American Home Shield

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Home Warranties • National Home Protection Settles New York Suit • Home Warranties Not Always What They Seem • Think Twice Before Buying an Extended Warranty --- • More about Home Warranties

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.

Thomas of CINCINNATI, OH July 1, 2009

AHS is a complete fraud. I'm in the middle of a fight with them to try to get service on my central air conditioner. The fan bearings are out on the motor. They sent one set of clowns over to check it out but they wouldn't return calls after the diagnosis. The second person they called didn't call at all for two days. The third person they're sending.. well.. we'll see.

My first call to AHS a few months ago was about a plumbing leak. They refused to cover that. I'm definitely NOT renewing, and there will be no "home warranty" after this.

gloria of fayetteville, GA June 30, 2009

ahs send Appliance Comfort Air to replace my compressor in my air condition. The technican remove label off my fusebox. AHSwould not pay to have them replace. Also the company did not replace the labels they remove. AHS IS BAD About returning phone calls

Emerito of Colorado Springs, CO June 30, 2009

We called the AHS for service call because our kitchen faucet had a leak and they sent us the BullsEye Sewer & Drain Repair to fix our kitchen faucet and late that evening they call us and they said that they can not come because they are on another job site, rescheduled by next day. The next day, they came around 0900 hours and fixed the faucet leakage and present us the repair bill for 110.00 and they wrote the repair and replace broken cartridge to kitchen sink faucet is not covered by the AHS. He did not mention before he started the job only after he finished.

Cynthia of Alexandria, VA June 26, 2009

Had warranty contract with American Home Shield for 2 years and NEVER had to use the service. However, in preparation for a military move, we sold our home in June 2009 and I cancelled the service giving 30 days notice. I was expecting a credit back for almost an entire month that we had not used based on my conversation with the AHS representative. Instead, they provided me a 1.80 credit, and when I called to inquire, they rudely explained that I was being charged a 35.00 processing fee for cancelling prior to my July 4 contract renewal date.

Coincidentally, when I called to give notice of cancellation, the AHS representative advised that I would be receiving a refund for most of the month of June, and it would be applied back to my credit card. And in section K of the contract, it clearly states that the contract can be cancelled upon mutual agreement of AHS and the contract holder. We had a mutual agreement!!

Robert of Punta Gorda, FL June 26, 2009

I signed up with AHS 10 months ago. In early June, my air conditioner went out. After filing a request for service, I found your website. I became convinced I was in for a miserable experience. It sure started that way. The company they assigned to do the work didn't call to set up an appointment as they were supposed to. I finally had to call AHS back. They got the company on the line and we scheduled the service.

The employee examined the compressor and confirmed at had to be replaced. I was surprised to get a call from AHS within an hour saying they would pay for the job, but noting that I had to pay to have the broken unit taken away. One again the air conditioning company was horrible to deal with, delaying the repair nearly two weeks, as temperatures stayed over 90-degrees. And once again, I had to rely on AHS to get them to set an appointment.

The compressor was replaced yeaterday. I had paid a 60 service fee when the problem was diagnosed. There was no charge for the replacement, which took over five hours. I was charged 75 to dispose of the old compressor. So far, so good. I have lots of complaints about the A/C company, but I have to say that AHS held up their end of the bargain. I figure the replacement saved me about three years of premium costs for the warranty.

Cathy of Edmundson, MO June 26, 2009

I purchased a home on May 26th with a home warranty. I have had to call for service on my air conditioner 3 times in 3 weeks. Each time they come out, they put a “band-aid” on it. The first technician wouldn’t come back; the second technician wasn’t real confident, said he never saw anything like that before. He worked on it for 2-1/2 hours and thought he fixed it! Another band aid.

I called last night at 4:30 pm as it was 86 degrees in my home; I stated it was an emergency (an emergency because it’s 97 degrees with a heat index of over 100; I am 62 years old and I’ve had 3 mini-strokes). Their emergency policy is 24 hours (can you believe that!!). They never called back. I called this morning and they gave me a name of a contractor they said they called. I called him, he never heard of me and said that at the earliest sometime tomorrow afternoon because he was swamped.

I called American Home Service again and told them that (after a return call, he said he received a fax) they said “we have a 24 hour turnaround time on emergencies”, I said “yes, that means today” they said “no”, 24 hours from the time the contractor got the ticket. Apparently if they called someone last night, no one bothered and that’s considered a 24 hour time span. Today the second contractor gets another 24 hours and if he can’t do it, ANOTHER CONTRACTOR, another 24 hours! How many 24 hour periods do they get!

Stacy of Powder Springs, GA June 26, 2009

I've had an American Shield Home Warranty for 4 years and during that time have probably had two or three minor service request. However on June 25, 2009 I requested service for the second time in less than a year on my hot water heater only to find out that it needed to be replaced. Needless to say that American Home Shield refused to pay for the replacement because they described it as not normal wear and tear costing me 1300 to replace. This water heater is twelve years old and if thats not normal wear and tear I don't know what is.

Gwendolyn of Riviera Beach, FL June 25, 2009

I call AHS last year because my air condition was running it would not shut off and the air was hot. I called for service and it took two days for someone to come out and look at it and 7 days after that for someone to repair it. The compressor went out. The company that repaired it was from Ft Lauderdale. Me not knowing much about air conditioning. My air condition went out again on June 21st they same problem.

I called AHS and was told the computer system was down and as soon as they come up she would put in my information for a service call. Someone called from AHS and talked with my daughter and they wanted set up an appoint for Tuesday, June 23rd. By this time it was too late, the house was hot and I had my elderly parents with me so I called a company that could give me instant service. That company came out and checked out everything and I was told the reason I had no air is the compressor was a 2 ton compressor and I needed a 3 quarter ton to match with the inside unit.

I don't think AHS is a good invest at all. It always takes several days to get an appointment and a week and a half to get the problem fixed. I would like to know why I received a 2 ton compresser when I needed a 3 quarter ton. I agree with the rest of the clients. I think AHS is a FRAUD. I don't want your attorney to contact me, I am going to contact my own attorney.

Gerald of Scottsburg, IN June 25, 2009

This is not a complaint about AHS just my experience 2 weeks after buying my home the ac went out 2 days later the out side portion was replaced with a better unit than the original,6 month latter the water heater went out and was replaced the next day,and the molding that was damaged from the leak was replaced within a week i have had a warranty with AHS for two years and i will renew it again in august

Brandt of Plano, TX June 25, 2009

On a Monday I called AHS to tell them i had a leaking hot water heater,they sent out their "Brother in Law " plumber and i soon had an estimate to fix my hot water heater for almost 800 in upgrades!!!AHS said they would cover the cost of the hot water heater and it's instulation but not these 800 upgrades!So i called my city inspector about the so called code up grades and he told me that only one out of the four items woul be necessay. I then called an independent plumber to come out and give me his estimate, it only incliude one of the upgrades to meet current code and was aprox 125 which i would gladly pay. I then called AHS and their Brother in law plumber and pleaded my case to no availe,it was pay their contractor the padded 800 or they would offer me a cash settlement ,which I am still waiting for a phone call!

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