American Home Shield - Plumbing

I called American Home Shield for a simple leaking faucet under my kitchen sink. When their tech showed up, I was a little suspicious due to his $800 beat up truck and though it was 9:00 AM (he was 4 hours early), he looked hung over and rough.

He immediately turned on my faucet and said, "You've got no water." I said the angle stop is turned off due to the leak, it's rusted and stripped. He then ponders and says "I think you've got an obstruction, I'm going to have to take this wall out and replace the pipe. I do these all the time." I said it's a 7-year-old custom home, there's no obstruction, and I just want the leak fixed and the angle stops replaced. He then put in a work order for "no water pressure due to obstruction".

Well, we all know this isn't covered. The claim was denied and AHS phone rep tells me, "Your whole house is denied. We don't warranty homes with pressure issues." I said, "Did he mention why I called you out? I don't have pressure issues. I just need the simple leak fixed, along with angle stops replaced."

Well after the investigation, AHS claims the computer went down on that day and the rep only wrote by hand "low water pressure" and nothing was said about a leak. After speaking with four people, finally a superintendent gets on the phone who has any concern and a brain. His name was Charlie, out of the Iowa office (they seem to be much brighter than the Carolina and Memphis call service). He said, "Sir, due to your inconvenience, we're going to fix whatever is wrong with your sink and drain the lines and obstruction in the pipe." I said, "I don't have an obstruction, or drain issues. Just repair my leak, which is covered in my contract. What's so difficult about that? You've got a vendor who is trying to rip you off of a $2,200 service call and I'm now a victim of it canceling my plumbing warranty." They set an appointment, only for it to be canceled hours later by some moron named, Zoe **, evidently head of authorizations.

No one in this company cared that I was caught in the middle of a vendor creating a ** job for himself. And my home is flagged with dropping my warranty due to his false claim. I've invested over 10 hours in this just to get a $250 at most repair job done. I'm dropping this service once I cash out. Not only is their lack of service not worth it. They don't deserve my money. This is undoubtedly the poorest run, most unprofessional service-oriented company I've ever dealt with. Unfortunately, this posting is of little service for protecting consumer's rights. Though, I appreciate the forum.

I paid $500 for the "warranty" that actually doesn't cover any damages/repairs. It costs $60 every time they come out. I had a guy from the only plumbing company whom they are contracted with come out. His faulty work caused a leak, therefore, another guy from the same company had to come out and we had to pay once again. They (AHS) were unwilling to waive the fee and unwilling to work with any other company.

My nightmare with this company started on April 21, 2011. I had called this company before this date to have someone come out to check my plumbing because water was leaking somewhere in my home that I couldn't find and was causing my water meter to run high. Their warranty stated that they operate 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. This isn't really true. They will take your complaints 24 hours, 7 days a week and 365 days a year but you will definitely have to wait for a service person to come out.

I had to wait 48 hours for one of their companies to call me, which was American Plumbing. The lady was so rude and had an "I could care less attitude". She then told me that I had to wait another 48 hours for someone to come and check my plumbing out. They sent a plumber who was in a hurry to my house; the next day was Good Friday. He fixed the problem with our basement toilet. However, when it came to our garbage disposal, he told us that it would have to be replaced.

He went back and told his company that he found bottle caps in the garbage disposal. He lied. He flat out lied. There was nothing in the garbage disposal because we hadn't use it due to the fact that the water from the dishwasher would back up into the kitchen sink. This, in turn, would cause the water to spill out onto our kitchen floor because our kitchen sink was divided. Even if there were, the warranty states: All components and parts, including unit are covered. I warn you, this company is the pits.

My first call was about the water heater. The serviceman came out and advised me that I needed a new water heater. AHS would pay for heater but not the locally required code, city, county, certification fees. Those came to $506.00 per the serviceman. I called the city government and no one knew what he was referring to and advised me not to pay. AHS advised that they would buy the heater but if the fees are not paid by me, they would not insure the heater in the future. They had the heater installed by a local technician (they had sent 1 from 2 cities away) for $150.00.

The second call for service was for the air condition on 7/13/11. The air conditioning was cutting on and off. I live in Houston, Texas and it's been 100 degree for the last 30-60 days. The technician who came out said that nothing was wrong with the system and that it's just so hot. The air condition continued to do the same thing, so I called AHS back and they advised that it would be 2-3 days before someone could come out.

So, I called my own serviceman who advised that only 1 thing caused the problem. I had it fixed, called ACH, and explained about the temperature and that the air condition went out. They refused to pay, saying I should have called them first. When I explained to them that I did, they said, "Sorry, we can't pay." My response was, "You can't pay, I can cancel."

American Home Shield is a big **! I would think twice before joining this service. We had a simple leaky faucet in our bathroom shower. They sent out a company called Rite-A-Way Services to fix it. We paid the $60 service call fee and the problem was supposedly fixed. A few weeks later, it started leaking again. We called AHS and created another service request. They sent out Rite-A-Way services again. Of course, we paid another $60 for the service call. They supposedly fixed it but one day later, it started to leak again.

