American Home Shield

I called and I made another service call for them to come and look at my water heater. I was right. They sent United Air out and the tech got from underneath and said, "This is shot. It's gone." I figured it would be because it was old. He wrote the ticket up and then he said they would let American Home Shield know what was going on and American Home Shield would contact me. I had to end up calling American Home Shield to find out what was going on. I was still getting water in my floor every day.

Once I called American Home Shield, they said it was up to the contractor. They had told the contractor what they cover, which is a new heater and removing the old heater and the installation of the new one. Then to make it up to compliance, I would have to pay out of pocket to the contractor. So I said, "Okay. Well, let me call the contractor because you all are telling me what you're going to do, but you're not telling me anything about the contractor's price." They said, "Well, you have to call the contractor."

I called and talked to the contractor. He gave me a price. I told him, "Give me a couple of days to think about it, because it's quite a bit of money. Well, okay. I'm gonna have to talk it over with my husband. In the meantime, I will call American Home Shield and let them know, ask them how much time do I have to make up my mind. Because I want to go over it with my husband and all." I called them back and told them that I hadn't made a final decision, and I would get back to them. With me saying that, the gentleman that I talked to had put in a cash out slip. I never asked anybody for a cash out slip. When I didn't hear from them, I called them back the day before yesterday. I was like, "Okay. Can somebody tell me what's going on? Because I've talked to my husband, we're gonna go ahead with the contract, so I need to know what's going on." They said, "Oh, well, you requested the cash out." But I didn't request such thing.

Yesterday, I had to call American Home Shield back to find out, "Well, what's going on with the cash out? Because you're telling me I have to wait on the email from you all to decline it and tell you I'm gonna go on with the estimate and stuff that I was given. And I talked to you days ago, so it doesn't take that long to send me a damn email." The rep said, "Well, give it another 48 hours." I said, "No. I will not because my floor is wet and yours isn't." This morning, I woke up and called American Home Shield back again because I've never received anything once again from them. I talked to this young lady, and she went on and put the order through for me with United Air Temp so I can go ahead and start getting the work done. She sent them an email. The contractor was great. This guy would call me. He would update me.

I kept American Home Shield for the simple fact that I felt like in the long run, if something did happen, I'd have some protection. I just would like for them to have better response time and better communication. I'd also like them to go through the verbals when they're making this contract. If I call and I ask them, "Well, what's covered," and they tell me, "Your stove, your heater, your air, your this, your that," they should let me know, " We cover the water unit itself. But if there's any extra work beyond that, that's an out of pocket cost for you." They should not have me thinking that I'm paying them this money for a month, year after year, and then when something breaks in my house, they're gonna tell me, "Oh, we're gonna replace your water heater, and we're going to replace them to take it out and the installation cost. But any other work besides that, that's on you." What the hell am I paying them for if they didn't tell me that beforehand?

People need to know that beforehand, especially during this time going through this great pandemic. People are already stretched. People can't even afford half the things they could afford. People are out here surviving, just trying to keep a roof over their heads. American Home Shield needs to be more compassionate to their customers, instead of more compassionate for their company. Before now, I would tell people, "Oh, I think it's probably a pretty good investment." But now, I would tell them to weigh their options and look into other people that offer the same type of service and make them thoroughly go over that contract with them.

I have two American Home Shield accounts, one for my house and one for my mother's house. On my mother's, there was a claim for a built-in microwave. My sister was there and they told my sister it couldn't be repaired and that they would replace it. I've been trying to get it replaced for a year and apparently, they went to Parts and Parts didn't think it was clear that it needed to be replaced or that the guy couldn't fix it. They never called me back and agreed to that. I've been calling them monthly for a year now. Now, they say it's too late for it. But it's like my washing machine. It's now going on three months and it's not fixed.

My mother's hot water heater blew. The guys that came out on the plumbing knew it needed another one and I've called American Home Shield twice. With the hot water heater, American Home Shield pays for the replacement but you always pay the upcharge for the plumbing and technician. I called American Home Shield yesterday and they didn't know what the quote was. They said AZ Plumbing was supposed to call me but no one's called me to give me a number or what I need to do. I called AZ Plumbing and asked. They said I had to pay the upcharge first which was $404.25. Once I paid it, they'd schedule it. I paid the money and scheduled it for Friday.

