Mattress Warranty Section Launched By QMattresses.com

Online, May 9, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Today, qMattresses.com announced the release of a Mattress Warranty section on its mattress reviews and ratings website. The section addresses a common complaint that mattress customers have about their mattress - its warranty. As with other posts published on the site, the Mattress Warranty section digs into the warranties of the most popular and well-known mattress companies and highlights potential areas of concern that consumers should know about and understand.

Site Editor, Christopher Fitch, said that mattress warranty complaints were one of the most common issues that mattress consumers have with their mattress. "We saw that, in some cases, warranty frustrations were elevated to the point where a consumer would actually rate their overall experience with the product as unsatisfactory," he explained. "The frequency of complaints inspired the creation of the Mattress Warranty section on our site."

According to information posted on the website, many consumers look to the mattress warranty as one of their buying triggers. In cases where consumers are stuck having to pick between two very comparable products where one offers a 20-year warranty and the other offers a 15-year warranty, most would choose the product with the 20-year warranty.

"Making a decision based on warranty is often an erroneous one," he explained. "Most likely, that 20-year warranty will be comparable to a 10-year warranty as far as the protection that consumers expect from the warranty."

What Fitch refers to is the prorated coverage on some warranties that require consumers to pay for partial replacement costs associated with a claim during the prorated coverage period.

"Prorated coverage is just one thing we aim to educate our visitors about," he said. "Other important conditions also apply when you make a claim on your mattress warranty, and all manufacturers' warranties are different."

In addition to prorated coverage clauses, qMattresses.com points out the minimum body crease requirements that must be met before a warranty claim is effected as well as the small-print exclusions that could completely void the warranty.

"When shopping for a mattress, consumers are asked to lie on this bed, try that bed, and don't forget this one over here and that one over there," he elaborated. "That process allows them to compare products. But what they do not get to see, in most cases, is how the warranties of each mattress compares to the another."

Given the life expectancy that so many consumers expect from their mattresses, the fine details of the product's warranty should play a heightened role in the purchase process, Fitch said. And since there are so many details and "filler" in the contracts, most consumers would have a tough time wading through all of the documents with a salesperson hovering over them.

"We shine a light on the areas of the warranty that could post potential problems for consumers. They can match our notes to the actual contracts, or they can access the latest warranty contracts from our site to review in the privacy and comfort of their own home," Fitch said.

"The problem is that a lot of manufacturers do not make their warranty cards public. Given our relationship with the manufacturers and existing owners, we have been able to obtain copies and in some cases make them available through our site."

While qMattresses has been positioning its Mattress Warranty section as a great consumer aid that complements the existing mattress reviews, bedding accessories reviews, owner-based mattress ratings, owner complaints and sleep-related health articles (such as articles on Restless Leg Syndrom, Bruxism, etc.), the warranty piece also aims to help manufacturers.

"At the end of the day, we are educating the consumer. Once they understand the exclusions, limitations and construction of their mattress warranty, they will no longer take that frustration out on manufacturer, who really has no control over how a mattress is sold on the showroom floor of an independent retail store."