Local mattress warehouse, factory-beds-direct, or somewhere else?

jamiewakeham

Our 11 year old Hypnos mattress has got to the point of needing replacement. I have a slightly troublesome back and have no problem at all with the idea of spending £1000 on a really good mattress that'll be firm enough for me and last for years.

Spent a Saturday trying out various mattresses that are available locally. The two front runners were a Harrison Amethyst (4000 spring) in Firm, at £900 from an independent shop, and an Insignia Orthopaedic (3000 spring) at £1100 from Dreams.

I did feel neither was quite perfect. The former felt like it had a more supportive base but quite a soft top two inches, whilst the latter felt less supportive overall. I could spend more time driving further afield and try out even more options, but time is quite precious.

So then I did my background reading on here and found several references to John Ryan / Factory Beds Direct.

I'm all for spending my money with smaller and independent retailers (do FBD count as small or independent?) and I'm very happy to spend a bit more to get the best quality/price ratio I can. I'm nervous about buying a mattress I've never tried out, but their online reviews do seem convincing.

What's the current thinking? I see this is a purchase that's caused some spirited exchanges of views (!) in the past. Should I take the best I've found so far, chance FBD and rely on their returns policy if I hate it, or keep looking for a small independent artisan master mattress maker?

If people tell me that FBD really do listen to exactly what you want, and do offer greater quality at the same price, then I'll probably give them a go.

Cheers
Jamie

Pinkypants

I'd say it all boils down to how much comfort is a factor. If comfort is top priority over value for money then continue to shop around in bricks and mortar stores.

Yes the chaps at FBD certainly know their stuff, but are you happy to but untested and maybe have the hassle of getting wrong and sending a big bulky item back?

I'm also well aware that 2 mins try in a shop is never the same as sleeping on it all night, but it still guess you a very good idea of what the mattress is like.

What sort of base is this brand new mattress going onto? If it's a sprung divan base then really that needs to be replaced as well. As the springs will have aged and it won't support your new expensive mattress very well. Also will your current base last another 10 years?

devildog

I purchased a mattress from Factory Beds approx. 3 years ago(?) One of us was significantly heavier than the other with back issues.
John and Ryan did listen and advise and the mattress today is as good as the day it was delivered and extremely comfortable. For this reason we haven't had to 'test' their returns policy although they did 'extend' it due to one of us working away for a significant period.
The only negative was when we ordered they were slow at emailing receipts/confirmation of order which they said was due to them being out on the road so to speak.

A.Penny.Saved

If I was in a similar situation to you and the mattress mattered as much as it seems to, rather than me being able to sleep on practically anything, hard floors, bathroom floors, stools, settees etc etc and occasionally my bed lmao, I would go to a large supplier to find the right one and then search for a supplier who has it for a lower price.

jamiewakeham

Thanks for replies, all.

It's to go onto a solid divan base, so there shouldn't be any issue with that wearing out - though I will check when we next turn the mattress!

If going round more shops and trying every mattress I can find is the best way, I'm happy to do it. Gettng the right mattress is certainly more important to me than the price (within reason... which is why I'm not looking at Vi-Sprung).

I think what's bugging me is the possibility that, even when I've been around more shops, I may still not have found the best mattress for me - just because even the biggest shops don't have that many in stock, and I want something that's not very mainstream - so I may never get to try it. Whereas, if I believe FBD's marketing spiel, they can work out exactly the right mattress for me.

Thing is, I can't decide if this is sensibly putting myself into the hands of experts, or just a blend of my wishful thinking and their good marketing!

Maybe I need to go to some more shops.

Cheers
Jamie

A.Penny.Saved

By the sound of it you would probably find something with memory foam works quite well. It tends to be too firm for most people so it should be quite firm & supportive.

What about something like ***this***

How do you rate your current mattress?
They also sell a number of the Hypno range such as £870 for a cashmere double hypno. £695 for the Supreme Hypnos with Latex.

jamiewakeham

Ah - should have said at the start - we hate memory foam! Neither of us like the sinking-into-it thing.

Our Hypnos was great at the start. It's hard to remember exactly what it was like, to compare to others, because it was 11 years ago. I was interested to find that new Hypnos mattresses in the shops we've been to didn't seem quite as supportive as either the Dreams Insignia or the Harrison.

madmum33

I bought a Millbrook pocket sprung mattress last year and I have to say it's far superior to any of the other mattresses I tried, extremely supportive.