I recently bought a bed that is putting my spine out of alignment. I am looking for ways to make it work for me including modifying the comfort layers. However if I cannot get it to work for me, I was told by the dealer that I have a 30 day return policy. He also clearly states on his website that he offers a 30 day trial.
I told the dealer that my spine is not well aligned and my hips are sinking into the bed much more than my shoulders. He offered a few obvious suggestions like trying different pillows and adjusting the air number setting. But after those he told me I was on my own because there is no return policy on adjustable beds.
The dealerâs website clearly states he gives a trial period on mattresses (in fact he uses it as a sales pitch on YouTube) and he reinforced this policy to me verbally. There was never any disclosure about any policy that excludes adjustable beds from this trial period. This seems very disingenuous to say the least. Does anyone have any experience with dealing with such situations?
Take screenshots of whatever material is online documenting the policy as it stands now.
Review your sales receipt and other warranty material carefully to ensure there isnât a pre disclosed exclusion for the bed you have.
Assuming there isnât anything youâve missed, review with the dealer and state that you want to return the bed (make sure this is done before your 30 days). If the dealer says no, then ask for the written return policy. Ask the dealer to identify in the written policy the section that he/she believes excludes your return.
Determine if dealer is right and you made a mistake, or if youâre right and dealer made a mistake. If you made a mistake⌠Well, it happens.
Note that many written contracts will specifically exclude any verbal or other material provided. Itâs designed to prevent sales people (and others) from inventing or modifying contractual terms and conditions that havenât been approved, so a contract would often state something like âthis agreement forms the complete and whole agreement between parties, and any verbal understandings or other communications are superseded by this agreementâ. That certainly would complicate matters if their written policy is at odds with their advertising and verbal policy.
If dealer has made a mistake in your opinion, and still does not accept responsibility, then you may be in for a fight.
The dealer has decided to stand behind his return policy after all. This is a digital guy. He either wants to make a sale and be done with it or take the bed back. There isnât anything in the middle where he helps you modify the mattress to your body. My mistake for assuming that all the educational YouTube videos he posted means that he actually wants to help you after the sale.
I need a mattress vendor to work with me to modify my bed to my body and specific needs. The search continues.
Iâm not sure if by âadjustable bedsâ you meant your mattress (which has settings to adjust the firmness) or an actual adjustable bed underneath the mattress but itâs very common that adjustable beds arenât returnable because they arenât specific to the mattress and can be used under many mattresses. Most people who buy one would still use it under any mattress they purchased.
To follow up with dnâs great suggestions for others who may be in similar circumstances ⌠if you end up âin a fightâ because the dealer is refusing to stand by a written policy that you have confirmed was part of your purchase agreement, then I would make sure they know that you intend to pursue the matter further with the various options that are available to you including the BBB, the Attorney Generalâs office for your state, and various public forums or review sites and give them a chance to correct the situation before you do so.
If they recognize that breaking their agreement will be more costly to their business than honoring their policies and they know that you wonât be âgoing awayâ then they will usually become more âreasonableâ.
The most important part of all of this is dnâs point #4 which is to make sure you are very clear about who is making the mistake because there are thousands of consumer complaints all over the internet made by consumers who made assumptions about a mattress purchase that werenât correct and âgot madâ because of their own mistake or lack of due diligence. In this case your position and recourse would be much weaker but you could also end up causing harm to a legitimate business that is only following their own policies and ends up paying for a mistake they didnât make that is actually made by their customer.
In most cases ⌠the only stores that can modify a mattress after a purchase would be a local manufacturer who can open it up again and replace individual layers or if you purchase a mattress that has a zip cover where individual layers can be exchanged or replaced. Retail stores that have knowledgeable and experienced employees can help you with making the best choice and some have an exchange or return policy (which adds to the cost of a mattress) or could sell you a topper if they carry them if your mattress is too firm but it would be rare that they could actually modify the mattress.
Thanks for your help. By adjustable bed, I mean adjustable bed base underneath the mattress. I have no intention of returning the adjustable bed base. It adjusts my position and has massage which helps my back pain. It is simply awesome. Should have bought it a long time ago.
When I say modify my bed, I mean the mattress portion. It should have zippered cover to access the various layers. The vendor should offer a feature to customizes zones with the option to modify the zones inside a trial period. That way, the customer starts with a certain amount of additional firmness under the hips than shoulders and then from there tweaks it a bit if necessary. I donât think this is asking too much.
Most retailers wouldnât have options like this but there are some who do although there are more of them that sell online than there are locally in most cases. It would only be âasking too muchâ if you expected these types of options from a retailer or manufacturer that didnât offer them so your own preliminary research into the stores in your area or online retailers or manufacturers that do would be important to make sure that you only visit retailers or manufacturers (or talk with them on the phone if they are online) that offer mattresses that match your criteria.
Many local factory direct manufacturers will âtweakâ a mattress in various ways if you arenât happy with it (with or without a zip cover) and some retailers or manufacturers also sell âcomponentâ mattresses with zip covers where you can choose and/or exchange individual layers. The tutorial post also includes a link to the members of this site that sell online and many of them sell component mattresses that allow you to choose the firmness of your layers before a purchase and exchange them after a purchase. One of these (Flobeds) also offers custom zoning features in their vZone mattress.
