Hi, I recently purchased a Stearns and Foster queen mattress from Costco, and took it back after only three months due to sagging. Was this an anomaly or just a cheap model from the Stearns and Foster line?
I’m a stomach and side sleeper and am looking for a mattress that’s firm enough so I won’t have a sore back in the morning, with a soft enough topping that won’t give me sore shoulders or hips. Considering my sleep habits, I would appreciate any advice you might offer regarding innerspring vs foam, degree of firmness, plush top vs pillow top, etc.
The inability to comparison shop due to the manufacturers’ collusion with retailers is driving me nuts and makes me want to avoid all of them for engaging in this deceptive practice…unfortunately, I need something to sleep on!
I’m in northwestern Washington State, any assistance you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Joe
Hi Sleepyjoe, sorry to hear your mattress is sagging so soon. As I understand, many of the old standby names (S&F, Sealy, Simmons etc) are headed downhill in general quality. Many sources say this has happened a lot in the past 10yrs or so, my S&F was older than that and didn’t hold up the way I’d hoped. Some manufacturers make different price point products (economy versions) to compete with lower price brackets, could be a defect, hard to say.
General consensus seems to be that pillowtops are the worst when it comes to premature sagging. (They were my favorite construction type). Too many layers of low density foams to give that ‘cushy’ feel and they’re more prone to breaking down and losing that initial comfort and leaving body impressions/sagging. A plush top has a little less ‘fluff’ on top compared to a pillowtop or euro top. So that may reduce the problems some. After talking with a lot of smaller mattress companies (not huge nationwide chains) they all had similar stories of people warranting their mattresses due to sagging after several months to a year. It’s becoming more the norm than the exception unfortunately.
I’m sure Phoenix can help out with places to search out in your area, he’s got a ton of resources for options in various locales.
While this happened to you sooner than it would for most people (and in some cases this can be because you made a comfort choice that was already “on the edge” of being too soft for you … see post #2 here) … most of the major brand mattresses use lower quality materials in the comfort layers and early foam softening and the loss of comfort and support along with “virtual” impressions that aren’t covered by a warranty aren’t uncommon at all after a few years (sometimes sooner as in your case) and is one of the reasons I would suggest avoiding them completely (see the guidelines here).
The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the Bellingham area are listed in post #14 here. There are a wider range of options in reasonable driving distance in the Seattle region in post #2 here or if you are comfortable with cross border shopping in the Vancouver list in post #2 here.
[quote]The inability to comparison shop due to the manufacturers’ collusion with retailers is driving me nuts and makes me want to avoid all of them for engaging in this deceptive practice…unfortunately, I need something to sleep on!
Thanks, Joe[/quote]
This practice by the manufactures drives me nuts. I am with you on that one … I got to the place I hated driving by retail mattress stores. In our area … Mattress Firm is the absolute worst. This is why I did a lot of research and ended up purchasing a mattress that was exactly what I wanted top to bottom inside and out. So far so good.
Thank you all for the quick responses…I have done my homework by reading the tutorials, and while they are very helpful, I’m still having trouble nailing down the specifics on individual mattresses…most likely because the manufacturers don’t want to make it easy for me to be able to make side by side comparisons. However, I certainly consider myself better prepared than before to tackle this daunting challenge. Thanks again, Joe
I think the most effective approach to step 3 of the tutorial (who you choose to deal with) is to call and talk with them before you visit to confirm that they can provide you with the information in this article before you visit them.
The knowledge, experience, and transparency of the retailers and manufacturers that you decide to deal with can be one of the most important parts of your research and a successful mattress purchase.
This is why I did a lot of research and ended up purchasing a mattress that was exactly what I wanted top to bottom inside and out. So far so good.