3" Gel Cooling Queen Mattress Topper

I purchased this mattress topper to replace another one that made me so hot that I basically wasn't sleeping. I thought it was just perimenopause, but thought I'd blame my topper before I blamed my hormones, and as it turns out, I was correct. After reading a ton of reviews, I opted for this product because of the lack of mention of people sleeping hot. I saw several reviews mentioning that the topper didn't fully expand, but I figured I'd take my chances. Note that I've used memory foam toppers for every mattress I've owned over the last 20+ years, so I'm not inexperienced with how they feel and behave. When it arrived, I was impressed by how compact it was, but surprised by its light weight. I removed it from the box and bag and allowed it to expand over a period of about a week in my guest room because I was too tired and lazy from lack of sleep to strip the bed. Once I did finally get it on the bed, I was again surprised that the feel of this topper was much firmer than any others I'd previously owned. The only way I can describe it is that lying down on it initially feels like you're resting on top of a block of floral foam. If you've ever felt that substance before, it's quite firm - almost hard - but then gives way to gentle pressure. The difference is that floral foam will stay indented, and this topper returns to its original shape... ...or at least, it's supposed to. I've found that this pad tends to stay very compressed and flat in any areas where there is a significant amount of pressure (so for me, as a back and side sleeper, under my bottom/back, or under my hips/shoulders) for significantly longer, meaning that if I sleep in one area on my back for a while, then roll over onto my side, the divot from my back sleeping makes my body want to roll back into it. It's very strange, and I've never seen memory foam react so slowly before. It does a decent job at cushioning pressure points, but the area under my butt gets so compressed (like compressed to the point that it feels like it's fresh out of the package) that I might as well just be lying directly on the mattress itself. The other issue is that there is a portion of one side of the topper that has a bulge between 2 slopes, as well as a pointy part that sticks out away from the edge of the topper. It's difficult to explain, but it's definitely a manufacturing defect. It took me several days to notice it because I initially thought it was just a depression where I'd rested my knee near the edge of the bed, but when it persisted, I took a closer look and realized that it was an issue with the topper itself. And now the thing essentially can't be returned because it will never fit back inside the box it came in. On the plus side, I sleep SO much cooler than I did with the last traditional memory foam topper. Once upon a time I had a wonderful topper from Costco that didn't make me sweat like a wh*re in church, but every one since then has increased my sleep temperature to some degree (degree...get it? Get it?) so in that regard, it's...comfortable? Would I buy it again? Uh, no. Manufacturing and performance are questionably low, but if I ever need a piece of foam to mold to the shape of something, never to return to its original form for shipping or something, this would be my first choice.