A cabinet company that was previously investigated by Better Call Behnken is now under 32 active criminal investigations, as reported by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
This is after “One Stop Kitchens & Bath” abruptly closed its three locations earlier this year.
Kari Stirling from Carrollwood shared that she and her husband spent years saving for a complete kitchen renovation. They paid a $26,000 deposit in October, expecting the project to start by late January.
However, Stirling encountered delays, and eventually, the company shut down operations, revealing her cabinets were never being produced as she was initially told. The manufacturer confirmed to Better Call Behnken that no payment was made for Stirling’s cabinets because the company was placed on a “credit hold” after failing to meet previous financial commitments.
“I’m really angry and need it back,” Stirling said. “$26,000 might be a rounding error to someone but not to us. It means that everything that we were planning on doing is on hold because we don’t just have that amount of cash on hand.”
The company’s website lists showrooms in St. Petersburg, Oldsmar and Tampa.
On the door of the Oldsmar showroom is a letter explaining the closure was “forced upon us unexpectedly due to severe financial pressures beyond our control.”
The last line of the letter says, “this notice marks our final communication regarding the closure.”
Some customers called Better Call Behnken for help and say they were victims of hurricanes last year and used part of their insurance settlements for down payments on cabinets with One Stop.
In those cases, the insurance companies won’t replace the money, even though one stop didn’t deliver.
The owners, Robert and Meriam Vaniglia, have not returned messages for comment.
