Latest news with #BetterCallBehnken
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pinellas Sheriff's Office investigates 32 cases after kitchen remodeling company shuts down
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A defunct cabinet company highlighted in a Better Call Behnken investigation now faces 32 active criminal investigations, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. This is after 'One Stop Kitchens & Bath' abruptly closed its three locations earlier this year. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Kari Stirling of Carrollwood said she and her husband saved for years for a complete kitchen remodel. In October, they forked over a $26,000 deposit, and the project was to begin in late January. Stirling said she received excuses and then the company closed its doors and then she learned her cabinets were never being made, as she says she was led to believe. The manufacturer confirmed to Better Call Behnken that it was not paid any money toward Stirling's cabinets because it had already placed the company on a 'credit hold' due to failure to fulfill earlier financial obligations. '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 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. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
‘I want him to know the pain': Victim reacts to judge sentencing Olympus Pools owner
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. (WFLA) — A judge sentenced the subject of a years-long Better Call Behnken investigation to decades in prison Wednesday. After the first Better Call Behnken investigation in 2021, more and more people began to come forward. Judge sentences James Staten, of Olympus Pools, to 20 years in prison, orders $1 million in restitution They all told a similar story: Olympus Pools had left them with a dangerous, muddy pit in their backyards and no answers about when (or if) their pools would ever be complete. For some victims, they look at their pools now years later and think of a money pit, with tens of thousands of dollars now gone. For one Wesley Chapel women, her backyard oasis just serves as a painful reminder that her parents are now gone. Carmen Simpson hired Olympus Pools in 2016, saying she needed a pool for a very important reason. 'It was for my parents, so I could keep them healthy, and I could keep them walking on their own two legs,' she said. 'My father had clots so badly, he had to swim.' 'My mother had two replaced knees, and they would freeze up on her; but if she swam, she was able to walk with her own legs,' Simpson continued. Simpson told 8 On Your Side, she explained that to Olympus Pools Owner James Staten as he toured her property before she signed on. Lawsuit filed against Jeff Knight in deadly Clearwater Ferry crash From there, she said, Olympus Pools employees came out, started the project and poured the concrete. 'It was over a foot too high, and of course, that caused water to back up into our kitchen every time it rains,' Simpson explained. At that point, Simpson said she had already paid $60,000 up front. So she wanted them to fix it. 'I insisted that Mr. Staten come out to speak to me,' she said. 'He refused. He would never come out here.' Simpson described the unfinished project, saying it was, 'Just a hole, a wide-open hole, just a wide-open hole and anything or anybody could fall in it.' After eight years of painful litigation, Simpson said she was finally able to get a company to come out and finish the work Staten started in 2016. But by then, she said, it was too late. 'My father wasn't able to swim, and because of that he passed away in 2018; and just this past week, I lost my mother as well,' she said. Before the judge handed down the sentence, Staten spoke in court apologizing to the victims. 'I just want everyone involved know that I'm just so deeply sorry for everything that went on,' he said in part. Now Simpson has her own message for Staten. 'I want him to know the pain that he's caused me, and his little 80-second announcement in court today, to say he's sorry, wasn't even with any remorse,' she said. News Channel 8 reporter Nicole Rogers asked, 'Do you think there could've been a different result if Shannon Behnken wouldn't have gotten involved?' 'I don't think it would've gotten anywhere,' Simpson replied. 'I don't think anyone would've listened to us.' Simpson hopes her story serves as cautionary tale for all Floridians to not pay all of the money up front to contractors and stay involved throughout the entire process. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘I feel violated': Hurricane victim's belongings auctioned off by storage facility
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A South Tampa family's home was flooded during Hurricane Helene so they salvaged what they could and placed belongings in a storage facility while they repaired their home. Last week, Laura Gattis went to the unit at Public Storage on South Dale Mabry Highway to find it cleared out, and the front desk informed her everything had been auctioned off that morning. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now She said she was never notified. 'When I pulled up to the unit, the door was wide open and there was nothing in there, except for three boxes,' Gattis said. 'It just had some albums and pictures in there, and I just lost my mind.' 'I jumped on its back': Tampa woman fights off alligator to save her dog She said she pleaded with the storage facility worker. 