B-Rant

- submitted by Linda Keenan on 01/15/2008

Thread Count Chicanery?! Suck It, Bed Bath & Beyond!

-An Open Letter-

Contributing Writer: Linda Keenan

Dear Bed Bath & Beyond:

I have receipt of your e-mail dated Monday January 14, 2008, detailing my rights as a member of a class in a lawsuit surrounding the beloved sheets that have swathed my family for several years.* To quote:

"This lawsuit alleges that Bed Bath & Beyond, as well as Synergy, Inc., misrepresented the thread count in its two-ply bedding products sold in stores ... by stating the number of threads in the warp and filling directions in one square inch of fabric, rather than the number of yarns. [The companies] deny any wrongdoing...."

Despite those claims of wrongdoing, your company is offering me a highly insulting settlement to what I feel is an utter travesty. I quote again:

"...the parties have agreed to a settlement under which you may be entitled to receive: (a) a refund of the purchase price of the bed products; or (b) a $10.00 gift card...; or (c) a 20% discount certificate off any ... purchase up to $250.00."

Well, you can bet this Mom will not be accepting your paltry "settlement." I want someone to understand the agony that you have put my family through. By my calculations, my husband and I have spent nearly 700,000 minutes in sheets I thought were up to the high standards I set for my family's care and comfort. I have rolled in them, lolled around in them, nursed my precious child in them, balled them up as a blotter for my overflowing toilet when I didn't know what else to do. They are part of the fabric of my life, if you will, fabric that has now disintegrated with word of these allegations.

I remember very clearly rubbing that sample in the store to my face, and thinking "this is what the good life is, 600 thread-count sheets. This is living the dream." Now to think that my friends will know that I might not have had the thread-count for my sheets I've been subtly bragging about for years!

But truly the worst injustice is that I will now have to tell my son that the sheet he adopted from our bed, that he now calls "Cool Blankie", will have to be wrested from his tiny grasp. He never sleeps without it. I would consider letting him keep Cool Blankie, but I can't take that kind of risk, not with my son's thread count. Consider me "opting out" of your settlement. You'll see me May 28th, 2008 at the final settlement hearing. I'll be wrapped in Cool Blankie.

Thank you for your attention.

Linda Keenan

*[Editor's Note: You can check out a summary of the lawsuit and settlement elements on the official and appropriately named, "Bed Bath & Beyond Thread Count Settlement" website: http://www.bbbthreadcountsettlement.com/] ...read more rants

• Get it off your chest

it's a conspiracy!

- submitted by kathleen on 01/15/2008

My god, a thread count conspiracy -- who would have thought???? kind of makes me think the thread count thing is probably like the dial in Spinal Tap that goes up to 11 to be louder.

not-so-cool blankie

- submitted by gb from mayberry on 01/15/2008

What is the thread-count threshold for coolness, anyway?

Thank God you paid by credit

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/15/2008

Thank God you paid by credit card or you'd have been duped for life. Persish the thought !

Thank God you paid by credit

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/15/2008

Thank God you paid by credit card or you'd have been duped for life. Persish the thought !

Those b@st@rds!!

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/15/2008

No one should have to suffer the slings and arrows of bedding gone bad!!

Bed Bath should offer to all

- submitted by Gregg on 01/15/2008

Bed Bath should offer to all its violated customers nothing less than a lifetime supply of soap dishes!

How do we know this outrage

- submitted by AnonymousMaybe on 01/15/2008

How do we know this outrage didn't extend to towels and rugs & those bamboo hamper things they put all over the store? I'm worried and I'm gonna contact my home decorateor lawyer immediately.

Not such a big joke..

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/16/2008

OK, so everyone had a chuckle over this seemingly absurd law suit. Well, is it really absurd? Bed Bath and Beyond as well as all the other retail stores that carry linens, market sheets based on thread count. The higher the thread count, the higher the price, generally. A few other factors go into the equasion such as long staple cotton and twist of the yarn, but thread count is the "bar". Would you accept getting chop meat that states 95%lean when actually you are getting 80%, or pay for a silk blouse when you are getting nylon? The thing is, our American companies are contracting for the manufacturer and production of sheets to overseas third world countries with virtually no quality control, why?, because it's cheaper. The American consumer is paying for this crap and no one is held accountable. I find BB&B totally arrogant in their offer of settlement. They should be ordered to examine their products, label them correctly, and fined for misrepresenting their merchandise. It's time to stop puting blame on the "Made-in" countries and go after the retailers that don't bother to check the merchandise they buy. Look at all the toys recently imported from China with all the lead content! Maybe, Americans will realize that American goods and keeping Americans working is the future of America,... before it's too late!

Not such a big joke..