As long as you're a squeaky wheel with the contractors, then you can get service. I had the appointment scheduled for tomorrow for my AC unit between 12:00 and 4:00, and the guy called back and said, "I got you changed to 9:00 to 12:00." I said, "I can't do 9:00 to 12:00. I told you that before because I have a doctor's appointment at 8:45. There's zero chance that I can do that morning slot." He said, "Then we can get you in two weeks." I said, "No, you can't. You can give me the original slot I told you before." We finally agreed that he'd do 10:30. Tomorrow, when he comes out to fix my air conditioner, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll be able to fix it there or maybe they'll order a part then I'll be without it for a couple of weeks.

The service on American Home Shield is good but it takes a long time to get things fixed especially this year. The first time, the AC unit was broken for three weeks before they could fix it and get parts in. Then last year, it was only broken for two days before they could fix it. But they always fix it and it always costs less than buying a new unit.

The contract is well worth it financially because American Home Shield does cover all the things that are going to go wrong. There is always a service charge so you don't want to call them for something minor because the service charge is material. But generally, it's a really good value for the service. The only big problem is nobody wants to replace anything even though that's usually the easiest and probably the least cost way. For my mom's house, things would break in the house and it would be 1,400 here and 1,300 there and 1,500 there. With the hot water heater, I knew there'd be an upcharge and the upcharge is $900 to bring it to a totally different code.

American Home Shield has been very helpful whenever I've called and tried to find where things are. When I call them, they're very patient and I go through every problem I have every time I call them which these days seems to be daily. They're polite and they tell me what to do. They will track down the vendors, find them and try to escalate. If you don't like a vendor you're working with, they will switch the vendor out for you. Without exception, they do everything possible on what they're doing.

But American Home Shield probably doesn't pay their contractors that much. Their contractors may not communicate as well as they should. Some are good but most of them, you get what you pay for and they've negotiated contracts that are a good price for them. That means that you need to sit on top of the contractor that American Home Shield selects and you have to plan that it's going to take longer than if you just called somebody and did it in cash. But the differential in cost, if you want to be able to plan something and budget, is well worth it. If you have an older property, you save three to four times what the all in amount that you pay to American Home Shield. For my mom's house, it went from costing me $3,000 to $6,000 a year to something that's $75 a month plus $100 a charge. That's a much more manageable thing. I would definitely recommend American Home Shield. I have friends that have some competing services and their issues are more than mine.

There were tampon dispensers and kids’ wipes that were supposed to be disposable and washable. And the long story short, he said, “You need to get your septic drained, and then I'll come back.” He thought it was a big freaking joke, and he was laughing. And then I called up and said, “Hey, I've got the company coming.” But this guy, he already marked that he closed out the account. And I was like, “What do you mean he closed it out? He didn't even do anything. He told me I gotta get my septic drained.”

So, then AHS sent out the third company. It was two nice young gentlemen. They rooted the whole house, but they didn't run the water after they did that from all the different faucets. So, we had a backup a second time. And then we called them right back. They came right back and they took care of it. And we've been good to go since. Our water heater tanks are fine. They were great. We would use them again.

I tell everyone to get a warranty with AHS. I sell warranties for a living for RVs and cars for 20 years. I’ve always used AHS as a selling tool. Because I pay 75 bucks a month and then when something goes wrong, I pay them 75. And I like being able to be able to go to work and then my wife calls and they take care of it.

Last time, I heard the first one that AHS sent out, and I was like, “Didn't they come out to my house once before?” When they put in the two hot water heaters, those guys tried charging me 550 to bring it up to code according to them. So, I had to get a second opinion, and AHS had to do a cashout. The guy came in and, for 1,400 bucks, put in two hot water heater tanks and said, “You were perfectly up to code.” If they don’t wanna do business with you, they're not happy with what AHS pays them out as retail booked hours or labor hours, then they should just not do business with AHS.

I just had a problem with the air conditioner. It's gonna be eleven below zero on Monday, that's why we're not worried about the air conditioner. But the guy came out, he said, “Your unit’s 30 years old. It keeps popping the breaker. It's probably a bad compressor. I'm gonna put in for a new AC unit.” Next thing, they went, "They're putting in for a new AC unit," and no one called me for two weeks while I was in Tampa. I was in Jacksonville, Florida. And all of a sudden, I got back. So, I went, “I don't want this to go by the wayside when it gets hot again. What? Are we gonna be screwed with no AC?” They were like, “Oh, they said you did a cashout.” I went, “What are you talking about? You guys said you were gonna put a compressor in, and I said I didn't understand why you wanna put $800, $900 in for a compressor.”

