A product might come with a warranty, but it isn’t much good if the company refuses to honor that warranty. Mike has had his Sealy/Stearns & Foster mattress replaced for sagging issues three times since he bought it in 2006. In October, it was time for a fourth replacement, which is worth a story in itself. After moving away from the original retailer that sold him the mattress, he has to go through the corporate office for his warranty claims. He still doesn’t have his mattress, but Sealy now has more of his money.

I wanted to tell you about the nightmare I’ve been having trying to follow the Sealy/S&F warranty process. I bought a S&F mattress in 2006, and had it replaced three times in three years due to sagging issues (which, defined, means more than 1.25″ deep). It was fine for a few years, but on October 16, 2010 the sagging reached 2.25″ again. Since I have moved and can’t go through my retailer, it was time to go through the corporate office. The short version is that as of March 21, 2011 I still do not have a replacement, and I have always had to be the one to follow up with Sealy.

After submitting their complicated paperwork and requested photographs, I heard nothing for two weeks. When I called back I was told that they need to send an inspector out, which took another two weeks. That put me at an inspection of December 18 2010.

I went away for the holidays and never had a call or voicemail about the issue, so I followed up again on January 13, nearly a month later. Initially they tried to say there was unusual damage, which is baseless and when I challenged them for proof, they quickly recanted and approved my fifth mattress. I filled out the paperwork and mailed it in, only to not hear from them again for a full month. Around the time I expected to hear about a delivery date, I called to find out where my mattress was. This time I was told that my requested replacement was a $390 surcharge, and so it was put on hold instead of them calling me to get authorization. After arguing with the supervisor and agreeing on a $300 surcharge, I was told that the order would go in that day and it would be 2 to 3 weeks.

Fast forward 2 weeks, which is March 21 (9 weeks from approval for a replacement set). After two non callbacks, I call the main number and am told that the order didn’t go through until the 14th, and it can be 2 to 6 weeks from that point. Oh, and they double charged me for my delivery fee, and nobody was there (due to the time zones) to authorize a charge back. So now my American Express bill is sitting at an extra $120, plus the $300 mattress fee, and I have no mattress.

If it takes 6 weeks from the 14th, that will be April 25th for an issue that started October 16, 2010, which is 27 weeks, or half a year to get my replacement mattress. So, buyer beware, a mattress warranty from Sealy is a nightmare!

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