American Home Shield

There was a lack of flow of hot water in the shower, so we placed the call with American Home Shield. They quickly scheduled the service and the people who came and did the job were very nice and professional. Now, it works like it should and we have a good flow of hot water. I was very pleased with them and I have recommended them to a friend.

Submitting a claim to American Home Shield has been an easy process. Their technicians have been great and professional and have done real quality repair work. I had a leak that was covered in the insurance. To prevent that to happen again, I had the same guy go in and repair everything that wasn't damaged because he did such a good job. Everything's great with AHS and I will recommend them.

I purchased coverage through American Home Shield a few years back before our family moved into our house in Wash state. We had moved to another state and we wanted them covered while in the house. The a/c had quit working, which caused much anxiety, so I contacted AHS and it was taken care of. The parts that needed to be replaced were covered, and what a blessing that was. For a new a/c compressor and freon, we were happy to pay for the freon that wasn't covered under our warranty. I would seriously suggest that if you own a home, you need American Home Shield on our side!

Our custom kitchen aid double oven needs to be replaced. It is a 24 x 51 inch double oven. They want us to take a GE double oven that is 24 x 49, which leaves a 2 inch gap in our cabinetry that they are not responsible for fixing. Also, they only allow us to take it in the color of "Black". They are giving us "ONE" option to have for the replacement, when there are others in same price range that fits our dimensions exactly. We don't want black because it doesn't match the other appliances in our home. We were given the option to pay $246 additional dollars to get it in stainless steel or $1,000 to get another selection that would fit property in the space.

Getting a new appliance should be exciting and pleasurable... but when you have no say so in picking it out... that's terrible. They will give us $760 to use to buy whatever we want... haha! Only ovens we find for that price are "refurbished" ovens. All the 24 inch double ovens in our area, including the GE, they are forcing us to take, cost between $1500-$1800 dollars... much more than the $760 they are offering us to find a replacement oven. We are being blackmailed into taking something of lesser value than what we currently have and not at all what we want. Can't even take the money you are giving us to pay for a new one of our choice without adding over $1000 dollars of our own money. There is something seriously wrong with this picture. Home Warranty Buyers beware!

We reported our washing machine wasn't working on 4/14 and 9 weeks later we still do not have an answer from them on what to do to address the issue. Every time I call them I am on hold for 20-30 minutes. I have to initiate follow-up or I don't hear anything. Incredibly frustrating. I would not recommend them to anyone!

I had a simple clog in my kitchen sink. I requested a plumber to come and repair it on Thursday, June 8th. They sent a plumber from Everest plumbing who was completely incompetent. Everest was unable to come out until the following Monday, leaving me without use of my kitchen for the entire weekend. When he finally was able to come out, he spent an hour attempting the repair with a plumbing snake from the kitchen and promptly gave up when my wife suggested it was possible there was paper in the drain. He reported the incident and said we were not covered.

I received a phone call from the Authorizations department while I was at work and was told I was not covered because the technician had found shelving liner in the drain. I asked if there was anything else I could do and I was told they would not cover it and I had to handle it myself. When talking with my wife later, I learned that the technician had not actually removed anything from the drain but instead was simply using what she had said as an excuse to give up. The technician never even attempted anything from the crawl space or the outside access to the pipe, but he insisted the line would need to be hydro jetted...

My wife contacted a local experienced plumber on Wednesday June 14th and he arrived within an hour. He arrived at 1:30 and had cleared the clog, cleaned up after himself and left by 3:45. He was able to clear the entire clog using a snake from my crawl space. The whole problem was you couldn't snake it from the kitchen because of the T junction preventing the snake from going where it needed to go. The plumber confirmed that it was only a build up of grease, which should be expected when a house has been vacant for several years. His total bill was around $250.

I contacted AHS to be reimbursed for the repair, because we should have been covered considering there were no foreign objects. I spoke to Theresa in Customer Service. She quickly denied any responsibility and said I would need to talk to Authorizations. She placed me on a silent hold for a solid 10 minutes before finally transferring me over, which took another couple of minutes to connect. The operator in Authorizations was equally bull-headed. She states over and over again that if I would have "demanded" a second opinion, I was entitled to one, but since I did not emphatically demand that I needed a second opinion to the original Authorization operator their hands were clean of any wrongdoing.

