This post is the seventh in a series of candid, in-depth reviews about my experience as a first-time Saatva customer. In the six previous posts I have discussed what happened when I was researching Saatva mattress options, choosing the best mattress for my husband’s and my needs, placing an online order for a Saatva Solaire mattress, bedding and adjustable base and taking delivery of our mattress pad and sheets, as well as the white glove delivery of our upper-flex Solaire and removal of our old mattress and my detailed, candid product reviews of our new Saatva Solaire mattress and adjustable base.
Today I will review our experience with exchanging our split-top Solaire for the (solid) standard version.
Disclosure: I have joined the company’s affiliate program, which means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the links in this post I may be eligible to receive a commission, at no cost to you. I highly recommend the Saatva company and its products for their excellent quality, performance, price and customer service. The opinions, product reviews and recommendations in this post are my own and are based on my personal experiences. The decision to click on those links to learn more about the company’s products or make a purchase is greatly appreciated, but entirely up to you.
As I explained in my last post, my husband and I loved nearly everything about our new Saatva Solaire mattress except the center split down the top portion. We had decided to give the “upper-flex” configuration of the mattress and adjustable base a try because the top split allowed one of us to elevate and lower the head of our side of the bed without disturbing our partner. For example, since my husband wakes up earlier than I do, he could raise his side to sit up and read next to me while I continued to sleep.
However, since we usually fall asleep snuggled together on our sides in the “spoon” position in the middle of the mattress, one of us would end up with our arm stuck in the center split.
After trying for more than a month to find a way around that problem, we finally decided we’d be happier with a solid mattress and exchanged our upper-flex king for a standard king Solaire.
Note: Even if you and your partner also like to "spoon" together, if you eventually return to your respective sides of the bed for sleeping you may love the upper-flex option. Exchanging ours for a standard Solaire wasn't an easy decision!
Initiating Our Saatva Solaire Mattress Exchange
The Saatva Mattress Home Trial, Warranty & Return Policies page provided simple instructions for exchanging a mattress: Call a toll-free number to initiate the exchange, pay a $99 processing fee (to cover Saatva’s fee to the delivery company for the white glove delivery and pickup service) “and we’ll take care of the rest!”
Saatva's website made the exchange process sound hassle-free...and they definitely "delivered" in real life |
It was the end of a busy, stressful week and I decided to send an email instead of calling the 888 number.
Instead of calling the toll-free number to initiate the exchange, I replied to the order confirmation email |
An automated reply from Saatva appeared in my inbox almost immediately containing a ticket number to track my inquiry and explaining that, due to heavy customer demand, it might take “up to 24 hours” for someone to respond.
Since I had sent my email late on a Friday afternoon, and given the widespread pandemic-related staffing shortages at the time (August 2021), I wasn’t expecting a response until Monday. However, To my surprise, Ina, one of Saatva’s “sleep guides,” phoned on Sunday to help me initiate the mattress exchange I had requested.
She initiated a refund for the upper-flex king Solaire mattress, sheet set and mattress pad and placed our order for the standard king Solaire and bedding replacements. She let me know that the white king size sheets I wanted were backordered and expected to be in stock in two weeks, but the ivory color was in stock if I didn’t want to wait. I said I preferred to wait for white sheets and asked her to add a king size waterproof mattress protector to our order. She also asked us to donate the upper-flex sheet set and mattress pad to a nonprofit charitable organization of our choosing.
Ina explained that the delivery of our standard Solaire mattress would work the same way as our previous delivery. As soon as our new mattress was manufactured, the delivery company would contact us directly to schedule the white glove delivery and setup of our new standard king Solaire and the removal of our upper-flex Solaire.
I told Ina that since we had purchased an upper-flex king Lineal adjustable base (now called the Saatva Adjustable Base Plus), which could not be exchanged for a standard king version, we wanted the delivery service to reconfigure and sync the two joined twin XL adjustable bases to work with the new, solid king mattress. She said she would instruct the delivery company to take care of that for us when they delivered our standard king Solaire.
A few minutes later, I received an email from her confirming what we had discussed and updating the support ticket.
Saatva's Sleep Guides (customer service representatives) help customers 7 days a week |
Saatva Customer Service Follow-up
As promised, two weeks later the delivery company emailed me directly and asked me to call them to schedule the delivery of our new solid king Solaire.
The email arrived on the Friday before Labor Day, just as my husband and I were headed out of town for the long holiday weekend, so we decided to wait until we got back to put our calendars together and find a date when we could both be home to supervise the mattress delivery.
On Tuesday, the day my back-ordered white organic cotton sateen sheets were due to be restocked, Ina called to let me know that they were still not back in stock. She said that if I didn’t want to wait longer, she would be happy to either cancel the order for me or send me the same sheet set in ivory, which they did have in stock.
