Cinch Home Services Reviews

The only thing that Cinch said was they would give me a certain amount based on the price of that. It ran out, so I ended up paying another $1,000 to get my stove unit put in. I took the blame for some of that but on the same token, the company that they had working did not come back to me. I didn't make sure that I understood the process exactly, and Cinch is getting companies that are not that educated or even have the degree to work on some of the equipment. The guy that came in had no idea about working on the stove. They need to know what they’re doing.

Right now, they had to put in a dryer, and the company that they had said that they could not get the part because the dryer was older. Two days later, Cinch called me and said, “Look, here. We going to be replacing the washer,” and I just signed off on it, and within two days, I have a washer, so it was great. Overall, Cinch is 100% different from the other companies I had. it's night and day. The only thing with this company is that I had to call them one to two times.

In my experience with my microwave, I wasn't impressed with the company. They came out, did an assessment, and said something needed to be replaced. Originally, they told me that it qualified based on age for complete replacement, and when the company came out, they said it was not gonna be replaced. I already paid my $200 and we just needed to replace a simple part. So, I had to wait for another week. That company gave no flexibility or choice. They said they can only see us on this day between these four hours. But in my most recent claim related to my air conditioner, the gentleman was very collaborative and communicated what the issue was. He was very helpful and friendly.

When you call in and directly talk to someone, they are very customer service-oriented, friendly and helpful. I had an issue and Sears couldn't come out to address my air conditioner for two weeks. It was hot at this part of the year and I couldn’t deal without our air conditioning, and they said they would find another provider that could come out to me within the next day or two. And I appreciate that. Overall, the service is good. Cinch just has a few issues that they need to address, which include availability as well as the list of providers for certain services.

When we moved in, we had countless issues with our HVAC system. So far, since we moved in, we've replaced the whole HVAC system, the AC, and the heater. They’ve been pretty cool about it. Last December, my water heater went out on the same exact day I was getting a roof put on the house. Even though we had to pay some out of pocket, it still turned out to be a much nicer experience having them put it in than if I had to do it myself.

We called them for things like a breaker that kept tripping, and I couldn't figure it out. The guy came in, and he said, “It's not covered because it's outside of your domicile. It's on the front lawn. There's a lamppost out there.” He basically said that the wires coming from the lamppost on my front lawn were the ones that were causing the short. I said, “Oh, okay, no problem.” I got under the house and unplugged it myself, ‘cause I know basic electronics.

The amount of work they did to my previous HVAC system probably totaled in the amount of 10 grand. I ended up paying out of pocket, maybe close to $2,000, totaled up. And they kept the HVAC system running until they finally decided that it was time to replace the blower motor, the main board, and the sensors on it. There was just so much work that was done to it. They had the whole heater out when they replaced the AC system. All in all, it would have probably cost me close to 30 grand for everything that was done. To me, they were well worth it. They've also come in countless times and repaired our dryer because it was having issues. My wife covered that.

At one point, there was an introductory period, where they were actually covering my garage. When a gear on my garage door opener stripped, I was already at Menards with the intention of replacing it myself. And I was looking at these garage door openers, and the cheap ones were 250 bucks. I decided to call them, and I asked them. They said, “You're in your introductory period.” This was a few years after we moved in. And he said, “We do cover your garage door opener.”

The guy came out and actually replaced the gear inside my garage door opener. And that garage door opener is 30 years old and still going ever since he fixed it. I have a furnace in the garage. They came out and serviced that early on when we moved in, and that's still going. They have been a big help. I know my premiums have gone up a little bit here and there, but I'm not complaining. It’s kudos for them. I've even mentioned them to other people. Their customer service has always been great. In the middle of the night, I would call them, and they would connect me to some lady in Alabama, and she had a heavy accent and was a pleasure to deal with.

They also made it very easy for me to understand what they did cover and what they didn't cover. All I had to do was call and ask. It was a simple yes or no question. And if I wanted to, they would give me information on other packages they would have. At one point or another, I did ask them, because my wife even chimed in on it, thinking about ensuring our TVs.