They were completely unwilling to pay for the plumbing work or make any kind of restitutions. When I asked to speak to their supervisor, she said she could fill out a form that would prompt her supervisor to call me within 48 hours. I told her I would like to wait on hold so I could get some sort of confirmation that the form had been filled out. She said that would be fine. After a 10-15 minute silent hold she came back and said the form had been filled out, but she couldn't provide any confirmation. She also would not provide me with an employee id. I do not have high hopes that I will receive a call from her supervisor.

A customer should not have to know that we have to "demand" a second opinion, we should not have to use specific key words to get the operators to perform tricks and serve us properly. I worked in a customer service role for 5 years and cannot imagine treating a customer this way - hiding policies and costing them money. I fully intend to cancel my warranty (granted they will reimburse me, obviously) and switch to a home warranty company that will actually take care of their customers.

I’ve been with American Home Shield for nine years. The representatives are nice. They were fine except most of the time since they work for Home Shield their best interest is with their company and that’s understandable. So they will try to find whatever they can, loopholes to not cover something. The contractors are not bad too.

I had a heat pump blow out in the middle of winter, it took American Home Shield two days to get a technician to come out and check out the system and another week to finally get someone to replace it. Once that contractor saw that the unit needed to be replaced I was told I would have to pay for "Modifications" which would cost me $2,000. Some of the modifications included a plastic pad that the heat pump sat on, which was not replaced but they used the exact same one that was already there.

My argument with them was this was an installation not a modification since the heating system was already in place and I was not changing the heating system, but to no avail. Then when the unit was installed (I had a Trane) I ended up getting a brand called "Payne" which they said was a knockoff of Carrier. My analogy to them was I paid for a Cadillac but I got a Chevy. They buy the cheapest quality they can. They then indicated that I could take the cash instead which was a paltry $800, when the price for a 3 ton heat pump is over $2,000, plus then I would have to pay for the installation.

Anyway, I had to have them do the work and use their heat pump since it was the middle of winter and I was without heat for over a week already at this point. Fast forward 5 months later, it's in the 90's and the A/C does not work! American Home Shield wants to charge me again for the service call and if the unit has to be replaced I'm on the hook for another $2,000 for the "modifications" to install the exact same unit that only lasted 5 months to begin with. There are many other home warranty companies out there, this may be the biggest but it certainly is not the best. I just went with Choice Home Warranty, they give you a discount if you switch and their service calls are cheaper. I don't know how Choice Home Warranty is but I know they can't be worse than American Home Shield.

American Home Shield's business model is built on a scam. They take advantage of first time homeowners who do not know the ins and outs of their scheme. When signing up for a home warranty on my new home purchase, I selected the plan to cover all systems. However, the contract AHS has developed relinquishes them of almost all responsibility for any fix of high value.

Need a new water heater? Plan to pay hundreds more to get the water heater to "code". Hot water inflow stops due to sediment build up related to new hot water heater provided through AHS plumber? Plan to pay $2000 because plumbing restrictions are not covered. They will only fix the valve which is a $20 purchase at Home Depot.

Coverage - 1 Star: Their very carefully worded contract is used to deceive its customers. They have very blanket basic overages, and even more broad exclusions which allows them to claim they are not liable. Thus, when I reach out to have something fixed on which I expect would be covered, I end up having to eat the cost. When reading through the contract at a deeper level, you come to realize that they have reimbursement limits which are way less than a typical service would cost. Essentially, their service does not provide me the financial security that should come with a home warranty.

Customer Service - 1 Star: Hold times are 30 minutes to an hour. Their staff is not knowledgeable. All the questions you answer when first calling in are then asked again by customer service. They say they are working on an issue, but they only become proactive once you follow up multiple times. I waited 30 minutes one time just to talk to a supervisor only to get her voicemail (still waiting for that callback). I also called on a Thursday to determine status of no hot water that technicians reviewed on Tuesday. They said they are still reviewing diagnosis. Called back again on Monday, and after a few hours on the phone was finally told that they need to talk with the plumber because they have not talked to him since the previous Monday. Value: Zero.

