Reader: Babies R Us pulls Jardine cribs for "safety inspections"

Update: for some reason, our blog software hasn't been displaying the most recent comments to this thread, so we have created a new post for folks to post comments! (You can read an archive of previous comments here). Please continue to report what you are hearing out there from the stores, Jardine, etc.

UPDATED Monday May 27, 10:15am

We spoke with Babies R Us spokesperson Kathleen Waugh about this issue---BRU has sent the following statement to us:

We've received some quality assurance complaints about broken slats on some Jardine cribs.  While we investigate this with the manufacturer, we have stopped selling all Jardine cribs, as a standard precautionary measure. We have many alternative crib models in our stores. There has not been a recall, but if customers experience a problem with slats on cribs they own, or have other questions, they should contact one of our stores for assistance.

Here is the latest word in a nutshell: late last week, BRU was notified by Jardine and the CPSC about concerns with certain styles of Jardine cribs (see original post below from a reader). The problem: cribs with faulty slats that could fall out, endangering any child inside the crib.

It is unclear at this point how many reports of faulty slats there were; BRU says there have been no injuries. And not all the Jardine cribs are affected (we don't know which ones at this point). But given the serious nature of the potential problem, BRU pulled ALL the Jardine cribs off the shelves---the chain says this is a standard procedure when a potential safety concern is raised.

At this point, it appears that the CPSC and Jardine will take some kind of action on this this week---it could be a recall, but no decision has been made.

Jardine is one of BRU's biggest crib brands---they represent 20% to 25% of the cribs on the floor. With 260 stores selling the brand (which is a BRU exclusive made by Dorel), you can see how this recall could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of cribs.

BRU has admitted that they could have handled the communication on this better---they did send out notices to parents who have these cribs on their registries. And stores were informed about the situation. But as you can see from the comments below, not all BRU store employees got the memo, and this has created much confusion. We urge BRU and Jardine to establish a web site to address this situation.

Pending official word on this, we would urge parents take the following steps:

• If you have a Jardine crib, stop using it. Check the crib carefully for any loose slats---especially on the drop side. If you find a problem, stop using the crib immediately. File a report with the CPSC (cpsc.gov).

• If you have a Jardine crib and it appears to be fine, continue to monitor this blog and news reports for the latest news---again, not all Jardine styles will be affected by a potential recall. If you want to err on the side of caution (and we totally understand), put your child in a safe alternative sleeping space (newborns can sleep in a bassinet, older babies in a Graco Pack N Play, for example) until this matter is resolved.

• If you have a crib on order from Jardine, keep watching this blog and the news. If there is a recall, BRU will be providing refunds, etc. Of course, if your baby is due next month and your crib is now recalled, you have a problem---start thinking about a Plan B crib from another brand or store.

Ok, that's the news for now! Stay tuned for more updates.

Alan & Denise Fields
Authors, BABY BARGAINS

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ORGINAL POST

Reader Jenny S. writes today:

I ordered a jardine crib from babies r us 2 weeks ago and we just found out from them that they will not be selling us the crib because all of the jardine cribs have been pulled off of the floor due to a safety recall. Do you know anything about this? We are getting our money back, but I’m concerned.

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OK, so I called Babies R Us and they said that Jardine ordered a stop sale on all of its cribs because it was doing a safety inspection. So even if my crib comes in the mail, Babies R Us can’t give it to me until Jardine tells them it’s OK.

This is across all Babies R Us stores.

I told the store clerk about a friend of mine who had already paid and gotten a Jardine crib last month. He said the best thing for her would be to call Jardine and try to get an answer from them about her crib to see if there’s anything wrong.

But right now, all of the Jardine cribs, regardless of make and model, are not able to be sold at Babies R Us.

Did you hear anything from Jardine on this matter?

Our response: We are checking with Jardine/Dorel now! Stay tuned.

Update: 5/22/08---well, we don't know much more on this today than we did yesterday. We did ask a Dorel rep to see if they could comment, but she works for Dorel Juvenile Group. Jardine is made by Dorel Asia, which is a separate subsidiary of Dorel. So we are trying to reach someone with Dorel Asia, but no word yet.

Given past histories of recalls, we should point out that large retailers like Babies R Us often get a "heads up" from manufacturers about safety recalls. Hence, BRU will often pull products off the shelves days (or sometimes even a week) before the "official" notice comes from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Jardine is a Babies R Us exclusive crib brand made by Dorel Asia, which also sells cribs under its own name to Wal-Mart. One Dorel Asia style is still for sale on Wal-Mart as we write this, so it is unclear if this recall will affect just Jardine cribs at BRU or a wider recall that might affect other retailers. We will post more as we get info!

Comments

[Dr. Ari Brown / Denise & Alan Fields]

From Denise & Alan Fields, authors:

As we mentioned above, for some reason, the blog software didn't display today's comments on this thread (we have received so many that perhaps it was overloaded!). So we have pasted in these comments below from readers that came in today:

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Interesting. I was told on Friday evening (May 23) by BRU employees that there was a stop sale on the Jardine crib due to there being "too much formaldehyde" in the product. Said clerks were reading from a rumpled announcement.

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Can we give it a rest already... Babiesrus has given the Feilds the infomration to stop all this speculation. I think we should be giving them credit for going above and beyond to do the right thing for parents.

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Give it a rest? That's a nice attitude to have regarding children's saftey.

