Contact the Better Business Bureau and let that store know you are doing so. Then tell them you are going to contact an attorney.

I say these mattress folks are scammers. They will sell you junk calling it the Queen's bed. I am convinced that what's under each mattress cover is basically the same thing and the only difference is the padding and covering on top of the guts.

Good luck. We've been down that same road before. It's not fun.

Thank you for your support and encouragement, sippimom. It came at a very good time, :~) I will come back and post the epilog when this whole episode is over.

Thank you for responding thoughts999! That's just crazy that you have had such bad experiences with mattresses. I'm sorry to hear it. Sad to say, I'm now hearing a lot of similar stories.

Since you are a reputable retailer who once sold mattresses, I would appreciate knowing your mindset and point of view. Would there have been any circumstances under which you would have fully refunded a customer's money? Would my situation have qualified - three strikes and you're out? The more I can understand the retailer's point of view, the more likely it is we can come to a solution that is fair to all parties.

Thank you so much for your help.

So here's how the story turned out. Did you know you have 6 months to dispute charges on your Discover card? We called Discover and registered a dispute over the mattress. DIscover was terrific! They, in turn, sent a letter to the mattress shop owner telling him he had 30 days to dispute our dispute. In the meanwhile, the charge was removed from our credit card.

The mattress store owner sent the truck out within a few days to pick up the mattress. He never disputed the charge, so after 30 days, the amount was deducted from his Discover account and we have been refunded the full amount.

On a curious note, our cat HATED the original mattress. She would hiss and cry at it and race away from it at top speed. Maybe she knew something we didn't. Anyway, good riddance to that mattress.

We subsequently bought a 10" all latex mattress at Costco, which is fully returnable, no questions asked. But we love it! So,all is well.

I wondered once or twice whether we received a new or a used mattress, and I wondered about the fate of the mattresses we returned. The retailer opened a clearance center recently. Hmmmmmm....

The experience with the Costco mattress was flawless. We ordered it online. The next day we received a call from an executive at the company that makes that mattress, telling us when we could expect it and giving us his phone number if I had any questions at any time. We received the mattress 1-2 weeks early. The delivery company were flawless. They delivered exactly on time and they even asked to wash their hands before they handled the mattress. Supremely good customer service!