What a waste of money!

When it was time to move my daughter 6 month old daughter out of her co-sleeper I looked everywhere for a crib that would last and be of a decent quality. I decided to purchase this crib in ebony from babycenter.com, now out of business, for $230. I had a Jenny Lind crib for my oldest daughter 13 years ago. I got it for $100 and it was sturdy and of great quality. I regret giving it away, especially for free!
The crib I bought was listed as being from Million Dollar Baby. It is JPMA certified and listed on Consumer Reports best buy list. It had great reviews everywhere I checked. It is convertible but you must buy a part for $60 to convert it that helps stabilize it.
Ultimately I chose it because it had a drop side rail (I'm short and it makes it easier for sheet changes), a teething rail on both sides of the crib (babies love to chew on the wood), and the nostalgia of the Jenny Lind style. I have to mention that Jenny Lind is not exclusive to one company. It is a style of furniture. I also liked the fact that it is convertible.
When the crib arrived it was listed as being manufactured by Da Vinci. It never said anything like that on the website. It took my husband about 1 hours to put together. It wasn't overly difficult but just a little tricky to get the side rails on. When assembled I was shocked at how unsteady the crib appeared. It was very wobbly. It certainly wasn't the quality that I expected.
The drop side rail is very difficult to get down, near impossible. It takes great force to get it down. I have to kneel on the ground and squeeze both sides at the same time. Because of this I haven't used the drop rail very often. The teething rails are a nice feature and have come in handy. However, several times my daughter chewed on the ends of the crib and ended up with black flecks of paint all over her mouth! She didn't chew hard enough to dent the wood and no paint should have come off.
When it came time to buy the part to convert the bed to a toddler bed, the part was very hard to find. I wanted to call the company and ask where I could purchase it, however the only contact information available is via email and I could expect a reply in 3-5 business days. I finally found it for $80, $20 more than I had originally. Ultimately, my husband and I decided that since the crib was already unsteady that converting it into a toddler bed would cause further unsteadiness. Plus, with even taking the casters off the crib was at least twice the height of a toddler bed. My daughter would have to jump out of the bed and need a foot stool to get back in. She would also have a long drop if she fell out while sleeping.
Ultimately,we decided to purchase a toddler bed. We got less than a years use out of this crib and I feel it was a total waste of money. I definitely wouldn't purchase it again.