
Old Republic Home Protection Reviews
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About Old Republic Home Protection
Old Republic Home Protection, formerly known as Dependable Home Warranty, offers yearly service contracts that cover home system and appliance repairs. It offers multiple plans with optional add-ons available to home buyers and sellers.
- Customizable coverage
- Educational resources
- Clear pricing
- 30-day service work guarantee
- Some customer service complaints
- Occasional repair delays
Old Republic Home Protection Reviews
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Reviewed Oct. 26, 2012
Old Republic Home Protection is a scam. The air in my son's room was not cooling so we called ORHP. Then they gave us this technician, "Oliver Air" vacation. He called after a week. We scheduled an appointment for him to check the problem. He said there was something wrong with the air pan, and it will cost $140 for the fix because the insurance does not cover it. We gave him the money plus the service fee, then the next day, the air stopped working. We called ORHP and they said they will tell Oliver Air to come back and fix the problem. When we did not hear from Oliver, we called and he said, "The air was working," before he left and there is nothing else he can do. Really, after taking our money?
Anyway, we called ORHP, and they were on the technician's side and the supervisors were very rude. Now we lost almost $200, my son's room is still very hot. Please let me know if anyone wants to sue this company because I am very ready. I have not heard about this company before. We got this insurance for buying a house sold by a ReMax realtor and someone needs to tell them to stop using ORHP if they care about their clients and buyers. This is not a real company. They are fraud, especially when you cannot find one person that has something good to say about them.
Reviewed Oct. 8, 2012
I was so excited to buy my first home. It had a home warranty and everything which is great because my dishwasher stopped working right after I moved in. I called and scheduled a service call for it and my refrigerator with Bradley. It was the last day of my policy but he said it was okay. How wonderful! I gave adequate time for them to contact me with a service time, and after almost a month, no call! So, I called back and found out Bradley had cancelled my service order immediately after making it! How dishonest! I told Oscar this was ridiculous! He was rude but rescheduled the call. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he told me no. After I made the second service order, I called back and asked for a supervisor. I expressed my concerns with them and they told me I was lucky to have gotten a second service call because my policy was expired! I said, "Whoa, if my original service order had not been cancelled, we wouldn't be having this conversation!"
Then, the supervisor insulted me for having waited almost a month to call back. I said, "Excuse me, I am a busy woman! I own a business in the mall, just bought a new house, and just got into a car accident where I was stopped at a red light and was hit so hard by a texting 24-year old. My spinal process in the lumbar vertebrae was fractured!" So, I did not notice how much time had passed! And she was, "Well, if it were me, I still would have called back within a month!" I said, "I am! It's two days short of a month!" I am so appalled by the unprofessional people they have working there. This is absolutely disgusting business practice and they should be ashamed of themselves!
Reviewed Oct. 4, 2012
I'm not sure if a good home warranty company really exists. It seems like nobody is ever happy with theirs. But my experiences with Old Republic haven't been great. All of mine have been with AC repair, having very old units break down - they'll do everything possible to not replace them, and end up having to come out multiple times to fix the same units. You'd think they'd just replace it to save themselves the money in the long run with all the calls? But perhaps it comes down to wanting that $55 service fee as often as possible.
My most recent experience was with an AC unit that went down. They sent out a technician who determined the accumulator had a leak and needed replacement. I decided to bite the bullet and just cash-out for the repair, and pay for the new unit out of pocket. After the new unit was installed, we discovered that there was also an issue with the air handler that contributed to things not working right - I was told I had to call Old Republic again and set up a new work order. In my mind, the AC was broken and if there are multiple causes, then those should all be addressed on the same work order. I could have lived with their insistence on a separate work order (and $55), but the representative was extremely argumentative about it. A customer-driven company would understand this is a singular issue, and not try charging you multiple times to fix that one issue. It's not fun feeling taken advantage of in the middle of the Arizona heat! A little understanding and compassion at least would have been nice, rather than a "take it or leave it" response from them.
I rarely give online reviews, but felt like other users should know. Do some research on other warranty companies. I'll definitely be looking around before renewing with Old Republic again.
Reviewed Sept. 25, 2012
We called on the AC because it wasn't cooling and kept blowing the breakers. First guy said it was lack of maintenance. Even if it was lack of maintenance (which it was not), we had just closed escrow and moved several weeks prior. Isn't this why you purchase home warranty in the first place? In trying to get a second opinion, we had a great deal of difficulty even getting a contractor from Old Republic to show up or show up on time. They scheduled for Saturday from 4 pm to 7 pm, no call, no show. On Monday morning, after my husband already left for work at 6:15 am, we got a text saying they would be there at 7:15. I could not miss work without prior notice to my boss, so I had to re-schedule with them. They made me feel so bad that they did not reschedule for a mutually agreeable time. The next contractor showed up 20 minutes early, wouldn’t wait for us, and left. Old Republic's response to that was we had to be available even though they showed up early and outside of their appointment time.
We went through about four other contractors before we finally got one to come out on time for the second opinion. On the second opinion, they finally agreed that the outside condenser was bad and had be to replaced since the unit was drawing more amps than it should have (27 amps when it should draw 20 amps) and the unit was already equipped with a hard start (not to mention that it audibly sounded bad too). Old Republic was given a quote of $5,800 by the contractor for parts and labor to replace it with a Trane unit. EPA has outlawed R-22 and Old Republic was going to have the unit shipped dry so they could suck out the old R-22 and install it in the new system instead of doing the R-410A modification (involves changing the inside coil unit too) which would have been the right thing to do.
In talking with the contractor, he said we could change the order to the R-410A if we did the work ourselves and put in the coils inside before he came; alternatively we would have an out-of-pocket expense of $1,800 from him to change the inside coils. Then within the same breath, he said he didn't want any part of us doing our own work even if by our own licensed contractor. Now we are looking for a buy-out from Old Republic so we can hire our own contractor to do the work right. They are only offering $1,870 for the outside condenser, 5-ton Trane unit, parts and labor. I'm sure in the end, we will be better off but it has taken two weeks of battling to get here with Old Republic and their contractors. They are certainly not worth the money.
Reviewed Sept. 21, 2012
A year ago, we bought our home and had "full coverage" from Old Republic. The home is older, so during that time, we had three different issues that came up (one with plumbing leaks, and two different times with A/C problems). With every occurrence, I had to make multiple calls to get a contractor to come out. In each case, I would submit the claim over the phone, and they would tell me someone should be contacting me within 24 hours. In every instance, nearly two weeks went by before I called again, and in one case, I called three times (every two weeks) before they got someone to schedule and come out.
Similar to the other complaints I've read on these reviews, Old Republic seems to find any reason they can to not back up an issue. One of the contractors even told us that he has worked for them for over 5 years, and he is not aware of them once ever approving installing a new A/C system. He said they tell the contractors to do all they can to not call a system "failed".
Lastly, even after we told Old Republic we were not renewing with them, we received three different invoices saying that we owe them money for past service calls. In every case, I called, and once I explained that it was paid, they confirmed it and said we could disregard the invoice. Seeing that it happened exactly the same way four different times, I am confident they just automatically send out invoices hoping that people will just pay them without disputing them.
Reviewed Sept. 17, 2012
We purchased a home with an ORHP warranty. The A/C was stated as working under generators since no power was available at the time of the home inspection. We lost the cooling capacity of the upper unit within days after close. The lower unit shows less cooling than it should. ORHP has denied coverage of the upper unit and after submitting the inspection and a service contract for cleaning the A/C coils, is in the process of accepting/rejecting this warranty covered repair. If we are finding difficulties for covered repairs, why did I pay to have the items covered in the first place?
Reviewed Sept. 7, 2012
Well a few days after moving in, our AC started going bad. It was not cooling down and just running all day. I called our realtor and she called Old Republic to have someone come look at the AC. The man put 6 lbs. of Freon in the unit. It only took 6.5 overall. 3 other companies prior to us buying the home and the home inspector cleared the AC unit as working. Well, the man that put too much in the AC unit has caused it to stop working. So again a week later, a new company comes out and took the Freon out. Only works at night; needs new compressor.
Old republic is trying to get me to pay another $60. I will and then I want everyone here to contact me to start a class action suit for Rico. I want this company to pay up 100%. This company is not honest and steals people’s money and hires dumb ** that do not know how to fix the AC units. I do have a good AC company now and will see if and when my unit is fixed. Mind you, we here are in the high 100’s and have been without AC. They told me they need to order a unit and have it shipped. I can order one online and have it to my front door in no more than two days from now.
I will say this; I did not pay for them, it came from the seller. I would have not wasted my money on this company. I have had trouble with them before. They do this in hopes you give up. Well, they are in a fight for the lives now because I do not give up or in. I want what is stated in their contract and they hired the dumb ** that screwed the unit up. They should pay all the cost and then some. The best part of all this is that my wife is a realtor. I will be in their face. I am from California and will be making a complaint to the California Attorney General. Game is on now. You can contact me at ** any time.
Reviewed Sept. 5, 2012
I just bought a house. Several months later, we noticed the toilet was leaking. We viewed it as a preexisting problem since, according to the warranty, "The malfunction was undetectable by simple visual inspection." After paying $60 for trade service call fee, Old Republic said it was improperly installed, thus coverage is denied. I called them back to argue that there is absolutely no way for us to know that it was improperly installed, so it should be covered as a preexisting problem. But Old Republic still denied it. So here we are, down by $60 and still with a leaky toilet. What a scam! I read up on the complaints about Old Republic - too many victims already and nothing is being done.
Reviewed Aug. 15, 2012
We just bought a house 3 weeks ago. The sellers included a home warranty, Old Republic. I wish they could get their money back! The A/C went out 3 days after we moved in. We had Ragsdale (they had done work for the sellers and had installed the A/C unit 3 years prior). The parts were covered under the warranty, but they wanted to charge us $750 for labor. We decided to call Old Republic because it's a home warranty. Well, we thought! They sent someone out (a worthless someone). They said there was a leak in one of the lines. Next day, we called Old Republic back to find out when it's going to be fixed. They said the claim was denied because it was pre-existing.
My husband asked them then. It states on the home warranty that it covers pre-existing problems. Then, my husband told the idiot at Old Republic what was wrong with the A/C (my husband used to install A/Cs) and that we had a home inspection done on the house. The report stated that the A/C was in good, working condition. The idiot at Old Republic wanted my husband to send him a copy of the home inspection. My husband said, "No, you need to get this taken care of now!" So, they sent out another tech to look at the A/C (it was the same problem that the first tech said was wrong with it). Now we have wasted 5 days and if anyone knows how the humidity in GA is, knows it's not pretty during the summer.
Old Republic said that they will cover the the A/C now. Now 2 days later, the compressor on the A/C went out so now we have no air blowing at all. My husband called Old Republic and they said we needed to call the tech. My husband called the tech, who said he will have to call Old Republic to get authorization to either fix or replace the unit. 2 days later we called the tech. He said he has the compressor but is waiting for the other part to come in, which will be in 4 days. I asked him if he could put the compressor on today so we could at least get air moving in the house. He said it was raining.
I called Old Republic to tell them to authorize getting the compressor on so that way we could at least have air in the house (81 degrees in the house at 6AM). They said they couldn't authorize it because it would be double work and then we would have to pay for it. I asked to get someone on the phone who can authorize it. She put me on hold and somehow, they lost the connection! Needless to say, we still have no A/C! Being on hold as much as I have with Old Republic, I got to listen to their "We are here for you and we strive to make our customers happy." I think they forgot to tell the employees what their motto is!
Reviewed Aug. 6, 2012
It's a scam, scam, scam! Do not, under any circumstances, give this company your business. Their coverage has "catch-all" phrases that virtually eliminate them of any coverage at all. If you are still considering them, request a copy of their "Limitations of Liability" clause. You are better off saving your money and planning to fix any repairs without them. I did not purchase this product, but bought a house that came with an Old Republic policy. As long as I live, this company will never receive my business!
Reviewed July 23, 2012
I discovered a leak under my sink that was dripping out onto my kitchen floor. My garbage disposal had shorted out as the whole area was soaked. We managed to stop the dripping, but we could not use the faucet or the garbage disposal. I had house guests and now, I can't even wash a dish. We called Old Republic on Sunday and received a work order and instructions that we would receive a call from a plumber first thing in the morning. By 9:30, still no call, so I called them and was told that a plumber would not be available until Tuesday morning. I called Old Republic back, waited on hold for 30 minutes before the call was answered, but was comforted that they were going to call other plumbers in our area that could provide service on Monday. However, when the call finally came, it was to again schedule for Tuesday, not Monday.
I called Old Republic back to ask them "If I could find a plumber myself that would provide service by Monday, would you pay?" Their response was no. My point is, I could have called a plumber directly on Sunday and have had someone out first thing Monday morning. This insurance policy is close to useless. Don't waste your money!
Reviewed June 12, 2012
They sent a subcontractor, Supreme Air Conditioning, to fix an obviously very old swamp cooler. Instead of replacing the unit, they only replaced the motor when it was obvious I needed a whole new unit. After waiting 3 weeks & running my AC, they put the motor in. It worked one day. Another week later, they called & left a message that replacing the whole unit will cost me $270. Aren't I covered for this? I'm still running my AC, costing me probably $1,000. I thought my appliances were covered? Obviously not.
Reviewed May 25, 2012
I am a brand-new homeowner (6 days to be exact). We have a warranty with OR and called today, because the outlet for our dryer does not work. My husband tested it with a meter that shows no power is being supplied to the outlet. We had the inspection, and everything was in working order. The former owners said they had no issues (and due to other circumstances surrounding selling the home, I do not believe they were dishonest).
OR said it is not covered because it did not work when we moved in, despite the fact everything says it did. The warranty says it covers undetectable pre-existing conditions, and when I mentioned that to them, they said it was detectable and that we could have checked each outlet to verify they worked! As I was getting more frustrated with the obnoxious customer service rep, I told him that was ridiculous; and he began to laugh at me! I will be getting a refund and going elsewhere with my business. Their lack of customer service is absurd.
Reviewed April 21, 2012
First issue - The service tech who came out was so "speedy" it made Speedy Gonzalez look slow. I am not sure if it was Ritalin, or an illegal narcotic he was on. I've never, in my professional career, heard anyone speak that fast and shake while trying to do his job. It was scary and I just wanted him to leave as soon as possible. Luckily, my husband was home, and he agreed that there was something very obviously not right with this person.
Second issue - We clearly explained what the issue was with our microwave, the door would not open. Tech came out, said it was something sticking with the button which is, in our opinion, a malfunction of the button and it's not a cosmetic issue since the door won't open without using abnormal means of opening (such as with a tool to pry it) . If this was a cosmetic issue, then why didn't this company let us know before they came out and charged us for a service call when we clearly explained the issue beforehand. Long story short - After a few calls back and forth, they denied the claim and brushed it off as "cosmetic". We've paid over $100 in service fees to "look" at this, and it's for nothing. They took our money, and knew they were never going to do anything about it before they ever even showed up. It was clear this is the "normal" shady business they are always up to due to the multiple excuses given on the phone as the answers changed.
Reviewed April 12, 2012
Due to the poor follow up service of Old Republic Home Protection, it cost me 41% more money beside the dispute amount and lots of time to correct the damage. Your department manager refuses to take any responsibilities and leave all burdens to the consumer. I do not feel it is fair. Your department manager blames me for harassing your service representative. It’s the other way around - I think I got harassed. Please review your tape recordings. I did not say one word that is harassing.
Reviewed April 12, 2012
Buyer beware, account info could be shared and the company will not take responsibility for the breach. There are three people listed as authorized users on my account. An unauthorized user contacted Old Republic about my account. Old Republic's representative gave them my home history without my permission. I had gotten a new part for one of the HVAC units several months ago, but new home buyers said that concerned them and wanted the whole unit replaced. The HVAC unit was in working condition, but we ended up having to pay $3K or lose the sale. I was on the phone with Old Republic for 2 hours, got bounced around among 4 representatives. Most representatives were sympathetic, but one actually said they didn't have a privacy policy. I understand that a rep can make a mistake, but the company should take responsibility.
Low business ethics score for these folks. They should not have provided my account information to anyone, but authorized individuals on my account. The consequence was I lost $3K on the closing of my house because an Old Republic rep gave info about my account to unauthorized individuals that made new buyer question that health of the HVAC.
Reviewed March 24, 2012
We bought a new house and our realtor recommended Old Republic. We ended up having to call them for 3 things that went wrong with our house. All 3 times, we had to call multiple times because they took so long getting people out. Then once the service provider came out, they would just asses the situation and then we had to wait at least 3, usually more like 7 days for Old Republic to send their parts for the repair folks to use.
When your AC is out in the summer and it's over 100 and you have a pregnant wife, waiting 2 weeks to get your AC fixed because they want to save 50 cents on a part, is pretty poor customer service. They also once sent a service guy who showed up with a hole in the crotch of his pants, who also tried to rip us off at the service call, then tried to double bill us months later. We had to prove to OR that we paid him, which we did. Our reward: they sent us a letter saying that due to high costs or other circumstances we couldn't renew our policy. Translation: they would rather take your money and not have to do anything. Terrible service, terrible company. I would avoid Old Republic Home Warranty.
Reviewed March 23, 2012
Our microwave went out over 3 weeks ago and you would not believe what they are putting us through. During those 3 weeks, they replaced one part, but the microwave failed again. Then, they came here, but had the wrong part and today, when they were supposed to show up, they did not. Today, I called Old Republic and asked them if we can just buy a new one, because that's what they told us initially if the problem can't be resolved. They gave me the horrible answer that they have to see if the part can be returned, and if it can, then they will give us only $156. We had to pay $100 co-pay already for somebody to come out here and new one without installation costs at least $219. So, since we paid already $100 to Old Republic, we would get $56 from them to pay for $219 microwave, plus installation. Unbelievable.
Reviewed March 16, 2012
Basically, you are not covered on new home owner’s policy for appliances, heat, or electric until you personally certify that all items are working 100% upon the day of ownership or the item will not be covered. Yet no one mentions this to you. In fact, I've never even received a policy so that I could know this in advance. For example, prior to purchase, we have an inspection and noted that everything is in working order. We moved in on Monday and on Tuesday it does not work. Because you did not retest and certify personally that the item works 100%, you aren't covered. What's the point of this policy? This is fraud.
Reviewed March 13, 2012
This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. Every claim we have called in has been a hassle and you have to fight with them to get anything done. I noticed the cold water valve that connects to the washing machine was leaking from the top of the valve. I called in a service request and was told that it was not covered even though we have a plumbing warranty. They said because they call it a hose tap or something of that nature that it was not covered. This is not the first time we have had issues with Old Republic. We have yet to call in a claim without issue.
On one occasion, we had a backed up drain and they sent someone out to unclog the drain. We were only refunded partial payment because the contractor they sent out decided he wanted to unclog the drain from the roof instead of the line on the ground. Because he accessed the drain from the roof, Old Republic would not cover the bill. I was informed by Old Republic if he would have unclogged the drain from ground level they would have refunded the bill.
My complaint was if they send out their contractor then the contractor needs to follow their guide lines. The drain could and has been unclogged from ground level before so he definitely did not have to go on the roof. These are only 2 instances and there have been many others over the years. I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. If you do buy a warranty from them you better hope you never have any problems.
Reviewed Feb. 8, 2012
The warranty I bought was suppose to only cost me 100 dollars to replace the home water heater. It ended up costing me over 340 with the warranty that I paid over 500 dollars for. This company is a huge rip off. They should be closed. There number is 1800 445 6999. The address is P.O. Box 5017 San Ramon. Va. 94583.
Reviewed Jan. 30, 2012
Old Republic sent a contractor who was not HVAC certified, nor licensed and we were advised by them that our unit was fine and that cost us $75.00. We advised Old Republic this was incorrect and they directed us to call another contractor (this was over a two week period in mid December) and submit their bill, as they had no other contractors within their network. We did and we had to have a new heat pump put in. We had countless "debating calls" from Old Republic, as if they are taught to read from a script. At one point, they told us they were unable to pay us because they did not know who to make the check to or where to mail it. How can that be? When they have your name and assign you a claim number. With that said, we have had to get an attorney involved. The check, which was going to be for less than half of what our repair come to, has never been issued.
I would never recommend this service to anyone. I have never experienced such rude customer service calls as well. They are trained to "get the customer in a debate". We also discovered that they previously directed the work to be done and installed a system that was in violation of NC State code, which most likely resulted in the failure of the unit. The list goes on. Buyers beware, be very aware.
Reviewed Jan. 17, 2012
I have just had a very inappropriate experience with Old Republic Home Protection. My water heater had failed, upon calling and getting a work order#48096607, I was told there was no plumbers in my area, and that I would have to locate one to come out and inspect and trouble shoot my water heater. I found a guy to do this. His bill came to $202.00. I talked again to a lady within the company and I was told I would be reimbursed this charge. I was also made to understand to go ahead and proceed with a repair option, the unit being 8 years old unit was not worth the repair costs.
I was told I can use a different contractor to install a new unit. I have ordered one from Lowe’s and have had the install team coming out. I received a call from Tou with Old Republic Home Protection telling me that the repair quote was too high and he was able to find a repair man to come out and repair my unit for a cost of $125.00. After talking with him, he had told me I would be reimbursed the $202.00 from the first contractor. But he required the repairs to be made by his guy that would only charge about $125.00. Looking up the parts online for the heating element is $45.00, the thermo coupler is $32.99, the thermostat is $20.99, just in main parts that adds up to more than $90.00 in parts, not to include the labor charge of driving out the house, installing and testing. What type of service contractor would work for free?
Lowe’s will install a new unit, with 6 year parts and labor for a cost of $631.00. So after talking with, I was told I would be covered for the cost of $202, for the contractor coming out, but the cost to fix the overall issues would not. After talking with him, he said he would cover a cost of $531.49 and then subtract a $100.00 for a deductible. I am not happy with this number nor satisfied with the level of poor customer service.
Reviewed Dec. 22, 2011
Our furnace went out a week before Christmas. ORHP told us to find a technician around our area since they do not have any technician around in our area to send out. Technician found furnace to be condemned and emitting carbon monoxide and declared, "Should furnace be operated after this date, Majestic Heating and Ventilation is released from all liability. Furnace replacement is required." After countless emails, calls and forwarding information to ORHP, they told us we need to get a second opinion and that first technician price was too high (and that they can replace the furnace with $300). So after 5 days of going back and forth, looks like we will be spending Christmas in 20 degrees weather in Tahoe with no heat or turn the heater on and take the chance of dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. Oh and the service rep Gianni at said, "That is your problem, not mine."
What a great service they are. ORHP said they might be sending someone after Christmas to check it out again and they will go from there. I am suggesting that we cancel our policy run from Old Republic Home Protection.
Reviewed Dec. 6, 2011
My heater went out, after running for a month. I called them, and they refused to fix it, saying it was an improperly installed board from sometime ago. Not by me. I have no heat, and now the Grand Canyon Refrigeration wants to charge me $313.00.
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2011
This company is more interested in making money out of service calls and finding ways to not fund your repairs than actually doing their job. They also have horrible customer service. Each time I had called them to send a technician out, I had to call 3 or 4 more times to actually get someone to come out. They never followed up after the technician actually showed up. Talking to them is not them trying to give customer service, it is them trouble shooting you to find a way to deny your claim. I will be cancelling my plan with them and suggest no one uses them since they are corrupt.
