again. Of course, six months of an uncomfortable, full-sized mattress does wonders for moving up timetables!

@Phoenix

So the 5.5" base would be “sufficient” but IMO the extra thickness would be a benefit for your weight in terms of performance … regardless of the exchange options.

I figured this was going to be the case. And while a $749 mattress sounds a lot better than a $999 mattress to my wallet, I’m frugal at heart and I just can’t see letting $150 be the difference in getting a good mattress for my size and a great one.

@Phoenix

As you mentioned … it also has the benefit of being able to exchange the comfort layer if necessary. One of the members here also mentioned today (which I didn’t know) that you can also choose separate firmness levels of the top layer on each side of a King Size.

Am I understanding you correctly? This Amazon manufacturer offers “his side” and “her side” latex comfort layers on King-size mattresses? So on a 1-10 firmness scale (1 being firmest and 10 being softest), her side could be a 2 and his side could be a 8? Overnight Mattress offered this (for an added cost) by giving you two TWIN size comfort layers (two twins equaling one king), but I didn’t see this option anywhere on the Amazon description. Did I miss it?

This isn’t an option I would likely pay more for due to the fact my wife and I would want very similar firmness levels. She would be a 4 and I would be a 5 (MAYBE a 6). But if it’s an option, and the price is the same (or at least very comparable), I’d certainly consider it.

Thanks again for all your assistance!