Are all bed sales people either thick or ignorant

raymond

After weeks of hunting around for a new bed, we have been misinformed, lied to and treated like we are stupid.

Most recent instance was a shop trying to sell us a memory foam mattress with a sprung divan base ... no manufacturer recommends this.

Same shop insisted that a demo mattress was on a sprung base dispite the fact that I looked and the base was slatted they insisted it was a sprung base and got really !!!!ed when I lifted the mattress up.

Sleepmaster were totally uninterested in selling us a memory foam mattress they insisted we would be bettter with a pocket sprung with memory foam on top. I wandered around for a while and every single customer was shown and recommended the same model bed which is obviously the one with the best commision even though it was not the most expensive.

Dreams insisted that their memory foam beds were 100% memory foam where others just had a layer on top .. total bull$hit

Older high street type shops recommend not buying memory foam ... stuck in the dark ages.

Memory foam mattresses range from £350 to £900 and even more for Tempur so what is the difference, some "cheaper" shops say they are all identical and actually made in the same factory .. bull$hit ?

Do any of you sell beds and actually know anything about them ?

I am totally bewildered, but thinking of buying a Sealy Mirrorform divan set reduced to £999 with 4 drawer base.

pavlovs_dog

other issues to be aware of...

the type of base you put the mattress on completely alters the feel of the mattress. each has its pros and cons. take a slatted base for example - totally unsuitable for a budget open coil mattress because the springs over time tend to 'sink' between the gaps in the slats. it does however offer the advantage of better ventialtion (assuming you dont hide all your rubbish under the bed :eek:) which is a positive from a hygiene point of view

how much maintenance do you want? its recommend that you rotate and flip your mattress when you change your bedding, to encourage even wear, prolonging the life of the mattress. with pillow top mattresses, no flipping or rotating. is this something which would make life easier for you?

as for the price differention between mattresses - this reflects the labour and material that goes into it. a matress which has been scientifically developed to help you get a better sleep (miracoils, tempur body moulding etc) will cost more than a bog standard open coil mattress. but even the big brand mattress companies make and sell cheap mattresses under an 'own brand' label, so not as much c0ck n bull on that front as you might think

Avoriaz

Tim_Deegan wrote:

.Are all bed sales people either thick or ignorant

Some might be thick and ignorant.:D

Fortunately for me, as far as I can recall, the few that I have ever dealt with have been very helpful and knowledgeable.

Tim_Deegan

pavlovs_dog wrote:

other issues to be aware of...

the type of base you put the mattress on completely alters the feel of the mattress. each has its pros and cons. take a slatted base for example - totally unsuitable for a budget open coil mattress because the springs over time tend to 'sink' between the gaps in the slats. it does however offer the advantage of better ventialtion (assuming you dont hide all your rubbish under the bed :eek:) which is a positive from a hygiene point of view

how much maintenance do you want? its recommend that you rotate and flip your mattress when you change your bedding, to encourage even wear, prolonging the life of the mattress. with pillow top mattresses, no flipping or rotating. is this something which would make life easier for you?

as for the price differention between mattresses - this reflects the labour and material that goes into it. a matress which has been scientifically developed to help you get a better sleep (miracoils, tempur body moulding etc) will cost more than a bog standard open coil mattress. but even the big brand mattress companies make and sell cheap mattresses under an 'own brand' label, so not as much c0ck n bull on that front as you might think

I'm afraid you have the bit about slatted bases the wrong way around.......it's pocket sprung mattresses that aren't suitable for slatted bases. This is because the springs in a pocket sprung mattress all work independently and can push between the slatts. Open coil sprung mattresses contain a sort of frame of springs all joined together, so they help to spread the weight out over the slatts.

The reasons for the price differences you say are correct. However most bed retailers put about 400% mark up on their prices, which is why it's best to buy from a seller who delivers direct from the factory in order to keep their overheads down.

Don't be fooled into paying more to buy a well known brand name. The prices are hiked up because people pay more for brand names. In many cases the lesser known manufacturers are just as good if not better than many of the far more expensive brand named products. I know of one huge company in particular that make very poor quality mattresses that only last a couple of years. And there are a few other brands that aren't much better.

andrewmoorcroft

raymond wrote:

Most recent instance was a shop trying to sell us a memory foam mattress with a sprung divan base ... no manufacturer recommends this.
I am totally bewildered, but thinking of buying a Sealy Mirrorform divan set reduced to £999 with 4 drawer base.

In the nicest possible way, you have to realise that not many really clever people work as sales assistants shops. If they were scientists capable of earning £100K, why would they sell beds for £15K. OK there are some clever shop assistants and some are students making their way through uni. I'm not saying they are all thick because that would be arrogant of me!
You are ignorant yourself on the point above though. The very manufacturer you are thinking of buying from reccommend a memory foam mattress on a sprung base.

"Sealy Images 2006- This innovative mattress incorporates a generous layer of sealy's unique 'memory foam' material which moulds to the shape of the sleepers body to provide correct support and spinal alignment with addition of the 'PostureTech Ultra' mattress and torsion sprung base, Images truly combines two unique sleep technologies together for a comfortable nights sleep".

Busybody

raymond.. where are you situated I know of a good independant shop in Stockport that gives honest advice.(no I am not conected to it)

Debt_Free_Chick

andrewmoorcroft wrote:

In the nicest possible way, you have to realise that not many really clever people work as sales assistants shops.

Even worse - and this is particularly true in the national chains - the staff may well be reasonably intelligent, but the company has a [strike]brainwashing[/strike] training programme that focuses on maximising the highest profit sales, rather than providing a quality customer service. They are often "incentivised" in a way which gives them more commission for certain products.

I doubt they have very much "technical" training, if any!!

And it's not just bed stores - electricals, PCs, furniture, DIY .... you name it :mad:

ScoobieGirl

Avoriaz wrote:

Some might be thick and ignorant.:D

That's just the thought that occured to me when I read it! :rotfl:

following pavlovs_dog comments I am regretting buying a slatted base / coil mattress combo. That might explain the sping digging in my hip recently.

Still iy's lasted 7 years so shouldn't complain too much. I think I will go for a slatted base again, so what's a good choice of mattress? - the harder the better as far as I'm concerned!

Tim_Deegan

ScoobieGirl wrote: »

That's just the thought that occured to me when I read it! :rotfl:

following pavlovs_dog comments I am regretting buying a slatted base / coil mattress combo. That might explain the sping digging in my hip recently.

Still iy's lasted 7 years so shouldn't complain too much. I think I will go for a slatted base again, so what's a good choice of mattress? - the harder the better as far as I'm concerned!

Did you read my reply to pavlovs_dog in post number 5?