Bensons Beds mattress - faulty and getting nowhere

[GeorgieW]

Last June I bought a sleep2live mattress from Bensons for beds. Appaarently the perfect solution for a couple who have a significant weight difference, as each side of the mattress is sprung to the correct tension for that sleeper. I was assured it would be the same as a normal flat mattress but more comfortable. No slopes, dips or issues arising from the different tensions. I asked questions, I spent a couple of hours in the shop.

 

8 months on and this mattress makes my back hurt so much that I have to sleep on the sofa. The bad has become a slope from my firm side to my husbands soft side. I am sleeping uphill or sliding down the bed. We have had to put a line of pillows down the middle of the bed to offer more support & keep me where I should be. It is so uncomfortable that I often end up sleeping on the sofa. I am also disabled and find I end up having to pull myself uphill to the edge of the bed so that I can get up in the night.

 

I rang Bensons who eventually sent a mattress technician over to my home. He spent less than 5 minutes looking at the mattress, lifted one corner to check my base was suitable & pushed each side with the palm of his hand. I rang again today as I had heard nothing and was told that there was no fault with my mattress so there was nothing more they could do, goodbye!

 

I am fuming. This mattress was twice the price of others and it supposedly has a 15 year guarantee. Can you test how a bed behaves when you lie on it without lying on it? If this is how this mattress is expected to behave due to the different tensions on each side then the salesman lied to me. As I see it, either this mattress is faulty, or it was mis-sold. Either way, I can't get any help from Bensons and I'm stuck with an overpriced mattress I can't use and a lot of back pain.

 

I could roll my very pregnant self down to the store in the wheelchair and try and fight with them but I don't know if being THAT preson will help at all & I don't like to use my disability in that way.

 

What, if anything, can I do?

[rebel11]

Hi geo

 

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

 

Have a read of (9) in my signature, SOGA.

[Conniff]

I could roll my very pregnant self down to the store in the wheelchair and try and fight with them but I don't know if being THAT preson will help at all & I don't like to use my disability in that way.

 

 

You damned well use your disability to it's full advantage Georgie. It's not your fault you are in a wheelchair and if they think they have the upper hand and can take advantage because you are disabled, then you get down there, ask for the manager, and show them they haven't.

 

Come back here when you have visited, whatever the outcome, this seems to be all in your favour.

[ajmc]

Hey Georgie,

 

SNAP - I have the same problem!

 

I bought a Sealy posturepedic non-turn mattress from them on the 11 June 2010, and eight months later the middle of the bed has 'sunk in' giving me extreme back pain. I cannot sleep on the mattress at all either.

 

I tried on many occasions to get hold of customer services, but it seems they experience a high volume of calls every minute of every day and the waiting time increases each time you phone!

 

Finally, I resorted to contacting the branch where I bought the bed from and the woman helped me. I took a photo of the bed and emailed it to the head office.

 

Two days later, I still hadn't heard anything ... so I called.

 

It's the same story as you - they WILL NOT exchange the bed or offer a refund as apparently it's my responsibility to 'turn' the 'non-turn' mattress - that is why it sunk in the middle, because I didn't turn it once every two weeks.

 

Um, err ... hello?

 

I received no bed care leaflet either instructing me to turn the mattress every two weeks ... it's a non-turn mattress!

 

So, like you I don't know what to do now. I contact the Trading Standards who suggest I write a letter to Bensons. So, guess what I'm going to be doing later?

 

According to the Sale of goods act 1979, if an item you purchased has not lasted a reasonable time, and is not fit for purpose, then it is their duty to replace or refund it. But according to Bensons, it is the customer's responsibility to turn a mattress every two weeks to prevent damage - therefore, it's the customers fault.

 

Nice ...

[Tim Deegan]

THere is no such thing as a non turn mattress. There are one sided mattresses which you have, but they still need to be rotated end to end. The whole non turn mattress concept is a complete con, because non turn mattresses simply won't last as long.

 

It seems as if there is a trend for not giving customers the product care leflet, and it is your word against theirs. If I were you I would contact trading standards, and tell both Sealy and the retailer that you are doing so.

 

You should also know that the spring system in your mattress is a continuous spring system, which are very unreliable.

 

Take a look at this mattress advice site. It isn't trying to sell, and contains no links: http://www.mattressadvice.co.uk

[GeorgieW]

I am still fighting with them and don't know what to do next. We've become caught in a cycle where both the store and the 'customer service' dept refuse to deal with me.

 

I have been into the store who refuse to do anything & in fact the manager tried to blame my disability for the pain I experience. Bensons are claiming there is no fault with the mattress and that the dips it has developed are with expected normal ranges for this product. I have written to them twice using SOGA and saying that it was mis-sold as the salesman lied to us and we purchsed based on the info we were given. We were told that the dips etc never happen but now they are saying it's normal behaviour!

 

They just write back and say no fault so get lost - they don't address the mis-sold & not fit for purpose. The letter I received today says that they will not discuss the matter any further with me.

 

I don't see that I have any option but to pursue it through small claims from this point on. I don't know how good a case we have though as it's all verbal. We only have what the salesman said to us, which is not in writing.

 

I am sick of the whole thing, having a baby in a week and really just want a decent nights sleep! We are thinking of buying one from John Lewis as it is clear a replacement is never going to happen.

 

Any advice?

[ajmc]

I hear your pain Georgie. They simply aren't interested at all. I even took it upon myself to contact Sealy direct, and sadly even they weren't interested.

 

They use the excuse : 'try before you buy' ... well, laying on a mattress for 60 seconds is not going to tell you if it's going to sink in three weeks time - go figure!

 

I hit a brick wall in every direction, so decided to just buy another bed instead.

 

The consumer laws on beds should really be changed - they are not consumer friendly.

[GeorgieW]

Well I am going to take it to small claims. We were in the shop for hours and the salesman told us direct lies - if he had told the truth I would not have bought this mattress. We've ordered a new mattress from John Lewis, who have excellent customer services! After 5 months of fighting I have decided that I need to be able to sleep as I am having a baby in a week!

 

I'm just hoping the claim goes through without hassle - it's so much more than try before you buy. We did, we asked questions, we used their 'body tester' and accepted their recommendation - we were lied to & screwed over. They have been deliberately refusing to engage in the hope that I go away but not gonna happen.

[Tim Deegan]

John Lewis have got better customer service, but they are still a big retailer, and as far as I know they also don't givew a satisfaction guarantee. If you want a good quality mattress at a low price, stay well away from the big retailers, and the big manufacturers. Instead shop on line, sticking with smaller independent manufacturers, and making sure that the seller gives a proper satisfaction guarantee.

 

Also did you contact trading standards??

 

Many of the big bed retailers operate this way, so maybe contact BBC Watchdog also.

[Sybil31s]

I am just starting down the road of complaining. Company I bought from in April 2011 no longer trading - so Sealy are going to look at my mattress. Not holding my breath. Apart from the Himalayan mountain ridge down the centre of our bed, the soft knitted fabric on the top of the mattress is now disintegrating and the padding below escaping. I expect more from a £900 mattress than three fairly non-satisfactory years. If no joy I will go straight to small claims court. Anyone had any success with Sealy?

[Conniff]

You will need paperwork showing that the mattress is faulty. This will cost you, but you will be able to claim the cost it back if you win.