Man gets warranty he had paid for

Kendall Stock of Johns Island thought he was out of luck when the company that sold him a new air-conditioning system abruptly closed last year, leaving him holding a worthless 10-year warranty.

Stock paid $600 to Atlantic Air Restoration Systems of Mount Pleasant to obtain an extended warranty on the $8,200 Trane unit. When the unit required repairs, Stock learned that Trane wouldn't honor the warranty because Atlantic Air never paid it to secure the coverage.

By that time Atlantic Air was long gone, leaving disgruntled customers in its wake. Stock, 72, filed a complaint with the state Department of Consumer Affairs in December seeking to get his warranty honored, but agency officials told him there was nothing they could do.

In February Stock turned to Post and Courier Watchdog for help. Watchdog contacted Trane and spoke to a company official who was unaware of Stock's plight.

After the company was furnished with records documenting Stock's experience, Trane officials determined that he had acted in good faith. This month they provided him with a new warranty, said Jerianne Thomas, Trane's vice president of communications. The repairs to the unit also were paid for.

Stock said he was pleased with Trane's decision and grateful for Watchdog's assistance. But Stock wonders why the state consumer affairs agency couldn't have accomplished the same result sooner.

"You have to wonder why a taxpayer-funded organization that is supposed to be looking out for consumers didn't have enough sense to go to the corporate headquarters and get this resolved," he said

Donna DeMichael, the agency's director of consumer services, said the state had no reason to go to Trane. Neither Trane nor the distributor that provided the unit to Atlantic Air had any legal obligation to make good on the warranty.

His issue was with Atlantic Air, she said, and that company no longer existed. "It was kind of the end of the road for us," she said.

Stock still thinks the state could have done more. "If this is how they handle consumer complaints, then they're not doing very much for people."

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.