SERTA MATTRESS Sinkholes from Sealy are normal No warranty! Ripoff International

In October 2003 I purchased a Serta pillow top mattress. Less than two years later, in February 2005, I had to file a warranty claim, because of a large (30"w X 40") oval shaped sag in the center. I used a 48" steel ruler across the width of the mattress, and a dial indicator vernier caliper, to measure the sag at its deepest point. My measurement showed 1 1/2" deep.

I tried numerous times to contact Sealy via their many 1-800, and 1-888 phone numbers, all of which are tied in to the same central continuous loop answering machine, which Sealy obviously does not refer to, since no messages are ever answered. The one time I spent my own nickle to call the US Corporate offices, and requested that they connect me to their "customer service dept." I was transferred into the SAME answering system.

I did manage to contact them via E-mail, however, the "rep." was never helpful, only sending me more instructions for jumping hoops. Sealy set up a visit with their "inspector". On April 19, he visited, and pulling a cotton string with a large fishing type bell weight out of his pocket "measured" the sag.

He also flipped the mattress to the bottom side. I had never seen that side, since the seller had delivered the box spring and mattress, removed the plastic wrapper, and installed both.

I had never recieved a written warranty, and had never turned the mattress, I am 65yrs old, and a widow living alone. Because of the weight and bulk of the mattress, I could not have turned it in any case. On the back of the mattress, were two water spots near one end (approx. 4") from the edge. The inspector said they were probably from a hole or holes in the plastic wrapper, and caused either at the factory, or in the warehouse. Stll, no Warranty copy, so I was not told that this would void the warranty.

After jumping through hoops from February through May for the so called "service" dept., while the sag got deeper and deeper, my claim was denied twice. The first time they said the sinkhole was a normal depression from a human body and equal or less than 1 1/2inches deep, which was "an industry standard."
The second denial a week later, was because the mattress was "stained" and therefore the warranty was void.

After the second denial of warranty, I took a picture of the bed which, even with bedding and comforter on, shows the large sinkhole.
I enhanced the picture with addition of the words; "Sealy Mattress The Industry Standard", and playfully, added; "notice the comfy oval depression, an inovation that improves (gets deeper) with time."
I printed the words in bright Lemon. I e-mailed it to the customer "service" people.

The very next morning, from the normally non-responsive cs. I recieved a very rude, and threatening e-mail. from a Tracy, no last name, supposedly the manager of the "service" dept. I was told that if I did not cease sending them e-mails regarding their mattress, a picture of which they referred to as "scandal", and saying I was going to re-file the warranty claim, I could be sued. They also threatened specifically that they would sue me. Pictures don't generally lie. If they say it is scandalous to show them a picture of their own product, I guess it is truly scandalous, but not on my part- it is their mattress.

Not suprising to learn that Sealys profits for the quarter were up a whopping 94%! Make faulty mattresses, sell at inflated prices, and give NO WARRANTY. A sure fire manner of increasing profit.
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The mattress I replaced with this "scandal" was a twenty five year old discount store $99.00 mattress. It had no sags when I threw it away. My next mattress will also be a no-name product. I can afford to throw away five of them in two years for the price of one sinkhole from Sealy.

Roby Sealy
Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.