My Experience with ZZZ Atelier Outlet (eBay) Warranty Service

TLDR If you have an uncomfortable ZZZ atelier mattress experience, try contacting them and be prepared for the below, you might have some luck

Thought I would post this as this is a very popular mattress here and about a year ago we jumped in and got a King.
Long post but may be helpful to someone…

They have now agreed to a refund but it was a bit of a process so I thought I'd share it and be interested in any comments from others regarding what they say about slats and sprung mattresses - I've never heard this and not sure what we should replace it with now.

So, less than a year on from buying, we had loads of sag. It would literally feel like we were sleeping in a ditch, while the edges / central part where no one lay were still nice and supportive.
So after giving up on it and sleeping on my kid's floor for a bit due to back pain, I contacted them.

This was the process:

Reply 1:

Based on what you have told us, you have indicated that the mattress may have suffered from pre-matured sagging. In order to help us ascertain if there is any issue with the mattress, can you please provide us a few photos, as below?

1. Place the mattress on the floor and take a photo showing the entire mattress from top
2. Place the mattress on the floor and take a photo showing the entire mattress from side (preferably showing the problematic spot if possible)
3. Place the mattress on the floor and take a photo of indentation measurement of the problematic area
4. Photo showing the bed frame and the slats the mattress is placed on (without the mattress)

Please take photos of the mattress without any mattress protector or bed sheet put on it. For photo 3, to clearly show the indentation it is best to place a straight item (e.g. long ruler) across the entire length of mattress, and using a measurement tape, show the depth of the indentation (please see attached photo). Please only measure the depth to mattress surface and not press into it. Please also do not measure into button/tufted holes. To ensure accurate measurement is taken, please ensure the mattress is placed on hard floor when photo 3 is taken.

I sent the photos but must have put the tape measure too far into the mattress top accidentally

Reply 2:

Thanks for getting back to us and taking the photos. Everything else seems to be in order for us to help you raise a warranty case to Zzz Atelier, apart from photo 3 (the photo of indentation measurement). In the picture, your measurement tape seems to have pressed into fabric top, instead of barely touching it. Zzz Atelier requires that the measurement is taken with the measurement tape only touching the top of fabric and not pressed into it.

We know you have concerns that doing this may result in smaller indentation reading, and that you may feel that it may not fully illustrate the problem with the mattress (weaker support). We like to assure you that this measurement technique and threshold set for the reading has considered all these aspects (hence the requirement for sagging is much smaller than 100mm). Can you please retake photo 3 with your measurement tape simply touching the very top of the fabric instead of pressing into it? Please do not be too worried if the measurement is less than what you thought it could be. In our past experiences dealing with Zzz Atelier warranty service, we know that they are quite customer friendly, and in many cases had applied discretions when readings are close but not strictly meeting sagging definition.

Can you please retake the required photos and we promise to work on this case as soon as we receive the photos and will try our best to acquire a favourable outcome.

So I resent the photo as requested

Reply 3:

Thanks for supplying us the photos.

We have now fully reviewed the photos you have sent us. We can see from your photo that the indentation is measured at approximately 39mm. In this case, Zzz Atelier's warranty service department have concluded that your mattress has suffered from pre-mature sagging issue.

Nevertheless, while they have been able to determine that this is a mattress sagging case, they have pointed out that there is issue with the slat system of your bed base. Based on the photos you have sent, we can see that there is only 15 rows of slats on your bed base. This means that the gap between your slats is most probably wider than 6cm. While such slat system would still hold a mattress without breaking, they leave wide gaps between slats and the springs within your mattress would not be properly supported, resulting in softer than intended mattress, weak support, and in many cases causing pre-mature sagging in your mattress. This is what we referred to as cut corners slat system, sold by too many irresponsible sellers online nowadays in their attempt to cut-cost. A proper slat system should have at least 17 - 18 row of slats. We have also explained this in our bed frame listing. You may see details via the following link:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/143125482662

Most mattress manufacturer consider slat system such as this to have excessive gap and would void the mattress warranty, as it often result in mattress sagging prematurely.

In your case, we have managed to still convince Zzz Atelier warranty service department to not void the warranty of your mattress and continue to offer a new replacement mattress. However, they are adamant that your slat system needs to be fixed before a replacement is provided. Fixing your slat system should not be very difficult or unaffordable. You can purchase a replacement slat system via online market place such as Gumtree.com.au. Alternatively, a simple workaround would be to purchase a flat timber sheet of appropriate size from stores such as Bunnings warehouse to be placed directly on top of your slat system, covering the entire surface of the slat system. This is because the diameter of the pocket springs used in pocket springs mattress such as this is manufactured to 6cm. Using a slat system with wide gap such as this would means that some springs may not be supported on the slat surface, which will result in pre-mature sagging issue such as this. Once you have fixed your slat system on the bed base, kindly please take a photo and send it to us so we can proceed with the warranty claim with the manufacturer, Zzz Atelier, and send you a replacement mattress.

If you find fixing the slats system too troublesome, regretfully the manufacturer, Zzz Atelier will be unable to send you a replacement mattress, but instead they are willing to offer a full refund of $309 to you.

Kindly please let us know how you prefer to proceed with this, so we can try to make the necessary arrangement.

So, professional service and communications from them which is good, but I was surprised by the comments on distance between slats. IN fact ours are only 6.5cm so I'm not sure this is the cause.
Now not sure if we should replace it with a foam mattress or sprung…

TLDR
If you have an uncomfortable ZZZ atelier mattress experience, try contacting them and be prepared for the above, you might have some luck