Disclaimer: I actually purchased in January of 2014 a sleep number i8 king size bed. This was before I found out about the mattress underground.
So yeah I actually bought a sleep number i8 king size bed for something over $4000. I actually liked it a lot for the first few days. However I found a number of negatives that no one bothered to mention to me. Some of which are specific to someone of my size 6’1 320 lbs.
- You only get one remote even for an i8 king. Serious, a $4k bed should come with two. wtf!
- The pump isn’t loud but it isn’t quiet either. it’s enough to wake anyone up. The store is situated so you Do Not Hear It.
- You can only adjust one chamber at a time.
- You’re supposed to inflate the bed back to 100 when not in use.
- Heavier folk will “bottom out” and require additional support (that sleep number will provide, at no cost to you)
- Heavier folk on lower settings will sink several inches into the bed causing their partner/other side to elevate.
- The cost is high once you become educated at mattress underground
(I don’t know how I didn’t bottom out when we tried it in the store. The only difference is the store is a queen and not a king so perhaps due to the width difference it wasn’t as noticeable.)
There were a number of positives as well
- The modular frame is really nice and is cat proof (a BIG plus)
- The bed is really comfortable and does a good job at motion isolation
- Support at sleep number is really good
But that was about it. I know it’s “first world problems” but having to adjust the bed daily got old. The deal breaker was the depression I made. It reminded me of a hammock and made the bed feet super small because of it and my partner seemed always half an inch away (which on a king size bed is not right!). If I wasn’t as heavy or didn’t concave the bed as much we probably would have kept the bed because we did like it. The other negatives were only minor.
One thing that gets stressed when you buy it is that you need to keep the bed for 30 days minimum before you return it. I called on day 8 to return it and they just wouldn’t take it back. I called the next night and they said no problem on the refund/return. So if you want to return it just call them a few times and they’ll get the hint.
Edit: One thing I forgot to mention is that it’s $200 for them to come out and take the bed back. You get that option or you can ship it back to them for close to the same amount ($29 a box, on average you need 5 boxes). For what it is worth, I had them come out and pick it up and I had the refund by 9:00 AM the next day.
