Advice between Myers, Healthopaedic, or Bedmaster mattresses

EssentialParadox

EssentialParadox wrote: »

Okay, last ones...

- 4ft6 LUXORIOUS REGAL DOUBLE 4ft 6" ORTHOPAEDIC MATTRESS
10 inches deep - £129
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4ft6-LUXORIOUS-REGAL-DOUBLE-4ft-6%22-ORTHOPAEDIC-MATTRESS_W0QQitemZ360143659927QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=150262217318&rvr_id=150262217318&cguid=b7f36f5a1290a0e204278dd7ffd1f6b2#ht_6349wt_1048


- Pure Luxury Kensington 4'6 Double Orthopaedic Mattress
9 inches deep - £129
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pure-Luxury-Kensington-4'6-Double-Orthopaedic-Mattress_W0QQitemZ360092255724QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=150253543838&rvr_id=150253543838&cguid=b7f36f5a1290a0e204278dd7ffd1f6b2#ht_6228wt_1048


- ROMANTICA 4ft6in DOUBLE 135cm ORTHOPAEDIC BED MATTRESS
10.5 inches deep - £139
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROMANTICA-4ft6in-DOUBLE-135cm-ORTHOPAEDIC-BED-MATTRESS-_W0QQitemZ280565194803QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=150268002200&rvr_id=150268002200&cguid=b7f36f5a1290a0e204278dd7ffd1f6b2#ht_4071wt_694

Anyone bought any of these eBay ones? Any thoughts, or should I just stick with the Healthopaedic?

mantamark

I wish someone would just list the good & bad mattresses!

So many products, but so little adivce as to which ones are good or not.

EssentialParadox

Honestly (and I think a few others may agree with me), I couldn't care less if Tim posted the link to his website in his signature! So long as people are informed he runs a bed / mattress store of his own, and that members need to take that information into account when taking his advice, I don't see what the problem is in him recommending specific brands. In fact, I think it would probably make users safer about how to judge his advice if things were more clear and open.

I think it would solve a lot of problems if the forum allowed him to do that. But I do understand that it's not Tim's fault. It's not really anyone's fault ultimately, because the forum admins are simply trying to keep people safe. But maybe a second look at their guidelines wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Tim_Deegan

EssentialParadox wrote: »

Honestly (and I think a few others may agree with me), I couldn't care less if Tim posted the link to his website in his signature! So long as people are informed he runs a bed / mattress store of his own, and that members need to take that information into account when taking his advice, I don't see what the problem is in him recommending specific brands. In fact, I think it would probably make users safer about how to judge his advice if things were more clear and open.

I think it would solve a lot of problems if the forum allowed him to do that. But I do understand that it's not Tim's fault. It's not really anyone's fault ultimately, because the forum admins are simply trying to keep people safe. But maybe a second look at their guidelines wouldn't be such a bad thing.

The advice I give is generic, so that you can choose to take it or not when narrowing down your choice from any brand. That's as much as I am allowed to do.

Pinkypants

EssentialParadox wrote: »

Honestly (and I think a few others may agree with me), I couldn't care less if Tim posted the link to his website in his signature! So long as people are informed he runs a bed / mattress store of his own, and that members need to take that information into account when taking his advice, I don't see what the problem is in him recommending specific brands. In fact, I think it would probably make users safer about how to judge his advice if things were more clear and open.

I think it would solve a lot of problems if the forum allowed him to do that. But I do understand that it's not Tim's fault. It's not really anyone's fault ultimately, because the forum admins are simply trying to keep people safe. But maybe a second look at their guidelines wouldn't be such a bad thing.

But if you did that the beds and mattresses threads will be full of traders pushing their sites and products. There is already a different forum for that.

You would have to allow others to do the same, for some type of balance and no favouritisim.

Just ban people from posting too often about their trade?

