VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia Beach couple is taking an HVAC contractor to court, in a case we’ve been following now for several weeks.

The owner promised right on our air to remove their malfunctioning heating and cooling system and refund the $10,000 they paid for it, but hasn’t come through.

Joe and Toby Rissin say they haven’t heard from Antwain Chatman or his company, HCEC, in more than two weeks. He had said they’d have their money back by now.

They sent a demand notice earlier this week giving the company 48 hours to remove its system and refund their money.

“We haven’t heard from him, he never even called us, nothing. He just disappeared somewhere,” Toby Rissin said.

Disappeared, that’s what a Portsmouth couple and their roommate told us last week about HCEC, after they hired the company to renovate their kitchen.

A Virginia Beach woman we featured in July dealt with HCEC through her home warranty company. She told us it took Chatman’s firm nearly three months to get her AC running, and now two months later, it’s still not right.

A second contractor had to get involved, just like the Rissins’ situation.

The Rissins hired American Mechanical, and the company removed the HCEC equipment and installed a larger more compatible system for their home near Virginia Wesleyan University.

“American Mechanical was great, they are a fantastic company,” Toby Rissin said.

The new system is running more than $16,000, so they don’t want to let the $10,000 they’ve already paid HCEC get away.

“We’re going to court,” Joe Rissin said.

“I’m not gonna let him get away with this, especially now that I see so many other people that are having a problem also,” Toby Rissin said.

We reached out to Antwain Chatman but have not heard back. If the Rissins are successful in getting a judgment against him, they could qualify for reimbursement from the Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund in Richmond.