Terribly disappointed with selectfoam - quality of products and customer service

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
1

:angry:
I have had THE worst experience with selectfoam. Worse than anything I’ve experienced with any business I’ve ever dealt with. I’ve been sitting on this, hoping that they’d stay true to their word, but I’m at the point, after weeks of waiting for them to come through on the promises from their president where I’m just way too livid and frankly, amazed at the situation, and I want people out there looking for a mattress to be aware that this company does NOT live up to the hype you may have read.

Full details of the situation below, but here’s the quick overview:
I have STILL not received anything I was promised by the company president:

  • no credit
  • no phone call (or follow up email - NOTHING)
  • no taking my concern and leaving me in a better way than when I originally reached out to them
  • oh, they also didn’t honor the member offer until I complained about it twice (I mentioned it in my order) OR the offer online to send a “9 piece bedding bundle”. Still waiting on that one, too.

There’s just no way to say this other than they promise, promise, promise to make things better and NEVER follow through, and the products advertised on their website are nothing like the product that you’ll actually receive.

So, the details.

There were issues with the delivery of the bed. I was led to believe it would be arriving earlier - I finally got notice from FedEx that it would arrive when I wasn’t going to be home (I had been available for the week before just so I could receive the bed!) - I emailed the company, they assured me that they could have FedEx change the delivery date (they changed it to day after it was expected to arrive). However, that morning my FedEx notice said it was on the truck. I emailed selectfoam and I was assured again that the delivery date was changed.

I got home that night to a 125 pound box blocking the entrance to my front door. Weighing less than the bed, and having to go up a flight of stairs, I’m sure you can imagine how angry I was to find that I was not told the truth about the change in my delivery date.

And then… I opened up the bed, got it set up. The Aurora is said to have a silk/bamboo (or cashmere/wool, depending on if you look at the ad copy, the video, or the pictures) cover. The pictures AND the video both show a nice suede-like fabric on the sides of the bed, just like Tempurpedic. Remember, they claim online to be the SAME as Tempurpedic.

What I got was a mattress covered in cheap, thin fabric, with handles on the sides that when I tried moving the mattress, started to pull away so I was afraid the cover was going to rip. It was labeled all over as cashmere/wool, but the mattress tag had the fabric labeled as 100% polyester. From what I’ve read, if there’s any bit of wool in a fabric, you MUST put that on the label.

I emailed a picture of what was online and what I got to my contact there, expressing my disappointment and confusion. He forwarded my email to the president and said I would get an answer shortly.

And around midnight, I did. I got an email from the president apologizing and explaining (although now, in retrospect, the explanation doesn’t make sense - if you change your cover to a new fabric, why does it still say cashmere/wool?!) and promising:

  1. “You will be credited”
  2. “You will also have your choice of our old or our next generation cover that’s in development.”
  3. “Please let me know when we can speak” [included was my correct phone number]
  4. “I take pride in helping people sleep better, and look forward to taking your concern and leaving you in a better than when [sic] you originally reached out to us. I’m available all day tomorrow.”
    Thrown into the middle of the email was a plea to please not say anything online until the situation was resolved.

Okay, no problem, I decided not to post anything (this was the beginning of February) - called the guy the next morning - got a full voicemail box. Immediately emailed him to tell him I called and couldn’t leave a message, and I was available all day to talk. The end of the day rolled around, no phone call, no email, so I emailed again wondering why I hadn’t heard.

The next day - still nothing - not even a “sorry I wasn’t around to take your call” email. So I emailed again. And waited… and waited. And waited some more…

I’ve got to reiterate - I have STILL not received anything promised:

  • no credit
  • no phone call (or follow up email - NOTHING)
  • no taking my concern and leaving me in a better way than when I originally reached out to them
  • oh, they also didn’t honor the member offer until I complained about it twice (I mentioned it in my order) OR the offer online to send a “9 piece bedding bundle”. Still waiting on that one, too.

NOTHING.
So, sorry selectfoam - you guys totally failed me. All I got were lies and empty promises, and a product that was nothing at all like what was advertised (it doesn’t look, feel, or have the same quality as a Tempurpedic like you claim). So mattress lookers - buyer beware when it comes to selectfoam. I know they’re a member on here. I know that Phoenix holds them in high regard… but I’ve had the worst experience with this company. I have fibromyalgia, so sleep is one of the most important things to me. I cannot sleep on 100% polyester. I can’t sleep on a lumpy, uncomfortable, non-plush “plush” mattress with “high conformity” that doesn’t conform at all. And I cannot believe that the president of a company would make such promises, ask to not have this situation discussed, and then NEVER RESPOND. It shouldn’t take me posting to a forum to get an answer back. (well, I’m assuming I will) I believe in supporting small businesses… but only when they deliver!!!

