After herniating the disc between my L4 and L5 vertebrae when I was 19, sleeping became more difficult for me than it already was, so I decided with my settlement money to buy the best bed I could. After sleeping on someone else’s Tempur-Pedic, I had my heart set on one.
Do I love the bed? Yes, actually. I sometimes wish it was a tad softer. The display models are soft because they get ‘walked on’ a lot, which is how you are supposed to ‘break-in’ your new bed. I bought mine in 2009. I understand now they make a softer topper for the bed. But the bed isn’t my issue. It’s the company that irritates me.
With as much as they charge for their beds, I’d like to have some customer service. Or maybe a website that works. I have such a hard time understanding how they charge so much per bed but have had and continue to still have a website that doesn’t work. If I go to look up buying a new mattress protector, there is a big color ad that says something about a ’10 year warranty – click here.’ I click and am taken to a page that says:
Looking for something?
You may be trying to access a page that has changed. We apologize for any inconvenience but we are working to improve your shopping experience.
I tried searching for the information and land on the same broken link. I emailed customer support about the issue and 2 weeks later got a canned email that said “please call us.” No, I don’t think calling will help. I’m looking for a broken web page.
So I filled out a warranty request form on the site. After submitting it, I land on a blank page. 100% white. The URL shows they captured information (my name, email, phone, and other information is integrated into that landing URL), but I don’t really know if it went through because the page is blank. How about “Thank you, we have received your submission” or something like that?
Even small business owners know the value of a website and the user experience on that website.
Then I tried calling the number they gave me. After waiting on hold with one recording, it rang and I went into another call queue with a different recording asking me to please stay on the line. Another few minutes went by before someone answered, which isn’t a huge deal to wait, but flipping between phone queues is a little disconcerting. I explained everything to the agent, who then gave me a different number to call about the mattress protector. So when I emailed for help and said I want information about the warranty of the mattress protector, they didn’t think to give me the phone number of the department that actually handles the mattress protectors; they just gave me the generic support phone number which tells me it took two weeks to receive back an automated email response to my customer service email. Now we’re getting into the land of ridiculousness.
Even small business owners know the value of a website and the user experience on that website. I can’t wrap my mind around why such a large company dealing with such high-ticket items can miss the value here. Customer service may always be the disappointment of being a modern consumer, but when the rabbit hold starts on a broken website, they are setting themselves up for failure.