Bad service, very dishonest company. Had my AC go out in Texas couple weeks ago. Called them and they sent out very unprofessional AC company with bad reviews. AC company said it was my coil and that it would be covered by my warranty, however needed to bring everything else up to code. House is only 10 years old, pretty sure it has not changed that much. Anyway they wanted to charge me over $1500 to do the extra repairs then fix my coil. Had different company do way better work, then called AHS to get check and was told that all they would pay is $370, $250 for AC coil and labor and $120 freon. Not sure of cost, but very seriously doubt an AC coil plus labor does not cost only $250. They will weasel their way of paying for anything. They used to be a very reputable company, but now it's all about how much you can scam from the consumer.

Last summer I experience trouble with my AC unit. AHS sent someone to fix problem. The fix was only a band-aid solution and this summer we are experiencing similar/worse trouble. AHS sent another rep from another company who advised that we need significant work. AHS waited two weeks to respond and then deny the claim all the while, we had no working AC with temps in the 90s. We were told that in the fine print we were not covered because the unit required replacement but AHS will not replace. They only band-aid your problems. When I called to cancel they said that there is a cancellation fee of $15. I am completely disgusted with the lack of coverage and customer service despite paying high monthly fees to be covered. So, I am in the same situation with this as if I did not have a warranty.

I submitted claims to American Home Shield for a heating problem and a dryer that stopped on two properties that I have. I’d rather speak to somebody, so I went through the submitting process via phone. After I told them the issues I was having, they searched for a company closest to me and see if a person’s available. They were able to call me within one to two weeks, but a few part has had to be ordered so it took another two to three weeks. Overall, the fixing process took about a month, and American Home Shield kept in contact with me the whole time. The technicians they have sent were great, as well as their customer service. When they couldn’t fix an item, they replaced it. I had no problem and appreciated American Home Shield’s promptness in getting the things done as quickly as they can, as I have tenants.

American Home Shield sent a contractor out on Friday. They arrived (with an attitude) at noon to verify the water heater was leaking and a kitchen faucet that was inoperable... As of today Tuesday 4 days later... I have yet to receive a phone call from the contractor after 5 calls or American home Shield after 3 calls... The water still is leaking and yes the kitchen faucet is still not working properly...

We have used American Home Shield on one occurrence and everything went very good as planned. They were courteous and showed up on time. I was very satisfied with the service that I received from them. The technicians were very helpful fixing things and the entire process went well. Since the repair, things have performed normally. On the other hand, the trade cost should go lower than what they’re charging rather than $75 trade charges. When they show up to repair, they charge $75 every call on top of my monthly fee. If they would reduce it down to $50 per trade call, where a lot of these repairs could be well-covered, then that would be fair. But so far, everyone did pretty well.

I’ve had so many bad experiences with American Home Shield. They’re very unorganized, they don’t show up when they say they will and the wait’s forever when I try to get a hold of somebody on the phone or online. When we first got the house, the only reason we kept American Home Shield is because we had them with the house when we bought it. This has been going on for years. If I took the 13 years that I’ve lived in this house, we’ve had them out here between three and four times a year on different little items. Between air conditioners and plumbing mostly. But there have always been delays and issues. I don’t think we even renewed this year. That’s how bad that was.

There was a time when the whole house was plugged up. We called in and took about 30 minutes to actually talk to somebody. They told me they could only get somebody out here after 6 hours. But the person they gave me wasn’t the correct contractor. I called back three or four times, then they gave me the other contractor. But when I tried to call the company there was an issue -- ‘cause it was on a Saturday. The whole office shut down. Didn’t tell me they were coming for sure or not. So, I called back and complained and said, “Hey, where’s my person?” So, the person put on another work order to send another person out. He had the pipes flowing 30 minutes. It was out by the street, where the plug was, and problem was solved.