Reviewed Oct. 13, 2011
Old Republic sent us an A/C contractor "All Systems" to repair our natural-gas-forced-air heating system which was not working. He came out and spent two minutes in the basement, came up and said there was a loose wire. It worked for about two weeks, then it quit again. I contacted Old Republic again and the contractor came back, this time he pulled the cover and touched some wiring (known as the wiring harness). There was an arc and he said there was a bad circuit board. He came back in a few days while we were out of town and replaced the circuit board.
When we arrived home and turned on the heater, the blower blew cold air but no heat. We were not able to turn the unit off as the blower continued to blow cold air. I had to unplug the unit from the wall outlet in the basement in order for it to stop blowing cold air. I called him directly and he came back out while we were not there. When I arrived back, the unit was torn apart and the covers were removed, still no heat. When I called him, he said that the unit has a bad wiring harness and the unit needed to be replaced since the wiring harness was not available.
I believe he misdiagnosed the problem and put in a circuit board when the problem was the wiring harness. The contractor told the home warranty company that someone else attempted to make repairs and broke the wiring harness which is not true. The only one that ever worked on the unit was him, he just misdiagnosed the problem and is trying to cover it up by making blame elsewhere.
Reviewed Aug. 30, 2011
For instance, in my most recent attempted repair of my heat pump central heating and air system, had you authorized it correctly or had knowledgeable staff understanding, it should have been explained to the contractor when replacing a compressor in this type of system they should always replace the heat valve arm which switches between the heat and cooling system when replacing the compressor as they go hand in hand. 99.9% of the time when the compressor goes out, it takes that part out also (I have done my research). Yes, the contractor should have known this also. So the question becomes, "did he not request it because he didn't know?" or because dealing with Old Republic it would have become a battle and why fight for theory and get beat down unnecessarily? Do it each time a new issue is encountered, the contractor may take a bit of talking to from your authorization department, but nothing like they would in trying to replace a part without full knowledge of it being needed, but knowing it will be needed. Again, with the proper staff, things like this could be avoided.
You had one contractor back in 2001 told me the HVAC system had a problem because I had not given it a bath and these systems required washing! That was the first time I realized I had to double check with real reputable contractors to see what the truth was and that was not the truth. The problem was the system was originally put in when this was built in 1977 and really only had a life of 18-20 good years, then problems really would occur. Over the years, I have spent more time arguing with you and/or the contractors, to do what is right and I am finally done. This last event was my breaking point. I called about my AC not working again and the contractor came out and said the fuse was blown, put two new ones in and the system ran for approximately six (6) hours. I noticed around 5:30 or 6:00pm that the system was not working again. So I called the contractor back and he said he would be out on Friday, August 19th.
He put in two new fuses and they promptly blew out, so he tried two more and they blew out. He began breaking down the system and found the compressor out, but called in asking for an electrician to check the wiring as he said the load was not great enough to keep blowing fuses and thought it might be something else. After it was agreed to send an electrician out, Scott determined the compressor was out and called to get authorization to order one from Fresno. He told me it should be in Sacramento by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. He left saying he would call me the next week. Meantime, your customer service representative told me that Scott should leave some fuses with me and I should change them. I told her, no thank you. That first, I would be told after the fact I was not suppose to attempt repairs myself so then the repair would be voided and blamed on me and secondly, it was dangerous. I would say that was bad advice as did the three or four people I told.
In the interim, I had an electrician that was very sketchy who came over Saturday morning August 20th. He went to the backyard and said, "what's this?" pointing to the condenser unit that was disassembled? I said that is what we are trying to repair. He said, "what am I suppose to do? I cant test it like this!". He then went to my main panel, looked at it and said, "okay, this is a three gauge wire here" and walked over, looked at the AC unit and said "okay, there is a three gauge wire here. There should be nothing in between stopping the connection so I don't see anything wrong" and left. He was here at best 10 minutes. Again, not an electrician I would ever have back here! A waste of your money and mine.
My bedrooms are upstairs and by now, it is getting hotter as I was lucky we had been having a few mild summer days with the delta breeze kicking in, but now it was beginning to heat up to more normal 95+ degree days. I work from my office at home as I am a health care consultant and I live here so I was getting no relief at all. On Monday afternoon, I called to find that the compressor had not been authorized on Friday. That you were still arguing with Scott as to the correct diagnosis and was it really needed, please! So it was finally ordered and came on Wednesday and Scott came back on Thursday to install.
After 3.5 hours, he determined that the heat valve arm was broken and needed to be replaced and was calling for authorization. He explained to me he was fully booked on Friday and was not able to work the weekend and he would be back on Monday, August 29th. I said no that was not acceptable I had already been without air conditioning for two weeks and I had not slept more than a couple of hours a night and it was really beginning to affect me adversely. He said he would call and ask for the case to be transferred to another contractor. I agreed and followed up with my own call to ORHP.. I was on the phone with customer service either on hold or having a script read to me for approximately 48 minutes.
By now, it is 5:30pm (PST) and I was being told I could go buy the part and find my own contractor and would be given a pittance to cover it. My response was, where was I going to find the part? If your company with all of its contracted contractors was having trouble finding someone to come to my house, how was I going to do it? She did finally capitulate and said she would look and then called me back at 6:02pm to let me know if she had found someone to come out, but could not guarantee they could fix it as they weren't sure about having the part. I thanked her.
On Friday, August 26th, the contractor came out and when they looked at how things were left; completely apart with wires showing and oil on my bricks that I pointed out to them, they were surprised. I told them I had taken photos of how things were left and the stain from the spill on my brick patio for evidence. He said they would try to get me up and running, but they were going to have to call ORHP and have a discussion. Since 2001, ORHP has been out six (6) times to work on either the indoor handler which was replaced in 2006 or the condenser/compressor which was replaced twice and repaired many. You have piece meld and bastardized this HVAC system to the where it is Frankenstein! Nothing was working smoothly or in concert with one another. Who could tell which was cause and what was effect?
I have opted to do what you should have done for me long before this, which is to replace things together so if something fails, I will know why! Changing out bits and pieces with different parts at different times was no longer working for me. And by all accounts after looking at the many bad reviews over the years, I am not the only one who thinks you need to fix the way you do business. My sanity and health are more important. I had to call my doctor throughout this ordeal. I was a basket case by the end of last week heat exhausted coupled with lack of sleep. Your business was affecting my business, I won't let that happen!
I paid you my $450 for the 2010-2011 year which expires on September 25, 2011, I'm done. I have purchased a brand new Rheem system which includes the indoor handler, compressor/condenser and more. When the new HVAC system was being installed on Friday and Saturday, it was determined that in 2006, your contractor had not properly installed the indoor handler and it was left exposed to unnecessary dirt and debris as it was not sealed off. In addition the sheet metal had been glued/taped together which was coming apart.
Reviewed Aug. 11, 2011
I purchased my house on 2/22/11. The house had a home warranty that was effective 2/9/11 and will expire on 2/9/12; plan number 17851399.
My A/C for my house broke down on 7/27/11. I called Old Republic to honor my home warranty and get the unit repaired. They sent a service technician to repair the unit but it's still not operating at the output it did before it broke. I kept my house at 75 degrees and my energy bills were moderate at around $250-270.
Since the repair, the A/C can not cool below 78 and it runs constantly to maintain 78 degrees. My last energy bill was $415 due to this issue of the A/C never shutting off. I have called Old Republic multiple times on various dates and times. Old Republic tells me that a supervisor will call me but no one ever calls. Every time I call back to Old Republic, an operator tells me they have no record of me calling. My last call was on 8/11/11 and I spoke to operator Priti at ext. X1017. She again told me a supervisor will call but I haven't heard back. I continue to get the runaround and continue to get lied to.
This is the worst warranty company I have ever worked with in my life.
Reviewed Aug. 9, 2011
I just purchased my first house this month and I was told by my realtor that I got a home warranty through OLD REPUBLIC HOME PROTECTION, and I got the ultimate coverage for one year, which mainly covers my electrical and plumbing and other coverage so I closed escrow and moved in few days later and in about a week or maybe a little more later something happened to my electrical system that stopped the light switches from controlling the lights of the house, so any light that was turned on stayed on and whatever lights that were turned off stayed off. I can't control the lights any more through the light switches so I got the lamps that plug into the outlets and it controls the lights by hand, then I contacted ORHP and they sent someone out "an electrician" that charged me $60 to just say that ORHP doesn't cover this problem, because it's a unique old electrical system called LOW VOLTAGE SYSTEM that's discontinued. At the time I still hadn't had my coverage and when I called and called they ended up sending me the coverage, and it indicates that low voltage systems aren't covered now the question that I have been asking that no one can answer is Why did ORHP allowed the seller to purchase the policy knowing that they're not going to cover the electrical system? and also Why wasn't I somehow notified earlier that I'm not covered or what's covered? I even contacted California department of insurance and they advised me to call my representative and make a suggestion to change the way home warranty company does business.
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2011
I lost my air conditioning on May 20 and notified Old Republic. They started a file on me and contacted an HVAC company in Richmond, who sent a mechanic over the next day. He told me I needed a new compressor and that he would notify Old Republic of this. So far, so good.
When I hadn't heard anything in a couple of days, temperature was 90 degrees and higher in Richmond, I called. The mechanic had not even turned in the paperwork yet. The next day I called again; he had turned in the paperwork but I was told he had "forgotten to specify the model of compressor."
Every time I called Old Republic (not once did I get a call which originated from them), it took an average of 14 minutes to get connected to a live person. Three times I called as soon as I got off work at 5:15 PM and just kept listening to the company's "someone will be with you shortly" message until 5:40 PM, 5:45 PM, and one time until 5:50 PM, before a live person came on the line. I could not call from work because it took up too much time for someone at Old Republic to pick up. Twice my cell phone battery died because I was waiting so long.
I sent my three children to other people's homes to spend the night in for a week because it was 88 degrees in my house. I called the emergency line one night at midnight, begging for some help, only to be told that, because a file was already open on me, I needed to "call back in the morning." Finally, I told one of the customer service operators that I had been in touch with an HVAC company I have used in the past in Richmond who would fix my compressor the next day, and her response was, "Sure you can call them; we just won't reimburse you for the charges." Unbelievable.
My compressor was finally fixed on June 6. This was 17 days after it had been reported broken. Ironically, since it has been repaired, I have received five phone calls over three days to make sure it had been fixed. Now is the time they choose to be attentive?
Reviewed July 29, 2011
Just bought a home, had my own inspection done, then FHA performed one. Everything was in working order when I took possession of the home. When I went to use the dishwasher for the first time, it wasn't working, so I placed a service call online. When I hadn't heard back from anyone a few days later, I called, only to wait ONE HOUR to get to a customer service (and I use the word loosely) representative. She said my claim was denied because, according to how I stated the call, it wasn't working when the plan was initiated. When I challenged her, she was rude, rude, rude.
Reviewed June 15, 2011
I submitted a claim for a problem with a pool pump. The local contractor responded promptly, but advised the problem was a basket on the return line, and he doesn't do that. I contacted Old Republic for clarification, as my contract includes pool equipment, and notes "plumbing" under that. It does not exclude "baskets" or other items on the supply/return lines. After a 5 minute debate about what "plumbing" is, I finally gave up. This is the second runaround I've gotten from these people when trying to file a claim. They're worthless. I had to pay out of pocket for repairs that should have been covered under the Old Republic plan. The cost was over $400.
Reviewed June 13, 2011
On Friday, 10 Jun 2011, my 1 car garage door incurred damage. I immediately contacted Old Republic (ORHP) and informed them that my garage door had incurred damage, the home was not secure and wanted to know if it was covered under my policy. Amanda proceeded to check and told me yes. She asked me about the garage door frame, specifically whether it was metal. I told her no, my frame was wooden. She then explained to me that she needed to check to see if there was a contractor in my area. She said at the moment there was not. She then asked me if I wanted to find my own contractor, but I would be responsible for paying for everything and that I would be refunded by OHRP.. I explained to her that I did not want to do that unless it was a last result because I wanted to have the least amount of out-of-pocket costs as possible.
She took my phone number and email address and said that someone would contact me once a technician was found. Several hours passed and I did not receive a phone call or an email. I called back to check the status and explained the exact thing and was told that my case would be referred to their dispatching section. The following day came and I still had not received a call from OHRP.. On Sunday, 12 Jun 2011, I called OHRP back and asked if dispatch was looking for a technician. At this moment, I was talking to Elisa in authorizations and was told no, dispatch had the request but they had not tried to reach anyone. I asked her that if they had it since Friday what was the problem. She rudely said "they have other orders besides yours".
I asked that if I went ahead and found my own tech would they authorize it, so that I only had to pay the deductible. She explained to me they would not because there are no technicians in my area to service garages. If I found my own, I would pay for it and they would refund it. I asked her if there are no tech's in my area, then why don't they approve authorizations for out of area contractors. I then asked her that if there were no techs in my area then why was the case forwarded to dispatch and what I was waiting on if there were no techs. She rudely replied, "We offered you to find your own, but you said no" and that is why it was referred to dispatch for them to find someone. I explained to her that what she explained did not make sense due to the fact that she said there were no area techs but they still forwarded it to dispatch. I said, "Okay." She hung up.
Monday, 13 Jun 2011, I received a phone call saying that there were no techs in the area and that in fact OHRP only covered garage door openers. I explained that was not what was explained to me on Friday. The gentleman said maybe the representative misunderstood me. I told him that could not have been the case since I explicitly explained that I needed repair to the garage door and she had inquired about the frame. He said that they would not cover it no matter what mistake the OHRP rep. made and I needed to check my home insurers policy. He said I should review my policy. I told him I have my policy and I called the rep to better explain it to me, since insurance policies are not always so clear to make out. Their contract was misrepresented to me and I should not be accountable for their employees lack of knowledge.
As a result of OHRP's representative misinforming me, I have had to pay $400 to which I can barely afford. I pay OHRP every month for coverage that they obviously do not cover. I recently had a problem with them due to my electrical system.
Reviewed April 27, 2011
I filed suit against this firm for its willfully fraudulent conduct, negligence, breach, and otherwise deplorable actions. They have intentionally misrepresented their contract. And on 6 claim occasions, they failed and refused to honor their duties and obligation. Instead, they were arguing that they are not an insurance company (see CIC section 12740 and 790.03h). They have done extensive damage inside our home and left the ceiling split open. In each instance they were called, ORHW failed to respond timely and caused huge problems; our kitchen was taken out of service, our HVAC went down in 107 degree heat, they demanded installing substandard products and have never repaired framing and ceiling damage. Simply stated, the public at large should know these people are "crooks".
Reviewed Jan. 11, 2011
I have two fourplex properties in Alabama that have been covered under ORHP for a minimum of 2 years. Each policy, costing me a minimum of $1,440.00 a piece for warranty coverage per year (so $2880.00 for two separate Home Warranty Policies per year). When ORHP has received a call for service over the course of the most recent covered year, I was certain I have not exceeded that amount in service calls yet I was forwarded a letter that stated I am unable to renew a policy because of high losses or other circumstances, and my plan is not eligible for renewal? How can, if at all, this be legal? I have spent thousands of dollars and my policy will not be renewed?
Reviewed Dec. 9, 2010
Home protection companies seem to be a necessary evil I haven't had a good experience with any of them. There always seems to be some exclusion in the policy that that results in the service fee plus an extra charge. Another line that is also used a lot is this part of the problem is not in my line of work, I’ll have call in another company called in for you. This results in another service fee.
I have found that if I can't do the repair myself to call a qualified repair person found in the local pennysaver. By qualified I mean licensed, and insured. If you are not happy with your local classifieds the Internet can be helpful with sites as Service Magic. If you want to do the repair yourself but lack 100% of the knowledge or confidence needed sites like E-HOW are helpful.
Doing it this way I have saved time, money and a lot of stress. Sometimes a new appliance is more economical and less expensive than repairing an existing one. Local utilities have websites dealing with rebates on new high-efficiency units. Prices can be checked on the net or in person in your local retail establishments.
Reviewed Dec. 2, 2010
I bought a home in May of 2010. In Nov 2010, I called Old Republic about an electrical problem I had which the electrician said was dangerous. Old Republic would not cover any of the problems because they said it was pre-existing. I did not know any of this and it took me about 6 phone calls of arguing before they agreed to pay a little over two hundred of the $800.00 and something that it will cost me to have the problem fixed. Old Republic does not return calls, the people in authorization only have these words "not covered, it is preexisting, and no return calls". I feel that since I got the best plan, it should cover my electrical problem and I don't know who did it but since I did not modify any electrical problem, it should be under warranty. If I do not get this problem fixed, the electrician said that it is dangerous. Old Republic does not care.
Reviewed Nov. 4, 2010
I requested to have a cash out for my air condition/heating package unit. I was given an assurance that it would be processed with a rush. These are funds I had to lay out to have the unit installed and now late on mortgage (which I'm never late), and also late paying you guys for another plan. This entire experience of having to have the unit detailed and out of pocket expense of close to $400 for a 30-year old unit, and the slow service Old Republic has provided to help get this resolved has made me seriously finding another company to service my two homes.
I do not feel it was necessary to have a 30+ unit cleaned, when the gas was shut off (obviously for a reason) and still unknown by who, and which company you guys sent out in the past. It could have been readily detected to have the unit started up and see the cracked heat exchanger (cleaned or not cleaned) with a fiber-optic camera.
I am now told the check was cut on 10/27/10. It now may be up to 14 days before I receive that in the mail. Why would it take that long to get from CA to NV? Along with this frustration is the extremely long hold times to get a representative and even longer when the system routes you to a customer service person, rather than an authorization specialist. This when dialing the same number and choosing the same options, and seems a crap shoot which will answer. I have been a customer of Old Republic for the last ten years and in 2005, when I had an upstairs package unit replaced, I was not required to find a company to clean the unit prior to it having been replaced. I have also never been told when I first obtained the plan nor the countless hours on hold to hear a recording say that cleaning your heating unit and/or air conditioning coils would extend the life of your unit. I can say that the service of Old Republic in the last two years has rapidly diminished.
Reviewed Oct. 25, 2010
We purchased a home and moved in July of 2010. At that time we purchased a new home warranty protection plan to cover the house from Old Republic. We had to place a call for repair of our sump pump system in the first month. The system has a holding tank and 2 pumps to pump sewage to the city system since we live on a hill. They said it was all covered at first. Then they said only the fuse was covered, which was repaired, but water still leaks into the fuse box and control panel. They would not repair or replace the pump. So we live with using just the back up pump. We called today because our new double pane windows leaked in the rain and there is another storm coming. They say they don't cover windows or any other structural issues. Our question is what do they cover? They made it sound like it was a warranty and the house was covered completely, but nothing has been covered except a fuse. What a scam.
We have to save to replace the sump pump and pray the backup keeps working. We are left without assistance and leaking windows. We are both disabled and on fixed income. We feel powerless, depressed and taken advantage of.
Reviewed Sept. 21, 2010
Every time we have a claim with them or have an issue to call on, there is some fine print that avoids the claim from getting paid. They accept the warranty with the house as is. They should cover stuff that happens and is not the fault of the homeowner, period!
We have had to pay well over $1,200 for repairs that should have been covered by our warranty company, but were turned for bogus reasons every time. Not renewing and telling realtor to not recommend.
Reviewed Sept. 21, 2010
I bought a home warranty based on the insistence of my realtor, Mark Goodwin in Austin TX. I paid $350.00. Both my water heaters began to leak. Old Republic sent a plumber from Mustang Plumbing. The plumber demanded $2000.00 cash up front to fix the problem. When I said no, he left. I called Old Republic and they absolutely refused to help in any way. I spent $1700 to fix my water heaters ($300 less than the crooked plumber wanted). Then Old Republic decides they have to continually harass me for the $60 'service fee'. They are liars and thieves. Don't do business with them.
I have a flooded garage. I lost three work days. This resulted to aggravation and loss of money: $350 for the home warranty, $1700 for the water heaters and $60 for the 'service call'. If any lawyer out there wants to sue these crooks (on a contingency basis, you only get paid if you win), then let me know. Somebody has to sue these ** for breach of contract.
Reviewed Sept. 15, 2010
I have had my AC unit repaired and, excuse me, bandaged about eight times in the last year. I would assume this means it cannot be repaired, therefore, it must be replaced; not to mention that every contractor comes out and tells us something different. I believe it is their incentive to keep the warranty companies happy so they bandage the unit and hope that it will continue to work to avoid replacement. Also, I found out that contractors sometimes have to pay for parts themselves and then get reimbursed by the home warranty company. They don't seem to like this as it means they have to wait more time for money in their pockets.
The contractor that was scheduled to replace our outside unit which would be covered threw a fit when we told him the inside unit was also not working and that this could possibly mean that we did not have to pay for it. Then when we got a new contractor since this one refused to come out and his recommendation was different and now all of a sudden our unit is not scheduled to be replaced. I understand the home warranty companies are in business to make money but please adhere to the contract.
I understand they are a repair company but after freaking eight times, it obviously cannot be repaired. To improve their customer service, they need to rewrite their contracts to have a limit on repairs per year and not cover aging systems like they don't cover improperly maintained systems since they do everything to avoid replacing a unit anyway. Perhaps a better payment system to the contractors to avoid hissy fits and screening the contractors they contract with better as well.
At this point, I would rather spend the $5k or more on a new system than deal with this **. Since my AC unit is still not working properly (spending an extra $100 in electric bills and sometimes it stops working all together). I am going to have them come out every week until it surpasses the amount that it would cost them to replace the unit. They even agreed to waive the service fees from now on so basically all we are paying is the $40 a month. Good times.
Reviewed Sept. 14, 2010
I called Old Republic about a leak underneath my house, leading from the bathtub. Within 48 hours, they sent a person to view my problem. I wasn't home due to the fact that he arrived an hour early. Three days passed and nothing was heard. I then called Old republic and they had no information on the issue. They sent another tech two days letter From Gennaros plumbing. I was present at that appointment.
The tech stated it was due to PCV being used for plumbing. He assured me that the leak would be taken care of within a few days. He took my $55 check and three days passed. Nothing! I called Old Republic and they knew nothing. I called Gennaros and they said it would not be covered due to previous owners not installing correct piping. Now, Old Republic wants me to pay the initial $55 fee for the first visit. Henceforth, they want me to be out %110 without any fix. The fleecing of American Homeowners. Beware!
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2010
I purchased a vacation home in Palm Springs in the spring of 2010. After a few months, I was having problems with my HVAC unit. It has now been two months since I contacted Old Republic (OR) and my HVAC unit is still not working. During this period, the temperatures have consistently been over 100 (up to 115) and I have not been able to use my new vacation home. OR has sent 4 companies to my home (I have sent 1 addition). Three times the OR contracted companies have forced freon into the system and every time the freon has leaked. The OR contracted companies say the unit is "fixed" and a week later warm air comes out of the vents. Each OR "mom & pop" contracted companies only want to implement a band aid fix. OR has refused to assign a dedicated person to my case who knows the full history of my claim.
