Crooked cabinets

Take the money and run. At least, until you’re caught. 

Every professional woodshop has heard horror stories about subpar work and unreliability of some shops. They give the good shops a bad name, making it difficult for even the best makers to gain customers’ trust. 

Then, there are some that allegedly break the law. Fortunately, they’re rare, but every so often one comes along that just boggles the mind, leaving one to wonder, “What were they thinking?”  

That appears to be the case with Affordable Kitchens & Baths in St. Peters, Mo. 

Going back as far as 2022, some angry customers started complaining of checks for cabinet work being cashed, but no work was done. Somehow, over the next two years the business managed to sidestep complaints while doing legitimate work. 

But by the end of 2024 the number of complaints had piled up. Police and county prosecutors became involved, and last month the owner and manager of Affordable Kitchens and Baths were charged in connection with a fraud case involving 14 victims who police alleged conned the clients out of more than $200,000. 

This is definitely a what were they thinking scenario. How did they ever believe they could do business as usual, along with the occasional con job, and continue to get away with it? No clue. I have no idea how the criminal mind works. 

And it’s too bad. Although their professional website has disappeared, their Facebook page is still up. I looked through some of their photos, and it appears that they did some pretty nice work. Had they just kept doing that, there wouldn’t be another black mark against the industry.