Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

So here's the deal, one mattress does not fit all. Despite what every "bed-in-a-box" company would like you to think. Sorry, body shapes are just a bit too varying for it to work like that. That said, I bought into the hype and advertising of Leesa long before I bought the bed. I waited anxiously almost a whole year after deciding it was the bed for me to finally get my tax return and buy this "dream" bed. I read every review I could find on the internet (turns out honest mattress reviews are hard to find when reviewers are majorly reimbursed for speaking positively on a certain brand). Everything I read led me to believe that Leesa was the bed in a box that was most MIDDLE OF THE ROAD in Goldilocks terms. Not too soft they said. Not too firm either. A 6 on the firmness scale in a world where NO memory foam mattress seems to rank below a 5 and all the other bed-in-a-boxes ranked in the 7-9 range. I wanted something cozy yet supportive. When my bed came I unrolled it with glee waiting as it magically poofed up before me. Yes, it made my room stink for a day or so, but I felt product smell was less important than an amazing night's sleep. That said, I was VERY aware that new beds take an amount of getting used to. I decided immediately to give the bed the full 30 days allowed via Amazon to try it out. The first few nights were rough. I figured it was a matter of deciding which of my varying pillows would work best with my new mattress. After a week the bed was still so firm I could feel my lower back arching while I lay flat on it and my neck was constantly sore from misalignment due to my shoulder not sinking deeply enough into the mattress and hitting pressure points. I'm a back and side sleeper, a troublesome pairing apparently. When on my back I felt like I was lying on cardboard when on my side my hip and shoulder throbbed from the pressure points not having any cushioning. I even added my 1-inch memory foam topper back and my pillowtop mattress cover and still felt like I was sleeping on top of a coffin. I'm an average-sized woman, 180 pounds and 5'7''. I'm curvy in that much of my weight falls on my hips, making side sleeping that much more troublesome, but this is why I chose what was supposed to be the "softer" memory foam mattress on the market. I'd like to say the mattress softened or my body adjusted, but instead I started a countdown to when I'd get to day 29 because then I could say I truly hated this bed and allow myself to return it. Which is exactly what I did. I put in for a return via Amazon. They gave me no real instructions except that UPS would come pick it up on the next business day. I called UPS to give them a heads up it was a heavy mattress with no box and to arrange the day I was available to be home for pickup. When the UPS guy came I was elated...and then deflated. He wouldn't take it. Unless it was rolled back up somehow. I live in LA, there was no room for that big old box to hang out in my home for 30 days. Nor could this single gal even imagine what it would take to roll this huge mattress up by herself. I immediately called Amazon and they were wonderful. I was offered a full refund and to simply keep the bed. (I cannot guarantee others will have this same experience, I'm a long-time Prime member). I had planned to use my refund to buy a new bed but now that I had a free $800 mattress in my house I decided to explore options. I went out and bought a $300 mattress topper that was 3 inches of much much softer memory foam. I also bought a new pillow made specifically for back and side sleepers. My new bed concoction is a behemoth at 13 inches tall but, man, do I sink into it in a lovely way that cradles my lower back. Pressure points are all gone. I'm still adjusting to the pillow but all signs lead to amazing future sleep and decent sleep at the moment. I had gone from a spring mattress previously so I'm willing to say my transition was just extra harsh. I'm willing to say I'm a Princess and the Pea type and my body is special and needs coddling. I'm willing to say I got a defective Leesa and they aren't all like this (mine never really got above 9 inches...). But please just be aware you may be taking more of a gamble than you realize in buying this bed. You don't know how hard "MEDIUM FIRM" is until you start comparing your bed to a granite slab to others.