Hi firebluephoenix,
Mattress Direct Express is a brand new company and is clearly more of a marketing company than a mattress manufacturer but I did call Joseph (the owner) to find out a little more about them. He told me that he works with several factories (they don’t manufacture their own mattresses) and that he would put me in touch with one of his reps that could answer my questions in a little more detail (he wasn’t completely comfortable that he could answer my questions as completely or accurately as I may want and said he should be able to call me back in the next 24 - 48 hours).
The site itself is more about online marketing techniques and search engine rankings than mattresses at this stage and some of the pages are based on a “fill in the blank” template which doesn’t make complete sense to me (see this page where “latex vs memory foam” is used in the context of describing a specific mattress and if you click on the top menu it brings up a different city instead of the menu information). They also don’t disclose prices or the specifics of the materials (and their price quote page requires more information than I’m comfortable providing just to find out prices) but he also was open when I mentioned to him that the “style” of the site made me very cautious and clearly indicated that I was dealing with marketing people rather than “mattress people”. He also told me that he hoped to add a series of educational videos on the site and he did listen carefully to my initial impressions of the site and the “red flags” it produced for me.
The specific mattress that you were quoted on appears to be good value (although they don’t mention whether the Dunlop is 100% natural or a bend) but there are also many other options in a similar value range (see post #21 here) where you would be dealing with “mattress people” rather than “marketing people” and who are more knowledgeable about what they are selling, have more flexibility and options available in terms of mattress design (such as layers that can be re-arranged or exchanged), have more experience in providing guidance about the most suitable mattress choice, have a physical presence so you know who you are buying from, and have many years of experience in the industry.
I should also mention that what you were told about being the “only latex factory in Arizona” is not accurate. Latex International doesn’t have a factory in Arizona and there are many manufacturers (including several members of this site) of the site that have their own mattress factory make latex mattresses that use latex made by Latex International.
Overall … at this stage I would treat this site with the normal caution that goes with any brand new business where the source of the materials and the knowledge and experience of the people behind the site and who makes their mattresses is not yet fully known.
I will add more information to this thread as I receive it.
Phoenix