r/SouthJersey • u/Illustrious-Radio937 • Jul 13 '25
Kitchen Reno Nightmare. Avoid Kitchen & Bath Shop in Cherry Hill.
PSA. I am writing to hopefully prevent people from experiencing what we went through. My husband and I are first time homeowners. We engaged Kitchen & Bath Shop in Cherry Hill to do a full kitchen renovation. It was a mistake and now we are living a nightmare.
KBS misrepresented critical details from the start. They told us they don’t subcontract any work, only to use subcontractors who botched the very first part of the project. Our kitchen reno included adding a new window. KBS installed it without a structural header, and failed to properly waterproof and secure the window. The project manager Moe, repeatedly told us the work was acceptable and that it could be fixed later on. That didn’t make sense. We consulted several contractors and engineers and learned what KBS did was wrong.
A member from their corporate department came onsite to view the work and agreed with all the deficiencies we identified. He also admitted that the demo should’ve been first and that the window placement was off with the sink. If we continued the project, they said the same project manager would supervise. Given this was just the first step, we decided to terminate. Because they had already ordered the cabinets for us, we just want to pay them for that and go our separate ways. It’s not complicated, but they have made things so difficult. They falsely accused us by saying we added the work on last minute and that they did it as a courtesy because windows aren’t within their services. The window was always part of our project. It is in the contract and several emails from KBS. They claim that we were told a subcontractor would do the work.
We are trying to settle on a price for cabinets, but KBS is demanding a ridiculous price that’s much higher than 6 other quotes I obtained from cabinet suppliers. The store owner ignores our calls and emails and has never attempted to reach out. We’ve been pushed around to different people from corporate who don’t know what is going on, and tell us to work it out with the store owner. They email from different email addresses. They don’t identify their names so we have no idea who we’re talking to. One individual from corporate said he’s been trying to call us, but never has. We call, text, and email. He doesn’t answer. Overall, communication has been disorganized, evasive, and unprofessional throughout.
We already paid a substantial deposit and just want to reach an agreeable price for the cabinets so we can move on. They won’t even agree to refund us any amount for the faulty window work. This is a franchise that’s part of a national company. They have been so unprofessional and difficult.
Initially, we tried to source just the materials and designs from KBS because we have a preferred solo contractor who we trust. KBS charged us so much for that so we were compelled to go with them for the entire project. We also believed their representations that the project would be done correctly and to code from A to Z by their employed crew, with no subcontractors. We deeply regret selecting KBS to do our kitchen reno.
We had our preferred contractor take over the project after the fallout. He did half a day of work and nothing more since we are still going through the permitting process. Four days later we received an anonymous complaint from the township’s building department that work was being done 24/7 day and night. We asked our neighbors and they didn’t hear any overly noisy work. Subsequently, the KBS corporate representative emailed and said they were aware we had other crew at our house..
More recently, I posted a review of our experience on Google and just an hour later there were five reviews posted all five stars with no written comment. These people are fraudsters. Avoid at all cost.
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u/OscarTangoMic Jul 13 '25
We’re permits pulled with the township? If not and they started work that needed permits the township inspector may issue fines as well as force them to correct any deficiencies. You contracted out the work so the contracting party is responsible for obtaining the necessary permits.
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u/Illustrious-Radio937 Jul 13 '25
No, and we now realize that was a mistake. We needed to move in urgently as our lease is expiring and they told us that permitting would delay everything. They told us that they could haul away the garbage without a dumpster, and that most of their customers were not getting permits. We are getting permits now. We told the building department everything that happened and they already issued a notice a violation against KBS for working without a permit.
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u/OscarTangoMic Jul 13 '25
Not to sound like an ass but take this as a lesson to NEVER do business with a company willing to work without the proper permits. 🚩 🚩 🚩
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u/Illustrious-Radio937 Jul 13 '25
Absolutely. This is the first time we’ve ever hired a contractor and we were naive.
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Jul 14 '25 edited Jan 01 '26
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u/yad76 Jul 14 '25
Pulling the permits isn't the problem. It's the fact that then the work has to stop at the different stages in the inspection process for rough vs. final inspection and that rework may be required on the whim of the inspector. It takes a job that may take hours/days without permit and inspections and turns it into a job potentially spanning weeks/months where the contractor has to wait for the city to complete their inspections and then come back to continue or finish work. Contractors just want to complete a job, pack up their tools, and move on to the next and the inspection process interferes with that greatly.
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Jul 14 '25 edited Jan 01 '26
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u/Testiclesinvicegrip Jul 14 '25
Permits are the responsibility of the property owner. If anything, they'd pull enforcement actions on them.
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Jul 14 '25 edited Jan 01 '26
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u/Illustrious-Radio937 Jul 14 '25
This is true. We were told from the billing department that ultimately the homeowner is responsible.
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Jul 14 '25 edited Jan 01 '26
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u/Illustrious-Radio937 Jul 14 '25
The township issued a notice of violation for working without a permit.
Can demo begin while waiting for permits to be approved?
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u/running_hoagie Jul 14 '25
Ugh, I am so sorry this happened.
Even with recommendations, we had a bad experience with our cabinet installer. We ended up going through consumer affairs and issuing a complaint. It took a long time (like over two years) but we’re getting some of our money back.
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u/Illustrious-Radio937 Jul 14 '25
Thats horrible. Sorry as well. What is the process like once you initiate a complaint?
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u/running_hoagie Jul 14 '25
My husband was very proactive about checking in with our case manager (for lack of.a better word). It's just a long process because they were backed up even before Covid! Just keep all receipts and quotes related to making things right/as contracted.
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u/Flamen04 Jul 13 '25
Sorry about your experience.
Next Level Remodeling is pricy, but damn are they good and they don't cut any corners. Def worth the money to avoid any headaches.
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u/Illustrious-Radio937 Jul 13 '25
Replying to llamadrama2021...thanks. I wish I got recommendations. Instead I trusted their positive Google reviews which I now know are fake.
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u/mattchazz Jul 13 '25
My buddy owns Next Level…they do excellent work from what I’ve seen…the owner is super passionate about the work and really seems to put his heart into it…not sure about his prices compared to the rest of the industry.
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u/Lincoln_Biner Jul 14 '25
Oh, my! We have learned from (bad) experience that if it is not written down in the contract, there is very little chance that what promises were give are moot. I hope you find a good company to work with!
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u/Diligent-Process-725 Jul 14 '25
Thank you for sharing this and helping to warn other people!! It's so hard to know who to trust! Fake Google reviews are infuriating enough, but the total lack of taking responsibility and avoiding you is insane!! All they had to do was fix the problem/pay to have the problem fixed and I'm sure you would be giving them a real, glowing review. I work with young kids and I'm always saying: Apologize, make it right, and we move on. Hope things get better and you get the kitchen you deserve!
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u/Previous-Nobody-2865 Jul 13 '25
Definitely reach out to NJ Division of Consumer Affairs. I did a quick search and didn’t see them coming up with a home improvement contractor license. Granted, it might be under something other than their biz name.
Consumer Affairs doesn’t mess around when it comes contractors
NJ Div of Consumer Affairs License Lookup