On April 1 of 2022, me and my husband walked into a Relax the Back by our home in Laguna Niguel.
I was interested in a Tempur-pedic bed. The salesman was named Steve Kern. Steve said he was filling in for Donna and he manages the Irvine store.
I’ve always wanted to try a Tempur-pedic bed but could not afford it but my husband was being very generous because I suffer severe back pain and was open to trying the trial. I was tired because in the past year I had trialed 3 other beds that didn’t work out.
STEVE explained to us that we had nothing to lose except a $300 restocking fee.
Steve brought to our attention that during the three months trial that if something were to happen to the bed the warranty would not cover it if I didn’t have the their foundation. Their foundation was $450 for a CA King. Our current bed foundation were slats. That made me nervous but I wanted to try this mattress really bad on the foundation it was designed for. So we purchased the $450 foundation knowing that there is no refund. Steve made that clear. He also made it clear that there would be a return fee of $300 for restocking.
The bed was delivered within days and I was so very excited. I just turned 50 and I was hoping this would be the bed of my dreams.
After a couple months, Sadly, the mattress was not a good fit. For me it had a terrible “feeling stuck” feeling, not to mention it was so incredibly hot. We were sweating profusely in this bed.
I called the store numerous times and was told I had to call back on a day Steve was there. Because he sold me the mattress.
I finally got ahold of Steve and I explained I needed to return the bed and he said he will process the refund and he would mail me the receipt and we walked through everything over the phone, and I asked if I could pick it up but he said he’d just mail it to me two blocks away.
Once I received the receipt, I was expecting a balance around $750 — $450 for the foundation and $300 restocking fee.
But I was stunned to have a balance that was over $1,000. I called Steve back and asked why is there a mysterious pickup fee of $199.00 that you NEVER mentioned once. That would mean to return the bed before the 90 day trial would cost $500. We never agreed to those terms.
I just could not believe with fees and taxes it cost over $500 to return a bed during trial.
Only the $300 restocking fee was ever mentioned, even when we reviewed the refund process and numbers over the phone.
Also I’m very familiar with the charity that picked up the mattress which is called Sharetown. ShareTown does not charge any fee as the mattresses are donated. I know this because they picked up the three prior mattresses we trialed with no fee from the charity or mattress company. One company was Purple with the mattress similar in price.
I complained to Steve about the secret hidden fee of $199 for pickup. Steve simply replied next time you buy a mattress I can waive the fee for you.
I asked him to waive it now, he said he could not. I asked why he never mentioned it? He simply said next time he’d waive it. As if there’s going to be a next time?
No wonder he wanted to mail me the refund documents when I literally live two blocks away, and I would’ve stopped in.
I believe this store was deceptive hiding an additional pickup fee of $199 on top of a restocking fee of $300 if you choose to return the mattress. I already accepted full responsibility for the other fees. But this is egregiously shameful for a reputable store to scam unsuspecting customers out of additional fees and tie it to a pick up fee that was picked up by a charity..
I’m at a loss the lack of integrity and honesty this store policy of hiding fees. You would think since I got stuck with paying for the foundation that I didn’t need, he could’ve waived the additional unmentioned $199.00 fee, but he did not.
I drive by this store everyday and I will forever remember how they take advantage of unsuspecting customers with excessive hidden fees.
This business is not BBB Accredited Years in Business: 16