We called AHS to re-open the service case and to request that we do not want to have the same company coming out to do the same job they kept ** up on. They denied us and would not budge. They told my husband, "Too bad. You have to have the same company again." They took customer service to whole new level! And with all the other reviews I've been reading about this horrible company, they shouldn't even be in business anymore. Our request was simple but we were made to feel that we were being difficult. Enough is enough. Do not give these people our money. Find another home warranty company.

San Diego, CA

On July 25th 2011, I called AHS due to a leaking water heater. They sent out a technician from Ideal Services on July 27th. He diagnosed the water heater as defective but could not replace it because AHS said that it was still under the 12-year manufacturer's warranty, and that I would have to exchange the water heater myself which means that I would have to remove it, take it to Home Depot and bring it back. Then the technician could install it.

Let's not let the fact go that I had to call them on the 29th to get an update on what was going on. They had nothing and they had to call Ideal Services so I was on hold again. When he came back on the line, he said that the contractor's systems were down and he would try again later. To make a long story short, they were going to cash me out for $377.00 which was just for basic installation and to bring it up to code, I would have to pay for that out-of-pocket.

I went to Home Depot and exchanged the water heater at no cost, thank you GE. I bought the material for the installation, brought it up to code, for less than 100.00 bucks and I am in the process of cancelling the contract with AHS.

These people show no sense of urgency on anything that is going to end up costing them money. I would suggest that if you're considering AHS, don't. They are the worst!

I had home warranty coverage with American Home Shield and I had been a member for almost three years now, with policy number **. I had never had to use it until the month of July 2011.

I had problems with toilets and according to my coverage, it covered plumbing problems. I contacted them, and they arranged to send somebody to look at the toilets. One toilet was not fixed--the toilet still backs up. When I called them (AHS) back to report the problem, they told me that my contract did not cover water sediments.

I paid $60 deductible out pocket for them to show up and the report that the technician wrote does not mention any water sediment findings. AHS made this up to avoid paying to fix the problem.

I have had to battle this company for over 3 months to get some simple plumbing issues resolved. The plumber they sent has an "F" rating with BBB and has had its membership revoked.

Steer clear of American Home Shield for your home warranty needs. They are trying to get out of repairing a covered issue by making it such a hassle that I stop calling and got the items repaired myself.

Damages: We finally paid Drain Doctor to take care of our plumbing problems.

We are canceling and will try to get a refund on what is left of our contract.

Damages: NOTHING WAS DONE. We will have to get a plumber on our own if we ever want the problem fixed.

I was told that they talked to the plumber who "stands by his diagnosis that there was no wax ring" and that they have to go by what the plumber says, not by what the customer says!

To my dissatisfaction we were only refunded $120 with no explanation.

Today, my kitchen sink backed up and, as I have no operative dishwasher, dirty dishes are piling up and so is my frustration.

Damages: I had a damaged ceiling from water. I now have a hole, that was not there before, in my damaged ceiling from a fairly minor water leak.

Needless to say, the day went by and the plumber never called -- so our toilet is still clogged. I am absolutely appalled at the treatment I received from this company.

AHS denied a claim for leaky pipes saying they do not cover sinks. I would replace the sinks myself, but the pipes are leaking in the basement. The Attorney General's Office is willing to mediate, but AHS does not respond.

The damage to my plumbing was so bad that my husband and I just called Roto Rooter who came out, immediately took care of our needs and charged us $3500 bucks! At least it's fixed.

I bought a house in August 2002, and I paid for AHS in the closing costs of the house. The first thing that went wrong was our disposal in the kitchen didn't work. So we got someone out to fix it through AHS, and of course they finagled their way out, saying that the disposal was rigged with sealant, and they wouldn't cover it. $45 out the door for absolutely nothing. Now, this week, my bathroom toilet completely overflowed, and water started coming out of the bath tub, there was stoppage somewhere in the pipes. We called AHS and they got someone out this morning, and sure enough, they wouldn't cover the cost because there was "no cleanup pipe", so there was another $45 out the window. AHS finds all kind of loop-holes to NOT cover things that go wrong in homes.

We have purchased home appliance protection policies on our residence and prior residence (now a rental unit). The company has repeatedly refused coverage for repair or replacement of supposedly covered items under a variety of excuses based on the report of technicians hired by the company to make repairs/replacement. There always seems to be some new exclusion which the company finds to deny each claim -- too many to list here comprehensively.

This position, in effect, negates any benefits under the contract which may otherwise be available to their customers when losses requiring immediate attention occur during weekends, holidays, or nights. The American Home "Shield" is activated less than 50% of the time.

I'm very disappointed in AHS. I had a water stoppage for 2 days and AHS has not been able to contact anyone over the weekend. I understand that weekends are extremely busy, however, I can get this issue fixed within 24 hrs if I didn't have insurance. I am not sure why in the world I picked this insurance? They can shove their $35.00 co-pay. With $40.00, I can go to Home Depot and buy me a 25 feet long SNAKE and fix it myself. Professional Service? It's a joke! It takes 45 min. to 2 hours to get a hold of customer service.