Frankfort Contractor Slammed By Customers, Police Reports Filed

FRANKFORT, IL — Several Will County residents have spent months filing complaints, police reports, lawsuits and even staged a protest outside a Frankfort contractor's home and business, saying he either did not complete clients' jobs or did shoddy work. Some customers have even filed police reports accusing William Vranicar, the owner of Express Kitchen and Bath and now Top Notch Counters in Frankfort, of not finishing projects or doing poor work and not returning any money.

The Will County Sheriff's Office said it received a report against Vranicar in July, and the Shorewood Police Department received a report in September, but no charges have been filed against him.

Patch spoke to Donna Theimer, who hired Express Kitchen and Bath, for a bathroom remodel project. Theimer and her husband met with Vranicar shortly thereafter, and gave him a check for $9,000 to secure a start date in August 2019.

As work began, several problems began to arise, and after several issues, Theimer met with Vranicar and said he was no longer allowed on her property. She said Vranicar became angry when he was shown photos of the issues the couple had with the work done, and eventually her and her husband left the store.

Theimer said she called the police, because the couple wanted to collect the items they had paid for but not received. The officer spoke to Vranicar, and told Theimer they could get their cabinets since they were custom. Theimer said they contacted Vranicar to find out when their cabinets would arrive, and he told them they weren't getting anything.

Theimer later had her bathroom finished by another company.

Marianne Martinez shared a similar story, saying she had Express Kitchen and Bath do a kitchen remodel for $33,000. She paid $12,000 up front and the work was supposed to be finished in three weeks.

The workers demolished the kitchen in one day, and Martinez paid an additional $12,000, she told Patch in an email. The next day, an electrician came to rewire the kitchen and cut through a thermostat wire, leaving her with no heat. She paid a heating and cooling company, and she said Vranicar agreed to reimburse her. Work continued, and Martinez said paint was splashed all over her brick archway, and that once again, Vranicar agreed to fix it.

After that, no work was done for several weeks, until eventually flooring was installed after much convincing, Martinez said. On March 3, Martinez attempted to send a message through Facebook to Express Kitchen and Bath, and found that the page was gone.

"It was gone. I asked a colleague to look for it, gone. I emailed Bill to ask what was going on. He told me that he had to shut down the business but really wanted to finish the work. I asked for a refund, and he told me good luck getting money from a company that does not exist," she told Patch in an email.

Martinez later hired another contractor to finish the job. A water line and exhaust fan had to be moved, and the electric work had to be done.

Vranicar's business is now called Top Notch Counters and is located at 9500 W. Manhattan Monee Road in Frankfort, according to the Better Business Bureau website.

According to the Will County Clerk of the Circuit Court website, there are also several open civil lawsuits against Vranicar, Express Cabinetry and Top Notch Counters. One of the suits was filed in February for damages between $15,000 and $50,000, and the next court date is Dec. 4. A second lawsuit filed in February for damages between $10,000 and $15,000 entered judgement status in June. Capital One Bank has also filed an arbitration suit against Vranicar and Express Cabinetry in November.

Patch attempted to reach out to Vranicar through his business' website but did not receive a response.