Free-for-all local mattress industry a scammers’ paradise

CONSUMER scams are designed to confuse and get you to part with your money. But some are perpetrated by companies under the rubric “marketing”, or just mediocre service. Often consumers, through ignorance and trust in the retailer/manufacturer, are none the wiser. My hobby horse is the mattress industry.

A Strand-based manufacturer’s website states its Cover Concept range is the “most luxurious mattress in the world”. That’s a lie: that honour goes to Sweden’s Hästens Vividus, costing £120 000, and which lasts 25 years. Each Vividus bed takes 320 hours to make. (They also make more “reasonably” priced mattresses and beds from about R70 000.)

No one, especially people in the trade, can claim “luxury”, “bespoke” or “high quality” when exemplars of the real deal exist, particularly when consumers can google it. But this is symptomatic of the mattress industry – scams and misinformation most consumers are not aware of when they are making a major investment, financially and for their health.

Typical industry scams: do-not-turn “technology” (sic), memory foam, labelling and “firm/medium/plush” comfort level (there’s one spring tension across the range designed for people who have the body mass of rugby players) scams. They use organic-sounding words like “wool”, “bamboo”, “oxygen” and “100% natural” when the products are usually 99% petroleum-based synthetics (excluding wire frame).

The majority of bed shop staff I’ve met are not knowledgeable about their products – they know price lists and obvious things one can read from labels – and I’ve been better informed than them. Incidentally, getting exact specifications either from them or manufacturers is impossible.

The exception to the above chain store brands are quality/luxury (so far) European brands, of which to my knowledge three are available in Cape Town. One of these I tested (from R50 000) was in another league compared to chain store riff-raff – natural fibres, Talalay (100% natural) latex, handmade, multizone and available in spring tensions based on body mass ranges, excluding tailored accessories. Unfortunately, I can’t afford it.

But similar quality can be made locally and not at imported, European wage rates. I don’t know why the local industry doesn’t take up the challenge, but shows the lack of vision and innovation for which the moribund South African economy is renowned.

The (local) mattress industry has no national standards I’m aware of, which is exacerbated by low barriers to entry for anyone and his dog to set up a business.

While this creates competition, which is good, the lack of standards is bad for the consumers, who are misled and misinformed, deliberately or by omission (which happened to me) when they are making a substantial investment, which they later find is a pig in the poke that lasts five to seven years at best.

The National Consumer Commission should investigate. Thomas Johnson Lansdowne