I'm not sure if I completely understand the issue, allow me to paraphrase and correct me if I'm off. Your friend had a cosmetic armor kit applied to an epic armor. That armor changed with U14 (likely stats were upgraded) and the cosmetic kit has disappeared. Your friend asked for some explanation through some channel (in game bug report/support ticket, etc) and has not received a satisfactory response.
Is that accurate?
Unfortunately, your best chance at resolution will likely be to call Customer Service. Fortunately, they now have a toll-free number.
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...29#post4574629
Hopefully you or your friend will be able to get this taken care of.