Your unbelievably unhappy and dissatisfied customer (who didn’t say anything online as I waited and waited for a response back and refuses to wait any longer),
alex

2

Hi cainan99,

First of all I wanted to thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and forthright review. When a customer has these kind of issues then I believe that it’s important to know about them.

There are a couple of things that particularly concern me. One of these is the difference in the cover between what is described and what you received. The description clearly says that the cover is silk/bamboo and the video says silk/cashmere and either way this is not the same as polyester. I would also not be happy with this. I should also clarify that they don’t say they are the same as Tempurpedic (which wouldn’t be possible of course) but that they have the same overall look feel and performance as the Tempurpedic. The specific materials would be different.

It also seems that some of their earlier issues with the bed bundle have also not been resolved and I would want to confirm first of all that you were entitled to this (it’s one of the options but doesn’t come with every purchase if for example you chose the financing option instead). If you were … then you are clearly entitled to receive it.

My biggest concern though is with the fact that you were left hanging and there was no followup with your concerns after several emails. If you were told to deal with Matt then it’s understandable that this is who you would work with but I would also be interested if you called their customer service as well during this time and what they said.

The FedEx issues are usually connected with FedEx themselves and unfortunately they often don’t seem to act on changes in delivery instructions (I have experienced this myself) so while this certainly adds to your frustration it may not be something that they themselves caused.

Finally your comfort choice is of course very subjective and like any mattress with HD memory foam on top would need time to break in. The Tempurpedic models that use their higher density memory foams are the same way and it’s not unusual at all for people to be somewhat unhappy with their firmness until they have gone through their initial softening period. Because comfort is so subjective you may also not have the same experience on their mattress as others who have tested it in their store who have provided feedback about its similarity to the Allura once it’s broken in. In any case… if this was the only issue it would be “normal” for this type of mattress and the advice would be just to give it time and perhaps walk on it to help break it in more quickly but in your case it’s not the only issue and you also have others that are not “normal” so once again it turns “normal” issues into a source of increased frustration.

I have called them to tell them about your review so that they can respond to you directly. I also agree with you that this shouldn’t have to happen. When they do … I hope you will let us know about the resolution of all the issues that are connected with them. The only good news perhaps is that you always have the option of returning the mattress at no cost although this is not the ideal solution either for you or for them. I have also pinned this thread so that it can be seen by others until all your issues have been dealt with.

While there is no doubt about the quality of the foam they use … like you I am concerned about any mis-descriptions and errors on their site and about the persistent customer service issues that keep cropping up. Even if these are only with a minority of their customers … they deserve to be given a higher priority and be taken care of more quickly and proactively.

Thanks again for your honest feedback and for taking the time to write it.

Phoenix

3

The major thing that broke the tie from select foam to the local store with the custom restonic I ended up purchasing was the fact that selectfoam has 5 different sites and a store in Florida. When you email you get a nice response and a phone number to call, when you call you find out that you’ve ended up calling a different company. I did a bit of research and I was still uneasy. Not completely sure why but I just couldn’t shake it. I hope they make things right with a refund and work to restore confidence with this community.

4

Quick reply:
Thank you for the follow up, Phoenix. I received an email midday yesterday from Matt asking if he could call and that my mail had all gone to his junk box :blink: . Within a minute (literally!) I responded back with my phone number and that I was free then.

No phone call.

No email - of any sort.

Last thing was I sent an email yesterday evening asking HIM to provide me with times to call.

No email yet again.

5

I’ve had the opportunity to speak with this customer, and I’d like to address her points:

1.Being difficult to reach: The customer’s emails were going into my junk box. On that topic, my role in the company is not one of operations, and I try to stay out of that end of things due to near constant travel. At this point we have spoken and are resolving the matter.

  1. The customer was in fact delivered a bed bundle. The confirmation was given to her, and is posted here. It looks as if someone stole the package from her front porch.

  2. After much background research on the tick, it appears that the cover was mislabeled. Specifically: the cover contains 4% cashmere, 35% viscose (bamboo, rayon), 60% Polyester. I cannot say why it was mislabeled (this was produced way up the supply chain)
    Viscose 35%- part of the Rayon family- is the name of any bio-based textile produced from the cellulose of bamboo pulp, tree pulp, plant pulps. When it comes to mattress covers, nearly all Viscose is derived from Bamboo.
    Cashmere: included as 4% in the cover, which surprised me at how low it was. That being said, many cashmere products are sold and marketed as being cashmere, while having a very low ultimate percentage of cashmere. It is such an incredibly expensive material that I don’t think many people would expect a “cashmere mattress cover” to be 100% cashmere.
    Bamboo: 35% Viscose, commonly referred to as Rayon, is Bamboo based. Bamboo is not always Rayon, and Rayon is not always Bamboo, but in this case that’s where the Viscose is derived.
    A greater point is this: the mattress business is very broad about it’s covers, and specifically in the organic area, there is a lot of hype with very little substance. I urge all customers to ask very specific questions about covers that come with their beds. Our company spends much more than the average company does on covers and we are one of the first companies to bring cover production in-house. It’s a part of the bed that most people overlook, but a very important part of the overall bed.

