Durham homeowner faces warranty woes

DURHAM (WTVD) -- A Durham woman is facing costly HVAC repairs after she discovered the limited warranty on her unit was never activated.

Cynthia Kirby's HVAC was on the fritz causing temperatures to rise in her home.

She called a technician to diagnose the issue, and that's when she said the technician asked her if the unit had been registered for a warranty.

Not knowing the answer to this question, Cynthia went online to the manufacturer's website to check her warranty status and found out her HVAC unit had never been registered.

Cynthia claims she had never been informed she needed to register her HVAC unit when she moved into her new construction home built by Beazer Homes.

"You're telling me, as a homeowner, I should have done it, but Beazer never informed me as a homeowner I should have done it," she said.

When Cynthia closed on her new construction home back in 2010, she claimed Beazer failed to mention that she needed to submit a warranty for the unit.

She still has all of her paperwork from the construction of her home and closing, and she said there is no mention of the steps she needs to take when it comes to her HVAC warranty anywhere.

She reached out to Beazer and received an email from a representative stating they had reached out to the manufacturer to see if they would make an exception, but the answer was no.

Frustrated that she was unable to get anywhere, Cynthia reached out to me.

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After I reached Beazer, Cynthia got good news. A representative with Goodman reached out to Cynthia and said they were able to register her HVAC unit for the unlimited 10-year warranty, which in turn she said will save her hundreds of dollars.

A representative from Beazer said:

"We are pleased that Goodman agreed to extend its HVAC limited warranty to Mr. and Mrs. Kirby for a total warranty period of ten years. Beazer's protocol in Raleigh is to provide all new homeowners with a copy of the Goodman extended warranty flyer at or around the time of closing, and that has been our protocol since approximately 2009. We have seen nothing to indicate that we intentionally departed from that protocol in the past. It is possible of course that we may have inadvertently not provided the information to a particular homeowner in the past, and in that event, we are confident that Goodman will address the situation appropriately, such as they did for Mr. and Mrs. Kirby. If not, Beazer will. We have apologized to Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, our homeowners, for the confusion, and we are glad that Goodman was willing to extend it's HVAC limited warranty to Mr. and Mrs. Kirby."

A representative from Goodman said, "The procedures for the registration of a limited warranty on Goodman brand products is clearly stated in the limited warranty certificate, product brochures and other materials that are readily available to the public. I am glad to hear that the concerns originating from the Kirby family have been resolved to their satisfaction."

As for Cynthia, she's happy that she now has coverage.

"I'm glad I contacted you because we wouldn't even have the parts covered," said Cynthia as she thanked me for the help getting the warranty for her unit.

The important lesson from this story is whenever you get a new appliance or move into a new home, check out what you need to do to make sure you're protected when it comes to the warranties offered.