Hi Jet757f,
This is probably true if you test a mattress for it’s “subjective” feel in a showroom and for those who do this the odds are probably less than random chance of making the most appropriate choice (see the results of the study here). This is very different however than testing a mattress more objectively and specifically using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post where the odds are much higher of making a good choice … although they are still not 100%.
Even here though … no matter how you test a mattress … there is still some degree of risk that you will make the “wrong” choice. Then the question becomes how long will it take you to know and what are your options if this happens.
Accurate and objective testing in a showroom for the most part results in a choice that is “close enough” that only “fine tuning” will be needed. Regardless of this though … it would be very rare if someone didn’t know whether a mattress was suitable for them after sleeping on it for 30 days or so and in the “worst case” in the range of 60 - 90 days. If it turns out that a mattress isn’t suitable after this long … then if you have purchased a mattress that is “all or nothing” … the only option you have is to return it for a refund or exchange it for another mattress if either of these are an option. If the mattress has the ability to customize it to different degrees … then the odds are much higher that you will find a layering arrangement that can adjust either the pressure relief or support of the mattress that will work very well without having to return the mattress. Don’t forget that there are only two basic functions of a mattress. Even if the layers you have don’t work … then you would also have the ability to exchange a layer and with the help of a good manufacturer you would be able to use their knowledge and your experience and feedback from sleeping on the mattress to help you decide what to change. This way you would still have a mattress to sleep on with very high odds that you will find the best layering. Even if this doesn’t work … and the odds of this are very low … then you would still have the option for a return and refund just like an “all or nothing” choice.
It would be difficult for me to imagine that someone would actually sleep on a mattress beyond 90 days or so and wait a year before deciding to return it for a refund. Why sleep on an unsuitable mattress for that long? If they did get to this place they would be starting all over again with nothing to sleep on in the meantime unless they kept their old mattress for a year.
Each person of course needs to decide on which parts of their “personal value equation” are most important to them and there is no “right or wrong” in this but it’s paying that kind of a premium for a mattress which has many fewer options available and where the 365 days wouldn’t be of practical benefit anyway for the vast majority of people wouldn’t be the “best value” choice for most people. I understand the need to sleep on a mattress for a period of time to know for certain regardless of whether you have tested it in a showroom or slept on it in person for a period of time … but 365 days to me is more about marketing than it is about reality.
Phoenix