Mattress warranties can be a minefield of fine print. Your mattress salesman has probably never even read his mattress warranty. Usually your salesman will spout out how many years but not mention the very important details. Sealy, Serta and Simmons, the three main brands are not excluded from this.

First I should mention that mattress warranties last way too long. You buy a tv or vcr and they give you a 90 day warranty and you are happy to get it. Buy a new $40,000 vehicle and the warranty could be only three years or 36,000 miles. Buy a mattress for $500 and you used to get a fifteen year warranty from the majors and some sub brands gave you twenty years. Several years ago the mattress companies colluded or not, on mattress warranties. The result of this meeting that may or may not have happened, was shortened warranties. Presently, most mattress companies give five years give or take.

Some of the mattress warranties are five years but they qualify this with one year full warranty and four years prorated. The prorated portion, similar to the car tire warranty, is based on length of use and the suggested retail price. The suggested retail price comes into play with the proration potion of the warranty. The longer you have the mattress in the four year term the more of the suggested retail you will pay. The strange part of a warranty is the suggested retail set by the manufacturer. It has no connection with what you paid.

As a mattress retailer, I always felt that the warranties were too long. The mattress manufacturer knows that the mattress will only last seven or eight years. They are banking that the buyers loses their receipt, that the retail store the mattress was purchased from goes out of business or that you will forget about the warranty, or all three. Some mattress manufacturers do not really back up the retailer with the warranties they offer and some actually change the terms to make it more difficult.

How did these crazy warranties come about? First of all a mattress is one item that you cannot peer inside of. You have to rely on the brand name, the reputation of the store and the salesman or all three. A long warranty was one way for the consumer to judge the worth and value of a mattress. The consumer often equates the length of the warranty to how long the mattress would last. Of course this is entirely false. Long warranties help sell mattresses. Some retailers thrive on long warranties, especially those who know they are going out of business. The third reason that warranties got so long was warranty inflation. Mattress manufacturers simply tried to outdo each other.

Most mattress warranties have additional clauses that can cancel the warranty. Filthy or even lightly soiled mattresses can void a warranty. Some people have an accident of a urine or other nature and no longer want the mattress or want a new one and attempt to use the warranty to get one. This becomes a health issue to the people who have to physically deal with this mattress. Most warranties void if a mattress is dirty.

One of the main reasons that a mattress is return is due to indentions on the surface. Most mattress warranties will not cover an inch of mattress sinking. You need to check your warranty to see how deep the indention can be before it is covered by warranty. All mattresses sink in to a degree.

Well, now you know almost as much about mattress warranties as I do so good luck!