"Without our expensive shoes/matresses you will ruin your health"

In My Humble Opinion
1

Say, you’re buying a new matress. Or a pair of good shoes, with a footbed.
You’ve been to cheaper stores and found some that were comfortable, at a reasonable price. Then, on a whim, you decide to pay a visit to a Quality Store. Surely salespeople in a Quality Store (with nothing but real Brands, so there) must know their stuff. You will walk in, they will look you up and down with an Expert Eye, and they will fit you with the perfect Mattress, the Perfect Walking Sandal, right? So you’ll pay a bit more, but the next decade, you’ll be in Comfort Heaven. Right?

Hah.

Me: I’d like a good mattress please. I always roll to the middle in my current one"
Saleslady: “Hmnn…yes, you’ll like the DreambedDeluxe then. Here, try it”.
Me: “Okay….um, no, this one doesn’t feel comfortable. I still roll to the middle in this one”
Sales lady: “No, that’s impossible. It has got Special Reinforcement to prevent rolling”
Me: “Huh? Sorry, but I just rolled.”
Saleslady (coolly) “Impossible”.

I have tried on a few hideously ugly sandals who claim to be Comfort Incarnated.
Me: "Sorry, these shoes just aren’t comfortable on my feet. Could you help me to find out why, so"ll know what to look for exactly?
Saleslady: *(with a look of caring disdain) * “I’m sorry dear, but those shoes are orthopedically designed to align feet just right. They should be really comfortable. You have probably ruined your feet all these years with those cheaper shoes you claimed you were comfortable in, and you have forgotten what a really decent shoe feels like. Good shoes are really important. On bad shoes, you will ruin your hips, your back, and you will get health problems eventually.”
Me: but I’m thirty-eight. I’ve worn no-brand shoes, very often cheap, shoes without orthopedic claims, all my life. All my shoes had only one thing in common: they felt comfortable. So shouldn’t I have feet and backproblems by now, it what you say is true?
Saleslady: “Ha! That’s just the treacherous thing about it. Healthproblems due to bad shoes may take untill you are fifty or sixty to surface.”
**Me: ** :rolleyes:

I’m beginning to think Fit is far more importantly then Quality. If I feel comfortable in it, and my back or feet agree, then the matress or shoe is good for me, period.

I’m sure you can do damage to your back or feet by not replacing your mattress or your shoes when they hurt, but when your shoes and mattress feel just fine….

Damn scare-tactics. :mad:

2

Damn straight!

3

I’m a big fan of form AND function. Makes shopping a little more challenging but I’m usually very satisfied with my decisions.

Oh, and those damn box springs are a huge scam!

4

Are you ready for the next big thing:

M B T:

Masai Barefoot Technology.
http://www.mbt-uk.com/

5

As some one who recently and most painfully had to buy another mattress for another child in my family that has developed an allergy to dust mites, ( his mattress was a hand me down and from the late 60’s…there is probably a colony of dust mites in there 2 bajillion generations old.) mattress shopping ranks up there with a brazilian bikini wax in January in Michigan, if you know what I mean. Thank Og for the interent to help with the initial sticker shock.

The prices are outrageous and box brings are one of the greatest scams of our time. What is wrong with your mattress resting on some OSB board, huh?

Fortunately, I learned that a local Salvation Army sells brand new, heremtically seals mattresses starting at $99. Compared to $275 starting price at sears, I am so very happy.
As for thos MBT shoes I am ashamed to admit this, but I want them so bad it is nearly palatable. I beleive in all the tummy toning and leg firm stuff they write about because I am a woman and desperate for a quick fix to a soggy ass and flobby tummy. The fact that the shoes are about $250 a pair makes me covet them even more. That what is the most unobtainable is the most desireable. I am so embarrassed.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::flees::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

6

Modern advertising distilled: ‘Buy our product, or you will die!’

7

Ah, hell… we already did that under another name…

Barefoot technology is sooooo 1970’s… :wink:

8

Spend half of that for a really good pair of cycling shoes and get your soggy ass and flobby tummy in the gym for spin classes. Bargain at the price and your cardio improvement is like a free bonus gift, your’s to keep. :slight_smile:

9

I think it’d be far funnier if this happened…

:wink:

10

“Volvos, they’re boxy, but they’re good”
“Metamucil, it helps you go to the toilet, if you don’t use it you get cancer and die”
“Come to New York, there were less murders here last year…”

:wink:

11

I have no problem at all spending $275 for a mattress IF it’s good quality, let’s me sleep well, and will last. If you assume 10 years, that’s only $27.50 a year, for something I use a lot. For myself, I’d not buy a Salvation Army mattress. There seems to be to good of a chance that I’ll be rolling to the inside of the mattress in fairly short order.

Now $250 for any shoe makes me cry.

12

I spent $1000 on mine, on sale. D’you think I should check inside for hidden gold bricks? :slight_smile:

13

I figure my great-grandmother lived to 102 without any of this crap, so why do I need it OR ELSE?

14

And did those feet
In ancient times
Walk upon England’s mountains green…

15

There’s a lot of smugness in this thread but if you’ve seen a lot of elderly feet (and working in a hospital, I have) there are a LOT of old people, especially old women, with really deformed looking toes thanks to uncomfortable but stylish shoes of ages past.

The most popular seems to be middle toe pushed over the big toe and unable to move.

My cheap solution is to try to go barefoot as often as possible.

16

If you kneel in MBT shoes, you can break them. I tend to stay away from expensive shoes that I can easily damage, because I’m an absent-minded klutz.

17

I’m sorry, sir, it’s like you are trying to speak to me, but the message makes no sense.

/$120 top price I’ve paid for shoes. Dansko’s. Love 'em.
//The mattress is a left over from a local store closing down. It has a big name manufacturer on it ( not one the Big Ones, but I’ve heard of them.) and it was a devil of a time to get the plastic off.
///Slashy goodness!

18

Absolutely. That’s why I mentioned that my shoes have to be comfortable first and foremost. It’s just the claim to “Absolute Quality” that bugs me.

Usually, I will buy a couple of (pillows, shoes or mattresses - with all of these, fit is vital) and try them on for a while. If they don’t feel right, I donate them to the Salvation Army. If I end up paying as much for all my tries, as I would have for one expensive item, so be it.
But the way I see it, I just have more chance of finding the Perfect Shoe or The Ultimate Pillow if I buy five, try them all and keep the best. The alternative is to buy one expensive one, and try to convince myself in vain I’ve got the best on the market.