After using these forums to purchase my mattress, wanted to pass long my experience.
First some background; I’m 28, 5’6" and stocky (165lbs) and single(ish) so I was looking to get a mattress after buying a house and getting a larger bedroom set. I was moving from a full to a queen and had been sleeping on a traditional inner spring (big S brand) with a 3" 4.2 lb memory foam topper. The mattress itself was insanely hard but somehow the combo worked pretty well for me.
After looking through reviews, materials, a leveraging a bit of past experience I wanted to go the memory foam route. Seemed to be the best combo in terms of my needs, materials and price. After going through forums, reviews, materials, some instore lay downs (just for a reference), I went for a medium-soft mattress. Search led me to Novosbed Aria line which happened to fit all of my criteria and perhaps more importantly a no risk return policy.
I put the order in after talking to a sales rep on the phone about the process, return policy, materials, etc. Order process went through without a hitch and mattress arrived 3-4 business days later at the front door in 2 boxes, one box had some pillows and the other box had the mattress. Mattress was heavy (probably 100 lbs-ish) but dense enough for 1 person to carry around and move up stairs if need be. I would definitely not recommend anyone move/place mattress if they are smaller or have back problems. After opening the vacuum seal packaging mattress was to about 90% of final size within 5 minutes. I didn’t notice much off gassing but I waited the recommended 24 hours before sleeping on the mattress.
My first impressions of the mattress were pretty good. Mattress was cut to exact queen size and the cover was high quality with good stitching. Memory foam was level and even without any lumps or dips. Laying on the mattress felt plush and everything looked like I had selected a great mattress for the price.
Unfortunately that’s about where my luck ran out in the comfort department. After a few nights of rather restless sleep I started to notice some lower back pain but thought it might have been the result of a hard workout or just an adjustment period. I tried the mattress for a few more weeks and started to realize that the mattress was just a terrible fit for me. It seemed to not have the lower support that I really needed but at the same time still the comfort layer was still probably too hard for my liking.
After a month or so I ended up moving back to my old mattress and my back pain almost immediately subsided so I realized I was unfortunately going to have to return the mattress. Honestly I was dreading the process as I was expecting to have to jump through hoops to claim the return policy.
I called up Novosbed and the customer rep was extraordinarily helpful (Gaille) and walked me through the return process and was not pushy or upset about me requesting a return. Novosbed actually contacted our local Salvation Army and set up a donation pickup (no cost to me) and only asked that I cover the mattress with a cheap plastic bag ($5 home depot) as to not damage the mattress during the pickup process. I put the mattress outside my front door and the SA picked up the mattress and pillows without me having to be home. All in all a very painless process.
Not too sure where my next step is, I am looking at maybe going with a latex layered mattress so I can switch out layers more easily (SleepEZ looks like a good fit).
TL;DR Version: Novosbed Aria
Good customer service, A+ return policy, high quality materials but at the end of the day mattress just wasn’t a good fit for me
