The Chocolate Milk Mattress

Well Folks - I have a story to tell. Last August, our dear little son William was having his chocolate milk "baba" in our bed when I noticed a spill. The spill went through the sheets and the mattress pad we purchased years ago when we first bought our bedroom set (2001). We bought everything from a local Thomasville dealer - a company who we knew and respected. In fact, over the past 10 years we have spent about $20,000.00 on Thomasville products. We used to think they were a great company.

After the spill, I recalled that when we bought the king sized bed, armoire, nightstand, dresser, mirror, mattress and box spring that the saleswoman encouraged us to buy their mattress pad at $89.95. The mattress pad probably cost around $4.99 back in 2001 but it came with an incredible warranty - use their Thomasville Scotchguard mattress pad and be assured that any bodily fluids, food, drink and/or bodily fluids (eeecccck!) that seeped through and ever stained the mattress for the next 10 years would result in a professional cleaning and/or replacement of the mattress if they could not remove the stain. It came complete with a Thomasville brochure promising "peace of mind for all of the things modern families do in bed." Wow, we were sold. We paid cash for the entire transaction and $7,500.00 poorer we took delivery of our new Thomasville items.

We have always used the mattress pad religiously with the mattress and flipped it quartly as required. The mattress pad warranty was also non pro-rated - meaning you get a brand new mattress even if the offending and staining event happened 9 years and 11 months into the deal. That's exactly how it was sold to us on that March evening in 2001 and we bought into it. Having 2 young boys - a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 month old it seemed like a great idea. Especially with our friendly Thomasville saleswoman pushing this thing like it was the second coming of Christ. Fast forward to 2007. Our family has 3 boys now who often pop into our bed. The mattress pad has probably been washed and dried around 100 times and apparently Scotchguard has a finite lifespan. Thomasville was definitely bargaining on the fact that very few consumers would keep all of their original paperwork, business cards and promotional brochures 7 years into a furniture purchase - never mind make a warranty claim after the first 2 years.

William spills the chocolate milk in August and I immediately make a claim with Stainsafe, the vendor whom Thomasville apparently contracted with to perform stain removal. I get nothing but automatically generated emails and a perfunctory "stain removal kit" in the mail. So, I get mad. I'm getting the runaround. I research the StainSafe company online to find out that thousands of consumers are getting the same runaround. Connecticut's own Attorney General is seeking sanctions against them based on their disturbing and illegal practices. Other states are also seeking to ban StainSafe from doing business in their states. And Florida's Attorney General where StainSafe is headquartered is seeking to prosecute the company and its officers for Economic Crimes. So, what did I pay for? I examined all my original paperwork and send a letter to the General Counsel, Lynn Chipperfield, for Thomasville Furniture (Furniture Brands International) in Missouri. I outlined my claim and how I retained all of the original paperwork/brochures and Thomasville Furniture Industries is on the hook as the seller of this useless warranty. They can't try and pawn us off on some onknown third party. Or ignore us as they have been.