I have had numerous phone calls with OR service reps and each time I have had to fully explain what has been going on for the last two months. You talk to whoever picks up the phone whether or not they are familiar with the claim. After the 1st company put Freon in the system, and it leaked, I hired a company to look at the unit. OR has refused to authorize the recommended fix. OR reps have told me that if I fix the HVAC they will not reimburse me. They think it is acceptable that two months have gone by and I still do not have a working HVAC. I have had to cancel multiple plans to have friends and family stay at my vacation home on multiple weekends, including Labor Day. I have never written an online review before but I have been so upset by what OR has put me through I had to let others know of my terrible experience.
Reviewed Aug. 28, 2010
I called to renew my home warranty plan. They originally quoted me a specific price, but then said they'd give me a discount if I renewed. For the discount, they quoted me a price of $499 for an upgrade on a standard plan. In my work to renew, I spoke to several different people and 3 of them confirmed that this price would be given to me. However, when I called back to sign up, I was told that there was no way I could get that price. When I asked about the written records of my phone calls, they said that ironically, I was quoted a different price. This company is dishonest and doesn't care about their customers. I highly advise steering clear of this home warranty company. Complete lack of honesty and trust in this organization, which is pathetic considering that they're a warranty company, and trust should be their product.
Reviewed Aug. 26, 2010
We called Old Republic to come out and fix a broken ice maker. They reported that ice makers are not covered. We have a leaking sink in our bathroom, and two toilets that run intermittently, fortunately they said these are covered. They sent a nice plumber out, but the plumber said he had never seen this type of sink before and that he would have to call to see if he could get parts. He looked at the first toilet and reported that it was in good shape and did not need to be fixed. He went out to the truck to call about parts for the sink.
He came back in after an hour and said that old republic would not cover the sink because he felt the leak was in the sink and not in the pipes. He could not see the leak because of the position of the pipe coming into sink from the wall. He even asked if I had a small retractable mirror so he could angle the mirror up to see what the problem was. I stated that I did not have a mirror like that. But he was able to make the diagnosis despite not being able to see the actual problem. He then proceeded to replace a seal on the toilet that he had just stated did not need to be fixed. I feel he did this because I was becoming agitated that nothing seemed to getting done. He then said I needed to pay a $55 dollar service fee which I refused to pay.
Good to know what $450 buys you from Old Republic. Absolutely nothing. In speaking to Old Republic, they never offered to send someone else out to get a second opinion. All they kept saying is it is not covered and that I owed $55 dollars which I told them I refused to pay. And the plumber left before looking at the second toilet. Old Republic said I would have to pay another $55 dollars if they sent another plumber out to look at the second toilet. What a joke.
Reviewed Aug. 19, 2010
In the process of yet another service request. The first 2 have been quite unsuccessful and this is the second one dealing with my A/C. When I finally got a technician out who was non-affiliated with ORHW, he informed me that many of the technicians they send out are less than par. Now that I'm on my 2nd visit for 2nd request on my AC, I'm starting to believe him. Just save yourself the headache, time and money and steer clear of anyone within their network. Waiting to set up the appointment for this 2nd visit as we speak. We'll see how it goes.
Reviewed Aug. 14, 2010
My garbage disposal was leaking so I placed a service call with Old Republic Home Warranty. They had a plumbing company call me and told me I would be required to pay the standard $50.00 service fee. The plumber arrived, opened the cabinet and used a flash light to "glance" at the garbage disposal unit. He was under the cabinet less than a minute, then proceeded to go outside and call Old Republic.
After a couple of minutes he came back inside and told me he could not fix the unit because I had damaged the unit resulting in a crack, which is not covered by Old Republic. He asked for the $50.00 dollar service fee and then told me he could replace the unit if I paid him $425.00. The price he quoted included the new garbage disposal unit and the the cost to install. I immediately told him to leave my home, and I called Old Republic and filed a complaint. Not only did they not show concern that "their" supplier would utilize these business tactics, they just wanted the $50 service fee.
I went to Lowes and purchased a better quality Garbage Disposal for $200 and had my son-in-law install the unit. Old Republic has now sent me to collections for the $50 and had the nerve to add an additional $30.00 now totaling $80.00. I've sent in a written dispute, only to have the "Trans World Collection Agency" continue to call me. How can Old Republic continue to get away with robbing home owners with the "home warranty plan"? Negative reporting to my credit file, and the outrage that Old Republic is contracting with sub-tier contractor that don't do anything but collect the service fee, while providing no service.
Reviewed Aug. 9, 2010
I had a leak. A plumber was dispatched. His diagnosis was that that the tub spout needs caulking. He did not caulk it. I asked both the plumber and Old Republic and they both say they don't caulk. What plumber does not caulk?
Reviewed June 28, 2010
Our AC broke down on Thursday and I called in on Friday morning. They said that they would call back and I had been calling for help, in Texas heat over 100 degree, but they replied that there wasn't even an order number for me nor a scheduled repair. Till next Monday, they called back and they can schedule a repair on Thursday, which is a week later after my first call for 100 degree heat. I told them, too late, I already paid for an individual repairman and I can only give them a very bad review.
They are the worst I ever had for 30 years of homeowner, first time with them, I had four or five home warranty companies before, this is the worst and they are not cheaper. I lost $400 for home warranty for no service, $368 for individual repair service, and three days in Texas summer heat.
Reviewed June 23, 2010
We purchased our home which included a one-year home warranty, including the spa. A few months after purchase as "spa weather" arrived, we found the spa would not heat (March). We called OR who sent a very unprofessional looking and acting "repair tech", who arrived very late, performed a "quick fix", told us to let the spa run overnight and by morning, it would be ready to enjoy. We put the necessary expensive chemicals in and looked forward to using and we stuck a foot into ice cold water.
We called the "tech" and reported this to his "wife/secretary" who promised we would hear from them the same day. Of course we did not; we continued to call them and and on the few occasions we got a body instead of the answering machine, we were given different excuses as to why he had never returned or gotten back with us. After about 3 weeks of repeated calls, he sent a "trainee" who made another repair, called it fixed and told us the same thing, "give it 24 hours to heat".
The next day, still cold water. Only this time, the spa kept kicking itself off. We called the "tech" (Better Built Pool and Spa) who finally called back and told us to call OR and have them send some other spa company; that he was too busy. I promptly called OR and told them what had transpired and they agreed to located a different service tech. After two weeks or so had passed, a new tech called and set up an appointment, and who actually arrived on time and who seemed to be professional and knowledgeable.
This was by now late April. This tech has been here several times with various parts that have all failed. His final diagnosis is that this brand of spa and motor are no longer made; thus new parts are not available, only possibly used parts that could be tried if ever found; so basically, OR would need to search junk yards for the parts needed to make this spa run. In many conversations I have had with OR over these past couple months and probably every employee working there, some no doubt pretending to be "supervisors", it was finally concluded today that "our spa cannot be fixed" and they are willing to offer me a $600 settlement.
I responded that since the policy is new and the spa apparently could not be fixed from day one, I would like the additional $160 it cost us for the spa to be covered. I was told it would be the $160 or the $600; they would not do both. At this point, I will take whatever money I can collect back from them but I will not just "go away".
With all the foreclosures, consumer rip offs and scams, and everything else going wrong with this country, innocent homeowners/renters who are paying hard earned dollars for protection that they count on should be warned and these types of businesses ought to be run out of business. I find it even sadder that people are so desperate for a job these days that they now have become "profesisonal liars and cons" for these types of businesses. Buyer Beware. I will be looking for a handy man in my town who does what he says and provides the service he charges me for.
Reviewed June 22, 2010
We purchased a home in February and we moved in about three weeks later after doing some painting. After being there a few days, we noticed the water in the kitchen sink draining slowly. We got draino to see if this would work. However, after the sink completely stopped up, I called Old Republic since we had a home warranty. I paid someone $55.00 to come out and my mother came over to wait for the repair guy, because my husband and I have to work. Well, when he arrived, my mother called me about 5 minutes of him being there. He said the garbage disposal had something in it and he won’t fix it, because it is not covered under the warranty. I asked my mother to put him on the phone. He immediately said, "Ma’am it had an object in the garbage disposal and the warranty will not cover it.”
I asked if he will just take the garbage disposal out and he said "No, we don’t do that." He gave my mother the phone before I was finished talking to him and was out of the door. I immediately called Old Republic and they told me the report said there was an object found in the garbage disposal. Of course, I said, “Okay, so why can’t you guys fix this?” The customer service rep had the nerve to tell me that how do they know this is something we caused or it could have been a pre-existing condition. Why get a home warranty when they won’t honor the warranty? I believe they are taking everyone's money and giving the same excuses so they won’t have to pay. My husband and I are not rich and scraped up $55.00 to get this taken care of to find out you took my money and I am still stuck with a clogged garbage disposal. Remember people, "Payback People" when you get sued. I hope a judge hits you hard.
Reviewed June 22, 2010
I have been dealing with these half with people for going on 4 years for the same problem. I have major issues with my AC and heating. I have called them over and over about the AC in the summer and the heater in the winter. Every time, they send out a different company. It’s never the same company, so that way they can get another $75.00 service charge because each company has a different diagnosis. Then, the company will ask Old Republic to approve the repair and they won’t. They approve a half assed repair and then it breaks again. Old Republic is turning a blind eye to a major issue that they should cover and instead, they band-aid it so it works a little while but ends up breaking again. Then, the dance starts all over. I call Old Republic, make a claim, they send out some guy that can’t fix it, I call them back, they send another company, I pay again, they can’t fix it, etc.
My house needs a new AC/heater. I should have a heat pump...a new one. The system in my house is not only too small for my house (per several different repair men that have been out here), but also in the closet upside down!
Now my AC has been out for 7 days. Old Republic was called last week on Wednesday to send someone out to fix it. They informed us that no one could come out till Monday (please note the temperature in Oklahoma is averaging 93 degrees daily, heat index is over 100). The guy came out today. We paid $75.00 for the guy to tell us that the part that was replaced the last time is what is broken again. So, he has to submit an approval to Old Republic and then Old Republic has to get the part and send it to him. So, on the short end it will be another week with no air I am sure. If they stay true to their ways, the part they send will be the wrong one.
I have lived now for almost 8 days with no air in my house. It’s cooler outside than it is inside. Old republic will not look back at my history of complaints with them and make good on the warranty they are being paid for. I’m not even going to begin to discuss the issue with the broken waterline Old Republic informed us wasn’t covered on our warranty.
Reviewed June 18, 2010
I bought a home warranty through Old Republic in June of 2009 and renewed the plan for June 2010 - June 2011. In Aug. 2009, my AC went out and they replaced the outside unit with a brand that did not match the interior unit. At the time, I had no idea that it mattered. A year later, the AC stopped working again. I called Old Republic and they sent out another AC Contractor to look at the unit. This new contractor said that Old Republic messed up by mixing two different types of units and the only way to make it right/get it working was to replace the whole interior AC unit to match the exterior unit. Two weeks have gone by; I have made over 30 calls to both the AC Contractor and Old Republic.
Each time, I have been given a different story but for the last week, I was told by Old Republic that they would make it right and replace the interior AC unit to match the exterior unit. Then today by Old Republic, that I had been essentially lied to for the last week, said they would now only replace the coils and I would have to pay for the rest of the unit. The issues are that it is 105 degrees outside, I have had no AC for the last 2 weeks, they have told me a different story every time I called them and they admit it was their mistake but now do not want to make it right.
After a week of being told that the whole repair would be taken care of because it was their mistake in mismatching incompatible AC units, I was told today that Old Republic would only cover the coils and not the rest of the unit. I am now being told by their AC Contractor that we are basically, back to square one and we have no idea when my unit will be repaired. This is not what I have paid them over $1,000 to hear or why I hired them.
Reviewed June 16, 2010
Old Republic is a very poor excuse for a home warranty company. It is now June 15 and one of the hottest spells in recent history. My story starts on May 1 when we first turned the air conditioner on. The air conditioner would run for a time then stop blowing altogether. The first technician from Appliance Comfort Air said it was a bad breaker. He replaced it, but the system would start and then stop again. The second technician said there was a leak; he repaired it and recharged it. He said it was fine. It still would not blow consistently.
The third technician said it was a problem with the thermostat. I replaced it, and still no cold house. On the fourth visit, it was stated that the system is overcharged and had to drain 4.5 lb of Freon. This still did not fix it. Fifth visit and the tech said the fan sequencer was bad. They showed up with the wrong part and had to reschedule. It is now beginning of June, and it is getting hot, 89 degrees F in the house during the day.
On the sixth visit, I requested a second opinion. Allstar Mechanical showed up and blamed the poor running on the zone control system and said the unit is undersized for the main floor and basement. I stated the basement was never turned on. Old Republic said the zone control system is not covered and would not address the situation until it's resolved. I called Shumate, and they removed the zone control system for $541. And guess what? Still no cold house.
Now, it is really hot; and so am I. Again, 90 degrees F in the house. I am at work, but I gotta face the wife when I get home. I called this morning 8am for resolution. They said they would call me back soon. 10 am, no call. I called them back again, and they assured me I would get a call to set appointment to install fan sequencer. 5pm, no call. I called Old Republic; they called Appliance Comfort Air...no answer. They told me to wait until sometime tomorrow. They said all air conditioner companies were swamped..I stated that if they had fixed the system in May, they would not be dealing with me now. I asked the customer no-service tech if they had a cold house and they said, That is not the point, sir.
Stay away from Old Republic and Appliance no-Comfort and no-Air at all costs. I now have damaged drywall in my basement due to the condensation forming from the poor performing unit. They stated that they don't cover secondary damage. I stated that it would not have happened if they had done their job. They said, "Regardless, it is not covered." I would love for a lawyer to call me.
Reviewed June 7, 2010
A/C unit fan unit stopped turning on, A/C condenser is working at 3:26PM AZ time on 6/6/2010. I called ORHW at 3:26PM, spoke with David and his supervisor Lind (they will not give out last names). They stated under the terms and conditions of the warranty, they would contact the local rep for repair AA Extreme Air Conditioning. The required response would not be outside of normal business hours. Since the heat was 110F measure (in the shade) and this week will be 108-100F, I requested emergency service. The warranty states, heat or air will be responded to within 24 hours of the report.
Monday, no calls. After repeated calls to AA Extreme A/C with only answering machine response, I called back to ORHW to see if the work order was faxed. I spoke to Kathy, she did not know and re-faxed the work order to AA Extreme A/C. At 10:10AM, Monday 6/7/2010, I finally talked to AA Extreme (no name). He stated the earliest he could come out is Wednesday this week. I called ORHW back and spoke to Ethan, he stated nothing could be done. I reminded him of the 24-hour response time in the warranty and again, he stated nothing could be done. I even offered to call in another reliable contractor to review the problem and contact ORHW for the repair amount, negotiate a fix, and get the fan unit working. Ethan stated he could not authorize this and I would be responsible for the repair amounts. I told him this would be in direct violation of our contract, he stated nothing could be done.
I called A/C Doctor, a local service provider that has been reliable in the past. They will be here Monday 6/7 between 12-2PM. I have a stay at home wife and 3-year old. I am very concerned considering the extreme heat of their welfare. This is the second instance of the warranty go around with Old Republic this year. I called back in Feb 2010 with no resolution. In previous years, 2008, under the ORHW plan, we had no difficulties getting responses or repair. I question what has changed.
Reviewed May 27, 2010
After 4 different problems, they paid nothing due to their lame excuses. My A/C has a 4T compressor and a 5T HVAC. I was told by their representative that it would never cool correctly. Their excuse was that it did not totally fail, thus it was not covered. I was told this two different times. Plumbing, a pipe was sawed off in the wall and rerouted due to a former leak and was told if fixed was an "upgrade.” I could go on and on. However, do not ever use, they are a total fraud!
I had to pay $3,000 to have the A/C fixed. I still don't know how much for the plumbing problems.
Reviewed May 20, 2010
Old Republic Disaster. We have been without an A/C unit upstairs in our home since April 30th. The saga started off badly and continued to get worse as the weeks have gone by. May 1st. Our first work order request, entered online was not processed. May 3rd, verbally put in the service request. We were told that we were upgraded to a "priority" b/c of the intense heat in GA right now and the small child in the home. May 5th. Follow up call made by us. May 9th. We were informed that the problem was more involved than just a coil and that the entire unit needed to be replaced. We authorized a $385 out of pocket charge to cover the repair.
May 12th. Unit still not on order. We were told by OR that they were waiting on a return call from the a/c repair men. The repair company, Colonial Preferred Svc stated that they had no idea what OR was talking about. I spoke with Julie, who promised that a manager would return my call. That did not happen. Julie promised that everything was in order and that she had personally been given the go-ahead by her manager to replace the entire unit, not just the coil.
May 13th. A follow up phone call made by us resulted in again being informed that the A/C service company had not called them with the info on the coil. Once again we gave OR the correct cell # to the repair guy. Nothing has been ordered at this time.
May 14th. I called again and spoke with Jana, who informed me that the only thing on order was the coil, and that it was the wrong coil (she actually admitted that the wrong thing was on order). She could not tell me why the replacement had changed from the entire unit back to a coil. Jana took personal responsibility to fix the problem and to also have a manager call me back. Did not happen.
May 15th. Tried to call Jana at her extension and left a voice mail asking her what was going on and why had a manager not returned my call on Monday. Jana finally returned my call that night and stated that a new unit had been approved, but had not shipped. She again promised me that a manager would return my call the following day. This did not happen.
May 18th. My husband spoke with Anita who stated that they were waiting on the purchasing dept to order the parts. She stated that there was condensation found in the air handler and that only that piece of equipment was to be replaced. What? My husband questioned this assessment and waited on hold while Anita called the A/C company. They reported to OR that they would indeed have to replace the entire unit.
May 19th. Anita called my husband to report that both the indoor and outdoor units had been shipped.
I have never experienced such a complete lack of communication and follow through in a business. It appears that there is no continuity of care and no one person that is assigned to assure that the job is done and done right. The "he said, she said" back and forth between OR and the contractor was unbelievable. We had to be our own advocates in this entire process. I truly believe that if we had not diligently kept notes and kept tabs on OR, our A/C unit would never be repaired. As of this day, May 20th, it still has not been fixed. I will never, ever recommend Old Republic to anyone. This has been absolutely the most frustrating, inconvenient experience of my life.
Reviewed May 14, 2010
Bottom line up front: Old Republic Home Protection is a scam. Do not waste your money. When our hot water heater began to leak, I went online to the Old Republic website to request assistance. They sent out a kid (about 20 years old) with no experience as a plumber or electrician or carpenter or anything home-repair-related. Even before he walked in the door he was very apologetic, and repeatedly emphasized the fact that all he could do was take a look, but Home Shield would make the decision if the damage was covered under our warranty. I wasn't concerned, since our contract explicitly states that everything is covered, even preexisting conditions. The youngster, on the other hand, without ever saying so explicitly, clearly knew the leak would not be covered even before he set foot in the house.
Sure enough, upon seeing the hot water heater and leak (not hard to diagnose a hot water heater leak), he called Home Shield and explained to them what he saw. It was like a ritual he had played countless times before. The voice on the other end asked him questions and he answered them, but his body language and face showed us he knew where it would all end up.
Sure enough, after about a minute, he was informed that clearly this was a preexisting condition and was not covered under warranty. However, Home Shield was happy to provide plumbers who could come out and fix the problem for us. It didn't matter that I had the contract in my hand, which explicitly states in large print on the front page that "preexisting conditions are covered." No, clearly this was a preexisting condition that we must have already known about. It made no difference that the house, including plumbing, had been professionally inspected less than two months before with no problems identified. No, clearly this problem had been there for some time and we must have known about it.
Throughout the experience, the kid played his role well. He was very sorry for us personally, and was very careful never to actively accuse Home Shield of any wrong-doing. His job was to be a body and to collect his $75 inspection fee. That was it.
After wasting hours on the phone with Home Shield's billing department, collections department, "customer service" department, etc., it's clear they all have the exact same well-practiced lines. They're not the least bit interested in any documentation of the home's recent inspections by certified and qualified parties. They're not the least bit interested in the contract language that states preexisting conditions are covered. They know chapter-and-verse the reference on the back page of the contract that offers wiggle-room for the contract to not apply if a home-owner "should have been aware" of a problem previously.
It's the perfect scam. Most purchasers never use the service. For those who do, the contract includes wiggle-language, the company can maintain plausible deniability, customers are generally out-of-state (complicating legal action and making an office visit unlikely), issues generally fall below the threshold where involving a lawyer is cost-effective... Scam.
Oh, one last thing. On the off chance that it's not a scam, then I have to say it's remarkably well designed to fit the pattern of a scam, right up to their complete incompetence in sending unqualified inspectors to the home and ignoring repeat calls from irate customers. If it's not a scam, then they must actively work at really, really sucking, because this level of lack-of-customer-focus is tough to obtain by accident.
Do not waste your money or time on Old Republic Home Protection. Scam, scam, scam. $1,000 plumbing repair, including water damage. Old Republic refused to cover any of it -- just as the inspector knew they wouldn't, even before he walked in the door.
Reviewed May 2, 2010
My realtor put my house under the Old Republic Warranty; the coverage is in force while the house is for sale, so I thought I'd be covered in case something came up. After over a year of being on the market, we finally got a lease/purchase agreement on the house. The new family was renting a house that had gone into foreclosure and so they were ordered out of their house by May 1st, 2010. They were going to close on my house within 9 months and had already been approved for a loan. In the first week of April, we noticed that the toilet on the ground floor was clogged. We tried a plunger and snake, but they didn't work.
I called Old Republic and on April 9th, the first of the plumbers arrived (as did my first headache). They sent out a company called Appliance Comfort Air. The technician was nice enough, but the only tool he came with was a plunger. He even asked whether he could borrow our snake! Well, I paid him the $55 fee and he said he would be back with the proper tool to fix my problem. He did, however, check the clean out pipe right in front of my house to make sure that the problem was not in my yard because that would not be covered by the warranty. After running our hose down the clean-out, he determined that, yes, sure enough the problem was in our house.
On April 13th the second guy from Appliance Comfort Air came out. I asked about the snake, and he said that he didn't have one, but that he was there "to determine the length of snake he needed.” He was a nice man and seemed to be disgusted by the fact that he couldn't do anything. I impressed upon him that I really needed to get the problem taken care of since the house was under contract and a new family was moving in. He was sympathetic and said he would expedite getting a snake out there. When he gave me his written invoice he clearly stated on the invoice that the problem existed within my house and not in the yard. I expected to hear something within a few days, but more than a week passed so I finally called Appliance Comfort Air who said that the clog was in my yard, completely against their own two technicians and their written description.
I called Old Republic and threw a polite fit. They then set me up with another company. A technician from All Star Mechanical came out, but by now it was April 26th so I'm getting pretty anxious about my deadline with the new family. But since I believed that the pipe just needed a real power snake, I figured one more trip ought to do it. The plumber from All Star was competent and a nice man (the only one I have dealt with in this saga) and tried to get the clog with a small mechanical snake. That didn't work but he said he couldn't use the power snake because he would have to take the toilet off and the warranty company wouldn't cover that. He said that if we wanted to remove the toilet, he would come in a day or two and use the power snake. We agreed. He too looked in the clean out pipe outside and said there was no water in it, so again it was confirmed that the clog was in the house.
