Clarification: Romina and the old Ragazzi

In our most recent book, we said that furniture newcomer Romina had manufactured cribs for Ragazzi, the Canadian brand that went bankrupt last year and was bought by Stork Craft.

We based that information on conversations with Romina sales staff, who have been telling media and stores nationwide wide that they made Ragazzi cribs. (A Romina crib is pictured at right).

Well, a former Ragazzi executive told us that isn't the entire story----Romina only made UNFINISHED crib headboards and footboards for Ragazzi. Ragazzi then added the hardware and finished the cribs in Canada (hence the made in Canada label on their boxes).

This doesn't mean that we don't recommend Romina---we still haven't assigned a rating and are watching their quality (they just started shipping cribs and case goods to the U.S. in the last few months). We just want to clarify Romina's past relationship with Ragazzi, since our book may have added to the confusion. And while we hope Romina hasn't exaggerated their past manufacturing experience, we do realize that sometimes sales reps can put a bit of spin out there. And that gets repeated to consumers, who post to our message boards, etc.

So just an fyi! Apologies for any confusion.

Comments

[Bill]

Does anyone have experience with Romina cribs, knowledge of recalls and or product defects?

[Vio Lazarescu]

Romina Furniture did manufacture ENTIRE CRIBS (not parts) which were shipped unfinished to Canada for 2 years before the company went bankrupt.
It is recommended that Mr. & Mrs. Fields base their statements on information provided by reliable sources, former sales reps do not count as "former Ragazzi executives" as they have no connection with, or knowledge of the manufacturing process.
Romina Furniture executive

[Daniel Horowitz]

Our Romina Drop Side crib just FAILED and almost very seriously injured our baby. It is held together (in one part) with a tiny little thin screw. The screw snapped (and we hardly ever even used the drop, leaving a side loose and springing. Imagine a child leaning, it gives, he slides, his hand slides and it snaps back! Serious injury, amputation or worse. And all because they used the cheapest, smallest screw you can imagine.
Posted by my real name. Daniel Horowitz, Attorney, you can google me, this is a real danger, please pass this on.

[Angela]

Our Romina drop-side crib had so many problems with the drop side that we had to finally get the store that sold it to us to come out and fix the drop side so that it was no longer a drop-side and was permanently fixed in place. The drop side stopped functioning/sliding well, got loose (so that it would rattle considerably when you jiggled it) several times, and so we were left feeling worried that it was a safety hazard. Romina finally sent us a new drop-side (after many months of waiting for it), but I didn't trust it anymore and had the side fixed so that it no longer works as a drop-side. I would never purchase a crib from Romina again for this reason. We also purchased a dresser from Romina, and the paint has been peeling off substantially. They have sent us a touch-up pen, but I don't think the paint should have peeled on such an expensive piece. They keep promising to send us touch-up paint (that will hopefully offer more coverage than the pen), but it hasn't gotten here in a few months despite two requests. Overall, very bad experience, which was disappointing considering how much time and energy I had put into the process of picking the best baby furniture.