I hear nothing. So, I email Thomasville. Still nothing. Then I get really annoyed. So I fax another letter to Mr. Chipperfield. And then I call the 1-800 number for Thomasville customer complaints and get a gentleman named AJ Gallant. This is in October, a full 2 months after I made my claim. FINALLY, a human to talk to. Mr. Gallant takes my information and promises to call. To his credit, I do get an email from him promising to look into it further. Then more nothing. I draft a Moss-Magnuson Act Federal Lawsuit against Thomasville, their local vendor At Home Stores, LLC who sold me this riduculous warranty, and StainSafe. Then, I call AJ Gallant and ask what the status is. He tells me what is happening - "Basically we are fighting with the warranty company to decide who will cover the cleaning." As if that is an acceptable answer. Then I say "Let me tell YOU what is happening. I am filing a class action federal lawsuit against you, your local Thomasville vendor and StainSafe." Silence. Now, I finally have someone's attention. He tells me he needs to talk to his supervisor. He calls back and offers us a credit for the cost of the original mattress and boxspring. $1,500.00. Which today would buy us nothing in a comparable king sized mattress. Quite frankly, it would barely even cover a bunk bed. At the time we bought the mattress it was on of their best at $1,582.00. So, I'm not even getting replacement cost. I refer the matter to Mitchell Levine. He gets involved with an associate counsel for Thomasville named Kim Underwood in their corporate offices. After truly exhaustive negotiations to simply make Thomasville honor their warranty, we come to an agreement. Mark and I are tired and although we could be plaintiffs in a very righteous and lucrative class action lawsuit we simply want the benefit of our bargain - a new mattress and box spring. Thomasville is to deliver to our home a brand new replacement mattress and box spring which I selected. A Simmons Beautyrest Plush Eloquence mattress and box spring. Entirely Simple. Wholesale probably only costing Thomasville around $1700k. They have made a lot of money on us over the years. In fact, we have never purchased another furniture line. This was a very cheap way for Thomasville to avoid a huge claim for consumer violations, attorneys fees and a certification for a class action. We basically handed it to them to just move on. But they wanted more. Wednesday, January 2nd The long awaited mattress delivery is scheduled. I take the day off from work. Mark and I move the old box spring into the guest room the night before but sleep on the stained mattress and I cannot move it by myself so I leave it. The delivery is scheduled between 8 am - 11 am. The Russian delivery gentleman comes to the door to survey the room and get set up. He then goes upstairs and asks about the old mattress. I tell him it's in the guest room. Surprised, I see him starting to carry the old box spring down the stairs and I say 'No! That is staying." He looks at me and says "That is staying?" and I firmly respond, "Yes." Taking away the old mattress and box spring has never been a part of any conversation. And the Russian delivery men don't push the issue. So they deliver the new mattress and take off the packaging. I sign for the delivery, but NOT for the swap they have on another receipt. I leave that blank. I also tip them generously. They leave and I'm upstairs, taking the tags off the new mattress with no phone close by when it rings. Literally 3 minutes after the delivery team is out the door. The answering machine picks up and it is Julie from the local Thomasville distribution center asking for a call back. She sounds more than frazzled. I assume she was looking for her delivery team and I will call her back when I get a minute.

Then, I'm on the phone with my sister Rachel and I see an "At Home Store" number beeping in so I take it. It is now about 7 minutes since the truck left. It is Julie, a bit frantic "We need to get the old mattress and box spring I'm sending the truck back there now." I tell her, very calmly, "Was not part of the arrangement, they are not to pick up the old mattress and box spring and I'm not open to that." Mind you, I know Julie from our multiple Thomasville purchases ( 2 sectional couches 2 loveseats, our entire bedroom set, and another family room plus an ottoman) and she is a very nice gal. Literally, the phone is grabbed out of her hand and then a male voice says "This is Paul Babage from Thomasville Stores. We need that old mattress and box spring and the truck is returning to get it." I say again, very calmly, "That was not the arrangement." And he unloads with more than a bit of fury, saying "Listen, you got a TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR MATTRESS AND BOX SPRING for a CHOCOLATE MILK STAIN and we have more than held up our end of the bargain." Quietly, I say " I got exactly what I paid you for seven years ago."

I love how the retailer is outraged when they actually have to honor a warranty they profitted handsomely from. Now, he's the injured party? It's alway so much more convenient when we stonewall consumers and never honor warranties. . . .

But I digress. He then says "I need that mattress and box spring to send back and get what little credit I can from this thing." To which I respond again "That was not part of the arrangement and you need to deal with my attorney, Mitch Levine, and talk to your own counsel, Kim Underwood." To which he replies "Okay, and THEN they are coming back to get the mattress." Absolutely nasty and harassing. So I hang up on this jerk.

A consumer nightmare. Only made right by the fact that I know how to enforce my rights. Anyway, as of this writing we have no firm settlement agreement, but I certinaly have a new firm mattress and an older, stained one. Score one for the little guy. I'll keep my blog updated on my progess, but this one may not be over!