Perspective on Charles P. Rogers

[phoenix]

Hi NYC_sleepy,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

I have read through these forums extensively and understand the beef with Charles P. Rogers.

I don’t have a “beef” with Charles P. Rogers as a brand. In fact, if you perform a forum search on Charles P. Rogers (just click on the link), you’ll see that I have some comments that some of their mattresses do use good quality materials. The thing that I always recommend is that you find out about the information listed here about any mattress and compart that information to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials within a mattress before making a purchase, and if you’re not able to find out all of that information, I’ll advise caution against purchasing such an item. Charles P. Rogers isn’t complete with their specifications on their web site, but some site members have been able to acquire more complete information about certain mattresses they were considering, but much of the information here on the site is dated and specifications are changed by manufacturers quite frequently, so I would advise you to inquire personally at any store you were visiting for these specifications.

However, I can’t find any stories about their mattresses actually failing quickly, or anything negative except for scattered stories about delivery and customer service issues. I find the latter for any company with a substantial footprint.

Reviews or comments such as you’re referencing are the least reliable indicator of the quality of a mattress or the appropriateness of any item for your specific needs. Every “negative” review isn’t reported, just as every “positive” experience is also not shared. Even if there was some sort of complete clearinghouse of data regarding the performance of every item purchased from any brand, this data would be mostly meaningless, as it would generally be provided in the short term by those unqualified to render an educated analysis of the product.

While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful, I would always keep in mind that 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 because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).

We loved the mattresses at CPR, hated them at Nest (almost all too soft, and overall just not as comfortable. I would say they felt cheap.). We liked one Berkeley mattress–the Oslo–but no more than the CPR Estate 5000.

I’m glad you were able to try out some items in person. Since you seem to have ruled out the Nest Bedding, you’re left with the CPR Estate 5000 and the Berkeley Ergonomics Oslo.

The Oslo uses a nested pocketed coil unit made in Germany, and on top of that is 2" of 100% NR Talalay latex from Radium. The cover is organic cotton and the wool quilted to the covering is pure Plein Air wool. I’m not sure if you looked at the item with their tension adjustable slat system or a simple foundation, but this can also influence the overall comfort.

You’d want to find out more details about the CPR Estate 5000, as the web site only lists the Active Powercore 2 spring unit, an Extra Firm layer of Talalay Latex described as “Pure” (you’d want to find out if it is blended or natural for help with drawing comparisons), and 25 mm (1") of quilt padding.

The service at Scott Jordan was also terrible: the salesperson didn’t even come downstairs, and half-heartedly answered my questions while walking away once I came back up. It would be very hard to justify spending $900 more for the Berkeley setup compared to the CPR, given that we liked them equally and received great service at the CPR showroom.

I’m sorry the service you received while looking at the Oslo mattress wasn’t what you had desired. As far as comparing both mattresses, without knowing the complete specifications, it makes that a difficult proposition as part of your personal value equation to be able to objectively compare two products, although in-store service can also be part of your value equation. The issue with “liking both items equally” is that you can’t feel quality or durability, which is why I encourage everyone to become educated about product specifications before making a final purchase.

Am I missing something here?

I would again advise to become familiar with the complete specifications of any mattress you are considering before making a purchase.

I am annoyed by the lack of transparency as well, but it doesn’t seem like there are any actual problems of substance that arise from it.

Knowing the entirety of what problems do and don’t arise from any particular brand is something you wouldn’t be able to know with certainty, for the reasons I pointed out earlier, so acquiring product specifications gives you your best chance for success regarding durability.

You’re of course welcome to purchase anything based on feel and what you consider to be a “preponderance of evidence”, but it’s just not the process that I advise for people here on the forum.

I hope that information helps out.

Phoenix