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/16/2008

What an idiot

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/16/2008

What an idiot and selfish person this person must be. I can not imagine trying to even count a "thread count". This is just one more idiot we have trying to get a big settlement....no wonder the world it like it is today. I think there are far more things to worry about that how many threads are in your sheets.. I highly doubt a child really cares. Talk about selfish taking away something from a child to justify a lawsuit, when nothing was harming the child. If she is so high and mighty - why in the world would she offer hand me down sheets to her son.... again ... what an idiot... and these people vote!!!

lawsuit is Reasonable

- submitted by IsupportTheLawsuit on 01/16/2008

Would BB & B, accept $500 for a $600 merchandise?

The store is obligated to market truthfully. It is a consumer fraud. THey should pay.

hi there commenters! this is

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/16/2008

hi there commenters! this is linda - the writer of this piece. keep in mind - i am being completely sarcastic. i dont really care about the thread count. BUT i will say the true irony here is that i LOVED THESE SHEETS. my husband even said, arent those the sheets you were obsessed with? YES! they are AMAZING. i had never spent more than 20 bucks on sheets and these were more than that and i loved them. and now to find out there might be a sham thread count?! it's pretty funny. my son does call this cold blankie or cool blankie and i would never take it from him. in fact, ill probably keep these deadly sheets forever!

hello linda, nice piece. i

- submitted by Relieved on 01/16/2008

hello linda, nice piece. i was concerned you might take the blankie from your son which would've forced many of us to call in child services. it's one thing to expose your kid to the horrors of low thread but quite another to remove from him a valued blankie, however egregiously low its count....LOL

hey linda

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/16/2008

well, i'm glad you chimed in because i was beginning to think that people are too serious -- of course you were kidding!! geeez....if there's any nutjob here it's the person who filed the lawsuit in the first place. and how did she ever figure out she'd been duped, anyway? i still agonize over sheet purchases never sure if higher thread count is better or it's just a big hoax.

it's linda again

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/16/2008

you know, i was thinking of trying to find this woman. i was thinking the same thing: who has figured out that they should sue over this? now, i agree companies should be responsible for selling appropriately advertised products, but, well, when you read the lawsuit it just sounds like a one page argument against our overly litigous legal system. and im not even a conservative trial lawyer hater!

People sometimes take things

- submitted by Kelly on 01/16/2008

People sometimes take things too literally. Thjjis was lots of laughs. Who has the time to investigate sheet thread count. Of course they were wsrong, maybe sleazy, but in the end life is short, enjoy the illusion of having the best if it really feels just as good.

I once got a mailing about

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/20/2008

I once got a mailing about joining a class action again refraction degree in coffee cups. I can relate to this. Somehow we; all need to find more perspective inn life

call the bluff - but who wins?

- submitted by Anonymous on 01/26/2008

So many items are not as represented - they are overpromoted and underdelivered - and it is up to the consumer (the government rarely steps in unless poison or personal danger is involved) to investigate report and sue nowadays. The FTC and other agencies have been stripped of ability to enforce or investigate it seems, and the greedy are in charge at the corporations and do not care that the quality of US production is now replaced by a sham of imported cheapest bidder gets the job - no matter if it is what they are supposed to be getting. It has been getting worse for years, and started a long time ago. (Quality control seems to be the first employees laid off) I do not make fun of those who try to make companies deliver on their promises, as who wants to order a box of lead and find toys delivered by mistake? ;>) - or worse yet, exactly what you ordered and paid for, and get caught doing so later by a knowledgeable consumer. Makes for Great stories for TV shows, too.

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I agree it is wrong to false

- submitted by Anonymous on 09/17/2009

I agree it is wrong to false advertise, but COME ON! Seriously! How lame of a life do you have to have to throw a lawsuit over sheets!? Really? Is it that big of a deal? I highly doubt you went through "agony" or spent 1166 hours agonizing in your poor quality sheets. And I bet your friends already think you are a pompous ass by bragging about your sheets in the first place. Who does that? I think you need to get a hold of yourself and get a life!

Just putting this out there:

- submitted by Anonymous on 09/17/2009

Just putting this out there:

Thread count is the LAST qualifying factor in sheets. The first factor is the material: Cotton -egyptian -supima -pima -organic -blend

THEN, it's the manufacturing technique:

Pinpoint Sateen Porcal

THEN, it's the thread count. If your thread count is above 250 then you have great sheets. IF your thread count is above 400, then your sheets are going to be very thick, stiff, and uncomfortable. They won't breathe at all even with Egyptian cotton!

The only thing thread count has to do with the quality of sheets is the thickness and how resistant the sheets are to pilling. Don't know what that means? It's when the fabric balls up after about 100 washes. So really, if you want good sheets look for:

100% Egyptian Cotton, Sateen (feels luxuriously soft) thread count= insignificant!