Ready To Pull The Trigger "My Green Mattress" and then........

I wanted to start off by saying thanks to Phoenix and every one on this site for all of there help in helping make in very informed decision:0)

Last week I talked to Tim and “My Green Mattress”. Super nice guy, took time to answer all of my questions. We were discussing the “natural escape”. The way we left it was I would think it over and shoot him a call back the following week.

I thought it over and shot him a call to day. A women answered the phone and said he would not be in until Monday. I thought OK, I should be able to get my last few questions answered and order the mattress from her. Every question I asked she was arrogant/combative with the answers. Not very nice in any way shape or form, if I had spoke to her in the beginning I would have never even considered the mattress. I thought forget it and told her thank you for her time and we ended the call. No worries, she could have been having a bad day or any number of things.

The point of this post is for a consumer there is so much risk and or apprehension in ordering a mattress online. One you have never put your fingers on or laid on for that matter. All we can go buy is reviews/materials used/point of contact. Beyond the materials used the person you speak to on the phone will be your deciding factor on whether you purchase your mattress from them or a competitor.

I just think it is crazy I was calling to order, I had made up my mind and now I’m driving to Boulder, Colorado to look at my second choice, a full latex mattrerss from “Foam Source”.

Once again Tim at My Green Mattress was awesome and I believe they have awesome products at a great value. I just didn’t realize how important the sales person was in the whole equation. I went from 100% ready to go, no way, all from 1 phone call.

Bryce Dunn

Hi Bryce720,

Wow … your comments certainly don’t reflect the type of experience that most people have when they talk with either Tim or Kathy.

I’m not sure what you asked or the content or “tone” of your conversation but I did take the time to call and talk with Kathy just to see if she could remember a conversation that was anything like the one you described. She was very surprised and said that two people called this morning asking to talk with Tim (one of whom was local) but she has no memory of any conversation that could in any way be characterized as being arrogant or hostile. One of the conversations was asking about boron capsules being crushed and added to cotton and she said she doesn’t know anything about that.

In any case … I’m sorry to hear about your experience but I suspect that you may have misread her “tone” (sometimes “direct” answers can be misinterpreted as being arrogant or combative) because she would have had no reason to treat a customer that way and it’s certainly not how she normally speaks to customers.

I wanted to add this because it can be very easy for a comment about a misunderstanding or a “misinterpreted” phone conversation to take on a life of its own when someone else that was involved in the same conversation would have described it very differently.

Phoenix

Thanks for the reply Phoenix. I was neither of the calls you described. We talked about mattress bases. I was going to discuss the mattress after the bases, never got that far.

She acted like my questions were a waist of time and seemed frustrated that she had to answer them. I don’t want to bash the company, I was going more off the angle of just how important the sales person is in the mattress buying equation.

It is very interesting to me, I have been in sales my life and train sales reps for major Pharmaceutical companies. Just didn’t realize how important sales people would be in the mattress world:o).

Just left Foam Source in Boulder, great product, great staff. I just don’t like the feel of the all latex, I want to love it, it just doesn’t feel comfortable to:o (.

My search continues!

Hi Bryce720,

[quote]She acted like my questions were a waist of time and seemed frustrated that she had to answer them. I don’t want to bash the company, I was going more off the angle of just how important the sales person is in the mattress buying equation.

It is very interesting to me, I have been in sales my life and train sales reps for major Pharmaceutical companies. Just didn’t realize how important sales people would be in the mattress world:o).[/quote]

I know how easy it can be to “interpret” someone’s tone of voice in a particular conversation incorrectly. There are some people that communicate in a way that is “natural” to them that some people interpret as being “brusque” or “disinterested” or even “rude” when it’s not (for example some New Yorkers have this reputation). Some people prefer this because it gets right to the point and doesn’t take as long to find out what you want to know but of course there are others that have a very different tone and are more “conversational” in their approach and some people that find this “style” easier to deal with. In your sales training you were probably well aware of and taught how certain personality types tend to conflict with each other no matter what is said in a conversation and that this isn’t something that is “personal” or in many cases even a reflection of their communication abilities.

As you mentioned some people (myself included :)) also have bad days on occasion or may be busier than normal and may not take as much time in their conversations as they normally would which can also affect a customer even though it’s not intentional.

In any case … I wouldn’t tend to make this type of judgement based on a single conversation and I probably wouldn’t make it as public as you have (unless it was a clear pattern) because in todays online environment which is weighted so heavily (and somewhat unfairly) towards negative consumer comments and feedback even a single “negative” online comment can have a disproportionate effect on the sales or reputation of a small business (whether it was deserved or not) and can negatively affect years of hard work and effort towards building a good reputation. It can also have a disproportionate effect on other people’s buying choices and can tend to predispose others towards having a more negative perception or opinion of a business based primarily on hearsay before they have even talked with them themselves.

I also wouldn’t tend to let a single conversation affect a buying choice that involved a good quality and good value product … particularly if I was receiving accurate information or if there was someone else there that I had a good relationship with that was more “comfortable” for me to deal with.

Having said that … I completely agree with you that regardless of the reasons for the “tone” of your conversation or why it affected you the way it did or even whether you interpreted it correctly … how a customer feels about the salespeople they deal with can certainly have a big effect on their buying decisions.

Phoenix

Sent you an Email Phoenix.

Thanks for all your help, Bryce

Any suggestion for an inner spring, latex, wool cotton type mattress?? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Bryce

Hi Bryce720,

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … I don’t make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

There is more information about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more 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 your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or any exchange/return options that are available to you).

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to your weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article).

Having said that … there are many people who also do well on a latex/innerspring hybrid (see post #13 here) and outside of My Green Mattress some of the better innerspring/latex options I’m aware of are listed in post #2 here and the post it links to but if you wish to test any of them in person you would need to check their websites or call them to see if any of them have a dealer close to you.

Phoenix