Very Bad Experience With Majestic Sit and Sleep (Vancouver)

I bought a latex mattress from Majestic early in the year and even posted a very positive review about the the purchase. As it turns out this was premature and both the mattress and customer service have turned out to be a bit of a nightmare.

When I first purchased the mattress, in order to get the warranty, Majestic forced me to buy a mattress pad from them. At the time I was OK with the idea because I would have bought one anyway. I was quite happy with the mattress and, over the next few months, didn’t really think anything of it when, on a few occasions, I noticed that would get poked by, what appeared to be, a wood sliver protruding through the bedsheets. I just assumed I had picked something up from the floor on my feet and it had found it’s way into my bed.

As it turns out this was not the case at all. I was making a move from one apartment to another and, after taking off the mattress pad, noticed little pricks in my arm as I brushed my arm over the surface of the bed. I discovered several little “burs” (or slivers) poking up through the mattress cover which had (mostly) gone unnoticed because of the mattress pad Majestic had forced me purchase. I began removing the burs/slivers but, the more I removed, the more I found. After removing somewhere around 80 of these things I just gave up trying to get them all.

I brought a sample of about 30 of the slivers that I had saved into Majestic to show them the problem. My first instinct was that they had known about issue all along and had insisted on the purchase of the mattress pad to hide the problem. I’m not sure it this was the case but, since I was starting to suspect that things weren’t quite above board, it really didn’t surprise me when they tried to tell me that the this was a “normal” byproduct of “natural” organic wool. This is absurd in the extreme since removing burs (or whatever they were) from the wool would be function of proper washing and have absolutely nothing to do with the fact the wool wasn’t treated with chemicals. The fact that this was the story they were trying to feed was an obvious red flag and it goes without saying that they had no intention of replacing the mattress and owning up to the shoddy materials that had been used. It was only after I insisted that this was unacceptable from their top of the line latex mattress that they reluctantly agreed to replace it.

Of course this was significant inconvenience and I would have expected that a reputable dealer take responsibly for the issue and deliver the replacement mattress to my door. Quite the contrary, they treated me as thought they were doing me a special favour, told me it was a “one time” replacement and made it my responsibility to bring back the old mattress and pick up the replacement. As a single guy with a small compact hatchback the size and weight of this kind of mattress makes this a significant problem (not to mention the time and trouble involved). I can understand that mistakes happen, sometimes quality control slips, and a product isn’t up to snuff but… I don’t appreciate getting the run around from a company has tried to pass off a second rate product that I’ve paid top dollar for and then then treat me like I’m the problem. It goes without saying that I would NEVER buy another product from these guys again.

Ps. If you think I was making a mountain out of a molehill I should point out that, when I showed the slivers/burrs to the two saleswoman (that were working when I came in to complain), their response was immediately that this was neither “normal” nor acceptable. It was only the manager (Suzanne) and the owner who gave me a hard time about it. Clearly the issue was obvious to the average person and I was getting the runaround from the people trying to avoid responsibility.

pps. I’ve been very busing at work and getting settled into my new apartment and still haven’t to find an opportunity to pack up my old mattress and pick up the replacement (in the meantime the mattress pad mitigates the problem with the slivers in the defective mattress). The replacement has been at the store folded in a large plastic bag for more than 3 weeks. Does anyone know whether keeping a latex mattress folded for a number of weeks can damage it?

Hi confused1,

Thanks for taking the time to share your comments and I’m sorry to hear about the issues you have been experiencing with your mattress.

While it’s difficult for me to make any meaningful comments without seeing it in person … I can certainly understand your frustration. “Some” slight migration of the wool would be normal and some people are more sensitive to fine wool fibers than others but based on your description of “wood slivers” it sounds like it’s outside the range of “normal” to me and it’s certainly not an issue I’ve heard of with their mattresses. My oldest daughter has had one of their latex mattresses for a few years and hasn’t experienced the same issues and there have also been other forum members that have purchased from them as well that haven’t mentioned anything about similar issues and are happy with their purchase. It’s possible that the manufacturer had a batch of wool that wasn’t properly cleaned but again it’s difficult to know for certain without seeing it in person.

In any case I understand that your frustration is more about the process involved with getting your replacement than with the mattress itself.

[quote]Majestic forced me to buy a mattress pad from them. At the time I was OK with the idea because I would have bought one anyway.

My first instinct was that they had known about issue all along and had insisted on the purchase of the mattress pad to hide the problem. I’m not sure it this was the case but, since I was starting to suspect that things weren’t quite above board, it really didn’t surprise me when they tried to tell me that the this was a “normal” byproduct of “natural” organic wool. [/quote]

Some manufacturers or retailers make the purchase of a mattress protector a condition of the warranty (more with higher end mattresses) because any stain on a mattress will invalidate a mattress warranty. The reasoning is that any negative feedback related to having to buy a protector at the same time and from the same store as the mattress are less than the the negative feedback that can be involved with dealing with an angry customer that initiates a warranty claim for a defective mattress (which can happen with any mattress on occasion) only to find out that their warranty is no longer valid because of a minor stain on the mattress. It wouldn’t have had anything to do with the issues you are experiencing.

Latex is very flexible and bendable and it certainly shouldn’t be an issue over the course of a few weeks.

I’m looking forward to any additional updates you have the chance to share and to finding out whether your replacement mattress solves your issue.

Phoenix

I would guess that the “slivers” I described are, more accurately described as, parts of “burrs” that were probably caught in the lambs wool where the sheep lived. They look like what I’ve seen caught in my dogs fur. What I don’t understand is how the wool seems to be full of these. Like I said, I removed about 80 before giving up when I realized that there appeared to be no end in sight.
As for being “sensitive” to these I can’t imagine anyone being able to tolerate these poking into bare skin. They are literally like wood slivers in that they are just as sharp and pointy (though slightly more flexible).

As for the mattress pad, I really wasn’t complaining about being forced to buy one but… it did delay the detection of the slivers/burrs.

Ps. When I showed the slivers/burrs to the two saleswoman (that were working when I came in) their response was immediately that this was neither “normal” nor acceptable. It was only the manager (Suzanne) and the owner who gave me a hard time about it. Clearly the issue was obvious to the average person and I was getting the runaround from the people trying to avoid responsibility.

Hi confused1,

[quote]I would guess that the “slivers” I described are, more accurately described as, parts of “burrs” that were probably caught in the lambs wool where the sheep lived. They look like what I’ve seen caught in my dogs fur. What I don’t understand is how the wool seems to be full of these. Like I said, I removed about 80 before giving up when I realized that there appeared to be no end in sight.
As for being “sensitive” to these I can’t imagine anyone being able to tolerate these poking into bare skin. They are literally like wood slivers in that they are just as sharp and pointy (though slightly more flexible).[/quote]

Raw wool goes through a number of steps in processing that can vary to some degree but it includes a cleaning/scouring, picking, and carding/combing process that normally removes the burs and prickly vegetable matter from the wool (see here) and it sounds like the wool in your mattress may not have been completely cleaned/carded. Some people can still be sensitive to wool even when it is properly cleaned and carded but based on your comments (and the comments of some of the store staff) it doesn’t sound like this is what you are experiencing.

Phoenix