Hi Simmons,
[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.
Phoenix