Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Full disclosure: I purchased directly from T&N, not Amazon. But I wanted to write a review somewhere, and I'm a regular Amazon customer. OK, I realize this review is effusive, maybe a little too much. But I'm not exaggerating when I say this is truly one of the best major purchases of my life. By now, you may have heard the hype about the company Tuft & Needle. Or perhaps you're stumbling onto their product for the first time. Either way, you should go ahead and click "Buy" right now. Seriously. Even if you're not 100% sure about `em. You'll understand why by the end of this review. Last year, my wife and I started mattress shopping. We were upgrading from a queen to king. We had so-so mattresses in the past and wanted to do it right, find something that really worked for both of us. You know the cliche: "you spend a third of your life in bed"? Yeah, well it's true. Now, my wife has woman hips, I am thin and straight. Also cliche. We thought we needed a customizable bed to be truly comfortable, so we tried a SleepNumber. Bad mistake. It really is just two zippered air mattresses, with no localized back/hip support. So we returned the SleepNumber (for which we had to pay shipping, but I suppose it was worth experimenting). Shortly afterward, I stumbled upon Tuft & Needle. As a new company, they didn't have a large online presence, but the extremely high Amazon ratings caught my eye. Then I saw the free 30-day return policy and said, hey, why not? One week later, we received our package in the mail. It came vacuum-sealed so we carefully cut the seal and it literally "popped" into place. Instant sleep-ready. Slapped on the sheets and proceeded to sleep like babies. One year later, we are still very happy customers. Here are the specific reasons for my piling it on: 1 - Free shipping. For a 93-lb mattress. What?! 2 - Made in USA. Sweet. 3 - The no-hassle 30-day trial. If you don't like it, you get a full refund. You don't even have to return it; just donate it. This was a HUGE factor for me, ordering from an online-only company and not yet knowing what firmness was ideal for us. 4 - Ten-year warranty is NOT pro-rated. Any covered defects, they replace the full value. This is highly unusual, as far as I know. 5 - No boxspring needed. I built my own platform bed and it works great. Plus, their warranty doesn't require a boxspring, unlike many other companies. 6 - A single level of firmness has managed to satisfy both my wife and me. I'm still surprised, considering my wife has curvy hips and I don't. But neither of us has had any back or neck pain. 7 - No middle men, hence, significantly lower prices. Funny as it sounds, this is a novel concept in the mattress industry. I don't know if the typical industry markup is as astronomical as T&N claims, but it's certainly a ripoff. 8 - The mattress definitely supports "relations" -- if you catch my drift. 9 - The whole shopping experience was just easy. Sleek, modern website and email. Clear policies and pricing. Immediate shipping information. 10 - I received a handwritten thank you note from T&N. Can't remember the last time that happened with an online purchase. The only downside I've encountered: many fitted sheets these days are a hair too big for this mattress, even for the thicker 10" model. But it's not T&N's fault. It's because most mattress companies make a gimmick out of 20-layer, 100-inch thickness, and sheet manufacturers have followed suit. For what it's worth, we ended up with the L.L. Bean Pima Cotton Percale fitted sheet and it worked out nicely. Yes, this mattress is on the "firm" side but like I said, it's worked for two (healthy) people with very different body types, which makes me wonder how much marketing hype goes into plush vs. firm. If you're a side sleeper, I highly recommend a thick pillow, thicker than you may be used to. T&N has grown by leaps and bounds recently. And prices have increased ever so slightly since we bought our mattress last year. But at $750 for their most expensive model (10" King), this is still one of the best values in the industry. I hope they can manage to maintain their business ethic, great return policy, and pricing. These are what really sold me.