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Consumer Affairs


Is this your Business?

American Home Shield


Consumer Complaints & Reviews

It seems like a good idea -- prepaid home maintenance, basically a service contract or extended warranty on your house.

The AHS booklet states, "Commitment to your total satisfaction" "That's why we back every job we do with the unique money-back guarantee shown on the back of your home warranty" ... "AHS guarantees that all approved covered service repairs will be completed to your satisfaction. If for any reason you are not satisfied with that service received, we will work with you until you are satisfied or we will refund the trade service fee."

Unfortunately, consumers tell us it often doesn't work out that way, as David Wood reports in his report, . The complaints to the right break it all down into neat little categories ... whereas those below sort of sum it up.

I have this company for 7 years. I had to use my contract only a few times. But when I did, it would always take weeks to get someone to come fix the item. Now, they refuse to fix my a/c, not even replace or half the cost of this unit. I have spent $600 a year for a warranty that I can't use. When I got this contract, they said, "No matter what happens to the appliances in your house, we will either fix it or replace it. No questions asked." Well, that's a lie! When my refrigerator went out, it took them 3 days to get a new one (summer time). And, the one I got was dented and scratched!

Also, I paid $1500 out of my pocket for a new furnace. They said they would only pay $200! It took 3 days to get a new one. I live in Wisconsin! Winters are very cold and I have children. I asked about a hotel or some heaters. They said, "Not our problem!" Really, what good is a contract if you're not going to fix anything? Waste of money that I could have saved!

On May 6, 2012, I discovered my AC unit was not working. I called American Home Shield and placed an order to have a tech assess the problem. Three days later, a technician from Piedmont Mechanical arrived at my home and went to the backyard where the unit is located. The tech tested the electrical outlet only and said the unit was not working due to the circuit breaker was faulty. The technician never looked inside the air unit to see if there was other possible reasons for the system to not work. He recommended an electrician to asses the issue. The tech called American Home Shield that same day to send an electrician. On Friday, May 11, an electrician came out and discovered my electrical system was working at the proper voltage. The electrician called Piedmont Mechanical and American Home Shield informed them that the electrical system was working perfectly.

At that point, American Home Shield called Piedmont Mechanical to come back out on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 to assess the problem again only this time, the tech decided to open the unit and discovered the entire unit need to be replaced. It took American Home Shield 24 hours to approve for a new air conditioning unit and ordered the unit Thursday. Still today, my unit has not been fixed and I have lived in my home for over 17 days without air with a temperature of 85-90 degrees in Atlanta, GA weather conditions. American Home Shield will not and cannot accommodate any urgency service and told me it was out of their control.

The other issue is I took a total of 4 days off thinking this matter will get resolved and now my job is on the line as I have no more days off to have this done. If only Piedmont Mechanical would have done the job right in the first place, I would not have had such a negative customer experience. The worst part is there is nothing I can do as a customer to be compensated for such inconvenience and right now, I have a headache and not feeling well and still no air in my home. It should not take 15 plus days for an air conditioning unit to be replaced. This is the worst customer experience I have ever had. I have several friends who have American Home Shield and they are ready to cancel.

In March of 2011, they had cancelled a policy which I held for 8 years. They claimed they made a mistake. I didn't know it until May 2011. They were double billing me and till this day, refuse to straighten it out. I need help in this matter badly. I wish someone would do something about it.

I have had AHS for over 4 years now. In this time frame, I have only used them a handful of times and it never fails, there is always a problem. I pay my $60 service charge and the contractor calls in the repair and AHS says there is no coverage for the item. Now I always call in and explain in detail what the problem is and they say it's covered and sending someone out. They get there and guess what? All of a sudden, it's not covered and I'm still responsible for the co-pay. When I called AHS to discuss the issue, of course, they have no record of me speaking to anyone about my particular issue. They are seriously ripping people off. I cancelled my contract today!

AC unit broke down. They refused to replace unit, fix the existing one or even email me or telephone me.

First time calling in, been on hold over fifteen minutes, tried placing service call online, their preferred service request website. System down, response - apologize for system error. I was warned about this company and previous reviews, should have listened. Their service response is awful!