Last year, we had a leaky faucet in the bathtub. They changed out the faucet and what we found out was a chunk of tape stuck in the balancing valve which was two inches over from the main valve. It ended up costing me $600 for another plumber to come in and fix all this. So, they changed it all out and I paid all this money and guess what? It doesn’t flow any different than it did before. The water comes out and if somebody flushes the toilet, you still get hot water or cold water. It didn’t balance out the system or fixed anything they said was going to fix. Maybe it’s not totally the tech’s fault. It’s an old house. I don’t know how it’s built or why it’s built like it is, but the tech’s don’t understand the way the plumbing’s working in this house.

With my washing machine, I had to put a backflow preventer on it so the water didn’t come up out of the pipe and below out in the floor. The last guy that came in here and he said, “Yeah, you definitely got some problems with the plumbing and this is what needs to be updated on the plumbing.” He said, “You’re gonna have to keep the backflow preventer in, but it vent in the house.” He goes, “You need to run this pipe all the way out the roof.” He said, “That’s just the new washing machines are.” And, yes, I’ve had water on the floor before because of the washing machine.

Four and a half years ago, when they changed out the air handler, they left a great big chunk of insulation in the flue where it goes to all the different rooms. So, it cut off the air of half of my house. I called to have your guys come out and fix it. They come out there, “Oh, there’s nothing we can do.” A year later, ‘cause the air conditioner compressor blew up, finally, they changed that out and the guy who changed that out he goes, “There’s something really wrong ‘cause these things are supposed to be flowing free.” We cut open the air box and found that a four by three foot sheet of insulation, at three quarter inch thick, laying there covering up all these ducts. So, which tech do you want to blame on this? Because it came out of the original air handler that they took out.

Here’s another thing that ticks me off. Ever since they put that air handler in, every year I’ve had to put in freon in this thing. I have to put between one and three pounds in it. Last year, I had them come out and put some special sealer in the air conditioning unit to seal up the units so, if it did start leaking it would plug it. Finally, it worked. It cost me $280 to get that stuff put in. American Home Shield wouldn’t pay for it. I’d had another contractor come in to fix it, which their contractors didn’t do when installing in the first place.

Also, last year when my father-in-law’s air conditioner was getting bad (it’s been in there since 1979), I had a guy look at it and they say the home warranty’s gonna fix it. It’s rusting out and it just needs to be replaced ‘cause it’s old, still barely working and they said, “We’ll just fix it.” It’s a SEER 8. Now, it’s at what, SEER 23? We’re talking about how inefficient that is. But American Shield will fix. They will not replace.

Then there’s my garbage disposal. The thing started leaking down the side of it. The guy comes out here. He goes, “I can’t touch it.” He goes, “That old unit is corroded. I can’t change it ‘cause the warranty won’t pay for it.” It’s leaking in my cabinet. So, I had to go out there and buy a new one and fix it myself. If I can go in there and I can fix this stuff myself faster and do it right, there’s a problem there. Just like changing my water heater. They come out there and they say, ”Oh, this isn’t to code.” So, it’s gonna cost me as much for the water heater to add a disconnect. I could go buy the thing usable, disconnect for $39 at Home Depot and they want $508 to install one?

And there isn’t enough repairs in my house that’s like to have that sewer line done. The guy who actually did it said they charged American Home Shield $350. But they said that really, the actual cost to do it is, if you pay for it cash, it’s only $225. Figure that one out. Who’s the one getting the run around on this one? And then they say they’re gonna charge $350 when they really actually get $350. I don’t have that answer, really.

I’m not gonna blame American Home Shield because they buy services from contractors. The contractors they use should be posted online. When I see these other guys come out there and do it, they’re just looking to get the damn thing done and it’s just crazy. If they’re trying to fix their system, they better get some honest techs and repair people that know what the heck’s going on and how to fix things. And some of the stuff is American Home Shield’s problem like getting things scheduled and things in and out the door. But it’s more than just one thing. It’s both. I mean, it’s the coordination between the contractors and American Home Shield. Actually, the quality of what’s being done. When you get a contractor come into your house and you don’t know Spanish and all they know is Spanish. You got a problem when they got their 14 year-old kid interpreting plumbing.

