American Home Shield

The person who came out said, “I can't do that.” And I said, "Well, the plug's gonna fit through the hole because it's already plugged in. It's an electric range already and there's a plug within there.” And he said, "Well, I can't do that. I can't install it." I said, "What do you mean you can't install it?" And he kept insisting he can't because the plug was in the cabinet. So, we had to open the cabinet door to get to the plug. When I asked what we could do, he said, "Well, you can make arrangements to have it redelivered another day and installed."

I asked why we couldn't do it then and he said he couldn't go in the cabinet. I said, "Well, I'll go in the cabinet and pull out the plug of the one that's in there and then I'll fit it through the other plug.” "No, I can't do that," he said. I said, "Can you at least bring the range in?" That was my only other option other than to have it redelivered which would not eliminate the problem. And he said, "And I got 17 deliveries to make, and I can tell you right now, if you ever redeliver, it's gonna be well into February because we're so busy." I said, "Well, then, bring the new range in and my husband can install it." All we had to do is plug it in. Also, our house is 1,500 square feet and our kitchen is tiny. I said, "We don't have any room to store the old one. What am I supposed to do with the old one? Can you take it?" And he said, "No, I can't take it because it's plugged in."

I said, "Well, I'll get down there and unplug it." And he said, "No, I can't let you do that." And I said, "This just does not make any sense what you're telling me." He said, "Well, you can call and have it picked up.” And I'm thinking to myself, "Yeah, right. Everything they told me would happen hasn't happened yet." So, I didn't believe a word he was saying to me at that point. So, he wouldn't take the old one.

Before he left, I asked for the cord and he opened up the bag and showed me. I said, "Can you at least attach the cord to the back of the oven or the range? So when my husband comes home, after working all day, he doesn't have to attach the cord to the range. He can just put it in the place and plug it in. He says, "No. Your husband can do that." I said, "Why can't you hook the cord up to the back of the range, with the prongs and stuff, to make sure it's hooked up?” He says, "Well, it's just three prongs.” He showed me the three prongs, and he pointed to the three lug nuts on the back of the stove. And he said, "And it takes a regular screwdriver so you won't have any problem." It did not take a regular screw driver, so he didn't know anything about hooking it up and that's why he didn't even try to hook that for us.

The thing is it was supposed to be installed. They were supposed to. And he pulled the old range out into the middle of the kitchen. So, obviously, he was going. That was probably the plan. I'm sure he wasn't gonna do it. I'm sure the guy with him was gonna do it. Anyway, he told me my husband can do it because he didn't wanna do anything for us. It really upset me and we had to end up getting rid of the stove ourselves. And that was not an easy feat for me and my husband who are not 30 and 40 years old who are these guys that are bringing this stuff in. Getting that loaded into the back of my husband's truck and getting rid of it was not an easy thing to do. It really ticks me off that somebody can't do their job and keep a job. And it frustrated me to no end.

We got the new the one all set up. And the oven works great. It bakes evenly. It bakes so much better, having a door that stays close. We're very happy with it. American Home Shield sent me an email that gave me several options, and then I just looked at each one and picked the one that I like. I grew up where GE is located and I'm very familiar with GE products. So, I was kinda happy it ended up being GE.

I'm not dissatisfied with American Home Shield's service. We also had a dishwasher that we had to have replaced. And the people that deliver that looked at our pipes under the sink and said they didn't deal with copper piping so they left the dishwasher here and we had to call and get someone else to come out and put in. So, it was an inconvenience because both times, I had to take time off of work, two different times for them to deliver it, then for the guy to come back, as far as the dishwasher, and then the range. I had to take off from work to come only for him to tell me they couldn't deliver it. That was an inconvenience. Other than that, the people at American Home Shield were great. And the initial technician that came out and looked at our appliances was good.

The initial guy that came out was great, and he was very helpful. The leak is outside of the building, and it’s from the pressure release valve. And so, he changed the valve. That didn’t work. So, then he changed the actual pressure regulator. He said maybe that’s gone faulty, and that actually made things worse. And that’s when the guy that did all of that said, “You know, I really don’t know what else I can do.” He was kinda stumped. He didn’t know what to do. So, they sent in a different person, and he came in yesterday morning. He checked it, put in his pressure thing, and he said that the new regulator is not working properly. And he said, “I can’t change it because whoever changed it supposedly bought a new one, and they need to go wherever they bought it and get a refund and get a new one,” which made sense to me. The problem is every time this happens, I have to stay home between 11:00 and 5:00.

