Ikea Sultan mattress....

pug_in_a_bed

oh no! we've just bought the SULTAN HJARTDAL sprung matress with memory foam layer today, hope its ok! was it the same one you have?

pulliptears

There is a lot of Ikea bashing on this forum and to be honest I've never had a problem with any of their products. DD's bed and mattress from there lasted for years.

wii_man1

i had the same treatment from ikea also, basically told me to get stuffed
ok i could not provide my receipt but who else sells ikea mattress and have ikea been in the uk for more than 25 years ?

stitching falling apart on both sides of the mattress same dip in the middle.

dizziblonde

pug_in_a_bed wrote: »

oh no! we've just bought the SULTAN HJARTDAL sprung matress with memory foam layer today, hope its ok! was it the same one you have?

That's the one we got ours replaced with (was a Hasselback - and I know I've spelt that wrong - that broke) and it's luuuush. Think ours got replaced back in August/September and it's still currently going strong having survived a house move in the snow.

housesitter

pulliptears wrote: »

There is a lot of Ikea bashing on this forum

Agreed.
Finally we hear from someone at Ikea themselves (potentially) and along come the usual suspects to ruin the chance of a reasonable discussion and clarification of the 25 year guarantee to the letter of it.

I'm in the market for a matress and to be honest Tim, whilst I appreciate your posting on this you have done nothing but pour scorn on Ikea's product for the last 3-4 years.

I have to question to motives of someone who by his own posts states that he is going by what his customers have said. Yet as a person actively in the trade has not done any of his own personal independant testing of their product.
What you appear to do is to suggest people go for an independant retailer of which you happen to be.

But why?
What extra service do we get, as all we seem to hear is don't buy this, don't buy that, but be sure to go independant.
But where is the indepth tear down and comparision of what is good and bad for each product?


I don't imagine that you compete against Ikea on price.
I expect that you need to do it in other areas?!?
So for once, instead of bashing them, verbally, hit them with the facts of what is wrong with their product instead.
Prove they are substandard.

Tell us why their springs are inferior (metal type, coil diameter, durability, spring rate).
Their material composition is poor quality (latex type, density, thickness).
Their stiching isn't up to par.
With photos, examples, you know; proof.


Otherwise, please just butt out for once and let Ikea speak up and answer some critisism themselves.

Tim_Deegan

wii_man1 wrote: »

i had the same treatment from ikea also, basically told me to get stuffed
ok i could not provide my receipt but who else sells ikea mattress and have ikea been in the uk for more than 25 years ?

stitching falling apart on both sides of the mattress same dip in the middle.

Do you mean who sells Ikea size mattresses??

If so then you will find that most independent UK manufacturers will supply continental sizes (which is what Ikea use).

Tim_Deegan

housesitter wrote: »

Agreed.
Finally we hear from someone at Ikea themselves (potentially) and along come the usual suspects to ruin the chance of a reasonable discussion and clarification of the 25 year guarantee to the letter of it.

I'm in the market for a matress and to be honest Tim, whilst I appreciate your posting on this you have done nothing but pour scorn on Ikea's product for the last 3-4 years.

I have to question to motives of someone who by his own posts states that he is going by what his customers have said. Yet as a person actively in the trade has not done any of his own personal independant testing of their product.
What you appear to do is to suggest people go for an independant retailer of which you happen to be.

But why?
What extra service do we get, as all we seem to hear is don't buy this, don't buy that, but be sure to go independant.
But where is the indepth tear down and comparision of what is good and bad for each product?


I don't imagine that you compete against Ikea on price.
I expect that you need to do it in other areas?!?
So for once, instead of bashing them, verbally, hit them with the facts of what is wrong with their product instead.
Prove they are substandard.

Tell us why their springs are inferior (metal type, coil diameter, durability, spring rate).
Their material composition is poor quality (latex type, density, thickness).
Their stiching isn't up to par.
With photos, examples, you know; proof.


Otherwise, please just butt out for once and let Ikea speak up and answer some critisism themselves.

If you love Ikea so much, then go ahead and buy their products.

The fact is that their products are mass produced as cheaply as possible. And it is a well known fact that their prices are low because their quality is also.


I'm not going to waste hours trying to convince an Ikea lover, but just a couple of examples are:

• Their pocket springs are the smaller, cheaper, and less supportive reflex foam encapsulated pocket springs.
• Their latex foam is synthetic, and is nothing at all like natural latex.

There was another thread where someone explained why most of their kitchens are so cheap....because all of the components were made to lower specifications, like lower density MDF or chipboard, with thinner laminates etc.

You may love Ikea, but just remember that they are cheap for a very good reason.