Also, my monthly fee is 60 bucks, which is a shot in the bucket to me, compared to my freaking electricity bill, even though I'm on a payment plan, which is still $303 a month. Then their deductible when somebody comes out is 150 bucks. What I like is they're really cool about it ‘cause they closely monitor what the person replaces. If they came out and replaced the sensor, and within the 60-day period, if that sensor goes bad, it's free of charge to me. But if something else goes bad, they make me understand that “The part that we fix is still working. Something else broke. So, you technically owe us.” I'm like, “That's fine. That's honest.” And I like that about a company. We also had an introductory period for two years when we moved in, and we definitely utilized it. And we get the yearly reminder saying, “If you do nothing, this continues for another year.” I don't even look at it ‘cause I'm not changing anything. We've been very happy with them.

I've had lots of claims filed recently. We just had a thing for HVAC on a property. It was easy doing the claim online. The challenge is getting a service person out in a timely fashion. I just filed another claim for that same property for somebody to come back because the HVAC has problems. Being the 5th, the appointment that Sears got back to me about would be they would be there on the 18th, which is almost two weeks out, so I have to call Cinch and say that's not acceptable and see what they can do to get there faster.

Most of the time, over the years, if I've had to call in and try and get something adjusted or change a service date because it's just too far out, they've been very good at handling that. Also, I can't remember any technician that I butted heads with. All of them have been knowledgeable and have handled things in a timely manner once they're there. The only thing that is costing Cinch some business is they've raised their prices and some of my clients have decided not to renew them. I’ve noticed in the last few times I've been on the website that for new customers, they're offering a 30% discount. I've never seen that before.

I used to have two houses and I had Cinch on both of them. In my other house, the drain was plugged and the people who showed up wanted to pull out my bathtub. I said no and called Roto Rooter. The techs came and cleaned it out. Then, I called Cinch and told them what was going on, and they reimbursed me for what Roto Rooter cost me. I’ve had a good experience with Cinch. When I first got the warranty, it was cheaper, and now it's more expensive monthly, but I understand. The price is high but it comes with the convenience of when I have a problem in the middle of the night, I can get a hold of someone.

Cinch had assured me someone would be there between 6:00 and 9:00 because it was medically necessary. But the repairman didn't even get here till after 10 o'clock on a Friday night. At the time, I was in a wheelchair and confined to the first floor. I told him it had been fine then it started gurgling and erupted like a little volcano. Luckily, a friend of mine was here having lunch with me, and she took it upon herself. She cleaned up the whole thing and scrubbed the floors 'cause it went out into the hallway from the bathroom. I told the repairman not to flush unless he knew it was clear. He gave it a poke with a snake a couple of times then flushed. It went everywhere. He dried the floor, used up a couple of rolls of paper toweling to do so, and said, "It's in your main line. I can't do that. Someone else has to come back tomorrow," and he left.

The very next day, they assured me that they were having somebody come out that day. But nobody came out till Monday. It was also a fight to get someone out here on Monday. A repairman came out, looked at everything and said he needed an extra hand. He left and came back with the guy a couple hours later, and they did everything. However, when they left, my brother came out and asked me, "Do you know what it looks like in there? There's brown all over the walls." My brother spent about five hours scrubbing the walls and molding and floors.

The representatives at Cinch are very nice people. They tried their best, but their hands were tied. It's hard to find people in this area who are willing to do work. I don't live in the boondocks. I'm in the middle of suburbia right off a main highway. About a year ago, I had a problem with my heating, and that's serviced by PSE&G. I called them to come and they said it was my venting that needed to be taken care of right now which they don't do. I called Cinch and told them exactly what it was that needed to be done. They sent me somebody who looked at it and said they don't do that. Meanwhile, I had paid the $150 deductible. He went to his truck, came back and told me he could do it for me for this amount of money after hours. He wanted to do it under the table. That did not sit well with me.

I am not completely happy with Cinch. The deductibles have gone up in the last 10 years. When I first started, it was $50. But I've heard that the other companies are just as bad. I figured better the devil I know than the devil I don't.