A woman is outraged after finding mold in her Sleep Number bed and not getting the response she expected from the company. Here’s what happened.
TikTok creator Shannon (@bigsisterer) posted a video about her experience, asking for help tagging Sleep Number in the comments section. The video starts with a view of her couch.
“We are in fact sleeping on our couch,” she says. “Ask me why—because we don’t have a husband to be fighting with. It is because of that: a Sleep Number bed. When I moved recently, I discovered something while re-setting up my bed.”
The video cuts to a view of Shannon’s mattress. “From the naked eye, everything looks perfect,” she says. “There is not a single stain on the mattress itself. This was a really big selling feature for me, because it’s really cool how you can take apart the bed.”
Shannon starts taking the bed apart. “Beneath that top layer is your foam piece,” she says. “Again, looks perfectly normal. You lift the foam. Gasp. Oh my god. I believe that’s mold.”
That led Shannon to Google mold in Sleep Number beds, and she says she read about a 2005 lawsuit regarding mold in a Sleep Number bed. Select Comfort acknowledged an issue with mold around this time and its connection to respiratory issues in owners but said it had implemented an antimicrobial foam to prevent such issues going forward.
“How does a mattress grow mold?” she asks. “Sleep Number essentially is just a glorified air mattress. You get two separate air chambers that are connected to a hose.”
She continues, “Concept? Very cool, which is probably why they were probably so egregiously overpriced when I bought it back in 2012. The problem is the hoses can leak air. When air leaks, it causes moisture. When that moisture has nowhere to go, it causes mold. Mold of which I have been sleeping on for god only knows how long.”
In addition to the black discoloration on her mattress, Shannon shows viewers a white substance dotting the inside of the air hoses. According to Sleep Number, this is not related to mold.
“While it can look concerning at first, this material is most often a manufacturing residue, such as a plasticizer, resin, or talc,” the company’s website states. “Returned products with this material have been carefully tested, and results confirmed it was not mold. Sleep Number mattresses are made with materials designed to resist mold and microbial growth and meet ASTM G21 standards.”
To put it mildly, Shannon did not appreciate her interaction with Sleep Number. “When I called Sleep Number to tell them about this situation and ask what their solution is,” she says, “number one, I got told I was a liar and it’s not possible for my bed to have mold in it because it’s after 2005.”
Shannon says she declined an offer for a replacement foam at a $575 price tag. “It doesn’t fix the problem that my bed has been leaking air, which is causing moisture, which is creating mold,” she says. “Replacing the foam is not going to fix the problem.”
Instead, Shannon says she decided to get a completely new bed. “I told Reyna—that was the girl’s name that I spoke to—that she can keep her $600 piece of foam and that I’m going to be going bed shopping this week,” she says. “Which I did, and I bought a new bed. So basically, now Sleep Number, you’ve got two solutions: You can reimburse me for the bed that I just bought, and I will take this video down, but it’s going to be about the equivalent of about $6,000. I had to replace everything.”
She concludes the video by saying Sleep Number should do more to address the issue. “This is not OK,” she says. “Are people’s children sleeping on a Sleep Number bed, and this is happening to their bed? Are people’s elderly parents or grandparents sleeping on beds like this? Not cool, Sleep Number, not cool. Stand behind your product; stand behind your brand; do the right thing.”
In the comments section of the video, several viewers said they’ve experienced similar issues with their Sleep Number beds.
“I had a Sleep Number and had the same issue,” said one person. “Plus, I hated the air mattress.”
“I just saw your video and went and checked my Sleep Number bed,” a second person wrote, accompanied by a photo of their own mattress with black dots. “This is what’s right underneath my head every night I sleep. I’ve had chronic chest, congestion and sinus congestion for years.”
A third person wrote, “As a mattress salesperson, I sell new beds to people all the time that had a sleep number and had problems with breakage/mold/comfortability.”
However, one person wrote, “Just checked my 12-year-old Sleep Number and it’s 100% mold free.”
AllHipHop contacted Shannon via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also contacted Sleep Number via press email for comment. We will update this story if either party responds.
@bigsisterera <UPDATE: I will not be taking this video down. I misspoke thinking I’d just get their attention, but now that I’m seeing SO MANY others with this problem — Customers have a right to know what they’re potentially investing thousands of dollars in.> I never thought I’d be making this post, but after discovering mold growing inside my Sleep Number bed, and then not doing anything about it, I’m honestly disgusted, incredibly disappointed, and sharing this experience. After investing in what I believed was a premium product made to last for 15 years, I’ve now had to replace my mattress entirely and sleep on the couch in the meantime. The resolution offered? A replacement foam piece… for $575 out of pocket. As a customer, I expected better support and accountability for a “luxury” product issue of this magnitude. If you’re considering (or someone you know is) purchasing a Sleep Number bed, please watch this & do your research and inspect carefully. I’m sharing my experience in hopes it helps someone else avoid the same situation. @Sleep Number — I would welcome the opportunity for you to make this right. Standing behind your product and your customers matters. #sleepnumberbed #customerreview #mattress #homeessentials #productreview ♬ original sound – Shannon
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