PROGRESO - A Rio Grande Valley man wants a grass farm to pay for repairs after a forklift caused extensive damage to his truck’s tailgate.

Arnold Martinez said the dent came about when he bought grass at Valley Grass Farms in Progreso late November. He said a forklift loading a pallet of grass onto the bed of his pickup left a dent near the top of the tailgate.

“The guy lost control of the forklift, and it slammed into my tailgate and it made a dent,” he said. “I did get an estimate on this, and they told me it was about $755 to get it fixed.”

However, Martinez feels he shouldn’t spend a dollar since he didn’t cause the damage. He said the forklift operator told him to call the main office in Donna.

Martinez called right away and was told the company would look at the situation. After no one contacted him a week later, he called again.

“I said, ‘I would like to get it fixed. Otherwise, I’d have to call my insurance company and file a police report.’ And I left it at that,” he said. “When I called them later, they accused me of threatening them, and that they were not going to fix my truck.”

CHANNEL 5 NEWS went to Valley Grass Farm’s office in Donna. A woman in the office declined to speak on camera, and did not identify herself or her role with the company. She also declined our request for contact information for a manager or the owner.

We found out Valley Grass Farm is owned by Glen Johnson. There’s also a Glen listed as a contact person on the company’s website. We called the office several times, but they hung up on our last call. We also called Johnson and left him a message.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS visited the Donna office in person. A sign in the office stated customers are responsible for damage to their vehicles if they choose to have the grass placed on their trucks by the company. Martinez said he never stepped into the office, so he never saw any policy sign.

We went to the Progreso location and did not see any signs posting that information.

Martinez filed a report with the Better Business Bureau. Dolores Salinas, vice president of BBB’s South Texas office, said her office is waiting to hear from Grass Valley Farms in regards to Martinez’s complaint.

Salinas said it would serve the company’s interest to clarify their policy.

“It’s just good disclosure for them and their customers. I would think maybe the company should consider providing that at the place where the transactions are taking place, wherever the customer is receiving the products or services,” she said.

In the meantime, Martinez said he’ll wait to see if the company will pay for repairs.

Salinas added reports can take up to a month to be fully processed. So far, it’s been a week and a half since the report was filed.

If Valley Grass Farms fails to respond to the BBB’s report, Salinas said a “no response” report will be issued to the company for the next three years in their website.

Count on CHANNEL 5 NEWS to bring you the latest on this case.