I chose Mad City because I thought it would be a quality product and it would help eliminate the added stress to my life of a complete kitchen remodel. This was the biggest and most expensive mistake of my life. What should have been a week project turned into a near 6-month kitchen nightmare.
The biggest problem was a lack of communication between the teams and the craftsmanship. They wanted me to sign a new contract and pay more money for two drawers to be converted to soft close. I could not believe that considering I was paying $15,000. How was that not in the contract? That was the number one item I wanted in my kitchen, everything soft close. I expressed that more than once to different people in the process. They did eventually do the job without additional charge, but there is so much more regarding the work. They also had me measure the drawer boxes so they could order new parts and that was not my job. They installed the wrong kind of lazy Susan door, they were missing hardware and had to order more parts several times. A cabinet was removed and was missing the side wall by the dishwasher, a new drawer did not open and close properly (actually none of drawers they installed and supposedly fixed work properly), there was glue on the wall, nails were exposed in the cabinets, a couple seems looked messy and the trash bin roll out is cheap. That was not quality. You can get that insert for 100 dollars at Home Depot. I wanted the slide out trash cabinet. I had counter installers come, and they said the new cabinets were not level with previous cabinets. It was yet another find of unchecked work. A cabinet that they installed was supposedly too big for the door soft close to work. If that was going to be an issue, they should have advised against it, instead of me just having to "accept it" after it was installed. Same goes for their soft close drawers. They do not work properly. They should not offer soft close because they just give excuses for why they operate incorrectly instead of resolving the issue. If it not human error in the install, then it is the product. Fix it.
They lacked craftsmanship and failed to provide a quality product. They did not check their work as they worked, and they would not have fixed problems unless we said something. So we were no longer confident in their work and had to inspect everything because of it. There was very poor communication and execution in everything. They ordered the wrong lazy Susan door 3 times. When door would come in, I thought I would be priority. They would make an appointment yet another 2 weeks out after getting the part, which was a lot of time already to receive.
I could have had a new kitchen for $15,000, including counters, backsplash and better inserts and slide outs. None of that was included. I still have to paint the inside and bottom of the cabinets because they do not touch those in a kitchen resurfacing job, which I agreed to, but the details matter for the amount of money they charge and considering what is not included in the price. I was expecting a quality experience and product for that price. 5 months instead of 5 days, that is unacceptable.
I asked them to come later in the morning for one of the last visits, as I had a Dr. appointment, and my partner works nights. But they still came 8am even though I had a voicemail confirmation of 10:30am. I was not home, and they woke up my partner. Each time is an inconvenience for scheduling and for the visit. It has been so many times. Doggy proofing the kitchen, taking stuff out of cabinets, and being available. And the cleanup... every time. You will spend hours cleaning afterwards. I was never happy with the final product. I signed it completed because I was tired of asking them to fix things and it not happening, even if some of the list was addressed. I wanted them out of my house and out of my life. It was causing too much ongoing stress and it will haunt my kitchen choices and my bank account for the future.
The execution of this project was extremely poor and an inconvenience. They are supposed to be the designers, and professionals not just in the trade of installing but in business, that was not the case. I just wanted to be happy with the service and my kitchen. I was only one customer and one kitchen to Mad City, but that was my entire experience, my entire kitchen, and my money. I felt taken advantage of. This was a total scam.
Only one month after the kitchen was "finished" a drawer became completely detached from the cabinet from regular use. The screws were put into the plaster wall without anchors.
3 months later, I was going into one of the cabinets for a snack and saw a bug trying to fly free from the cabinet seam that is apparently still sticky. That should not have been an issue to discover, whether it remains that way or if simply needed to be wiped.
I am beyond frustrated, and regret choosing Mad City. Based on my experience I would never recommend it. read more