On the other hand, I think there is a hefty amount of consumer paranoia. Assuming (yeah, I know) that the store appeared reputable and had been around for awhile, you probably got a decent bed at a reasonable price. Maybe a little too good to be true, maybe not.
If you ever wish to take advantage of the guarentee, you are probably sunk. But if you just use the bed for it’s intended purpose and it seems OK, well, what does it matter if the store went out of business or not.
It seems to me that it’s more likely that the store intended to be around for awhile and went out of business abruptly than a deliberate scam, but . . . why would you assume that I know what’s more likely to happen?
Is it the sort of bed that is likely to go wrong? - i.e. one with many moving parts, diesel engines, rotating knives and built-in musical instruments, or is it just a plain pine bed?
Either way, it sounds like they knew the store was going to close and that you were conned out of your guarantee, maybe as a way for an ailing company to mitigate future costs. Is Snooze City part of a chain? If so, you could contact their head office and complain.
Honestly, what could possibly go wrong with a bed? It lies there. You lie there. If you haven’t fallen through the middle yet, you’re gold.
I bought a cheapo foam-type mattress when I was in university. Thing’s still around a good while after and is fine and cost me a whole hundred-and-a-bit bucks.
The only thing that could possibly happen is that it might wear out in ten years instead of twenty. Which still gives you a real low cost per use amount.
If you like the bed, then you’re fine. Unless you are putting it under an undue amount of stress, which doesn’t seem to be the case, you should be able to enjoy it for many years.
But the firm wouldn’t give me the guarantee papers, saying that it was “store policy to keep them”.
For future reference, the proper response here is to say “It’s my policy not to buy from you if you’re going to withhold those papers. The sale is cancelled.”
Quite so. A sales guy in an electrical store tried to forcibly sell my sister an extended warranty on a washing machine, arguing that it was ‘store policy’ she had to have it. She was having none of this, so he tried arguing that she would need it on account of washing machines not really being built to last nowadays. Amazing.
Weren’t you suspicious when the store wouldn’t give you the papers? This normally means that the bed was part of a crime scene or was held as evidence. It might be perfectly fine, but I’d bleach any unusual stains if I were you.