EssentialParadox

Pinkypants wrote: »

But if you did that the beds and mattresses threads will be full of traders pushing their sites and products. There is already a different forum for that.

You would have to allow others to do the same, for some type of balance and no favouritisim.

Just ban people from posting too often about their trade?

So long as they all carry a disclaimer in their signature, and there is a clear line drawn between giving advice and selling, and that spamming continues to be disallowed, I can see it as beneficial to those of us looking for a decent mattress.

The problem with mattresses is the quality is so diverse among manufacturers that you literally need expert experience to be able to discern the good from the bad. But the only people with that experience are people like Tim who happen to be part of the mattress industry, meaning they can't actually give specific advice due to the rules. It's a catch-22.

What i'd love to see is Tim and another mattress expert come on and [respectfully] disagree between good and bad mattress makes. It would only help to inform myself and others, but the areas where they do agree would be dynamite advice.

Making it fully open, I think would be better than having them hidden under anonymity.

Tim_Deegan

EssentialParadox wrote: »

So long as they all carry a disclaimer in their signature, and there is a clear line drawn between giving advice and selling, and that spamming continues to be disallowed, I can see it as beneficial to those of us looking for a decent mattress.

The problem with mattresses is the quality is so diverse among manufacturers that you literally need expert experience to be able to discern the good from the bad. But the only people with that experience are people like Tim who happen to be part of the mattress industry, meaning they can't actually give specific advice due to the rules. It's a catch-22.

What i'd love to see is Tim and another mattress expert come on and [respectfully] disagree between good and bad mattress makes. It would only help to inform myself and others, but the areas where they do agree would be dynamite advice.

Making it fully open, I think would be better than having them hidden under anonymity.

I'm quite open about being in the trade, and I say it on many occasions.

Your idea would be great apart from one big flaw: I come on here to expose the hype, gimmicks, and quite often actual lies used in the bed industry. And as you can imagine this often ruffles quite a few feathers amongst other people in the trade who actually use those methods. So I'm afraid that I'm never going to agree with someone who uses those methods to sell.

It seems that the whole retail industry (not just beds) has got out of hand in the way they promote goods. It would be so nice if you could go to any retailer and just be told the truth. I use this policy, and it does work believe me. But it seems that fierce competition amongst retailers has made many companies lose sight of this.

EssentialParadox

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

I'm quite open about being in the trade, and I say it on many occasions.

Your idea would be great apart from one big flaw: I come on here to expose the hype, gimmicks, and quite often actual lies used in the bed industry. And as you can imagine this often ruffles quite a few feathers amongst other people in the trade who actually use those methods. So I'm afraid that I'm never going to agree with someone who uses those methods to sell.

It seems that the whole retail industry (not just beds) has got out of hand in the way they promote goods. It would be so nice if you could go to any retailer and just be told the truth. I use this policy, and it does work believe me. But it seems that fierce competition amongst retailers has made many companies lose sight of this.

I understand your point Tim, but what's currently stopping them from coming in and joining the forums under anonymity anyway? And all due respect but how are normal people like us to know if you're trustworthy either? It could be the brands you recommend are cheap and shoddy, and Silent Night make the best beds possible. Not that I believe that to be true of course, but I do think it should be up to us to determine who we choose to believe and respect the opinion of. If that were the case, I personally would choose to listen to your opinions on brands because I find you to be more trustworthy, but I am not opposed to reading the advice from other bed manufacturers if everyone was clearly labeled as such, and I think it would help us weigh the value of your opinions more if we could also see your website and the brands you sell yourself. Anyone else who did the same as you do would also be asked to post a message in their signature saying they work in the industry, and preferably who they work for as well, and then if someone gives us bad advice on mattresses we can come at them like an angry mob, and if someone like yourself gives us good advice, we can recommend you as trustworthy to other members looking for beds and mattresses. And if someone truly respected your advice, maybe they'd click on the web link in your signature to purchase directly from you as a little 'thank-you', which I think would be a nice gesture considering how many years you've spent giving advice on here. And I think it would be great to give others small bed companies the opportunity to gain respect among the forum members as you have done.

