“On the first day/night of usage, my wife and I were pretty appalled by the smell. This wasn’t a new mattress smell, it smelt of what only can be described as ‘an old folks home’ or dry urine. We slept and woke up with our pyjamas smelling of urine, all our stored bedding and belongings stored under the bed smelt of Urine. The smell of our house as we went upstairs… I’m sure you can guess!
I called customer services, who assured me it was the fire retardant foam and it would slowly dissipate within a week or two…
We have a bed frame that allows the top/mattress part to be tilted up, so twice a week, we flipped, rotated and used Fabreeze on the mattress… after nearly 3 months the odour was still very much evident. I called CS and they said I could go to store and choose a different mattress. A cheaper mattress would see us reimbursed with the difference BUT a more expensive mattress would mean I’d have to pay possibly hundreds of £s more. I explained that I would like the same mattress, as the comfort and firmness was what I wanted, just not with the smell. Nigel, the CS manager made it very clear he did not want to give us the same mattress, and I made it clear I wanted it.
I rang my local store and explained, they thought the same as me, that we should get the mattress we ordered. Myself and my wife then took a pillow case to the store as this, you’ve guessed it, smelt of urine! We presented the pillowcase to the store manager, the expression and comment told us all we needed to know! He confirmed that it should definitely not smell like that!
Again the very helpful store manager said he would discuss the matter with Nigel, head of customer services! The Bed Factory Direct then agreed they would swap the mattress, with the same as we’d ordered. Happy days, or so you might think…
A week or so later, the replacement mattress got delivered and the smelly one taken away… The new mattress did not smell of urine, just a little of fire retardant perhaps… I made the bed, and looked forward to a night of sleep and not waking up smelling like an incontinent old man… THEN I SAT ON THE BED… And nearly sank the complete depth of the mattress! Bearing in mind I ordered a very “firm orthopaedic mattress with reinforced edges” - this was like a marshmallow! There appears to be no quality control or consistency at all of their own made mattresses.
And so the saga with CS continued. I emailed/complained to Nigel (Head of Customer Services) and the store manager with photos to (ironically) support my findings, showing that the bed was so soft there was no way this was made the same, indefinitely did not have the reinforced edges. Nigel then emailed me back asking me tomato sure that I turned and flipped the mattress (why this would make it firmer I do not know). I emailed back saying rather politely, “you’ve missed the point Nigel, this is not the mattress I ordered” Now this is where I believe the store manager over Nigel, remember “it will be firmer when delivered as it is new”? Nigel said I would need to give the new mattress unto 8 WEEKS to regain its firmness since it has been transported and in a van! I express my disbelief, he then said, “give it 4 weeks” and I sceptically accepted the challenge…
Meanwhile I spoke, once again to the store manger (at this stage we are on first name terms). He couldn’t ‘overrule’ the head of customer services but let’s just say, could not disagree that I thought Nigel was talking out of his 4r5e!
I penned an email with my trusty keyboard warrior pose and again, wrote politely to Nigel with options:
1) That I would meet the owner of the business at the store, look at the mattress I purchased then return with the owner to my house to show that it does not resemble the showroom product at all.
2) Give me another mattress that IS what I ordered.
3) My favoured outcome at this point – Pick this mattress up and give me a refund!
After a couple of days, Nigel had the polite, oh no, hang on, it wasn’t Nigel, head of Customer Services, he got another member of staff to email and agree they would collect and refund the mattress. Not so much as an apology was written from Nigel’s computer. No ‘sorry for the inconvenience’, nothing.
I have since gone to their competition literally over the street, received a far more professional service and spent an additional £400 for a mattress. And on the minute of the delivery I can already not smell it, so it’s already better having not even laid down on it yet.
The Bed Factory would get a ‘no stars’ review if it wasn’t for the help and honesty of their Stoke store manager. A very disappointing shopping experience. I would not recommend The Bed Factory to my worst enemy.”
