TOPIC:

Hello,

My husband and I are sick of our bed. It's too soft, and both of us are waking up in more and more discomfort each day. We've been asking around, and I've had a number of friends recommend latex, the Costco novofoam, and Tempurpedic beds. Doing research online today, I came across a big sale at Plush Beds that ends today, and I've been leaning toward latex based on reviews. However, I've never actually slept on a latex bed before! I'm not sure on your turn around response time, but they seem to have a decent return policy, so I'm thinking it's worth trying out? We want a split king, possibly adjustable base (thoughts?), and I'm thinking 9" would be sufficient, as we're both average sized people.

Also, I tend to sleep very hot since having kids, so it deters me from the TempurPedic. I did try out a Sleep Number bed, and it was pretty comfortable, but I'm not sure how it would work out for a couple with different requirements. Anything else I should be considering. I don't want to rush into this, but of course we decided on getting a new bed after holiday sales are ending.

Is it worth trying out the plush beds?!? It seems like a great deal!

Thanks,
Nilu

Latex is a great choice. We owned a sleep number bed and it was awful. We slept on a tempurpedic at a hotel and it wasn't the choice for us either. It was so hot and we felt like we were being encased in cement. Read the stickies for this site and you will get great info to help you choose.

Just FYI, in the few months I've been paying attention to sales and latex beds, I've noticed that the sales at Plushbeds may change a little from time to time, but they always seem to be running a sale. I don't think you need to make a purchase in a hurry to catch a sale price there.

Thanks! Good to know. They're offering $1000 off today, which seems like a pretty sweet deal. There doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews other than those provided by the company, which I don't trust as much. It does seem like a $0 risk with full return and no shipping cost for 100 days, so it's very tempting. Free sheets, pillows and mattress cover today too.

Hi Nilu,

Just in case you haven't read it yet ... the first place I would start your research is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices ... and avoid the worse ones.

I wouldn't worry about any "sales" or have any sense of "urgency" because as Clawdia mentioned Plushbeds always has "sale prices" and there are also many other latex options available to you that have great value every day of the year. One of the links in the tutorial post includes a list of some of the members here that sell latex mattresses online that give you many different options that have great quality/value (they are listed in post #21 here ). The "value" of a mattress purchase always depends on how it compares to other options you have available to you in terms of your personal value equation so I would never use a comparison with a so called "regular" price which is often fake or inflated (nobody ever buys the mattress at the "regular price") to decide on whether the price is a "great deal".

A forum search on Plushbeds (you can just click this) will bring up many more comments about them.

Phoenix

I purchased a Botanical Bliss mattress (queen size) from Plush Beds about 6 months ago. My time on the mattress was about 80 days. Unfortunately, my sleeping experience was worse than my previous coil spring mattress. The biggest issue was that I always felt like I was sleeping on a bias. The problem became clear when I realized I had enough with the mattress and decided to pack it up (more on that hassle later). The mattress thickness varied from 6-9" around the perimeter. My platform is dead-flat, so that wasn't the issue. The root cause was that the inner layers were used. Not used from me, instead, I believe it was a prior returned layer (at least one layer). The foam had chunks missing in a couple of the layers and varied in thickness throughout.

It was pretty much a miserable experience from top to bottom. Returning the mattress is A) A royal pain the neck. Expensive.

The mattress, mind you, comes in a vacuum sealed box/bag combo. The company reduces the size of the mattress by at least 2/3. How are you going to do that if you decide to return it? I used a heavy duty mattress bag and powerful shop vac to improvise. I barely reduced the mattress down to 1/2 the size and with the help of 2 other people (it's very heavy and awkward) I stuffed it into a bicycle box. Packing tape alone would not suffice. I had to bolster the box with nylon strapping.

Then I was whacked with an almost $200 shipping fee from FedEx and the surreptitious $99 "convenience fee."

They always have that sale, as do most other online outlets. It seems like they all collude to adopt this stupid business model with silly sales. The latex mattress industry is a sleazy one IMO. Even the retail outlets practice this way.

Good luck. I'm still trying to find a mattress.

Hi bullyd,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience but some of what you are saying doesn't sound quite right or "balanced" to me so I thought I would respond and ask a few questions so that the members here can also find out about what Plushbeds said about your issues or correct any of the comments you made that may not be accurate.

The biggest issue was that I always felt like I was sleeping on a bias. The problem became clear when I realized I had enough with the mattress and decided to pack it up (more on that hassle later). The mattress thickness varied from 6-9" around the perimeter. My platform is dead-flat, so that wasn't the issue. The root cause was that the inner layers were used. Not used from me, instead, I believe it was a prior returned layer (at least one layer). The foam had chunks missing in a couple of the layers and varied in thickness throughout.

