AKA: "Todd Johnson Design"
doing business from: 1728 Raymond…read moreHill Rd. South Pasadena
and
Atwater Crossing, Casita Street in Atwater.
Based on a couch and two chairs I saw in production, I ordered a bookshelf from Todd Johnson Design for a client.
We paid Todd Johnson in full, up front, nearly $2000 and were promised delivery within 8-10 weeks. Fourteen months worth of lame excuses later, after unanswered phone calls, after letters of inquiry; pleading letters and finally threat letters, 14 months later, we were notified that the bookshelf was finally ready.
I went to Johnson's wood shop to sign off on it and was appalled to see a shelf that was far "less than" the one the client ordered and paid for (about $800 less).
The walnut shelf we ordered had Arts & Crafts detailing which worked for the client's home, the shelf Johnson actually made was a poorly constructed and hastily slapped together (crookedly planed joints, mismatched grain pattern, glue drips) Danish Modern style version -- a much less labour intensive version than the one we'd ordered and paid for.
Told that this shelf was unacceptable, Johnson who had been *extremely* charming until he cashed the check (within hours of us writing it) turned sullen, nasty, insulting and sarcastic throughout the rest of this ordeal, refused to refund the difference, sent the shelf anyway AND then tried to gouge the clients an additional huge delivery charge of $600 for a small shelf. The clients hate the shelf but their reasoning was that the unprincipled and unprofessional Todd Johnson would never make good on this contract and they might as well accept the piece because it was better than nothing.
It goes without saying that Johnson never refunded the price difference. Thankfully we put our foot down about the last minute exorbitant delivery charge. We'd take him to small claims court, but no one wants to deal with this fly-by-nightmare any further. Do business with Todd Johnson at your own peril.
Todd Johnson (this is a one man operation) was incredibly unprofessional and unethical and I would not recommend him to build a dog house. This business is so poorly run, and the product so shoddy, that we finally realized it must be a hobby.
We have since heard numerous nightmare stories about this "craftsman" from others who have been similarly burned.
The only boundaries "enigma" Todd Johnson pushes in his work involves ethical ones. The LA area is full of amazing master woodworking craftsmen/artists who don't have the attitude that they can be unprofessional and unethical because they fancy themselves "artists."
Check out Cliff Spencer, Samuel Moyer in Pasadena or Richard Draut on the Westside. Each are professional, museum-caliber, master-craftsmen/designers -- true artists -- without the sense of entitlement, insults or bad attitude. They are honest, competent businessmen. I've done business with Spencer, Draut and Moyer on behalf of clients since the awful Todd Johnson experience. The business was a pleasure and the work Spencer, Moyer and Draut do is simply exquisite (and affordable). Moyer and Spencer each have websites which gives a great idea of the lovely work each does.
Beware of reviews which only review one business -- it means the business owner has enlisted friends and family to counteract bad reviews.
