RACINE, Wis. — Several business owners in Racine are paying for heating and cooling systems, but are never receiving them.
For the last year, Noel Veltri's been trying to open her own business. However, things have been put on pause after she hired and paid thousands of dollars to a local HVAC company for an installation that never happened.
Veltri made a post on Facebook warning others not to use this company. TMJ4's Chief Investigative Reporter Jenna Rae was tagged in the post and started looking into it.
Veltri has been running a spray tanning business out of her home in Racine for years. Last year, she decided it was time for a new space.
"She kept saying 'that building right there', this specific one," Veltri's husband, Winston Bohorquez said.
"For years I wanted this one," Veltri echoed. "One day we were driving down the road and literally saw a for sale sign, and I went, 'it's for sale!'"
It was Veltri's dream location right on Washington Avenue. They bought the building at the end of 2024, but it needed a massive overhaul.
"I got in here, started cleaning everything up, started making calls to contractors, seeing for estimates and quotes," Bohorquez explained.
"Let's ask people, who have they used prior for heating and cooling, plumbing, etcetera, and on Facebook, I, out of five recommendations, three were for T & A, and they were family friends [who recommended them]," Veltri added.
Invoices show that in January 2025, Bohorquez and Veltri paid T & A Heating and Cooling more than $9,000 for a deposit toward a new furnace and mini-split system.
They say weeks went by after they paid that deposit.
"It was excuse after excuse. We're in March," Bohorquez said.
"It was 'my cousin's house burned down,' 'now my dad's in the hospital,' 'now I'm in the hospital,' 'now my child's in the hospital,'" Veltri added.
"'Now I'm in Texas,'" Bohorquez chimed in.
Watch: Local business owners claim unlicensed Racine contractor vanished after taking thousands
It's been a year since they paid that deposit, and T & A's owner has stopped responding to both Veltri and Bohorquez. They still have no HVAC system at all.
"I paid you for a service that isn't happening," Bohorquez said.
"How does that make you feel?" Chief Investigative Reporter Jenna Rae asked the couple.
"Saddened. Saddened for sure. I just want to be able to do what I love doing, and it's just put a damper on everything," Veltri responded.
Court records show T & A Heating and Cooling is run by Amanda Putzer-Gonzales, who also goes by Amanda Vara. She has no business license or professional HVAC contractor's license in Wisconsin.
Although friends of Bohorquez and Veltri had previously commented on Veltri's Facebook post with a link to T & A's Facebook page, the company doesn't appear to exist online anymore.
TMJ4 tried calling the phone number on several T & A customer invoices we have. It's the same number from which Bohorquez and Veltri were calling and texting Amanda on for months, but it's now out of service.
We also emailed the company asking to speak with Amanda.
She initially replied and asked us what the story was about. When we explained that we had talked with several of her customers who paid her and never received services, we never heard back.
Amanda's Facebook profile page says she's the former owner of T & A Heating and Cooling, so we sent her a message there.
After that message, we were blocked and can no longer view Amanda's profile.
"Why was it important for you guys to talk with us about this," Rae asked Bohorquez and Veltri.
"If I can prevent that from happening to somebody else, even if it is $200, $500, I don't care, any money saved from someone else from her getting, worth it," Veltri said.
Bohorquez and Veltri have repeatedly asked Amanda for a refund. After she stopped responding to their messages, they came to us hoping to recoup some of that money.
When we started digging into Amanda and T & A, we learned Bohorquez and Veltri weren't the only ones ghosted after paying a deposit or the only ones trying to get their money back.
Tuesday, February 3rd, you'll hear from Miranda Young. We will also share how you can protect yourself if you're ever in a situation like this.
If you have a tip or something you want Jenna Rae to investigate, email her at Jenna.Rae@tmj4.com.
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