The Mattress Racket
Or How I Really Hate Salespeople Who Work on Commission
Last week, my sister kicked her significant other to the curb. Since they lived together for years, he had to get his crap out of her house. When all was said and done, she had the place to herself but she also had no bed. So off we went to the furniture store for a mattress-buying adventure.
From the start, we had zero seconds to ourselves in the store. A salesman stuck to us like glue, making it nearly impossible for her to actually try the mattresses. Everything I've read about buying a mattress says you should lay on the darn thing at least 20 minutes (I know, that's crazy) so you know how your body will settle into it. But this dude shepherded us through the mattress section of the store like he was in a hurry to get to a better commission. Of course, he started her out on the $3,000 adjustable model ("But it's half off!"), then he used her preference for it's firmness to guide what other models she should take for a test run. Boom, boom, boom. Three models in a row with little time to think while he talked and talked and talked.
I held her purse like a dutiful sister and chatted with my mom, but I really loathed this man's technique. I've purchased other furniture at this store, and I've told the salespeople on their initial approach that I was just looking and needed some time to browse. "I'll find you when I need you, thanks!" And my new recliner was a La-Z-Boy purchase, and they don't work on commission there. I sat for a LONG time in two different chairs, encouraged by the saleswoman, to ensure I made the right decision. (I did. I keep falling asleep in the darn thing now. It's almost too comfortable.)
I kept my shit together through most of the sales pitch until he started talking about how the "new trend" in mattresses is that they're non-flippable, which somehow adds to the life of the product. NO WAY DUDE. I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore and was like "Dear Sister, I have a non-flippable mattress and if I could go back, I'd buy one I could flip. You'll get grooves in it, and while you can turn it around, you can't flip it. You'll get twice the life from a flippable mattress." Then the salesman turned on me and told me that you can't buy them anymore. I said "You're wrong. The Original Mattress Factory is right down the street and they sell them." Then I got a lecture on how that store only offers a "few" types of mattress.
At that point, I shut up, even though he was spouting alternate facts. (OMF carries a bunch of mattresses and they don't work on commission there, so you can lay on them to your heart's content. They actually tell you to!) My sister needed a mattress fast and they had good financing. But I still feel like this man saw two middle-aged women and their cane-wielding mother walking in the door and thought we were easy targets.
And while I'm bitching, why do they make all these mattresses you lay IN, not ON? I plopped down on a few that were labeled "firm" and I sunk like the Titanic. I thought my mom was going to have to throw me her cane as a lifeline so I could climb out of a few of them.
All this is incredibly depressing, given that I'm going to be in the market for a mattress soon. But at least I can rule this place out as a possibility. Or maybe I'll just sleep in my new recliner.
PS: This post is boring. But at least I wrote something.
Last week, my sister kicked her significant other to the curb. Since they lived together for years, he had to get his crap out of her house. When all was said and done, she had the place to herself but she also had no bed. So off we went to the furniture store for a mattress-buying adventure.
From the start, we had zero seconds to ourselves in the store. A salesman stuck to us like glue, making it nearly impossible for her to actually try the mattresses. Everything I've read about buying a mattress says you should lay on the darn thing at least 20 minutes (I know, that's crazy) so you know how your body will settle into it. But this dude shepherded us through the mattress section of the store like he was in a hurry to get to a better commission. Of course, he started her out on the $3,000 adjustable model ("But it's half off!"), then he used her preference for it's firmness to guide what other models she should take for a test run. Boom, boom, boom. Three models in a row with little time to think while he talked and talked and talked.
I held her purse like a dutiful sister and chatted with my mom, but I really loathed this man's technique. I've purchased other furniture at this store, and I've told the salespeople on their initial approach that I was just looking and needed some time to browse. "I'll find you when I need you, thanks!" And my new recliner was a La-Z-Boy purchase, and they don't work on commission there. I sat for a LONG time in two different chairs, encouraged by the saleswoman, to ensure I made the right decision. (I did. I keep falling asleep in the darn thing now. It's almost too comfortable.)
I kept my shit together through most of the sales pitch until he started talking about how the "new trend" in mattresses is that they're non-flippable, which somehow adds to the life of the product. NO WAY DUDE. I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore and was like "Dear Sister, I have a non-flippable mattress and if I could go back, I'd buy one I could flip. You'll get grooves in it, and while you can turn it around, you can't flip it. You'll get twice the life from a flippable mattress." Then the salesman turned on me and told me that you can't buy them anymore. I said "You're wrong. The Original Mattress Factory is right down the street and they sell them." Then I got a lecture on how that store only offers a "few" types of mattress.
At that point, I shut up, even though he was spouting alternate facts. (OMF carries a bunch of mattresses and they don't work on commission there, so you can lay on them to your heart's content. They actually tell you to!) My sister needed a mattress fast and they had good financing. But I still feel like this man saw two middle-aged women and their cane-wielding mother walking in the door and thought we were easy targets.
And while I'm bitching, why do they make all these mattresses you lay IN, not ON? I plopped down on a few that were labeled "firm" and I sunk like the Titanic. I thought my mom was going to have to throw me her cane as a lifeline so I could climb out of a few of them.
All this is incredibly depressing, given that I'm going to be in the market for a mattress soon. But at least I can rule this place out as a possibility. Or maybe I'll just sleep in my new recliner.
PS: This post is boring. But at least I wrote something.
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