Why do delivered mattresses always feel inferior to floor sample models?

[phoenix]

Hi BirchBarlow and bobg31,

I welcome you both to the Mattress Forum!

I’ve noticed this with several mainstream mattress brands (Sealy, Serta, Stearns and Foster, etc.). When you order one of these mattresses from a mattress retailer, the product they deliver is always somehow inferior the floor model I’ve noticed this with multiple mainstream brands from multiple retailers. The mattress is always harder, softer, less conforming, or somehow different from the demo and it never breaks in like the floor sample. They vary from being substantially less comfortable to downright unbearable, yet the ones in the store always feel like they’re supposed to feel. The ones they deliver always feel like they’re missing something, i.e. cushioning, support foam, coils, etc. Has anyone else had this same experience?

There will be an initial break in and adjustment period with any new mattress over the course of the first 30 - 90 days or so (see post #3 here ), but this will be less with higher quality and more durable materials than it will for lower quality materials. I would also keep in mind that most floor models have already been broken in to some degree so a new mattress may be a little firmer than the floor model until it breaks in as well.

The brands you mentioned tend to use lower quality materials in their comfort layers, and these will break-in and change in comfort faster in the mattress showroom, so consumers may notice more of a difference between the floor models they tested and their new mattress. Additionally, any mattress at home is using a mattress pads and a fitted sheet, and may also be placed upon a frame that is different from what was used in the mattress showroom, and this can also alter overall comfort.

Many stores are guilty of keeping their floor models past what I would normally term as being “representative” of what a new mattress will feel like, as replacing floor models is expensive. This differs from the slight change in feel that you will experience with every mattress produced in a current line-up, as there will always be slight variations in the pour/feel of the foams used. Sometimes a manufacturer will make a running change in a specification of a mattress, and if this is the case the retailer should change out their floor model. But in general, model specification changes are made when whole new line-ups are introduced.

Maybe the floor models are a “beefed up version”?

This would generally not be the case, as retailers and manufacturers would be committing fraud and subject to lawsuits and a large amount of negative publicity. However, while you wouldn’t think it to be the case, as Jeff Scheuer from Mattress To Go noted previously on this very topic, he has seen other stores who reserve the right to substitute a product that they claim to be “similar” to the one that you ordered, and they will often include this in their standard boilerplate legal disclaimers on the back of their invoices. This has never made sense to me, as when you are shopping for a mattress you are taking the time to find an item that best suits your individual needs. So, I would always make sure that you are receiving the exact same item that you sampled in any showroom.

One thing that I will mention is that many mattress companies ask that retailers place their floor model orders separate from their general lineup orders. This is done not only for special badging that may appear on the item, but also to make sure that the quality of assembly and look of the mattress is as nice as possible. While not using different componentry, the quality of assembly can also have a bit of a difference in the change of the feel of a product.

But in general, the difference in the feel of any new mattress versus a showroom model is due to the “broken-in” state of the showroom model that has lost much of its “false firmness”, and the change in bed frame and addition of the mattress pad and sheets used at home.

Phoenix