Mattress Return Distance Selling Regulations

sunshinetours

The online world is a funny world. People do tend to take "reviews" as gospel and hence why it is important online retailers deal with any suggested untrue reviews or comments properly (which would probably mean not replying in a public forum like this I would agree as things just escalate with all the "experts" present here)

All you can do with online retailers is go with your instinct once you have reviewed the various positive and negative reviews. Being reasonable works both ways aswell. Haven;t read this in full but it seems the buyer just changed their mind and didn't properly try the mattress? It cabn take several days if not weeks to get used to a new mattress as we found out when we bought our one (from Dreams and paid a fortune although two years later it is still very comfortable!)

EDIT - if you use the mattress protector you are covered still to return it. Seems to me that you want to try a bed for 10 minutes max in a shop rather than a week or so at home???

allstar4eva

The mattress was not suitable for us. We have tried out mattresses in various shops and knew as soon as we tried it that it was not for us - but hey that's what a guarantee is for isn't it? We had no idea it would be so unsuitable otherwise we would never have even opened the packaging (The packaging was opened to air it out as many advise to do). It is not one I would have chosen but it was recommended by Tim so we ordered it thinking it would be similar to many tried in stores but it wasn't. Tim is an expert so I took his advice which I am sure was given in good faith but was ultimately no good for us.

P.S. When I stay in hotels I do not have to get used to a mattress! The starting point has to be a mattress that feels comfortable and you work from there. When it feels uncomfortable from the start is there any point in going on?

fthl

fthl, you have missed the fact that, in case of ambiguity, a court is much more likely to find in favour of the lesser party i.e. the customer.

No I didn't.

On the other hand, if the company is seeking to rely on vague t's and c's then they should be construed in your favour.

Furthermore, the retailer cannot argue that the customer is being unreasonable solely by them wishing to assert their statutory right to cancel!

Agreed, but the t's and c's clearly say that it is down to the company's opinion of the reasonableness of the claim, not whether they are actually being unreasonable or not.

1000 people have viewed this thread so far. How many of those people do you think want to buy a bed right now? Let's say a generous 5%.

I suspect that this is tosh. I very much doubt that his sales figures are going to be hurt by this thread, especially as you have reported that he offered to give a refund. The dispute is over whether he needs to pay for the collection.

I wouldn't be surprised if he amends his t's and c's though to make this clearer in the future.

It is just my view, but this is not a case I would pursue. As for the libel angle, not sure I've seen anything here that would really go that far. As I said above, I doubt that his business will be harmed by this at all.

sunshinetours

allstar4eva wrote: »

The mattress was not suitable for us. We have tried out mattresses in various shops and knew as soon as we tried it that it was not for us - but hey that's what a guarantee is for isn't it? We had no idea it would be so unsuitable otherwise we would never have even opened the packaging (The packaging was opened to air it out as many advise to do). It is not one I would have chosen but it was recommended by Tim so we ordered it thinking it would be similar to many tried in stores but it wasn't. Tim is an expert so I took his advice which I am sure was given in good faith but was ultimately no good for us.

P.S. When I stay in hotels I do not have to get used to a mattress! The starting point has to be a mattress that feels comfortable and you work from there. When it feels uncomfortable from the start is there any point in going on?

I use a chiropractor to assist my back and he explained that a properly supporting mattress (generally pocket sprung and memory foam) will often take a little getting used to as your back may have been used to many years of bad sleeping posture, especially if a old bed was very soft and even sagging. Also this is why memory foam supporting pillows can feel uncomfortable on your neck.

This would be all the more important if you wife has been in an accident recently. Pregnancy isn't really relevant apart from the fact she needs a good supporting mattress and plenty of pillows to support bump etc (I know there was hardly room for me in the bed when my wife was pregnant as she has so many pillows between legs, under bump etc !)

Again why would you want to choose a store that you can try the mattress for 10 minutes max? Seems to me you have changed your mind from what you have posted?

Anyway you have obviously chosen to go down a certain avenue now and that makes it difficult to change IMO so I'll let you get on and wish you all the best with your forthcoming arrival which should really be the focus of your energies I would suggest

allstar4eva

I actually wanted to order a pocket sprung with memory foam mattress - I was going to go for the Madrid. I did say I also wanted a firm mattress with memory foam if possible. Tim advised an open coil with memory foam. I do not doubt his intentions but we did not like this mattress. What the experience told us though was that we had to try in a shop for ourselves first.

We tried to like it and seriously considered sleeping on it for a few nights but my wife was was reluctant to do this due to her back so we did not. This is ths only reason we didn't actually try it - surely any resonable person would understand that?

When I spoke to Tim before ordering I explained to him that the kind of mattresses we had liked from the big chains were pocket sprung with memory foam so I am not sure why he recommended open coil with memory foam. It was also cheaper than my initial suggestion of the Madrid. He suggested that the mattress I was considering from the big chain was rubbish but to me it felt far far better than what I have ended up with. With all this talk of how the big chains are overpriced I really did expect the mattress to be better.

sunshinetours

Sorry but am I the only one struggling to understand how you can decide you don't like a mattress without sleeping on it??

allstar4eva

fthl wrote: »

As I said above, I doubt that his business will be harmed by this at all.

Exactly! But it isn't the first time Tim has made such threats - which are completely unnecessary imo.

I think he would look a fool. Especially as he definitely said early on in the saga that "a refund was not an option at this stage under the satisfaction guarantee". Maybe that's where this started as I will fight for my my rights and I don't like to be bullied.

The thing I don't get is he could have got his delivery men to collect the mattress and then we could have argued over a £30 collection fee but suggesting that I arrange delivery back to the factory was not necessary given the situation.

fthl

in litigation it is common for both parties to look like fools, and for both to come out of it poorer.

If I were you I'd write asking him to collect, deduct the collection fee from the refund, and then when this is sorted you can ask a court to rule on whether you are entitled to a refund of the collection fee.

If he refuses that he would be fairly daft in my view. A court might also think that he is being unreasonable, too.

allstar4eva

sunshinetours wrote: »

Sorry but am I the only one struggling to understand how you can decide you don't like a mattress without sleeping on it??

Yes - probably. I don't doubt that the ultimate test is to sleep on a mattress but if it is not comfortable right from the start what is the point? I could have lived with several similarly priced mattresses from the sleepright etc. This one was not even close to what we wanted and as menioned earlier did nothing for my wife's back.

Even Tim has said that chiropractors recommend pocket sprung memory foam mattresses or at least pocket sprung.

allstar4eva

fthl wrote: »

in litigation it is common for both parties to look like fools, and for both to come out of it poorer.

If I were you I'd write asking him to collect, deduct the collection fee from the refund, and then when this is sorted you can ask a court to rule on whether you are entitled to a refund of the collection fee.

If he refuses that he would be fairly daft in my view. A court might also think that he is being unreasonable, too.

Seems like good advice but it would depend on Tim and whether he wanted to charge his normal £30 or £250 from a courier...