The online mattress minefield

Jellynailer

born again said I can understand why some may struggle with doing such (not that such difficulty has anything to do with consumer rights). 

Aylesbury Duck understands – see below

LinLui said 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

I had no idea the weight and care information would be issues for which I needed to ask questions

Aylesbury Duck said - 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.

Thank you for a spot on understanding.

Vectis said - 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.

When you are nearly 80, I hope you can call on two people to come together every week for 3 months or have the funds to pay for extra carers. FYI my son is driving down with my grandson to rotate because the mattress is sagging badly and I only weight 45kg

Jellynailer

This is getting silly,  FYI I cannot even change my bed let alone drag a heavy mattress.  Also FYI in the terms and conditions the retailer says they will make every effort to provide information about their products including weight. There was no link provided for the t&c until a despatch note was sent the day after the confirmation email in which a care guide link was provided but did not work and the link for the guarantee on the website did not work either.

The missing information is in addition to misleading information in the banner headline viz

Free next day delivery - only for dumping on the doorstep

60 night sleep trial - only if a protector is purchased + proper care is taken; have to do without while it is checked

Removal - old mattress must not have any marks; no refund if deliverers refuse to take

High Trustpilot score from independent reviews - the majority are 'invited' reviews via a paid for partnership with Trustpilot with the retailer seeking feedback after just one week but for mattress only (feedback on services is not part of the TP partnership

Am now signing off = closing this thread because I have a busy few weeks with oncology and cardiology appointments   THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED

PHK

Jellynailer said:

This is getting silly,  FYI I cannot even change my bed let alone drag a heavy mattress.  Also FYI in the terms and conditions the retailer says they will make every effort to provide information about their products including weight. There was no link provided for the t&c until a despatch note was sent the day after the confirmation email in which a care guide link was provided but did not work and the link for the guarantee on the website did not work either.

The missing information is in addition to misleading information in the banner headline viz

Free next day delivery - only for dumping on the doorstep

60 night sleep trial - only if a protector is purchased + proper care is taken; have to do without while it is checked

Removal - old mattress must not have any marks; no refund if deliverers refuse to take

High Trustpilot score from independent reviews - the majority are 'invited' reviews via a paid for partnership with Trustpilot with the retailer seeking feedback after just one week but for mattress only (feedback on services is not part of the TP partnership

Am now signing off = closing this thread because I have a busy few weeks with oncology and cardiology appointments   THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED

You do realise that you aren't unique? Perhaps this has revealed the gaps in your arrangements for life. I have sympathy as you don't have anywhere near the help and support you need. But it does seem silly to blame mattresses.  


Asking on a public forum, people are going to give their own experience. There's plenty of advice available to make your life easier (including on the relevant sub forums here) 

Aylesbury_Duck

Jellynailer said:

born again said I can understand why some may struggle with doing such (not that such difficulty has anything to do with consumer rights). 

Aylesbury Duck understands – see below

LinLui said 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

I had no idea the weight and care information would be issues for which I needed to ask questions

Aylesbury Duck said - 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.

Thank you for a spot on understanding.

Vectis said - 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.

When you are nearly 80, I hope you can call on two people to come together every week for 3 months or have the funds to pay for extra carers. FYI my son is driving down with my grandson to rotate because the mattress is sagging badly and I only weight 45kg

While I understand the problem, I did ask one relevant question.  You said information was withheld.  That's quite different from information not being initially provided.  Where I think you have a case is if you asked about care requirements and the retailer declined to provide an answer, or misled you with their answer.

Was that the situation?

electriccactus

Jellynailer said:

This is getting silly,  FYI I cannot even change my bed let alone drag a heavy mattress.  Also FYI in the terms and conditions the retailer says they will make every effort to provide information about their products including weight. There was no link provided for the t&c until a despatch note was sent the day after the confirmation email in which a care guide link was provided but did not work and the link for the guarantee on the website did not work either.

