American Home Shield - Heating

Consumer Complaints & Reviews

Christopher of Whitehall, PA on Jan. 14, 2012

Satisfaction Rating: 2/5

On 1/13/2012 I called AHS at 6 pm to have emergency service provided on furnace. Was instructed to call back later. Called AHS at 9 pm. I was instructed they were unable to locate a technician and I should call in the morning. Called AHS at 7 am and they told me to call back at 10 as they still had yet to find someone. Called AHS at 10 and was told they were still unable to find someone to come. I was given the option of calling my own company and was told if I did find someone to call them back. I found a company that would come out.

The company informed me they would not call or speak to AHS as they were not allowed to. I called AHS at noon and informed them that I had found a company that was willing to come to my aid, but the company would not contact AHS. AHS told me they would not be able to reimburse me for this service since the agent of my company would not speak to them. AHS was unable to provide me either reimbursement for the service nor provide me with a refund of my insurance premiums. They failed to provide the advertised service, which was to get my heater repaired. They also failed to provide a refund.

Keyma of Newark, DE on Oct. 4, 2011

Satisfaction Rating: 3/5

My experience with AHS has been terrible. My heater broke down over 6 times in a period of 2 winters. They had a company (Tri-State Mechanical) come and replaced it several times where I had to pay a fee of $60. After several times, they decided in March of this year (2011) that they would replace the furnace for about $800. I agreed, thinking I would save money in the long run from my heater breaking down. The whole process became a big issue. The company never showed up to fix my furnace when scheduled. AHS sent back my furnace and it had to be reordered. The company Tri-State Mechanical broke about 3 appointments.

Finally, they came to replace the heater. I recently turned on my heat on October 1, 2011 to find it was blowing cold air. Trying to be optimistic, I ran my heat for a day thinking it had to warm up. I turned my thermostat up to 90 degrees for hours but my house's temperature stayed at 68 degrees. I called AHS, who said they would have to call the company back and I would have to pay the $60 for them to come back out and look at my furnace, although it was less than a year old. I spoke with Tonya and Aubrey who seemed uncaring and did not even respond to my concerns, except to say that there was nothing that they can do. Tonya even replied, "we are not even sure that your furnace is broken" after I told her I sat over my vent for 15 minutes and it blew cold air. Aubrey, who was a supervisor, got on the phone and said I had 60 days to report that the heat was not working for them to fix it without the fee.

However, when my furnace was replaced, the weather was getting warm outdoors so I had no reason to turn on my heat for more than 2 weeks after it was replaced. Initially, it worked well so I was unaware that it was no longer working. Since I have young children, my only option is to do what they say and pay the fee although I paid for a new heater less than a year ago. I feel bullied and not valued as a customer. I have gave them no arguments in the past and complied with everything in the contact, but I believe this is highway robbery and they are getting away with it.

Tony of Evanston, IL on Nov. 23, 2005

I have an active contract with American Home Shield (AHS). The policy was purchased with the house in 1992. The previous owner had had the policy for 15 years. Between July and October 2005 I called AHS on 3 different occasions to service my furnace. The first two times had to do with the AC coil. AHS agreed to pay for the service, however when the technician mentioned the sheet metal would have to be removed and probably could not be reused, AHS declined the repair.

On 10/23/05 AHS dispatched a plumber because my basement flooded when the water heater leaked. The serviceman said the water heater needed to be replaced and the existing plumbing had to be replaced since it did not meet current building codes, at a cost of $380. AHS said it was an upgrade and they would not cover it.

I paid for the work, along with a $50 service fee, for a total of $430.00.

On 11/10/2005 I contacted another company and they also concluded the furnace will not survive the extensive plumbing job and the removal of the furnace's sheet metal. They provided AHS with two estimates - one for plumbing and one for the furnace. When I had not heard from AHS by 11/22/05, I decided to proceed to pay for the work.

