The stove you have apparently was not designed by Arthur, nor anyone represented by his company. From what I've gathered, he owns the Wood Doctor name, and all he ever was was a middle man. He simply purchased boilers from a manufacturer for a certain price, then marked the price up when they were sold to you. He added on 29 extra years to the manufacturer's warranty, which any good business person knows is a prescription for failure. I've always maintained that the brand of gasifying stoves that carries the Wood Doctor name(not the stainless ones, but that's a whole 'nother story) are some of the finest built ones out there. If you maintain yours, I'll bet it will last for another 10-20 years.
I'm not entirely sure all of Arthur's shortcomings were all of his doings alone. I think things really started going down hill when he got tangled up with his business partner Rick F. I've talked to Rick many times on the phone, and looking back now I can say that he is probably the most consistent liar I've ever encountered. I deal with salesmen daily, and typically after a minute or two I can get a pretty good read off from them. I swallowed everything Rick said- hook,line sinker, and bobber. In my defense, I never got to look him in the eye though.
And...Dude(as my 10 year old would say), you are not stupid. You obviously just want to be able to trust others the same way you are trusted. We would all like to have that luxury. Unfortunately, with a planet full of Arthur Turples and Rick Fulchers, we all need to be wary more and more every day. I've been burned many times, and I'm sure I'm not done getting burned. We are definitely not stupid for having the desire to trust.