The "good" guys: Google!!

     I have a friend, Kevin Kraft, who worked for Google for a while.  Kevin told me that all over the Google offices, on most all walls, there is a sign reading, "Do no evil," or something to that effect--I can never remember exactly what the phrase was and Kevin corrects me each time I quote it to him.  But the message was clear to me and confirmed my belief that I was right to use Google products such as the calendar, browser,email and search engine, exclusively.
     One of the things which has always impressed me is Google's focus on not cluttering up your computer with a bunch of spam, malware or spyware.  Yes, they track your usage, and keep some of what you do on file.  But, truth be known, everyone does this.  And, as I understand it, Google's purpose for doing so is generally to improve their products and services.  And, in the interest of full disclosure, this blog is hosted and sponsored by Google.  But I use it because it is one of their products.  I am a faithful customer.
  It is also true that recently they have been in the news for a plan to have different tiers of service for some websites, depending on payment.  This does concern me.  I can only hope they come to their senses soon and realize that this is not the sort of thing their fans would want or expect of them.
          Today I was again impressed as I was exploring the terms and service for Google Voice, telephone service.   I could not believe how simple, straight-forward, brief and reader-friendly they were.  You can read and understand these in a minute or less.  There is no excessive "legal" wording.  There is nothing but plain, simple wording. Why can't all such terms of service be like that?  Why are all the others so long and wordy and confusing?  I can only believe it is 1) so you won't read them and 2) so you won't understand them if you do.  That way you may end up generating excessive fees, penalties, or not know when you can hold a company liable or challenge one of more of their practices.
     Yet it is just like Google to keep it so easy and to-the-point--just like their products (the ones I have used anyway): simple, functional and without evil!
  I wanted to highlight them for this.  This blog is not just about the "bad guys."  It has to be about those people and companies who really do make an effort to offer a quality service, or who focus on positive treatment of people, too.  If for no other reason than for balance.  So, if you want to see what a terms of service should look like, check out this example from Google: http://www.google.com/googlevoice/legal-notices.html.  And ,if like me you are considering downsizing your enormous cell phone bill with a land line,you might consider this option.

Update on Mattress World...

     The mattress finally arrived Monday morning, a day late, requiring me to stay home from work.  Now, I am not one who misses work if/when I am not there.  But, I really didn't want to have to use personal time to do so.  I was willing, however, just to get it done.
     But, then I noticed that the mattress had a brown stain (dirt from the shipping or manufacturing process, I am guessing) along the side, under the protective plastic!  My first reaction was to call and tell them.  But I figured that they would want it back and God o ly knows how long it would take to get a new one.  I just didn't want to talk to "Mark," again, or have to deal with any of that.  It was cosmetic but it could nullify my warranty, I had been told when I purchased it.  I know it was foolish, but I declined to call them just then.
     On Monday, 10 days after my purchase, I called in to see if the mattress cover had yet arrived.  I had been told it would take this long.  Nope. Not in.  Due the next day.  But I was leaving for southern Oregon for three days.  Not really expecting it to arrive when stated I did not call.  Sure enough I finally got a call from Mark on Thursday or Friday, saying it had finally come in.  I told him I would come get it this weekend, when I got back. I no longer really cared or had any feeling of urgency.  But, I did tell him about the stain and said I did not want it to nullify my warranty.  He said he would note it in my file.  I guess I have a file.  In any case, will be picking it up today and putting it on the mattress.  Then, other than paying it off, I hope to be done with Mattress World.

It's Not To Late To Avoid Mattress World!

For the last 15 years I have slept on an air mattress in a California king, water bed frame.  It was mostly out of laziness that I did not get a new mattress before.  But, two weeks or so ago my air mattress began leaking air.  My Scottish Terrier, Sammie and I began waking in the middle of the night to find ourselves surrounded on all sides by mattress and blankets, and feeling the plywood base beneath us.  Restful nights were a struggle anyway, on an air mattress.  Neck and back pain was common for me.  But, each time one of my friends got a new bed or mattress and the price they quoted me came in just under, or over, a thousand dollars, I figured my air mattress was good enough for a while.  But then the mattress made the decision for me.

Being one who wants to know if what I think I am looking for even exists before making trips to several stores, I made some calls.  First up,

Sleep Country, who immediately lost my business because no one answered the phone at the locations I called.  In fact, I was greeted by what sounded like an answering machine, with tape and everything.  This made me suspicious of the quality of service I would get if they weren’t even advanced enough to have voicemail.

I next called Mattress World.  I was put off by the forced cuteness of their commercials, with the one kid shushing the viewer while his baby brother pretends (I am assuming) to be asleep  Those commercials always made me feel sort of icky for unknown reasons—as if someone had tied me down and poured a whole bottle of Saccharin into me on an empty stomach.  But because commercialism works, and because you can’t miss all commercials, even with a DVR, it was the next company to pop into my head.  So I called them.

