Mattress Return/Exchanges

I am hoping Phoenix will respond to this message since he seems to very knowledgable with types of mattresses and companies.

We are seriously looking at buying a mattress for my husband and I. My back has been killing me since March/April and I have been going to the chiropractor to get rid of the pain. Recently we have realized that we are 95% sure it’s our mattress. We went to the chain stores to look at mattresses such as Mancini’s, Mattress Discounters, etc but didn’t get any good information from them as to types of mattresses and which one is better. We liked the fact that these types of stores had a certain number of days after buying to return/exchange if it’s not comfortable. We laid on the Tempurpedic and liked it so we thought we would go down that route but then we heard how much gases and carcins it gives off. We decided not to purchase Tempurpedic, so now we are back to step 1. We went to a local mattress store here in San Jose and really liked what they carried since they were either organic, natural and just better for your health type of mattresses. Of course going the healthier route always seems to come with a higher price tag. We really liked either the Pure Latex Bliss Blue line, I believe the name of the mattress is called Natural which is about medium firmness and the Ethos Luxury Plush (I believe the natural peace). Our concern is this…I asked them what is there exchange/return policy and they said 0%. He said the reason is because you get a brand new mattress. He said “when you buy a mattress from chain stores such as Mancini’s, Mattress Discountors, etc. and then return or exchange it, the factory doesn’t take it back so where do you think it goes?” he says “They spray it down to disinfect it package it back up and resale it.” That really grossed me out to think that they do that. Is this true? The salesman said they are salary and don’t get paid commission. What if I don’t like the mattress I’m stuck with it if I buy from them. That’s a drawback but then again I don’t want to buy a used mattress that someone else returned. What is your knowledge of the return/exchange vs. a store that has a no return/exchange. Thanks

Hi maggirus,

In some cases yes. Although a used mattress that has been returned and disinfected should have a tag on the mattress to identify it as being used (this varies by state) and would normally be sold at a deep discount at a liquidation store … in some cases some of the more “shady” stores will sell them as new or as “floor models”.

There is more about what happens to mattresses that are returned or exchanged in post #2 here and there is more about return and exchange policies in general in post #3 here and the other posts it links to.

Whether a return or exchange policy has value to you would depend on your confidence that the mattress you are purchasing is a good match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and on how carefully and accurately you tested it before a purchase. The cost of all return and exchange policies are built into a mattress and in stores that have return or exchange policies the customers who don’t return or exchange a mattress pay for the ones that do. All of this is just one of the tradeoffs that are part of each person’s personal value equation and the parts of a mattress purchase that may be more important to some and less important to others.

The best place to start your mattress research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices, identify all the tradeoffs that are most important to you, and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the San Jose area are listed in post #2 here.

Phoenix