sorted no longer need advice faulty mattress

lost_lou

i did consider googling mattress independent report i just feel a bit overwhelmed and am not sure who i can trust

does anyone know if i go down the small claims court route, would my gran have to go in person as its her name on everything, as the reality is due to her age and health is not really an option for us

JJ_Egan

FO say its not faulty so my guess is that the vendor will ignore LBA .
You have also refused the offer the vendor made .

I think the reality is that you write off the cost of this mattress as you will only get annoyed with more people if an independent report finds it ok and or small claims rejects your claim .

Picture show that its probably not a mattress for an adjustable bed ,

peachyprice

The ripples in the Bensons link of the mattress on an adjustable bed look exactly the same as the ripples in your photo. I can see why they're saying it's not faulty tbh.

diezehl

I came here for the first time today looking for info on buying my first motorbike and after getting sidetracked I happened across this thread.

I work in the industry and the title of this thread piqued my curiosity.

The bad news: It is very likely you don't have a case. The problem is that with mattresses, what they should and shouldn't do to be considered fit for purpose tends to be very ill defined, and the expectations of the consumer are often skewed (this is in part due to deliberately misleading marketing).

The good news: There is very likely nothing wrong with the mattress. I feel I should state this more strongly but ultimately I don't know the product. I have in depth knowledge of several manufacturers who make adjustable bed mattresses, of all types and covering many price points. The experience you have had is very common with one exception: it is not generally reported as a fault by the end user.

Bunching of the cover does nothing to adversely affect the comfort or support offered by the mattress. There are types of covers that will not do this (as much) for example the covers Tempur uses or some covers made from things like tencel or viscose.

The issue with your mother's mattress is completely normal, if it's something that bothers her you can put a thin topper on it or even replace the zipped cover (though in my experience coolmax covers often are stiched and non removable) with something from another manufacturer, or perhaps a thick mattress protector. Speak to Bensons, explain the situation and ask their advice. Bed retailers should, and often do offer good will policies in these sorts of situations (though you will have less luck with some of the larger ones). If you feel you have been treated unfairly by Bensons and ultimately have no faith in them to advise you then ask another retailer for their advice.

If none of the above works for you and the mattress remains uncomfortable as a result of the bunching cover, then there are mattresses made with super stretchy covers which would avoid this. It is really difficult to find a product that has this characteristic based on published specifications so you would need to ask a retailer or try some mattresses in a showroom and pay close attention to the cover. Some pocket sprung mattresses are made suitable for adjustable beds and because they tend to have a tufted cover over filling/wadding rather than a loose quilted cover (like yours) they will not bunch up in the same manner, though you may experience settlement (which is completely normal and the mark of a top quality mattress).

Finally, while I personally do not think much of Bensons, they have little reason to assert the mattress is fit for purpose if it isn't. If a genuine fault had occurred the manufacturer would be beholden to Bensons to replace it. If you truly believe you have been wronged then by all means go with your gut, but it really looks to me like you have a normal run of the mill adjustable bed mattress.

Edit> Bensons sell Mammoth, a reputable brand who use tencel covers. They are zero vat rated and do an adjustable mattress range. Bensons only seem to have two models available so I would be take their product knowledge with a pinch of salt but if you manage to get them to agree to a replacement I would seriously consider the Mammoth.

lost_lou

diezehl wrote: »

I came here for the first time today looking for info on buying my first motorbike and after getting sidetracked I happened across this thread.

I work in the industry and the title of this thread piqued my curiosity.

The bad news: It is very likely you don't have a case. The problem is that with mattresses, what they should and shouldn't do to be considered fit for purpose tends to be very ill defined, and the expectations of the consumer are often skewed (this is in part due to deliberately misleading marketing).

The good news: There is very likely nothing wrong with the mattress. I feel I should state this more strongly but ultimately I don't know the product. I have in depth knowledge of several manufacturers who make adjustable bed mattresses, of all types and covering many price points. The experience you have had is very common with one exception: it is not generally reported as a fault by the end user.

Bunching of the cover does nothing to adversely affect the comfort or support offered by the mattress. There are types of covers that will not do this (as much) for example the covers Tempur uses or some covers made from things like tencel or viscose.

The issue with your mother's mattress is completely normal, if it's something that bothers her you can put a thin topper on it or even replace the zipped cover (though in my experience coolmax covers often are stiched and non removable) with something from another manufacturer, or perhaps a thick mattress protector. Speak to Bensons, explain the situation and ask their advice. Bed retailers should, and often do offer good will policies in these sorts of situations (though you will have less luck with some of the larger ones). If you feel you have been treated unfairly by Bensons and ultimately have no faith in them to advise you then ask another retailer for their advice.

If none of the above works for you and the mattress remains uncomfortable as a result of the bunching cover, then there are mattresses made with super stretchy covers which would avoid this. It is really difficult to find a product that has this characteristic based on published specifications so you would need to ask a retailer or try some mattresses in a showroom and pay close attention to the cover. Some pocket sprung mattresses are made suitable for adjustable beds and because they tend to have a tufted cover over filling/wadding rather than a loose quilted cover (like yours) they will not bunch up in the same manner, though you may experience settlement (which is completely normal and the mark of a top quality mattress).