Usually, I leave but I'm staying home today because the first plumber said he’ll come today. But he hasn’t given me a time yet either. So, I’m stuck at home. I told him, “You know what, call me by noon. I would be home until noon anyway." But I also said, “If you can’t make it by noon, call me and let me know exactly what time you can make it, and I’ll make sure I get back home.” I’m just running errands. At this point, I’m not gonna go to work. It’s just little things. But I don’t know if that’s any of the insurance’s fault.

The garage door claim has been going on for a long time too. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the garage door thing. I have to call AHS and find out because I didn’t fully trust the technician that came out. He said six different things like, “Oh, I have to replace this, and it’ll work.” This has been going on for almost a month and a half. And he replaced something, and it didn’t work. Then he came back and replaced some other part, and it worked for a few days, and then it stopped. Then he said he had to order a part. He was here yesterday, and I heard him kinda arguing with AHS because he was saying that he’s replaced every single piece of this equipment and nothing is working and that we should get a new one, and that it’s not worth trying to fix anymore at this point. I heard him saying that over the phone, and then he hung up.

I talked to him, and then he said, “Well, it’s going to cost you though. Even though it has a lifetime warranty, I talked to the home insurance, and they’re gonna want you to get the newer model. And the newer model is more expensive, so you’re gonna have to pay the difference.” So, I started asking him just out of curiosity how much the whole unit will be. He said it’s really expensive and that I'm gonna have to talk to AHS. And then he said, “But I’ll come back. Whatever they give you, with an additional $200, I’ll put a new one.” I thought, “What do you mean whatever they give me?” And he said, “It might a couple of days for you to call them and talk to them.” So, it kinda went back-and-forth like that.

AHS hasn’t contacted me yet. They were on the phone with him, but they didn’t contact me. The service person kept telling them, “I’m not gonna replace any more components of this because I’ve replaced all the major components, and if it’s not working, that means it’s just dead.” So, I plan on giving AHS a call today and seeing what their decision is and how they’re gonna handle it.

The contractors have been very professional and very nice. And they all seem to be doing their best. It maybe that these two jobs that I’m working on are things they never really handled or it’s just a fluke. I had a different home warranty last year, and AHS has been much more responsive and quick. I call, and I can get through to a live person. For both of these requests, immediately, once I put them in the computer, someone called me within a few hours. That never happened with the other home insurance. It would go days before anybody would call me. AHS has been very good about sending messages through the phone in terms of, “Technician is on their way. They’ll be here in 15 minutes.” Things like that have been very helpful. And I got none of that paying more for the other home warranty.

I’ve been very happy because, at least, I feel like when I try to get a hold of someone, or when I have an issue, they’d respond. Even with these things, they immediately sent somebody else to come check it. The initial plumber came in the next day. He called me that day, and he came in the following day. That was very quick. And with the garage, they gave me some options, but I was working so it didn’t work for me. And for me, the garage not opening was not a big emergency, so I told them I would rather do it on a Friday, and they accommodated me for that. The plumber called right away and came right away.

I had one other claim with AHS with my faucet. It was very minor. It was leaking in the kitchen underneath. And the same plumber came for that and fixed it in 15 minutes, and that was great. In some ways, I’ve learned that the home warranty is not for big emergencies. I have my own plumber, and if water was gushing out of somewhere, I would probably just call my own plumber and have him check it. But I’d like to have AHS as a backup for things that come up that aren’t emergencies. And I’m happy they’re responding.

Then you will have to wait on the line sometimes, due to the volume of calls received during the time of your call. Once you get past this, you'll finally get to a customer service agent that will listen to you. However, they all tend to read a scripted response, instead of listening with the intent to learn, then respond appropriately. Why so apologetic is the question that always looms in my mind over time I call. "I'm sorry to hear about that so & so issue that your experiencing, blah, blah, blah."

Onward to the solution portion of the call for help: They will place you on a brief hold, and then return with the assigning of a technician, or company. They'll ask if you have any additional questions or issues that need to be addressed, and finally confirm the payment of the $75 co-pay to end the call. You'll have to be somewhat understanding in regards to the date/time of the assigned technician's arrival to your residence from anywhere between 24 hours to a couple of days depending on the number of previous customer's they have ahead of you in line.

