Saturday 27 February 2010

Inflatable Beds - air mattress, inflatable bed


The mattress worked as advertised, and I wasted only a little time

figuring out how to turn on the air pump---it pumps only when

attached. The biggest problem is the "new plastic" smell, which

remained quite obnoxious even after 3 days of airing out the

fully inflated mattress (at room temperature). At that point all

I could do was apologize to my house guest. One reviewer

recommended giving any new Aerobed at least a couple of days to

air out before its first use. I would change that advice to strongly

recommend allowing at least a week. Aerobed Guest Choice Inflatable Bed, Queen

I bought this Areobed (or at the least, a model very similar) 8 years ago and have had nothing but good experiences. It takes about 30 seconds to inflate with the pump and can easily be deflated in about a minute. I use this frequently when guests come to town and often bring it with me on trips out of town and haven't had any problems with leaks. It does deflate a little after being inflated for a few days, but it's nothing a little more air cannot fix. I have tried friends' inflatable mattresses by other brands and find this one the easiest to inflate. Other brands make it tricky to remove the pump without losing significant air and with this Areobed design this is not the case which allows me to inflate the bed MUCH faster. Also having little space I appreciated that when folded up in its bag it can be stored compactly in my closet.



My only complaint is that getting everything to fit in the bag can be a bit tricky unless you fold everything just right so I do wish the bag was a little bit bigger. However overall I have been satisfied and impressed that it has maintained its durability for so long.

Do not just take my word for it. See similar complaints all over the internet; I bought their top of the line mattress and withing six months it leaked badly. More on that in a minute. First let me tell you about my experience with Aerobed Customer Diservice department. Getting a replacement was an exercise in patience and persistence. First call took at least 20 minutes to get a live person to answer. They promised to email me a claim form which I did not receive. So, another call and another 20-30 min on hold. Claim form was promised again. This time in order to avoid another call back I requested it to be sent to 2 email addresses just to be sure. Neither email was received. Another call, another 20-30 min hold time. This time I told them I would not hang up until I got the email. Amazingly, the email arrived this time. Among other things this email will recommend that you send in your claim using a form of delivery that is traceable. Their policy requires you cut off a certain label and return it to them. Cutting out this label destroys the old product. So for some reason if your claim got lost in the mail you would be out of luck. Next time I called I was driving. After another 20-30 min on hold, I told them I was calling to confirm my order was received. I was asked if I had a tracking number. Minor mistake; I had left that at home. I asked the rep if he could please first try to locate my claim and if he could not locate it I would then call back with tracking number. I was told they will not even loolk for your claim unless you provide a tracking number. Bottom line:



DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR WARRANTY CLAIM WITHOUT A TRACKING NUMBER OR YOUR CLAIM WILL NEVER BE PROCESSED!!!



What transpired over the next month was multiple call backs. Every one of them resulting in 20-30 min hold time. Every one resulted in a broken promise that replacement would ship within either a few days or a week. One, excuse was that they were closed for inventory. So of course that drug it out even longer.



I finally received a replacement only after I made enough noise to Amazon that they apparently intervened on my behalf with the manufacturer. The replacement I got after all that was a smaller cheaper model with less features. It came in a generic brown cardboard box with just the dimensions and country of origin (China) rather then the glossy packaging of the origin product. I am left to speculate that they bought truckloads of the cheapest inferior product they could find in order to rid themselves of hundreds or thousands of legitimately disgruntled warranty claimants who were clogging their phone lines.



Within several months, the replacement leaked worse then the original.

This has been the best air mattress for our son's bunk bed. He's almost 7 and we're buying another one. It has lasted several years, but due to a hyper kid we're now getting another. The pump still works, and has never failed us. It inflates the mattress to full potential. The release valve is large enough to let air out fast. It's easier to use than a spring mattress for a bunk bed with a lower trundle drawer. Good luck. - Aero Bed - Airbed - Inflatable Bed - Air Mattress'


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