Don’t use AHS. Go find somebody else because they’re not affordable. They’re not even practical anymore.

I am a very kind, older disabled former elementary school teacher who will never do business with American Home Shield again. My water heater repair service fee was supposed to be $80.00 but the contractor that American Home Shield sent charged me $999.00 (for a new but objectionably old style water heater). Although I had been told there would be an extra charge because of the upper level location of my water heater but I requested the newer version that would have been lighter weight, and I had no idea the contractor who showed up to do the urgent repair would charge so much.

I was astonished when I saw the bill and objected but paid the subcontractor (who by the way in the process of the repair caused major flooding damage to the carpeted half of my garage and just left a fan which didn't dry fast enough to prevent the molding etc), and I called American Home Shield to protest and seek amends, but was callously told that once they contract the job out, they are not responsible for any additional charges applied or damages caused by the plumbing company. Apparently it's somewhere in the fine print or between the lines. I am fearful of retaliation and can't afford a lawyer, so I don't want to appeal. I'm just sharing my experience to be helpful to other consumers. Thank you.

Worst customer service and company I've ever dealt with. They didn't fix what was supposed to be covered with my home warranty, kept me uninformed the whole time, never sent me an email or anything. Horrible company with too much fine print covering themselves. I've seen lemonade stands ran better. NEVER use them!

I made a claim on 5/21/17, have had a run around for nearly a month. My AC is still not working. Cannot seem to get enough interest from this company to pursue my problem with any kind of sense of urgency. Has cost me more than it would if I repaired without insurance.

American Home Shield replaced our broken KitchenAid Microwave with a GE unit. It was supposed to be delivered and installed the same day. It was delivered, but I was told that they had no orders to install it. The microwave is sitting in my small kitchen floor and has still not been installed. It has been a couple of weeks. To be fair to AHS, I will say that we have been in Cancun for a week and could not communicate with them, but they knew it needed to be installed when we left for Cancun. The microwave was delivered on May 30. We called to see what was going on on May 31. We were told they would take care of it. Today is June 12 and I called to see what the status was on getting it installed. They have been unable to find an installer and have offered us $125 to get our own installer.

I called the KitchenAid people we normally deal with and they do not carry GE and will not install because of warranty issues. I have no idea what we are to do! I am at my wit's end. Our current microwave is leaking radiation and we cannot use it. The other one can't be installed! Is there not anyone at AHS who can find a solution for us? I am a realtor and have purchased these policies over the years for my clients. We have had our own just a couple of years and this is the first time trying to use it. We are also waiting for a dryer and dishwasher to be repaired since April 21. AHS is sending out another repair person on June 12th to look at it, so we are starting over with that! It appears to me that the issue is with the contractors in the AHS network. This is just unacceptable!

We have been loyal customers for many years and usually have had nothing but positive experiences. But a recent problem with our air conditioner has made me want to share our story. We had recent service done to our air conditioner (which took 3 visits to finally get fixed) and were stuck with a bill for almost $800 to cover the cost of adding refrigerant two times to our unit. When I spoke to the AHS representative I was told that our contract only covers an allowance of $10 per pound of refrigerant and we were responsible for the other $90 per pound. But the issue is that the problem that caused the unit to lose refrigerant in the first place was covered under the contract. So if the problem is covered, why isn't the entire cost of the repair covered? I tried to escalate this to a supervisor but never received a callback. If a repair is covered, the cost of restoring the item to full working condition should be covered. Very disappointing.

In my last two claims with American Home Shield where I had plumbing issues and was dealing with my shower, as well as with my air conditioning, both companies sent out by AHS did a great job. I submitted the claims over the phone and the claims representative was great. The contractors came out the next day and a lot sooner than the time frame that they told me they’re going to come. Since the repair, everything is working perfectly now. Before, I was having a low water pressure and didn't know where to plumb it. Now, it's going on really hard and my air conditioning is blowing a lot cooler.

