I have been reading a lot of posts on these forums and am currently in the market for a new memory foam mattress. I recently tried bedinabox (due to the sheer number of positive reviews) and my back has been aching every morning ever since i have slept on it. I have since moved back to my old mattress and will be returning the bedinabox one.
After reviewing the posts on the forums i have narrowed it down to Novosbed (Classic) vs Christeli (St. Regis). Would someone mind sharing their research and or experience with these two? I have talked to both CS reps and the Novosbed rep told me everything i already knew based on their website. The Christeli rep made it a point to slander Novosbed and Temperpedic which i found rather unprofessional- after a brief 5 minute conversation with him, i said thank you and hung up.
My primary reservation with Christeli is that if I do not like it and want to return it, they do not pick up the mattress at the place of residence like Novosbed does. And since both are online retailers and i cannot go in and try it, this is a concern for me. Now the Christeli rep did say that they pay for return shipping (if you choose the 29.95 option they have) and you can pay a “nominal” fee to fedex for them to come out and pick it up.
As for Novosbed, their warranty (first 10 is covered full and after that is prorated for each additional year and by the 21st year you only recover 10% of the value) is inferior to Christeli (Lifetime at 10 yrs full coverage and 10+ yrs at 50% prorated)
Should i be looking at other companies besides these two? Any thoughts/help/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Both Novosbed and Christeli are on the list of better online memory foam manufacturers and retailers included in post #12 here which means that I would consider them among the better options available for an online purchase of a memory foam mattress in terms of transparency, quality, value, and service.
I would also agree with you that it’s somewhat unprofessional to “slander” another mattress although I have no issues with pointing out accurate information that can differentiate one mattress from another or make meaningful comparisons possible (such as telling customers that their foam density/quality is equivalent to Tempurpedic as a much lower cost or that Tempurpedic has poor value compared to many other memory foam options … both of which would be true IMO.
The return policy of an online mattress purchase is certainly a part of it’s value and would certainly be part of each person’s personal value equation and the “risk” involved with a purchase if it turns out to be a less than ideal choice in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) so it’s important to make sure that you know the specific details of each.
A mattress warranty has little to nothing to do with the useful life of a mattress and only covers defects in the materials … not the foam softening or breakdown that can lead to the loss of comfort and support that is the main reason people need to replace a mattress. In most cases … mattress defects will become apparent in the first few years of ownership so any warranty coverage past the first 5 years or so and certainly beyond 10 years would be more about marketing and consumer perception than anything else. It’s much more important to know the quality of the materials in a mattress than having a long warranty which will mean little in real life terms. You can read more about mattress warranties in post #174 here and more about the factors that can contribute to the durability and useful life of a mattress in post #4 here.
Once you have eliminated all the worst options and have narrowed down your finalists to choices between “good and good” … then post #2 here can help with how to make final choices and help you decide which of the many objective, subjective, and intangible parts of a mattress purchase are most important to you.
You mentioned that you consulted both our website and our phone customer service. I’m wondering if you have any constructive feedback for us?
As for buying on the internet: conventional wisdom suggests that laying on a mattress in a showroom is a good way to test it, but at least one scientific study concludes otherwise (see here).
As long as the return policy is strong, then buying a mattress on the internet is the better way (in our opinion ).
That’s probably not surprising since you sell mattresses online but there may be more to the story as well
In all fairness … the study you referred to (which I have linked often on the forum as well) is referring to those who test for subjective “comfort” which is among the worst ways to choose a mattress in a showroom and has odds or success that are less than random chance alone.
For those who follow more objective and effective testing guidelines though and test specifically for PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) … the odds of success are very much higher. I know a lot of local manufacturers and retailers that are very good at helping their customers choose a mattress more objectively and have very high success rates (in the 90th percentile) in helping their customers make the most appropriate choices.
Of course working with a good online manufacturer like Novosbed has a much higher chance of success than the “typical” consumer that just tests a mattress for a few minutes for “comfort” before they buy it but good local testing can have a very high success rate.and has other advantages that go with dealing with a local manufacturer or retailer as well.
In the end … online vs local is really a matter of each person’s personal value equation and each has its pros and cons. Even more than whether a mattress purchase is online or local though … the knowledge, experience, and service of the retailer or manufacturer and their willingness to put their customers long term interests above their own are even more important. There are (a few) better and (many) worse choices regardless of whether a purchase in local or online IMO
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