UPDATE 11/27/2005 (For the full story you may want to skip down to the break with ***************** and read that first.)

It has been nearly a year since we took delivery on this mattress. The issue has yet to be fully resolved.

Bottom line: the body impressions are far worse than when last I wrote. The most recent tech (the 5th) who came out, hired by S&F themselves, measured them as over 1 and 1/2 inches--the specified depth for the mattress to be declared defective.

However, he observed that this queen mattress has no center support. I received a letter from S&F a few weeks later, explaining that the warranty calls for center support on a queen, and that the lack of this was the reason for the bed's "sagging."

The bed does not "sag." There are two distinctive, 1 and 1/2+" deep impressions on either side, separated by a *high crown* down the center (so that my wife and I don't say "goodnight" when we go to bed, but "goodbye."). The bed would have done precisely the same thing had we laid it directly on the hardwood floor. The issue is with the foam and/or springs. I wrote the company with this reply weeks ago but have yet to hear back from them.

Meanwhile, the bed was purchased on a 6 month deferred payment plan with Macy's-Rich's. The serious defects with the bed were evident long before the first payment was due, and I indicated that I would not pay a single dime for the bed until the issue was resolved. The account appears to be in "limbo" at present; their collectors seem to have tired of our adamant story about defective merchandise. In fact, oddly, the last statement *appears* to have credited the entire amount back so that we show a zero balance. Does that mean we win? I don't know yet.

A rep from S&F called me a few months ago to "explain body impressions." Her name was Cristi--spelled with a daisy above the final "i" I think. She was very patronizing (oddly enough) and assumed that I simply didn't understand that this is how the bed is supposed to *perform.* I said that the bed is downright uncomfortable. She shrugged that off and said that it is a "subjective judgment." Funny that they don't talk about "subjectivity" when they advertise the beds as "comfortable." Cristi also said that websites such as these, where people review products, cannot be taken seriously as "most of those people have issues."

I do indeed have an "issue." This bed is a $1500.00 piece of junk fit only for the landfill.

I do not yet know how we will eventually resolve this. Assuming that the store has relented and written off the debt, this is a generous move on their part, and so I would likely want to replace this bed with something else that they sell. But it appears that most of the major mattress companies are all owned by the same people, and I want to steer as clear of Stearns and Foster as I possibly can. You should, too.

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After years of backaches from sleeping on a cheap mattress, my wife and I decided that it was finally time to spring for the best mattress we could buy. I reasoned that your body is in contact with your mattress more than any other bit of matter in the universe, so it is worth the extra money for a good one.

Having read the reviews posted here, we decided on a Stearns & Foster "E-series" mattress. Rich's-Macy's had the name "Ellwood" on the one we chose. The mattress is a traditional flat (no pillow top) bed, with a nice wool fabric on top. The price (listed below) includes boxsprings. It is supposed to be super-firm (maybe even super-duper firm). The first couple of nights took some adjustment. It is one of the "no-flip" models and is really a rather lightweight mattress for being a queen and with its thickness. Someone in another review said it was like sleeping on a box--about right. Anyway, soon, I found that I was settling in to a night of undisturbed sleep. My backaches subsided. The mattress was miraculous!

For perhaps three weeks.

Then we began to notice permanent body impressions in the mattress of the sort that you might expect after, say, ten years of use. We have now had the mattress for just under two months, and my wife and I each have our assigned "trough." A "spine" runs down the center of the mattress, assuring that we keep to our respective sides. (I have suggested to my wife that, in the interest of protecting an investment, we should spend more time together in the middle of the bed so that the spine will flatten out....)

When I get into the bed at night, I roll down in from the edge. Getting up in the morning involves a slight uphill climb up and over the edge of the bed. At night, if I am not centered at the bottom of my trough, but find myself on either slope, gravity applies a persistent pressure to roll or twist me back into the valley. Lying on my side with knees slightly bent, I am more than conscious of the fact that my knees (up on the slopes) are higher than my hips (down in the valley). The result is a subtle twisting pressure on my lower back that has me waking with a fresh backache to start the day. If an arm or a leg is stretched over the bed's new center spine, there is the kind of distinct pressure that you might have if, say, a firm pillow or a rolled-up quilt were placed there.

The backaches have returned, and I have returned to monitoring my alarm clock every night, seeing some portion of nearly every hour.

We rotated (not "flip"--again, this is a "no-flip", which I am not sure is a great idea) the mattress after two or three weeks in the hope that the troughs would not form at this other end. They now run from head to foot.

A technician came out to measure the impressions this morning. (This is another story. Rich's-Macy's originally set up the visit for Thursday. They called the prior Tuesday and said that Wednesday was the only day they could make it out. We waited all day Wednesday and they never showed. Our doorbell rang Thursday morning at 6:55 a.m. and there stands a man with a tape measure!) The tech measured the deepest impression at 1 1/8"--short of the 1 1/2" needed for the mattress to be declared defective under the S&F warranty. We shall see how the store responds in a week or so. But the mattress is uncomfortable, and I do not intend to take things lying down.

A recent call to the store regarding our situation was rather interesting. A salesperson who will remain unnamed suggested that we jump on the bed until we have pounded it down to the 1 1/2" point or beyond so that it falls within the warranty. I plan to heed this advice and then take this person to dinner in celebration when the issue is resolved.


I do not recommend this mattress at all. I thought that I was buying a top of the line mattress that would last for life. It is a far cry from providing the firm support that I expected of an extra firm mattress, and I am not sure that there is any noticeable improvement in comfort over the years-old, cheap Serta mattress that I hauled off.

******UPDATE******UPDATE******UPDATE******UPDATE******

After many calls and complaints, Rich's-Macy's agreed to replace the mattress "as a one time courtesy." I told them that, having read other reviews on the same model, I was convinced that it was just a bad product. COuldn't I switch to something else? Nope. Same one. We took delivery of the new mattress (kept the same boxspring) on March 5. After perhaps a week, we noticed the same thing happening. Permanent impressions in the bed from about the shoulders to the knees. We began feeling as though we were standing on our heads to sleep, as our feet were noticeably higher. And we began noticing our assigned troughs, with the same characteristic ridge down the center. (Have I mentioned that neither of us is particularly heavy?)

This is most definitely a lemon of a product for S&F.

I called them yesterday, one month after having taken delivery. I spoke with a customer service rep, who said that the only way they would replace the mattress is if a tech comes out and measures 1 1/2" indentations. I was adamant, telling her that I was sure it hadn't reached that point, but that the bed is m ost certainly defective. She spoke with her supervisor, who relented to allowing me to replace the mattress with another S&F mattress (this, because they would not take back the boxspring as well). I declined, as I am ready to purchase from another manufacturer. I got the supervisor on the line, and she backtracked, returning to the original "We will replace only if it is 1 1/2" deep." Five yard loss. She said that this was "from upper management." I insisted on speaking with someone in "upper management," and finally got what seemed to be a fairly reasonable person on the line. He listened to my complaint, said he understood, and said that they *still* would need to send a tech out, but that the measurements would not have to come to the 1 1/2", but that he merely needed to confirm that this mattress is beginning to do the same thing.

So, I am still waiting to have this resolved, and will update as this cliffhanger of a drama unfolds.

Meanwhile, have a look at these reviews of S&F mattresses that feature similar complaints about both products and customer service:

http://www.epinions.com/content_167722258052

http://www.epinions.com/content_97150406276

http://www.epinions.com/content_81678405252

http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/november/15/30.htm





Recommended: No

Mattress Size: Queen
Mattress Firmness: Extremely firm
Amount Paid (US$): 1400.00