Hi killowatt59,
While most reviewers are certainly well meaning, because most reviews aren’t relevant to anyone but the reviewer and can be “influenced” so easily and in so many ways, for the most part (with only few exceptions) mattress reviews are a classic example of garbage in / garbage out even though the “garbage” may be well meaning and true to the experience of the person writing the review. You are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful (see post #13 here).
I understand that too much information can lead to “information overwhelm” and “paralysis by analysis” which can lead to some poor choices as well (sometimes made out of frustration or fatigue). One of the most important parts of your research will be to learn “just enough” to be able to recognize the manufacturers and retailers that already know what you would otherwise need to learn, and realize that this will provide you with better guidance than what a “reviewer” might recommend to for you.
I understand your hesitancy at “pulling the trigger” on a purchase and your desire for someone to tell you what will work best for you, but your continued overweighting of online “reviews” (and the inaccuracy of them as I’ve posted to you in my previous replies) will do more harm than good and only serve to drive you further “down the rabbit hole”, because if you’re looking for something that is 100% positive you’ll be searching forever (or you’ll have found a product that is working hard to scrub anything negative said about them) and never make a decision. It would be better for you to focus on componentry for a higher BMI as we’ve discussed before and then if you do decide to purchase something, make sure that they do have a good return policy just in case it doesn’t turn out as well as you had expected.
And regarding Brooklyn Bedding, as opposed to a “50/50” proposition, their current return rates is less than 5% of sales (of course that doesn’t mean that they would be the perfect product for you). Even companies producing mattresses using very low quality materials don’t have return rates of 50%.
They do offer a good return policy, and would be interesting for you to try with their two different firmness levels in one.
Phoenix