"Hot" Couple Gets Duped By Phony Contractor

  7 ON YOUR SIDE

May 3 - KGO (KGO) -- Imagine the hottest day of the year -- you have relatives over and suddenly your air conditioner konks out. Michael Finney explains what happened when a Bay Area family found themselves sweltering.

When you're in a desperate situation like that, it's not the best time to go looking for a repairman. That's what a Danville couple found out when they wound up hiring a contractor with a phony license number and got more grief than relief.

It was the middle of last summer's big heat wave. Rodney and Natalie Worth had just moved into their Danville home. Relatives were staying over, and boom, the air conditioner went bust.

Natalie Worth, Danville: "We had two babies six months old each, and the our two and a half year old also, so the house was nearly 105 degrees."

They called Fidelity National, their home warranty company, but it was a weekend and Fidelity couldn't send anyone to fix it.

Rodney Worth, Danville: "We were sitting in the backyard all night long, spraying each other with a hose. We just had our feet in a children's pool."

Finally, Rodney Worth went online and found Azziwad Heating and Air Conditioning of Hayward. The company arrived the next day with a five-ton unit, and installed it for $3,600 dollars.

Rodney Worth, Danville: "It ran great."

But while the house cooled down, problems heated up. The warranty company wanted Azziwad's invoices and receipts before it would reimburse the couple. Azziwad wouldn't provide it.

Rodney Worth, Danville: "I've called probably 20 times and they keep saying, 'okay, we'll send you the receipts, we'll send you this, we'll send you that' and they never do."

It turns out Azziwad does not have a contractor's license required by law for installing these appliances. The license number on Azziwad's invoice is actually a phony.

Rick Lopes, Contractors Licensing Board: "The company you're talking about is not licensed by the state so they should not be performing this kind of work. We have received a number of complaints. We are in the middle of investigating right now."

After months of calls from 7 on Your Side, Azziwad owner Adrian Bdungu finally talked to us by phone.

He declined comment on why he's working without a license. He said his workers did a good job. And finally, almost a year later, he did provide the necessary paperwork to 7 on Your Side.

We gave that paperwork to Fidelity National, and to their credit, Fidelity did reimburse the couple the full $3,600 dollars. It was a happy ending but also a warning. Summer's coming up so check your air conditioner now and be sure to check out your contractor.

Here are some ways you can check to see if your contractor is legit.