Every day I talk to people about mattresses — memory foam mattress, inner spring mattresses, latex mattresses… One of the things I hear most often is how upset people are when they have spent good money to buy a mattress, only to find out it is not right for them and it can’t be returned. It felt good in the store perhaps, but after many nights of hours at a time, the same mattress that felt great for 15 minutes just doesn’t work for many people. This is why a true money-back trial is so important when buying any type of mattress.
We recommend that you only buy your memory foam mattress (or any mattress) from a retailer that gives you at least 90 days to try it in your own home and will actually give you your money back so you can shop elsewhere if need be. Stay away from exchanges and “comfort” guarantees. A “comfort” guarantee is simply a tricky way of saying “store credit.” Some stores that offer an exchange only let you do one exchange and even when a store will let you exchange a mattress many times, if they do not have a mattress that works for you, you are simply out of luck. Unfortunately we hear from many people this has happened to. They are out hundreds or even thousands of dollars and still don’t have a mattress that works for them.
When you find a retailer with a true money-back guarantee, read the fine print and find out what returning a mattress actually entails. There may be a small fee to return, perhaps, and that is okay, but look out for hidden “gotcha” fees or returns that are purposely difficult or even possible to do. For example, I know of one online memory foam mattress retailer that claims “Our exchange rate is 2.8%. That means 97.2% of XXX owners love their mattress.” If you read about their “exchange,” you find that you have to pack the mattress back in its original plastic and box to mail it back and exchange it. You also have to keep it for 25 days and have until 50 days to exchange it. Of course, there is no mention of a money-back guarantee or trial, just an exchange. So this company is asking you to buy their product sight-unseen on the Internet and offer you an exchange that is very difficult, if not impossible to do… Are they really backing their product or just looking for a way to sell it and stick you with it?
At Healthy Foundations, the minimum money-back trial we recommend is 90 days, but ours is 365 days. Longer is better for a money-back trial. Although our return rate is low, 1/4 of the returns are in the last 90 days of the 365-day trial. Our 365-day money-back guarantee is simple: You have 365 days to try our mattress to make sure it is right for you. It is not physically returned, it is picked up. Most people (95%) choose our charitable option in which you choose a local charity to pick up the mattress. You then send us your donation receipt and get a 100% refund of your money. If you cannot or do not want to donate, then a service will come pick it up and $75 is deducted from the refund to help defray that cost. We encourage the charitable option since it is preferable to throwing away a perfectly good mattress that may work well for someone else.
So no matter where you buy or what type of mattress you choose, look for a true money-back trial of at least 90 days to try your mattress. Retailers who really back their mattress don’t have a problem with that. Ask yourself this… Does this mattress retailer really want me to be happy with my mattress, or, do they really want to sell me something I am stuck with?