  3. The customer has also recieved the discount she referred to.

  4. As we continue to work with this customer, we will make keep the forum updated.

The issue of covers just doesnt routinely come up in this business. There is a federal law against misreporting wool, so it’s something that I couldn’t believe our cover manufacturer at the time would have done, but we had to check it out anyways. (sorry for delay)
FYI: We are conducting tests comparing Bamboo, Outlast, Coolmax, Thermocool, and others, and we’ll be updating the forum on this.

Thank you,
Matt

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6

Quick response to just one thing as I read the very extensive and informative email I just received from Matt (we have been discussing this issue)

  1. I don’t know what discount you’re referring to - if it’s the forum discount, that’s not what I was talking about here as I did get it after I spoke with customer service. This post is referring to what you said in your first response email to my complaint about the mattress cover (Feb 15, 10:53 PM).
    “That being said [ed: referring to the change in cover], thank you for bringing this to our attention. You will be credited. You will also have your choice of our old or our next generation cover that’s in development.”

We are still working together to find a solution, and when one is reached, I will post.

7

Hi gainan99,

The forum is having some issues adding attachments so Matt emailed me and asked me to add them to his post which I did. It seems that firefox doesn’t work but Explorer does (although even Explorer didn’t work for me yesterday when I tried to add images to another post for a forum member that emailed them to me).

I’m glad that all your issues that have to do with Select Foam are either resolved or in the process of being resolved. While it’s unfortunate that your bed bundle was stolen … at least it’s also clear that the issue was not about its delivery and I think for the sake of clarity it’s important to differentiate the issues that are connected to Select Foam with the ones that aren’t. I know of one occasion they told me about that they sent out three separate bundles and the customer said that none of them were received even though all of them were delivered.

Most of all though I’m glad that the two of you connected so that it’s clear and visible that none of your issues are being taken lightly and that there is a committment to resolve any legitimate issues you may have.

Phoenix

8

The short of it - this ongoing situation I had with Selectfoam was not resolved, and I cannot in good conscience recommend Selectfoam to anyone - I really question their membership here purely on the lack of quality of their customer service and with how much of a mess it appears that their business is.

Any solution presented was always had the condition that in order for them to “fix” the problem, I had to retract what I said about them on this forum and say great things about them.
Ya know - if they had resolved this quickly and properly, I would have said great things about them, without having to be told to!

So, where do we stand today?

  • * It’s 3/24 and my issue, brought forth on 2/16 is STILL not resolved.
  • * This is a company that either:
    a. misrepresented their product online as having a cashmere/wool/silk/bamboo (or some combination thereof) cover - but in reality it is the 100% polyester it’s labeled
    OR
    b. in fact does have a cover that contains those items - but didn’t disclose on the mattress tag that there was wool in it and is therefore violating federal guidelines
  • * My calls and emails have been either ignored or avoided as long as possible
  • * Promises have not been kept (the least of which is “I’ll email you tonight” regarding a possible solution… and several days later, still nothing)

No matter whether it’s a. or b. above - I’ve got a mattress that has a cover made up of unknown materials (sure, the manufacturing guy can say he mislabeled it, but how can I be sure??) I just checked their website - and it still has the erroneous and contradictory information up there about the makeup of the cover.

A pattern emerged with my communications with Select Foam. I would email… and wait… and wait… and email again, then get a response “call me/email me tomorrow, I’m free” - call, get a full voicemail box then email that I called… and wait, and wait and wait. What kind of company would call this customer service?!

After examining my emails and thinking through what was said on the phone calls, I wholeheartedly believe that Select Foam never intended on resolving this issue - that they just wanted to lead me on and put me off until I dropped the issue.

Case and point:
My last communication began on 3/20 via an email I sent telling them I just wanted this situation over and done with already. On 3/21 I received a call and we discussed a solution. I had to go because it was a long distance phone call I made from work - and it was left that the Matt would put in writing the solution we discussed - one where we both made compromises - and we would go from there. On 3/22, no response, so I followed up - was told “I’m composing this still. You’ll get it this evening.” Followed up again. It is now 3/24 and I have not received any email, nor any responses to my follow ups.

