Complain about a product or service

American Home Shield - Appliances

American Home Shield •Plumbing •Air Conditioning •Heat •Appliances •Water Heaters •Electrical Problems

Huy of Valrico, FL (1/10/06)
Three months ago I purchased a two-year old house and a home warranty from American Home Shield. During the home inspection the washing machine worked fine, however after one month the 2-year old washer quit working.

I paid $45 for AHS to send out an inspector that was there roughly 5 minutes. He said the springs would need to be replaced, and the parts would be available in about two weeks. Three weeks later I get a call from AHS saying the claim was denied due to wear and tear. I explained I had used the washer maybe 3-4 times.

Damages: Have spent over $400 for a warranty that denied my claim for unknown reason.

AJ of Lubbock, TX (1/9/06)
I have paid for AHS insurance for more than two years, because I believed I would have help with major repairs and would have a good source for referrals to reputable repair services.

I have had three appliance failures in the past three or four months, including my heat pump. I called AHS, the technician came right away, checked the heating system, said there was a crack in the heat exchange. He said he would call AHS to find out the next step and I would be contacted right away. Three days later I called AHS and they told me the technician had just made the report (THREE cold days later) and that because I had not had "regular maintenance" they would do no more to help me.

Damages: I'm not sure how quickly I can get out of the worthless contract, or at what expense. I will have to locate my own service company and find the money to be able to pay for the repairs.

Clifford of Kula, HI (1/4/06)
AHS refused to fix/replace our freezer or refrigerator both under contract. Their reasons changed from: the units were "bar units and we don't cover "bar units", to the units were "under-counter units" and we don't cover under-counter units, to "freezers are not integral parts of the system".

AHS only agreed to fix the refrigerator after two weeks of fighting with them. The service person stated that it was "too old to bother repairing and would probably break again shortly, and should be replaced."

Damages: We had to order new units at a cost of about $3300.

Stephen of Austin, TX (1/2/06)
My dishwasher, admittedly old, was leaking water onto the floor because the mechanical latching mechanism on the door was not working properly. I called AHS who sent out a technician who saw one rusted screw (out of three) that needed to be removed to gain access to the latching mechanism. He refused to work on the dishwasher, claiming that if the screw broke it would then be his problem.

Many calls and emails to AHS resulted in no satisfaction. Best suggestion we received from AHS was to pay for another service call for a "second opinion". I opted out of that idea figuring that any repair outfit that was beholding to AHS for its business wasn't about to find against them.

Damages: I purchased a new dishwasher to replace the one AHS promised to "fix or replace".

Andrea of Neptune Beach, FL (12/12/05)
Sellers provided the AHS warranty service on home built in 1980 when bought 10/31/05. Appliances appear to be newer models and in working order with the exception of the Maytag dishwasher that ran but does not clean or even dissolve the soap. On 12/1 a service call was assigned.

When the company didn't show, I called them and was told they did not work in "my" area. On 12/2 I gave AHS my cell phone # for a new technician. 12/3 the technician leaves a message on the home phone saying he'll try the cell...no call. I wait until 12/7, call and place another request. 12/8 I place another request by phone, 12/9 I place a website request and 12/12 I place another phone request - still no call back.

I think it's time the Attorney General for the state of Florida receives my complaint to save other people their time and money.

Jean of Lodi CA (12/11/05)
A gas leak developed approximately 7-10 days after we moved in. The Gas & Electric Company's tech said leak was at shutoff valve and turned off the gas to dryer. Called AHS for repair. The repairman said he did not know how to relight pilot lights, and in my case the gas main would have to be shut off to make the repair.

Phone calls to AHS for repair have not been returned and now their records reflect I am past due on my co-pay.

I would like to email ALL title companies to discontinue doing business with AHS!

Sue of Houston, TX (12/1/05)
On 11/03/05 I requested repairs on my dryer and oven. Because I have had 5 service calls to American Home Shield (AHS) in the past 3 years, for virtually the same problem, I opted to cash-out on the dryer. I did not want AHS to replace it because they would just give me the cheapest model available, and I wanted to select my own model. Before they would send the cash-out check to me for the dryer they said they had to deduct the $45 service call fee (even though my oven had not yet been repaired). So I got a whopping $172 for my dryer.

