Imported from China and Indonesia, Delta (also known as Delta Luv and Babies Love by Delta) is perhaps best known for their low-price cribs sold in big box stores.
Unfortunately, the company became known for something else in 2008: one of the biggest crib recalls in history. Nearly 1.6 million Delta cribs were recalled by the CPSC for defective hardware—two babies suffocated to death in their Delta cribs after the cribs’ side rails detached. The 2008 recall came on the heels of two smaller recalls in 2004 (high levels of lead paint) and 2005 (defective slats).
Obviously, this was a big black eye for Delta, which responded by redoubling their safety testing. The company built an extensive testing laboratory in their New Jersey warehouse, which an article in the New York Times described:
“Eight hours a day, five days a week, cribs are beaten and battered by machines, subjected to the kind of malevolence a demonic toddler could only dream of doling out.”
Of course, Delta had little choice in setting up this lab—tougher new safety standards for cribs went into effect in 2011 and that forced low-price king Delta to face an unsettling reality: it’s low-end cribs wouldn’t be allowed to be sold without improving their quality and durability.
So far, Delta has been recall free since 2011.
Prices range from $130 to $500, although most Delta cribs sold in chains like Target range from $150 to $330. Among Delta’s big selling point: the cribs don’t require any tools to assemble (just an included Allen wrench), making them a favorite of grandparents everywhere.
A good example of this line is the Canton 4-in-1 convertible crib. At $200, this crib includes a toddler rail to convert into a toddler bed—which is nice, since this can be an extra purchase. But, like many of these 4-in-1 cribs, the conversion rails to convert to a full-size bed are an extra $100 purchase. And while this crib is a good value, one trade-off is the exposed bolts and screw holes. This doesn’t impact the crib’s safety, just aesthetics.
We are less enamored with Delta’s dressers, which are affordable (starting at $200 for a double dresser). The problems are myriad: the dresses are made of low quality pine which scratches easily. As one parent posted, “if you looked at the Delta dresser funny, it would scratch.” The pre-assembled drawer fronts “were literally held in place by no more than 3/16ths of a screw tip.” said another reviewer.
Delta’s dresser drawers are not full-extension—that means the drawers are shorter than the dresser is deep, resulting in less storage than you might think.
More than one parent tells us the dressers, often sold as a package of “Lifetime” furniture, barely last a year before falling apart. Delta clearly has cut corners to get to that $200 price point. But hey, let’s say money is tight but you envision upgrading your kid’s bedroom furniture in a few years—this might be a good place-holder.
The take-home message: the cribs are fine, but skip the dressers. And customer service at Delta is lacking—the company has to do a better job returning customer emails and phone calls.
FYI: Delta also owns the Simmons brand, reviewed separately. Rating: C
THIS WILL BE DELETED: DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM… SERIOUSLY, DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM!! – I ignored all reviews that I seen and continued to purchase from them, biggest mistake of me and my girlfriend’s pregnancy experience… If you order anything it will take forever to get to you and pray nothing is broker/damaged because if there is and you request a new one, Delta Children will continue to give the “customer service answer” – – – “We apologizes for the delay”, “We are working on this as soon as possible”, “We apologize for this inconvenience” – – – All BS and they will play with your expectations, plans and money.
Note, our order was paid and asked for on July 24th, did not receive our items, after numerous back and forth to Delta Children and their crappy Delivery Company, until Aug 12th. Immediately set everything up that night and sent them a note that day that one important piece was badly damaged. All me and my girlfriend need is the headboard to complete the crib we ordered for our expecting child THIS MONTH (SEPT) and has now taken them OVER A MONTH to give us this one headboard! During that span, filled with customer service answers, no update, no ETA, from BOTH me and my girlfriend reaching out, on 1 main piece that is needed for our child’s crib, THAT WE STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED. – – They have DELETED my girlfriend’s prior negative reviews and will delete this review because they do not want negative review like this on their company record.
I will continue to post this on every direct assistance I find for Delta Children…
DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY!!