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Who Can You Call?
Want information about a mattress? Well, unless you know some pretty unusual people, all of your friends, family, colleagues, and buiness associates sleep on mattresses. Ask around.
It is not a bad idea to call some people to ask for recommendations. Once you get past your cousins and neighbors, you might try a local sleep clinic, your regular physician, any medical people you might know, and physical therapists. If you like chiropractic, call your chiropractor.
It helps if you already have a relationship with them (for instance, call your chiropractor, not just somebody you dug out of the phone book). But in the case of a sleep clinic, you could do a cold call. If they don't want to take the time to help you, accept that graciously. But they might, and you never know until you ask.
If you know people who work with furniture a lot, such as sales people, builders, interior decorators, designers, or even friends who just bought a new home or redecorated, ask them. In many cases, they may have just bought a mattress or know more than you might think about buying a mattress.
Getting recommendations for a mattrress is one thing. Take them with a grain of salt. After all, one person's perfect mattress is another one's rock. Listen to all input, but bear in mind that mattresses can be very personal. What you like may not be what somebody else likes.
But getting recommendations for mattress sellers is very important. You want to go to a reputable store with a good policy in terms of how you'll be treated, how well and quickly they will honor promises, and whether or not they will stand behind the product.
You also want to find out if anyone in your cicles has found good mattress sales people they might recommend.
Ask, too, about prices. Has a recent mattress buyer found that Store X generally undersold the other stores in your area? This is valuable information that can save you tons of time. But you gotta ask!
Mattress-Shopper
Seven Really Unusual Shopping Tactics
Seven Things a New Mattress May Not Be Able to Do
One.
If you have trouble sleeping, a mattress may or may not help. It depends on the cause of your insomnia.
Two.
If you snore, a new mattress may actually help you. Then again, it might not. It depends on why you snore.
Three.
If you have an iffy love life, a new mattress may not help you. It depends on the reason your love life is mediocre.
Four.
If you get a new mattress, it probably won't make the tired old wallpaper in the spare bedroom look better. New mattresses look surprisingly like old mattresses under a comforter.
Five.
If you get new mattresses for your kids, it may not make your kids love you. That doesn't mean they won't appreciate it. But they may be less than exuberant in their appreciation.
Six.
If you get a new mattress, it may not make the salesperson in the store love you. Sales is a people job and most salespeople genuinely like helping people. But don't confuse a salesperson with your friend.
Seven.
If you get a new mattress, it may not fix a damaged relationship. Then again, if the fight was over getting a decent mattress, maybe it will.
While you can't pin all of your unrealistic hopes and dreams on a new mattress, in general, you can expect a new mattress to improve the quality of your sleep, be more comfortable, and help you feel better.
And even if you can't tell an old mattress from a new one once it's dressed up in a comforter, that doesn't mean you can't feel the difference when you climb into bed. And that's what really counts!
Mattress-Shopper
We don't sell mattresses and have no financial interest in any company that does.
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Sometimes You Gotta Get Eccentric
A mattress is a big investment. You may end up spending a thousand dollars or more on a mattress, and you’ll probably end up spending years of your life sleeping on it.
In short, it’s not the sort of decision you should take too lightly. But how do you shop for a mattress, apart from listening to the sales guy or sprawling out on it in the show room?
These ideas are kind of unorthodox and some of them are admittedly off-the-wall. Don’t do everything on this list or things that seem too bizarre or expensive for you. But, on the other hand, if you’re serious about getting the best possible mattress for your home, you may find a few approaches you never thought of.
- Ask people. If you’re mattress shopping, start asking the people around you (at work, school, clubs, church) about their recommendations. Don’t necessarily ask what kind of mattress they have; that may make you seem somewhat perverse. Instead, tell them you’re in the market for a new mattress and did they have any recommendations. You’ll discover a good many people don’t know what kind of mattress they have. But you may find a few evangelists in the mix—people who just love their water bed or new Serta Perfect Sleeper or whatever. At this point, you’re soliciting types of beds you’ll definitely want to check out as you shop.
- Stay in a hotel. Many fine hotels know and will tell you the sort of mattresses they have. I once stayed at a Radisson Hotel in Los Angeles that actually advertised the fact that they offered Sleep Number beds. Why not sleep a night on the mattress you’re planning to get? True, it’ll cost you a hotel room, but that’s cheaper than buying the wrong mattress. (By the way, if you’re a frequent traveler, call your hotels and ask the kind of mattresses they have; you can keep notes and may get to test out many types of mattresses.)
- Go online. There are tons of mattress websites, including sites run by manufacturers. These manufacturers truly have a vested interested in selling you their products, so naturally they are going to tell you only about their products. Bearing that in mind, allow them. Most websites have Contact Us forms or offer 800 numbers to get further information. Take advantage of this service—e-mail is my favorite because it allows you to ask questions without necessarily coming face to face with a pushy mattress salesperson.
- Find an understanding friend. If one of your friends has a mattress he or she recommends, ask them if you can see it. While you can’t necessarily invite yourself to spend the night on their mattress, you may feel more comfortable “testing” their mattress in their home than in a show room.
- Ask a furniture salesperson. Mattress sales people may know more about mattresses than other types of sales people, but they have an agenda. Depending on their store or their specials, most mattress sellers will try to steer you toward the product they want you to buy. Instead, go to people who deal with mattresses but don’t sell them—for instance, the people who sell bedroom furniture. They may not know about coil gauge, but they can tell you what mattresses are popular (and popular generally means most people like them) and which ones are overpriced. I once had a sales woman at Ethan Allen advise me away from one particular type of mattress because it was overpriced (that is, she could recommend a model that was practically identical but cost about 20% less).
- Ask about warranties. Most mattresses are sold without much opportunity to return them unless they are clearly defective or damaged. However, some companies are starting to offer 30-day periods where you can take the mattress back if it fails to meet your expectations. It never hurts to ask if a mattress offers this, but don’t take the word of a sales person in a show room. Ask for the warranty in writing. The warranty shouldn’t make your decision, but it does take some of the risk out of selecting that particular mattress.
- Contact a health professional. Your pediatrician may not know much about mattresses, but if your town has a sleep clinic or sleep specialists, it might be worth a phone call or even an appointment to learn about mattresses. If you have a specific health problem (insomnia, bad back, allergies) contact your specialist in that area to find out what you need to know about buying your next mattress.
In short, buying a mattress is tough because it’s a big decision about an important and costly product and there isn’t a really good way to compare products. Be creative as you start to make your choices!