Almost every mattress problem people describe in the first week is a delivery and setup problem, not a mattress problem. The bed arrived in a box that would not turn the corner on the stairs. The old mattress was still in the room because nobody arranged removal. The new one smelled of chemicals and felt stiff at 10pm on unboxing night. None of these are defects, and all of them are avoidable if you know what to expect before the truck arrives.
THE THREE DELIVERY TYPES. Curbside or courier delivery means a compressed mattress arrives in a box by regular parcel carrier, left at your door. It is usually free with online mattress orders and it is entirely on you from the doorstep onwards. Threshold delivery brings the item inside the first door but no further. White glove delivery means a two-person team brings the mattress to the room you choose, unpacks it, sets it up and takes the packaging, and usually offers removal of the old mattress for a fee or as part of the service. Traditional innerspring and latex beds, and anything very heavy, are typically white glove only because they cannot be compressed.
BEFORE THE DELIVERY DATE. Measure the tightest point on the route — doorway widths, stair turns, low ceilings on landings, lift dimensions in an apartment — and compare that with the box dimensions rather than the mattress dimensions. Decide what happens to the old mattress: most councils and municipalities will not take one with normal refuse, most retailers only remove it if you booked removal in advance, and most charities will not accept a used mattress at all. Have the bed base ready and check it meets the new mattress's support requirements, because sleeping a new bed on an unsuitable base is one of the most common warranty exclusions.
ON THE DAY. Get the boxed mattress into the room it will live in before you cut anything open. Once a compressed mattress is released it becomes an unwieldy full-size object that will not go round a tight turn. Cut the outer plastic carefully — the inner bag is under real tension and a deep cut can slice the mattress cover — and unroll it on the base with the correct side up before removing the final layer.
THE FIRST FEW NIGHTS. Expect a firmer feel than the showroom or the reviews describe, and expect it to change. Foams warm up, decompress and settle over days. New foam can also give off a temporary smell, which is why manufacturers advise airing the room. Sleeping on it during this settling period is normally fine — the detail is in the unboxing-night guide below — but do not judge the mattress in week one. Brands set trial periods of 30 days or more precisely because early impressions are unreliable, and several require a minimum break-in period before you may return the bed at all.
WHERE TO GO NEXT. The guides in this cluster answer the specific questions people ask at each stage: getting a king up a staircase, how long a mattress can safely wait in its box, whether you can sleep on it the first night, how long each brand says expansion takes, whether to tip the delivery crew, and what a white-glove team actually does when they arrive.