My Sleep Number SleepIQ Experience

There's nothing that I love more than a good nap, except for maybe full sleepy time.  When I'm tired, I'm tired and I feel no guilt about sleeping for as long as I need or want to (mostly on the weekends, since, you know, jobs and the real world interfere during the week).  When I found out that Smiley360 was hosting a program with Sleep Number SleepIQ, I signed up right away, since this was clearly relevant to my interests!

The main part of my Smiley360 mission was to visit a Sleep Number store and try out the SleepIQ system.  I was really excited to learn more about the technology and to relax on one of their comfy beds, but my experience was much less positive than I was expecting.

Photo courtesy of Sleep Number

First, the only Sleep Number store near me is a 30 minute drive away.  I didn't mind making the trek, because the mall it's in also has a few other stores I wanted to hit up.  My boyfriend and I made the trip this past weekend, and I printed out my Smiley360 materials to share with the Sleep Number associate so they would have more information about my mission.

When I got to the store all of the associates were occupied.  One of them did walk past my boyfriend and I and said hi, but that was the only interaction we got.  I could tell that they were obviously busy, so I didn't mind waiting.  I did start to mind when every other associate looked at us but chose not to acknowledge us otherwise.  A simple, "Hi, thanks for coming in, someone will be with you shortly" would have been fine.  Or even something like, "It's going to be a 20 minute wait before someone can assist you."  But instead, nothing.  I felt so embarrassed.  It wasn't even that they were busy, what got to me was that they all saw us there but didn't help us.  I've never felt that way in a store before.  Part of me thinks it's because they saw us, a young couple, and figured we weren't actually going to purchase anything, so we weren't worth their time, but I can't say that with any certainty, but it's definitely how their actions made me feel.

Since it seemed like no one was going to help us, I decided to try out one of the mattresses by myself.  I couldn't really do much except lie down on it, and it was super comfortable, but without an associate's help I really didn't learn anything about the product.  I also checked out the pillow section because I had gone in with the idea to maybe buy one, but at that point I had zero interest in giving them my business.

Photo courtesy of Sleep Number

I left the store disappointed and without any information about SleepIQ.  At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to complete the Smiley360 mission, but the point of the mission is to report on your experience in the store, which is exactly what I'm doing here.  I may return to the store at another date before the mission ends in December, but since it is a little bit of a drive I won't be hurrying back.  I also didn't think to take any of my own photos for this post because I felt so awkward inside of the store.

I'm willing to give Sleep Number another chance, and they did reach out to me on Twitter and apologized for the service I received.  I really appreciate that, and it makes me feel better that at least someone was listening.  Maybe the associates were just having a bad day that day that I went, but I've worked in a few customer service jobs and the first thing I learned at all of them was to always greet the customers so that they feel welcomed.

What I can tell you about SleepIQ (which I gathered from their website) is that it's a new Sleep Number bed that has sensors inside of it that track your sleep habits.  All you have to do is sleep--the technology records all of the information (total time spent in bed and breakdown of sleep quality) so that you can make adjustments to your routine as necessary.  I think this is a really interesting idea and hopefully if I return to the store I can learn more!

• You can learn more about Smiley360 and my mission by clicking here

Bottom Line: I had a bad first experience with the Sleep Number store, but overall I think the SleepIQ technology is really great.  Having the information tracked and in front of you can point out detrimental sleep habits, or reinforce good ones.  I certainly would like to learn more and hopefully I will get the chance to.

*Disclaimer: This post was powered by Smiley360. Mission included the possibility of receiving a Sleep Number® CoolFit™ Foam Contour Pillow.