Finally, while I personally do not think much of Bensons, they have little reason to assert the mattress is fit for purpose if it isn't. If a genuine fault had occurred the manufacturer would be beholden to Bensons to replace it. If you truly believe you have been wronged then by all means go with your gut, but it really looks to me like you have a normal run of the mill adjustable bed mattress.

Edit> Bensons sell Mammoth, a reputable brand who use tencel covers. They are zero vat rated and do an adjustable mattress range. Bensons only seem to have two models available so I would be take their product knowledge with a pinch of salt but if you manage to get them to agree to a replacement I would seriously consider the Mammoth.

thank you, naturally its not really what i want to hear but is very helpful,
we do think the problem is with the cover,
the 2nd call we made to bensons we spoke to someone really nice (the only nice person we spoke to at all) he looked at the pics we sent and told us he thought it was just the cover and we would get a replacement within 2 weeks, 2 days after that we get a call from a rude woman saying how dare he tell us that he had no right and was in a lot of trouble she then said that we had to have an assessment, we agreed she said they would be in tough and literally just hung up on us, when the 2 people came to asses the mattress one guy said it was definitely not right but its just the cover and he would sort a new one, the other guy told him to be quite and every time he tried to speak after that the other guy cut him off, and when they left they just said they would be in touch in a few days, after a week we called they said we are looking into it this went on for 3 weeks until i put up a message on twitter then they called and said there was no fault,

when we went in store they actually only offered us the one type and said we could have soft or firm that was it, and said they didnt stock them so we could not even look at them 1st but we figured they would be ok as they should know what they are talking about,

my gut is telling me to keep going so i will
at the end of the day it was a replacement as the old one was becoming unconformable due to its age and my gran says this one is more uncomfortable than that,
i also feel its a lot of money for a pensioner to walkaway from when it was only conformable for a week,
i think i would regret standing my ground more than the stress is currently causing,

thank you again, if my fight gets me nowhere at least i have some good info to work with to try and improve the situation for my gran,

diezehl

Contact FIRA (.co.uk) and they may be able to give you advice without actually inspecting the mattress, or you can arrange an inspection with them independently.

If they decide you have a fault Bbensons will have to accept the mattress is not fit for purpose.

In this event I would give serious consideration to a swap or upgrade rather than getting it replaced like for like as the replacement is going to have the same problem. Avoid anything with a coolmax cover if you don't like the bunching (unfortunately they are used on a lot of adjustable bed mattresses). A few manufacturers offer a choice of coolmax or outlast covers, the outlast may perform a little better but they are both fairly basic covers.

If you can beg borrow or steal a cover made from tencel and swap out the coolmax one it will very likely solve the problem outright.

With regards to the inspectors, perhaps I missed it but it's not clear if they were Bensons employees or independent. In the case of the latter they are not supposed to discuss their findings on site with the customer. To be honest it sounds like they sent a van team to look at it which would explain the exchange you described.

GwylimT

We have one, although its a kingsize, our mattress was £1200 and does bunch, unless a material is very elastic it will bunch up, just as the actual bedsheet and mattress protector will bunch up/crease.

lost_lou

diezehl wrote: »

Contact FIRA (.co.uk) and they may be able to give you advice without actually inspecting the mattress, or you can arrange an inspection with them independently.

If they decide you have a fault Bbensons will have to accept the mattress is not fit for purpose.

In this event I would give serious consideration to a swap or upgrade rather than getting it replaced like for like as the replacement is going to have the same problem. Avoid anything with a coolmax cover if you don't like the bunching (unfortunately they are used on a lot of adjustable bed mattresses). A few manufacturers offer a choice of coolmax or outlast covers, the outlast may perform a little better but they are both fairly basic covers.

If you can beg borrow or steal a cover made from tencel and swap out the coolmax one it will very likely solve the problem outright.

With regards to the inspectors, perhaps I missed it but it's not clear if they were Bensons employees or independent. In the case of the latter they are not supposed to discuss their findings on site with the customer. To be honest it sounds like they sent a van team to look at it which would explain the exchange you described.

thank you that's great advice i have just had a quick look at the fira website i will send them a message later and see if they can help us thanks for the tip

the inspectors that came out were arranged by bensons but i think they work for the manufacturer not bensons themselves but not 100% sure

lost_lou

diezehl wrote: »

Contact FIRA (.co.uk) and they may be able to give you advice without actually inspecting the mattress, or you can arrange an inspection with them independently.

If they decide you have a fault Bbensons will have to accept the mattress is not fit for purpose.

In this event I would give serious consideration to a swap or upgrade rather than getting it replaced like for like as the replacement is going to have the same problem. Avoid anything with a coolmax cover if you don't like the bunching (unfortunately they are used on a lot of adjustable bed mattresses). A few manufacturers offer a choice of coolmax or outlast covers, the outlast may perform a little better but they are both fairly basic covers.

If you can beg borrow or steal a cover made from tencel and swap out the coolmax one it will very likely solve the problem outright.

With regards to the inspectors, perhaps I missed it but it's not clear if they were Bensons employees or independent. In the case of the latter they are not supposed to discuss their findings on site with the customer. To be honest it sounds like they sent a van team to look at it which would explain the exchange you described.

just wanted to say thanks again i am now sorted with the bank but will definitely be using your great advice when we arrange a new bed thank you :T

mije1983

lost_lou wrote: »

just wanted to say thanks again i am now sorted with the bank but will definitely be using your great advice when we arrange a new bed thank you :T

So what happened?