We moved into our house now almost four years ago. We have very old appliances so I asked the previous owners to get us a home warranty. In the four years that we've been here, AHS did the washer, the dryer, the pipes, and the oven. They’ve all been quick and painless and all of the contractors were wonderful. I did an online claim AHS recently for my dishwasher that wasn't washing dishes. It had been decreasingly working for quite some time but I just didn’t realize it. I used to always call when I did my claims but with the last three claims, I did them online and it was easy.

We had AHS at our old home for nine years too but they cancelled us. We have had quite a lot of claims and it was right when AHS had been sued and had to make a settlement for all of the first year claims that they had denied. They had their auditors go through and look for people who would have a lot of claims. I’ve had a couple of claims that were very expensive, like replacing a whole system. AHS said we always had the option of cancelling, though. When I went online to look for another warranty, AHS had cancelled lots of people because they had to pay out millions in penalties in claims.

There was a problem at our old house that AHS had fixed a couple of times, though. It was a timer valve thing on our old hot water heating system. But when the new company came in, they said that they didn't do anything that had rust. I had to fight with them over this $400-claim to say, “Look, it’s rusted because the valve opened and it was dripping inside." Whereas with American Home Shield, I did not have that issue on the previous two claims. AHS is number one in the industry for a reason.

AHS put us back with our home now 'cause it's a different home. They did the air conditioning system in this house, which was a minor issue and I had asked the people to purchase one for us as part of the settlement. But they also have the policy that they will only replace like with like. Our air condition compressor was 13 years old and they still had ones with the old Freon in them and that was all AHS was going to give us. The Freon is up to $80 a pound and is only going to get more expensive because it is not being produced anymore because of the environmental factors. So they were going to screw us on that one. If the new one lasted 15 years, it was not going to be cost-effective. But then they gave us $1,200 towards the new system that we chose to purchase. So they still settle claims well.

We had a couple of warm days in November of 2016 but when we tried to use the air conditioner, it didn't work at that point. So I had submitted the claim in November and then they circled back. They said we didn't need the air conditioner until it started getting warmer. Because of the fluctuating weather in November, it wasn't repaired until April. Other than that, submitting a claim was very efficient and we were contacted by the service provider fairly quickly within a day. They were responsive and they fixed it and everything has been working as it should. We've had a number of claims and American Home Shield has always provided excellent service and we're very happy with their program.

Everybody I’ve dealt with at American Home Shield has been very good, except for one time when the rep didn’t seem to be very knowledgeable. He basically told me there was nothing wrong with my dryer, but there was. I told him the noise it was making. He just said, “Well, I can only fix it if it stops working.” I called back because it was doing the same thing and talked to another Home Shield person. She sent the guy back out here. We told him what it was doing again and he opened up the machine, he looked at it and he said it was a part that needed to be replaced and he did that. I didn’t have a problem since.

Also on a particular day the AC wasn’t working. The tech explained to me it was something inside and that he had to go inside the furnace downstairs, the main unit, to fix it. He got it done and it works just like it’s always worked. I’ve been with American Home Shield for a few years now and they’re pretty efficient in what they do as far as getting the issue handled in a timely fashion.

Horrible customer service! A few months ago I placed a service request for my garage. The vendor was supposed to contact me within 24hrs and never did. A week went by and I still didn't hear anything. I called AHS and they had a vendor come out a few days later. I was able to get my service request fulfilled within 10 days. Fast forward to now and surprise my garage needs to be serviced again. I made an appointment online on Tuesday night and got a call Wednesday evening. The vendor AHS contracted advised me they have no appointment such until Sunday afternoon between 12-4. I explained to the vendor that my garage is opened and will not come down. The release is not working and we are not able to pull it shut. I explained that this is a safety issue as this leaves the most vulnerable door to my house exposed. I tried to get an earlier appointment but that was a big no.

