Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

i've had experiences with a leggett and platt (l&p) adjustable base (brookwood from costco) that costs literally 3x more than this bed. here are the key features we found in shopping and using adjustable bases: 1. cost: L&P is 3 times more expensive than this--amazon's classic brands bed 2. elevation of head: works perfectly--equal to l&p. i think the bend point for the classic brands is about 30 inches--the l&p is about 27 inches. to us, i thought it might make a difference to move the pivot point on my back--but really, it didn't. i would say the classic brands motor is slightly quieter and much faster. 3. foot elevation: equal on both beds. both also have the metal bottom supports to hold the mattress in. once again, the motor is quieter and faster than the L&P. 4. fit and finish--this is where the lower cost of the classic brands really shows up. the more expensive L&P is slightly better all around--everything fits and assembles easily with the L&P. for this classic brands, though, it looks fine from the top and exterior (which is what we would see when the bed is assembled). but underneath you can see a few loose threads. also, a lot of the parts fit--but not without some effort. for example, more than a few reviewers mention how the four corner legs may not screw in easily--for me one of them took some forcing. i think it was due to a little pain being in the threads of one of the legs or the hole. more importantly, two prongs that hold the head motor (that elevates the upper half of the bed) didn't fit easily. i talk about this in more detail at the end, but this was the biggest detraction of the lower priced classic brands bed. 5. customer service: haven't had to call L&P yet, which may be a sign of great customer service. but i have no complaints with the responsiveness of classic brands so far. even though there is no number to talk to a human... (i've called their service number, pressed whatever number for tech support, and it just loops you back to the main message--so if you need to talk to someone, this bed is not for you). but for me, all the customer service i get is via email--and their attitude is excellent and responsive. also, i found this video really helpful for installation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Dc9X98Cjg (or search for "Adjustable Comfort Adjustable Bed Assembly Instructions" by "classic brands." frankly--the attached instructions for this classic brands bed were far more clear and easy to understand than the L&P instructions, which is actually just misleading if not plainly wrong. 6. the classic brands remote control--it is quite nice. powerful, very rectangular, and clear which way is top (where the illuminated and helpful screen is). here are the things that we wondered about while we were purchasing but turned out to be less important in using the beds 7. this classic brands adjustable base does NOT have wall hugger. for us, this really is a trivial thing. wall hugger may be worth $100 more to me. but it does add a complicated motion to the movement of the beds. i tend to prefer simple as that means less service in fixing a mechanism one day. 8. the massage mechanism is quieter than the l&p--equally effective, but we don't use this feature at all other than to fake annoy each other on quiet sundays. we have neighbors downstairs, and at least the classic brands won't be waking any neighbors up. 9. usb plugs, underlights, other little bells and whistles--does not matter to us one bit. for usb charging, we use far faster chargers we bought on amazon--maybe next time, the bed companies will let us attach our own phone chargers somehow with an outlet plug. 10. also the L&P has velcro strips to help hold the bed in place. in effect, they add more crinkly noise as the bed goes up and down. so the classic brands is slightly a winner here. for the price, classic brands is a great value. totally worth it. the delivery from amazon was great--the fellows were very nice. if i had to do this all over again--even in both beds were the same price, i'd have bought the classic brands bed. but the fact that L&P is 3 times more expensive... it is a no brainer. i can literally buy 2-3 of these beds before hitting the same retail price of most other offerings. i'd say my one caveat was in putting together the bed. most of it was really easy, except for attaching the head motor to the bed. one of the prongs that holds the head motor (the one closer to the middle of the bed) was a bit too tight. the motor arm could fit halfway into the prongs but no further, making the cotter pin unusable. yes, i did try wd40, prying, and heating the iron and bending it. so to use it, i had to consider removing the plastic covering (which probably has a purpose in protecting the head motor. i will say jim at the email offered to send me a replacement upper half of the bed--so the response was instant and generous. (that would have been very heavy for him to ship out to me).