And then they want me to pay $500 for Freon, because the old units, it's expensive Freon. It's about $80 a pound. I said, “If I was gonna put 500, and you guys are gonna put 800, 900, why don't we put that towards a new unit? And I'll pay the difference and put in a brand-new unit.” Because AHS sells parts. But I didn't realize they don't sell ACs and heaters. They only sell ovens and refrigerators and dishwashers for the kitchen.

Then when I asked why they didn't cover an air conditioning unit replacement, they said because the tech from the company AHS sent out only put in for a compressor. I was like, "I'm telling you, I wouldn't lie to you guys. I've watched out for you guys and told you when my parts started working again, to cancel service and not have them come out and pay for it even though these companies were telling you guys to pay." AHS has told me in the past when it was my icemaker for the second time in one year, “Well, if the guy tells us it’s fine, we're gonna still replace it.” I was like, “Why would he tell you it's not fine? He doesn't get paid to not replace it.” So, I did what AHS told me, and I appreciate them replacing it a second time but it was still working. And he said, “Well, it's defective. It's going on and off.” I was like, “Okay. You know better than me.”

I called AHS. And they said, “Well, if you were to put in for an AC ‘cause it's 30 years old, we would’ve put in a new unit.” I called his employer. They were like, “Yeah. He just told us it needed a compressor.” I said, “I swear to God on my kid, I should get struck down right now, this guy looked at me eye to eye and said, 'You need a new AC.'” And he said, “I'm gonna put in for it, but I'm gonna tell you, they're probably gonna just give you a compressor.” And then all of a sudden, AHS said, “Well, that's all they put in, so that's all we can cover.” Meanwhile, now I don't have a compressor. And when it gets hot out here again, my AC would not work. I asked about the cashout. So, they told the company that they're not doing the compressor, and they returned the part.

I was told by AHS, they document, they will not charge me the service call. Just call when the weather breaks. Because even if he did replace the compressor, it still has to be over 50 degrees for them to charge it. And then I was also told that it's $500 to charge it. But even if I pay the charging fee and he puts the compressor, and if it’s still not fixing it because the whole system is shot, somebody said they would reimburse me the money for the $500 freon. Then I talked to the third person a day later at AHS. They were like, “Yeah. That's not accurate.” Overall, I've never had a problem until the last year or two. But other than that, we have given AHS seven grand in seven years, and they have probably paid out five grand. We're still okay with that. Maybe even they broke even.

When he arrived, the heat didn't make that sound anymore because Virginia Natural Gas told me to turn the heat off and not to turn it back on until the company came out. The tech said that the filter needed to be changed, so he changed the filter. Then, the foil wrapping around the furnace that seals the two pieces together was loose and he rewrapped that. He told me that if I heard the sound again, I should record then I should call him and he would come back to see. But he looked inside the furnace and said it was running smoothly as far as he could see.

Other than that, I'm still having one issue with my refrigerator. I called in a ticket before Thanksgiving since my refrigerator was not cooling and the icemaker was not making ice. The techs came out they fixed the icemaker, but the refrigerator was still not cooling. So, I called back the company who came out to fix the icemaker and they came back out. They ordered a part and they put the part on the refrigerator. They said to give it a day or two to see if the refrigerator starts to cool with the new part.

When it didn't cool down like it should, I call them back and this was on December the 8th. They came back out and said they had to order another part as the other one was defective. We've been going on since then about this with the refrigerator and it's still not cooling properly. I've called the contractor that came out and they said that they're going to look in to see if the part that came a particular day was our part, but I haven't gotten any feedback from the company.

I've called Home Shield back and told them that my refrigerator is still not cooling. The company was going to order parts. And Home Shield, the last time I talked with them, they told me that the parts had been delivered and they reached out to the contractor and they didn't get an answer so they sent, I guess, a text or email and I hadn't heard anything from them yet. So I don't know what's going on with the contractor. But the refrigerator still is not fixed.

Nocona: Is there anything that you think American Home Shield could do to improve the process overall? What would you like to see them do differently to make it an easier process?

