Your Mattress Shopping Checklist
- Determine your comfort level.Lie on different beds to see what appeals to you. Try them in every position you sleep in to make sure the bed hugs your curves. There should be a selection of comfort levels at every price point.
- Ask how it’s made. Ask what makes one bed more expensive than the other. Is there more true quality to justify the addition cost or just more profit for the manufacturer? Expect knowledgeable answers.
- One sided or two. The majority of the bedding industry is producing one-sided or no-flip beds. However, we still love two-sided mattresses and get them whenever we can. A two-sided mattress offers double the life as the mattress can be turned to even out the wear and tear. Mattresses filled with natural fibers tend to get body impressions, as naturals mold beautifully, just like fine shoes mold to the shape of the feet. Turning the mattress allows body impressions to settle on the bottom while you are impressing the top. Mattresses filled primarily with foams don’t usually get many body impressions, working just as well one sided or two. It’s a personal choice and we have both.
- Ask about delivery procedure and service. Ask about the store’s right to substitute another make or model without your knowledge or consent. Obviously substitutes never happen at Long’s. Make sure a store doesn’t take old or used beds on their truck. Long’s will take old beds to the refuse area of the property they are delivering to, never on the truck to another locations. In this day and age of bedbugs, it’s a good policy.
- Ask about comfort guarantees. What happens to beds that a customer has tried in their home for a week, two weeks, a month or longer? It’s against most local health codes to ever deliver a bed as new that was returned by another customer. Most manufacturers will not accept a bed for return from a dealer if there is no manufacturing defect or a comfort issue. It’s not a problem at Long’s. We respect our customers and only deliver factory fresh products in factory sealed packing. The bed is not unwrapped until it reaches a customer’s home. It’s a matter of pubic record that businesses have been fined by state and local authorities for delivering used beds as new.
- Is it a true sale price or is it marked up to be marked down? Many stores offer “sales” and/or 50% off 365 days a year, including leap years. In addition, if the price suddenly drops tremendously as you get ready to walk, ask “Which Way Out?”
- Ask about warranty issues. Some manufacturers will offer a 10-year warranty on a bed designed to last 4 or 5 years. Mattress warranties cover defects that occur at the time of manufacture. In the event there is a problem, will the retailer handle it for you? Or are you on your own to fight with a distant company? At Long’s we’ll take care of it for you. We’re on your side.
- Beware of commission-driven sales people. Does the sales person truly care about your satisfaction, comfort, budget and particular needs? Or, does he/she just care about the extra commission they’ll receive for selling a particular product or model? At Long’s we’re a team. No one works on commission.
