Mattress wars!

I think I want to be the guy who jumps on the mattress in commercials. Every once in a while, I'd jump within an inch of the actress laying down and see how far I could launch her.

There are so many mattresses to buy and they all claim to be the best. So, how do you choose? Stores should allow you to sleep there for two weeks, just to be sure it's the right one before I buy it because after you buy it, and don't like it, you're in for the fight of your life.

About ten years ago, we went mattress shopping. My wife was having a horrible time sleeping because her hip was in bad shape and she needed a replacement. Her pain was severe. We went to a store where we had an account and explained everything to the salesman. He assured us that if it wasn't comfortable we could exchange it. It was not a cheap mattress.

My wife didn't have a problem until about 30 days. The mattress had lost some of it's resilience and was no longer comfortable. She was in pain again and couldn't sleep. I called the store and they said they needed to send out a mattress inspector. I know! Crazy.

The guy showed up at the designated time and asked to see the mattress. I showed it to him and he got a board and a tape measure out. He placed the board across the bed to find the original high point of the mattress. Then, he used the tape measure to see how far the mattress had sunk. In our case, it was a little more than 3/4 of an inch, just over the allotment of 3/4 of an inch. He said there was nothing they could do.

I called the store manager and told him that the salesman told us that it could be exchanged within 30 days. He claimed that the restrictions were from the manufacturer and there was nothing he could do. Knowing retail, I badgered the guy every day for a week. He finally caved.

We went to the store again and picked out another mattress. When it arrived, however, and we went to bed, my wife woke me up at three o'clock in tremendous pain. I called the store the next morning and was told that the 30 day warranty did not apply to this one, and that the warranty period was 30 days from the original date of purchase. I told the manager that his explanation didn't hold water and that I was going to bug him every day again until the problem was resolved to my satisfaction.

The manager made an offer to me. He would refund my money if I promised never to shop there again. I took the refund, minus forty bucks for a restocking fee. We then added quite a bit of money to our refund and bought a Select Comfort, sleep number bed. That was the best money we ever spent. Finally, my wife could sleep.

Everyone claims to have the best mattress. Don't take their word for it. Get a return policy in writing so they can't make up ridiculous policies on the fly.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check out some recliners.

See you tomorrow.