Hi, I’m kind of hesitant to buy a mattress online, but my wife says that if I can’t trust the BBB, then I can’t trust anyone (at least as far as a business transaction goes).
There is a company named Astrabeds my wife pointed me to, and when I went to check on them through the BBB I see a stream of about 80 positive reviews coming in for them in a very short period of time. At first, that seemed to me to be enough of a selling point to give her permission to buy one (not really, who gives their wife permission for anything these days - they do what they want to, lol), but then I got to thinking, who ever goes to the BBB with anything other than a complaint?
Am I being too leary here about the string of densely populated (pattern of closely spaced) positive reviews on the Better Business Bureau website about Astrabeds? Just wanted to get the moderator of this forum’s opinion on whether it seems these reviews on Astrabeds are real or if they are somehow manufactured (if that’s even possible)? Is there too much of a pattern of frequency and positivity going on?
If someone knows better than I do about how reviews on the BBB website work (such as are they monitored, do they go live immediately without human review, etc.), I would love to know. I’ve always trusted the BBB in the past, but I can’t recall ever seeing much on a business profile other than a grade, never so many reviews unless the company clearly has ticked a bunch of people off.
Anxiously awaiting some input before from someone more knowledgeable than me before spend a lot of money, if you know what I mean.
[quote]There is a company named Astrabeds my wife pointed me to, and when I went to check on them through the BBB I see a stream of about 80 positive reviews coming in for them in a very short period of time. At first, that seemed to me to be enough of a selling point to give her permission to buy one (not really, who gives their wife permission for anything these days - they do what they want to, lol), but then I got to thinking, who ever goes to the BBB with anything other than a complaint?
Am I being too leary here about the string of densely populated (pattern of closely spaced) positive reviews on the Better Business Bureau website about Astrabeds? Just wanted to get the moderator of this forum’s opinion on whether it seems these reviews on Astrabeds are real or if they are somehow manufactured (if that’s even possible)? Is there too much of a pattern of frequency and positivity going on?[/quote]
I have no way to know whether a review is “fake” or real but I would also wonder about the legitimacy or “influence” behind having so many positive reviews on a website that is most commonly used for complaints and many of them seem more like ads than reviews. Having said that … I would be very cautious about using other people’s reviews or experiences on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how suitable a mattress may be for you or the durability of a mattress and in many cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on or vice versa (see post #13 here).
There are some comments about Astrabeds and some of their sister companies in post #2 here and in post #3 here and a forum search on Astrabeds (you can just click this) will bring up more information about them as well. They have recently introduced a new latex lineup that uses organic Dunlop latex and you can see some comments about them in posts #6 and #7 here).
Just in case you haven’t read it yet I would make sure you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial here (there is a longer and shorter version) which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones. It also includes several links (in the optional online step) to some of the better quality/value online choices I’m aware of.
Two of the more important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to buy a suitable mattress that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks involved in each of them and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability, durability, and value.
Thank you, immensely Phoenix! I didn’t realize that you had already had some interaction with them and warned against Astrabeds here on the forum. Wow, it seems like they are engaging in some pretty sketchy stuff with all of those websites that pretend like they are all unbiased and such. Isn’t that against the law, not revealing that you are affiliated with an organization when making a recommendation? They could probably get in a heap of trouble with the FTC :S .
Anyhow, from the looks of it appears to be a tangled web of deceit. I’m thankful to you for pointing this out to me. It would be interesting to see if that Joey guy stopped by here again to defend the BBB reviews or that collection of websites. Following your links and suggestions to learn more about them, I had a look at those and they all clearly make out like the Astrabeds and the Amerisleep that you say are connected are the best in consumer satisfaction. That is just downright dishonest masquerading that way if you ask me.
Beyond that, what you say about not really putting a lot of consideration into reviews because we are all so individual makes sense. Thanks for the link on the mattress shopping tutorial and the other posts that I found very useful in knowing how to approach mattress shopping in a more educated way. I’m going to have some conversations with a couple of the outlets you mention that come more recommended, and I’ll focus on the PPP rather than the BBB.
I’m glad I could help and I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding … and of course any other comments or questions you may have along the way that I can help with :).