Edited: Need a suggestion for a Serta or Sherwood bed.
We had a Beautyrest Firm which was just a bit too firm but no sagging over 10 years. yeah. Now that husband now has back issues, we made mistake of buying a new bed thinking it would help. We’ve liked some hotel inner spring Sealy and Serta beds and another Serta Applause beds we bought for our RV, etc. So we decided to buy a new Serta iseries bed. We went with Serta since they are local to us in So Cal, and we are somewhat okay with our RV mattress that we got from them.
Anyway, We like edge support and to sit on the edge and sleep on the edge. We bought the iseries Honoree cushion firm in Easter King that has encased edging. We got Eastern King so our kid can sleep in between us at times. Boy what a joke! It seemed fine in the store, but the model that came to our home was defective! It was 73" wide 79" long instead of 76" wide and 80" long and it was semi-collapsed on the side. One inspection, and they agreed right away to return it. Here’s the problem. I have heard from several people that manufactures can short change a customer up to an inch in width because beds are hand made. If I order an EK and give up 4" in length, I want that 76" width. I also want a good bed. Further, we got hot in the Honoree. I was so warm, I moved to the couch in the middle of the night. – So much for cool gel!
I find out tomorrow if they will refund me or merely exchange. They only carry Sherwood and Serta. I am not a temperpedic person, so I’ve ruled that out. I read that the Applause was replaced with the Vantage which also has the cool get. I am not sure if Vantage will be cooler given that there is less comfort layer? Vantage is cheaper than the Honoree line, but I know that might not mean much.
Whatever I buy needs to have inner coils and a hard edge. I can have a latex top or high quality foam. I want a medium feel to the top – not too squishy were I sink and not too hard that it’s a brick. It also can’t move like a water bed or be super bouncy because of our active kid.
Do you have suggestions in the Serta or Sherwood lines if they only allow me to exchange? They suggested I just got a defective Honoree, but it was still hot. Even if I get one that is the correct with and doesn’t have a collapsed side, I don’t know if I should trust it. Money isn’t an object at this point.
There are no exact sizing standards in the industry for mattresses or components and they can vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer depending on the dimensions of the materials in the mattress that they order and the thickness of the cover that goes around the foam layers or components (the foam layers are always smaller than the final dimensions of the mattress itself).
You can see Serta’s standard sizing and variance here and if a mattress you purchase is outside of their standard dimensions then it would be “out of spec” and would be a warranty issue.
Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress or decide on the types of mattresses and materials that you are most interested in trying or that you tend to prefer and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to know which specific mattress design or combination of materials would be best for you based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). What is “best” for you either in terms of a mattress or a manufacturer/retailer can be very different from what would be “best” for someone else.
There is more about the most important parts of the"value" of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses but it will come down to …
Testing for PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) hopefully using the testing guidelines in the mattress shopping tutorial.
Checking for the quality and durability of the materials inside the mattress to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress (see this article)
Comparing for value based on #1 and #2 along with all the other parts of your personal value equation that are important to you (including the two preferences you mentioned … temperature regulation and edge support)
There is more about the many variables that can affect sleeping temperature in post #2 here. A mattress that sleeps warm for some people may be fine for others depending on where they are in the oven to iceberg range and on the temperature and humidity in your bedroom but the mattress protector or any mattress pad you are using, your sheets and bedding, and your bedclothes can all have a significant effect on sleeping temperature regardless of your mattress and in some cases changing these may be all that is necessary to keep sleeping temperatures inside the range that you are comfortable with. Gel memory foams can be cool to the touch but they tend to have a temporary effect on sleeping temperature when you go to sleep at night but it doesn’t normally last throughout the course of the night (see post #2 here).
You can see some comments about the Vantage in post #2 here and as you can see I would avoid it along with most major brand mattresses or any mattress that uses too much in the way of lower quality materials that would be an obvious weak link in the mattress or where you aren’t able to find out the quality and durability of the materials inside the mattress (see the guidelines here).
With the Sherwood mattresses your chances will be higher that you can find out the quality/density of the materials inside the mattress so you can make a more informed choice about the quality and durability of a mattress you are considering.
Hopefully you will be able to get a refund and start all over again so that you will have much better options to choose from. If this happens then the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choice … and more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
If you are only able exchange your mattress for another mattress that they carry then you would be in a more difficult position with more limited choices. If this turns out to be the case then post #2 here has more information about the two different strategies that you can use to help you make the best out of a more difficult situation. Which one of the two strategies would be best for you will depend on whether any of the mattresses in the store are a good “match” for you in terms of PPP and on whether you can find out the specifics about the quality and durability of the materials inside any of the ones that are to make sure they don’t use lower quality materials or have any obvious weak links in their design.
[quote]
Hopefully you will be able to get a refund and start all over again so that you will have much better options to choose from. If this happens then the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choice … and more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
Phoenix[/quote]
Thank you for the reply. They are returning it. I had to raise a stink. Tip: I bought it on my CC and said I would just contact my CC company and dispute it because I didn’t receive the right product. It was defective, so I said I technically did not receive shipment of what I ordered. Moreover, I am stopping the purchase.
After reading your blogs and testing a few more out, I am leaning toward an innerspring firm base with latex in the comfort layer. I don’t want all latex because I like some edge support and a firmer base.
I laid on a spring air lavender but I can tell the top is latex and other foam. I am not sure how it will last. I laid on another Spring Air four Seasons. It was a base with a reversible separate topper. I read some bad reviews on line but I feel as if the reviews were covering a different four seasons model because of how it was described. Anyway, need a list of manufactures who sell to stores in So Cal that have innerspring beds with latex. I’ve tried searching the internet and only found one company in Arizona, but I’d have to put my own bed together – not in the cards for me. Thanks.
I’m glad to hear you were able to return your mattress even though it took “raising a stink”. That means that this time you will be able to look in some different directions.
I would be very cautious with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the specifics of all the layers in the mattress (see this article) to make sure there aren’t any lower quality and less durable materials or “weak links” in the mattress.
I would also 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 either in terms of suitability and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or in terms of durability (see post #13 here). Reviews about the knowledge or service at a particular store can certainly be helpful but when it comes to the specifics of a mattress they won’t provide you with the type of reliable information you will need to make an informed choice about how well you will sleep on a mattress, how long you will sleep well, or the “value” of a mattress purchase compared to all the other options that are available to you either in your area or online.
I’m not sure where you are in Southern California but the better options I’m aware of in the Los Angeles area (subject to the quality/value guidelines here) are listed in post #2 here and the list for the San Diego area is in post #2 here.
While I don’t keep a list of specific mattresses that each of the many retailers or manufacturers that are included in the hundreds of forum lists for all the areas around country have on their floor (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) … if you check their websites or make a few phone calls to the different options on the list you will find that there are a number of them carry innerspring/latex hybrids that would be well worth including in your research.