You are my last resort in hoping to resolve a problem involving Sleepy's (Bedding Retailer) and Spring Air/Nature's Rest (Mattress manufacturer).
My husband and I purchased a mattress set from Sleepys in January. The set was called Nature's Rest Relaxation King and cost approximately $4,079.08. We financed the purchase of this mattress through GE Money Bank and were approved for a 24 month no interest loan. The set was delivered at the end of January and we started to make payments on the mattress in February. (Faithfully ever month)
My husband and I have purchased items from Sleepys in the past had a great experience - and did not think this one would be any different. We settled into the comfort of our new mattress and looked forward to many, many nights of deep/restful sleeping. Things went well for the next 18 months. Then things started to go down hill.
We started to notice that the bed was sagging on the sides in which my husband and I sleep. We are not large individuals so could not figure out what was going on. The mattress came with a 10 year warranty, which we had submitted paperwork for, so we made a phone call to Sleepys. This phone call took place in May. The representative gladly took our information and said that we would be receiving a phone call from a company that handles the inspections for warranty claims. May came and went.
Finally on June 6th we received a call from a gentleman who scheduled an appt to come and review the mattress. The! Appt was scheduled for June 10th. On June 9th we received a phone call indicating that he was not going to be able to make it and rescheduled to June 24th. Sundays seem to work best for our schedules and the inspector was more than happy to accommodate our scheduling needs.
On Friday, June 22nd we got another phone call asking to reschedule the appt. At this point we were a little frustrated and asked that we get this taken care of right away. The gentleman was very apologetic and said he would definitely be there Thursday, June 28th. That Monday, June 25th we got a phone call from a women supervisor asking if the inspector had made a visit to! Our ho m e. I told her he had not. Evidently, the gentleman ended up quitting with no notice and she needed to try and get all of his claims taken care of. She rescheduled our appt a 4th time to Sunday, July 8th.
On July 8th the women supervisor came to our home and inspected our mattress. She confirmed that both sides of our mattress was sagging and that it was a 2 inc sag from the top of the middle of the mattress (which has gotten progressively worse). She said the mattress was clearly defective and that she would start the paperwork needed to replace the mattress. That is when our troubles began.
We purchased a mat protector to keep the new mattress free of stains. Well evidently that didn't happen and she noticed a very faint 7 x 6 inch stain which must have happened when I took the protector off to clean it. I didn't even notice it and neither did my husband. The women then proceeded to tell us that we would have to call Sleepys because there is a strict policy indicating that warrantys are voided if any stains are found on the mattress. So, we called Sleepys on Tuesday, July 10th.
The first phone call to a representative did not go well at all. The women ended up becoming very rude and obtrusive towards my husband. She told my husband What do we care we got our money and hung up on him.
On Wednesday, July 11th I made a phone call Sleepys and got the same rude, short answer from a representative. That answer was all stains void any warranty on the mattresses and that we would have to contact someone within the exchange team to discuss the situation further. So, on Thursday, July 12th I made a call and left a message for Mary who was the supervisor of the exchange team. I called again on Friday, July 13th.
On Monday, July 16th Mary called. She proceeded to explain to me that because of the stain Sleepys would not be able to take the mattress back. Mary had a copy of the inspector's report that indicated the sag but that the stain voided the warranty. I asked her if Sleepys resells defective mattresses. She said No! I said then why are you not doing this. The mattress is clearly defective and the stain should not matter. Mary told me that I had to call Nature's Rest/Spring Air and try to convince them to take the mattress back because it was their clause in the contract. Mary said I would like to work with you but that it is out of our hands. I told Mary that I was not going to make any further payments on the account until this dispute was rectified. At that point I had only! $1200 left owed on the account. We were going away so I told Mary that I would call Nature's Rest when I returned.
On Friday, July 27th I made a call to Janet Rimkus at Spring Air/Nature's rest and left a message.
On Monday, July 30th I made another call to Janet Rimkus and left a message.
On, Tuesday, July 31st I made another call Janet called back but I was in a meeting.
I then proceeded to call Janet back 9 times between August 6th and August 28th. I have yet to speak to her. I then called Mary back at Sleepys Wed, Sept 5th and left a message. I left another message on Tuesday, Sept 11th. Mary never returned my phone call. I proceeded to call other individuals on the exchange team who all indicated that they would look into things and get back to me. September comes and goes NO response from anyone.
At this point I was starting to get calls from GE Money Bank. The first phone call from GE Money came in September. I explained to the account rep that I was disputing the claim and that I was not going to make any additional payments until the situation was cleared up. The rep said she would send me a dispute claim form and for me to fill it out. The form came the 1st week of October. I filled it out and mailed it back to the dispute department.
Another call was made to Mary at Sleepys no response. Another call was made to Janet comes and goes with still no response from anyone. GE Money keeps calling and I continue to tell them my situation. On December 21st I receive a settlement offer from GE Money indicating that if I paid $781 of the remaining total which now was $1,301.66, they would consider my account paid in full and would report my account to the credit agency as Account paid in full for less than the full balance. I politely call the phone # and tell the representative that I received their notice and that I would not be accepting the settlement. Christmas/New Years comes and goes with still no resolution.
At this point, I've stopped calling Sleepys/Spring Air because my feeling was that if I continued to stress to GE money that I wasn't going to pay the remaining balance they would rectify the situation. Was this a smart decision probably not but I was completely frustrated!
In the mean time, I filled out another dispute resolution form and sent it off to GE Money because they said they did not receive the 1st form. I said to the women at GE Money why would you send me a settlement offer if you never received my dispute notice. Oh, you received a settlement offer I didn't know that was her response. Now we are into January and February.
On March 12 I received a call from Jessica at GE Money who indicated that she was my last resort towards rectifying this situation before the account went to outside resources. I went through the entire thing with her. I was on the phone for well over an hr. At the end she was dumbfounded. She had never had this type of situation come across her desk. I told her that this was never about the money that I had the money to pay the account off. This was about principle. It was about holding a company responsible for its product. I told Jessica that I wanted to be brought! To sma ll claims court because I wanted to have someone other than Sleepys/GE Money and Natures Rest here my claim. Jessica once again asked me to send in a dispute form. I thought she said she was going to send me one but honestly I don't remember and unfortunately, I never made copies of the ones I sent - definitely a mistake on my part.
Today, April 4 I received a call from Monica who works at a law firm. She was looking to collect on the account. I told Monica and Chris the supervisor that I was refusing to pay this claim. My husband then told me about your website and I told both Monica and Chris that I was going to try this as my last resort.
I am not looking to have the monies on this account wiped away.in fact, I have no problem paying the original amounts owed as of July. All I am asking for is that my bed be replaced. The mattress has sagged even more and is awful. We are not sleeping well.
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