Even though sleeping on a "bias" certainly wouldn't be normal ... I truly doubt that your layers were used. Latex often has imperfections that some customers don't realize is "normal". They could have been damaged, defective, or possibly even the wrong size but if the mattress thickness varied from 6" to 9" around the perimeter or if you were sleeping on a "bias" then the first thing I would have done is call Plushbeds so that they could correct the problem. If your layer really was that varied in thickness then it could even be that the top layer wasn't installed into the mattress correctly. Either way these are the types of issues where I would have talked to Plushbeds right away so they could either help you correct it or replace any defective parts of your mattress. Did you call them? What did they say?

It was pretty much a miserable experience from top to bottom. Returning the mattress is A) A royal pain the neck. Expensive.

The mattress, mind you, comes in a vacuum sealed box/bag combo. The company reduces the size of the mattress by at least 2/3. How are you going to do that if you decide to return it? I used a heavy duty mattress bag and powerful shop vac to improvise. I barely reduced the mattress down to 1/2 the size and with the help of 2 other people (it's very heavy and awkward) I stuffed it into a bicycle box. Packing tape alone would not suffice. I had to bolster the box with nylon strapping.

Then I was whacked with an almost $200 shipping fee from FedEx and the surreptitious $99 "convenience fee."

If your mattress was roll packed then if you need to return it all you would need to do is put it in a box (or two boxes taped together) and they will arrange to have it picked up at no cost to you. You don't need to try and re-compress it. I confirmed this with their customer service this morning. Of course there is some effort and "hassle" involved in this but it's a much better option than being stuck with a mattress that isn't working for you. Have you called them about the shipping charge? What did they say?

Their site clearly states there is a $99 convenience fee if you have used or decide to keep any of the bonus accessories so I'm not sure why this would be an issue.

In all fairness ... it sounds to me like you either made the wrong comfort choice (and you have an option top exchange the comfort layer) and/or there was something wrong with your mattress when you received it (which they would either replace if a layer was defective or the wrong size or tell you how to correct it). IMO ... their return policy is very fair and certainly provides a good way to lower the risk of an online purchase and if you were somehow charged in error for return shipping then I would make sure that this was corrected.

I do agree with you about the rotating sales which are so common in the industry (it would make more sense to me to have a fixed regular price and then any sale prices would be a legitimate sale) but I do understand the rationale behind it because most consumers have little understanding of the industry and don't know how to make meaningful comparisons and are so used to only buying a mattress that is "on sale" (fake or otherwise) that if they don't see "sale" on a website they don't buy it.

I wanted to explore some of the issues you brought up and find out a few more details because the internet leaves a permanent record of these types of complaints and it's important that they are accurate and balanced and present the other side of the story as well so that a legitimate business isn't harmed by a customer that makes unfair comments or makes statements that aren't accurate (such as saying that they are using used layers).

To me it seems that you made an online purchase of a good quality mattress with a good return policy but came across some issues which could have been corrected which is the reason for a good exchange or return policy in the first place.

It seems to me that the only real issue you had (outside of things that could have been corrected with a phone call or exchange) was that you were somehow charged $200 in error for return shipping and I would be interested to know what they said about this when you called them.

Phoenix

Hello,

Thank you for everyone's responses. We decided to go ahead with Plush Beds based primarily on their generous return policy and positive reviews. I'm a little nervous after reading bullyd's review. I am hoping to have a better experience, and I will post my review when we get our bed in two weeks.

I based my decision on:

1. NO return cost and full refund if it's not the bed for us. I asked how I had to package it back, as I don't have a space saver or whatever to compress it back into a box, and he said I would just have to wrap it up in a thick plastic, and they would come pick it up free of charge.

2. I did feel some pressure based on the sale. I had no way of gauging whether $1000 off was more or less than usual, and whether the sheets, etc. were part of general sale. Of course, going to site now, I see that they do. Oh well. I did get them to upgrade to king size pillows and for some reason they threw in an extra $100 off.

3. They seem to have very positive reviews. I had a hard time finding negative reviews - and I searched fairly thoroughly. It's how I found this site.

It seems the only risk I'm at is having spent too much. Now, I'm not sure how to balance that cost with a generous return policy, which I hope is true... bullyd does have me worried. Not having tried out a latex bed before, I felt that I made a good choice in having someone who would deliver it to me and take it away if needed. I have young kids and am in the middle of a major house remodel (thankfully wrapping up!), so the convenience of it all really appealed.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's feedback. Phoenix, I found your response to be reassuring. I just hope we like the bed! And I hope they're nice sheets, as there is no telling what we're going to get!

