Delaney Sofa Sleeper: Review

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My dad was coming to visit from out of town and we needed a place for him to sleep. We also needed to replace our old Queen Anne style sofa (the type with wood decor for kids to bash their heads on and big ole claw feet to stub toes on). So, we went online to find a sleep sofa and came across the Delaney at Walmart.ca.

It seemed perfect for our needs.

It's a fold-down (as opposed to a fold-out), which made it light enough to carry up 3 flights of stairs, and small enough to fit our small apartment. The description said it can hold up to 600 lbs, which is beyond what we would need.

While the price seemed high ($314 CAD after taxes), we thought we would get years of use out of it and agreed it would be worth the cost.

The sofa sleeper arrived the day before my dad was scheduled to arrive. When we opened the box to assemble it, we found that all the pieces for assembly were tucked in a hidden compartment of the sofa body! Once the pieces were out, there was a cavity under the sofa that could hold spare pillows and sheets. We both thought that was very nifty!

What was not nifty was the disappointing discovery that the interior wooden frame for one of the arms was broken and "wiggled" (a lot) as you can see by the photo to the right.

There was no time to get a replacement, so we decided to deal with returning it after my dad went home. The sofa was fairly simple to put together. It took Hubby about an hour and a half to assemble it (with help from our toddlers).

The Sleeper Test

We were concerned that there might be a tipping issue. We tested it out and discovered that the sofa design was very stable! Whew!

I felt a lot better about company sleeping on it, knowing that they wouldn't flip the sofa over if they were an "edge sleeper."

When making the bed up for my dad, the back was easy to fold down, but I wasn't able to hook a fitted sheet over the corners completely. The mechanics of the sofa were in the way. However, the sofa sleeper was firm and comfortable for sleeping.

A few days later, I leaned against the other arm while sitting on the sofa and heard: "CRACK!!" It was broken as well.

I later discovered a review on Amazon.com where the poster's 1 year old daughter leaned on the arm of their Delaney Sleeper Sofa and broke it.

Excellent question!

Since we ordered it online from Walmart, we were instructed to return it to our local store for exchange or refund. Our local Walmart refused to take it back unless a manager was present.

When we spoke with a manager, we were given a run-around about which manager was responsible, when they would be available, and some story about a change in managers which doesn't seem to have actually happened. It was ridiculous. When we finally nailed someone down, the Walmart 90 day refund policy had passed and we were told that we'd have to deal directly with the company that makes the sofa sleeper. They provided us with a phone number and we were on our own again.

While all that was going on with Walmart, we didn't want to pack it up. Frankly, we couldn't afford to buy another sofa until we got a refund for the Delaney.

Worried that to much regular use might make it worse, we were gentle with the sofa. Our children were not allowed to play on it - In fact we barely used it. Yet, within weeks, the seat became mushy. The back of the sofa stayed firm, though. This made the sofa extremely uneven and uncomfortable to sleep on when folded down.

Shortly after the seat went mush, I sat on the sofa to change the baby's diaper. When I stood up, my shorts snagged on something and tore. Looking, I discovered a HUGE metal wire had poked through the seat of the sofa!!

I was upset about my shorts, but even more upset by the fact that it was in a spot where my kids usually flop down, face-first.

It could have been a child's eye instead of my shorts!!

Remember that phone number Walmart gave us so we could contact the company that makes the Delaney sofa sleeper? Funny story ... okay, not really. See, we tried calling that number and ended up reaching Delaney Hardware store. Wrong company.

After a Google search, I finally tracked down the company who makes Delaney Sofa Sleepers, Dorel Home Products (AKA DHP Furniture). We were able to get a hold of customer service - YAY!!! They asked us to send them a copy of our receipt, photos of the manufacturing tag, and photos of the damage. Once they received that, they would start a claim for us.

I sent an email with the info and photos they requested on January 21, 2015 and waited for either a confirmation that they'd received my email or instructions for the next step of our claim. When we didn't hear back after a week, we called the company again to find out if they'd received my email. We were told that they did get it, but no one had reviewed it yet.

So, we waited some more .... A couple weeks later, I checked back. Still no news. Finally, in mid-February, we received an email from a "Claims Specialist" who wrote:

"I have attached a release form that will need to be filled out and signed by you and a witness and sent back to us. As well as a 10x10 cut of the fabric and the tag on the unit. Once we receive that information we can give to accounting to send a refund check to you."

And, there was much rejoicing!!!

We filled out the forms, gathered the requested materials, and mailed everything to DHP as they requested. (*Note: We also had to agree to destroy the sofa and/or make sure it got a landfill, so no one else could use it.) Approximately 4 or 5 weeks later, we received a refund cheque for the entire amount we paid for the sofa (including taxes). YAY!!

The quality of the product was horrible. Customer service was a little slow to get going, but DHP processed the refund in a reasonable time frame. Everyone we dealt with was pleasant and friendly, but we're never going to buy furniture from them again.

Now ... to figure out what we're going to replace the replacement sofa with ...