Hey jchatham.
Welcome to the mattress forum :).
Thank you for your kind words, and yes we do enjoy taking on some of the larger mattress companies and also of the newer online brands that try to apply mostly the same “tactics” the major companies do.
I know you liked how we used to list cities, etc, etc, but we had to discontinue our listings of potential manufacturers and retailers in various geographic regions (unless they are already approved site members), because of the difficulty in maintaining such lists in a retail landscape that is constantly changing. More importantly, it was creating confusion for consumer-members, who incorrectly assumed that these businesses had indeed gone through the strict qualification and were approved as members of The Mattress Underground. Much of the information in your post confirms the issue… it is difficult to find any detailed information about the materials inside the mattress.
It is interesting how you pose this question. One thing that usually happens as we age … fast forward 10 years of sleep on this mattress and your body will react differently to having a mattress without the right support/alignment. There are also many consumers that can get a solid firm mattress for a really low price and it works perfectly well for them. There are some older studies mention that almost 25% of the market will purchase this way it all depends on how close you are your specific level of tolerance. This being said if you can purchase a queen for $500, and not spend &1500 and if you’re sure that it will work for you then there is no better answer, IMO.
Symbol makes many mattresses and they also will manufacture specific beds to meet the requirements of specific retailers, which is probably why this bed is not listed on their website. Their price range is between $300 to $2000 with the very low budget range starting to break down faster because of the low-quality materials but some of their lines are better … so it’s really not surprising, or alarming at all. It wouldn’t matter if it was listed on the site, because they don’t disclose the details of what is in the mattress anyways. Both of these companies are in the the Top 20 mattress manufacturers Symbol (12th) and Southerland (17th) BUT go down to the rating system we have and you will see that both of these companies have "Two Greens in the TMU rating system. Victoria is 2 sided, which is much better for the durability and longevity of the mattress as you can flip it provided that it matches your style and needs.
As for reviews or other people’s experiences in general, they 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 ), and I recommend you avoid considering them as any sort of a reliable indicator of the appropriateness of any particular product for your needs. Every person is different and generally review sites like Bedroompedia, are nothing more than revenue sites … the higher the commission the better the reviews…its all $$$$…conversions X commission.
Generally, larger brands and the stores that offer their products commonly rely upon the lack of information and state of confusion that they find in most consumers, and they exploit this with general marketing clichés and reviews are now part of the recipe of the marketing cocktail. I’d recommend that you read through the material presented on our site and use it as a reference and learn enough to recognize a product using better quality materials or a retailer that is knowledgeable and honest so that you may trust the information you’re presented.
The steps for shopping for a mattress are clearly laid out in the mattress shopping tutorial here, including all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help people make the best possible choice.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial are post #2 here about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) that can help one assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as hoped for, and post #13 here about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help with meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation in post #46 .
Outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new so I would always make sure that you find out the mattress information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the https://mattressunderground.com/our-articles/mattress-durability-guidelines-how-long-will-a-mattress-last.html mattress durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
I would try to get to Bartlett and lie down on some of the Southerland innerspring beds, or foam, they make some good products, and to answer your other question, I would take a symbol or Southerland over the Big 3 any day…unless the “deal” was just too awesome for the Big 3…but it won’t be. See if the people at Bartlett know some of the foam densities or the innerspring gauge, and other details. I’ll see if I can find some other info on the Dortmund and whatever Southerland you choose. I think your instinct is best and don’t have to complicate it too much.
Let us know when you take the next step, it would be very interesting which way you chose to go.
Phoenix