Have you ever had a mattress complaint? Anyone that has slept on a comfortable mattress understands the value they can bring to your life. This is one of the main reasons why some people do not mind spending thousands of dollars on a new mattress. However, there are many reasons why you should avoid purchasing a mattress from a retail store and consider purchasing a mattress online.

Few people realize that a lot of high end mattress retailers and name brand manufacturers actively work with media companies and government lobbyists to extract as much money as they can from customers. After all, such manufacturers and retailers are in the business to make a profit and impress their shareholders, instead of providing customers with comfortable mattresses at affordable rates.

Typical Mattress Complaints

Here are some of many tactics high end mattress retailers and name brand manufacturers use to attract customers.

False Price Guarantees

Mattress Complaints: False Price Guarantee – If you have ever visited a mattress store before, you may have seen the retailer boasting about offering the lowest price guarantee on their products. Some of these sellers make their deals even more enticing by offering customers a full refund if they find the mattress being sold for a lower price elsewhere. However, you should avoid falling for their bold claims.

The truth is that many of the mattresses with the lowest price guarantee tag attached to them are not actually available at other stores. Manufacturers often change the names and labels for their products depending on the retailer they are supplying to. This can make it near-impossible to find the exact same mattress model being sold at two different retailers.

Confusing Advertising

Mattress Complaints: Confusing Advertising – Many high-end retailers use unethical advertising methods to entice customers into spending more on a mattress than they normally would. These sellers typically start by offering you their cheapest priced mattresses that are around $200 or $300. They may claim that these mattresses are high-end models of exquisite quality. However, they quickly move onto offering other models that maybe four to five times this price.

Customers are usually drawn in by the prospect of purchasing a high end mattress at a bargain price, but are then roped into purchasing overpriced ones that they would not otherwise consider.

High Pressure on Salespeople

Mattress Complaints: High Pressure on Salespeople – Mattress retailers use many strategies to encourage their sales team to make the maximum number of sales. It’s not uncommon for these stores to fire employees for not selling enough high end models, or letting customers get away before making a purchase. The pressure can certainly be very high for these employees.

In addition to this, some retailers teach their salespeople psychological techniques to entice customers into purchasing their products. A salesperson at these stores will often try to befriend the customer and assure them that their mattresses are being offered at the lowest possible price.

You should avoid being dazzled by the claims that these sales people make, as they are only concerned with making a sale.

Selling Used Mattresses

Mattress Complaints: Selling Used Mattresses – Another practice that is common among some mattress retailers is the sale of used mattresses that are touted as new. This problem was first identified when medical experts traced the outbreak of a bed bug epidemic in certain cities to the sale of used mattresses.

Some companies sell second-hand mattresses to retailers by the thousands each week. These retailers then place these products on the market, where consumers unknowingly purchase them. Such customers are usually drawn in by the quality guarantees and free exchange policies they offer.

High end retailers are able to follow through on their free exchange offers, as they have determined that the losses from these exchanges are minute compared to the profits they make from sales.

However, it is believed that half the customers who opt for a mattress exchange are not satisfied with the replacement product they receive. Many of these individuals regret using the exchange policy and would avoid doing it again in the future.

How Do Mattress Companies Appeal to Customers?

Mattress retailers and salespeople attempt to make a sale by appealing to the customer’s needs. The mattress complaints come much later. They realize that millions of people across America suffer from problems such as back pain, insomnia, and anxiety. Salespeople then promote their mattresses as the only solution for these problems. However, a mattress alone won’t be able to fix the chronic conditions that plague so many in the country.

The unfortunate reality is that it takes several months to break-in a new mattress. Many customers do not realize this, and purchase other mattresses under the belief that their current one is unsuitable.

A trustworthy retailer will disclose this information to you in the store. Whereas other retailers will leave out this detail in the hopes that the customer will make another purchase in the near future and gamble that there won’t be any mattress complaints.

How are Mattress Prices Determined?

Mattress prices are chosen depending on several different factors. The manufacturing cost itself tends to be much lower than the final retailer price.

Your average high end mattress costs between $100 and $150 to produce, but may be sold for over $2000 at stores. These high prices can be explained by:

Brand Name

Mattress manufacturers spend plenty of money on promotion campaigns. The primary purpose of these campaigns is to get the brand’s name out there. By doing this, customers learn to recognize the brand in-store, and associate them with high quality products. This allows manufacturers to get away with charging a much higher price than they normally would.

Aggressive Advertising

It’s not uncommon for mattress firms to spend up to 15% of their revenue on advertising. These firms are able to make up for the cost of advertising from the sales boost they provide.

Employee Salaries

Producing and selling mattresses is a task that requires effort from many different employees. On the manufacturer side, factory workers and supervisors have to be paid an adequate wage. On the retail side, store managers and floor staff also have to be paid for their services. These employee salaries can further drive up the price of the average mattress.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways retailers try and deceive you. Keep an eye out for these tactics the next time you go mattress hunting.

Do yourself a favor and buy your mattress online!

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A Review of Mattress Men