Two days later, he came back and used two different power snakes. This guy really tried, but to no avail. I watched him snake the line and he said he went out 125 feet, but didn't hit anything nor did he bring any debris, roots, etc. back to the surface. He did, however, say that the snake caught on something about 20 feet out as he was bringing it back. He said that it was a break or disconnection in the PVC under the slab of the house, and that he would request a camera be brought out to determine exactly where the problem was. Unfortunately, his company would not be able to do that. So I would have to wait for Old Republic to set up another appointment with a third company, but he assured me that once the clog was found, it could be fixed in a day. So I still had time to meet the May 1st deadline (but just barely).
I called Old Republic and pleaded my case. It was now nearly three weeks since their first plumber arrived and I was no closer to getting this problem resolved. The Old Republic rep was nice and set up an appointment with High Priority Plumbing for Saturday May 1st. I made it clear to the rep that this guy had to also fix the problem on Saturday, not just put the camera down. I no longer had time for another company and the rep assured me that it would be completed by the same guy on Saturday. My renters/buyers agreed to live with relatives until Monday, May 3rd. On Saturday at 2 pm this guy shows up from High Priority. He gets out of his truck, walks into my bathroom and says, "You have roots!" No camera, no looking around, nothing. I said you're kidding, right? He stared at me and asked if I had any paperwork from the other companies. When I said yes, he was actually disgusted that I had written statements from two other companies that the problem was in the house. No one else ever mentioned roots. He went out to the same clean out pipe all the others looked into and came back and said, “I can see roots down there.” Interesting, given the fact that my clean out is a solid piece of 16-year old PVC that is installed vertically, with no means of seeing what is in the T at the bottom. By the way, the "roots" he claimed were not from a huge tree but from a small bush.
Anyway, I asked, well aren't you going to use the camera to determine where the clog is? He was perturbed that I questioned his diagnosis, but reluctantly got the camera out. Surprise, surprise: after a perfunctory camera set up and very short trip down the line, the screen went totally black. Couldn't see any roots or anything, but that was proof enough for him; he was right. Oddly enough the distance that the cable travels down the line is usually recorded on camera screen monitor, but guess what, there wasn't any display like that on his camera. Before we even got to ask any questions about what we were looking at, he pulled the camera out and declared: "This isn't covered!" To explain why the cable only traveled a short distance, he decided that those dangerous roots existed right up close to my foundation, but definitely on the outside of it. My realtor showed up by this time and was furious. We both have a lot to lose by not getting this plumbing fixed, not to mention that the new family will be homeless. We wanted to talk to this "plumber" and at least get a written invoice, but before we could talk to him he literally jumped in his truck and started to back out of the driveway.
We ran over and stopped him from leaving and asked to have a written report. He said that his company didn't do that, but if we wanted to he would email us one. We're still waiting for it. By the way, originally everyone was under the assumption that this guy was just coming to determine exactly where to dig up my slab and then make the repair, but he didn't have the required tools to break through the concrete and repair anything. Clearly, he came knowing that he wasn't going to be making any repairs of that kind. I called Old Republic and screamed at them (for the first time). The rep was sympathetic and said someone from authorization would call me back soon. About ten minutes later some jerk called me backed to say that the clog was in my front yard and that it wasn't covered. I went ballistic. After nearly four weeks this was the result? What about the first two companies that were there? Well, he had the camera and that was all there was to it.
What a scam! I feel like Old Republic just shopped around for a plumber who'd say what they wanted to hear. Now it is 24 hours until the new people arrive and the plumbing is still ** up. I have two separate opinions from three different Old Republic contractors, only one of whom was competent and efficient and followed plumbing procedures. Since there are real monetary damages to three different parties here as a result of Old Republic continuously sending us from company to company with no resolution, we are contacting a lawyer. My realtor is consulting with her firm and I will get Old Republic's attention. This was unbelievable.
Reviewed April 26, 2010
On April 20, 2010, I contacted my home warranty company for a problem I had with a leak in my kitchen. They sent a plumber from Appliance Comfort Air, Inc. The plumber told us this leak will be taken care of, just wait for your warranty company to call. After the plumber left, Old Republic called and said they will not cover this leak. They said the leak was caused by the home not winterized. We have been living in our home since November 2009. They just do not want to repair this pipe. I have children and mold will start to grow and I still cannot use my kitchen. I had two inspections before I bought my home, everything was reported just fine and functional. Old Republic will not send another plumber for a second opinion.
Reviewed April 22, 2010
Our claim was denied before anyone even came out to check it out. It was a simple broken microwave door in which the handle fell off. They claimed it was a pre-existing condition although they covered the unit when we bought the plan. How am I going to trust them with anything else in my house if they can’t deal with something so small and inexpensive to repair or replace? Answer: I cannot! I have asked for a full refund which I doubt I will get but I truly believe there is no substance to this company.
Reviewed March 17, 2010
My refrigerator went out on the 8th and it has been a nightmare dealing with them. After 9 phone calls going on for a week and a half, with multiple different stories on their end, they have offered me a check for $930.00 or a gift card from Sears for $981.24. If I choose the gift card, I cannot purchase it from Sears until I get the card another 2 weeks from today. If I select the check, I go out today and purchase it anywhere and the check should be here in 2 weeks or so. By the time this will be over, I will have been without a refrigerator for close to a month. I doubt the employees of Old Republic would do that to themselves.
Reviewed March 12, 2010
My hot water heater began leaking last weekend. I called Old Republic to have them schedule service for me. They faxed an order to a local plumbing company and I followed up an hour later, scheduling an 8 am appointment for today. I took off a day of work to do so. I called the plumber twice and then at 10 am. I called Old Republic who said they placed a call to the company to find out about their no-show. They promised that they would check back with my within the hour. An hour came and went and no calls and no plumber. I contacted Old Republic again only to go back through this same process two more times. By late afternoon I was asking Old Republic to waive their fee as it was my time and their poor choice that had resulted in a day off from work and no contractor.
Daniel the Old Republic tech I ended up with in the end was unable to find a supervisor and was unwilling to waive a fee, although he made sure I understood that he did have the authority but would not help me. I told them I would go to Consumer Affairs and Better Business Bureau and it didn't faze him in the least which made me suspicious. In this day of competitive customer service, most companies are trying to do whatever they can to keep their customers. Daniel wasn't even able to affect a slight degree of "give of **".
The warranty was paid through REMAX Realtors as an incentive for me to purchase this particular house. I intend to hold them responsible by including them in this report. My financial damage includes purchasing a house in good faith that I thought was covered by a warranty company with character. I intend to send corporate REMAX the link to the 13 pages of complaints on Old Republic and try to apply some pressure to REMAX to make better choices for its clients. Old Republic might not care, but I assure you that REMAX will if they begin to lose home sales due to this **! And that's what I urge all of you to do, too. Send a copy of these complaints to the realtors that sold you the policy to begin with. The warranty isn't worth the paper it’s written on!
Reviewed Feb. 9, 2010
We purchased our home in October and by November, we noticed water around the base of our toilet. Upon examination, we learned that the tank had a fracture in it so we drained the tank and called for repair. We had a plumber show up on Friday at 5:30PM, who informed me that he would be unable to repair the toilet because there was no water in the tank. I told him I could fill it in one minute and he told me that he would not be able to do anything because we had tampered with the toilet. I explained that we had a crack in the tank and he said "all tanks have cracks, it's the nature of the porcelain. Your toilet is not leaking because of that".
He left and said he would call again next week and see if we had gotten the tank full so he could look at it again and that we would have to pay the service charge again. When my husband came home, we filled the tank and took pictures of an obvious crack that was leaking extensively "in the tank". After no call the next week we needed the bathroom so we put in a new toilet ourselves. What a ripoff!
Reviewed Feb. 3, 2010
Old Republic Home Warranty has repeatedly failed to hold up their end of the contract we entered into. I have called repeatedly when unprofessional "workers" have been sent to my home. I have tried to call and complain. My calls have only been met with. The first company, they sent hotwired the HVAC unit which ran for a total of 9 days before someone else was sent out to correct the problem of the "licensed professionals" they sent out to my home.
Reviewed Dec. 28, 2009
I called to have my HVAC system serviced because it wasn't blowing enough cold air anymore. After the repairman came out, I was declined for not having a home inspection. However, when I called back later to confirm such decline, they claimed that I stated that the HVAC system "never blew cold air." I never once stated that it "never blew cold air." They have made up or twisted words to make it sound like that's what I said.
Reviewed Dec. 20, 2009
My water heater busted and I called Old Republic. They said they would contact a plumber to help who would call me within the hour to schedule an appointment. When the plumber didn't call, I should have taken that as a sign of what was to come. I had to call the plumber to set up appointment. I took time off from work for an 11-1 window. After repeated calls from me, the plumber didn't show until close to 4:30 (over 3 hours late!). I was supposed to leave on Christmas vacation that day but will have to go back to work when office is closed to wrap up. The guy who finally showed looked like a mess and I was nervous to let him in to the house. I suspected he could have been drinking or hung over. He looked at the unit for only a few minutes and said he'd make a recommendation that one of the parts was completely broken and that the whole unit would need to be replaced. I insisted on getting a timeline of when he'd return and he promised the next day by 1 pm.
Of course, the next day, 1 pm came and went with not even a call. When I first called, he didn't even know who I was! I made repeated calls to him all day but he never showed! At first, when I kept calling, he claimed that he couldn't get OR, and then claimed he had given report and was waiting to hear what they'd reimburse, then promised he'd need to get the part and it'd be 30 minutes (something he said repeatedly with no results!). He never showed that day. Then after repeated calls to him, he just stopped answering! After checking him up on the Better Business Bureau site, this plumber had an "F" rating! I called OR to complain and they said he had never called in. They said they'd intervene and would call me back in 30 minutes. But OR also never called me back. I called again to complain. They put me on hold and then came back to say "Good news, he just needs a part and will be there." I pointed out this was the same lie he had been telling me. They promised he'd come the next day by 9 am. Of course, he never called or showed.
I called OR again and they claimed they could only cash me out the part ($236) but would not reimburse me the $60 I had to pay the plumber on first day claiming that was the fee the plumber had to pay to them. Although a second opinion I got independently from a BBB A+ rated plumber said I had to get a full unit replacement; OR denied it. They said I could get cash out for part or they could send another plumber. I was afraid of the type of contractor they'd send next so I just took the cash out which I'm still out the $60. They said they could not reimburse me for full replacement unless the unit was leaking water out on to floor. I asked to speak to the supervisor but was told supervisor would only repeat the policy. I tried to file a formal complaint to OR about plumber because I felt that they should remove him from their lists especially considering BBB "F" rating. I mean this guy was a crook who I was afraid of!
My job is working with low income, disadvantaged people trying to help them get on their feet through education programs so I'm not normally scared easily by someone who looks disheveled. But this guy looked scary! It shouldn't have to happen to someone else. They said they could only put in computer system for consideration by contract relations but I could not tell relations directly. They said they'd just call plumber to get his side. His side? The full replacement for unit ended up costing me $1,077 from an independent contractor I had to call directly. I feel taken advantage of by OR and this plumber!
Reviewed Dec. 15, 2009
Two weeks ago, my hot water heater was not working. ORHP placed a service request with Ideal Services. A representative came and said he had to order parts. The parts will not arrive until the following week due to the holidays. The following week, I called almost daily and the response was the same: "The parts are not in." I said I would pay for overnight and they said I can't. The following week, it turned very cold in Las Vegas and my heater was not working. I called Ideal and told them that this is an emergency. My heat runs off of the hot water and it is going to be in the 30's tonight. The rep said that it does not runoff the water heater, to call ORHP and have service for the heater. I did and it cost me another $55 for the rep to tell me that if the hot water is not working, the heat will not work. I placed yet another call to ORHP and asked for the supervisor. I was told she was busy and she would call me within the hour. I called again an hour later and they said she was out of the office. It is 55 degrees in my home now, no hot water.
After telling ORHP that I am going to a hotel and will bill them, the supervisor finally called. She said there was nothing they could do until they hear from Ideal Service which may not be until Monday. She also said that they will not pay for a hotel. As far as I am concerned, it is their negligence for not staying on top of this last week and getting the parts here. Monday, a supervisor called me after they received my complaint from the BBB. They overnighted the parts (fan and computer part) and came on Tuesday to install. The fan was replaced and the water heater began to work. They sent the wrong computer part. I was under the assumption that they would reorder. But the heater and heat started working after a day and I was happy. I closed the complaint with the BBB. Needless to say, three days later, I was without hot water again.
I called and spoke to Jimmy and he said he understood my frustration. After replacing the fan, the hot water heater worked for three days and then stopped. The computer part that came in was the wrong part and was never reordered. They were not aware of this. They then said they would give me a new water heater but I would have to pay for permits and such. I asked them what I was paying them for and told them that I should not have to pay anything out of pocket due to their negligence and the aggravation I have had in the last four weeks with them that is ongoing. They then said they would give me a cash settlement of $1,100. I then asked them where I will find a 50 gallon 65000 BTU water heater to replace the one I have for that price. They had no response.
I am now still without hot water and without heat. Not to mention the refund I have not received yet from my prior complaint with the BBB that they said they would send to me. I am at the end of my rope with this company. All I need is hot water and heat in my home. I don't think that's too much to ask for being that they are a home protection warranty company.
Reviewed Dec. 8, 2009
They are only in the business for getting a $100 service call. They do not do anything but tell you they cannot fix anything. I am not sure why they are allowed to be in business. I called for plumbing problems and they said I had to pay $600 for the dishwasher that was in the home for years, and it is covered and it never worked when the house was acquired. They would not do anything and said I had to pay $600 to $900. I'm not sure, he came out, I suppose, to get his $100 fee for showing up and doing nothing. What a rip off. Beware.
Reviewed Nov. 14, 2009
I bought their full protection, appliances, roof, and pool/spa adder. I called 10/15/09, the ice maker quit working; it was not covered, no reason. The pool pump started to leak and pool heater did not work. I called in tickets. I told them exactly what parts were needed. I was referred to Dales Gas in Orlando for repair. Again, I told him what parts to bring (model number, serial number). I used to do this work before a car accident. A guy showed up and said, “I don’t have parts,” and never looked at the heater. He came back 3 days later, installed the wrong parts and when you turned on the pump, it sounded like garbage disposal, water everywhere.
I called Old Republic, they were sending the same guy back. I asked what if he says it is "fixed"; I was told case is closed, even though water is going everywhere. They have now caused more damage. I have to replace a $500 pump because of their "work" or could care less. Never looked at the heater, he said "must be igniter or something." So far I am out $150 in deductibles. Now, I also have to replace my pump ($500) because of the damage they did. Also, I have to get a real repairman out to fix the heater. I have paid over $1,200 for a warranty that costs me money. In Orlando, stay away from Old Republic and Dales Gas; both will rip you off.
Reviewed Oct. 5, 2009
We bought a home that the seller (HUD) included an Old Republic Home Owner's Warranty. The A/C needed some repair so we called Old Republic who gave us an A/C contractor. We called them; they came out in about 3 days. We paid the required $60.00 fee and they looked at the system and said the unit had been red flagged so he was going to deny our claim. He reported this to Old Republic. Old Republic denied the claim as a preexisting condition because of the flag. I called ORHW and explained the preexisting condition clause in our warranty. I was told that mine was not included because of the red flag on the unit. I went into the attic to see what the flag said. I pulled the flag off to see why the gas company had put a flag on our unit. The flag was for the mortgage company and it said "electricity off," nothing more. Old Republic's attitude is similar to other insurance companies. They only want to collect premiums, not pay claims.
Reviewed Sept. 22, 2009
The home that we purchased came with an Old Republic Home Warranty Protection plan. We had a problem with a hot water heater. Old Republic sent a plumber out. We ended up paying over $200 at our cost for various parts. The plumbing company took 4 days to complete the work which meant no hot water. Because we had continued to have problems with the pilot light staying lit, we called the gas and electric company. We were informed by them and later by the city housing inspector that the hot water heater was not installed up to code and was dangerous.
As of writing, our hot water heater is "locked" by the gas and electric company, no hot water! The company Old Republic contracted to do the work is no longer in business. Upon calling Old Republic to inquire about our options, they were very unhelpful. They were not concerned that they had contracted a plumber that installed a hot water heated that was not to code and was dangerous.
Don't use this company. They are rude, unhelpful, and obviously contract with companies that don't do work that is safe and to city code. We do not have hot water. The unsafe conditions that were created could have caused death. The hot water heater could have exploded when we continued to try to light the pilot light.
Reviewed Sept. 19, 2009
I'm voicing my extreme dissatisfaction about Old Republic's home protection service. This complaint is based on my service call to fix my dishwasher that has been open for 6-plus months now! We had opened a service call with Old Republic for our home dishwasher in March 2009. Since then Old Republic has sent about 4-5 different technicians at 6-8 different visits. Every time they promise us that this is the technician who can help solve our problem, and every time they return empty-handed. For the last 2-3 technician visits, they have been promising us that this is the "last one.”
We were supposed to get a Sears technician (the manufacturer of the unit) and even today their technician could not solve the problem! So for the last 6 months, we have been washing and/or drying dishes by hand. We have been taking time off or making alternate arrangements so that we can be home to receive their technicians. I consider this an extremely poor service on their part. Our patience has run its course now. Old Republic either needs to get this unit fixed or replace it now - enough is enough! For once Old Republic needs to put themselves in our shoes and make the right decision against a decision that just tags us along with a view to saving them some money.
Reviewed Sept. 19, 2009
I called Old Republic Home Warranty to fix a plumbing issue. They sent someone out to look at my faucet for the shower. They left without comment. Old Rep called me and refused to fix, claiming that it was not covered. Being a contractor, I read the coverage that I purchased and explained to Old Republic that it was covered. They argued with me and tried to say the plumbing co. claimed the part not covered was the problem and said "sorry."
So I went to the plumbing company and asked to speak with the owner. I asked him to review the case and give me his thoughts. He said to me that the insert was bad. "Correct," I said. So why did Old Republic deny? They blamed the plumbing co. The owner had no idea why Old Republic would say that and said he would be out to fix it. The plumbing company showed up and cut a 2X3 hole in the drywall, put in a new insert and left the drywall on the floor and left. I waited two weeks for them to come back but they never did. I called Old Republic and then the plumbing company. Feeling I had a good contractor to contractor relationship with the plumbing company, I called up and said, "What the hell? Why did you leave the drywall on the floor and not replace, tape, mud and texture the drywall?"
"Oops, sorry." So, a young man came out and slapped some hot mud on the drywall and called it done. He said, "That's all. OR will not authorize anything further." I was stunned. Old Republic confirmed that it was not covered. It looks like a 3rd grader slapped a bunch of paste from school on the wall. These are completely unprofessional, completely substandard business practices. Being a contractor, it's not a big deal for me to fix yet I feel like I have been ripped off. I will not renew, nor will I renew any of my rental properties.
I asked around with fellow contractors. I found out that the contract company get their money from you when they show up and another set amount of money from Old Republic. Sometimes it is more cost effective to move onto the more "gravy" jobs than it is to deal with your problems. That is the case with me. Plumbers are not drywallers, so they'd rather move on.
My advice? Stay away from these home warranty companies and through word of mouth or references, find yourself a decent handyman or contractor, one you can trust. Do your homework, ask as many questions that you feel you need to. If you can find a good handyman/contractor that comes recommended or if you've seen their work, it will pay off over time. Due diligence is the key.
Reviewed Sept. 15, 2009
I took out the ultimate protection policy last month. I called them today because when I turned on my furnace Saturday night, the heat didn't come on. My furnace was working fine all last winter and I never had a problem until now. Because I didn't run the furnace this summer, they said it wasn't covered and they wouldn't send out a tech. I told them to cancel my policy. Being a realtor, I will never recommend this company!
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2009
We are renting from homeowners who have purchased your plan. In the last two months, we have had to use plumbers and air conditioning people. It was the absolute worst service I have ever received. The plumbers had to come out three times and the third time, we were charged for something which should have been fixed the first time. The air conditioning people totally suck! We are in Houston and have been without air for 2 1/2 days. The technician was to make a second call on Saturday sometime after noon. It is now 5:30PM and we have not heard from him. We have called, only to be told he was "getting closer" to our house. He had other stops to make. Really? When I spoke with him on Friday, he said his only call was at 10AM Saturday and he would be here after then and complete the repair.
When our landlord first told us about the company, I was quite thrilled to know they existed. If the two repair companies are any indication of the rest of their services, I think I'll take my chances on my own. Perhaps the BBB should take another look at their rating. The company leaves a lot to be desired and I intend to tell everyone I know.
Reviewed Aug. 10, 2009
We contacted Old Republic Home Protection on 7/18/09 that our air conditioning was not working. A technician came out on three separate occasions to try and repair it before deciding it needed to be replaced. On 7/25/09, a new unit was ordered. It is now 8/10/09, and we still do not have an air conditioner. We called the warranty people after one week, and they told us "It has been ordered, and it will get here when it gets here."
After two weeks, we were told that if it did not show up by 8/10/09, they would authorize the local contractor air conditioner company to provide the unit. I called the local company today, and there's no unit. I called the Old Republic people to get an authorization number and was told that there was no record of our previous conversation detailing when they would authorize local supply of the unit and they were not going to authorize the local company to supply parts that have been ordered. It has been 4 weeks with no air conditioner, and it's record heat. How long do they have to repair this? Isn't there a reasonable time frame they have to respect?
Reviewed July 8, 2009
I am so displeased with any/all contact that I have had to make with Old Republic Home Protection. I will try my best to make it known how horrible of a situation it was to deal with ORHP as well as the company that was referred to me for my repairs, Mechanically Inclined located in Overland Park, KS. I have been paying on my warranty for 2 full years. I have had to use the warranty 2 times in 2 years. The first experience wasn’t too bad. The 2nd experience has been a complete nightmare.
I contacted their company on 06/09/2009 stating that my air conditioning unit wasn’t working. My plan expired on 06/15/2009. The company that they referred to come out and take a look at my air conditioner was the worst company that I have worked with thus far in my life. They came out, I paid them $236, and nothing was fixed. I called them numerous times, left messages and never received a phone call back. Very professional!
Finally, after calling their company 4 times, waiting on hold for at least 30 minutes each phone call, they all finally decided to help me out and say that I could recall the particular order. Not once did anyone tell me this the first 3 phone calls of me desperately trying to get someone to help me with my problem and at the same time having no cold air in my home on 90 degree days. The last phone call (and this is after I’ve spoken with 3 different individuals) is when some nice man stated that he could help! What a concept! So he transferred me to another department in order to do a recall.
Finally, the company came out for a second time, which was on 06/22/2009. At this time, the tech got my air conditioner working at 70% efficiency. On the invoice he stated that the compressor needed to be replaced, old suction line dryer needs removed, the unit needed to be leveled, etc. Considering that my home is currently on the market, I told the new buyer that Mechanically Inclined would be coming out to replace/remove these items so that the air conditioner would work at 100% efficiency.