MONICA: Really, I guess it just depends on the contractor. Home Shield, they take the complaints. They get you paired up with a contractor and they text you the information who's coming out or who's supposed to be coming out and all. And now, let me tell you this. I had my washing machine to go out on me and they could not replace it because they didn't have one in stock equivalent to the one that I had. So then they sent me the check to purchase one on my own. I had to go out and purchase one on my own.

That process was fine. I would say it just depends on the vendors that they use, the contractors that they use. Like I said, for the most part, I've had a smooth, I guess, fix to my appliances, but this particular one for the my refrigerator, and this company had come out to do my washing machine too. They fixed my washing machine too. And the freezer, like I said, the icemaker’s making ice but I don't know what broke down in the refrigerator process. I don't know why they have been responding back to me. And Home Shield, they're very nice when you call them. I can't see what else they could do to make the process any easier because it’s fairly all cut and dry. [Laughs]

You call them. They take the complaint and then they set you up with contractors, whoever’s gonna come out to fix the problem. Right now, I can't say. I can't think of anything.

Nocona: If you were going to rate your overall experience with American Home Shield from one to five, a five means you'd still recommend the program for other people and a one means you're very dissatisfied with how they've handled your claims, where do you think you’d put them?

MONICA: I would give them a 5 because it's very convenient to me when something breaks down and you don't have to worry about well, who am I gonna call, looking in the phonebook or online as to who you can call to come out to fix the problem. The only thing is this particular problem with my refrigerator, the last time I call Home Shield, they said that if I didn't hear anything, to call them back, and they would move my request up the ladder, I guess, to the next level of service in the company, I guess. And I don't know if they will send somebody else out to fix the problem. I just hadn't had a chance to call them back myself because I've got other things going on [Laughs] and I'm trying to get things -- one fire put out before the other. But I would rate them as a 5 because it takes the worry out of trying to find somebody to come to fix your problem.

Nocona: Is it okay if we do share your comments as a review for American Home Shield to help people that are considering getting coverage?

MONICA: Sure. Sure. Yeah. Like I say, it takes the worry out of trying to find somebody to come to fix the problem. And you can dial a number and they can find somebody for you and send them out.

Nocona: Right. It takes out some of the legwork.

MONICA: Yes, yes. But since I'm talking to you -- I don't know if you know or not -- but if I can't get in touch with the people that are coming out now or did come out, will they send my request to another company to have them to come out? I don't know what the problem is. I don't know if the person is sick.

Nocona: I think there is a time limit on it. But I think you should definitely call customer service back at American Home Shield and let them know that you haven't heard or been responded to, and that you're kind of concerned that maybe they've dropped the ball and you might need somebody else to come take care of the problem.

MONICA: Yeah. Because with the pandemic going on, you don't know whether people are sick and can’t do what they promise to do. And then too,, if they're sick, you don't really want them coming in your house. [Laughs] You don't know. But yeah, but I would give them a 5 because it takes the worry out of finding somebody for your troubles.

The technician did it just like my husband did. All messy. He then took a piece of pipe, cut it, and put it so that the drip pan would be lifted up on either side. He bent the metal under the drip pan down. There are two pipes. One is a drain where the condensation leaks, and then there's another one where when water touches this particular sensor, it turns the compressor off so that the house doesn't flood. By lifting the pan in the center, the technician caused the water to go down the sensor pipe. That cut off the compressor, so we didn't have air conditioning for the last two days since they came on Monday.

The company told us that the reason that it wasn't working was because the coil needed to be cleaned. Prior to having American Home Shield, we had all of our equipment covered under Sears and every two years, we had the coil cleaned. It was done in 2019 and we had it written down. I told the guy the coil didn't look very dirty to me and he said, "Oh, you have to clean the coil. There's all kinds of algae and everything up there." I said, "Well, why don't you move the coil back and see if there is algae and just take the algae away and then the water will flow where it's supposed to." He was very nice while he was here, but then he went outside, came back in and said I had to pay extra for that. He said that was all he could do and he left.

I called that company seven times on Monday to find out why they just left and what was gonna be the next course of action, but they never answered. I called the representatives from AHS and the representative called them and they said, "We don't wanna do the retail work of cleaning it." They just didn't wanna do any work. They made it worse too. Now, my husband is a lot upset. The way that that technician Mickey Moused the sealant on there looks like some 10-year-old did it. On the other hand, the last company that came out today was fantastic. The first thing they did was take pictures of everything. The guy asked, "Who put all this stuff around here." I told him that was how the other guy did it. He said that guy was not supposed to do that and that it was messy.

