The next winter, the furnace wasn't heating my house. They sent out a technician, who said the gas pressure was set incorrectly. It's a variable speed fan and a two-stage furnace.

They sent out a second person, and he said it was running at the first stage only and not kicking into the second stage. He adjusted it to run both stages.

I continued to have the same problem. I called the distributor in the area, and they sent out an American Standard Furnace-certified technician, who gave me a list of problems.

The furnace was wired incorrectly; the thermostat was wired for a two-stage and the furnace for a one-stage; the anticipator on the thermostat, gas pressure, and dip switches were set incorrectly; there were still plastic covers on the heat supply vents; the wrong filter was installed; and the first and second stages were programmed incorrectly.

I sent them a letter itemizing everything with a time line of when they first came to my house to when it was fixed by someone else. I haven't heard from them."

DESIRED RESOLUTION: "At the very least, I expect to be reimbursed for my out-of-pocket costs. In addition, Coffman recommended additional insulation in my home, which would have been unnecessary if the furnace was working correctly.

I paid additional funds for a certified technician, and I'll have to purchase an extended warranty for parts and labor from another company, since Coffman never registered my warranties with American Standard.

They also charged me for a programmable thermostat they never installed, and they never refunded the money for this thermostat.

I'd be willing to settle this matter for a minimum of $2,000."

STATUS: Penalty box