My A/C is not cooling. AHS contractors could never come out on time. I ended up calling another contractor and paying out of pocket. Just now I called a contractor who is with AHS, he could come out today before he found out I am with AHS. Once he found out I am with AHS, he can't come out till Wednesday, 4 days away! How about the wait time on the phone? I have been on the phone 39 minutes. Still waiting! This has consumed all my weekend, calling them back over again to find a contractor who can come out earlier.

They gave me a contractor that does not answer the phone, nor can I leave a message for them. AHS tells me ten days to get a part (refrigerator). This is not what I paid for or was told.

I was already upset that I had not had a claim, and already, they were raising my rates and my co-pay. Then, my ice maker started leaking. I called on 4-25-12 to report it and was told that Sears would call me the next day. Well, 4 days passed with no call. So I called back and was told it would be 5-15-12 before Sears could get out. Thank God, it was not my water heater leaking. So I called 4-30-12 to cancel my coverage, since it is worthless. I was told they would charge me $30 to cancel my contract 9 days early! I feel they were trying to push my repair date to after my renewal, so I would then have to pay more.

Garage door opener trolley got twisted because stop was corroded and couldn't lift the door. Spring is only 3 years old. Tech came out and wrote 2 remarks. Door was too heavy (surprise, I didn't know the door can gain weight, it has been the same door for 20 years) and neutral lift stays open on its own (probably due to corrosion). He also wrote "door needs to be weighted". AHS denied claim against door opener because they said the door gained weight. Last year, they denied claim on outside A/C because parts were also corroded due to water hitting parts. Hello, it's an outside unit. They take your money and never pay on claims.

I am with this company for 11 years and they cannot handle even the slightest issues without major problems.

My toilet backed up and the guy can't find my main clean out. He said I had to install at over $1,000. I called a competent guy and he found and resolved my problem. Of course, I had to pay my $65 service fee and the new guy. This was Friday, I ended up having to stay at a hotel for 2 nights at another $250 as apparently a toilet isn't a necessity for AHS, which is really surprising as the all full of crap!

Last Friday, I have a water heater problem, no issue as long as I didn't need hot water for more than 3 days, Tuesday before it is resolved. I asked them why I have no email confirmation and asked to re-email the confirmation. Monica ** in Tennessee, a supervisor, told me she isn't "required" to resend. I found out they average the charges from the service provides and lowest average gets the calls. So the guy who does the least to fix something is rewarded with more business. What a waste of money and I feel foolish they have taken me for many years.

After being a customer with AHS for quite a while, we refinanced. Consequently, we had to inform AHS so that the premium would not be deducted through our mortgage and that we would like to pay through our credit card. The nice lady on the phone mentioned that our outdoor spa would not be covered since it is not built into the ground (it's built into the deck) and that she would recommend that I contact their finance department to get the amount from the last year reimbursed. What a great service, I thought! Oh well, was I mistaken. She had to close our old contract and open a new one. That being said, the finance department denied my request of reimbursement. I called, wrote letters, etc. Finally, I gave up.

Now, we decided that we don't want to have this insurance anymore. I called to cancel. That was in February. The service rep did not cancel the existing contract. He only cancelled the new contract as of May 5th. I noticed the charge on my credit card and called them again. They said that they have to listen to the call to ensure that I really wanted to cancel both contracts and they will contact me again. Of course, I am now in the same situation as I was at the beginning. Nobody ever called me back. I am so angry with this company. What a hoax. People should be aware of these practices. I just hope that the contract is over in May and that I really don't have to ever deal with them again. How they can be still in business is a big mystery to me.

First of all, I want to complain about AHS' total lack of customer service. Phone wait time anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and then they just hang up on you. Service requests are less than timely, anywhere from 2 weeks to make the service call. They seem to use Sears for all their repairs and everyone knows that Sears is notorious for poor customer service. So, I have a tenant with an unusable dishwasher for over 3 months now and still waiting for AHS contractors to submit info to AHS. I sell and manage many homes and will be absolutely certain to tell everyone I contact not to use AHS. I just found out that there is a class action suit against this company. I guess I am not the only one.

