Sleep Number Reviews

Lastly, and most important: After losing friends to a tragic fire in a Rhode Island night club (foam materials on the walls of the club caused this fire to spread in 50 secs killing 100 people and injuring at least 300 more), I decided to question Select Comfort about the foam in my bed. I emailed them 10 times to be exact, they will not respond to one question "Is the foam material in this bed highly flammable material?"

It didn't do anything, so we called them back. They then sent us a much thicker piece of foam, but it ended up just making a big bump in the middle of our bed. We still feel like we are sloping on either side of the bed.

Next, we were watching the news in our area and they did a story about mold growing on the foam and air chambers. We checked our mattress and we also have a blanket of mold on the foam. We called again and they said the only thing they would do was to send us new foam. They also said they would send us another piece to help with the sloping. They were unconcerned about the mold, and we were told that from now on, we need to air our bed out once a month.

Not only that, but we requested they send a letter out to all the consumers letting them know about the mold problem. Their response was that they aren't going to do that, but all new costumers will be getting better instructions on how to care for their bed.

My chiropractor told me that it takes a few months to get used to it, but that I would love it once I did. Well, it's been 5 months since they set this monstrosity up. There is no return policy at this point, and I have more back pain in my upper back than I can stand. I have no doubt that this horrible bed is to blame.

If I try a softer setting, my back hurts so much it is a challenge to crawl over the rigid edge. I do admit that the mattress is fairly comfortable IF one sleeps on their back. The body in a moderate V shape is much like a hospital bed with elevated head and feet. However, if one sleeps on their side, and the head and feet are higher than the hips, a V shape is not comfortable. The body is not meant to be bent into that uncomfortable position.

It is nothing more than a blow-up mattress with foam covering it. If you inflate the mattress to a firm setting, you feel like you're on top of a bubble, which you are - it does not inflate evenly. I called Select Comfort within two days of receiving the product requesting to return the product. I was told that they would not take the "Adjustable Frame" back, only the mattress. I was told that I signed a waiver. No, I did not sign anything, my husband purchased the bed for us. He was rushed through the "initial here" and "initial there" for delivery purposes. Nothing was ever said about not being able to return the entire bed.

The "adjustable frame" is $1500 of the purchase, which they are claiming is nonrefundable. I have contacted the company repeatedly, but they are robotic and just keep repeating themselves. They are not problem solvers, to say the least.

My e-mail to them:

This is to remind/inform you that back in Sept. or Oct. of 2003 I ordered an air mattress pump from you, that I've paid $100 and sent the pump back to you within about a month for a refund but I have not received my refund yet. I have also made a postal delivery confirmation. So I have called the Select Comfort location in Minneapolis, MN 55442 in Jan. 2004 to confirm. They have informed me that my refund will appear on my next one or two bank statements which was February and March but I still have not received the refund and it has not appeared on my bank statements. So they told me to contact them again if my refund does not appear on my next 2 statements. So I am confirming again to let you know.

Their reply:

We apologize for our delay in responding to your concern. Our records indicate that the amount of money you owed for the cost of the replacement pump under the pro-rated portion of the warranty was $100. There is not a refund that is set to be credited back to you. Please contact us at the e-mail address below if you have any further questions or concerns.

In light of these problems we decided to return the bed. Four days had passed since we received the bed (about 9 days since we paid in full). When we called to find out how to go about the refund and return process, we were informed that our purchase was a final sale. This took us by sur prize as we were under the impression there was a 30-day return policy.

A customer service supervisor told us we bought a clearance bed and that it was a final sale. We were never told or given the slightest hint of this, we thought we just got a great deal. Nowhere on our invoice or on anything concerning our purchase did it say we wouldn't be able to return it. I spoke with customer service many times and none of the people I spoke to would acknowledge a copy of the Massachusetts law I found that clearly states (Mass. Gen. Law Chapter 93A 940 Code of Mass. Regs. 3.13) that a seller can have any type of return policy it wants ... "all sales final," "merchandise credit only," "full cash refunds within 30 days," etc. .. but that the seller's refund, return, or cancellation policy must be disclosed to the buyer clearly and conspicuously before the transaction is completed.

Usually, this is done by means of a sign at the point of purchase. Printing the store's return policy only on a cash register sales slip does not comply. You may return goods within a reasonable period of time if no return policy was disclosed. A seller cannot misrepresent its refund, return, or cancellation policy, or fail to honor any promises about it.

