The online mattress minefield

Jellynailer

Thank you but I am elderly and disabled + my home help cannot rotate it on her own (she ha tried).  Maybe the relevant law is the 2010 Equality Act.  CAB advises that Indirect discrimination is when a trader or service provider has a practice, policy or rule which applies to all its customers, but it has a worse effect on some people than others because of who they are.  The top half of the mattress has sagged so much that I am getting back pain.

The 'practice' in question is withholding information about weight and mattress care.  Check out 1 star posts on Trustpilot sites of dedicated online mattress sellers to understand I am not the only one lett high and dry.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Where did you buy from OP?

Aylesbury_Duck

Jellynailer said:

Aylesbury duck said "a consumer needs to find a mattress that doesn't ever require it". I only found one retailer that provides weight information = Argos but you cannot search by weight.

That's a different matter, though.  A quick search for "mattresses that don't need turning" yields several results from different retailers.

PHK

Jellynailer said:

Thank you but I am elderly and disabled + my home help cannot rotate it on her own (she ha tried).  Maybe the relevant law is the 2010 Equality Act.  CAB advises that Indirect discrimination is when a trader or service provider has a practice, policy or rule which applies to all its customers, but it has a worse effect on some people than others because of who they are.  The top half of the mattress has sagged so much that I am getting back pain.

The 'practice' in question is withholding information about weight and mattress care.  Check out 1 star posts on Trustpilot sites of dedicated online mattress sellers to understand I am not the only one lett high and dry.

If you think they’ve broken the equality act then you’ll need to seek a court’s view. I don’t think they have, there are plenty of situations and things  you won’t be able to do but that doesn’t mean you have been discriminated against. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Jellynailer said:

Thank you but I am elderly and disabled + my home help cannot rotate it on her own (she ha tried).  Maybe the relevant law is the 2010 Equality Act.  CAB advises that Indirect discrimination is when a trader or service provider has a practice, policy or rule which applies to all its customers, but it has a worse effect on some people than others because of who they are.  The top half of the mattress has sagged so much that I am getting back pain.

The 'practice' in question is withholding information about weight and mattress care.  Check out 1 star posts on Trustpilot sites of dedicated online mattress sellers to understand I am not the only one lett high and dry.

Was the information withheld when asked for, or just not provided as part of pre-sale information?  There's a distinct difference in my book.

I do sympathise with your consumer situation,  but I'm not yet convinced there's a consumer rights problem here, let alone a matter of discrimination.  What information is being withheld from you that is creating a disadvantage?  Is it the fact that the care instructions are only available when the packaging is removed, and doing so invalidates an immediate return on hygiene grounds?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Jellynailer said:

Thank you but I am elderly and disabled + my home help cannot rotate it on her own (she ha tried).  Maybe the relevant law is the 2010 Equality Act.  CAB advises that Indirect discrimination is when a trader or service provider has a practice, policy or rule which applies to all its customers, but it has a worse effect on some people than others because of who they are.  The top half of the mattress has sagged so much that I am getting back pain.

The 'practice' in question is withholding information about weight and mattress care.  Check out 1 star posts on Trustpilot sites of dedicated online mattress sellers to understand I am not the only one lett high and dry.

Was the information withheld when asked for, or just not provided as part of pre-sale information?  

CRPs cover omissions but would be required to "alter the transactional decision of the average consumer", I'm not sure the average consumer is looking for the weight of mattress but I guess the only opinion that counts would be that of a court however I wouldn't recommend OP going through such costs and stress on this point. 

born_again said:

Rotation is simple.
Pull one corner slightly off the bed at bottom, then go to the top & push or pull it round. There is no need to lift it off the base.

I consider myself to be relatively strong (no superman but a while back was helping some carry a 100kg radiator as example) and rotating our mattress is blooming hard work, it's more the size than the weight, there's little to grip and you really have to drag the thing about, I can understand why some may struggle with doing such (not that such difficulty has anything to do with consumer rights). 

LinLui

As an older (nearly 67) disabled person who lives alone, I can't say I have ever been unable to rotate, or even flip my king size mattress. It just takes strategy. That said,  I'm also currently looking for a new mattress as it happens,  and I am finding all the information about such things rather easy to find online. It is my experience that often what people are complaining about is that the information wasn't " in their face" and you actually had to go and look for it. 

Aylesbury_Duck

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Jellynailer said:

Thank you but I am elderly and disabled + my home help cannot rotate it on her own (she ha tried).  Maybe the relevant law is the 2010 Equality Act.  CAB advises that Indirect discrimination is when a trader or service provider has a practice, policy or rule which applies to all its customers, but it has a worse effect on some people than others because of who they are.  The top half of the mattress has sagged so much that I am getting back pain.

The 'practice' in question is withholding information about weight and mattress care.  Check out 1 star posts on Trustpilot sites of dedicated online mattress sellers to understand I am not the only one lett high and dry.

Was the information withheld when asked for, or just not provided as part of pre-sale information?  

CRPs cover omissions but would be required to "alter the transactional decision of the average consumer", I'm not sure the average consumer is looking for the weight of mattress but I guess the only opinion that counts would be that of a court however I wouldn't recommend OP going through such costs and stress on this point. 

born_again said:

Rotation is simple.
Pull one corner slightly off the bed at bottom, then go to the top & push or pull it round. There is no need to lift it off the base.

I consider myself to be relatively strong (no superman but a while back was helping some carry a 100kg radiator as example) and rotating our mattress is blooming hard work, it's more the size than the weight, there's little to grip and you really have to drag the thing about, I can understand why some may struggle with doing such (not that such difficulty has anything to do with consumer rights). 

I think OP's point is that the weight is only one dimension of a problem.  The size of the mattress and the space around the bed might make it impossible to turn or flip even if it was relatively light.  And I don't think any weight or size information provided would make any practical difference.  The fact is that some consumers need a mattress that doesn't need to be rotated around any axis, and the only way of searching for that is online or by asking questions of a retailer before purchase.  

Where I think OP may have a case is that it seems the care information wasn't available until after purchase and after unwrapping, which then prevents an immediate return.  OP talks about pertinent information being withheld, which suggests she asked and wasn't informed.  That does sound unfair.

Vectis

If you can't do something on your own, you ask for help. That applies to all of us, not just disabled people.

That help, in this case, could be a carer or couple of carers, friends, family, neighbours or any combination of the above.

Most decent mattresses are going to be a reasonably heavy weight and difficult to turn, let alone flip over, but maybe that's something you sort out in the shop beforehand rather than ordering 'blind' online?

I think the same problem is going to arise with most if not all mattresses, and maybe the op should be thinking of who they can ask to help with the task every couple of weeks?

sheramber

I am 76 , have a sore back and lack strength in my hands.

My new mattress is very heavy but I can rotate it.

It has handles on the sides and I haul it up a few inches and then pull the top end round as far as it will come, then move round to the other side and pull the that side up towards the top. 

Repeat process until the mattress is rotated. 

I cannot hang curtains as I do not have the balance to reach or stand on a ladder. Does that mean I am discriminated against by curtain sellers?