Try Any Mattress For FREE in Your Own Home, With Free Delivery And Returns!
It can be very hard to know how you’ll like a new mattress just from trying it in the local store for a few minutes – and it can often take up to a month to fully adjust to it. Therefore, make sure you can return your new mattress after giving it a try at home for at least 30 nights. And make sure you get a 100% risk-free, no-hassle return policy.
Be also aware that while some mattress retailers allow exchanges for free, most charge an $80-$500 restocking/exchange / re-delivery fee.
Most mattress retailers require that you keep your mattress for at least 30 days before you are eligible to return it.
While online mattress retailers may tend to have more generous return policies, getting the mattress back to them can be a hassle.
Top Reasons For Returning The Mattress
The main reason people reveal for returning their mattress is a lack of comfort, i.e. it’s either too soft or too firm for the sleeper’s personal preference, sleep position, or body type and that can cause discomfort and/or pain – often back, neck, shoulder, or hip pain. Consumers are often not aware that toppers are wonderful for micro-managing the comfort levels of any mattress. Want a firmer mattress, remove the topper. Want it softer again, put it back on.
Other reasons people reveal for returning their mattresses include off-gassing odor, heat retention, poor motion isolation, and unsuitability for sex.
Returned mattresses are either thrown away (recycled), marked down, or donated to a charity organization or local church and often incur significant costs associated with being restocked. Returned mattresses can never be resold. As a result, the entire cost of a returned mattress is incorporated into the price that will be paid by any future buyer. And despite the best intentions most online mattress brands have for their returns to be recycled or donated, many returned mattresses still end up in junkyards.
Mattress Returns Aren’t Always Allowed
While the vast majority of mattress retailers offer an exchange/return policy, a few offer a very short period (5 business days) or none at all. Such retailers are often furniture stores – not dedicated mattress stores. Furthermore, adjustable bed base brands also do not typically offer home sleep trials, and many even prohibit returns.
Return Policy Length: Minimums and Maximums
Most mattress retailers require that you keep your mattress for at least 30 days before you can return it. You can still return your mattress earlier, but a fee will be charged to do so. The purpose of such a policy is to ensure that the buyer has given the new mattress a fair chance of usage.
For most mattress retailers, the maximum amount of time that consumers have to return their mattresses ranges from 1 week to 1 year – with 3 months being the average.
Money-Back Policies
While a money-back policy is becoming the norm among mattress retailers, not all offer one. And furniture and/or department stores that sell mattresses often provide store credit – and no money-back guarantee.
Money-back policies for store retailers often involve fees (e.g., restocking and/or return transport fees) ranging from $80 to $500 depending on several factors, with the average fee being about $150.
Online mattress retailers do not normally charge such fees.
The Return Process
Returning a mattress to a store retailer often involves them sending one of their pick-up vans to your home.
For online retailers, the process can vary considerably. Most of the newer online mattress companies offer a return process similar to that of store retailers in that a courier removes the mattress from your home and no shipping preparation is necessary, in a no-hassle procedure. Often, the mattress is picked up by a charity organization, for donation purposes, or it can also be simply recycled.
By contrast, for the more established online mattress retailers (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, Mattress Firm, IKEA), the return process can be a big hassle as it often involves using FedEx or UPS. This means that the mattress will need to be prepared for shipping by the consumer (which may include wrapping and boxing the mattress – not an easy process). And if the mattress is damaged during the return shipping or is dirtied, the retailer might not provide a full refund.
Exchange Policies
Most mattress retailers offer a one-time mattress exchange – sometimes as a replacement for a money-back guarantee.
If you buy from a mattress retailer that only allows exchanges (and no refunds), then make sure before you buy that such a store has other models, in case you need to make an exchange.
Fees to exchange a mattress often range from $80 to $500 depending on several factors, with the average fee being about $150 (including the re-delivery fee).