Now, you had to lift the king size mattress off the bed (a feat in itself) but you cannot get to the area where the tubing attaches to the mattress unless you cut a hole in fabric (which I did not do.) Consequently, we have let this go by (with aggravation) since we purchased this product. That we let it go on this long is our own fault, I realize that.

However, if a consumer pays over $3,500.00 (we did) for a product, the company should come and install it and demonstrate it. They demo was done at the store from which we purchased but of course they did not tell you of any potential problems. Customer service from the company sharply informed me that they did not have service technicians who would come to the home to correct the problem. I have sent the company another letter just to reiterate my opinion of them and their lousy product and worse yet, their lousy customer service practices.

The long and short of the story is that the bed, after six months developed a "trench" in the middle. My husband and I were not able to get any sleep because we were rolling into each other all during the night. We called the company, they told us nothing could be done as our 30-night guarantee was over. (This had nothing to do with the 30 night guarantee, this was a malfunction of the bed).

They sent a piece of foam to "remedy" the problem. This did nothing except to make it like a speed bump in the middle of the bed. We called again, they sent another piece of foam. This, as expected, did nothing to give us any rest. Another phone call, another "sorry your 30 night guarantee is over," another piece of foam.

We spent $1500 for a bed that we thought would last us at least as long as our old mattress had. I am now in so much pain that my productivity level is very low, I am depressed because I hurt all the time and can't get the things done that I used to. Yes, existing health issues were already there, but they have only gotten worse with continued use of the bed.

However, when one side is inflated softer than the other side the person on the firmer side feels like they are rolling into the softer side. So after several nights of discomfort for my boyfriend and I, I contacted the company and they informed me that my 30-night trial had expired so they could not give me a refund, but they would indeed try to fix the problem.

So they sent me a chamber lift for the softer side of the bed, to lift it up. This chamber lift was nothing other than a piece of foam, approximately 1/2 inch thick. They sent me directions on how to install this, which has diagrams of the problem and how this would fix the problem. Clearly I believe they were aware from other complaints that this was a problem, or they wouldn't have these diagrams.

So that didn't solve the problem, so I again contacted them and they sent me another chamber lift, and that also didn't solve the problem, but caused another problem. It made the soft side higher than the firm side, so again the rolling into the other side problem.

I again contacted them asking for a refund and they absolutely refused sticking to their 30 night guarantee, so they sent me again another piece of foam to place in the center of the bed, this caused a hill in the middle of the bed, then it felt like rolling out of bed on each side of the bed.

By this time I was very unsatisfied with their product and again asked for a refund, not asking for the money I had already paid, just asking them to take back their product, and credit my account for the remaining balance. They again refused with the same reason, the 30 days had expired. So again they sent me yet another piece of foam.

I was so frustrated with it that I decide to check their warranty, as the mattress comes with a 20 year warranty, and there I discovered that they don't cover the foam in their warranty, so I wondered why they were trying to fix a problem, that wouldn't be covered with what they were fixing the problem with. So that a year from now even if their foam inserts had fixed the problem, which it did not, I would indeed have the same problems, that would not be covered under their warranty again.

So I again contacted them and brought this to their attention, and they again just referred to their 30-night guarantee. I feel their product does not work as they say it will and neither will their attempts to fix it. They have told me that it is just a matter of my opinion, and they can do nothing about my being uncomfortable or unsatisfied with their product.

There must be a way to get a refund on this product, even though the 30-night trial had expired, and I would like to know how I could get credited to my account. I think that because of their attempt to fix the problems with something that they don't warranty, that they should give me a full refund and take back their product. I have put their mattress back in its shipping boxes and have bought another conventional mattress, because I could not sleep another night on this Select Comfort mattress.

The consequences of this are that I now owe over $1,200 to a finance company that is now harassing me for the money, and going to take it to collections if I don't pay. I don't want to pay for something I can't sleep on. This will damage my credit rating, which will make it hard for me to make purchases that need to be financed in the future. I was already turned down by the company I had to buy my new mattress from, due to this being on my credit record, so had to pay cash for the new mattress.

It has also caused me to lose sleep at night, do to the uncomfort of their mattress. Also caused a problem in my relationship with my boyfriend as he could not sleep on this mattress, and both of us would wake up with back pain in the morning. He would have to sleep on the couch, which was emotionally damaging to our relationship. I have also been emotionally damaged, by losing sleep at night and by this company not caring about my comfort.