Hi DanielH,
No problem … although there is also no problem naming a company right from the beginning because your satisfaction with a mattress (or how it feels for anyone) has little to do with it’s quality or material value and someone that is unhappy with a mattress and didn’t make the most suitable choice certainly doesn’t reflect badly on a manufacturer … it’s just part of reality. There are always some percentage of people who for whatever reason are unhappy with the choice they made and I think most people understand this (at least on this site) and that how someone feels about their mattress has little to do with how the next person may feel or with the quality or value of the mattress (except of course on an individual level).
I’m not so sure that I would agree you are seeing things “rightly” or with the title or premise of your thread or that the encasement is the cause of why you don’t like your mattress (as I mentioned in my earlier reply this is much less likely in the deeper layers). I’m sorry to hear that you made a purchase you aren’t happy with but the encasement deeper in the mattress could just as easily help as hinder, would be a less likely cause of your symptoms, and it’s certainly not a “bad” thing to do or “sad” that they do it IMO. If someone preferred this mattress over another design then it would be a “happy” thing they were doing and both would be based on the PPP of that mattress relative to each person. One is not “better” than another … only different and each design offers pros and cons. There would have been no way to predict your experience down to the level of detail that most people wouldn’t feel. There are many manufacturers that use cotton, wool, separate covers, or coir in between their latex layers and it certainly doesn’t detract from the mattress and would have an effect that was even larger than the encasement. It’s just a different design that is part of what makes each mattress suitable for one and not so suitable for another. Latex always performs “like latex” because of course it is latex and part of mattress design is combining materials to create the feel and performance that is the design goal of the mattress.
I certainly agree that no mattress is worth any price (even free) if you don’t sleep well on it but it certainly isn’t a premium priced mattress based on the quality of the materials or the material value of the mattress. Of course it’s certainly a premium mattress compared to other mattresses that use lower quality materials. It’s unfortunate though when you are in a small minority where a layer exchange doesn’t solve the issue. It may also be worth reading post #2 here which has some suggestions (outside of a comfort exchange) that you may find helpful in isolating the underlying cause of why you are tossing and turning or at least ruling out some of the possibilities.
Again their comments are based on their experience and for many people it’s accurate. The quilting they use actually adds to the cost of the mattress vs a cover that doesn’t use any quilting materials so it’s unlikely that they would use materials in the mattress that costs them more if they didn’t believe that it provided a benefit to most people. Of course what works well for one doesn’t work as well for another but all good manufacturers do their best to make a mattress that “most” people will like in a price range that has good value. I don’t perceive this as anything but telling you what for many people would be accurate in their experience. The quilting actually does help most people sleep cooler so this is not “salesmanship” at all. A quilted layer though does change the feel of the latex (in some cases firmer and in some softer depending on the type of quilting) and hopefully you’ve tried sleeping with the cover unzipped (which I’m guessing from your comments you have) to see if this makes any difference. If you have tried the mattress without the quilting and this didn’t help then it means that the quilting layer isn’t the issue either so neither the deeper encasement or the quilting layer are the most likely reason you aren’t happy with the mattress.
Their banner clicks through to a complete explanation of their policy. I hope you read the specifics so you were prepared for shipping charges in case you were one of the few who needed a return and factored that into your personal value equation. If you didn’t then of course your research wasn’t complete. If you did then this is under the category of “best efforts all around” don’t always work out but has nothing to do with the manufacturer. The return policy is as much a part of the purchase as the mattress and finding fault with it after a purchase is like buying a piece of wooden furniture and then finding fault with wood because you didn’t like it. It was part of what you chose to purchase.
To use your own words … you are saying some of the “right” things but saying them with a kinda negative “tone” or “vibe” which implies to me that you are trying to find fault in their design or policies where none exists. They are very transparent and nothing about their mattresses is hidden (unlike most manufacturers). You are also using my reply as “ammunition” that you are somehow correct in your assumptions when that’s not what my post says at all. It only talks about tradeoffs that can affect how a mattress feels. Each consumer is responsible for the risks they take on with an online purchase and is responsible for making sure they know and are comfortable with any return policy if they are one of those who needs to use it and this is just part of good research for any online purchase. Of course this is always disappointing and nobody likes to be in this position but it happens. When everyone has done their best to make you happy (which is everyone’s goal) and they have provided you with several layer exchanges (instead of just one which is their policy and for which it seems you don’t give them any credit for going above and beyond) and then implying that somehow they are doing something “wrong” or their design is somehow “flawed” if you are one of the small percentage of their customers that aren’t happy with your choice certainly isn’t what I would call a balanced or fair approach.
The facts are that you made the best possible choice available at the time and they not only gave you their best possible guidance that was most likely to succeed … they did more than they were required to do with the exchanges when you weren’t happy. Hopefully you were fully aware that there were some risks involved and were completely comfortable with those risks and the possibility that you would be outside the averages. It seems to me that everyone did their best to make you happy with your purchase and then, like some things in life, it didn’t work out. That’s just the law of averages and something that each person needs to be prepared for with any important purchase without needing to find fault or changing “how” they say things or using negative “vibes” to somehow imply that something else is wrong when it really isn’t.
If you have any idea of why you may be tossing and turning or experiencing any other “symptoms” on your mattress … it may be worthwhile doing the detective work that might find a solution without having to go through the expense of returning it … and to the degree possible I’d certainly be happy to help … and based on my experience with them … so would Brooklyn Bedding.
Phoenix