It is now December 1, 2005, and my oven still has not been repaired. Over the past 30-days I have spent no less than 5 hours on hold with AHS and/or Gulf Coast Services, and there isn't enough space for me to go into all the excuses they have given as to why the oven has not been repaired.

As far as I am concerned, home warranty companies, and AHS in particular, are an absolute fraud. I think they use deceptive trade practices and are a total waste of money.

Charles of Warrenton VA (2/10/03):
I called on a rental property to get an assessment of a stove problem. They decided it would cost too much but they would give me a credit on a new stove. This took over two months to get to this point. After that, the stove arrived, there was no provision to install the stove, no provision to remove the old stove and taking the old stove away would be at my tenant's expense.

Took too long. It is just poor service for a contract which is supposed to be helpful.

Donald of Houston (6/21/02):
I have two issues and need advice as soon as possible. I called American Home Shield regarding a repair needed on my 24 year old dishwasher on March 19th. They dispatched A O K. appliance who replaced a part which did not fix the problem. Called them back out they ordered another part, same thing over and over now 3 months later several calls to AHS and the vendor the problem still has not been resolved.

Now the part in on back order for 7 to 10 days as of June 19th and I close on the house on June 27th. and per the contract the dishwasher and range hood (another similar complaint) need to be repaired by closing. The hood vent is turning out to be another nightmare, It's been about 1 1/2 months since around 5/3/02 and its still not fixed. They (AHS) have had 3 vendors look at the unit which is the original 24 years old. I have called many times, have had to leave work to meet them and put a lot of effort into just keeping the ball rolling and today were back to square one, waiting on the vendor or AHS.

Other than very frustrated, several hours on the phone, time off work, I am selling the house and close next week on June 27th. Both items listed above need to be repaired by the owner (me) by close. This could seriously impact the sale of my home, as well as several other factors with both parties. I need to have these issues resolved by early next week and may have no choice but to purchase and have installed a new dishwasher and hood vent and exhaust fan and pursue small claims court.

Don should probably pursue the Small Claims option.

Marcia of Baltimore (3/2/00):
Our home mortgage company offered a home warranty insurance plan that had 3 levels of service. I opted for the highest level of service and have paid $30 per month for almost two years without incident. This past Friday, our refrigerator went up and we called it in as a claim. They informed us they would try to find someone to come take a look at the appliance to see if it could be fixed.

After 5 phone calls that day, us calling and the company calling us, no one could be found to come look at our refrigerator. At approximately 8:00 p.m. we were authorized $60 to rent a refrigerator as we could find no one to come look at our refrigerator either. We could also find no one that would rent a refrigeratorWe contacted the company in the morning and they said they would put the claim back in the circulation section, as it had been closed as soon as we were given authorization to find someone to come look at it ourselves.) Even though we communicated to them that we could not find anyone and they authorized us $60 to rent a refrigerator, they had closed the issue.)

After hearing nothing, we purchased a refrigerator and had it delivered at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. We contacted Phil, of American Home Shield, told him the situation and asked if we should keep the refrigerator or have it taken away. He said that since it was old and probably couldn't be fixed that we should have it taken away. Phil said that he couldn't make any decisions on payment or reimbursement and would have someone call us back. Courtney called on Monday evening at 8:00 p.m., she said that her determination was that since we were informed that they had to have someone look at the refrigerator and try to repair it and that they weren't given a reasonable amount of time to try and effect repair that they weren't going to do anything to help us.

Our food was at a neighbor's house, which is really inconvenient when you have children who are always hungry and one who is hypoglycemic, requiring frequent food and drink. Our neighbors are orthodox Jewish people, therefore, on Saturday they observe Shabbat. Much of their day is spent at the synagogue and not at home. We were unable to access our food. Most of our plans for the day had to be cancelled waiting for calls from this company with information about someone coming to look at our refrigerator, which never occurred. Our old refrigerator was worth 1200.00, the refrigerator that we bought was 700.00. The policy has cost us 820.00 to date.

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