Would you know the difference between good quality furniture, and poor quality furniture, just by looking at it in a showroom?? Well there are various areas in the furniture industry that I do know the difference.

I would like to add that I do occasionally shop at Ikea, but there are some products that I would never buy from them. It really says it all when display items are often broken. I actually sat on a sofa in Ikea recently, and it broke (and I'm only 12 stone).

My posts are nothing to do with products I sell. I come on MSE to tell people the truth about the hype and gimmicks used in the bed industry. And to tell people what is a good design, what is a poor design, and what is just a gimmick.

paddyrg

I have to say my own experience of Ikea matresses has not been one of enduring quality, but of short-term comfort followed by relatively rapid failure. The Mrs and I then replaced it with a feather and black model (ex-showrrom model, deeply discounted to the same price as the Ikea one off the shelf) and it has been amazing for over 4 years. It just makes me realise how bad my previous matress experience was. No question it would have been a much dearer matress were it not ex-demo, but compared with the number of times we'd replace it, one sound investment.

Personally I tend to avoid any furniture which arrives as flat-pack MDF regardless of manufacturer/retailer - the same money can get you some incredible secondhand bargains, either near- or actual antiques, furniture that has already lasted 100 years has proved it has staying power and is several thousand times prettier than MDF - and it holds value (or even appreciates!) as opposed to only being good for the skip in a few years.

housesitter

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

If you love Ikea so much, then go ahead and buy their products.

If I did love them then I would.
I own Ikea stuff. I own various other items of furniture.
I buy things on the individual merit. I am not loyal to anyone store in fact I aim to find out everything which is wrong before I make a purchase and work on the assumption that anyone trying to sell me something is either lying or has something to hide.

So perhaps you can understand the frustration since once again you've not bothered with any facts other than just a personal opinion which you go on to suggest that we take at face value due to your own perceived reputation.
I'm sure that Ikea has many satisfied customers. Many more so than yourself.
I'm sure you have unsatisfied customers, but it's unlikely we will ever hear about them on a national forum.

The fact is that their products are mass produced as cheaply as possible. And it is a well known fact that their prices are low because their quality is also.

As is everyone in manufacturing, to whatever scale.
Items are no longer overengineered to last forever since the vast majority of places are run by accountants not craftsmen.

If you wish to talk about quality then again I'm sure you realise that quite often it's a personal perception of what is good and bad quality unless it's blindingly obvious.

I'm not going to waste hours trying to convince an Ikea lover, but just a couple of examples are:

• Their pocket springs are the smaller, cheaper, and less supportive reflex foam encapsulated pocket springs.
• Their latex foam is synthetic, and is nothing at all like natural latex.

Surely hearing an indepth analysis from an expert in the field would hardly be a waste of time?
Again, drawing up a couple of items of mention which I've read posted by you elsewhere.
However again as ever lacking in the hard details.

There was another thread where someone explained why most of their kitchens are so cheap....because all of the components were made to lower specifications, like lower density MDF or chipboard, with thinner laminates etc.

Vast mass production also has an awful lot to do with it.
However I've also seen quite shocking gaps in laminates certainly around corner areas and joints on various Ikea furniture. Beds included.
Fact is, if you go looking for problems on anything you'll find it. It's all down to what level you feel is acceptible. Ikea obviously isn't doing a bad job as far as the masses are concerned becasue they are certainly selling enough to people and there are the devotees.

I'm probably more picky than most given that it is my job to find faults in products and report upon them and I hate lying salesmen.

You may love Ikea, but just remember that they are cheap for a very good reason.

I don't like giving money to anyone.
I use freecycle a lot for things but then I have some rather expensive tools. I pay for something what I feel it is worth to me.

You do seem to have a bit of a thorn in your side about them however.
I guess you feel they are the competition.

Would you know the difference between good quality furniture, and poor quality furniture, just by looking at it in a showroom??

Yes and a lot more besides.
Bed's however are not something I've ever looked into before now.

I would like to add that I do occasionally shop at Ikea, but there are some products that I would never buy from them. It really says it all when display items are often broken. I actually sat on a sofa in Ikea recently, and it broke (and I'm only 12 stone).

And how many thousands of people had sat on it previously?
How many kids/teens/adults! have bounced up and down on it.
I will buy things from bargin corner, but certainly would never touch a bed or a sofa second hand.
Do you really expect a display item to be truely representative of the actual product? They do change things often for the very reason of wear and tear, you can check an item on display for the tag (usually underneath, hidden naturally) to say when it was put out in case you are interested.

But suggesting a sofa is bad quality because it's hard a seriously hard life shows quite a lack of understanding for someone who also has items on display!!

