Good PR: Mattress Firm Maximizes on Mattress Warehouse’s Failure

by Patty Briguglio

The News & Observer’s Triangle Troubleshooter recently assisted a local resident, David Charboneau, in trying to iron out a problem with the Mattress Warehouse store near the Streets of Southpoint. While it was largely a “he said, she said" situation, the point is that the customer said they received a product of lesser value than they ordered and for which they paid. When the Mattress Warehouse management did not take Charboneau’s complaint seriously and refused to put him in touch with higher ups, he took his story to The N&O. This is where the bad PR officially turns into a PR disaster.

From Bad to Worse
Mattress Warehouse could have easily turned this situation around by following the number one rule in customer service, “The customer is always right.” This was their first mistake. However, when The N&O became involved, the store still did not take the opportunity to correct the situation. Instead they continued going back and forth on who said what, even telling the N&O that their decision on whether or not to give Charboneau the more expensive mattress would be impacted by whether or not the newspaper was planning to run the story. The story did run on Aug. 29 and ended stating just that. To date there are 42 online comments on the article furthering the negative conversation for Mattress Warehouse.

Competitor Saves the Day
With readers primed against the competition, it was the perfect opportunity for a competitor with a head for good PR to step in and take advantage. Mattress Firm contacted Triangle Troubleshooter and offered to exchange Charboneau’s mattress for one from their store. Charboneau took them up on the offer and is now enjoying both his new mattress and the resolved situation. Mattress Firm donated the original mattress to a shelter. Not only will Mattress Firm most likely have a customer for life in David Charboneau but probably several others who followed the dispute as The N&O covered it in an update on Sept. 5.

Mattress Warehouse could have easily avoided this negative press by admitting responsibility regardless of what happened and correcting the situation. Allowing the conversation to continue only heightened awareness of the situation and allowed a competitor to step in and save the day. Great job, Mattress Firm!