I have AHS and my daughter had Old Republic Home Warranty. My daughter had to pay annually for the first year then automatic draft after that. She got considerably better service through ORHW and they actually replaced the items they said they would in their contract, regardless of installation previously. They truly represent customer satisfaction! I would suggest trying to purchase their warranty.

We purchased our home Feb 15, 2012. We have had 4 service issues that were not covered: 1. Electrical outlets not working. We were told that wasn't covered. 2. Washing machine not operating correctly. We were told that wasn't covered 3. Another electrical issue was not covered, which is unrelated to earlier problem. 4. Roof leak not covered.

We have requested a cancellation of the said policy and full refund. So far, there is no response. The previous owners paid $400 and we paid $50 additional for supposed better coverage. This business is a total scam.

I am very dissatisfied with this company (American Home Shield) AHS 100%. They take the premium for the coverage and when you need anything repaired, they will never fix it. They hire shady contractors that do not favor the consumer in any way and they work with the insurance companies so that no repairs can be done under the insurance contract. I have few problems this year and every time I called them, they find a way not to fix the problem. For example, I had a faulty electrical outlets that did not work due to problems with the circuit breaker. When I called AHS, they sent their electrical contractor and he said that everything was fine and working, but that is totally untrue, and he did not do a good inspection.

The city code inspector went to check the home and found that the electrical outlets are not working, and a faulty switch breaker. That is completely the opposite of what the AHS contractor had said. I do not trust this company at all or their contractors. I am requesting that those outlets to be repaired as well as the switch breaker. I will be filing this complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I do not recommend this company to anyone and will not renew the insurance policy with them. It was a big mistake to get this insurance since they tell you that they will fix anything till you buy it, and then good luck trying to make them do repair service!

I have had AHS warranty since 2005. They auto draft a monthly payment on the 30th of each month. Every year when my contract has come up for renewal, I have received a notice in the mail. This year, however, my contract renewed in February but I did not receive notification. Last night while looking over my checking account, I noticed they had debited my account on March 21st for $43.95. My payment is supposed to be $39.95. I called AHS to find out why the increase and why the early draft. I was told my contract had renewed in February and my monthly premium had increased. I was also told the draft was actually late because they did not receive payment in February so it was February's payment on 21st March. I was told they would be taking another $43.95 out on March 30th. AHS never notified me of the contract renewal or the double payment.

My contract with American Home Shield ended in October 2011. Normally, when I don't renew by then, they cancel me and I would have to renew. This time, they are continuing to bill me even though I have not renewed. Now they claim I have to cancel. I have cancellations letters from them in the past and further, I also called and canceled and they told me it was not accepted over the phone when I called them a week before my plan ended. They are scamming me now by sending me to a collection agency called Transworld System in Chesterfield, MO 63017 314-514-2670.

I have been with AHS for about two years and find their service and support to the worst I have ever seen and fully support a class action lawsuit. I called AHS of Friday March 2 at about 7ish and requested an emergency work order on my AC unit in the attic. I turned the system off to stop the water leak. AHS said that they placed the emergency work order and would have someone call within two hours, no calls. March 3, very cold in the house with a six-week old baby. I called and ask for a status update and to speak with a supervisor. "Okay, no one can take your service call. Can you call someone local and have them call us (AHS)?" I explained to them that I was not an AHS marketing rep and it's not my job to locate vendors to make repairs. It's AHS' job. They stated I could pay for it and get reimbursed. I have been down that road with AHS, not again. I told them no. AHS finds the repairmen, not me. After three times calling Saturday, March 3rd, I still have no services provided to an emergency work request.

March 4th, I called again and got told that AHS would call and get a status update and call back within two hours. No calls. I called and was told that the company would be calling me and making arrangements. I got no calls but called them and no answer from them so I called AHS and explained no answer from the vendor. They said, "We will call you in two hours." I spoke to a supervisor and explained the situation, "We're sorry, sir. We will call you in two hours." No call. Monday, I called and explained that due to AHS and their vendor not servicing the problem in a timely manner that the sheet rock on the ceiling was coming down from the water leak. AHS responded, "We are sorry, sir. We do not cover secondary damages." If they would have serviced the issue in a timely manner, we would not have secondary damages. I have had enough of AHS and their in ability to service the customer which causes further damages to the home. An emergency work order is just that, an emergency. Please spread the word that AHS is nothing but a scam and is nothing but a money theft ring. I will be calling the Georgia Department of Insurance Commissioner and filing a formal complaint.

