Sep 19 2008
Select Comfort Says My Sleep Number Is 160
Chrissy and I bought a “Sleep Number” mattress from the local Select Comfort store about two and a half years ago. Chrissy’s parents had let us try their Sleep Number mattress and we really liked it, so we decided to buy one because our old mattress was sagging terribly in the middle. The problem was that these things are really expensive. But considering that we paid $1100 for our Sealy Posturepedic, and it was hard to sleep on after only four years, we figured that the investment was safe because Select Comfort offered a twenty year warranty.
Like every other Sleep Number owner that we’ve ever met, Chrissy and I really love our mattress. Recently, however, Chrissy’s side starting losing about half of the air pressure during the night. She called customer support, and they told her to inflate the mattress to her favorite setting, then remove the tubes to the pump and cap off the mattress. After two days, the air pressure remained constant, so customer support concluded that it must be the pump or the hoses (which are one piece since you can’t remove the hoses from the pump). We would need to replace the unit.
This is where the twenty year warranty should have kicked in, and we should have gotten a new pump sent to us in the mail for free. Unfortunately, this was not the case. We were not aware that the replacement pumps are only free for the first two years of ownership. After two years, Select Comfort pro-rates the cost of the pump at 20% plus 4% for each year of ownership, up to a total cost of $500. Because the pump was two and a half years old, our portion of the price of the new pump came to $160. This was highway robbery!
First of all, I would not pay $500 for a plastic air compressor at Sears, so I’m not sure what makes Select Comfort think that this thing is worth $500. Secondly, someone should have said something about this obvious loophole in the warranty, since we didn’t think that we would be spending any more money on our damn-expensive mattress for the next twenty years (aside from the $100 pillows; again, ridiculous). If this had been told to us during the original purchase, we would have thought twice about buying it to begin with.
Needless to say, we bought the replacement pump. It took about a week for the new pump to arrive, Chrissy and I installed it and now her side of the mattress works fine. I’m still aggravated that this wasn’t covered completely under warranty. They should really come right out and say that they have a two year warranty, and you’re kind of on the hook for anything after that. I’m just wondering if the new pump is covered for another two years, or will I have to pay the pro-rate of the original pump once this one dies in another two and a half years?
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bad support, bedrooms, Chrissy, mattress, Select Comfort, sleep, Sleep Number, warranty
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Hi. I work for Select Comfort and we’re sorry that you were disappointed with your recent warranty replacement. It is true that our beds come with a twenty year limited warranty, and that a pro-ration schedule is part of that warranty.
We are very confident in the quality of our pumps which have a very low failure rate. Most of our customers never need to replace a pump and we are very sorry that yours required replacement. For warranty terms, pro-ration is based upon your initial purchase date and the two years of 100% coverage does not begin anew when you get a replacement part. If you reside in an area that has frequent power outages or electrical storms, you may wish to purchase a good quality surge protector for your pump because the warranty does not protect against such damage and this could help alleviate any future issues.
We at Select Comfort are appreciative of your feeback and welcome you to contact Customer Service at 1-800-472-7185 with any further questions or concerns.
Best regards,
James Freund
Select Comfort Customer Service
I’m a 40!
James — Thanks for taking the time to read about my issues with our Sleep Number bed. I appreciate the advice. We were thankful for the service from the Select Comfort technical support line as well.
However, that does not alleviate the trouble that we went through with the defective part. I might not have been so aggravated with the pro-rated portion of the cost if the part had lasted longer than any other standard electrical piece of equipment, but imagine my disgust to find that we had missed the pro-ration point by six months (on a part that was implied to last up to twenty years). At least give me five or six years before breaking down!
In addition, every electrical device in our house is protected with a warranteed surge protection device. Our computers and entertainment systems are further protected with brown-out protection and battery backups. I don’t think that the compressor trouble was due to an electrical surge, since only one side of the compressor failed. Perhaps if the failure was my fault, or an “Act of God”, I would have been more willing to pay for the new compressor.
Thanks,
Michael