Mattress survey

Mattress brands

TABLE NOTES * refers to sample size less than 30. ^ refers to how average price is calculated - by taking the mid-point of the brand's price range selected by members who took part in the survey. prices are rounded off to the nearest $10.

Tempur, a memory-foam mattress, topped our survey with an 88% overall satisfaction score. It also rated highest for the brand of mattress our members would “definitely buy again” (see table). Memory foam, also known as visco-elastic polyurethane foam, was first developed in the 1970s by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in space shuttle seats to relieve the G-force pressure astronauts experienced during take-off. The material was commercialised by Tempur, which markets its products for their pressure-relieving qualities. Members did report some drawbacks with Tempur though. According to CHOICE member Michael, “the mattress hardens up in winter and gets very uncomfortable”. Some also noted that Tempur is a comparatively expensive brand.

CHOICE members most commonly bought the Sealy brand of mattress, but its satisfaction score was lower than the less commonly bought Madison mattress (a brand only available at retail chain Snooze). “The $3000 Sealy mattress I bought is uncomfortably hot at night,” says CHOICE member Heather. “We’ve had to sleep with the air conditioning on all night, yet I still toss and turn a lot. I go and sleep in another bed in the house, or on the sofa, half the time.” Other members voiced similar negative sentiments about both Sealy mattresses and the brand’s customer service (see case study).

Sleepmaker was close to bottom of the list for overall satisfaction. Says CHOICE member Rachel: “Both the retailer and Sleepmaker refuse to replace or fix our sagging mattress, saying we did not flip it often enough. We will never buy a Sleepmaker mattress again.” Comfort is the number one priority for members buying a mattress – except for Ikea’s Sultan brand, where price is the key factor. On average, a Sultan mattress costs about one-fifth the price of a Tempur, yet still rates third-highest for overall satisfaction. According to CHOICE member Graham, Sultan offers “a great product for the price, with a three-month exchange option and 25-year guarantee”.

Mattress retailers

CHOICE members are savvy enough to buy mattresses on sale or haggle for a discount. About 61% of CHOICE members bought on discount from all retailers surveyed including franchises such as Forty Winks and Snooze, while a staggering 87% bought from David Jones on discount.“You can always barter down on anything from Harvey Norman,” says Denis. “It wasn't too difficult to get a couple of hundred off the advertised price for a mattress I was keen on.”

Makin, a manufacturer with retail warehouses in Adelaide, Albury, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Canberra and Newcastle, came out tops for overall satisfaction (80%), along with Ikea and bedding franchise Sleepy’s (which has the highest score for customer service satisfaction) as well as David Jones. Members raved about Sleepy’s 60-night comfort exchange guarantee, which allows customers dissatisfied with the comfort or feel of their mattress to be exchanged for another of equal or greater value.