I thanked her for calling to update me about the backorder delay and offering me the choice of several options, and said I would prefer to wait for the white sheets to be restocked. Ina promised to continue to monitor and keep me updated about the status of my backordered white sheet set. She proved to be true to her word and kept in touch with me until the sheets were delivered.
I also mentioned that I had gotten an email from the delivery company a few days earlier but that I hadn’t called them yet, since my husband and I had been away for the holiday weekend and we hadn’t yet had a chance to work out when we could both be available to supervise the mattress delivery. If she was able to stay on the call for another minute or two (and if I could catch my husband in between Zoom meetings), I could try to get her some options for delivery dates.
Ina explained that mattress deliveries are scheduled directly between the customer and the delivery company, but that once my husband and I determined our availability, she would be happy to pass on those possible dates to the delivery company on our behalf, if we would like. Even though I declined and said I would talk to my husband that evening and then contact the delivery company directly, I considered her kind offer another example of how Saatva employees take initiative and are empowered and encouraged to go above and beyond.
Our Second Experience With Saatva’s White Glove Mattress Delivery and Setup
Our second experience with Saatva’s white glove delivery was very similar to our first Saatva mattress delivery experience. After receiving the email from the delivery company, I called them to schedule our Solaire mattress exchange and setup.
Once again, the company contacted us the day before, this time by email, giving us a three-hour delivery window, confirming our address and phone number, and saying the delivery team would call us when they were 40 minutes from our house.
Once again, we did not receive a call from the team before they arrived, nor did their instructions mention reconfiguring our two twin XL adjustable bases to work with the new solid king Solaire mattress.
Apart from that, however, the team was extremely fast and efficient (perhaps even more so than the team that had delivered our upper-flex Solaire and adjustable base!) and very respectful of our property.
Not only did they reconfigure the adjustable bases so that the head and foot would operate in sync, at our request they also showed my husband how it was done in case he needed to fix any issues that might arise in the future.
They were extremely professional, friendly and accommodating throughout their visit.
Follow-Up Customer Service Interactions
At one point, the remote control for my husband’s side of our Adjustable Base Plus stopped responding. I called customer service and explained that he had tried putting in fresh batteries and re-syncing his remote, which did not fix the problem. The customer service representative, Paul, explained that accidentally pressing and holding down the Lock button was one of the most common reasons for the remote to stop working. Unfortunately, the non-working remote was not in its usual spot on my husband’s nightstand, so Paul talked me through how to lock and unlock the remote using mine. When my husband came home, we tried unlocking his remote, which still didn’t solve the problem, and Saatva immediately sent us a replacement.
The next day, we discovered that the problem was, in fact, user error (I can’t remember what) and I called back to let Saatva know that we wouldn’t need a replacement remote after all. They were extremely gracious and said they had already shipped it to us and we should keep it, “just in case.”
Another example of how Saatva’s customer service goes above and beyond!
Final Verdict on Our Overall Experience Buying a Saatva Mattress, Adjustable Base and Bedding
My husband and I spent six months shopping for, researching, selecting, ordering, taking delivery of and exchanging our first Saatva mattress, bedding and adjustable base. Throughout that time, Saatva’s commitment to excellence was obvious in every interaction we had with the company and its representatives.
We were able to find answers or get help using whichever method we preferred (email, phone, website or live chat), even on nights, weekends and holidays. Everyone with whom we spoke was knowledgeable, professional and proactive in helping us. They also appeared to be empowered to “go the extra mile” to ensure that we had a positive experience without having to get permission from a supervisor.
Based on my personal experience, Saatva consistently delivers on its promise to provide superb customer service 24/7/365 |
In a recent article, Saatva founder and CEO Ron Rudzin shared the story and significance of the company’s unusual name, which is well worth the read. For him and everyone else at Saatva, the name is “a reminder every day that we are committed to honesty, transparency, and putting our customers first. We try to live up to the principles embodied in our name, whether it’s through the helpful content we put on our website or the premium materials we put in our products.”
As a former marketing professional who has advised major corporations on improving their customer experience, I am a savvy and demanding consumer with high expectations. Saatva has thoroughly impressed me with not only its products and customer service but also its overall standard of excellence and ethics in doing business.
If you are thinking about a new mattress, bedroom furniture, bedding or gifts for better sleep, I encourage you to explore the Saatva website and talk to a knowledgeable Saatva Sleep Guide to help you make the best choice for your needs, regardless of what brand or model of mattress or bed you ultimately decide to buy.
What's Next: Which Queen or King Size Saatva Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base Is Right for You?
Next week, I'll publish my final post in this series,
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Exchanging a Saatva Mattress: My Personal Experience by Margaret Schindel
Posts in This Series
Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 1: The Journey Begins