Hi blackviolet,
I generally suggest avoiding mattress reviews or using other people’s experience on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable way to assess whether the same mattress will be a good choice for any particular person in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (see post #13 here) because different people can have very different experiences on the same mattress.
Having said that … the conflicting stories they gave you sound somewhat odd to me as well and I would have a hard time believing that any manufacturer would pay $200 for a review. If a discount is already included in their listed prices then it would just be included in their “regular price” anyway and the discount would be more of a “fake sale price” that is only for “show” and is more about marketing and creating a false sense of urgency to buy than a legitimate “sale price”. If different people are giving you different information at the same company then I think that they need to get their “stories” (and their prices) straight and be more consistent with what they tell their potential customers.
Phoenix