So I’m not going to wait any more. I’m not going to get a new cover and try it out - I’m not going to get any “restitution” - I’m not going to get a new custom mattress - I’m not going to get a new, nifty wool cover - I’m not going to get a Tempurpedic as a replacement - I’m not going to wait to get any of these empty promises that were made by Select foam.


[b]AND I AM NOT GOING TO RETRACT MY STATEMENTS.[/b]

That mattress is going back - and it had darn well better be packed and picked up right away!!! Let’s see if Selectfoam makes good on it’s 100% free return policy. Believe me, if they don’t, you guy’s will know.

Folks, I’m sure that maybe NOW they’ll respond to this post, and probably not be truthful about the situation. So I urge anyone considering this brand to look not only at what I presented here, but also at the BBB complaints, at the yelp reviews, at the slew of other complaints filed against the company and seriously consider if this is the type of business you want to deal with.

And a big thank you to Restava, not a member - maybe they should be :slight_smile: , who actually made good on a promise to expedite a mattress - it came about a week sooner than I even expected. Now THAT is customer service!

9

I have been looking for an online retailer also. When I through go the various companies I also check their Better Business Bureau
rating. Select Foam looks like it is no longer acredited with the BBB due to numerous complaints. In your post it looks like you already noted this.
http://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/business-reviews/mattresses-and-bedding-wholesale/select-foam-in-key-biscayne-fl-92006966

You are going through a very frustrating situation and I hope it works out for you.

10

Better Business Bureau charges to be Accredited (or in other words sponsored), and this has nothing to do with whether a company is reputable or not. It is simply a marketing program offered by the BBB, offered to companies that believe there is an advantage to being accredited.
Think of the old Hackersafe Seals; same concept.

You can read about what it means to be accredited on the BBB site. Ultimately you get a seal and a more indepth page. We’d rather promote areas and sites that allow customers to leave reviews and experiences, as opposed to directing them to a generic badge/accommodation.

For a company of our size we’d end up spending thousands of dollars a year to be part of the accredidation program, and until now, haven’t heard any prospective customers mention it.Thank you for bringing it up, however. We’ll take it under advisement.

11

Regardless of the accreditation it still takes a lot of work to get an “F” rating with the BBB.

12

Hi jet757f,

Once again you are completely wrong but instead of looking into how they work and posting accurate information … you are choosing to post more of the same type of misinformation. If a business did the same thing (posted information as fact that was not correct and then posted even more misinformation when they were challenged to make it look better) … you would likely be the first to criticize them for doing the same thing as you are doing now.

Post #3 and #4 here many be worth reading and you can read about one example I know of personally where a single complaint led to an “F” rating for years until finally they caved in because so many people believe that the BBB is something other than what it is and within 48 hours of joining “made it go away” and it was replaced with an “A” which they have maintained since. While like any other business they do perform a service that can be useful … they are also nothing more than a private business which sometimes uses some questionable methods to achieve their business goals. I don’t think that any business’ success should be dependent on contributing money to another private business which decides to use their influence to cause harm for the sake of earning a profit.

It does nobody any favors to continue posting misinformation just because it’s so easy to do so when the facts are available to you.

Once again … legitimate criticism is welcome and sometimes necessary. The goal of this forum though is to get past all the misinformation that is out there whether it comes from consumers or businesses.

Phoenix

13

After reading through this post, and specifically getting to the BBB talk, I suddenly remembered a situation that happened to me several years ago. I had to sift through some old emails, but it turned out the problem was with selectfoam. Your customer service experience was just like mine. I was living on a Navy ship, so I ordered the pillow to my FPO address. I never received the pillow, and I must have called these guys a dozen times, and emailed them a bunch as well. Only two times did a person ever pick up the phone, and they made promises to find out what happened, with zero follow up. Every other time I called I would get an answering machine that said it was full, then it would hang up on me. It’s the only time in my life I’ve ever had a company take my money and literally just not send me my product. I filled a complaint on BBB and forgot about the entire thing. Two years later, they responded to my BBB complaint saying they don’t ship to FPO’s, but that doesn’t change the fact they took my money (and accepted an FPO address) and never sent me a product. These guys have what is truly the worst customer service. My experience was several years ago, but I can see nothing has changed. It makes me laugh to think about it, but I bet if I called them I would get the same stupid answering machine saying it was full. OMG!!! I called for fun and sure enough, I got that same damn answering machine. You can’t just wait on hold until someone picks up, it automatically sends you to the answering machine after about 3 or 4 minutes. What a nightmare, and it really makes me question why this site recommends them.

As a side note, if your bank is good, they will work with you to treat companies like this as fraud. If you report it early enough, you can get a chargeback and get your money back from these fraudsters. Obviously that gets messy when it comes to returning the product, but in some cases it’s the only way to deal with companies like this. I don’t think it will help cainan99 now, but for other people, this is a real option.