My annual contract was changed and no one notified me. They just kept on charging my credit card on file without telling me they were changing the service call fees from $45 to $75. I tried cancelling the contract but they just kept passing me from department to department for 45 minutes. I expect a full refund and my contract cancelled as of last year.

I am a 65 year old female, who is disabled/retired, living on a fixed income. I started with these people when I bought my house in Dec. 2007. This insurance was recommended to me by the Realtor who handled the transaction. The only payments available were yearly (which I could not afford to do), or automatic withdrawal monthly by AHS, so I had to give them my bank information. At that time, I ask if they could set the withdrawal date for the 15th of each month, since that was when my disability check arrived.

I didn't notice a problem until Oct. 2010 when my contract would automatically renew, when my bank statement showed two payments were withdrawn. I contacted them, with profuse apologies they agreed not to charge me again until the next payment in Dec. 2010. But they never explained what happened.

Fast forward to Oct. 2011, at this time, they did the same exact thing, two withdrawals in one month, six days apart. Because I run a very tight budget, this time, it threw me into an overdraft, since both payments bounced. My bank charged me $60.00 in NSF fees. I wanted to know how this happened again. It seems my actual contract renewed on Oct. 22nd, but they took a payment on the 15th and again on the 22nd. So they blamed me. I thought when they agreed to move the withdrawal date to the 15th, that meant my contact date would also be moved. But, no, it stayed the same, so that every Oct. they would take two payments and had I not requested for my contract to bill on the 15th, there would be no problem.

I still don't understand this business practice, but I told them I expected them to return my second payment and reimburse the NSF fees. Six different "customer care specialists", which included the department supervisor, agreed. I did receive a check for the second payment. But I continued to go back and forth with only getting excuses.

After fighting with them until Jan. 2012, I finally realized it wasn't going to happen and I would just forget about it. So luck would have it, the very next day, I received a notice in the mail announcing a class action law suit against and I was eligible to participate. If any of you folks are interested to file a claim, go to ** and follow the directions. After seeing how many complaints were voiced, these folks need to be run out of business. If they would do this to an elderly, disabled person, they'd do it to anybody.

There are lots of long hold times to get to customer service, when you are cancelling your contract. Then, they say that only Accounting Services, which is open from 8AM to 5PM, Mondays-Fridays, has the authority to cancel the contract. Working people do not have time for long holds from their job. Even if you are lucky to get through, they say that we do not send email confirmation for cancellation of contracts. The official letter would come in the mail in 14-21 business days. 5 weeks went by, and I haven't received the letter yet. We learned that Accounting Services has not yet received your cancellation notice, because you did not speak to them directly.

Somehow, they still do not have your cancellation request, and therefore the bill will still continue coming to your address. You will get the invoices for 2-3 cycles, threatening to report to a national collection agency, if invoices are not paid. It has been a nightmare to cancel a contract, or have them remove your credit card information from their file. Good luck. I would never recommend them for the aggravation I have been through, just for them to simply remove my credit card information, and cancel my contract. They do not even acknowledge your written request, and they do not send confirmation of cancellation over the email, in contrast to the enrollment procedure, which takes place in just a few minutes, and everything is done electronically.

As a result of Hurricane Irene, I had $27,000 worth of damage to my basement. After a week or so, I had mold growing in my basement. Balboa gave me a verbal okay to get the mold remediation done. A claims adjustor came out and I gave them the bill, which was about $7,000. After Balboa finished processing my claim, they told me that they were only going to be able to give me $5,000! Are you kidding me? That didn't even cover the mold remediation, or any of my personal belongings. I lost almost everything in my basement, furniture, fitness equipment, clothes, shoes, etc. Balboa didn't cover the cost of any of this. I got stuck with the balance of the mold remediation bill that I am still paying to this day. Thank God they are working with me and letting me pay them a little every month. I'm now in the process of repairing my basement a stage at a time and paying for it out of my pocket. I am canceling Balboa ASAP!