My husband called AHS Wednesday night and a rep explained to him that the vendor should come out within 48hrs. Well AHS stated they could contact another vendor but the clock will start all over again. I called the next morning and basically I was given the same response. A new vendor request would mean someone would not be out until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. AHS acts as if customer service and satisfaction is not a priority. I pay my monthly fee for services that I can get at their convenience. They do not try to resolve issues and there is no sense of urgency with them. Here I am on my weekend off from work waiting on the repairman. He probably will not show until later after the time frame quoted, as this has been my experience in the past. I plan on switching to another company that will appreciate my hard earned money and act like I am a priority instead of an inconvenience.

The pool pump was shut down because it was old. I contacted American Home Shield over the phone, but they couldn’t get anybody to do it, so I paid for it and sent it in to get reimbursed. I had one problem since I’ve been with American Home Shield. I had an air conditioner problem last year. And AC Harris is the company that does our air conditioner down here. For weeks, they told me they were coming every day, and never came, never even called. I spent four months without an air conditioner. AC Harris said it was AHS. But AHS said it was them. It was back and forth. I had no air conditioner all summer and it was horrible.

Then my boiler went out, the same company does the boiler as does the air conditioning. I couldn’t have it done by them so I paid $5,500 out of my pocket to have the boiler fixed. I would like people to know what’s going on over here with that air conditioning company. I’m not the first one to complain about them. Also, the guy from AC Harris would come and say that people want to kill him because he had another job. I called AHS to let them know about this. I was on the phone constantly but nobody seemed to care. I was a firm believer of American Home Shield until this happened. But I’m still staying with AHS. Everybody else have been good. When they couldn’t fix it, they let me get it fixed outside, so that was all fine.

We had a problem with our refrigerator. We submitted a claim with American Home Shield over the phone and it was very easy. They were on the spot and there were very few phone calls and follow-ups. They sent out a repair person and he indicated that the part was no longer available. He let us know ahead of time what the problem was going to be so we knew what to expect. It took about two weeks to get it resolved but they replaced the refrigerator and that’s above my expectations. And then, the people who delivered the refrigerator did a great job getting the refrigerator in, plugging it in and taking care of it. Overall, the experiences both with the repair person and the folks on the line from American Home Shield were excellent. They went over and above what they were required to do by our contract and for that reason I will stay with them.

I recently had a claim with American Home Shield for duct insulation in my air-conditioner. You could either call them or submit a request for service online with the account that you have set up with them. It’s very easy to do it online and it's seamless. You don’t have to wait on hold until the next operator gets to you. And then the company who is going to do the work would contact you usually within 24 hours. They send Sears and multiple companies and everyone who has come out has always been great. They ask me what the problem is, look at what I’ve written up, inspect it and they always put little hoodie covers over their shoes coming in, so they’re respectful of your property, and whatever contract you have set up with them and send them a check for services.

In my instance, I give them $75, they assess the situation and the parts needed then they order them. I had one incident where they had to fix my toilet and it took five times to get it right. The first two guys that they sent me came very late and it was out of the guidelines but the owner of that company rectified it. And outside of that, Sears and all the other companies have been very professional. For some people, it’s hard to only be available from Monday to Friday. A good majority of the people work, so you have to take a day off. But they have improved with the windows and since they’ve gone online, you can set your own appointments between 8:00 and 1:00, 12:00 and 2:00, 3:00 and 5:00, which is better for the consumer. American Home Shield doesn’t provide service on the weekends. But it would be nice for them to be available.

I needed a plumber so AHS sent one. The plumber came to my place but he wasn't sure what the problem was so, I didn't feel comfortable with him. AHS sent a second one who's a master plumber and did an excellent job. He knew exactly what to do and he fixed the problem. On the other hand, the lady that I talked to at AHS said I couldn't request for a certain plumber. They have to pick the plumber that they want but I didn’t want to pick that one who wasn’t sure what the problem was. When I called the second time, the girl said I can pick the person that I want if I had a good experience. But it ended up being a good visit because a great guy came out the second time.