The assigned company's initial call, and assignment of the technician to come to your residence: You will usually get a call from the customer service agent associated with the company fixing the problem shortly after they have been assigned from American Home Shield to finalize when they will be able to come and complete the work intended. You'll also receive an e-mail, text to your mobile device or combination of both. Don't delete this important information. This is your confirmation of who is scheduled to come to your residence. In the event that they fail to reach out to you, you'll have this information so that you can get a hold of them. Just remember that in this digital age of things, some things indeed do fall apart including calls, and emails. If you don't hear from them, don't hesitate to reach out, as a rule of thumb, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

When the company gives you a call for scheduling note that they are mostly friendly, professional, and attentive; they're also willing to work around your schedule if you need them to. When I state "mostly friendly", is the fact that they are human, and as with all of us, we all have bad days sometimes. This shouldn't reflect on how American Home Shield operates, nor that of each company which is an independently contracted company working with American Home Shield to help you resolve your day to day issues involving your home.

The arrival of the technician to your residence: Prior to the technician arriving, in most cases they'll give you a courtesy call to confirm that you are home, and let you know that they are on the way. I have in some cases received a courtesy text message introducing the technician, with a photo, contact information, licensing information, as well as a chance to rate them with their company once the job was done. That is an awesome feature, and in my opinion should be included with every technician assigned to come to your residence; as these days it is sometimes hard to trust the folk that enter your home.

When they arrive, they will first have to assess the problem to see what is the exact problem, then come up with an appropriate solution for repairs that have to be made. Technician may be able to fix the problem immediately, in a lot of cases this is true, and your heart-ache is relieved. Though sometimes they'll have to leave your home to go get parts, and schedule a return time/date (if needed) to complete the work.

* With regards to scammers, and hood-winkers: It is best practice to have a printed copy of your contract so that you can reference it if the need arises. Some contractors will try to tell you that based on their assessment, you'll have to pay an out of pocket expense that isn't covered by your American Home Shield warranty; ranging from a couple of dollar's to upwards of thousands in some cases.

The remedy is to: First know what your coverage contract states you are covered for *(address discrepancies in coverage before you have a problem), do not fearing telling the contractor that you want to request a second opinion through American Home Shield, not be in so much of a haste to fix the issue that you fail to research the solution *(knowledge opens the eyes of the blind), request to have discounts applied to the final bill as an American Home Shield customer, any manufacturer's rebates, and any online discounts that you can find to help reduce the overall cost; in the event that you have no choice but to pay an out-of-pocket expense. You can even see if it's possible to buy the part directly at a cost savings store to help you save even more, then ask the technician to install it if they're willing to go that route.

Prior to them leaving: After the work has been completed: ask them to show you what was repaired, if parts were replaced, you would like to see/have the new packaging to verify that it was newly purchased, check the operation of the repaired item if possible to ensure correct operation with no issues such as leaks if water is involved.

Finally finished: Once everything is complete, good or bad tell them about it. Write a review, call the company that fixed the issue, and write a review on American Home Shield, this venue, and/or The Better Business Bureau. Consumers need your voice to help them make educated decisions, help navigate through sophomoric insight, lateral issues that others have experienced, and the understanding that reporting bad workmanship might help the company through educating their tech's, relieving them of their duties, or in the worst case scenario lose their contract with American Home Shield. I hope that this review helps within the how-to department of ratings. Wishing you many blessings going forward in all of your future endeavors, and I thank you sincerely for reading this review.

When I didn't hear an hour later, I called again and left a message. No one ever showed up. My husband took off to be there for them. When I called the company the following week, they said that the gentleman who was supposed to come into my house said no one ever called them back. It was on Friday the 4th of July weekend. I think he probably just wanted to get his weekend started. I had to call back again and get someone to come out. My husband took off and met them. They said it was repaired.

When I tried a day or two after that to use the dryer, it was drying but it was at such a low heat. It was like it was set on gentle. I had a very small load of just two sheets and two bath towels. I had to start it five times and let it run for an hour five times to dry those few things. We had to call again and someone came out last Saturday. It was supposed to be between 12:00 and 5:00 but they called at 11 o'clock and said they were on their way. I was not home yet. I had to call my husband and have him meet them.

The gentleman was there and my husband got on the phone with me and said that the serviceman said that it was not a problem with the dryer. Apparently, the hose from the dryer to the exhaust was clogged and that was a homeowner issue and it was our problem to take care of it. I asked to speak to the gentleman who was there and he told me the same thing. He told me it ended up to the attic and we needed to go up to the roof and check it to make sure it was clean. He had disconnected it from the dryer because it was a fire hazard and it wasn't safe for us to use.

I told him that he was the third person who looked at the dryer and no one mentioned that there was an issue with it before. He had no comment to that. He said he replaced a thermostat and a heating coil while he was there. I asked him about that because I've had this dryer repaired before through American Home Shield. If they had ever found anything in the exhaust hose, they would have cleared it out and told us. But the guy was only allowed to work on the dryer. He wasn't allowed to work on the house.