The missing information is in addition to misleading information in the banner headline viz

Free next day delivery - only for dumping on the doorstep

60 night sleep trial - only if a protector is purchased + proper care is taken; have to do without while it is checked

Removal - old mattress must not have any marks; no refund if deliverers refuse to take

High Trustpilot score from independent reviews - the majority are 'invited' reviews via a paid for partnership with Trustpilot with the retailer seeking feedback after just one week but for mattress only (feedback on services is not part of the TP partnership

Am now signing off = closing this thread because I have a busy few weeks with oncology and cardiology appointments   THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED

If weight was going to be an issue I don't know why this question wasn't asked before the purchase was made.

I also don't see the relevance of the T&C link being sent after the order was placed, at least not in relation to providing information about the product.  I think the average person is aware that they can ask anyone selling information about what they're selling before they buy it, that's just common sense.

i understand you're in a somewhat unfortunate position, but I can't help thinking that you're unfairly blaming the retailer for all this.

born_again

Jellynailer said:

born again said I can understand why some may struggle with doing such (not that such difficulty has anything to do with consumer rights). 

Yes, I know it was not a consumer rights answer.
But through out my life I have learnt to share best practise. As not everyone has realised that sometimes there are easy ways to do things 👍

Given the mention of not being advised of these requirements, which seem odd given this is something that has been around for as long as I have been alive. 
Would have been nice to post a link to the site 👍

Exodi

Kind of feels like 'mattresses' are taking both barrels for your various vulnerabilities, the discrimination argument made in this thread is very strange.

Using this logic, I guess people in wheelchairs also get an unlimited warranty if they purchase a ladder.

While I don't think it's the 'mattress minefield' you make out, I do agree mattresses are expensive and often have convoluted returns conditions, but this has a lot to do with mattresses in particular. Unlike most items that can checked whether they are suitable right away (e.g. item is the wrong size or wrong colour), you need to physically use a mattress to 'check it', someone deciding not to rotate the mattress against the guarantee conditions distorts the mattress and means the retailer can't resell it. Couple this with the fact that mattresses are very heavy, awkward shaped and cost a lot to transport, and you have the current situation.

To be honest, it sounds like you've distorted the mattress and are now trying to blame them for it.

Jellynailer

Exodi + other negative forumites  Please please read what I said at the beginning.  I just wanted to make others aware.  The key concern for consumer rights is the denial of my 14 day right of return on 'hygeine' grounds'.  On this there was an ECHR decision, cited by FHIO.  Secondly, weight only became an issue to ask about when I found out about the care instructions via the guarantee ONLY after the packaging was removed so I lost my 14 day right.

When I complained about this, the retailer just said that weight information is given if the consumer asks BUT I DID NOT KNOW IT WAS AN ISSUE until the packaging was removed.  If I had known, I would not have arranged for a pristine mattress to be removed and given my Dormeo topper to charity.  (My home help periodically turned and/or rotated these + hoovered them regularly with my anti-dust mite Dyson).  I would just have bought a suitable replacement topper = a geltex one that I needed due to overheating side effects of my cancer treatment.

I have found some suitable toppers but also need to find a turnable replacement to my previous mattress but this involves asking the weight of each one I shortlist after an extensive search on line.  I will also ask the name of the delivery company because the one that delivered to me (BJS) was truly horrendous and 1 star Trustpilot posts show 20 pages of complaints since my mattress was delivered.  BUT THAT IS ANOTHER ISSUE.

In response to negative posts, I have added information about misleading statements.  I am surprised that no 'consumer rights' responses have ensued in reference to the Misrepresentation Act 1967 and or the Consumer Protection Act 2008.  There have also been no comments on the rolling programme of discounts stating 'hurry - ends on ...'  Could I complain to ASA?  It seems not because I use Duckduck for searches and this does not allow sponsored ads.  I checked Google and found the same advert but only giving the discounted price = no mention of a discount.

Finally, I note that there are no comments regarding the sale of used mattresses.  The retailer has a clearance site but not for returns under the sleep trial (the rules on which state a need to resell the exchanged mattresses.

sheramber

The shop I bought my matress from advised returned mattresses were cleaned and donated to charity.

Hoenir

Out of curiosity what size is the mattress ?