I thought I had a stoppage in my bathroom plumbing line. I called American Home Shield (AHS) and asked them to send a plumber. I knew that would be near impossible because all the plumbers I had talked to in my area refused to do business with them. At any rate AHS told my they would try to locate a plumber within 2 hrs, if unsuccessful I could use my own plumber. AHS couldn't find anyone. I called my local plumber that I have used for many years. He came out and took a look and told me that I had a breakage under my house due to wear and raw sewage was leaking under there as well as methane gas which is the by product of raw sewage.

I called AHS and told them this information. My plumber also called them and spent an hour on the phone with them trying to make them understand the danger this posed to my home and health. He also submitted an estimate. I was told by rep that I would need a second opinion. I agreed to that. She told me she would have to locate a plumber to come out. She actually found someone then. So this guy, Larry, comes out, looks under my house and runs a snake out toward the road. What he pulls out may or may not be a small piece of clay pipe, definitely not roots. He tells me my line is clear and if there is a breakage it should be fine because of the soil around it... really?

I called my original plumber to tell him that they had fixed it and that it was just a stoppage. He tells me, no. There are multiple breaks under your house and you are at risk. The second plumber will need to run a camera under the house to see it, not just shine a flashlight. Here is a quote from my plumber" Had a Customer in Rockdale call about a stoppage. Upon arrival, I checked under his house to find raw sewage in a couple of major areas. His buried sewer line under the house was cast iron and falling apart due to "Normal wear". Suggested he call his warranty company that he has been paying since he bought his home 15 years ago. They asked me to give them an Estimate on required repairs. I gave them a very low price to replace. They told me they were going to get another quote (normal practice by Insurance Co's). This was not a problem because the Home Owner's other bathroom was working fine. American Home Shield (AHS) called a Plumbing Company (out of College Sta.) to unclog his sewer and paid him $300? Now he has City Sewer Gas in his house! This is a dangerous situation. Methane is odorless, explosive not to mention Deadly.

The Plumber only unclogged the line and made no repairs because "That is all they were called out to do by AHS" The Tub/Shower can not be used or water will run out on to the ground under his house. Keep in mind, the home owner originally wanted me to unclog his sewer... until I explained that he would need the Sewer replaced immediately afterwards due to the breaks in his line (Both, above and below ground...and all under his house). That is when he requested me to call AHS. Comes now, AHS is refusing to pay for any more work. Simply because they claim he had a stoppage and now it is fixed? My customer of several years is beside himself as to what to do!"

I called the second plumber and asked him what he was paid to do at my house. Was it for a second opinion? He got loud and angry fast and told me he was paid to fix a stoppage which he did. I agreed that he did fix the stoppage. But what about the break in my line? He got more angry and stated that "I was paid to come out, that there was a stopped up line not about a breakage and AHS told they are not going to fix it. It is over, I was not sent to fix a busted line under your house" and we exchanged strong opinions over the matter.

I called AHS and was told by yet another rep that the stoppage was fixed and the case is closed. After reviewing my contract, I called again to report a new problem... a break in my line. I was told they'd need to send someone out to check. I told them not to send Larry but then was told that he was the only one they would send or I could pay to have one of my own. So I agreed to have him come back out but this time to look for a break in the line under my house. Did he? No, he promptly told them that the breakage was outside out my home's foundation and there were roots in the line... two thing AHS doesn't cover, mind you, this was after I called him and asked him what he was paid to do. So I get call from AHS and spoke to a rep who said, and I quote,"We will not honor our warranty until you fix the main line breakage." This is not in my contract. No where does it state that repairs must be made anywhere on my property before they will honor their warranty. Be sure to note that they were involved in a class action lawsuit settlement for breech of contract. The litigation is about not making repairs and replacement per the contract. As it stands I still have a breakage and a lake of raw sewage under my home.

I have had this policy for just less than one year. I recently called for two problems. My pool heater was not working. A pool repair person came out and told me that mud daubers caused the problem and it wasn't covered. Charge $60. I decided to put in a new heat pump. When the pool company came to install it (not the same pool company), they told me the element was not faulty and it was the circuit breaker that was bad and mud daubers were nowhere near it.

