18 May 1997

Ms. Susan E. Piwinski
Customer Relations Representative
P.O. Box 4808
Carrier Parkway
Syracuse, New York 13221

Dear Ms. Piwinski,

When I wrote to Carrier corporation in the spring of 1995, I described the intermittent failure problems my two year-old Carrier furnace was having and requested that the warranty be extended. You denied that request. Despite repair efforts by the installer and the regional distributor, my furnace has continued to fail.

The furnace problems I experienced the past four winters have been extremely stressful and costly. While I have not been charged for repairs visits, I have had to repeatedly hire housesitters to check that the heat is on when I’m on travel. I have also spent an enormous number of hours trying to manually restart the furnace while I shiver in 45-55F temperatures, calling the installer to arrange yet another appointment, waiting for the installer to arrive and try to solve the problem, trying to find housesitters who are able to restart the furnace went it fails (this involves unscrewing the cover, mopping out the condensate, waiting for the burners to dry out, reinstalling the cover, and then manually restarting the furnace), trying to contact the regional distributor, and researching my legal rights. I am now spending time on the internet consumer newsgroups looking for others who have experienced similar furnace problems.

I am aware that Carrier has known about, and documented, serious problems with my model of furnace. Yet I have received no notice of these problems. I consider this negligence.

I have given ample time and opportunity for Carrier to correct its known problems with my furnace. Not only have I received no notice or warnings from Carrier regarding known problems with my furnace, my requests for paperwork describing the problems have been ignored and I have been treated very rudely by your regional distributor. Meanwhile, the inside of my furnace has continued to corrode due to the condensate build-up. To resolve this problem at this time, Carrier needs to provide me with either: 1) a totally new, working furnace with a lifetime warranty, installed at my convenience and at no cost to me; or 2) a full refund. At this time I do not plan to seek additional compensation for damages.

Sincerely,



[Customer's name]