# Soo.. what would you do with an extra mattress...



## WillK (May 16, 2012)

This really has nothing to do with a relationship, aside from the fact that I have an extra mattress as a result of my wife having bought furniture that she was going to use in the apartment she was going to, and now that she's not moving out and we've gotten back together, we're returning extra stuff to recoup money.

This was a Wal-Mart full-sized mattress, we otherwise have a sleep number bed in queen size so we don't exactly have any use or place to keep this mattress.

The problem is that on one corner, while this mattress was in our house, our dog peed on it.

So, if it wasn't a big deal to do without the money, I'd kind of be too embarassed about trying to return a soiled mattress. Being that the money would kind of come in handy, I looked and don't see anything in the Wal-Mart return policy about open mattress purchases not being returnable..

I guess there's other options like listing it on craigslist below retail, like $50.. 

I sprayed it with cleaner right away but there's a yellow stain.

Lemme know.


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## babyowlsrcute (May 12, 2012)

Craigslist would be the easiest, start higher and let someone negotiate down.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Shiksa (Mar 2, 2012)

Salvation Army, take the charitable donation deduction.


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## WillK (May 16, 2012)

Shiksa said:


> Salvation Army, take the charitable donation deduction.


On that subject... I'm not opposed at all to charitable donations, but the deduction won't do us any good financially because ever since we got out of having goofy high amounts of mortgage interest to deduct, we've found we're nowhere close to having enough deductions to be as much as the standard deduction.


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## ChelseaBlue (Mar 5, 2012)

WillK said:


> The problem is that on one corner, while this mattress was in our house, our dog peed on it.


This is your loss. Be a man and suck it up. Do not return it, do not try to pass it off to someone else.

Next time make sure your dog is house trained.


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## Peachy Cat (Apr 15, 2012)

I agree with CB.

Give it to someone that needs it; they can put a cover over it. But don't try to get your money back, what's done is done.


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## YinPrincess (Jul 31, 2011)

At least pee is sterile! :lol:

I would go the Craigslist route - be honest, high-ball and someone out there can use the "clean" side... Wouldn't be a biggie for me, honestly.

Then again, I have an extra mattress just for my doggies.  They are so spoiled! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

Get some Nature's Miracle from the pet supply store and soak the pee'd spot. It's an emzine that consumes the biological material. I can take out the yellow spot as well.

If you sell it or give it away, be honest to the person about the dog pee. Someone will take the mattress. You are going to lose your money on this.


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## ChelseaBlue (Mar 5, 2012)

YinPrincess said:


> At least pee is sterile! :lol:


According to a quick internet search, urine is sterile as it leaves the body but soon accumulates bacteria from surrounding sources. Also, the longer it is exposed to air the stronger the ammonia odor becomes. No thanks!


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## waiwera (Sep 8, 2009)

Yuck... even if it's cleaned up i wouldn't pay anything for a mattress that a dog had peed on.


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## WillK (May 16, 2012)

ChelseaBlue said:


> This is your loss. Be a man and suck it up. Do not return it, do not try to pass it off to someone else.
> 
> Next time make sure your dog is house trained.


As far as disposal of the mattress, as I said that'd be the first thing I'd consider if it wasn't something that had gotten no use and was bought for $150 at a financially difficult time. At this point we are having to come up with 2 months rent for the apartment where the lease started 3 days before we cancelled.

In terms of your advice regarding house training, I want to point out it comes across a little insensitive as if you're saying that the dog must not be housetrained or should be traded in because it's defective. I dunno, maybe you don't own a pet or have a child. Cats dogs and children pee on things. It happens. Litter training, house training and potty training don't stop everything.


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## ChelseaBlue (Mar 5, 2012)

WillK said:


> As far as disposal of the mattress, as I said that'd be the first thing I'd consider if it wasn't something that had gotten no use and was bought for $150 at a financially difficult time. At this point we are having to come up with 2 months rent for the apartment where the lease started 3 days before we cancelled.
> 
> In terms of your advice regarding house training, I want to point out it comes across a little insensitive as if you're saying that the dog must not be housetrained or should be traded in because it's defective. I dunno, maybe you don't own a pet or have a child. Cats dogs and children pee on things. It happens. Litter training, house training and potty training don't stop everything.


You seem to forget that your dog used it as a toilet.

I never said to trade in your dog or that it was defective. I do expect you to be a responsible owner and take ownership when he has a accident.

I think that it is very insensitive for you to try to palm your problem off on someone else.


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## waiwera (Sep 8, 2009)

ChelseaBlue said:


> You seem to forget that your dog used it as a toilet.