When I told this last guy that our compressor wasn't kicking on and we were getting no cool air for two days, he went and looked. He pulled out these wires that connected to a sensor and it was full of water. He dried all that out, and he put it back together. As soon as he did that, the compressor started coming back on, so we had cool air. This last guy also took the coil, moved it back, and saw that it was perfectly clean. There were a couple pieces of fuzz, but apart from that, there was nothing at all there. This last guy went ahead and re-lined the drip pan with special stuff as well. He made sure everything was secure and that there was not any more dripping.

After spraying all this stuff on there, the guy from the second company told us to not turn the AC back on 'til 8:30 tonight, so that the stuff he put could cure and create a rubber filament over the top of the drip pan. He then went out to the compressor to make sure that it was working properly. Our unit is a little older, but because we service it all the time and we take care of it, it's blowing 60 degree air. He said there was nothing wrong with the unit. He rebuilt the drip pan that we have and I asked him if we could get a new drip pan instead of having a Mickey Mouse setup that the other guy did. He said, "We can’t get this part. It's too old a machine." My husband said, "If I get the part, will you guys come back and just put the part on so it can look like it did when it was new?" We left it at that.

The guy left and we're waiting now 'til 8 o'clock to make sure there's no more leakage. We won't know until we put the AC back on tonight. We still have the buckets underneath to mitigate. Still, this second company was good. They were so thorough, kind and nice. The first company was not horrible, but they didn't wanna follow through and that's not necessarily in the best interest of AHS. My mom has AHS also. I have it for her house, in our house here and then we have a house in Maine.

All our appliances are new and I said to my husband, I said, "Next year, we should seriously think about setting up everything at the house in Maine." We had Sears for all these years and then Sears was having financial problems. We used them a couple of times for certain things, but the whole idea is we just want a company to rectify the wrong. Not everybody's perfect and not every company that will be sent is perfect. That's why I don't mind saying that I would definitely recommend AHS. I'm not gonna bash the company because stuff happens.

People can make mistakes and as a consumer and a customer, I realize that American Home Shield has their checks and balances because there's so much fraud and so much stuff that happen. It took four days to get it right, but they followed up and they're trying to make it right. They sent another reputable company that was really nice.

This as both companies reviews indicate is a stall and delay tactic that they are known for which equates to poor customer service and fraud. I have saved the video from my home cameras that will prove that they never came during any part of the day or night for the service appointment scheduled on 10/8/21. I am filing this complaint with all consumer reporting agencies to include the BBB immediately. They are hereby being instructed to immediately remove all charges, because they were fraudulently applied for a service they have not provided to date. Buyers beware of these two companies American Home Shield and their contractor A&E Factory Service!

The issues were resolved. The plumber was good. I’m waiting on the paperwork now that the water bill company wanted to be verified that I had it fixed. But American Home Shield hasn't sent it. I've been with American Home Shield for years and this is the first time that I had this much problem. My money is short and the purpose of getting American Home Shield is that I wouldn't have to come out of pocket so much.

The other issue is that when I call the customer service, I'm calling somebody who's in a call center somewhere not in this country that is registering my complaint, and that's a problem. It doesn't get done. It's always, "I'll let my supervisor know." Come on. I get the joke, right? There's no supervisor. That's just what they've been told to say. If I have to escalate a claim, that's gonna tack on. I've had to do that in the past with one of my air conditioners. That usually tacks on several days on to the project, because they tell me somebody's gonna contact me within 24 hours. But nobody gets back in touch with me in 24 hours. I've always had to call. If we could get to a 48-hour turnaround time, that would be great. With my recent claim, the plumber that came looked at the issue and let me know that it wasn't a leak, that it was more or less a caulking issue or one of my kids let the water go up too high, which was exactly what I thought the problem was.

If you're looking to cut your costs in terms of parts and labor, go with this home warranty. But understand that by cutting your cost, it's not gonna be as convenient as picking up the phone and calling the guy that you've worked with for all these years that's gonna come and just fix it and then charge you $1,500 and then walk away. Granted, you're saving 600, $700 at the end of the day, but you're adding on several days for waiting for a part 'cause they gotta order it through American Home Shield. Then you gotta wait for the clearance. Once they get the part, they reschedule you and then they come out.