Well it's just my suggestion anyway, on a way we could solve it. It's a bit of a difficulty getting advice here in the current circumstances, not least because you need to stick around telling people which beds are bad and good indirectly, which the rest of us are doing hours of research which could be by-passed entirely.

Tim_Deegan

EssentialParadox wrote: »

I understand your point Tim, but what's currently stopping them from coming in and joining the forums under anonymity anyway?

They do all the time. And usually they slag me off for telling people the truth.

EssentialParadox wrote: »

And all due respect but how are normal people like us to know if you're trustworthy either?

You don't, as you don't know me, but you can choose to ignore my advice.

EssentialParadox wrote: »

It could be the brands you recommend are cheap and shoddy, and Silent Night make the best beds possible. Not that I believe that to be true of course, but I do think it should be up to us to determine who we choose to believe and respect the opinion of. If that were the case, I personally would choose to listen to your opinions on brands because I find you to be more trustworthy,

What you need to do is look at most retail industries, and see how mass produced products have been lowered in quality over the years. Manufacturers are constantly trying to make products cheaper to manufacture, and we have all noticed that many items aren't as well built as they used to be. One example that springs to mind is the Playstation 3. Now I'm no expert on them, but it seems that all the real enthusiasts think that the original bigger one was much better made, and was far more reliable, and that the new slimline one isn't as well made. Even houses aren't built anywhere near as well as they used to be.

With some products the savings in manufacturing costs have been passed onto us as cheaper products, but it seems that in the bed industry they haven't (except with a few exceptions). The main exception is pocket sprung mattresses. The reflex foam encapsulated pocket spring system is far cheaper to produce than full size steel pocket springs, and these mattresses are often cheaper. However they don't give anywhere near the same support, but the consumer doesn't know they are getting anything different. All they think is that they are getting a pocket sprung mattress for a lower price.

EssentialParadox wrote: »

but I am not opposed to reading the advice from other bed manufacturers if everyone was clearly labeled as such, and I think it would help us weigh the value of your opinions more if we could also see your website and the brands you sell yourself. Anyone else who did the same as you do would also be asked to post a message in their signature saying they work in the industry, and preferably who they work for as well, and then if someone gives us bad advice on mattresses we can come at them like an angry mob, and if someone like yourself gives us good advice, we can recommend you as trustworthy to other members looking for beds and mattresses.


And if someone truly respected your advice, maybe they'd click on the web link in your signature to purchase directly from you as a little 'thank-you', which I think would be a nice gesture considering how many years you've spent giving advice on here. And I think it would be great to give others small bed companies the opportunity to gain respect among the forum members as you have done.

Actually I have been thanked for my advice many times in these forums, by people who have bought many different brands from many different retailers. But they have used the advice i have given them to help make their choice.

Personally I don't agree with posting the company people work for, as that would just encourage loads of sales hype from many people as they do in their shops. This isn't what MSE is about. There are other web sites for that sort of thing.

EssentialParadox wrote: »

Well it's just my suggestion anyway, on a way we could solve it. It's a bit of a difficulty getting advice here in the current circumstances, not least because you need to stick around telling people which beds are bad and good indirectly, which the rest of us are doing hours of research which could be by-passed entirely.

I completely see your point. But there are enough personal attacks on me by other retailers as it is. Believe it or not, I have actually received a few threatening e-mails from retailers who don't like me telling people the truth.

mantamark

I dont see why he cant just say i would recommend if you want a double mattress, you want it firm, you have a bad back, to go for brands x, y or z.

Its up to them if they use that advice, and tbh even if he did say that, and even if he sold that brand, i would still go and research the brand, look for reviews & see if it was possible to get it cheaper.

Its advice, its not saying you must buy this from me.