I strongly believe American Home Shield should not continue to do business in Illinois

Damages: I had a loss of income ($900) when AHS told me to wait for service that never showed up on three different occasions and $7,800 out of pocket expense.

Pc of Tampa, FL on Feb. 9, 2003

AHS has sent an Air Zone (local) contractor to repair our heat pump more than 5 times over the past 2 years. Each time, minor repair have been made, but the unit continued to break down. Each time, we paid the $35 service fee. Not once in all those visits had the contractor looked at the air handler in our attic, merely added freon and once replaced a motor.
On the most recent visit, just before the wintry 20-degree temperatures several weeks ago, the heat pump once again needed repair as it was blowing only cold air. Air Zone again responded to the AHS call and came out. The Air Zone contractor determined he needed to see the air handler (finally!) and checked the unit in our attic. He explained that the unit was dirty and should have been cleaned, but that if he cleaned the unit, it would disintegrate from rust and age.
He left without repairing anything, but did tell us that we would have to cut a new opening in the ceiling to bring down the old handler and install a new one. We then had a second opinion contractor look at the system. This contractor said the unit was indeed dirty, but that cleaning it would do no damage. He said that a secondary heat strip was not properly attached and that the outside unit had been broken by a loose strap. No freon was in the system; in fact, a vacuum was created in measuring the amount of freon.
We are still (4 weeks later) stuck with no heat and no air conditioning since AHS refuses to honor their warranty and replace a heat pump that cannot be repaired. Of course, they have been hounding us by mail and phone to renew our policy with them -- which we will NEVER do if this is the best service they offer.

We have paid $200 to speak with a lawyer who advised us to write to AHS asking for them to honor their warranty, rather than spend $2500 to retain the law firm. From the numerous complaints found online here and on other sites, it seems a letter will do nothing other than cause more delay and frustration. We are now out $45 for the second opinion and $200 for the lawyer, and still no heat or AC. We have also spent $80 for two small space heaters so we don't freeze during the cold spells.

Eric of Knoxville, TN on Feb. 8, 2003

Part of the purchase price of a home I bought was an American Home Shield (AHS) home warranty (cost $399). The warranty was to cover all major systems in the home. A week after I moved in, there was a problem with the furnace and I called AHS. The weather was the coldest it had been in many years (since the house was built).
They sent out a local HVAC repair company, Stooksbury Appliance Service (SAS), to examine the furnace. SAS notified AHS of the repair charge and was told to not make the repairs until AHS could get a second opinion (I found this out later). Several days after the service call, AHS called me and said the technician said the furnace was not covered because it had problems when the house was purchased and they would not cover this. However, I had a home inspection of the house (including the furnace) in which the inspector (who is a registered professional engineer) ran a performance test and carbon monoxide monitoring tests on the furnace and said it was in "normal operating condition." Further, I was in the home 6-7 times before purchase and the furnace worked normally every time.
I spoke with SAS and they said the problem with the furnace was not unusual for furnaces in the subdivision (all the homes are similar) and was normal wear and tear of the unit (which IS covered by the AHS plan). I spoke with the prior owner of the home, and he said he had never had this type problem before, and there were no problems disclosed in the home settlement papers. I complained to an AHS supervisor who said SAS said the unit was in poor condition. When contacted, the SAS representative denied he said this and said AHS had never asked him to comment on the unit's condition at the time of purchase. He said that since the unit was only 6 years old, it needed some work but was not considered to be in a state of disrepair.

AHS refuses to pay for the repairs, and contrary to their promise, did not send out another technician. When I called, them they claimed to have contacted another local HVAC company. When I called that company, they denied being contacted by AHS and claimed this "happened all the time with AHS." At this point, the temperature was dropping to around 5 F so I contacted another contractor to have the furnace fixed. I paid that contractor myself. AHS refuses any responsibility for anything, including reimbursing me for the covered repairs. It appears their tactics are to delay until the homeowner has no choice but to fix the problems themselves, and then claim no responsibility. I wish I had my $399 back!