Many ads for innerspring mattresses are appropriately dreamy. Attractive people are shown sleeping or lounging in their beds?and, of course, smiling. The advertising come-ons tell shoppers to ?Have a good night?s sleep on us? or promise that when it comes to mattress shopping, ?It?s all about You!? So buying a mattress should be a pleasant experience, right? (Watch our video report, right.) But it isn?t, say many of our readers, who find buying a mattress frustrating and tell us that they are not sure they?re getting a fair deal. A big contributing factor to these problems, as we noted in ?Why Consumer Reports Doesn't Rate Specific Models of Mattresses,? is that the model names of the top mattress brands differ from one store to the next, so there?s no way to truly compare models. What?s more, even for mattresses that retailers claim are similar, significant differences exist in quilting, padding, and springs, according to our experts. We thought some of the nightmares would end when the spokesman for a major U.S. mattress manufacturer?let?s call it Brand S?told us in January that his company was going to revolutionize mattress shopping. ?We recognize that there?s confusion. We?re changing that. Retailers now require that they be able to name their own mattress,? said the spokesman of the change, which was slated to go into effect this spring. The manufacturer was planning to introduce the same branding from store to store: A queen-size Brand S ExtraDreamy firm mattress you?d test out at store A would be exactly the same (except, perhaps, for price) at store B and store C. ?When consumers walk into the store, they?ll see a [Brand S] mattress at one retailer and the same at another?it will have the same [Brand S] branding,? promised the spokesman. The manufacturer would recommend that all its retailers use the Brand S mattress name on their store signs but, according to the spokesman, retailers could still call the mattresses whatever they wanted on in-store signage. This move could shake up the industry, so we called several major mattress retailers for comment. Two didn?t call back after repeated tries, and the spokesman for a third wouldn?t allow his comments to be published. But our phone did ring just a day later. It was the spokesman who?d informed us of his company?s radical plan. ?[The company] is trying to change this, but if a retailer says they won?t take the mattress?they don?t want it?then that?s their decision,? he said. The manufacturer wouldn?t be changing its branding policy. We asked him what the company?s decision would mean for mattress shoppers. ?For the consumer, nothing has changed,? he explained. That?s unfortunate. But we?re working on ways to help you shop for mattresses, so stay tuned. In the meantime, read ?How to Buy a Mattress Without Losing Sleep? (available to Consumer Reports subscribers) for expert advice on selecting the mattress that?s right for you and analyzing prices.?Kimberly Janeway