:iagree:

This is the reason I wouldn't buy a 2nd hand mattress and I do buy alot of my 'stuff' second hand.
but not some things.. beds, shoes, underwear etc..

OP I sure hope you make it clear to the buyer that it's been peed on..no matter how much you think it's cleaned up.


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## WillK (May 16, 2012)

ChelseaBlue said:


> You seem to forget that your dog used it as a toilet.
> 
> I never said to trade in your dog or that it was defective. I do expect you to be a responsible owner and take ownership when he has a accident.
> 
> I think that it is very insensitive for you to try to palm your problem off on someone else.


Right. I - the person who said from the first post, that my dog peed on the mattress - forgot that my dog peed on the toilet.

You, meanwhile, decided with no information that: 
- my housetrained dog is not housetrained
- I intend to keep secret the fact that a dog has peed on it, in spite of the fact that the only information indicating whether or not I am willing to state that speaks to the contrary
- my female dog is a "he". Technically speaking she's spayed.

Now, one thing I believe is being assumed also is that a mattress returned to Walmart will be resold. I don't know myself, but I know enough to assume that might not be an assumption that can be taken for granted.

What I do know, by way of example, is that state law disallows the resale of returned undergarments. Kohls takes returns anyways. These returns are destroyed. Kohls takes the returns for the customer relations value. Walmart's returns policy with mattresses, which as far as I can tell, doesn't offer any special limitations so my assumption is that if this was returned at Walmart, it probably would be destroyed (regardless of condition)

By the way, my wife (who does volunteering with the Salvation Army, but not in connection with the stores) says they don't take mattress donations.


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## Gaia (Apr 27, 2012)

Well ... we currently have an extra mattress my hubby had since he was 14... it's stained, has holes where springs are popping out of it, and the bottom box mattress that goes beneath is broke so the top one tends to sink in at odd places... what were doing with this one? Right now... were keeping it as a spare so whenever the kids wander into our room... they can crash out on a bed aside from mommy and daddys... eventually we plan on throwing it away though lol.


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## Gaia (Apr 27, 2012)

WillK said:


> - my female dog is a "he". Technically speaking she's spayed.


A female is still a female even if fixed... so technically she's still a she.. the only visible difference can be seen with a male and thats just because his balls get chopped off.


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## Gaia (Apr 27, 2012)

If i were you.. I would just give it away to someone who may need it... you could ask neighboors.. ooooorrr just trash the dang thing.


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## WillK (May 16, 2012)

Okay. I decided that my original question (before I posted it with CL as an option I was thinking about) was should I try returning it at Walmart. I really don't think I got responses that spoke to that question.

I've had suggestions about donating, which I found out on my own is not an option, and there've been suggestions about giving it or selling cheap to someone that needs it. I like it better than throwing out I guess....

Just a bit of a point nobody has brought up about disposal: I'm no treehugger by any means, but that's landfill space. Just saying.

So getting back to the original question, having not gotten responses that really speak to that point I decided to do my own search on the question and found this:

The Laws for the Resale of Used Mattresses | eHow.com

So chances are, if I return it to Walmart, they probably send it to a facility that disinfects used mattressees and sells them as used mattresses at a discount (as required by law).

So in conclusion, I think I'm inclined to try first returning at Walmart and let them follow their processes as required by law with my gratitude if they accept the return. Otherwise, I'll list it at $50 - priced to sell - with disclosure of . And if it doesn't sell by garbage day, it goes out.


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## Gaia (Apr 27, 2012)

Yes but walmart sometimes tends to give people a hard time when returning an item.. which is probably why it wasn't really suggested. There may be laws that require this or that but places like walmart hardly abide by them if they can help it.


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## WillK (May 16, 2012)

Ya know, as far as getting a hard time - I'm fine with that. This is business not personal. If they give me a hard time but take it, I'm not going to come away feeling offended. If they refuse it, I'm fine with that. If I don't even try but they would've taken it, I'm out $150 for no good reason.

As far as Walmart not following the law, I don't buy it in this case. This mattress came in a compressed state, so if it was sitting next to a bunch of same model mattresses, it'd need to be processed in some manner. The cost difference between processing with disinfecting and processing without disinfecting, I suspect, isn't going to be that much.

I'm just not one of those that buys into the whole Wal-Mart is evil thing and have a general inclination to believe those that do buy into it do so out of suspicion of the company just because of the size of it. Not that I care to debate it or know a great deal about it one way or the other. As I said, it's business


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## Gaia (Apr 27, 2012)

Well I guess i shouldn't say walmart doesn't follow the law.. its more of a staff thing. depending upon where your at i guess.. but hey if you can get 150 then go for it.  I hope it goes well for you.


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