Thanks,
Nilu

Hi Nilu,

2. I did feel some pressure based on the sale. I had no way of gauging whether $1000 off was more or less than usual, and whether the sheets, etc. were part of general sale. Of course, going to site now, I see that they do. Oh well. I did get them to upgrade to king size pillows and for some reason they threw in an extra $100 off.

This is their "normal" practice. If you go to the wayback machine you can see that on June 27th, 2013 and on Dec 22nd, 2012 (two of their capture dates picked at random) they had basically the same $1000 off sale. The best way to compare the "value" of a mattress purchase is by making comparisons with other similar mattresses ... not by comparing to a "fake" sale price.

3. They seem to have very positive reviews. I had a hard time finding negative reviews - and I searched fairly thoroughly. It's how I found this site.

As you probably know ... I don't pay much attention to mattress reviews (although independent reviews about the service of a company can be more meaningful) because a mattress that "matches" one person in terms of PPP may be completely unsuitable for the next and in terms of quality a mattress is only as good as its construction and the type and quality of the materials that are inside it (see post #13 here ). Hopefully you made some good comparisons with some of the other similar online options you have available to you that are listed in post #21 here (and that your choice wasn't based on some of the "better/worse" comments on their site (particularly about the difference between Dunlop and Talalay or between natural and blended Talalay which I believe are somewhat inaccurate).

It seems the only risk I'm at is having spent too much. Now, I'm not sure how to balance that cost with a generous return policy, which I hope is true... bullyd does have me worried. Not having tried out a latex bed before, I felt that I made a good choice in having someone who would deliver it to me and take it away if needed. I have young kids and am in the middle of a major house remodel (thankfully wrapping up!), so the convenience of it all really appealed.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's feedback. Phoenix, I found your response to be reassuring. I just hope we like the bed! And I hope they're nice sheets, as there is no telling what we're going to get!

The main risk of an online purchase (at least where you know the specifics of all the materials and have made some good "value" comparisons with other local and online options) is that the mattress isn't suitable for you in terms of PPP but this risk is reduced with good exchange or return options that can allow you to make changes after a purchase (within the limits of the design) or in the worst case to return the mattress and start all over again and choose a mattress that has a different design or material options.

Overall ... if you had a few good "finalists" and Plushbeds was the best "match" for all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you and you believe that they are the best option for you then IMO you did well because helping the members here find and make meaningful comparisons between good quality/value mattresses and manufacturers is one of the main goals of the site.

So congratulations on your new mattress

I hope you have the chance to let us know your feedback when you've received it and have had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.

Phoenix

Phoenix,

I just typed up a response but was timed-out (response vaporized) so this will be an abbreviated version.

The layers looked used to me and appear to have either been "recycled" or errantly handled. I opened up the cover and reset the layers to no avail and called after another couple days on the bed. My concerns about the dilapidated appearance of the layers were disqualified by PB, so my confidence in PB hit rock bottom. I was never offered a replacement, nor did I request one. At that point, my buyer's remorse was at a point of no return. The mattress was expensive and quite frankly, It was unacceptable not getting it right the 1st time. Not to mention I seriously question their ethical standards. My girlfriend was disgusted upon revealing the top layer.

Calling PB was a pain in the neck. Back when I was dealing with them every call went through a call center and you could never get an actual PB rep right away. The call center would take a message and state somebody would call back. They couldn't provide an exact time, and that was a real challenge considering I work.

As for packing the mattress. Think about getting a 2 half boxes for a queen size latex mattress. I would like to know where you could find those, for free or almost free. Do you know how heavy latex is? From NY that would garner a $400-500 shipment charge. That's as oversized as oversize gets.

There return policy was nebulous at the time. I returned everything and was still charged $99 (if you read their site it still says that. It's true if you don't return the accessories you get charged $99). Secondly, they say to simply pack it up (that's really easy!!) and they take care of the rest. Do they mention that they deduct the shipping charge from your refund? Because that's what they did. Customer service absolutely dropped the ball on that. So, not only do you have a potential ethical issue with the return, but also the condition of the layers.

I unequivocally disagree with your assessment of PB's quality and refund policy. Let me ask you this: is PB's refund policy as lucid as Bed in a Box's (I'm not endorsing them, nor do I own or recommend this company). They are pretty clear and honest. Can that be said for PB?

Just to be fair, this was my experience at the time. They have completely changed their website.