Complaints mount against local home improvement businesses

Veronica Watts is living out of cardboard boxes in her kitchen.

Her cabinets were torn out months ago for renovations, but she now considers the kitchen of her family’s dreams to be a renovation nightmare.

"I'm screwed big time. But I guess you just can't trust people I guess. It's a lesson learned," Watts told Action News.

Watts says, the problem began when she selected Home Renovations outlet on Jacksonville's Westside.

She showed us receipts she paid the company more than $5,000 back in September. She says those thousands were for cabinets that still have not arrived.

"They said there was a hold up on that and then after that they said it was the storm, Sandy," said Watts. She told Action News it's been one excuse after another.

Watts tells us that the company's store on Romana Boulevard closed down late last year. We called the company phone number which has been disconnected.

Caroline Dukes is listed as the owner with the Florida Secretary of State’s office. Dukes would not answer any questions from Action News and directed us to her attorney who did not return our phone calls Wednesday.

Watts contacted her own lawyer about possibly filing a lawsuit against the store. She said, "I actually contacted an attorney and was told by him that because the company filed bankruptcy there's nothing they can do."

Action News and the Better Business Bureau found no record that the company has filed for bankruptcy. The store on the Westside remains closed.

Another store, Cornerstone Kitchens and Baths, in Fleming Island also recently closed recently and has at five similar complaints registered with the Better Business Bureau.

Tom Stephens, President of the Better Business Bureau, told Action News Thursday that his office has also received multiple complaints recently about Cornerstone Kitchens and Baths in Fleming Island.  Customers tell us this store also cashed down-payments before closing-up shop, leaving customers' homes in disrepair.

Stephens says complaints against home improvement companies have been mounting faster than other businesses.

"You get more complaints because the dollar amounts are bigger and they hurt more," said Stephens, "This industry would have greater difficulty than other industries would."

Stephens says the problems are caused by the economic problems these businesses are experiencing in recent years and the owners are not engaged in any type of fraud.  "These aren't scams. These are companies that have fallen on hard times.  Whether it’s through bad management or bad luck, I can't tell you that," said Stephens.