To: Mr. Dale Carlsen, CEO of Mattress Discounters
Re: Replacement box springs/foundation
Dear Mr. Carlsen:
In August 2012, I
purchased a mattress, box springs, and bed frame from the Mattress
Discounters located in Pleasant Hill, CA (Invoice #5XXXXXXXX).
Actually, a kindhearted relative purchased it for me. (I am unable
to find work in the San Francisco Bay Area at the moment and I have a
young daughter, so as you can imagine money is pretty tight.) I
desperately needed a new one as my old one was begging to be put out
of its misery and long ago had given up any attempts to contain the
metal coils within it. This was very painful. The protruding sharp metal coils, I
mean.
When choosing the merchant from whom to
purchase my new mattress, I chose Mattress Discounters without a
second thought. I had purchased my very first mattress and box
springs from a Mattress Discounters in Richmond, VA in 1999. I was
22 years old (and broke then, too! Ugh.) and was deliriously happy
to be moving into my first apartment and starting graduate school. I
stumbled upon a Mattress Discounters on W. Broad St. The sales
associate was incredibly friendly and helpful and assisted me in
locating a mattress and box springs set that fit my meager teaching assistant budget.
I'm pretty sure it was the least expensive mattress in the whole
store but I didn't care. I had my own place and I wouldn't be
sleeping on my hardwood floors in the humid summer heat another
night.
Since my experience with the east coast
Mattress Discounters was so positive and my budget mattress lasted
long beyond its projected lifespan before giving up the ghost, I decided to purchase from the
west coast Mattress Discounters. My initial second experience was
also positive: the sales associate was efficient and helpful, my
order arrived promptly, and the first few weeks on the new bed were
absolutely blissful. During what was, I believe, our second month of
new bed ownership, the trouble began. As my partner and I were
settling in for the night, I turned over to go to sleep and we heard the cracking
of wood from below the bed. (I'm going to be honest, Mr. Carlsen:
it didn't do much for my self-esteem.) After a few more weeks there was a
second sound of wood splitting from beneath the bed. Gradually, the
problem progressed to the point at which we find ourselves today.
I believe we were fairly “normal” users of
the bed. If anything, we have been very LIGHT users of the bed. I
am the mother of a toddler and a chronic insomniac; I am not in the
bed nearly as much as I would like to be. My partner works hard and
has a long commute; he is also not in the bed as nearly much as he
would like to be. No one is jumping on the bed. There is no
rough-housing on the bed unless you count my one year-old daughter
diving into the pillows and blankets in order to evade having her
jammies put on at night. As for other strenuous activities that
often go on in folks' beds, well, Mr. Carlsen, as I mentioned we
are the parents of a small child. We are tired. We are stressed
about our finances. Let's just say this bed has had an easy life
thus far.
The cracking and breaking of the wooden
slats in the box spring/foundation portion of the bed has gotten out
of control at this point. Each half of the bed sags dramatically so
that sleeping in it is akin to curling up inside a taco. It's
actually not as fun as it sounds. We have to roll uphill to get to
the center of the mattress as well as to the outer edge. As a result
I have started having some pretty severe back problems and I am now
shuffling and limping and groaning around the house. It's very
painful, Mr. Carlsen. I cannot afford to see a chiropractor. My
partner and I switch off as to who “gets” to sleep on the couch
in the living room.
I contacted your customer service
center, and Rose Bauer in Sacramento, CA called me back in a timely
manner. At her request, I photographed the mattress and box springs
on top and underneath. I also took a picture of the splinters of
wood of varying sizes and metal staples that now regularly litter my
bedroom floor. (Please recall the oft-mentioned small child in my
home. I don't know if you have children yourself, Mr. Carlsen, but
babies and toddlers try to eat everything.) Ms. Bauer called me on
Friday, May 11 to let me know that she'd spoken with her supervisor
because she had some questions, and it was decided that there was so
much breakage that it was due to damage on our part and not due to
being defective and therefore would not be replaced under warranty.
I emphasized to her that we had NOT damaged our box springs.
(Honestly, why would we do this?) The men delivered the frame,
mattress, and box springs and set them up for us and we haven't even
so much as flipped the mattress in the interim. (I know I'm supposed
to do it every six months. At least that's what Martha Stewart
recommends.) Ms. Bauer repeated the conclusion that the box springs
were considered damaged and not defective, and she was happy to offer
me a 40% discount on the purchase of a new one.
I really hope you can help make this
right, Mr. Carlsen. I do not believe I am asking for anything
unreasonable. I love the mattress. I just need something to put it
on that isn't going to collapse if I happen to have eaten dessert
that evening. One only purchases so many mattresses in their
lifetime; I have now gotten both of mine from Mattress Discounters
and, in my opinion, that makes me a pretty good customer. I would
appreciate being treated as such.
Sincerely,
Amie X. Xxxxxxxx
