Don’t Risk It! SAM Mattress
Disappointed Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 I have been sleeping on the bed for about 16 days. Thought it was fantastic in the beginning but afte...
The Select (Un)Comfort(able) Bed Select Comfort Mattress Sleep Number 5000 We decided to try this mattress out after deciding that we needed a new matress and our old matress w...
I found the Web site for this bed when I was doing searches on Select Comfort mattresses. Comfort Direct, the maker of the SAM (self-adjusting mattress), compares its beds to other well-known mattresses, both air and foam, like the Select Comfort models and Tempur-Pedic. From the Web site, the SAM bed sounded great, like an answer to my problems. I have fibromyalgia and a lot of sleeping problems because of that, and I thought an adjustable air mattress sounded like what I needed. I liked that it didn’t have a pump like the Select Comfort beds, because I had heard those developed problems over time, and I had already store-tested foam beds and didn’t find them comfortable. I did think that some of the promises on the Web site were unbelievable, especially the one that the SAM bed could actually increase longevity (yes, they make that claim!), but I chalked that up to marketing hype. Little did I know that those overstated, exaggerated, and misleading statements were the first red flags among many that I missed.
At the time, there was only one review on Epinions about the SAM, and it was glowingly positive–5 stars! That and what I’d read on the Web site convinced me to give the bed a try. I called and left a message saying that I was interested in the bed. A man named Kevin called me back. I found out later on that he’s Kevin Dyevich, the founder and president of the company. I thought it was a little strange that he would be handling orders personally. Apparently this is a very small company, tightly controlled by Kevin–again, something I found out later.
Kevin was very enthusiastic about the SAM bed. He assured me that I was making a great investment in my health, and he even read me testimonials from other people about what a great product it is. He also went into much detail about how the bed works, referring to something called Boyle’s law, which basically says that pressure is directly proportional to the volume of air in a container. This law of physics is what they say the SAM technology is based on. Adjusting the volume of air in a mattress means that pressure is reduced, thus making a more comfortable sleeping surface, and a lack of pressure means better oxygen flow in your body. As far as the “self-adjusting” mechanism is concerned, I’ll quote from their Web site: “[The] calibrated air valves control the pressure inside each independent air cylinder. When you lie down on the SAM advanced sleep system, air is forced out of the patented air valves and your body is supported perfectly by each independent air cylinder. When you get up from lying down on the SAM advanced sleep system, a vacuum is created inside the independent air cylinders due to atmospheric pressure, which forces air back into the patented air valves and each independent air cylinder returns to its original state.” All this “science” talk sounds very impressive, and that’s one of the hooks this company uses to sell this bed. They claim that their beds are used in hospitals around the country and that the SAM is clinically proven to reduce pressure and produce deep REM sleep. It all sounds very convincing, although I’ve come to doubt the existence of any substantial clinical “evidence” about this bed.
When I finally asked him the cost, I was taken aback: It’s $1500 for a queen, and that’s without a boxspring or platform. He said I could use my existing boxspring and wouldn’t need to purchase a new one (although one is available). I thought it over, talked about it with my husband, did some more searches on the Web (which turned up nothing new), and then decided to go for it, mainly because of the 90-day trial period. So I called back and again spoke to Kevin.
When I mentioned that I was hoping this bed would help my husband’s neck pain also, Kevin started telling me about these great pillows they have and how they would be perfect for my husband and me. When I asked how much they were, he said, “You know what? I’ll just throw those in.” There was no mention of additional costs; he said my total would still be $1500, which I arranged to have billed to my VISA in three monthly installments.
He said at the outset that they know they can’t please everyone, so that’s why they offer a 90-day trial period and a money-back guarantee. He said if the SAM bed didn’t work for me, they could also try replacing it with a pump-style mattress, which might be more accommodating for me.
The bed arrived in two weeks. It came in three big boxes. Inside were the two air cylinders (they look kind of like two small rubber rafts), a foam layer, and a mattress “shell” with a wool topper. Picture the mattress shell this way: If you could unzip the top of your typical innerspring mattress and hollow out the inside, leaving just the sides, bottom, and top, that’s what the shell looks like. You place the shell on your boxspring or platform. You then zip the air cylinders together and place those on the bottom inside the shell. The air cylinders have a dial on each side so you can adjust the volume (supposedly), and there are two openings on each side of the mattress shell in which the dials fit. You place the foam layer on top of the air cylinders, then zip the wool cover on top. It was a little difficult to assemble, but not too bad. Unlike some other people who’ve reviewed this mattress, I actually did get instructions with my mattress. The pillows arrived separately about a week later.
The bed seemed fine the first night or two, but soon I started noticing problems. I didn’t seem to notice any difference when I adjusted the controls; I didn’t feel the bed getting any softer or firmer. I was having a problem getting comfortable, and after about a month of trying it out, I was sleeping on the couch most nights because I was starting to develop numb spots and tingling, worse than ever. My husband also was not thrilled; he said the bed was OK, but not great, and definitely not worth $1500. The wool topper also seemed to retain too much heat. And as for the pillows, my husband’s neck hurt worse after he tried his for a couple of nights, and after a few weeks of trying mine out, I decided it wasn’t working for me either. At that time I decided I should call about returning the bed or exchanging it for the pump model. I had had it for almost 60 days of the 90-day trial period and had paid two of the three $500 installments on my credit card.