I have spent the last few weeks calling Mechanically Inclined asking them when they were going to come out to replace these items because I’m closing on my home and these things need to be taken care of before I move out. I contacted them 3 times and each time the lady I spoke with stated that they were still waiting for these parts to get ordered. I had to call their company again today, 07/08/2009, because of course, I receive a bill stating that I haven’t paid them all a $75 trade fee! I paid that when I wrote a check to Mechanically Inclined on 06/15/2009. So, it is another mistake on their part which started the conversation off well. Decided that since I was on the phone, I would make sure that when Mechanically Inclined comes out to replace these items that they had said they were doing for the last 3 weeks, they would still be covered because this has been an ongoing issue since 06/09/2009.
I talked with a lady from the authorization department who was the worst part of this whole process! She stated that because my air conditioner was working at 70%, there was nothing wrong with the unit. She also stated that the only way that can be fixed is if I get a whole new unit! Why in the world would no one have told me that when they first came out?! Now, my warranty doesn’t cover anything (another plus for your jacked up company), my air conditioner needs repairs that won’t be done and won’t be covered as well, and I’m once again stuck in the mud with absolutely no help from their company or Mechanically Inclined.
It is so disappointing to be treated like this especially after I’ve already paid this company around $2,000 in the last 2 years! I will make it a point to speak so un-highly of this company to whoever is around to hear it. I will post my opinion on any website, business recommendation website and any that I can find. I am so extremely irritated, mad, upset, lost and just baffled that I’ve been treated with such unprofessional **.
Reviewed July 6, 2009
We had a plumber out July 3rd. He inspected the A/C as a follow-up after Albright Heating & Air Conditioning and made the following observations: over 50% of the homes in the area have the same plumbing arrangement for their A/C and heating units as exists in this home; he added 1 gallon of bleach to the drain lines. The lines became clear in minutes. Plumber stated that if we wanted to replumb one unit per drain, the cost would only be $350.00. However, since this configuration has been working since the home was built, we could also leave it alone and continue to run some bleach in lines during the summer months. Owner called and stated that this is the first time the drain lines have clogged since he has owned the home. He also stated that this plumbing configuration has passed numerous house inspections.
My opinion of this situation would be that the contractor, Albright Heating & Air Conditioning, might not quite understand their responsibilities to the customer under such circumstances and that Old Republic, in order to save money, is willing to shirk their responsibilities and ignore the purpose of their homeowner contracts. Both of which is a very sad state of affairs. Not being from this part of the country, I can't understand why Albright Heating & Air Conditioning and Old Republic couldn't have known what the problem might be or at least tried to fix the problem while they were on location. Both companies need to be watched carefully. After reading other complaints on the website, it appears that Old Republic has quite a record for following this same pattern for refusing claims.
Reviewed July 2, 2009
We purchased a home in TN last December 2008. At that time, we were offered a "comprehensive" one-year home warranty for $450, which we understood would cover everything except washer/dryer and pool/spa. In June 2009, after a heavy rain, we had a roof leak. Upon calling Old Republic, I was told that we were not covered for any kind of roof leak because we had not purchased a "Limited Roof Leak Repair Option" for an additional $100. At no time during our purchase transaction were we told of or offered such additional coverage. So basically, Old Republic weaseled out of their "comprehensive" coverage and our $450 bought us very little peace of mind after all.
Reviewed June 3, 2009
I just purchased my first home in VA, and not even two weeks after, I start having a leak from my A/C Handler. I called the Old Republic, and they sent All Hours Mechanical out to check on it. I'm with the guy the entire time in the attic as he is checking it out. He told me that the unit was a little off level and fixed it. He blew out the drainage pipes which weren't clogged. Then we went outside to the unit. He placed a pressure gauge on it and stated that the pressure should be up around 58psi but it was reading 25psi. We talked, and then he said he was going to call me back the next day to set up an appointment to come back and fix it. (It was already 7pm so I understood.)
The next day rolled around, and Old Republic called me and stated they were going to deny my claim because the unit was installed improperly and that my warranty did not cover it. The house is a 2000 and has had the same unit in it. Therefore, the unit has worked for almost 9 years and without a problem (because the previous owner had Old Dominion and didn't submit his own claim). However, now when a problem occurs, it is all of a sudden installed improperly. It worked for 9 years with a so-called improper install, and now, they won't cover service.
Not one time did the service rep who came out mentioned that it was installed improperly. He didn't even open the unit up to see what the problem was inside the unit. After that, the owner of All Hours Mechanical called me and stated that he can send a guy out to fix all the problems with my unit but that it would be a normal charge without the assistance from the warranty. Of course, it would be without the warranty, because they can make more money on it and Old Republic wouldn't have to pay for anything. What a scam!
When I called Old Dominion back to ask for a second opinion and offer to pay the extra $55 copay, they refused to send out another contractor from a different company. The lady at Old Dominion was not only rude but was not even listening to me.
This entire experience has been horrible! I will never purchase a home warranty from Old Republic Home Protection ever again! The worst part is now I have to fork over the money to pay to get my A/C Handler fixed because it is almost 90 degrees outside and it's barely summer. What a ripoff!
Reviewed May 22, 2009
We have had to use the warranty over and over again for our air conditioning and heating system. Every time, they just do the minimum work and we have to call at least once or twice each hot or cold season. Finally they replaced the inside unit and our air just wouldn't come on as the temps. got hot in early May 2009. After several attempts to get both Old Republic and the company they said to use, 2 weeks later, they finally came out and said we needed a new unit outside. This was in early May. They ordered the wrong unit and the AC company just left the old unit sitting on our front lawn and left.
We cannot get Old Republic or the AC company to return our calls. We are going on weeks of no AC. Luckily it has finally cooled off a bit but the humidity is awful. Our dogs are miserable, my daughter is sick and Old Republic and the AC company couldn't care less. After 3 years of buying a renewal, we are disgusted! Never again. While most of the people were nice, they obviously just don't care. Also, we had a good Bryant system. It is just older but they want to replace it with a lesser brand name's off branded unit ... Wonderful - replacing with an off brand! They did offer to pay us off with the money they spent on the off brand, not to replace with a decent well rated brand. Can you say - taken to the cleaners?!
Reviewed May 16, 2009
I purchased a home in 2008 and my central air stopped working. I called Old Republic & their AC tech said my home had faulty wiring and they would not fix my AC. I had to pay the service charge. I called a local company to fix it. They told me the unit didn't run because of a breaker that needed to be changed. I had to pay them $337. The next day, I received a renewal policy in the mail from Old Republic. They want $425 to extend my warrenty! What a joke!
Reviewed April 16, 2009
Purchased their best warranty - 5 years, 100,000 km. I had warranty work done on the top and bottom end of the engine. Left the dealership the Flag, drove 30 km down the road the engine went. Old Republic stated it sounded like oil starvation before the dealership even looked at the engine or Old Republic had their rep look at the engine. They requested all my service documentation. I gave them all required service records for the last 42 months including oil changes every 5,000 km. They told the dealership to open the bottom of the engine then disallowed my claim saying it was oil starvation. I asked Carlos at Old Republic to look at the documentation from the dealer showing they had just had the bottom of the engine apart for warranty work and they had put oil in it.
Carlos would not do this nor would he indicate anything had been done by the dealership showing there was nothing wrong at that time, and that they had put oil in the engine. The manager of the dealership Dave indicated it was definitely not oil starvation and the engine shows this is not the case. I was told by the dealership that since it was so close to the end of my warranty, they felt that Old Republic was just trying to get out of it. Here was a well-maintained vehicle and Old Republic refused to warrant it. I would not recommend buying anything from Old Republic no matter what you want to warrant. Imagine if this was your home, you would be left outside in the cold. The car's engine was a total loss and possibly the transmission. Old Republic treated me rudely.
Reviewed April 8, 2009
Our home was sold with an Old Republic Home Warranty. We had an occasion to use them during a recent cold snap. Our heater failed, we called Old Republic and they dispatched Allstar Mechanical to diagnose and repair the problem. Unfortunately for us, Allstar Mechanical isn't an authorized dealer for our system, additionally; our system is under the manufacturer's warranty. Turns out in the small print, Old Republic doesn't cover manufacturer's warranted items, so much for a one call solution to a problem. Old Republic also uses incompetent service agents (check Kudzu). Allstar Mechanical couldn't get information on the replacement part and didn't see fit to communicate the delay.
After two days of dealing with Old Republic and the runaround, I called a local authorized dealer and they found the part locally within 5 minutes. Do yourself a favor, do not purchase a warranty from Old Republic or any insurer. The coverage is junk, full of delay meant to dissuade you from filing a claim, and full of ways not to cover an item. Old Republic doesn't follow up as requested. To their credit they are polite and excellent at defusing a situation. Also to their credit, they did agree to cover the labor on my choice of another HVAC service agent. Lost time, initial diagnostic fee and a cold house under 40 degrees.
Reviewed March 18, 2009
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Reviewed Jan. 6, 2009
I have had my downstairs A/C charged 3 times and no one will look for the leak when it's 115 outside. Now it's cold and my heat doesn't work, yet they won't call me back. Very hot inside the house during summer and freezing cold in the winter. Electric bill skyrocketed because the unit just runs and doesn't cool or heat when it's supposed to.
Reviewed Dec. 19, 2008
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Reviewed Oct. 14, 2008
Incident 1: In June, the AC went out during a heat wave of over 112 with extreme heat warnings. Old Republic couldn't get anyone out for 4 days. There are children and an infant in the house. Old Republic did not consider it a cause for Emergency Service so we had to stay at a hotel. When I was able to get a supervisor to call me back, he advised that with the heat and an infant in the home, it was considered emergency service in their guidelines but they would not reimburse me for the hotel room. I was asking for $160 for 3 nights which is not an outrageous price.
Incident 2: Their brochure shows that the Silver upgrade (which I have) includes the washer and dryer. I called to have the dryer serviced and they advised that it is not covered and I needed to look on their website. I was able to finally get someone to look at the actual brochure that they mailed to me with my renewal and they said that they apologized that it is unclear compared to their website. I've been renewing this coverage for over 3 years thinking I had the coverage to find out now that I don't and they will not even work with me on it and I cannot get it covered in the future because they claim I never had it on my plan.
Reviewed Sept. 22, 2008
We have had Old Republic for 3 years. I am disappointed to read some of these negative reviews but it seems like most of the complaints are from people who do not understand how a warranty or service policy work. We have had our furnace, air conditioning and refrigerator fixed as well as a dishwasher fully replaced under our warranty with Old Republic. I'd rather have to wait a day or two extra than have to pay the thousands out of pocket that the repairs and replacement might have cost us.
Reviewed Sept. 3, 2008
I called on 8/21/08 to request service nobody called the next day so I called the contractor. ORHP gave them the wrong number so they came out on 8/22/08 looked at the unit and said it needed a Furnace control board. They submitted the repair request and told me it would be 3-5 days now its been 7 days and I still have no A/C. I called ORHP and all I got was a run around they told me they ordered the part last week and are waiting for it. So I called the A/C guy and he called where they said they ordered it from and they said they have 108 of them in stock right here in Phoenix. So another call to ORHP and they have no explination of why I don't have the part I spoke to a supervisor and all he did was give me smart ass answers so do yourself a favor and DO NOT choose Old Republic Home Protection
Reviewed Aug. 28, 2008
I just bought a home over 1 month ago and the face plate on the microwave for the oven/microwave wall unit came loose and the glass was falling out. I called Old Republic and there tech stated he doesn't know when or how this occured but stated that you can't find parts for this unit anymore. I explained that the home inspector notes that everything on this unit was working fine, and ORHW is still telling me that this is pre-existing and that it occured before we moved into the house even though it was working fine when we moved in. I keep calling and they keep telling me that my claim is denied and when I explaine again the facts they state they will look into it and I never hear anything unitl I call back again and the same thing every time.
Reviewed Aug. 25, 2008
I purchased a home in Naples Florida July 2008 and broker agent bought this extend home warranty for one year. Fay came last week and power kind of on and off for a few times causing the fan motor to break down. I called ORHP to see if the warranty helps. They sent a local contractor guy came to collect $55.00 for a service call. He found out that the fan motor is burnt. And I didnot hear anything (Thurs, Friday ...) we had no ac since wednesday last week. I decided to call him today to see if he ordered the part and he told me that he's going to put a call with ORHP today and I turn around and call ORHP to see the status and they told me they are talking to him on the other line. A few minute later the contractor informed me that he'll what to do in the afternoon when ORHP makes decision whether to repair or replace it. I have called my regular maintenance guy to repair it today. I can no longer wait for them (the contractor and ORHP to play game).
Anyway, please think ten times before you are thinking about buying extend home warranty.
Reviewed Aug. 13, 2008
Seller gave me a air-conditioner inspection from his agent. Stating that the a/c was checked and certified as a good unit. I made a complaint as the A/c was not working. Old Rep. sent 3 different agents out and at first said Prexisting condition and the last a/c guy said General Maintenance They denied my claim even though I had the previous owners maintenance form which was done on May 5,2008
I have asthma and have spent weeks in this home without air-conditioning. I am trying to get into my doctor now and have an appointment for 10:45am on the 19th of August (if there isnt a cancellation sooner). I suffered every day until I paid $1775.00 to have it repaired. I have statements from my A/C agent that the whole system needed to be replaced and I believe that is why Old Republic wouldn't help me. I will be taking this to small claims to try to get the A/C unit replaced including the dilapidated duct system that had been plugged with duct tape and glue.
Reviewed July 28, 2008
I have now been without any air conditioning for 7 days and add 5 more days that pretty much two weeks. I live in Apple Valley, which is the desert of california and it is over 100 degrees pretty much all summer. I explained the temp and complained about the slow process and the poor customer service, the person on the line didn't care and just wanted me off the phone. As a result I will be living in a house that is over 100 degrees for two weeks for a problem that should have taken less than a week to solve.
Reviewed July 27, 2008
3 water heaters go out in 7 years- 1st went out 2001 was ok they sent out a contractor and i didnt have to pay extra. 2nd went out in 2004 after blowing up and flooding my home. there was warranty left on the unit but i had to pay for another and they did nothing about having had their contractors install a defective unit. Most recently, july 2008 it went out again (3.5 years old). i tried to get my own contractor out but they refused to pay more than 600 for the fix.
The next day they sent out their contractor who informed us that in addition to the water heater we needed about another 600 in "code upgrades" that were necessary which werent covered and we had to pay. The total bill was 1200 and we had to pay half due to so many uncovered items- which in my opinion should have been taken care of by them as one of their contractors had installed the most recent unit apparently not to code. But nobody could tell me when these codes were effective to determine if they should have been addressed in their prior installation.
First, when my house flooded in 2004 they would take no responsiblilty for the sub par installation and unit which led to the break down of the water heater and the flood which cost me about 1000 out of pocket for ins deductible. this time, again, they would take no responsiblity for the quality of work their contractors do even though the customer is basically required to use their low-end contractors.
I am sick and tired of the headache and lack of coverage you are getting with old republic home warranty and will be cancelling my policy. what good is the policy if you end up having to argue with these people to fullfill their obligations which decrease every year while the premiums go up. Then you get incompetent contractors who build up the bill for uncovered items that are supposedly necessary. I think if i go without old republic i will not be worse off. i will be better off for not having to deal with the stress of arguing with the dispatchers/approval department.
Reviewed July 27, 2008
Please report this company to the BBB, your states Attorney General Office (on-line) and your states Department of Licensing & Regulations. This is the only way to bring heat to them. I would also post blogs on Yahoo Stocks under their Parent Company - Old Republic International Corp. Finally, let your realtor know of these clowns. The word has to get out from the little folks. I am even contacting my local news consumer editor. Had an AC go out on 7/26. !00+ degrees today and expected to 103+ tomorrow. This company offer to send a service man out in two days, 7/28.
Explained the local weather and that I have a young child in the home. Nope...nothing but rudeness and policy quoting. Manager was worse. They have a priority service, but I do not qualify! WHAT? They also have an Out of Network policy where I hire someone and they "reimburse"...mot for OT (anyone coming out on a Sat eve or Sun morn is going to OT. Then once an assessment is made, they will determine what and if they will cover anything over $250.
They claim this is all in the policy, but my policy clearly states that there is "Emergency Service" with 24hr service. It says nothing of the qualifications the "cust service" folks speak of. Could not believe the number of complaints here, on the BBB and Ripoff Report. Am paying for a service tech to come out on overtime. Child was taken to urgent care for heat stress. I wrote company demanding reimbursement and will fax bills to them tomorrow after repair, but they stated they will "pass them on".
Reviewed July 25, 2008
My roof air-conditioning unit died in the middle of the Arizona monsoon season. I contacted Old Republic for repairs and was advised the a/c repirman would call me for a time of arrival. I never got a call!! I call Old Republic again,they tell me they will have him call and I hear from him a day later!!! My roommate had to move to a hotel while all this was going on due to the temp in the house being near 100* Repairman comes to my home at the cost of $55.00 repaired it and left. Approx 2hrs.later it wasn't working AGAIN...roommate moves out again I stay with friends, I call Republic, they say the a/c guy will call, i hear from him the next day!!!
He comes over,and tells me the unit is too old and needs to be replaced!!!
(Why he couldn't figure this out the first trip----who knows??) I call Republic,they say they will replace the unit but I have to pay $1300.00 for the crane and to haul away the old unit!!!
I asked how they would replace and install the unit w/o a crane?? and they say they wouldn't unless I pay for the crane. I contact a reputable a/c company and they advise that for half the price they will put the unit on the roof and do a complete install....but Republic refuses to deliver the unit to my home without they're contract company doing the installation!!!
When I had a friend in the a/c business check my unit last summer he found that one of Republic's a/c contractors had used a 1/2 inch piece of copper tubing as a fuse for my a/c unit.....lucky the house didn't burn down!!!!!
There won't be a renewal in the future!!!!
Reviewed July 24, 2008
On 7/21/08, We contacted Old Republic to place a claim since our A/C went out. We are in South East Texas and the temperatures over the last few days were close to 100 degrees. We were told their contractor would be out on Tuesday between 2-7. They never showed even after we called them direct and they said they were on their way. I called at 7 am on Wednesday and was told that the contractor (Kool Breeze) said they would be out between 5-6 pm that day. It took me completely losing my cool with several of their employees and my realtor threating them to get the contractor to give us the time of day and actually do the job they agreed to do. We are told by Kool Breeze that they were doing Old Republic a favor.
The contractor's office had the nerve of saying that Hurricane Dolly was affecting their arrival. The hurricane only brought slight rain to this area and while I was talking to her, the sun was shining. They finally came out and fix our system. Within a few hours, we had water pouring through our ceiling from the repair, something that was not wrong before they came out. As I write this, we still have water coming through.
I was told to contact the secondary repair line. I have left a message and left at the mercy of these people. The person I spoke to at Old Republic already started defending their contractor wanting to know what we did to cause this problem. We did not have water coming through the ceiling prior to their visit. I was also told I will have to pay an additional $60 for a new service call to have the original work corrected and then wait to have the repairs done to my ceiling and whatever damage is in my attic. I am sure they will try to charge me a deductible on that too.
I would have rather have gotten the policy money from the seller and paid a qualified contractor that I hired to make the repair in the first place. I am a licensed Realtor in the state of Ohio and just moved to Texas, I can't believe this company has not had class action suits against them. I so disappointed in their services, their employees, the contractors they hire and the total lack of disregard for the clients that they are serving.
So far, our A/C is still in need of repair, we are out $60 in deductibles already, they want another one to correct their error (if anyone would even show up) and we don't have a quote yet on the ceiling damage repair, carpet cleaning and damage to our floors and any damage to our attic from the water.
Reviewed July 19, 2008
Old Republic sent out a plumber to fix my bathtub cold shower knob. The plumber showed up and reported it was overtightened when installed and would not be covered. This is a problem becuase I bought this house and was told a warranty would protect me.
DO NOT BUY FROM OLD REPUBLIC--they will tell you that you are simply out of luck. This company does not understand customer service. You are better off just fixing the problem yourself or going to a more customer friendly company.
Reviewed June 25, 2008
Main water gate valve got stuck and could not be turned off. Called Old Republic for repair. They asked where the gate value is located. It is right outside the kitchen. They won't cover it since it is outside the house's main foundation. But all gate valves are supposed to be outside the house. They didn't budge.
Had to pay someone to replace the valve.
Reviewed June 20, 2008
Purchased a home in Charlotte, NC on June 6, 2008 which included a Buyers Warranty with Old Republic Home Protection. By 10 p.m. that evening we realized the central air conditioning was not working and called Old Republic. At that time we were told that our warranty did not cover central air-conditioning, though our paper work indicated it did.
We began calling local AC persons. Finally found somebody to come and check it out on June 7, 2008 for the cost of $300 because this was considered overtime. Svc. person checked the unit and said the compressor had failed. He did not have a replacement but could order one for delivery and install within 10 days.
In the meantime after numerous calls to Old Republic we were told yes our plan DID cover central air and they would have somebody there on June 8. Nobody came. Then told it would be June 9. Nobody came. Finally on June 10 a service tech from First Choice Air Conditioning & Heating came to the home and told our daughter, who was trying to stay in the home with a small window air conditioner we purchased, that the compressor was bad and while he had no new compressor he did have a full unit he could install that afternoon if Old Republic would give authorization.
I called Old Republic, they refused to authorize the installation of this and if we personally paid for a new one then our warranty would be null and void. They spoke to a rep from First Choice Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc. and he said he did not have a compressor in stock but could order one for delivery and installation for approx. $700 on June 11. At first Old Republic said no because they could order a compressor at 1/2 the cost of what the service tech could get one or approx. $350 and have it installed within 10 days, but I stressed to them this had become a health issue as our daughter has severe asthma and could no longer remain in the house without central air conditioning. They finally approved.
BUT it turned out that First Choice Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc could NOT get a new compressor until June 16. So our daughter had to finally leave the home because of the extreme heat. Our granddaughter went to the home on the morning of June 16, taking a morning off work to be there and First Choice did not arrive. She went to work. In mid-afternoon on June 16th my daughter received a call from First Choice service tech saying he had been at the house, nobody was there, it was evident to him that nobody was living there and therefore he could not install the compressor until somebody was actually living in the home and Old Republic would not cover the install because of that! Nobody was living in the home because the oppressive heat.
My daughter called First Choice and told them somebody WOULD be there on June 17. They finally did install the compressor on the morning of June 17.
Our second problem with Old Republic arose today. There is a leak in what is called a saddle valve in the kitchen. We called Old Republic and they sent a plumber from DGH Plumbing of Charlotte, NC. The plumber looked at the valve, said yes it needed replacing but that he would not fix it because it is not covered under our warranty plan. Plumbing problems ARE covered under out plan. We also have the main water turn off valve stuck in the ON position but he would not repair this either
Charlotte Temp. Control=$302.50 Window Unit =$107.24 First Choice Trade Fee =$ 70.00 (should have been $55.00 according to our plan) 1st Choice Reclaim Fee =$155.00 1st Choice Freon Dis. =$100.00 DGH Plumbing =$55.00 Total of both complaints= $789.74
Reviewed June 17, 2008
Purchased a home in Charlotte, NC on June 6, 2008 which included a Buyers Warranty with Old Republic Home Protection. By 10 p.m. that evening we realized the central air conditioning was not working and called Old Republic. At that time we were told that our warranty did not cover central air-conditioning, though our paper work indicated it did. We began calling local AC persons. Finally found somebody to come and check it out on June 7, 2008 for the cost of $300 because this was considered overtime. Svc. person checked the unit and said the compressor had failed. He did not have a replacement but could order one for delivery and install within 10 days.
