PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – "It's now really buyer beware" said Nova Southeastern University Law Professor Michael Flynn.
"If there is some kind of warranty involved you must read the fine print because none of these companies are required to offer any kind of warranty protection at all. So you're in a position to get from them what they are going to offer you. That's it. So if it says repair then it's a repair. It's not repair and replacement. If it says a money back guarantee in 30 days, on the 31st day you're not going to get your money back.
There are very specific parts and terms of those warranties that you must be familiar with. They're so riddled with fine print and exclusions and requirements that you have to really be careful what you're doing, and when it comes to mattresses, you better be in one of those frames of minds where if you go lay on a mattress, you're going to feel I can really sleep on this. There is attrition in all of this because after you spent three or four months of a year trying to satisfy what you think is your purchase, many people just give up.
They should specifically state what their warranties and their guarantees are; set the specific terms out. Put on on a separate piece of paper rather than some onion skin that no one can read because it's in small print. Have one of their representatives sign it, have the customer sign it, and hold onto it. Therefore the customer knows what the requirements are and they can work from that. They need an email address that you can contact for that, a phone number, a point person you can contact so that it's easier for customers to deal with.
If you're in business to make money, the only way you're going to make money is to attract consumers. And the only way you attract and keep consumers is to actually get them to purchase is in fact if you're running a company that is consumer friendly. If it's not, people will know about it."