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(KMSP) - Better Business Bureau lowered its rating of MyPillow to an F after reviewing several complaints and advertising challenges associated with the company.
The bureau’s board of directors revoked MyPillow’s BBB Accreditation back in December and cited issues with the company’s “buy one get one free” policy.
Better Business Bureau’s Code of Advertising on free, discount or BOGO offers (as is the Federal Trade Commission’s rule) states that “the offers need to be extended for a limited time or it becomes a continuous offer and therefore the normal price of the product – not a sale price or free offer.”
In the case of MyPillow, however, anyone can get the BOGO discount codes and if a prospective customer calls the company without one, they can still get the BOGO deal.
The bureau also stated that the “As Seen on TV” claims on the boxes are not the same as those made on the company’s TV ads.
Also, BBB cited the company’s claims of offering a “full warranty,” saying that the warranty was not full because customers need to pay a fee to return the pillow.
When BBB formally issued the advertising challenge in August of 2016, Mike Lindell, the owner of MyPillow, stated he would not be able to stop the company's BOGO offer at the time, but would look at making changes in 2017.
According to the release, when pressed on what type of changes the company would make, Lindell was non-specific.
In a statement released Monday, Lindell said he was "terribly disappointed" by the BBB's decision.
"MyPillow was built on our dedication to our customers' satisfaction," Lindell said in the statement. "We run sales and specials for our customers, so that we can give as many people as possible the chance to have a great night’s sleep."
Statement from MyPillow CEO
"MyPillow was built on our dedication to our customers' satisfaction. We run sales and specials for our customers, so that we can give as many people as possible the chance to have a great night’s sleep. Naturally, I am terribly disappointed by the BBB's decision.
When I started MyPillow more than 11 years ago, I handled each and every customer call personally. To this day, I train all of our customer service representatives with one thing in mind, we take care of our customers because we owe them our success. We have sold more than 25 million MyPillows, but we will continue to treat each and every customer like they are our only one.
From myself and our 1,500 employees, we want to thank our loyal customers."