I shopped for a month two years ago for a new mattress and wanted something really soft and plush. I found and bought that with the exact base they had in the store. Yet, when it was delivered it was WAY too firm. I was told that was normal and that it would wear in over time. I slept on that torture device for a year (the return policy was practically nonexistant and had a huge fee), and ended up switching to the guest roomâs 15 year old mattress, which is somehow much more comfortable.
I canât sleep on the ânewâ mattress, but it is supposed to be amazing. It cost an arm and a leg and Iâm incredibly upset that I canât sleep on it at all. I donât want to have to add a topper to it because itâs already hard to get a fitted sheet around the pillowtop, but I donât want it to go to waste. Is there anything I can do?
I canât find a tag or papers at the moment, but it is a the ultra plush Serta hybrid, if I recall correctly.
Hi Frustrated2564,
Welcome to the Mattress Forum! 
Iâm very sorry that your Serta hybrid isnât working out well for you â I know that can be frustrating. 
It is true that there normally is a period of âbreak-inâ where a mattress will lose some of its âfalse firmnessâ. This usually takes anywhere from one to three months for most of these changes to take effect, depending upon componentry. Youâre obviously past that.
My first thought would be to make sure that you received the correct item, checking the law tag and confirming it is the same name as what was tested in the showroom. Many mattress brands will offer multiple comfort choices of the same model name within a line up and they will often use the same color ticking (covering) so honest mistakes can be made. Aside from that, if an item is dramatically different from the showroom model after three months or so, I would ask the store to send someone out to take a look at your mattress personally so they would feel the difference and see if they are in agreement with you. Mattresses are made by humans, and it certainly could be possible that a mistake in a foam layer could have been made. I know that youâve had your mattress for two years and these are not options that are available to you at this time, but they can serve as a guide for people viewing this thread with a similar problem in the future.
This first thing I would tell you to do, and I know this sounds simple and is not meant to be insulting, would be to make sure that your mattress is oriented properly with the correct (padded) side facing up. Believe me, it happens more often than you would think.
The common manner to add plushness is the addition of a topper or some sort of padded mattress pad, but both of these would require what sounds to be a deeper fitted sheet than what you already possess. Aside from that, you could look at a topper or comforter to place directly on top of your fitted sheet and encase that in its own duvet cover. Those would be the best options that immediately come to mind without getting a deeper fitted sheet.
Phoenix