When I was looking at Epinions just to see if anyone else had experienced these problems, I came across all these negative reviews, especially about how hard it was to return the bed. ALL of these had been written in the two months since I had purchased the bed! I got worried and decided I’d better return it right away and not even bother with trying to get a different model.
You cannot just pack up the bed and return it, however. First you have to call to get a Return Authorization number; without this, they won’t take the bed back. I had to call back four times before they would give me the number. First they said I had to talk to Kevin directly (he’s the only one who handles questions about returns; the other salesmen seem only to field calls for him and handle orders). They told me each time that he would call me back, but he didn’t. (He only calls back if he thinks you want to place an order.) I called back the next day and finally got to talk to him, after I insisted on it, and he tried to convince me to try the pump version. He said there was no way “his bed” would cause me problems, that going back to a traditional mattress would be the worst mistake I could make, and so on. At this point, I was getting nervous, because he was definitely not being cooperative about the return. I repeated that I wasn’t interested in trying anything else; I just wanted my money back. Finally, after several unpleasant minutes of this, he said he would have to get the paperwork on it and call me back. I didn’t wait; I called back later that day, and (surprise!) he was not available. When I called back a fourth time, he finally gave me the number and the mailing address.
It was very hard packing up the bed. The air cylinders would not deflate enough to get them back in the original boxes. I decided this was part of the problem with the mattress–the air cylinders weren’t that adjustable after they got inflated! No wonder the dial didn’t seem to make a difference. So I had to have Federal Express pack the pieces in four oversized boxes in order to get everything to fit. I also included the pillows, since they were sent as part of the bed package, or so I thought.
I ended up paying $139 for shipping the bed back by Federal Express! Keep in mind that you do not get reimbursed for return shipping.
I called Federal Express to make sure the packages arrived and were signed for, which they were. When I still hadn’t received a credit to my VISA after three weeks, I called to check. They said they would do it right away, but after another week, I still had no credit. I called again. This time I talked to Kevin, who said they’d get it processed within the next 24 hours. When I checked with my credit-card company two days later, I had been credited, but for only $875 instead of $1000. I called Comfort Direct again and asked why I wasn’t credited the full amount (the last $500, the third installment, was never charged to my VISA, because I arranged for the return before the posting date for the third installment, so they didn’t bill me for that last part). The salesman I talked to said he would check with billing and call back today or tomorrow, but I said I wanted to get this resolved today, so he got Kevin on the line. This was when the monster emerged.
I have never dealt with any salesman this nasty and insulting–a completely different person from the Kevin who sold me the bed, and much worse than the one who tried to make me feel bad for not liking “his” bed. He said the charge was for the pillows. I told him, first of all, that I had returned them; second, he had given me them as a bonus item to begin with. He denied the second part and also said he didn’t know for a fact that I had returned the pillows; this was the first he’d heard that I’d had any problems with the pillows, he said. I told him that they were in the boxes with the bed and I had included a letter explaining why I was returning them. He got very sarcastic then. He said the boxes go back to his factory in New Jersey (never mind that the mailing address he gave me was for New York), and he didn’t have time to try to track down letters in boxes, and how could I even think of returning “used” pillows and expect to get credit! He completely ignored the fact that these were sent to me supposedly as part of the bed price. He said he can’t resell used pillows. I told him that’s not my problem; I understood I could return any of the products, especially something I wasn’t supposed to have been charged for in the first place.
He said they had been “very courteous” with me, had tried to “work with me” about the mattress but I had “refused” to work with them, after they had paid to send the bed out to me in the first place; and now I was expecting him just to “eat” the cost of the pillows too. His tone was “How could you treat us this way?” I’ll spare you the rest of his diatribe, but suffice it to say that things got uglier. I finally told him I had never dealt with anyone so rude, and I was going to recommend to as many people as possible NOT to do business with his company.
I guess this got his attention, because he did end up saying they would credit me for the pillows, although he said snidely, “I’ll just have to take your word for it that you returned them.” I told him not to bother; if the cost of the pillows was going to be such a hardship for his company, forget it. He said no, he would issue the credit, but he concluded, “I’m just disappointed in you”! If I needed any more proof of his lack of professionalism, that statement alone would have been enough.
That was several weeks ago, and he still has not issued me credit. When I called back a couple of times after that last conversation, he was not available and he did not return my messages. I decided to dispute the remaining charge with my credit card company, so at this point they are handling the problem. I received the bed in early November, returned it early in January, and this is still not officially resolved–in March!
I hope that my bad experience with this product and this company will help someone out there avoid the same situation. Even if you avoid this company, watch out for similar practices and claims by other companies.
UPDATE: After I contacted VISA in March, their Disputes department sent me a form to fill out and return, stating the dollar amount in question, explaining the dispute, and submitting any documentation I had. Since the situation was so complicated, I also had to talk to someone in the department even after I sent in all the material they requested. But within a couple of weeks, I heard from them that Comfort Direct had credited the remaining $125. I requested that VISA give me the credit by check, and I received it in April. Finally, a happy ending! I would strongly encourage anyone with a problem like this to let your credit card company handle the dispute if you can’t resolve it yourself within a reasonable amount of time.
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