All Narfed Up photography and words by Bryan Villarin

Up until now, I’ve had two AeroBeds. The first was purchased at a remarkable discount from SmartBargains. That one was leaking air after a few weeks, so I got a replacement from ThinkAero, which brought me to my current AeroBed Premier Classic (Queen size).

Before I get negative, the positive is that Aero Products sent me a brand new bed as a replacement. The process was painless: get an RMA number, cut out the cover valve, mail it to Aero Products so they know it’s destroyed, then they send the other one.

This second one has been perfect since 3/17/2007 until yesterday (4/29/07), which was exactly six weeks. Early yesterday morning, I woke up in sunken to the ground. It was a leak! In an attempt to be optimistic, at least it wasn’t completely deflated.

Andy thinks that 1) I’m too heavy, and 2) it can’t be used daily. So, I went to the AeroBed® Premier Classic FAQ for proof:

• Queen: 78″L X 60″W X 9″H; supports up to 750 lbs.
• You cannot over inflate your AeroBed Premier Classic.
• Your AeroBed Premier Classic is meant to be used as an extra bed, but is durable enough to sleep on every night.
• The AeroBed Premier Classic is made of heavy duty puncture resistant PVC.
• The AeroBed Premier Classic is engineered to support several hundreds of pounds of weight.

In a last attempt to find the leak, I inflated the bed and lifted it so it was standing on its edge. There it was — the leak. It was on the underside of the bed, along the seam of one of the squares, about 3cm long. I tried one of the repair patches, but since the tear was in a recessed part of the square, it didn’t help and the air was escaping through the groove.

Supposedly, I can try sealing it with Amazing Marine Goop — without a repair patch — and it should do the trick (a suggestion from DoItYourself.com Forums).

…

An open letter to Aero Products International:

Please figure out the cause of the leaks. Otherwise, retract the guarantee that the AeroBed is durable enough to sleep on every night or that it’s puncture resistant. (I’m sleeping on carpet, what gives?)

My mom was almost going to buy another one for herself, whenever she goes to a friend’s house or something. Now, it doesn’t look like that’ll happen. Help me help you!

As for me, I’m not sure how I can recommend this product, especially when it’s the second AeroBed that developed a leak.

A disgruntled customer,

Bryan