And yes, the retailer should have some form of responsibility; but no, not all. Jardine & Dorel are repsonsible as well.

BRU Corporate could have issued a press release ( in conjunciton with the manufacturers) immediately upon taking the cribs off the floor last week. Instead, the store employees get half-baked info from their higher ups, and all 200+ stores tell its' customers differnt things.

Of course this causes confusion, all of which could have been avoided if all the parites invlolved had been up front. A press release to all media outlets is the easiest way to reach customers.

It's a standard business - school taught practice actually put to real world use. And it was not in this case.

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Whew. After reading the updates I shook all the slats on the crib we have. Nothing moved, thank goodness. Hopefully the customers with slat problems get replacements or reimbursed and their kids are ok. And, hopefully this is the only issue that comes up with Jardine cribs.

Thanks to the Fields for getting some solid responses on what happened.

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I don't think anyone here thinks the safety of our kids isn't important. I think "give it a rest" was about going back to Formaldehyde.

[Grace]

Thanks to Alan and Denise fields for posting this info. I think BRU could have done a better job communicating this to its customers and not only to those who have Jardine cribs in their registry. I'm look forward to updates as they come.

[Jennifer]

I went to BRU today (June 1) because I ordered my whole nursery from Jardine Enterprises. I called yesterday to find out if the shipment was in and the employee told me nothing about the issues Jardine was having with their cribs. I will say the furniture supervisor at BRU was very unhappy that I wasn't notified. Once I arrived at the store today they gave me the option of taking the crib home with me today, returning it or keeping it on hold at the store. I chose to keep it on hold at the store because I'm just not sure what is going on with the crib that I bought (the Capri). Just wanted to share my experience. Thank you for providing the information that you have!

[?]

are jardine & the cpsc going to take action as the last update said? nothing has happened.

[sunflychick]

Have we forgotten the thousands of toys that are still been recalled and that most of us probably still have whether we bought it or it was passed on from a friend or a family member?.........Why are we so angry now? A toy is no safer than a crib. We already got the info about what to do with the cribs that we own already............check it and go on........i think we all should worry more about that toy that your baby probably still putting on his/her mouth and potentially be more harmful than a crib that the baby most like is safer than that toy at this point. BRU did what it has been doing for many years.....protocol.....same thing with the toys and the bottles......There's really not much to say....there was a safety concern.....Toys/Babies R Us took responsability and still do.........Where is Jardine at all this? Have any of you found a website, a phone number, an email, an address?.........I haven't.........

[????]

Where is Jardine in all of this? Hiding behind Babies R Us!
I have been trying to get some information on what cribs were involved and a rough idea of how long this will take and I get absolutley nothing from the company except call you local Babies R Us store. Why should I call BRU, they didn't manufacturer the crib, they are not the ones doing the inspections. I find it very very hard to believe they have no clue which cribs the issues were reported with, wouldn't that be the first thing you would want to know so you could evaluate those more thoroughly since they have had issues? Second, with this being such a large scale event affecting a volume of your companies business you would some idea of the time it will take to complete the inspections or at the least have a time frame you would want to have it completed by since you are losing all that revenue, why can't they provide an estimate to the people that are waiting and losing precious time to get a crib before their newborn arrives???
This is the worst customer service and handling of an issue like this that I have ever seen and truthfully I really don't think I feel comfortable purchasing a crib manufactured by a company that has done so poorly with this.

[EIH]

I call Jardine daily and get a different answer. The latest was that there is nothing wrong with their cribs this is Babies R Us' issue and to call them. It's almost been a month, I'd REALLY like to know something!! I contacted the CPSC and they did not know anything about this issue. I think the whole situation has been handled poorly. They can't tell me when this will be completed (but was told to watch the news for recalls) or what cribs.

[Mackenzie Sanders]

I don't know about this slat stuff, but the mattress support on my two year olds americana dissintagrated the other night from a little jumping. I can't seem to find anyone who has had the same problem though.

[expecting stress?]

Bought a jardine crib from BRU at beginning of may and never heard anything about this til today when i happned to google it - just called my local BRU and they said to bring back the crib and and they would give me a full refund on it and any matching furniture pieces. what a hassle and why wasnt i notified? grrrrrrr due in a month and now have to find a new crib?!?!?!

[Julie]

Jardine recalled all the cribs yesterday - they will now give u a voucher to get a new crib from babies r us if you call them. They had 42 kids get hurt .

[too much hassle]

ok, so i ordered the whole mathching set (closet, crib, and changing table) in april and may 08. Has anyone heard if BRU going to refund the whole set???????

[kerry]

Our crib was recalled and I am really angry with how this has been handled by Jardine / Dorel. I contacted Dorel to see if they would be reimbursing people for the shipping costs of the new crib from the store to our home and was basically told - no way. How unfair is it to have to be out extra money due to their faulty product? I can see a class action lawsuit happening. I also purchased a matching dresser/changer and was told they would not be taking the dresser back so I am in a search to find a matching crib. Meanwhile, my one month old doesn't have a bed.

[Kim]

Anyone get thier vouchers yet?

[Mary S]

Babies R us isn't really standing behind safety. They are more worrried about their profits then children.

[Mary S]

Babies R us isn't really standing behind safety. They are more worrried about their profits then children.

[Maria B]

Has anyone received a voucher for DA770BC, 2005 crib? I am just wondering how much it is, and if I should bother dealing with this. I think I paid $200-ish for the crib.