He left the hose there disconnected for my husband and me to take care of so we did that. This weekend, my husband sat me up on a chair near there so I could see what he was doing and he got back there. There wasn't even a handful of lint. There were some little pieces. We snaked it all the way to the wall. First of all, it doesn't go to my roof and not even to the second storey. It vents right behind the dryer. My husband was able to go to the outside and take the long thing that we haven't cleared from the outside all the way in.

The dryer's working now but I don't know what their deal was. The first guy came out here quickly and he called ahead. I thought everything was great. But the contractor's service was terrible. It took several times to fix the dryer and the repairman lied about my calling him back and not being there that afternoon. After taking a couple of months off for surgery, I couldn't just keep taking time off to go and deal with it. I will never have them set foot in my home again. It's just ridiculous. We have had Hotshot Appliances out to our house at least twice for the same dryer, washer, dishwasher, and range. American Home Shield almost always sends Hotshot and I never had a problem.

When one of my air conditioners went out, American Home Shield repaired it and there was a specific company that they had come out to do it. Since that time, if I ever called to have somebody come out, I request that company. I have before requested Hotshot. I'm sorry I didn't do it this time. American Home Shield was fine and everything happened very promptly. They got the work orders over to Astro very quickly but they need to get rid of Astro Appliances.

I've had American Home Shield for a number of years. There was a time when we started to have a problem with the toilet in our powder room, with clean water flowing from the toilet up over the seat. It had something to do with the connection between my washer, dishwasher, kitchen sink, and the toilet that are all within about 25 feet of each other in the house. Technicians came out several times but couldn't find a problem. We even paid extra to have the camera snaked down the line. It happened again one time after we had our floors replaced with laminate. My laminate's a little warped because of that.

After that, American Home Shield wouldn't renew us for a while. But it wasn't my fault. Technicians had come out four or five times for the same toilet in a six month period. But after they kept sending me emails asking me to sign up with them, I waited about six months and I signed up. I fully expected them to call me back and say "No, we can't do it." But they went ahead and set it up.

I also had my thermostat that went out at the same time. So, the next day, I used some air conditioning people. They used to be with American Home Shield. That’s how I found them. But they're no longer with them. But they did my checkups and things, and he found that my thermostat was not working. I called American Home Shield and told them that all of my equipment was working and that they thought that it was in the thermostat. They called Baxter Air Conditioning and Heating here in Mansfield. Their response was quick, which was good. I had a good experience with them. They replaced the thermostat and it's working within a short period of time. So, those experiences recently have been very good. However, I had a real serious, uncomfortable, undesirable, terrible experience with AHS and with the plumbers they sent out. I was really, really upset and concerned about what happened.

Back in January, we had a plumbing problem. My sinks stopped up and both our sinks in our master bathroom were stopped up. They were clogged and it was awful. I called AHS the next day and I told them that we had a problem. They said, “Okay. Your plumber will be SDL, and they're out of Seagoville.” They had a plumber come out the very next day and he came out with a little hand Roto-Rooter. We had cleaned out underneath both the cabinets so that he could get through, but he never even looked underneath the cabinets at the sinks. He tried his little hand rooter and said, “I'm gonna have to go down through the vents.” Then he came back and said, “Well, I can't get through the vents. You're gonna have to have somebody come in here and go down, and it's gonna cost $589.”

I called AHS and talked to a guy and he said, “Yeah. These are good people. They really do a good job. I'll have somebody go to him. This is what has to be done and what needs to be done. You're gonna have to pay that. American Home Shield will not cover that. That’s your expense.” So the guy came out, and he had brought a supervisor from SDL. And they couldn’t get down through the vents, so they said, “Well, we're gonna have to go underneath the slab. We're gonna have to do a lot of work. And it's gonna cost you $6,000.” He was gonna send him out the next day or so to do some stuff. But AHS said they needed to get a second opinion, which was smart. I'd give them credit for that.

And so, AHS sent this guy from F6, the ones that I used for recently from Alvarado. And the guy walked in there and I told him what was going on. He said, “Let me show you how to unstop a sink.” He got his Roto-Rooter out, his snake, and then within an hour or less, he had everything completely cleaned out and working wonderfully. The other contractor was gonna try to charge $6,000 for all this other stuff. And thank goodness, the person in authorization department said they needed to get a second opinion. If you go online and look at the SDL plumbing company out of Seagoville and read their reviews, you'll notice that most of them are all negative. It is a scam, con company.