A woman at the Grand Ave store told me she had a king mattress for $100.  She assured me that it was not a “good” one per se, and that she would much rather sell me a $395 mattress.  I was told delivery would be $60 additional. This sounded not too bad, and I could always buy a pillow-top cover, or an egg crate cover for it.   I thanked her and went, instead, to the store nearer my house, the Mattress World “clearance” store on Beaverton- Hillsdale Highway, by the Hwy 217 Fred Meyer.  There I met Mark, a 50-something, seemingly disgruntled employee, who seemed unhappy about something, sighing when I approached the desk.  He and a younger man next to him were talking about some even which had transpired between this other man and another, something about the way one or the other of them had been spoken to.

Mark informed me right off that he had no $100 mattresses.  He was curt and dismissive and I felt as if I were a bother to him throughout most of our interaction.  Clearly I did not want to spend enough money because I had told Mark upfront that I wanted a very inexpensive mattress (again citing the $100) and very soon—as in immediately.  I explained my situation and what kind of bed I had.  I told him what the lady had said at the other store.  He checked: out of stock.  This, “out of stock,” quickly became a theme as well as Mark’s inability to remember that I had come in with a $100 mattress in mind, as he continued to tell me about $1600 mattresses which were a great deal because they were marked down from $4700.  He continued to forget what size of bed I had.  Nothing I wanted or needed was available, or not in my price range, anyway.  Finally I ended up with a $499 mattress (because that is the cheapest he had, apparently) and would have to wait until Sunday for delivery.  Oh, and it was “strongly recommended,” that I get a mattress cover because any color fading or stains would nullify my warrantee.  Just another $149.  He actually quoted me $139, but he had again forgotten that I had a California king, not a queen, and had to raise it.  To his credit he did lower the price of this cover by $10 because I they did not have my mattress there (they don’t seem to have mattresses you can actually take home with you, in the store).  So I would have to wait until Sunday.  I left with buyers remorse over the amount I had spent, but with the belief that I would only have to pump up my bed throughout the night for two more nights.  Mark had assured me that I would get a call Saturday evening, informing me of what my two-hour window of delivery would be for Sunday.  No such call came.

I called the store and spoke to Mark when they first opened at 10 AM on Sunday.  He had to look me up.  Then, said that he had just noticed that I was on his list to call that morning. “You’re not going to get it today,” he told me.  He went on to explain that apparently “someone” had made some mistake and the mattress had to come up from Salem and would be going to the warehouse instead of my house.  Why?  I don’t know.  I didn’t really understand why the delivery could not have just come from the warehouse.  But, I was pretty insistent that this was not okay so he conceded to make some calls.  He called back and confirmed that my mattress was on the truck and said the driver of the truck was checking his schedule, maybe it could be delivered after all.  He would get back to me in an hour or so. 

Four hours later I had to call again because Mark did not call me back.  No, I was told again, I was not going to get it.  I expressed a great deal of dissatisfaction and told him I was going to be a very vocal critic of Mattress World.  He offered me free pillows.  I told him I was more interested in getting the mattress.  I had been firm all day that I did NOT want to have to take time off on Monday to sit around an wait for a mattress I had been very clear about needing immediately from the very beginning.  He apologized in the “mistakes were made,” manner, not saying who made those mistakes. I said I thought it reasonable that I be the very first delivery in the AM, then, to minimize the chances of my having to go to work, then come back home, then go back to work.  He said that was against company policy.  Apparently customer service is not company policy. 

Finally he made another cal, then called to say they were going to break company policy (again because mistakes were made) and that I would be the first delivery, but that it could be between 8 AM and 10:15 AM, “But in all likelihood around 9 AM.”  There was no further mention of free pillows.

While I was expected to take my mattress whenever they got around to finding and delivering it, Mattress World was very quick to run my credit, charge me the $574 for the mattress, and get their end all tied up.  They told me about all that was required of me: repayment within 12 months or suffer an inflated interest rate; that any blemish on the mattress would result in a nullified warrantee, etc.   Their business model is a little skewed.  All about them, then you get what you get, when they get around to getting it to you.  Mark had seemed irritated serving me the first day and frustrated with me on Sunday when I still had no mattress and  was not just being okay with that.   And, I know I paid too much for one California King mattress.  No need to let me know that.  But, it was at least a very comfortable mattress in the store, though the one I tried was a twin version so I could not buy that one and have it delivered right away. 

Complaints about Mattress World abound.  A Google search of “Complaints about Mattress World,” produced a long list of just such complaints.  Try it yourself.  And not surprisingly there are a number of them which sound as if they were taken from my experience.

I can only guess that “It’s Not To Late To Sleep Like A Baby,” the Mattress World slogan, is really a warning to the consumer that as long as you have not yet died of old age by the time you finally get your purchase, you still have some time to get a good night’s rest.

I urge you to avoid Mattress World.  Try Sleep Country.  Maybe their approach to customer service is as old fashioned (read, antiquated) as their voicemail . . .I mean answering machines.  Try other, smaller places.  Tell friends what you have read here, have them come read for themselves.  Just get the word out.  Mattress World does not seem to me, at least, to be the friendly, family-feel place the television commercials would have you believe.  To me it felt like a production line, impersonal and all about the money.  Sure, business is about money, but it has to look at customer service as a way of getting that.  Without the customers there is no business.  Basic fact of business.  Mattress World should look into it.