Then I called for an electrician to check a floor electrical outlet. After not being contacted for a week, I went online and put in a request. 4 days later, I called and was told they had no record. The electrician came out did not bring a tracer to locate the line in the floor and proceeded to take every out and light switch apart. I was left with a broken switch plate, plaster all over and pool lights that no longer worked.

I called the next morning and told the company that he had all the light switches exposed and was checking them. When he replace the cover and put them back the pool light did not work and was concerned that I had a hot line exposed in the wall. The electric company did not call back and I called at 4pm. After being treated rudely by that firm, I called AHS and was treated again rudely. My contract comes up in April and I will not renew. Customer service is not what they have in mind.

They charged my credit card with 3 payments when I authorized one. In 2011, I received notice to renew my account with AHS. Listed on the form was 12 months, 3 months or pay in full. I sent in one payment toward the 12-month option. When I called regarding my water heater problem, I was told by the service person that they had spoken to someone who authorized the 3-month plan. I instructed the young lady that I was the only person who could have given permission and that was not the payment plan I chose. I want to receive from you an itemized statement explaining charges or fees. I want the total amount due without penalty. What was done is not acceptable. Please respond ASAP.

I've been without my washer since January 5. The first company, Oasis Heating and Cooling, never contacted me for an appointment, thus, I had to call them. After they finally came, he replaced the water pump. Since the washer wasn't agitating, of course, that didn't fix the problem.

After going through AHS, he agreed to come back out, but he never showed up! AHS transferred the ticket to Sears. The first tech had to order parts again, while the second tech couldn't complete the job because he said the first tech should have known to order special screws.

Today, February 21, the 3rd tech from Sears came to install the screws only to find out that the 2nd tech only ordered 1 of 4 screws. I just spoke with Brandy, a supervisor with AHS, and she said human errors occur! Last week, AHS sent me a debit card to use for my next service call, go figure!

During a two foot snowstorm in Denver a couple of weeks ago, the furnace stopped functioning. I called American Home Shield and they said that they could not replace the furnace until Monday, therefore, I had no heat for 3 days. The contractor, Purcella, installed the furnace and in passing said that I owed them $1,130 for code upgrades. Which of course, was never mentioned in the contract. I had to pay it at that time, but I will dispute the charges. The company did not pull a permit, so I had to call and request for one. The inspector then came to my house and charged Purcella with a long list of violations.They returned, once, again, and if you could see what they did to the furnace, it would make you sick.

These two companies are the worst, most disreputable, unscrupulous, inept and incompetent businesses that I have ever encountered. They should not be allowed to do business, period. Now, I will become engaged in World War III over this charge, which the inspector said was bogus and that there was no reason, whatsoever, for for them to assess any charges. When I began the coverage with AHS, they said that there was a monthly fee, and that I would pay a service charge.

Never, never, never never, never, never use American Home Shield or their contractors. They are predators of the worst kind. Is it apparent that I am infuriated?

I can not get rid or block their emails to me. I need to stop them from sending emails to my email address!

It's a plumbing leak beneath our home that we have been trying to get corrected since October 20, 2011. The sheer hell emotionally and otherwise that my husband and I have suffered due to AHS' negligence and blatant fraudulent behavior is difficult to describe.

And in addition to it all, I am a real estate broker in two states and have sold 100's of your worthless warranties (which is of no personal benefit to me). As of yesterday, I removed all mention of your product from my website. I have also called all clients that are closing on their homes this month that neither I nor the seller was going to pay for an AHS warranty and revealed to them that I cannot in good conscience ever promote your product again.

Because of AHS sending an incompetent contractor to my home to repair an active leak under my home, he ,in fact, did not repair it, but we didn't know that until weeks later. I am now faced with moisture damage, standing water under my home and as I type for you, I have no water because we were forced to shut it off only turning it on to bath, and use the bathroom.

I will make it a priority to warn everyone I can, by email, internet or any other means what kind of business you actually run. I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I will be speaking and this will be one of my subjects. As a senior broker, I will warn all of my colleagues about promoting your product as well. At the end of the day, as a business you will be exposed for who you really are.


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