I said to AHS authorization department that I needed to be reimbursed. They said, “Well, that’s between you and the plumbing company.” And I was out of $589 for nothing. They were trying to scam me for $6,000. Now, I'm not making any accusations when I make this remark. It sounds to me like somebody, somewhere is getting a kickback. The guy in the AHS authorization department was the one that recommended and confirmed with the plumber that going down through the vents was needed to be done. So, someone should be held responsible.

I wasn’t happy about not being reimbursed. I've been an AHS customer for 16 years but I'm now considering looking at other companies to do the kind of warranties like this. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with F6, the plumbers that I got this last time. I'm pleased with the air conditioning guy too. I still stay with AHS because it's a heck of a mess to try to change over and get things. But I told the people in the authorization department, “Don’t ever recommend SDL to me again. Those people are crooks.” And some of the reviews that you read online will say the same thing, almost identical to what I had said. The authorization department is responsible for that. They need look at reviews and say, “This is a good vendor or this is a poor vendor.”

I have called in before and I know the service people that do a good job and those who don’t. And they said, “Well, this is the one that pops up, and we can't send them out.” And I said, “Look. I'm your customer. I know who is good and who is not.” American Home Shield had sent me some smart people in the past. And I said, “Look. They know me. They know my equipment, etc,” and they finally would agree and would send the people I requested but I've had them to argue with me. Now, many of them have been very courteous, very kind and considerate, but some of them have been downright almost ugly.

However, I'm still upset over the fact that I was encouraged to have someone go down through the vents, which cost me nearly $600 for nothing. Somebody needs to get with SDL and straighten them out, or AHS needs to drop them as a vendor. They should be made by AHS to make that reimbursement. But they're not gonna do it because of the fact that that guy in the AHS authorization department said, “We're not gonna be responsible for this. It's between you and the plumber.” And that’s their cover. And so, I don’t think I'll ever recover that $589, which I'm not happy about. I'm a retired senior citizen on a fixed income so that's fair. I'm not really angry at American Home Shield. I'm disappointed though that they didn’t try to do more, didn’t try to go to the company. And if they continue to recommend people to use that company, in my opinion, AHS does not go as high as it used to.

Recently, I called in and asked for Cowtown Pools and they said, “We can't send anybody." I talked to Cowtown Pools and I was told, “Well, just call back and tell them that we can take them.” I called back, and AHS said, “No, We're not gonna do that.” That happened with Cowtown. So, I just waited until Monday and called back. And I got through quick, and they were fine. Also, this last situation with replacing the flush valves in my bathrooms and then replacing thermostat went through great, and so I do give an A plus on those experiences.

The last claim before that was for a leak with our AC, and the guy who came blew out the line. We weren’t really happy with that company. He said that basically, the drain pan needed to be replaced. They gave us an astronomical amount and we told them there was no way we were gonna pay for that, to replace this whole drain line. The problem, once they did it, we had somebody else come out. They came and looked at it and that person cleaned the line and told us, ‘You need to do general maintenance. You need to run bleach down it periodically. At least every month or two months. It gets the mold to go away from the main line so it doesn’t block up and it's able to drain out the side of the house." Other than that AHS has been okay. I've had the AHS ever since I bought my house five years ago, and every time we’ve had a problem they have been great. Everybody is always really nice. Whoever contractor they use actually do the calls.

Comfort First called us and told us when the part was in and asked when we wanted to schedule the work. From what our understanding was is that they’re the ones who are gonna tell American Home Shield what they found to submit the claim and then if it got approved, they would reschedule the work with us. When he scheduled to reschedule the work, I figured that they had already talked to American Home Shield. I set it up for the next day because we had a very expensive power bill. The contractor came out that next day and they got up in the attic. They replaced the electronic damper and they were there for a little while. Then they left and that was it. I asked if they needed me to sign anything or do anything like that and they said there was none.

The two guys that came out to the house were incredible and awesome. They noticed some other things too. We have a Nest thermostat and we reset the system because we have to change the Wi-Fi over for the new Wi-Fi that we got. The two thermostats were set for a non-heat pump system and they showed me how to change it too and make sure that it’s a heat pump system. They gave us so much information just on how the thermostats work and how the zones work. They were very, very informative and professional. As far as heating and cooling companies go, at least those two guys that came out to work on our house, they were some of the best guys that I’ve had to deal with.

Last year, it took me 10 weeks to get my washer fixed. I’m getting to be an elderly guy, and I can’t fight the fight day in and day out anymore. I need somebody to come and do what they’re supposed to do one time and get it completely fixed. I don’t need a slice of bread. I need a loaf of bread, and American Home Shield is pretty good at giving me a slice of bread. Also, I don’t have a lot of money.