Silentnight bedding accessories

SidP

I had a disappointing experience today that I need to share.

I finally decided to do something about always seeming to get a stuffy nose when going to bed, and doing some research I discovered that, along with other measures, a washable mattress protector could help by preventing the proliferation of dust mites.

A local bedding shop had a variety of different mattress protectors for sale, but I was drawn to the "Anti-Allergy Mattress Protector" by Silentnight partly for the name and partly for the fact that it stated clearly on the packaging that it could be washed up to 60ºC. It was a little pricey, though, so I thought I'd shop around.

In the next shop (a large national chain), I found another "Anti-Allergy Mattress Protector" by Silentnight. This time the price was about £5 less, but the packaging was very different to the one I'd originally seen, though the product name was identical. There were also no washing instructions on the packaging, and a staff member had to ask the manager to check the label on the item inside. It turned out to be 40ºC.

I decided I liked the idea of being able to wash at the higher temperature, and I was also a bit confused as to why what purported to be the same product from the same company should differ so much from the one I'd originally seen, so I tried another store nearby.

This store, another large national chain, had once again the same product from Silentnight, with the exact same name, but the packaging was different once more. It also failed to display the care instructions on the packaging, and after I was allowed to open it I found that it too was 40ºC only.

At this point I'd done a fair bit of getting around to find the best product and I was getting frustrated that I was finding what seemed to be the exact same product in three different styles of packaging with two different sets of care instructions (I'm also somewhat sure that there were different quilting patterns on the products: I think one was diamond-patterned, whilst another just had horizontal bands). So, I decided to call Silentnight themselves to see what was going on.

It transpired, after a brief phone call, that Silentnight were not actually responsible for these products. They had licensed their name to an independent company, and it was they that were apparently responsible for the design, manufacture and distribution of all Silentnight-branded bedding accessories.

I called this company, and this was where things began to get really odd. At first I got cut off while being transferred to their Customer Services dept., but on ringing back I was eventually told the following:
1) Despite the different packaging and widely varying prices (from £8.99 to £16), all these products were the same.
2) Despite what the care label stated, all of the mattress protectors were washable at up to 60ºC.

I asked the representative why the products had varying care instructions despite being the same item, and she said that some stores asked for these changes to be made on the product they received. She was adamant about point (2) above, though, stating it several times. I asked why a store would choose to have incorrect care instructions placed on the products, and all I was told was that it was their decision. In the end, I never got a proper answer for this.

After the call ended, I spoke to the manager of the last store and explained the problem. He was a nice guy and understood my concerns. It was during this conversation that he told me that Silentnight had, in fact, gone bust several years before and the brand name had been bought up by another company. I'd actually suspected this and now that it had been confirmed, things made a lot more sense.

And now, the kicker:

In the end, I decided not to buy any of the Silentnight mattress protectors, but I had already purchased two Silentnight-branded "Anti-Allergy Pillow Protectors" from the first store, the local one. These were quite expensive but I've actually found they do make a difference to my stuffy nose at night. What's curious though, is this: they seem to have been made by a completely different company to the one that made the mattress protectors! There's no mention anywhere of the company Silentnight claimed had licensed their name, though this name did appear prominently on the mattress protectors sold by the national chain stores. Instead, there's just a brand name I don't recognise that doesn't seem to have any web presence (all I could find were two family-owned local businesses, one in England and one in America) and no contact details.

I'm not really sure what to make of this other than: don't trust the Silentnight brand name any more, and be wary of brand names in general. I also think it's about time consumers were made aware when brand names have been assumed by new companies so that we can make informed decisions as to whether to continue to trust them. I know for a fact that this practice is very common in the hi-fi world, with Cambridge Audio being a good example.

One last thing: I'm open to recommendations for a good quality mattress protector available from a reputable retailer for a reasonable price. Washable up to at least 50ºC would be nice.

Thanks for reading. Comments are welcome.