'She said, 'Oh we haven't received your rent payment.' I'm like no, it's been on autopay,' Gattis said. Gattis said she was told the autopay stopped working, and two payments were missed, and it was the customer's responsibility to know that. 'We didn't receive any letters,' Gattis said. 'We don't have any email records.' 'I'm not concerned about the pots and pans, I'm concerned about the things we just can't replace,' she said. 'Just things of my children, letters and just milestones along the way, awards. Things that are the threads of our lives, things that kind of shape who we are.' Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken went to the public storage office to find out what happened and eventually spoke with a representative by phone who said email notification was sent. Florida law requires storage facilities to notify renters before an auction but states an email is sufficient and a letter must be sent only if the email didn't go through. The storage facility insists they sent emails, and those emails weren't bounced back. Gattis said she asked for proof of those emails and has not received it yet. She added that the facility previously sent a letter about a rate change, so she questioned why something this serious did not warrant a letter. Meanwhile, after questions from Better Call Behnken, Gattis said she received a call from a representative and told they reached out to the winning bidder and explained the situation and passed along Gattis' phone number. Gattis says she hopes that person will call her, and she is willing to pay to buy back her personal items. 'I don't even care about the expensive items,' she said. 'They can sell those. I just want the personal belongings with sentimental value.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hurricane-damaged hotel that received $34K Spectrum bill released from collections
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Better Call Behnken is getting results for a small hotel that was sent collections for internet and TV service it didn't have. Island's End Resort, on the end of St. Pete beach since the 1940s, was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene and still doesn't have power. So, you can imagine management's surprise when a Spectrum bill showed up for more than $34,000. The small hotel has been sent to collections over the bill, which includes $30,000 in early termination fees. Polk County principal accused of 'skip scanning' at Walmart self-checkout Hours after Better Call Behnken got involved, this happened: 'I met you in the morning, and then that evening, I get a call from Spectrum saying that they're waiving all the bills, manager Melanie Vandegrift said. 'They have zeroed out our balance. They said they welcome returning our services whenever we're ready. And they are letting the collections agency they hired know that we no longer have a balance with them.' A spokesman for Spectrum assured 8 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken that he would investigate. Hours later, Vandegrift said Spectrum called her to say they wiping out the early termination fees and working to lower the rest of the payment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Olympus Pools owner to face jury this week in fraud case
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The man at the center of a Better Call Behnken investigation into hundreds of unfinished pools in multiple Tampa Bay area counties heads to trial Monday on fraud and grand theft charges. James Staten, owner of Olympus Pools, faces 35 felony charges. The Florida Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution accuses him of abandoning his customers' pool projects and using $1.3 million of their money for his personal gain. If found guilty on all 35 counts, Staten faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. Hot tub company permanently shut down for scamming Floridians, Attorney General says State prosecutors said the case is about greed that led to fraud. Meanwhile, attorneys for Staten argue there was no intent to defraud customers and this is simply a case of poor business and what they call a 'civil matter.' Staten was arrested in August 2023 and has remained in jail, as his attorneys claim he has been unable to meet his more than $1 million bond. The original bond was set at $2.8 million. Staten is represented by the Office of Criminal Defense Attorney Rick Escobar, who has repeatedly said he believes his client is innocent. '… What the public needs to understand is that sometimes businesses go belly up and just because a business goes bankrupt and people lose money, that does not make it a crime,' Escobar said in an interview with Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken shortly after Staten's arrest in 2023. Woman fires shots at ex during custody exchange he brought his new girlfriend to: affidavit This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Charges include aggravated white-collar crime, organized scheme to defraud, 20 counts of grand theft, eight counts of missed application of construction funds, and five counts of contractor fraud. Better Call Behnken began looking into customers' complaints nearly four years ago as many complained they were encouraged to pay upfront in exchange for lower prices and faster service, but were left with dangerous holes in their backyards. Numerous customers also had liens placed on their homes by subcontractors who said Staten failed to pay them for work they completed on the projects. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