In the meantime after numerous calls to Old Republic we were told yes our plan DID cover central air and they would have somebody there on June 8. Nobody came. Then told it would be June 9. Nobody came. Finally on June 10 a service tech from First Choice Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc. came to the home and told our daughter, who was trying to stay in the home with a small window air conditioner we purchased, that the compressor was bad and while he had no new compressor he did have a full unit he could install that afternoon if Old Republic would give authorization.
I called Old Republic, they refused to authorize the installation of this and if we personally paid for a new one then our warranty would be null and void. They spoke to a rep from First Choice Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc. and he said he did not have a compressor in stock but could order one for delivery and installation for approx. $700 on June 11. At first Old Republic said no because they could order a compressor at 1/2 the cost of what the service tech could get one or approx. $350 and have it installed within 10 days, but I stressed to them this had become a health issue as our daughter has severe asthma and could no longer remain in the house without central air conditioning. They finally approved.
BUT it turned out that First Choice Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc could NOT get a new compressor until June 16. So our daughter had to finally leave the home because of the extreme heat. Our granddaughter went to the home on the morning of June 16, taking a morning off work to be there and First Choice did not arrive. She went to work. In mid-afternoon on June 16th my daughter received a call from First Choice service tech saying he had been at the house, nobody was there, it was evident to him that nobody was living there and therefore he could not install the compressor until somebody was actually living in the home and Old Republic would not cover the install because of that!
Nobody was living in the home because the oppressive heat. My daughter called First Choice and told them somebody WOULD be there on June 17. They finally did install the compressor on the morning of June 17. Charlotte Temp. Control=$302.50 Window Unit =$107.24 First Choice Trade Fee =$ 70.00 1st Choice Reclaim Fee =$155.00 1st Choice Freon Dis. =$100.00 Old Republic Svc.Fee =$ 55.00 Grand Total =$798.74
Reviewed June 12, 2008
called tuesday, our oven would not turn off, it is electric, so much heat, it caused smoke dectector to go off, and our dection service, we had to call because smoke dectector was going off, very oloud. also we have comapny from florida, and can't cook of bake of anything, it is expesive to go out to eat, which we have had to do.
oven got so hot it burned home-made buns i was making for company. The door now is a mess from the heat
Reviewed June 12, 2008
Bought a house and got an Old Republic home warranty to go with it. Within 2 weeks, the gas water heater failed. Called OR and dealt with their preferred plumbing contractor (Who was nice enough). Bottom line, because the old water heater was still under manufacturer warranty for parts only, OLD REPUBLIC COVERED NOTHING! The labor was not covered by manufacturer warranty. OR still would not cover that. What do you think costs more, the labor or the parts? OR home warranty is LIKE HAVING NO WARRANTY AT ALL.
Had to pay labor myself. Will use service calls, company complaints, online reviews and a complaint to the consumer affairs office of Virginia to exact that cost back out of OR.
Reviewed May 30, 2008
Problem #1: 1st time home buyer, 1st time pool owner. My pool motor started sounding really bad and finally went out. Had OR send a pool company out and they replaced the motor. A few months later, say around March, the motor went out again and I also told OR to have them check the pool filters because we could never seem to get the pool clear and clean. They sent the same pool company out and they said it was an electrical problem and that the filters probably needed replacing. The pool co also said it would be best to have the motor replaced first.
I got a voicemail from OR saying the filters were denied at this time but would have an electrician come out and look at the motor. The pool is starting to get really green. The electrican came out and fixed the outside circuit breaker so now the motor works. Called OR AGAIN and said, i need the pool filters looked at. They sent a pool co out. They had no clue why they were to come out and would have to reschedule an apt. They once again, did not look at the filters. The pool company came out this last time, took the filter out, glanced at it, said the filters need to be replaced and that pool needed to be cleaned before they replaced the filters. He said that the filters were out because there was so much pressure from the pool being dirty. OR once again denied my filters to be replaced.
I called OR and the rep spoke to his supervisor and said they would not replace the filters because I did not keep the pool clean. The pool is dirty because the motor kept going out and I'm not about to pour a couple hundreds of dollars in chemicals when the filter won't clean the pool even if I drained the whole pool and filled it back up with water. Oh! get this! OR had nothing in their system stating why the electrician came out to do repairs. I had my friends neighbor who works for a pool co. He actually hosed the filters down and looked at them. There were about 4 holes in the filter and the DE powder was blowing back in the pool and is why the pool was always cloudy. OR still denied my claim.
Problem #2. Just recently, I heard a tapping noise. Went in my hallway and noticed that there was water dripping from my ceiling, around the attic. I opened up the attic and noticed that the water from the cooling system was not going in the drip pan. Called OR. They sent out an a/c company. He said that someone had stepped on the main drip line and is why all the water and something else was broken. He asked if someone else had done work in the attic. I said yes, OR sent out another co earlier this year to replace the air ducts. But since the cooling system was installed backwards, and needed to be brought up to code, they would not replace it. I have their standard warranty policy. It clearly states that unknown pre-existing conditions are covered and both the a/c and pool filters are covered under my warranty. I need an attorney! Please contact me!
Reviewed May 26, 2008
She still refused to do anything for me. It is 90 degrees in our home and we have a 1 year old baby, We cannot afford to get this fixed as we just put all the money we had into moving into this home.Great scam they have going. I hope someone shuts them down...soon!
Reviewed May 21, 2008
Last summer my air conditioner when out on a Tuesday morning. I called OR and was given the name of a contractor. Calls were exchanged and 3 days later I was informed by the contractor that they were no longer handling the workorder. I contacted OR and they said that a technician would be out that afternoon.
Finally at 6pm on Friday a technician arrived and my experience was almost exactly like so many others on this site. The technician was dirty, and certainly not professional. He informed me that he couldn't fix the problem and that I would need to contact OR the following Monday. Waiting until Monday would have meant enduring the high Texas temperatures for over a week. I contacted my own AC company at 6:30 pm on a Friday and was informed they could have someone out in an hour which they did.
In the mean time I called OR to tell them the situation. They informed me they would only pay $200 for using my own contractor. The bottom line cost was ~$700+ or ~$550 with purchase of a service contract for $189 from them. Given terms of the service contract and unsure of the condition of the AC unit as well as knowing I would never contact OR for anything again I picked the $550 + service contract.
The bottom line is my AC was repaired in 3 hours instead of the 4 days it took OR to get an incompetent technician to my home. I paid approx $550 for repair of my AC. OR still insisted they would only reimburse me for $200. On the following Monday I called my real estate agent who assisted in the purchase of the home. When I purchased the house she recommended OR because she had a relationship with their sales rep and if I had difficulty she could leverage her relationship. I was informed through my agent that they would reimburse me for the $550 amount.
Unlike most people, I was actually able to recover the $550, obviously due to the relationship between my agent and the OR rep. It shouldn't take pressure from a real estate agent to get OR to live up to their contract. Recently OR has contacted me regarding the $60 service call fee. I don't dispute owing the $60 fee, however, I explained to them that I saved them money by purchasing the service plan from the company that was able to repair the system. It would have been $700 vs $550 but still they persist for the fee. I've decided to file a complaint with the Texas Real Estate Commission because I don't believe it's ethical that it should take a real estate agent putting pressure on OR's sales rep to perform on a contract. I was lucky in that respect. If they want to argue over $60 when they still owe me money, bring it on.
Reviewed May 12, 2008
I called old republic because my water heater is not working and they told me that they wont cover any repair because my old heater was not install to the codes now can somebody tell me how the owner of a house know all that por favor
Reviewed May 9, 2008
We were assigned service from our home warranty company Old Republic to thier contractor Ron. Had I known what I know now from a nieghbor how also had the misfortune of having Mr. R service thier home I would have refused to allow him on the property. This fellas shows up opens the panel on the air conditioner and stares with a look of utter confusion. Is unable to explain what he think the problem may be. Does not so much as touch a meter or any instrument of any kind and justt states we'll it's too warm to work on at the moment he will be back. ( What does this mena?)
What does he do calls in a report that he needs to return to the home next week and does not want us waiting that long. What he should have told his warranty company is I don't know what the *###@%%%$## is wrong and don't have a clue . Our nieghbors informed us they put up with this clown changing out parts in their furnace on three seperate occasions before they finally wised up and got someone else in to fix thier furnace.
My biggest concern is he acted dumb founded, clueless and appeared more interested in getting his service fee and on his way than providing any kind of proffessional solution. Why do companies like Old Republic use companies lke this ? Surely they must hear complaint all the time... This clown was as arrogant and rude as they come, very unproffesional; not even a uniform or company name on his dirty junk truck.
Our advice to our Home Warranty Company is supervise who you hire and pay attention to your customers complaints. We will not be renewing this year when our plan expires. Were a 7 year customer of Old Republic thier handling of our complaint prompt us to write this review to warn of others of thier incompetence! Seven years of paying into a plan and when you use it, you get the bottom of the food chain in ac contractors makes you think twice of who your signed up with.
The delays of this company in providing prompt and proffesional service left us without air conditioning on some of the warmest days of this year. His delays cost us time of work, etc. Let's hope the re assigned company comes with some resolve.
Reviewed May 9, 2008
We were assigned service from our home warranty company Old Republic to thier contractor Ron Rhodes. Had I known what I know now from a nieghbor how also had the misfortune of having Mr. Rhodes service thier home I would have refused to allow him on the property. This fellas shows up opens the panel on the air conditioner and stares with a look of utter confusion. Is unable to explain what he think the problem may be. Does not so much as touch a meter or any instrument of any kind and just states we'll it's too warm to work on at the moment he will be back. (What does this mean?) What does he do calls in a report that he needs to return to the home next week and does not want us waiting that long.
What he should have told his warranty company is I don't know what is wrong and don't have a clue . Our nieghbors informed us they put up with this clown changing out parts in their furnace on three seperate occasions before they finally wised up and got someone else in to fix thier furnace. My biggest concern is he acted dumb founded, clueless and appeared more interested in getting his service fee and on his way than providing any kind of professional solution.
Why do companies like Old Republic use companies lke this ? Surely they must hear complaint all the time... This clown was as arrogant and rude as they come, very unprofessional; not even a uniform or company name on his dirty junk truck. Our advice to our Home Warranty Company is supervise who you hire and pay attention to your customers complaints. We will not be renewing this year when our plan expires. Were a 7 year customer of Old Republic thier handling of our complaint prompt us to write this review to warn of others of thier incompetence!
Seven years of paying into a plan and when you use it, you get the bottom of the food chain in ac contractors makes you think twice of who your signed up with. The delays of this company in providing prompt and professional service left us without air conditioning on some of the warmest days of this year. His delays cost us time of work, etc. Let's hope the re assigned company comes with some resolve.
Reviewed April 23, 2008
Refrigerator quit working 3 weeks ago. Called Old Republic and they scheduled a repairman. Repairman shows up a week later and determines a start relay and capacitor are bad. Four days later, I call the repairman and was told the part had to be manufactured. Keep in my the refrigerator is only 3 years old.
Repairman states that it could take a month of better to get the part. I called Old Republic, stating the lead time is excessive and that I should not have to do without a fridge for better than a month. Old Republic's response, Make do until the part arrives. I will update this post when I get more information.
Reviewed March 26, 2008
We purchased a practically new home and within a few months, the A/C stopped dispensing cool air. Old Republic sent out an incompetent technician within a few days who could not figure out the problem. He came back, but still didn't know. A few months pass. I called Old Republic to have someone come out again. The same incompetent comes out a few more times and eventually reports to O.R. that we need a new A/C unit (the unit we had was a year old). In the meantime, O.R. claims that it has not heard from the incompetent while the incompetent claims that it sent in results from its tests. After a few more months of this, O.R. says that they do not cover upgrades. We are not asking for an upgrade to the A/C unit that we have, just one that is the same. They said that we would need to pay $500 for this upgrade. Please, if anyone would like to file in a class action suit, please let me know. I am not an attorney, but it seems clear to me that causes of action such as breach of contract and fraud or at least negligent misrepresentation could stick.
Now, it looks like we will be paying a total of $600 to replace an A/C unit that should be covered by our plan.
Reviewed March 14, 2008
March 1, 2008 6:00 am we called our home warranty company Old Republic becasue our furnace and air conditioner would not come on. By 8:00 am we had a call from the assigned service man from AllTemp to schedule and appointment that day. Old Republic's service company arrived timely at 2:00 PM and found our furnace had severe electrical damage from a flame roll out and could not be safely repaired. By 5:00 PM we had received a call from Leslie at Old Republic to tell us, AllTemp would be replacing the furnace. The only charges we would incurr would be a $50.00 disposal fee in addition to the already paid Trade Fee of $50.00. We agreed to the non coverd cost happily, considering a new furnace would have cost us plenty. The service company arrived as scheduled March 3, 2008 and worked msot of the day replacing our furnace.
We are so please to have purchased Old Republics Warranty. It's disheartening to read some of these complaints . Some of the letters I have read here are misinformed people who do not fully understand or want to the Home Warranty Policy.
We would highly recommend Old Republic to anyone seeking HOme Warranty.
Reviewed Feb. 28, 2008
Initial complaint was approx. 09/07. Company refused to replace 2 defective water heaters they claimed to be leaking due to manufacturers defect. I had 2 independent plumbers inspect the water heaters. Both reached the same conclusion that a defective thermostat prevented the gas from shutting off. The 2 heaters are connected and continuos steam build-up expanded both tanks to the verge of explosion. Neither plumber had ever seen a tank reach this point without exploding.
Both tanks were Reem and installed August 2001. Old Republic took responsibility for the defective thermostat (approx. $60), however, refused to pay for replacements. I paid $1200 to replace both.
Case 2: 02/08 - Kitchen disposal stopped working. The motion of the blades was tested with an allen wrench. No obstructions or scrapes were detected. The plate freely turns by hand. The technician's first diagnosis was associated to clogged rose stems and q-tips. After removing the debris, the disposal worked long enough for him to get out of the door. Within minutes it returned to a nonworking state. It appears as if no power is getting to the appliance. A second visit was made. 2nd diagnosis, a bent plate was making it inoperable. Again, the motion of the plate has been tested with no detection of resistance or scraping. Old Republic informs me I am permitted to get a 2nd opinion at my own expense and they will review that diagnosis. I can not allow myself to pay for another opinion knowing Old Republic's response will be refusal to pay.
Reviewed Feb. 13, 2008
We purchased a new house and got a ORHP warranty. We were pleased on our first claim. But finally, Old Republic proved to be exactly who they are. Our refrigerator went out. Six weeks later it still isn't repaired. Now they say it is non-repairable and want to give me a white low-grade fridge to replace my stainless steel one. After hours of complaining, I was basically told to get over it. I can accept a $824.50 buy-out. But of course, where can I get a new stainless fridge for that. Also, a week earlier I was told by a Customer Service Rep. that my fridge was valued at $2000.00. Now it's only worth $800!
The company says that was the agreement of the warranty. The agreement was also a limit of $1000.00 of repairs. They admit they crossed that limit four weeks ago. But I still have to live by the agreement even though they don't.
I'm taking the buyout. But I'm telling everyone I can to avoid this scam. It's a joke. And the people in purchasing and customer service have lied so many times I lost count. But again...I have to get over it!
Reviewed Feb. 12, 2008
1/28/08 Called Old Republic and told them that the downstairs furnace (2 zone/dual electric systems) was not heating. Blowing cold air but no heat. I'd checked the breakers, cycled them off/on. 1/29/08 OR HVAC technician arrived, looked at furnace, said it was the breaker and I needed an electrician. Called OR and they issued a work order for an electrician. 1/30/08 OR electrician arrived. Said that he didn't think it was the breaker but he's replaced it anyway. He called OR and said that he had replaced the breaker but there were a bunch of control wires in the furnace that were burned and he thought there was a problem inside the furnace.
1/31/08 OR HVAC tech returns. Replaces burned wires and resets breaker. Breaker pops 20 minutes later, lots of burning wire smell. I call HVAC company & they said they would send someone out Monday 2/4/08. 2/4/08 HVAC tech arrives finds that the wires his partner had replaced had burned. Replaces wires and says that he'll come back and replace the 'sequencer'. Breaker pops a few minutes later. HVAC tech contends that 41.2 amps is too much for that 60 amp breaker. Says he'll come back tomorrow and stage the heat strips. 2/6/08 HVAC tech returns and stages the heat strips. Breaker pops in about 15 minutes. I speak to OR and say that the unit still isn't working and maybe they should get a second opinion.
2/8/08 New HVAC tech arrives and says that unit is miswired. Rewires controls. Breaker trips. He pulls heat strips and says that they need to be replaced. Says he need to get an accurate schematic of the unit because the wiring diagram on the cover of the unit didn't seem to be correct. Calls his office to ask for parts and is told that no parts are available for unit (too old). 2/11/08 HVAC tech returns to get dimensions of the air handler. Says that the unit is too old and no parts are available, so the unit will need to be replaced. 2/11/08 OR call and says that the claim is denied because the unit failed due to lack of maintenance. I said the unit was serviced last July (07) and none of their guys has mentioned that the unit wasn't properly maintained but now that they find out that you have to replace the unit, suddenly it has not been properly maintained, that's silly.
2/12/08 I called OR to complain. OR called twice saying they would talk to, the last was Kareem who said that the claim was denied. I said the unit was serviced in July and he said that If I'd send him the service order maybe they would reconsider. I reminded him that they had been out 5 times over two weeks (during which I had no heat) and none of the tech reports had mentioned that the unit wasn't properly maintained until it became obvious that they had to replace the unit. He said Oh, we wouldn't do that. But they did.
Reviewed Feb. 12, 2008
My newly purchased home in Denver, North Carolina had the whole heating and A/C system fail shortly after we moved into the home. We had a home warranty with Old Republic Home Protection Company Inc. Old Republic replaced the complete system except the old thermostat. (stupid move) Generally a good company would change that with the new system. They elected not to do so. The non-covered item costs were substantial and if one added the cost of the insurance policy one could easily get the job done for less than those two items combined. (a bit disappointing about that) Shortly after the change out, the thermostat failed and the old thermostat was repaired (not replaced). Not long after the thermostat had a complete failure and the tech replaced it with a new one. Keep in mind each visit is $70.00 (not covered). A good company would have replaced the thermostat with the new change out of the entire system. Old Republic elected not to do so. There may be some good companies for home warranties out there but it is my experience Old Republic is not one of them.
Salt to the financial wound of the huge non covered costs now $70.00 more.
Reviewed Feb. 12, 2008
My issue was a roof leak reported on 11/30/07. I was told to find a contractor on my own and I had a roof contractor come to my home on Saturday, 12/1/07. We had over 5inches of rain that weekend with high winds, and we had a dry period on Saturday afternoon, allowing the contractor to show up and give me a report on the nature of the leak. He reported that we had severe wind damage and that some of the roof tiles were blown off the landing onto the field tiles, breaking the field tiles and leaving the felt under the tiles exposed and damaged, resulting in the roof leak. The leak caused water to enter our attic and into our closet in our master bedroom. I called Old Republic twice while the contractor was on the way that Saturday; my purpose was to gain an understanding of how to expedite the claim once the contractor showed up.
I was given the name of Larry at Old Republic, and he gave me the work order #. When I call Larry back with the contractor's verbal report of the severe wind damage issue, Larry put me on hold for 5-10 minutes so he could internally consult with Old Republic personnel. (This was mainly due to the fact that Jason was not working that weekend, and we couldn't wait till Monday. After all, the weather report was for continued rain through out the weekend.) Larry came back on the line and told me that Old Republic would honor the work order, but would only allow $1000 coverage - my contractor's estimate was quoted at $1,100. He told me to make sure I faxed the contractor's invoice to Jason after the job was complete. Based on Larry's approval, I had the contractor complete an emergency repair. I faxed the contractor's invoice to Jason as instructed and he called me back that following Wednesday to tell me that Old Republic was not honoring my claim.
And here's Jason's reason: Covered under the plan: The repair of specific leaks that occur in the roof located over the occupied living area (excluding garage), provided that the leaks are the result of rain and/or normal wear and deterioration and the roof was watertight and in good condition on the effective date of the plan. (It was.) Exclusions: ...missing or broken roof shingles or tiles, damage caused by persons walking or standing on the roof... Ironically, since the severe winds blew some tiles away, causing them to partially break, Old Republic denied the claim. When I stated that the broken tiles were the result of normal rain/wind, Jason did not care. In Old Republic's opinion, the resulting broken tiles due to natural causes voided the warranty.
Well, as you can imagine, I argued that the broken tiles were a consequence of a covered rain/wind situation. They did not break due to misuse. I further challenged Jason to explain to me how anyone can be covered under these circumstances. That didn't seem to matter - so long as tiles were broke, the claim was denied. I then spoke with Jordon Reynolds, the purchasing supervisor, stating that I did my part to work with Old Republic, and didn't think they were being fair. And Jordon took the same position as Jason. The bottom line - they were looking for an excuse to walk away from honoring Larry's verbal commitment that Saturday the contractor was at my home. I also explained that we had an emergency situation with water damage to our closet, and had to get the contractor on our own. With all we were going through, I had hoped that Old Republic would have been more sympathetic to our cause. Rather, they made me feel like we were not worth their time. I left other messages for Jordon, to further plea for help, but he never responded back.
My wife and I had to do our best to place buckets in the attic to prevent more water from entering our closet. We also had to call numerous contractors to find one who could respond on an emergency situation. We incurred expenses in the amount of $1,100 and had to throw away clothes which were covered with fiber glass from working in the attic to stop the water leak. We were also very stressed out from the leak incident, and then Old Republic's attitude.
Reviewed Dec. 29, 2007
Finally my family and I were able to purchase a piece of the state of California with our first home. Our selling agent was great and she went above and beyond in all expectations, but her image is tarnished by the recommendation of Old Republic Home Protection. We thought that we were well taken care of with any problems that could arise in our home until just after moving in: the Jennair stove's digital display that controls what the oven temperature went blank. I called Old Republic, and my claim was instantly denied. I was told it was a pre-existing condition. The stove was built in 1995, and has a new value of $2300.00. I believe that Old Republic knew of this with their money saving computer and denied the claim. Then I was rather irate and called my real estate agent, and she in turn called the rep who sells the policies in my area. I then got a boot lick call from Old Republic and they scheduled a service call. This was on the 29th of November of 2007.
I am writing this on December 29th, one month later, and I still have no parts that were supposedly ordered by Old Republic. All I am getting is lip service from the Old Republic money watch dogs, and to this day the sub contractor did not even know they ordered the parts. I have no oven and the holidays were a little tough this year not cooking the normal food, and I also had a plumbing problem they denied, and a heating problem they denied, and I feel that every claim I submit will be denied from here on. All I receive now is lip service from Old Republic, and I do not believe what is being told to me at any time. I would highly recommend that anyone research home protections before purchasing.
They only wanted to give me $200.00 for the stove and kick in an extra 100.00 for the hardship. I could not buy a comparable unit in a junk yard for that price. I know that they will not get the specified part, because my own research found that it is not made. If they do not pony up and accept the loss, then I must buy a new stove.
