KRGV.com

DONNA - An elderly woman says an air-conditioning company took her money and never completed the job.

Andrea Sarmiento told 5 On Your Side she is out of $4,400. All she has to show for that money are holes in her ceiling.

"It was an emergency to me because it's so hot, and I was going to have surgery," Sarmiento said.

She called HVAC Smart Systems. They gave her an estimate for more than $6,000. She said it took her months to save the first payment of $4,400.

"I had trouble saving that money and then I called a man, he came and he took it and never came back," Sarmiento said.

Marco Antonio de la Paz, owner of HVAC Smart Systems, sent someone else to do the job. They cut holes in the ceiling for vents and left.

Fiberglass now pours out of those holes.

"The only job they did and they didn't do it right," Sarmiento said.

The contractor told Sarmiento the job would be finished in two days. She has waited more than a month.

"I call him all week, all this week, all last week I talk to him about two Fridays ago, and he said he was going to come on Monday," Sarmiento said.

De la Paz did not show up on Monday. Sarmiento called 5 On Your Side.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS called De la Paz on two different telephone numbers he gave Sarmiento. There was no response.

His business address is a home in McAllen. A CHANNEL 5 NEWS crew went to the home to speak with De la Paz. There was no answer.

"Now the summer's almost over and no work has been finished and she's wondering what's going to happen now," said Dolores Salinas with the Better Business Bureau.

The BBB stepped in and gave the company an F rating.

"They have a complaint that's been filed on them, they didn't respond to us, and they didn't respond to their customer," Salinas said.

Sarmiento said she has no ill-will toward the man who took her money. She just wants the job finished.