Tempur-Spastic
12 October 2006Almost everyone has bought mattresses at some point in their lifetime, and most of those people know that comparison shopping and price matching is a joke. The reality is that every store that specializes in selling mattresses will take the same base model and slap a different cover on them or change one layer of foam and it’s automagically a new “model”. This makes it impossible to bargain shop. But hey, we knew that going in…
When Drew and I first moved in together there was, naturally, an overlap in household items which included beds. He had a King set, which was probably 20 years old and sagged more then I will in 20 years, and I had a Queen set which was much newer, but too small for our tastes and tall frames. Our first “big” purchase together was a new mattress set. We did what little research we could and proceeded to the store where we picked out what we thought was a very smart purchase - a Simmons Back Care mattress. Supposedly it was softer in the hip and shoulder area, and firmer in the other areas. We both had bad backs and it seemed like a logical decision. It was comfortable and we were well rested.
Fast forward 5 years and I was at the point where I couldn’t turn over in bed without being in a world of hurt despite not having any pain during the day. It was time to go shopping again. Research on mattresses has not improved much over the past 5 years. In a way, that is understandable. Disregarding the same model / different name approach taken by the vendors, mattress selection is very personal. One persons tough as nails may be someone else’s soft as cotton.
The problem for us is that with big purchases we depend on reviews. Tell me the ones that are technically the best and I’ll figure out which features are important - and then we buy whatever model hits where the two merge in our price range. You just can’t do this with mattresses. Even Consumer Reports will tell you that they get the most inquires on mattresses second only to cars.
Because we only got 5 years out of our innerspring mattress - really only about 3 good years - I was interested in looking at other options. Specifically the Tempur-Pedic brand was known as a good solution for people with back problems. The focus of the mattress is the memory foam which envelopes you into its billowy bosom. The reviews were pretty straight forward in that everyone either loved them or hated them. There was no inbetween. Consumer Reports alluded to 75% satisfaction with Tempur-Pedic mattresses vs 50% satisfaction with innerspring mattresses in a consumer poll. I knew that if we went with the innerspring and it failed again within a few years I would wonder if we’d made the wrong decision. With a 30-day “comfort” guarantee from Mancini’s Sleepworld we decided to give it a spin. Worst case scenario we hated it and returned it for a traditional innerspring mattress.
I waited with baited breath for our Tempur-Pedic Rhapsody to be delivered. I had high expectations of sleeping like a baby…or a drunk… either way I was looking forward to a deep, restful sleep. Sadly it was not to be. While it is true that the memory foam cradles your every curve, it would also be true that rotation of any kind is a Herculean effort. Flipping over requires pulling yourself out of the body mold which does not bounce readily back into form on the fly causing you to struggle out of the resulting divot. After four nights my back is actually a bit worse, and Drew has significant neck pain.
It was back to the Mancini’s today to cash in on our comfort guarantee. The innerspring Simmons Beautyrest World Class Exceptionale will be delivered on Sunday and I expect to be delivered into sleepy goodness … for another 3 years.