[RosemarySoso]

A good friend is going thru hell thanks to KITCHEN AND BATH STUDIOS OF OCALA. Her job was supposed to be done but she sits with a shower that was gutted and that’s it. People are supposed to show up— they don’t. No calls! She has paid them over $6,000. They won’t continue until she forks over the balance. In my opinion, they are exploiting a single woman. Not nice.

[frose]

another example of contractors taking advantage of people in the villages....

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by RosemarySoso

A good friend is going thru hell thanks to KITCHEN AND BATH STUDIOS OF OCALA. Her job was supposed to be done but she sits with a shower that was gutted and that’s it. People are supposed to show up— they don’t. No calls! She has paid them over $6,000. They won’t continue until she forks over the balance. In my opinion, they are exploiting a single woman. Not nice.

Contact BBB and issue a complaint. Next, need to contact lawyer. May give crime against seniors a call. Not sure if they will be any help. Post on social media.
Sorry to hear of her troubles, but thanks for the heads up on this scam operation.

[Koapaka]

Originally Posted by RosemarySoso

A good friend is going thru hell thanks to KITCHEN AND BATH STUDIOS OF OCALA. Her job was supposed to be done but she sits with a shower that was gutted and that’s it. People are supposed to show up— they don’t. No calls! She has paid them over $6,000. They won’t continue until she forks over the balance. In my opinion, they are exploiting a single woman. Not nice.

Hopefully she was smart enough to have signed a contract that did not allow them to put a lien on her home. Then hopefully she was smart enough to have put the $6K on her credit card so she can contact them to dispute and recover the money.

If not, I guess the best you can do is blast everything you can online to warn others to be more careful. Everything we have done here in the way of contract work at the house we have given either a nominal deposit on OR required them to take credit card to protect ourselves. I am more than willing to pay by check or even cash once the work is completed to our satisfaction, and let the contractor choose if want the job or not. So far, I have only had one person who required full payment up front, and it is a local, big, established business many years old with an actual storefront. I went ahead because I felt the risk of prepayment minimal ($500 total), and paid by check.

[MX rider]

Originally Posted by Koapaka

Hopefully she was smart enough to have signed a contract that did not allow them to put a lien on her home. Then hopefully she was smart enough to have put the $6K on her credit card so she can contact them to dispute and recover the money.

If not, I guess the best you can do is blast everything you can online to warn others to be more careful. Everything we have done here in the way of contract work at the house we have given either a nominal deposit on OR required them to take credit card to protect ourselves. I am more than willing to pay by check or even cash once the work is completed to our satisfaction, and let the contractor choose if want the job or not. So far, I have only had one person who required full payment up front, and it is a local, big, established business many years old with an actual storefront. I went ahead because I felt the risk of prepayment minimal ($500 total), and paid by check.

We just bought a home in TV. I was talking to a company about doing some work for us. He required no payment up front. Anyway, we got on this subject. He said the problem is, in Florida the laws are too lenient when it come to this type of situation.

He told me that as long as a contractor does some work, it's very hard to go after them legally. That's why you see these partially finished jobs. They can put you off and not have to worry about legal action.

[Mleeja]

I also have friends dealing with this company. They have been waiting on countertops for a couple of months. At least their current countertops were not ripped out!

[Packer Fan]

We met with us about our kitchen and we had 2 meetings with the results - the quote was WAY higher than it should have been, they would not share the cost breakdown, and they kept telling us that Quartz and Granite are about the same price. Well, Quartz may be, but the Cambria we were looking at is almost DOUBLE the price of quartz. We found that out from another contractor. My impression is they are highly disorganized, their prices are very high, and they are not forthcoming with information. I would not work with them. We are talking to Burns and Roberto's. Impressed with both so far.

[retiredguy123]

Never, ever, ever, not ever, pay a contractor any money in advance. It is a recipe for disaster. The worst thing you can do is to pay a contractor money for work that they have not performed. You will get ripped off. And, it has been said over and over on this website. My advice to the woman is to not pay them any more money.

[villageuser]

Contact What we do! - Seniors Vs Crime in The Villages. There’s another group that helps senior citizens who are being scammed by businesses but i don’t remember their name. Hopefully Seniors vs Crimes in the Villages can provide sufficient help.

[banjobob]

Why do people hire contractors that want money up front, a 25-30% of total job should be the very maximum security deposit required and then check the contractors references. Going for the “cheap” job can turn out bad.

[Enhancer77]

Please have her contact Seniors vs Crime in The Villages. They are located at the Sheriff's Annex on 466. We had an issue with CVS Windows that went on and on and I finally notified the BBB and Seniors vs Crime. CVS FINALLY replaced the defective window the next week. We had been calling them for months. So sorry this happened to her.

[thecinks1@gmail.com]

TIONS

Originally Posted by MX rider

We just bought a home in TV. I was talking to a company about doing some work for us. He required no payment up front. Anyway, we got on this subject. He said the problem is, in Florida the laws are too lenient when it come to this type of situation.

He told me that as long as a contractor does some work, it's very hard to go after them legally. That's why you see these partially finished jobs. They can put you off and not have to worry about legal action.

We used Doc's for a whole house renovation last summer. Extremely professional. Every thing was done in a timely manner - no delays. Done in less time than expected.
They may cost more, but the peace of mind is worth it.

[snhmhg]

I used Burns for a complete master bath renovation. While they are not great at calling back and I had to call them, they did really nice work and only required installments as work was completed. I would use them again.

[noslices1]

Originally Posted by RosemarySoso

A good friend is going thru hell thanks to KITCHEN AND BATH STUDIOS OF OCALA. Her job was supposed to be done but she sits with a shower that was gutted and that’s it. People are supposed to show up— they don’t. No calls! She has paid them over $6,000. They won’t continue until she forks over the balance. In my opinion, they are exploiting a single woman. Not nice.

When dealing with any of these contractors, ALWAYS put on the contract a completion date and the phrase “Time is of the essence”. That way, if the contractor drags his feet you can take him to small claims court and win the case.

[banjobob]

I guess you are blessed with very deep pockets , good for you.