Reviewed Dec. 18, 2007
We were a contractor for a couple warranty companies. You must understand how they award work to their contractors. almost all of them go by an average rate meaning that if my average rate is 50 dollars a call verses some ones 100 dollars a call I would be the one awarded most of their work. To keep steady work going for them you can see how a contractor would usually use their most inexpierienced hands and cheapest.. now because of the cost of a properly insured company with workmans comp....almost 10 percent, general liability, vehicle insurance, gas etc... that does not leave much for profit after an employees average rate --it usually takes on average 1.5 hours per call---now if you get a 10 to 15 dollar journeyman electrician at your home who is only making that I would question his abilities and the integrity of the company.
I have noticed that a lot of contractors go into a home to find reasons to deny a claim and then give the customer a retail bid. We would go into a home find switches miswired but we would rewire them and not charge extra charges others would put them back and ask the customer for more money. What we found a lot of is older homes with dangerous illegal installations where-as a realtor who sells a lot of these polocies sells a home with say 10 open splices in a residential attic (seriously illegal), we would deny the claim but since we report to the new owners naturally they get upset and raise hell with the realtor and the last home owner, threaten lawsuits etc... and all of a sudden we would get in trouble for not going in the attic and tightening illegal splices and telling the new home owners.
my favorite home warranty story was a emergency call --all three ceiling fans and a few plugs not working, must get out today. We go out there and meet a realtor who tells us that the house was going into title the next day---we look in the attic and her handy man put in at least 6 illegal electrical splices--some of the wires were just twisted with no wire nuts and had electrical tape around it.. we told her that this was an illegal installation, she started yelling at us telling us dont you know who I am you need to get this working and that her home inspector said these splices were legal.
She calls the home inspector that had a building department electrical inspector attitude and tried to tell me what my codes were, I told him that he was helping selling houses that had serious and expensive code violations and that he was helping to deceive the new owners--the realtor than called the warranties main sales support person who then told me that I needed to watch myself and that she hoped nothing bad would happen to my company in regards to the work allocated by the company she worked with--she didnt want to hear about the fire hazards.
I then called the city building department and asked for the head electrical inspector (Randy). I put my cell phone on speaker phone (I feel bad because he didnt know)and said Randy I have 6 splices in a residential attic , a home going into title tommorow and a realtor and home inspector trying to tell me this was legal---can you please inform them of the electrical codes---(because of serious complaints and lawsuits with-in our community) he yells out, get that blank blank on the phone I will read her the riot act---I swear I have never seen any one take off in my life --she grabbed her purse and things she had on the counter, ran out the door and streaked off in her car leaving us standing there in this home in amazement.
The fact is she didnt want to sign anything admitting serious code violations and having to disclose this to the new owners the next morning jeopardizing the sale of the home. The next day we were threatened with our contract from the warranty company. Two weeks later we got a work order to go to a home and that the new home owners specifically requested me which my office found weird and was wondering how they new of me which we thought maybe of reputation. Now I am only 5' 6 1/2 inches tall and the request was to check failures to several outlets and report our findings immediately--we had to access the back yard to get to the panel on the side of the house and found three breakers not tripped but turned off--we turned them on and made sure all wiring was tightened in the panel.
I told my helper to close the panel and I was going to check power in the home--as I went to enter the home a man that was at least 6' 3 and a good 260 was standing by the fence giving me this mean I am going to kick your butt look and bumped me into the edge of the fence where I got about a 8 inch serious scratch--not knowing who he was I went in to check power and tell the woman who let us in, next thing I know he comes in yelling dont you know who I am over and over again---and I told him I was leaving and went to walk around him---he then stepped in my way put his face in my face and started yelling get out of my house, get out of my house.
I said im leaving and to stay away from me you freak--then went to step around him again and he again steps in front of me again yelling I told you to leave why arnt you leaving --I try to go to the other way around him and he steps in front of me--this goes on for I swear 5 minnutes, he definitely was picking a fight but making it sound that I was refusing to leave his home, I finnaly looked at him and said look that outlet is on fire, he turned to look and I ran out the door, he actually chased me and as I got to the front door he tried to grab my shirt and bang the door at the back of my head. As I was running at the door I realized the woman was his wife and that she had a cell phone on and was talking to some one with a big snicker on her face---as I was leaving I realized my helper was still stuck in the back yard and trying to jump the fence.
I called there autho...department immediately to tell them what happened and found out that the mans wife was on the phone all that time and that we were getting terminated for refusing to leave a home when asked. Now this guy could of killed me with his bare hands--trust me I am not going inside his home to just hang out and refuse to leave---we later were terminated of our contract which we believe for being to honest with their new home owner contracts.
A month later we got a call from a realtor telling us that their contractor has been working on a 400 amp panel and still having problems with it--we found their contractor put new breakers on pitted and burned busswork and told them the panel had to be changed--he then called the warranty about the illegal repairs made by the contractor--the warranty company then told him to proceed with the proper repairs and that they would reimburse him--as soon as they found out it was my company doing the work after the work had started they called us and tried to get a discount where-as we told them we no longer and will never work for them again---then they were hopeing we didnt take pictures and tried to deny the claim for no proof of illegal repairs and damages---- yes they ended up paying.
Remember you have rights by law for second opinions dont let them tell you you dont, demand them----on denials get a lic... contractors out there--take pictures etc.. and affidavits---on disputes on shoddy work dont hesitate to call your State Contractors Board and Building Departments and demand action---and dont be afraid to report your complaints to the insurance commision---that is the people that govern your warranty companies.
Reviewed Oct. 1, 2007
We bough an Insurance from them and they were paid $360.00 out of the closing costs on the 5th Sept 2007.The garbage disposal stopped working and we called them on the 28th Sept.They denied the claim even though we had the property inspected prior to closing and we have proof everything was working and the previous owner had teh same insurane.
Reviewed Sept. 4, 2007
After buying a home, and after the inspection, our air conditioning was going out, so we called Old Republic for help. They sent out a technician and after a visual inspection, with no chemicals or without touching the compressors, the technician claimed that the compressors were damaged due to the previous owner's dogs (urine). When I asked him how he can conclude this he said that it was from experience. This resulted in Old Republic not helping us replace the units or fixing the units because of what the technician found.
Reviewed Aug. 28, 2007
The second day we were in the house we had water backing up into the shower and tub in both bathrooms. We called Old Republic to request service and they told me they couldn't get anyone out until Tuesday. I told them that was unacceptable and I would call someone else. They told me if I called someone else, my home warranty plan would be voided. In the meantime, we were not able to flush toilets, take showers or otherwise run water at all. When the technician showed up he said oh, your cleanout is on the roof - I don't go on the roof and then told me I had to pay him $55.00 for coming out.
I called Old Republic and told them and all they said was that I owed him the money because he came out to the house! Never mind that he did nothing. The technician and the Old Republic service was unprofessional. It turns out that the sewer line was completely collapsed and Old Republic doesn't cover anything to do with that.
Reviewed Aug. 11, 2007
In late July 2006, we purchased a resell home with an Old Republic Home Warranty. The air conditioning system has failed during summer 2007 before expiration of the warranty. Four times, Old Republic sent incompetent techicians who did cheap temporary fixes. The system failed again and we have suffered through 4 days of 100 degree temperature in Atlanta.
At first, Old Republic's techician could not come out for a week. Old Republic's customer service specifically told us that they do not guarantee timely service and that they do not require work to be done to code. A company we used before came out the day after the failure and told us the unit needed to be replaced and should have been replaced before. We called Old Republic back. They demanded their techician evaluate the system. We agreed and waited at home in 100 degree temperatures an entire Saturday only to have their techician not show.
Reviewed July 25, 2007
On Tuesday, July 17, our air conditioning unit went out. We called Old Republic Home Warranty and were told that it would be a couple of days before anyone would be sent out. My husband explained that I am handicapped with special requirements (I am on oxygen at night and have an oxygen concentrator in my home, a cpap machine due to sleep apnia, and mild emphysema) The contractor came out and replaced the capicitor that had burned out and the air conditioning worked almost normal until Saturday, July 21, when the unit went out again.
We called again and were again told that they could not get any of their contractors out to even look at the unit for 2 or 3 days. We were told to contact a contractor in the phone book who would be able to come right away, which we then did. The contractor came and looked at the unit and told us that the compressor was bad and needed to be replaced. He recommended replacing the whole unit due to the age of the unit. On monday, July 23, when our contractor contacted Old Republic and gave them his recommendations, old republic called us and told us that they would only cover $700.00 of the cost of replacing the unit, or they could call one of their contractors to do a second opinion.
Reviewed July 19, 2007
On May 21st, 2007 we reported that our air conditioner was having the same problem as we had reported in April 2007 and in the summer of 2006. Old Republic sent out a technician who told us the coils had frozen over and to leave it off for a while and then turn it back on and it would work. Of course the problem happened again and again - so I called Old Republic again. Seven technician calls from one company and they still couldn't figure it out.
Reviewed July 10, 2007
Will not cover bad air conditioning compressor due to false reporting from ac company Fire and Ice Refrigeration, claiming slight traces of r134 auto freon found in system, after some evacuated from my system to try to quiet the extremely loud unit. Old Republic did not request a printed document to verify findings. The automotive R134 gauge set will not even connect to a home ac unit to beable to perform the fill process.
The loss of purchase funds of the warranty 450.00, 55.00 service charge 3 times and potental bill of 1500.00 out of pocket to replace compressor.
Reviewed June 28, 2007
We just moved into our new house, which we bought, 6 days ago. The A/C worked great for the first three days and then the outside unit started making this horrible noise and then no central air. We called our home warranty, Old Republic, and they provided a number to call for service. The serviceman came out the next morning and said that the whole A/C unit needed to be replaced and that the furnace heat exchange was leaking carbon monixide. However, Old Republic called later that day and said that since it is unsafe they will not pay.
Reviewed June 14, 2007
I placed a service call to Old Republic to have the ceiling fan in the bathroom serviced. Of course the day the technician came out, the fan decided it would work. The technician flipped the switch up and down several times trying to get the fan to short out and not work. Since the fan continued to work properly the technician said, I cannot diagnose the problem unless the unit is not working. I will not charge you the $50 service call fee because there was nothing to fix. If the problem occurs within the next 5 days, you can call Old Republic under the same work order number and we will come back out.
The technician wrote me an invoice with a (-0-) Zero balance due and went on his way. The fan continued to work when I would flip the switch. A month later, Old Republic sent me a bill for the $50 service call with an enclosure stating that I must have over looked the payment to the technician and instructed me to remit payment upon receipt of this notice or an explanation as to why I had not made the payment. I then faxed the invoice the technician left with the (-0-) Zero balance due and an explanation of no service was preformed because the technician could not get the unit to not work.
A couple more months went by and I get a collection notice from Old Republic stating the $50 service fee was now past due. I now had to call Old Republic to see why I was being sent to collections when I had sent the invoice showing the (-0-) Zero balance due. Old Republic told me, A service tech was sent to your home. Even if he did not perform a service, I was still responsible to pay the $50 service fee just for him coming to the house.
Reviewed May 30, 2007
When summer started last year we noticed that our air conditioning was not working properly. July 6th of 2006 we had a tech from Air One Mechanical tell us that our 85-95 degree heat in our house was, just the way it is. It was a hot summer and the AC unit was just fine. Being a trustworthy person, I agreed. After a week of extreme heat in our house I called Old Republic again for a service request. No one showed up the rest of the summer.
So this summer we decided to call Old Republic in May and get a jump on our AC problem. A tech came out and said we had too much freon (too much Freon put in from the previous tech that said everything was fine) and said our house would be just fine now. The next day, it was 94 degrees outside and our house was increasing up through the day to 86 degrees. We asked again for service (needless to say my wife is 9 months pregnant) and a tech came out and said we had an open duct. This whole time we have had attic air pumping into our house and that is why our house has been extremely hot.
Reviewed April 25, 2007
About 4 weeks ago we noticed water leaking from the ceiling in our master bathroom. We call a plumber immediately who gave us a free estimate and told us that the leak was coming from the upstairs bathroom and that the line inside the wall would need to be repaired. When I called Old Republic and a plumber verified what we were already told, they did not hire him, but called another plumbing company to do the work. This second plumbing company replaced a seal on the upstairs toilet.
Reviewed April 23, 2007
$400.00 kitchen fridge (included in purchase price of this house) ceased cooling. discarded all thawed and spoiled foods & moved to garage and replaced with the black fridge from previous home. called old republic, obtained repair svc number and scheduled repair. paid $55 for svc call to ron whom left for parts. received call from ron stating that old republic refused to honor repair bill as the FRIDGE WAS NOT IN THE KITCHEN, even though the work order stated fridge was in the garage.
Reviewed April 8, 2007
We purchased our house in April 2006. Two weeks prior to signing the papers for the house we had an inspection done; my husband and the real estate agent were both present. Everything was fine with our heater. In October of 2006 we called a Heating and Cooling company to come out to service the furnace and turn on. He checked it and lit the pilot light. Heat was coming out of the vents, then he placed a carbon monoxide detector on the vent and it started going up well into the dangerous zone.
Reviewed April 3, 2007
I purchased a home on 1/2/07 that came with a home warranty. I discovered an electrical problem in my kitchen with the microwave tripping the circuit breaker, so I called Old Republic Home Protection Company on 2/16/07 to see if they covered this specific problem. They stated that warranty does cover electrical problems and they placed a service call to one of their electrical contractors, and they added two broken phone jacks to the work order as well. One week later the contractor stated they did not accept warranty work from Old Republic, so Old Republic called a second contractor, MAC General.
Since the work order stated that my microwave was tripping the circuit breaker, MAC General believed the problem was considered a circuit overload and not covered by the warranty. When the technician arrived at my home, he said my warranty did not cover circuit overloads, therefore if I wanted service from MAC General I would have to pay the bill in full upon performing any work. When I refused this offer, the technician left without diagnosing the problem. I contacted Old Republic and told them what happened. Old Republic transferred the call from MAC General to a third electrical contractor who never responded to me or to Old Republic.
Reviewed March 30, 2007
I purchased a house with old republic home warranty plan. I need to replace a gate valve. On 3/27/2007,I called the customer services line, and fist guy said the valve is covered by the plan. I called 3/28 next day, a girl Denis said it is not covered. I called 3/29/07 the third day, and asked again, a so-called Authorized Department person Mary answered my phone, she does not even those terminology of the coverage.
Reviewed Feb. 27, 2007
I called Old Republic Home Protection to request service for a dishwasher not working properly. BM Service technicians came and said they completed the service and everything was in working condition. My tenant used the dishwasher that evening and called me saying that there was water leaking from the sides and under the dishwasher. I called ORPH to report this and said they sent the work order to BM service. I called again ORHP on Sunday letting them know that the dripping is getting stronger and if they can send an emergency plumber as the carpet is getting wet. ORHP said that the water will stop once the tank under the dishwasher is finished and said that is normal. They asked us to wait for BM to call for an appointment. BM Service called Monday 8:30 a.m. and said they can not come earlier and made an appointment for tomorrow Feb 27, 2007 between 1-5 p.m. I told Michael of BM that the water is gushing and not stopping. I called ORHP 7:00 p.m. today requesting for emergency plumber as the water is not stopping even though we closed the main water line told them that the carpet is getting wet. ORHP said they will not cover the damage to the carpet and told us also that they do not have any record of an emergency call. ORHP said to wait until tomorrow as they can not do anything and can not send anybody. We asked if they have anyone for emergencies; they said no, that we would have to look in the yellow pages ourselves and we have to pay first and then send them the receipt to be reimbursed. There is no help from them when we needed it. ORHP does not have any back-up phone numbers in case of emergency. The BM service is not friendly at all.
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2006
I recently purchased a townhouse, and my realtor suggested that I get a home warranty plan and he said that Old Republic was a very good company, me not knowing any better agreed. On Thanksgiving morning the drain in my sink clogged up. I called Old Republic that morning and explained the situation to them what happen. They immediately gave me the name and phone number to this small plumbing company. The weekend passed and I finally had to call the company on Monday. The appt was set-up for Tuesday. The plumber came out ran his snake several times under the sink and decided that he couldn't unclog my drain, and charged me $55.00. The technician called Old Republic and told them that he couldn't unclog my drain. The technician recommended that I need a plumber that has a hydrojet machine. Customer Service at Old Republic told me that hydrojet is not covered under my plan. So now I'm out more money. Another plumber will come out tomorrow, and try to unclog my drain. I still can't use my kitchen or cook going on 7 days now. My question is why is the company still in business.
Reviewed Aug. 25, 2006
I have a one year Home warranty plan thru Nov. 2006. The upstairs air conditioner stopped pumping cold air. Service tech replaced a value in the condenser unit. Three days later no cool air. Service tech found leak in coils that are attached to the furnace in the attic. The unit is old. The replacement part (coils) are larger than the original size and will not fit due to attic height and furnace size. The company (Old Republic) will only cover the part+labor at their rate ($475.00) which will not fit unless I replace everything else. The amount of $475.00 is not even the amount the tech would charge me without the plan.
No air conditioning until I purchase new equipment that is also under warranty.($1900 to $3200)
Reviewed Aug. 14, 2006
Unbelievable!! It is currently 100+ degrees in the Texas area where we live and our Air conditioner is out. We have spent over 220 minutes on the phone working with Old Republic just trying to get the A/C issue repaired. Every stall tactic was used to force us in paying someone local to repair this issue. It has been 4 days and our house is 97 degrees inside and no resolve with this horribly incompetent company. We called and reported the issue and the representative advised they had no techs available until Monday which was 4 days away. They then provided us a list we could call ourselves to locate service. We immediately found a repair service company and then after another hour on the phone was able to get the tech scheduled. The tech onsite found that the outside condesor unit was shot and recommended a replacement which would have been immediate, however Old Republic searched the gamit to find a part and have it shipped across the county to get the repair completed.
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2006
I purchased a home with a home warranty as I was told it was a good idea. I moved into the home on a Saturday and within 2 hours my AC unit stopped working. It took me almost 24 hours to find my policy number and the phone number and call in the service request. I informed the company I had elderly people in my home and I needed emergency service. The company they refered me to could not get to my homew for 3 days. I called them back and they sent me on an emergency basis the next day to another company.
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2006
I recently purchased a home and after a few days, the home was too hot and the a/c ran constantly. I called Old Republic to report the problem and paid the $75 service call. The tech said that 30% of the fan surface was bent on each unit and recomended fully replacing both units. Old Republic says they will not cover this claim. They will not even cover the costs of replacing the fans in the units. It is not normal wear and tear is all they have to say as to why not. I talked to the rep about it, trying to understand why it is not normal wear and tear. He says the supervisor of North Pole Air says it is not normal. The supevisor has not even been to the house to see the units. If an a/c unit which sits outside for sixteen years through all kinds of weather, get debris from trees and whatnot falling on it, causing the fan blades to bend is not normal wear and tear I don't know what is. A home warranty is a total waste of money. I don't know of a single person that has successfully filed a claim with a home warranty company.
As of this date I am still fighting with Old Republic over this claim. I am looking at paying at least $280 to have the fans replaced in the two units. In the meantime I am wasting energy on inefficient a/c units.
Reviewed July 30, 2006
This issue is regarding problems with obtaining A/C repair service through my home protection plan with Old Republic Home Protection (ORHP). During the past 30 days, I have been without A/C for a total period of 15 days due to the inability of ORHP to repair my home A/C, as required under my home protection plan. In fact, I am currently w/o A/C in my home, and have been w/o A/C since 07/23/2006, a period of seven days straight. I have called in four service requests due to the inability of the ORHP service providers (A/C repair companies) to fix my A/C unit. Each time I have contacted ORHP regarding my A/C problems, I have had to wait long periods for the A/C repair companies to respond.
Reviewed July 16, 2006
On June 6th, upon arriving home from work I noticed the Air Conditioning was not cooling the house and blowing warm air. This is Phoenix and the outside temperture was about 106 that day. First thing Friday morning I called Old Republic about the issue. The policy was so new I had not even received documentation yet. They said the earliest they could get a service man out was Monday. This meant that I would have to spend the weekend in tempertures approaching 110 with no AC or get a motel room. On Monday the tech arrived and told me the compressor was gone and that he would fax an order to Old Republic. I contacted Old Republic to find out how the claim could be expediated. I was told that they hadn't received the fax yet and could do nothing until they did.
On Tuesday I contacted the service company and the told me the order was sent at 8am that morning. I then called Old Republic who again said they had not received the fax yet. While I held on the phone the rep was able to find the fax and told me they would be shipping a compressor to the service company. I was told it would take 3 to 5 days for the service company to receive the unit. When I asked if there was any way to send it faster, I was told this is the shipping time and it couldn't be changed. Apparently Old Republic requires that the compressor comes from their warehouse and they could find or authorize the service company to find one in Phoenix.
Reviewed July 7, 2006
Air conditioner started leaking in the attic and came through the ceiling. Warranty company rep claims the unit was installed improperly thus they won't cover the new pan needed or the secondary damage. We had another inspector come out and they verified the unit wasn't installed wrong and the damange is normal wear and tear. Old Republic denied and said their diagnosis was correct. Their technician didn't seem to know anything about what he was doing.
Reviewed April 27, 2006
An Old Republic Home Warranty was issued to me upon closing on the property I recently purchased. Within a few weeks I realized that the oven was not working on the range and heat was escaping. Old Republic sent a contractor out and in three successive visits they diganosed the gasket leak, replaced it and had to come back because the oven would then not close properly and heat was still escaping. Old Republic then set up another contractor to give a second opinion. That contrator reported that the door hinges were bent. Old Republic claimed that that only happens by force which would be abuse and was therefore, not covered.
I disputed this finding with them as the first contractor actually had two different people out and both claimed there was nothing wrong with the hinges. I also added my own observation that the oven door closed properly before their contractor replaced the gasket. Of course they offered to look at the issue again if I wanted to pay for my own third opinion and it differed from their last determination.
Reviewed Oct. 14, 2005
Around 3 weeks ago my wife and I noticed that our air conditioning began to leak. We contacted Old Republic and they sent an air conditioning company out to look at it. The gentleman who came fixed what he could and said he was going to tell Old Republic that it would have to be condemned. About a week passed and we did not hear anything from Old Republic or the air conditioning company. My wife decided to call Old Republic and find out what was going on. We were then told that the part had been shipped but after speaking with the local air conditioning company they had yet to receive anything. Two more weeks go by and still nothing and every time we call they tell us that the part was ordered but for some reason the local company has never received it. At this point I am very frustrated with the whole ordeal and I have been told on several occasions that Old Republic would contact us about the problem but have yet to hear from them.
For the last 3 to 4 weeks my wife and I, not to mention our 5 month old daughter, are living in a home that has an air conditioning that should be condemned.
Reviewed July 9, 2005
My fiance purchased a home warranty from this supposed company. The air condtioner is 18 years old and has finally broken at the beginning of June. We called for service and they sent a technician from Stewart Enterprises who talked on his cell phone, was there for 5 minutes, and told us that the unit was low on freon. He recharged the unit and left after taking our $45 deductible. Again within 1 day the system iced up and stopped working. Another technician came and said that the air handler (inside unit) needed to be replaced. 7 days later we heard from Old Republic that they were replacing the unit. 10 days later Stewart Enterprises called for installation.