My posts are nothing to do with products I sell. I come on MSE to tell people the truth about the hype and gimmicks used in the bed industry. And to tell people what is a good design, what is a poor design, and what is just a gimmick.

With sweeping generalisations.
No one ever learned anything from being fed the newbie synopsis. If people just turn off because it gets too technical for them it's their choice not to learn something new.
These gimmicks you speak of just seem to turn into bashing the major manufacturers. They are out to take punters for a ride. Who knew?
But the problem is that it's the same stuff over and over. Nothing new. Nothing in depth.

Just this is good, this is bad.
You might as well say BMW are good and Ford are bad, because I'm a car dealer and I know it to it so.
Or things like: Ford use a lower grade engine oil so it wears faster.
Without stating something like (over 200K miles) which is the important fact of the matter.
Not the greatest analogy but beds v cars is a new one on me.


Personally I'd relish the chance at getting the low down technical details of what is good and what isn't.
Don't believe in one size fits all. Springs will compress to different lengths depending on a person's weight and indeed their height due to distribution.

Do you know the spring constants of different matresses or are we just stuck with soft and firm?
Same (I would imagine) goes for the density of the latex foam used?

Maldives_lover

housesitter wrote: »

If I did love them then I would.
I own Ikea stuff. I own various other items of furniture.
I buy things on the individual merit. I am not loyal to anyone store in fact I aim to find out everything which is wrong before I make a purchase and work on the assumption that anyone trying to sell me something is either lying or has something to hide.

So perhaps you can understand the frustration since once again you've not bothered with any facts other than just a personal opinion which you go on to suggest that we take at face value due to your own perceived reputation.
I'm sure that Ikea has many satisfied customers. Many more so than yourself.
I'm sure you have unsatisfied customers, but it's unlikely we will ever hear about them on a national forum.

As is everyone in manufacturing, to whatever scale.
Items are no longer overengineered to last forever since the vast majority of places are run by accountants not craftsmen.

If you wish to talk about quality then again I'm sure you realise that quite often it's a personal perception of what is good and bad quality unless it's blindingly obvious.

Surely hearing an indepth analysis from an expert in the field would hardly be a waste of time?
Again, drawing up a couple of items of mention which I've read posted by you elsewhere.
However again as ever lacking in the hard details.

Vast mass production also has an awful lot to do with it.
However I've also seen quite shocking gaps in laminates certainly around corner areas and joints on various Ikea furniture. Beds included.
Fact is, if you go looking for problems on anything you'll find it. It's all down to what level you feel is acceptible. Ikea obviously isn't doing a bad job as far as the masses are concerned becasue they are certainly selling enough to people and there are the devotees.

I'm probably more picky than most given that it is my job to find faults in products and report upon them and I hate lying salesmen.

I don't like giving money to anyone.
I use freecycle a lot for things but then I have some rather expensive tools. I pay for something what I feel it is worth to me.

You do seem to have a bit of a thorn in your side about them however.
I guess you feel they are the competition.

Yes and a lot more besides.
Bed's however are not something I've ever looked into before now.

And how many thousands of people had sat on it previously?
How many kids/teens/adults! have bounced up and down on it.
I will buy things from bargin corner, but certainly would never touch a bed or a sofa second hand.
Do you really expect a display item to be truely representative of the actual product? They do change things often for the very reason of wear and tear, you can check an item on display for the tag (usually underneath, hidden naturally) to say when it was put out in case you are interested.

But suggesting a sofa is bad quality because it's hard a seriously hard life shows quite a lack of understanding for someone who also has items on display!!

With sweeping generalisations.
No one ever learned anything from being fed the newbie synopsis. If people just turn off because it gets too technical for them it's their choice not to learn something new.
These gimmicks you speak of just seem to turn into bashing the major manufacturers. They are out to take punters for a ride. Who knew?
But the problem is that it's the same stuff over and over. Nothing new. Nothing in depth.

Just this is good, this is bad.
You might as well say BMW are good and Ford are bad, because I'm a car dealer and I know it to it so.
Or things like: Ford use a lower grade engine oil so it wears faster.
Without stating something like (over 200K miles) which is the important fact of the matter.
Not the greatest analogy but beds v cars is a new one on me.


Personally I'd relish the chance at getting the low down technical details of what is good and what isn't.
Don't believe in one size fits all. Springs will compress to different lengths depending on a person's weight and indeed their height due to distribution.

Do you know the spring constants of different matresses or are we just stuck with soft and firm?
Same (I would imagine) goes for the density of the latex foam used?

You and Tim clearly both have different opinions which you are entitled to but I would like to suggest that you continue this argument privately, it not fair on the op or the rest of us to hijack his original post like this. I'm more interested to know if the op has had the problem resolved.