ServicePlus (Formerly Total Home Protection)

I went with Total Home. You don't have to be the homeowner with them, and I liked that. I liked the prices too. However, it'd be nice if they could get a few more people that were either online (to be able to chat with somebody that's gonna put in the claim) or on the phones (to have somebody answering calls so a claim could be put in). This is so you know somebody has the request and it's not just a machine. To me, communication is a big thing and they need to improve theirs a bit. I like talking to people when I'm doing business. If I'm on the computer and I'm not doing business, I'm playing a game. I chat with the folks I play with all the time.

I balance the ease of putting a claim and being able to talk to somebody against the company I use in Indiana that I've had for a couple years. I compared the two and Total Home Protection's claims process was a little frustrating for me to start with because it's a little different with the service I use in Indiana. There, you pick up the phone and you talk to somebody. With Total Home, I didn't. Because of the pandemic, most of the stuff is done online right at the moment, so I went ahead and went online and submitted a claim. It got handled right away and it was taken care of for me, so I can't complain at all. I got a plumber out here the next day. Got cleared up quick too. The service was good.

I had an issue with a contractor that was dispatched. He was very unprofessional. He told me what he charges an hour but I told him he was dispatched to address the issue. Once he comes out and tells Total Home Protection what's going on, they will make a decision if it's covered through them and if it's not covered, then he would contact me and tell me what my charge is. Otherwise, I will be writing him a check and he would get the remaining of his money from THP if everything is covered.

He never showed up so I called back THP and asked if they could please dispatch someone else and they did with no problems. The next guy took care of business. I asked him if he could please contact me prior to showing up because I wasn't home but I will make sure someone would be there and he did everything that was asked. Everything was handled with no problem.

Some other AC company called me and said that they wouldn't be able to get out there for a couple more days. But I told them somebody that was out there already. So I called Total Home back and said, “Hey, we've already gotten our unit fixed. Now there's people calling me, telling me that they can't get out to look at it for a couple days. Can you update your system?” The rep said, “We don't show that anybody's even been out there.” It was like their system wasn’t connecting with whatever. They have communication problems. But we got everything fixed and under our warranty and paid our deductible. It all worked out. It was just weird.

It's nice that the deductibles are pretty cheap. My monthly stuff is pretty cheap. I don't like the sales when they try to sell it to people. They say, "Oh, well, yeah, we'll make it cheaper if you pay for like three years in advance." It's like, "Well, I don't know if you're gonna be here three years." So, I pay a monthly. With my initial one, I paid for like 18 months. I pay monthly for both of mine.

As far as the contractors, it's a mixed bag. Some of them are really really good and know what they're doing, and some of them are really bad. The problem is that you're not believed. The only reason I was believed in this situation that I had was because the contractor was so rude to the technician. I have a double oven range. The top of my range is gas. The bottom of my range is electric. My bottom oven stopped working, but that's the larger oven. I was not able to cook a turkey in my house this year because my bottom oven was not functioning. I called the technician out. He came out a day or so after I called in. He was very unprofessional. I typically try not to judge a book by its cover because if you come here and fix my problem, I don't care. He came, looked at it and pushed some buttons and then said, "Yeah, it's the coil. That's what the issue is. I had to order the part."

I figured he should have some type of tools to figure out what the problem was. He left, ordered the part, came back a week or so later with the coil he said he needed, and he disassembled the coil that was in the machine, and then he hooked up this new coil. He tried it and he said it didn't work. He then disconnected the new coil that he had ordered through the warranty company, took it back, put it back, and left my old coil just laying there. He didn't reattach it. He just left the oven disassembled and said, "Yeah, it can't be fixed." He left, told the warranty people that he fixed the coil and then also told them that, now, other things in the stove are broken, and so, that was why the stove was not working. So therefore, they need to replace the stove. He couldn't fix it, and so he lied to them and said the stove needs to be replaced.

My stove is very expensive. Everything in my kitchen is expensive. It was a couple of thousand dollar stove. Their response is, "Oh, we're not trying to pay out a couple of grand. That would be a prorated value. So, we're gonna deny your claim 'cause we tried to fix it and that's that." I said, "No, he didn't even fix what he's telling you he fixed. If he fixed that, then I would have no problem, right? He's telling you other things are broken that aren't broken. There's no issue with those things." Their response to me was, "Well, he has 30 days to warranty his work. So, we have to give him another opportunity to come back."

My response was, "Okay. But he didn't do the work in the first place. So why would we give him an additional 30 days to make a determination about this thing working or not?" They said, "Well, this is what we have to do." I said, "Okay. Well, I don't have a stove for Thanksgiving because you're telling me you can't change the contractor at this point in time and that he has 30 days to warranty his work that he didn't do. Well, can you all call him? Because I've tried to call him, he won't come back." They took the time to call him and he cussed out the representative. The representative said, "Oh, I see what you're dealing with now. Okay, we'll send another technician."