On July 8, a technician arrived with the wrong size air handler to install. He did not know it was the wrong size until after he had disconnected the existing system. Upon his discovery he asked me what I wanted him to do. I told him to reconnect the old one, charge the unit with freon, and to call the office and find the right one. He then reconnected the old unit without properly connecting the condensation line so water has leaked all over our new hardwood floors and caused substantial damage to the sub-floor and the hardwood itself.
Reviewed July 6, 2005
I like many others, had purchased a home warranty from Old Republic Home warranty Company. I have worked with Old Republic several times in the past as a Real-Estate agent and have sold numerous polices, so it only made since to have my personal home covered as well. We purchased our home August 16 and by October of the same year our A/C was having major issues. We called Old Republic and they sent out a tech and he said the unit was pretty rough but added Freon, within a day we were back in 90* heat. We called Old Republic back, they sent out someone else (after several days) and we were told the unit must be replaced, (definitely the outside and probably the inside also).
Reviewed July 1, 2005
My heat pump went out so we called Old Republic. The first technician that came out said we needed a new unit inside and outside. Then we had another technician come out because the first one did not have the man power to do the job. The second technician said the same thing and then started to tell me the extra costs that I was responsible for. Like $80.00 for a new pad for the unit to sit on, there is a pad there that the old unit was on. Then $75.00 access fee, there is nothing in the way but grass-no bushes no trees no flowers. Then there would be a $100.00 fee to haul the old unit away, wait a minute, he makes more than that just to recycle the unit. Then he said there would be a charge of $225.00 to recover the old freon. I contacted two other heat and ac companies and they would do that for a service call charge, $80.00.
Reviewed June 22, 2005
I recently purchased and moved into a house that is 22 years old. When the purchase was made, my real estate agent recommended that I purchase a home warranty through Old Republic Home Protection, so I did for $305.00. I moved in on June 10th, 2005 and five days later on June 15th, the Air Conditioner failed. I immediately called Old Republic and told them that my AC failed and I needed it to be fixed immediately as I have a wife and a 3-month old infant at home, and the temperatures are 100+ degrees.
Old Republic then told me to contact one of their approved contractors (Tatem Air). I talked to their recording and was told that a Tatem Air contractor would contact me within 24 hours - a long time with an infant in 100+ degree heat. They contacted me the next day and arranged for an appointment at 2:00pm on Friday the 17th of June. When the contractor showed up, he told me that several things were wrong with the AC unit including a compressor (shorted out), blown fuses, contacts welded shut, run caps are bad, and that the start cap was recently replaced, and that when this was done, the run caps should have been replaced also. Essentially, the AC unit had a complete meltdown. When I moved in, it was working fine for five days. On Monday 06/20 - (after 5 days in the heat), I contacted Old Republic again (they did not call me) to see what they were going to do.
Reviewed May 17, 2005
The seller of my home purchased this warranty. Since moving in the a/c has broken, range has broken and 2 refrigerators. In trying to make a claim I was told the refrigerators were not covered. Okay, so I would like to file a claim for the a/c and range. In order to make a claim I must pay $45 for 2 service contractors to come out to diagnose the problem. I stated that I have already had a NV licensed contractor out and have his written report on the problem. I have paid over 1000 to try to repair the items to know be told that they are irreparable.
I am told too bad, no claim will be opened unless I pay their contractors $45 for each item. It is like a racketeering scam. I asked to please receive a claim form as I would like a written record of my claim. Ofelia advised me that there are no written forms, it is all conducted verbally and I would not get past her until I agreed to pay more fees.
Reviewed April 13, 2005
I purchased additional coverage to my home warranty plan to cover my roof, and when I had a leak in my master bedroom, they denied the estimate from the roofing contractor, because it was due to cracked shingles. They told me that the roof warranty only covered holes in the roof under the shingles, but not the repair of shingles themselves.
I will have to pay out of pocket to have the shingles repaired, about $150.00, plus the cost to repaint the master bedroom and ceiling where the leak occurred.
Reviewed Jan. 22, 2005
On Dec. 26, 2004, the carbon monoxide detectors went off in my home, due to a problem with the furnace(installed through Old Republic in Dec. 2000. I immediately called Old Republic(I have had a policy for approximately five years). They sent a contractor out who proceede to tell me that a)I really didn't have a leak. b) It wasn't the furnace or c) It was caused by the fact that we were opening our front door too often. All of this without ever looking at the furnace. I then informed him that after calling OR I had called the gas company out to investigate.
The gas company had investigated, found that the furnace was the problem and had red tagged the furnace. The technician finally looked at the furnace, charged me extra to clean the flue and declared it to be working properly. Forty-five minutes after he left, the carbon monoxide alarms went off again. That was almost a month ago and after numerous telephone calls and unanswered messages to supervisors, we are still waiting for a second opinion. The customer service people argue with me, try to make it seem as if I am at fault and tell me that I have to find someone to fix the problem The final straw came yesterday, when a rep. gave me a complaint line number to call and no one answers the phone.
Reviewed Dec. 15, 2004
I purchased my condo in August of 2003 and the seller had bought Old Republic Home Warranty. My air-conditioning / heating unit was not working properly. After moving in, and during one of the hottest August's I can remember, I turned my air conditioning unit on so we could get the remodeling started. The actual hours it worked was 36. Then nothing. The fan still blew air around, but not cold or even cool air came out of the unit.
Since we were remodeling the interior and were using multiple fans and left the windows open for about 5 weeks, I didn't call the company right away. Then In November it started getting cold and I turned the heater on. The heater just blew hot air constantly and was not regulated by a thermostat. By mid December I received my heating bill which was unbelievable. Then the tempurature dropped quite a bit so I called them. They sent out a technician who said the unit was basically fried. Literally fried. Wires were burnt inside the unit and he could not fix it. He did try to get a temporary fix in place so we could run the heater a bit. He was going to tell Old Republic that I needed a new unit because this one was not repairable.
Reviewed Dec. 9, 2004
Company does not properly monitor their contractors. They send out unqualified contractors to respond to the customer's request. It took me three contractors to get the job properly done on top of having to hold on the phone for an hour at a time after each contractor's visit.
They have increased their deductible to $45 per visit. Their premiums have also increased without any increased customer service.
Reviewed Sept. 15, 2003
I moved into my home on June 27, 2003. On August 21 my thermocouple on the hot water heater went out. Called the gas company to come out and inspect it. Gas co. stated it was the thermocouple and that I could replace it myself for $10-15 and get the part from Home Depot. I did this and the hot water lasted a whole 4 days. I called the gas co. back out and this time around they tell me they don't service my type of water heater because I have an electric ignitor, not a gas ignitor and that I would have to contact the Home Warranty Co. (Old Republic). This is the start of my problems.
I called Old Republic to have them come out and check out the problem. They referred me to the contractor, US Plumbing in Murrieta, who came out on Aug. 28th to inspect it. US Plumbing found a couple of things wrong and called O.R. to inform them of the issue and what parts had to be ordered. O.R. informed US Plumbing that it would take 10 days to order parts. US Plumbing calls me and informs me of the situation and suggests that I call Sears since the water heater has a 12 yr warranty on it (its approx 2-3 years old and installed by previous homeowner) and see if they can get the parts sooner.
I called Sears and the soonest they could arrive was Sept. 3. On Sept. 3 Sears comes to my home to check out the water heater and finds the same problems as US Plumbing had noted. I was to contact OR while Sears was there so that OR could authorize Sears to make any repairs on the spot if needed. Since the water heater was warrantied in the first place, OR felt they didn't have to pay the costs of the parts and labor. Turns out that because the previous homeowner installed it, for whatever reason, that warranty did not pass on to the new homeowner (me). Therefore, the conclusion was that OR had to pay to have it fixed.
On Sept 4, I had to make another appointment to have US Plumbing come back out to the home to inspect the water heater and start a brand new invoice so that O.R. would order parts and we could get it fixed. On Sept 5, US Plumbing came to the home as requested. They wrote up a new invoice and went back to the office to order parts. I get a phone call at work that O.R. has offered to replace my water heater with a brand new one. However, I would have to pay approx $200 in misc. fees to have it removed and get water heater permits through the city to have the new one installed. I told US Plumbing I would think about it as I don't have $200 to pay for a new water heater.
Approximately 15 mins later, US Plumbing calls again to tell me that O.R. has changed their mind and they want to fix the parts. Therefore US Plumbing was ordering the parts and they would be in on September 10. On September 11, 2003, I called US Plumbing to find out what the status was. They inform me that they had not heard from O.R. I told US PLumbing that they already had the authorization to order the parts. US Plumbing informs me that O.R. insists that since the water heater is under warranty that I had to take care of it. Now I am back at square one and 3 weeks later. I called O.R. to inform them they had to order the parts and that this whole thing is b-s. I haven't had hot water in 3 weeks, my mother is living with me and is very ill and this whole thing with bouncing back and forth about who said what is b-s.
I was informed on Sept. 11, that O.R. would authorize US Plumbing to order the parts. On Sept 12, the parts still have not been ordered because O.R. has not given authorization to US PLumbing (I swear, we have been over this a million times already). I was also informed that I would have to wait until Monday morning to take care of this situation as everyone had 'gone home for the day'. Sept 15: I call US Plumbing and they inform me they haven't received anything from O.R. to authorize them to order the parts. I informed them, that AGAIN, they received authorizaiton on sept. 11. Again, they tell me that I need to contact O.R. I call O.R. and tell them I want a fax confirmation for the parts to make sure they were ordered. They stated they do not fax anything to anyone and that its strictly verbal. (I wonder why?!) I call US Plumbing again and inform them of what I was told.
At this point in the game, it's in US Plumbing's court to get the parts ordered, but it's also in O.R. court to get the so called authorization crap straightened out. the bottom line is that O.R. knows that htey will have to pay approximately $200+ for new parts and they don't want to do it. They are totally jerking me around with "call this person, no call that person, no, we can't do that" and US PLumbing is somewhat in the middle of the whole thing.
Reviewed Aug. 21, 2003
We recently purchased a home in the Central Valley. The refrigerant lines to the A/C system were icing up, and the compressor motor vibrated for a second every time it started up. I called Old Republic and they sent a service person out in 48 hours. After checking everything he determined the cause to be clogged/dirty coils inside the furnace, which he said Old Republic wouldn't cover. He said OR would say it was a maintenance item. He also said OR wouldn't authorize any repair on the unit (the vibration) until it failed completely.
Had to pay the $45 insurance co-pay for something I already knew the answer for. The service person said it would cost us around $250 to have the coils cleaned. Old Republic subsequently told me over the phone that they don't cover "pre-existing" conditions and if the previous homeowner didn't keep the coils clean it wasn't covered. My position is the system should work properly and anything that makes it not work properly should be covered. I told them their policy was a joke nothing could be repaired until it failed. The OR rep. basically agreed that their policy was good if "something failed". Short of that their coverage is useless.
We currently have to turn the A/C off when it ices up, wait an hour until it thaws, then turn it back on. This is until the service company repairs the system. Anyone should think twice about buying these warranty coverages. Think about it. For under $500 policy cost, it would take only 1 or 2 major calls for Old Republic to lose money on your policy. How do they make money? By weaseling out of covering anything they can. Put the same money away for emergencies instead of buying their policy. Odds are you'll come out ahead.
Reviewed Aug. 4, 2003
I have had a continuous problem with Old Republic. The first claim was no problem at all, but now I have filed a claim to get my refrigerator repaired and it's been a real pain. Over a month ago it was having problems cooling and defrosting. I called Old Republic and they told me it would have to completely stop working before they could do anything...totally crazy considering that they say they are not responsible for food spoilage.
A few days later, it went out completely and I called again. They gave me a work order number and the name of a contractor who would be contacting me. I was never contacted, so I called and left a message, but my call was never returned. I called Old Republic again, and they set things up with another contractor. This one actually showed up with no testing equipment and took a wild guess at what was wrong. He ordered a part, and when he came back, the part wouldn't even fit. Next he ordered another part and I was told it was a cold control. I did some research and made some calls and found out that my problem was and still is a defrost timer control. I called and told him this and he argued and told me my refigerator didn't have a defrost timer. It took him a week and half to finally get the part he ordered and come back to install it.
The part didn't fix my problem, so I called Old Republic again and they made excuses when I asked to talk to a manager. They said they would get this taken care of immediately.
Now 4 weeks later. They set me up with another contractor -- the same one who would never return my calls. I gave him the benifit of the doubt and waited for his call.Guess what? I never heard from him. I have left several messages and no calls have been returned to me. At this point I have lost a few hundred dollars in food, spent a few hundred going out to eat, lost several days off work and have been stressed to the point where I have headaches every day. This is a simple problem that any moron could fix, but it has not been done yet. I would fix it myself, but then it would void my warranty. I suppose that would be no loss considering how well their warrany coverage works.
Companies like this are giving the industry a bad name.
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2003
On July 2, 2003 I called Old Republic because my microwave didn't heat up. The person I spoke to told me someone would call in 24 hours to set up repair. My first call was at 5:30 PM at about 6:00 PM the same night. Old republic called to give me a name of service company Old Republic, said they will call in 24 hours. I call -- no answer, no machine, also not listed in yellow pages. I called back Old Republic and told them I got no answer from this company. Old Republic told me it would take another 24 hours to get another company to call me to set up service call.
July 10, 2003 Maytag Service Store comes to my home. Service man tells my husband he needs to order a part (transformer), it will take 3 to 7 days. I waited for a call. When I called Maytag service store they said Old Republic did not give them the okay to order part. I called Old Republic and asked them why? they said no one called them. I don't know why they wanted to send another company out. I requested Sears. I had already paid $40.00 for the first service call, now I was at their mercy.
Old Republic had to call Sears to get an appointment set up. Sears came out on July 23, 2003. My husband took off work to be at home between 1-5PM. Sears changed a wire and my micorwave worked for one week. I used it to pop corn and on July 30, 2003 I was melting butter and it died again. My butter didn't melt.
So here I go again -- I called Old Republic, they said I wasn't going to have to pay for the service because it's been less than 30 days. On July 31, 2003 O.R. called to tell me Sears will call me to set appointment. They are going to come out on August 9, 2003.
This was my first time buying a home protection plan I will never do it again. My appliance from my old home all have coverage from Sears. The only thing is when I moved from my old home to this new one I had to leave my dishwasher and range, also my microwave.
Reviewed June 17, 2003
Purchased a "Home Warranty" for a condominium. The A/C quit working Sunday. We called Monday and were told to call again Tuesday. We called Tuesday at 5:50 AM, and the one service person who did call back infomed us that, since it would take an 8 foot ladder, (yes, eight foot) we needed to call for someone with a "bigger ladder." We spoke a number of times to the service people, who laughed, sympathized, and said it was going to be handled "right away." None of their service people have called, and it is now approaching 9:00 PM. They were informed that the interior had exceeded 110 degrees during the day for two straight days.
Reviewed May 1, 2003
This company was called to fix a leak in my ceiling coming from the upstairs bathroom shower/tub. The first service repairman brought some tools to fix it but told me he didn't quite know what was wrong and 3 days later the leak was back. I called to have them come out again. They sent another plumber for the same company who told me they wouldn't fix anything because the service was not covered due to this being a pre-existing condition to my property.
I had just purchased this home 1 month prior to these problems and had no trouble in those previous 4 weeks nor did the sellers disclose that they ever had a problem with plumbing or a leaky ceiling. This problem started in September of 2002. I moved in August 2002 and it is now May of 2003 and I guess it's time to contact an attorney for assistance!
An attorney may be overkill. Chances are the upstairs bath tile needs new grout to make it waterproof once more or a faucet fitting is leaking behind the wall. Neither of these is a big project. Patching the ceiling would take a handyman a few hours at most.
Reviewed Feb. 6, 2003
We have had a home warranty policy with Old Republic for several years and it seems that their first response to a call for service is to send someone who will report a problem that is not covered by the warranty. The standard ploy is, "it was installed improperly." Or, "it's not up to code."
Recently, we called Old Republic because the heater was not blowing hot air out of the registers. They sent a technician who was paid the deductible of $45. After thinking about the situation for awhile, but without actually crawling into the crawl space to look at the ducts, this technician reported that animals had collapsed my ductwork, and that Old Republic did not cover damage by pests. And that the ductwork was inaccessible because the opening to the crawlspace was only 8" high. However, his company could replace my ductwork for about $1,100.00. I was skeptical about this since he admitted he had not actually observed any animal damage.
I did my own inspection, as best I could The ductwork seemed to be simply loose at the junction to the furnace. This technician did not crawl under the house to do any inspection, and told me he just guessed about the problem. So I called Old Republic, and spoke to Myesha who promised to get back to me about the situation. But she didn't. Then I spoke to Cynthia, and then to Debbie Kennedy who said she would send out a second opinion technician. I spoke with this technician by phone while he was at my house and he said that there are four inches of dirt near the junction of heating unit and duct, the coil needs to be cleaned, and it would take 8 hours to dig out the area around the duct.
I called Old Republic several more times and spoke to Kevin and Leah. At one point, Keven told me that yes, the inaccessible ductwork was covered up to $500. And he offered to "cash out" the problem for that amount. I said I would think about that and decided to take them up on it. But when I called back, I spoke to Latrell who informed me that a mistake had been made in offering me the $500 and that nothing would be covered by Old Republic. So, I ask myself, "Has this ever happened to anybody else?" "Am I the only person to get the run around?" "Is there any recourse for the consumer who pays a premium for a service, and quite often finds the contract is full of loopholes?" The policy states that $500 is the maximum payment to diagnose and repair ductwork. Yet, when I tried to collect -- no performance.
We've experienced three weeks of a cold house, an enormous amount of time wasted on the telephone, on hold, listening to annoying, deceptive company promises about their excellent service or talking to numerous customer service reps who gave conflicting answers. I've paid a premium for home warranty services that are too easy for the company to avoid performing, and I've paid the $45.00 deductible. And so far I've gotten nothing for my money. The biggest costs will be hiring a contractor myself to perform the work that I thought was covered by the policy.
Reviewed Jan. 31, 2003
I bought an older home last year and for this reason thought it a good idea to buy the home warranty from Old Republic. It was offered by the real estate agent who sold me the home. Right after I moved in, the dishwasher stopped working. I called Old Republic and they quickly sent the technician by. He showed me a clump of wires that had melted together underneath the dishwasher and said he could fix it. He said he would order the parts and they should come in the following week.
Over the next two weeks I called Old Republic several times to ask about when the parts were coming in and the dishwasher would be fixed. To make a long story short, the technician claimed his wife had called and left a message for me on my answering machine (she didn't) that the parts had come in and that it was my fault so much time had gone by. Nonetheless, he came by on the third week and "fixed" the dishwasher.
The other night I was running the dishwasher and smelled something burning. Just bought a new dishwasher to replace the one that "could have burned down the house" because it was not fixed and really could not have been fixed, it should have been replaced. The same bunch of wires had all melted together again. I didn't bother calling Old Republic. The competent technician told me the previous contractor simply replaced the wires that had melted but did not correct the problem, thus if I had not smelled the burning wires and turned off the dishwasher, a fire would have started.
Reviewed July 25, 2002
I called Old Republic in the beginning of June to have our air conditioner repaired. They sent incompetent service companies to try to identify the problem. The first company came in an unidentified truck. These two men told me to simply change my air filters (which were dirty, yes, but not clogged). The second company came 3 different times, two different men, and were "baffled" as to why my air didn't work. They spent literally hours at my home, with no results.
The third company, "A/C Heat & Refrigeration Systems Inc. came, diagnosed problems with my compressor and coils, and duct problems and fan speed, but the paperwork sat untouched on the desk of the lady in charge (Debbie) for a week, with no contact to me, when I called to ask about the status of my service call, she was rude to me and ended the phone call by hanging up on me!
My continual phone calls for updates on fixing my air, to Old Republic and to A/C went unreturned. I spoke with numerous people at Old Republic, all of whom said they would investigate my problem and call me back. Nobody called me back. My air has been down for 8 weeks now, nobody at Old Republic has tried to help me to get it fixed. I am frustrated at their lack of responsibility in fixing my air. I am now prepared to just fix it myself, insurance or not. It shouldn't be that way. They are suppossed to help me. That is what they were paid to do. They are failing miserably.
We live in the Central Valley, it has reached 100 degrees many times during the last 8 weeks of us having no air. We feel this is ridiculous to have to suffer the heat inside our home (that is only 4 years old, we've lived here for 9 months). I have spent hours on the phone trying to be in touch with Old Republic and leaving messages that go unreturned.
The company responds:
On behalf of Old Republic Home Protection and its employees, please accept our sincere apology for the experiences you related in regard to air conditioning service call last summer.
Old Republic Home Protection, like other home warranty companies, uses independent companies to service Plan holders. Although efforts are made to obtain highly qualified licensed contractors that can provide excellent customer service, occasionally circumstances occur which do not allow us to provide the level of service Old Republic Home Protection or its Plan holders consider acceptable.
I can assure you, Old Republic is committed to take whatever steps are necessary to provide the level of service our Plan holders want and deserve.
Gary VistalliClaims Manager
Reviewed July 24, 2002
We reported a problem with our air conditioner 2 weeks ago. We have talked to a Debbie, a supervisor, and a Rene in authorizations regarding this problem. The warranty company was going to fax our request in the Superior Air, they stated they never received a work order. We have been on hold for hours trying to get a technician out.
Old Republic asked us to find a technician; we did, he came out and quoted us and stated we needed a new a/c unit. We informed the warranty co. We were on hold for hours again and Rene in authorizations stated "she can authorize any work to be done" in her exact words. Well we went without a/c the whole weekend. Debbie contacted my fiancee and stated the quote from the technician was too high. She promised to call him back by 2:00 if she could not find one of their technicians, then she would authorize the work to be done by the original technician. She never called back.
We called the next day and spoke to Anthony, he sent one of their technicians and he stated the same thing -- we needed a new a/c unit. This technician tried to call authorizations to get the work approved and he was on hold and could not wait any longer. He called the next day and said the work was authorized, it would take about 5 days to order. Today is the 24th, we reported this problem on the 9th of July. I have mailed the VP of the company a complaint letter, and reported them to the BBB.
My fiancee and I lost numerous hours at work on hold trying to get this problem solved. Everytime we called we just got the run around. I explained to them we have three children, I have a newborn son who has asthma, I have asthma. We have spent 290.00 in ceiling fans because we needed to try and keep the house cool. Our electricity bill has gone up tremendously. We have been in the home 3 months only, our first bill was 142.00, 2nd month 262.00, 3rd month 372.00. I called Edison and explained to them the problem I was experiencing. They told me that the compressor was working extra hard that's why my bill has been high.
The company responds:
On behalf of Old Republic Home Protection and its employees, please accept our sincere apology for the experiences you related in regard to air conditioning service call last summer.
Old Republic Home Protection, like other home warranty companies, uses independent companies to service Plan holders. Although efforts are made to obtain highly qualified licensed contractors that can provide excellent customer service, occasionally circumstances occur which do not allow us to provide the level of service Old Republic Home Protection or its Plan holders consider acceptable.
I can assure you, Old Republic is committed to take whatever steps are necessary to provide the level of service our Plan holders want and deserve.
Gary VistalliClaims Manager
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