In addition, AHS' price goes up every year. It would be nice if they gave a discount when you've been with them for a period of time, like what insurance companies do. I've been with AHS for almost five years. It makes me want to see if somebody else got a better price. Other than that, I've had a great experience with AHS.

The problem with our pool heater started when we first moved into the house in January. We called American Home Shield and the representative explained how the process works. It was new to my wife and I. This is my first time having a house with a swimming pool so I didn't know all of the things that could go wrong. The guys that went said that the pool heater isn't covered anymore so we need to do this and that. They came out six or seven times and then they had to get another company to come out. AHS considered each piece of equipment separate and we ended spending $1,200 which was a lot of money. From my perspective, they were responsive. The contractors that they sent were professional and they got things resolved relatively quickly. From American Home Shield's perspective, they did what they were supposed to do other than they could have had a more thorough investigation of the entire system.

There were multiple things that went on and it wasn't just the pool heater. The hot water heater also went out. We happen to have multiple hot water heaters and we were able to take a bath in another room. We ended up getting a brand new hot water heater, and we paid $500 for that. Then our oven went out as well. We happen to have another kitchen so it was okay. But the oven would start beeping crazy sporadically throughout the night and it was really annoying to the household. And because that was in the home, we had to be there constantly. They came out about five or six times as well for the oven before they finally gave up. We got a brand new oven, which we only paid the service call for $75 instead of $1,500.

At first, American Home Shield wanted to only give us credit towards the oven. And because it was with the house and it's 14 years old, they couldn't find exactly the one that we had. Ours was stainless steel and they had one that was only one part on it was white. We asked them why they would put a white piece on a stainless steel oven and so we ended up back and forth on that. Ultimately, my wife convinced them and they gave us the oven for no charge because they couldn't replace it. But it took multiple calls for that.

At the moment, all the equipment seem to be doing fine. And if I take a holistic look at it, it ended up being a benefit because it saved me several thousand dollars in my pocket. But it's kinda frustrating in one respect because of the way that it took so long for some of the contractors, especially with the oven and the pool. It was a tough learning experience but overall it was good.

I have a few complaints about American Home Shield (AHS). The first is they have no type of emergency quick response. It takes them 24 hrs to get a service request placed through whatever service company they select then it takes a few days for the service company to set up an appointment for to come out for the repairs.

During the hottest part of the July our AC broke down. I live in Virginia and it was unbearably hot and humid last year. It took a week before a someone came out to look at the AC unit and determined it had to be replaced. That took weeks for AHS to agree to the replacement of my AC then a couple more weeks to get the new AC and because I had a heat pump that had to be replaced too. I called and complain. They offered to pay me 60 to buy portable fans for to cool the house while they made their decision about replacing the unit. The AC finally got replaced and all repairs were completed after the heat had passed and the weather'd cooled. The AC unit that was put in is broken again. The unit was not installed correctly. Now 5 days into trying to get the unit repaired!!!

Then the plumbing was clogged up throughout the house in August 2016. I called AHS several times starting on a Thursday then Friday explaining to their employee the plumbing situation and how we couldn't use the bathroom or even shower, they politely apologize and told me because it was Friday I'd have to wait until Monday or Tuesday for someone to contact me. So the whole weekend we had to stay at lodging on base. I ended up calling a plumber. Getting it repaired myself. That should have been an emergency service call and they should've rushed it through the system in cases like the above-mentioned. When we tried to address these issues they fell on deaf ears.

We took out this policy based on the fact that our house is now 10 years old and decided it would be a good idea to insure our appliances and AC unit. This company has turned out to be a HUGE scam!!! We have not had AC now for over 5 days and we live in Florida. The company denied our claimed based on the fact that the unit has rust and it was a pre-existing condition!!! Of course there will be some rust on a 10 year old unit outside in Florida. I told the lady when we signed up the age of the units and she said as long as they were operational it was fine. It has always worked fine until it stopped working two months into the contract. They are refusing to cover it even though it states in the contract they cover normal wear and tear. This is a horrible company!!! DO NOT USE THEM. Hopefully a class action lawsuit will be brought up against them. We will be canceling this contract ASAP.