They sent another technician. The guy came out and he was excellent. He was in a uniform and he had a truck and tools. He was professional and put together and he said, "Yeah, I ordered a part and it's just not here. I'm waiting on dozens of parts for dozens of customers because of the global pandemic, unfortunately." What I've learned is I need a computer board for my stove, and that's why it's not working. He did call the warranty company in front of me, which I don't think he was supposed to do, but he did. The warranty company said, "Yeah, we'll approve that." It was a $700 part. The guy knew his stuff. He did what he was supposed to do and went well beyond that. I was gonna cancel both my plans and get another service company, and then he made up for the first guy.

I wanted some explanation. I called that person that sent me an email regarding my claim but she never emailed me back or answered my voicemail. I made several calls and did speak to someone. They transferred me to somebody 'cause I was calling to cancel. The person on the other end asked me why did I wanna cancel and I told her. She offered me two very good things that I couldn't turn down and I was very pleased that she was more interested in keeping me as a client.

However, it did kinda make me hesitant to call in another claim. My garbage disposal is rattling when I turn it on. It feels like something is loose. I'm thinking is this wear or tear or do I need to file a claim. I don't want somebody else to come out then tell me it's not covered. Plus, I didn't wanna seem like I was making claims back-to-back even though the first one wasn't covered. But I don't mind paying the service fee. I'll do anything to get that rattling noise out of there. It'd be even better if they could replace the whole thing.

A week or so later they offered the same solutions with an increase of the reimbursement amount to $150, I again opted for solution B... A week later they contacted me (via email) providing me with a number to call to schedule my appointment with a technician, only the owner of the company explained that he had no affiliation with Service Plus. I called Service Plus and after a lengthy hold period I spoke with a customer service representative who was unable to explain what happened and referred me to his supervisor. I explained to her the error and she adamantly insisted that no error had been made and that their system showed the company did indeed have an association with Service Plus. I explained that the owner of the company said he did not but would come out and give me an estimate of the repair cost.

The customer service supervisor then said she needed to reschedule the appointment and that if the aforementioned company came out that they would not be able to offer any compensation. She said it would be escalated and sent to dispatch in order to find a suitable company. I made the statement that it seemed unfair that I was having to wait because of a mistake made by Service Plus. It was at this time that she began insisting that Service Plus had made no errors or mistakes. The phone call ended with her insisting that if I wanted the issue resolved that it no way implied that they were in error.

SPHW gives you the option of finding your own installer but they have to be licensed for SPHW to reimburse customers. What kind of service business doesn’t have technicians available 24/7 to repair or replace customer claims? A few years ago, my husband (a retired electrician) would have installed the new unit himself but we are seniors and he has Parkinson’s so he’s physically unable to do most household repairs now. Our 1st claim made on 9/15 for a Whirlpool tub leaking only when jets turned on. Again SPHW was unable to find a technician to work on a jetted tub. To find leak we hired a someone to cut access in wall to locate problem. In accordance with SPHW contract pump would be cover but not jets and not any costs incurred to gain access to problem. So far SPHW has reimbursed us ‘0’ in claims, ‘0’ for any repairs and/or ‘0’ money for replacements of any claim items. These are the reasons we’re canceling our contract.

I have recently filed a dispute claim with our credit card company. Our credit card company has put a stop on all future payments to SPHW. Our credit card company is also REFUNDING ALL OF OUR PAYMENTS that we have made to SPHW since June (1st payment date). SPHW has been one BIG headache for us! As I stated in my previous SPHW complaint it’s next to impossible to get talk with anyone, waiting times are extremely long and if you’re lucky enough to reach a rep you will hear “unfortunately we don’t have any available technicians at this time”!

Original Review: Recently filed 2 claims since purchasing warranty in May. I have NOT BEEN CONTACTED BY A TECHNICIAN TO REPAIR OR REPLACE EITHER ITEM. I’m disappointed, frustrated & feel I have been ripped off. It was high pressure sales, the salesman (Jim **) changed cost of program several times during his pitch…from $32 per mo w/ 2 mos free, $37.50 for 12 mos (ACTUALLY PAYING $40 PER MO FROM START (5/6/21)) & was told service calls were $60 & just found out they’re $75!

Almost impossible to talk with a “live” person & always put on hold although was told would be able to contact them 24/7. Also told repair techs call customers within 24-48 hrs to set up appointment I have yet to be contacted for either claims (9/15 & 9/27). Last claim was for garbage disposal leaking from bottom of unit so we have been unable to use our kitchen sinks & dishwasher for more than a wk. We could have fixed ourselves the day we found water leaking under it but was told it has to be a licensed plumber and we’re still waiting for a call from one of their techs. Highly dissatisfied & want our money back. They have done absolutely nothing for us except waste our time (trying to talk w/ a rep/holding on phone) & take our money.