A Mattress That Fell Flat on Comfort and Quality

We invested in a fancy new mattress and bed set, but what we got was a recipe for disaster – and some seriously uncomfortable nights' sleep.

We fell head over heels for the Verda bed from Ormatex at the Ormatex store in Omsk. It looked stunning, no debate there. The sales manager at the Continent Mall helped us pick out the mattress, raving about how great it was. We paid a whopping 297,000 rubles for the whole set – it was pricey, but we were willing to shell out for quality and a good night's sleep.

We placed our order and waited about three weeks – what felt like an eternity. Finally, we had a decent place to sleep, but that's where the good news ended.

First off, the mattress was ridiculously hard, and my lower back started aching something fierce. My entire body felt like it was on fire, like I'd just run a marathon. The real kicker, though, was the horrific, pungent chemical smell that just got worse with each passing day. I'm talking a smell so bad it'll make your eyes water – it was like someone had poured a bottle of cheap cologne all over the room.

The smell from this entire 'sleeping system' was unbearable. I work from home, so I'm stuck here all day, breathing in that toxic air. I developed an allergy and started feeling sick from all the fumes. I'd get these crazy headaches, a non-stop cough, and my nose was so congested I couldn't breathe. The smell would get even worse when it was sunny outside and the room temperature went up – it was like someone was screaming in my ears. By the sixth day of being trapped with this supposedly amazing mattress and bed, I was coughing so hard I thought I was going to pass out, my head was foggy, and I had this excruciating headache. I managed to make it through the night by stepping outside for some fresh air. As soon as I'd come back in, the smell would hit me again. Our belongings were even starting to smell like this stuff – it was like our whole apartment was a toxic waste dump. We'd open all the windows all day, but the smell wouldn't go away. If it was freezing outside, what would we do? We're forced to close off the room and now live in two out of three rooms in our apartment.

After reading reviews, we found out that many customers had the same problem. The manufacturer cleverly included a clause in the contract saying that the smell would dissipate within 14 days – yeah, right. So, breathing in all those fumes from the glue, formaldehyde, or whatever toxic crap they use to make their products is perfectly fine? That's not safe for your health, if you ask me.