American Home Shield Reviews

In the very beginning, I was calling it in for my claims. But now, I normally file my claims through the American Home Shield app. It's very user-friendly. The only thing with my current experience, I submitted a request on Friday morning and I never got any phone call or any contact on Saturday. But I did receive a notification saying that the service company was gonna be out between a certain time. When they didn't respond, I made a phone call to American Home Shield and I explained to her my situation.

My son had back surgery and because of the care that he needs, he had to move back home with me. He can't do any lifting and he can't be out in the heat. I told the rep that my son had incisions and could not get wet because he was still healing from the back surgery. The rep said there's an option that you could put there as a 'medical need'. A lot of companies encourage you to use the app so you're not waiting on hold or tying up lines. I started using the app because it's very simple but it doesn't have the medical request feature. The rep was very helpful and she located a different company for me and she expedited the order. They couldn't make it out the same night so I had to get a hotel for my son. I'm just waiting now to see if American Home Shield is going to approve the work that needs to be done or what's gonna happen.

The lady told me that the technician had to put in a work order that it was a medical necessity. I'm in disagreement with that and I told the lady, "The gentleman that's coming out is an air conditioning technician, not a doctor. So, how can they make that assessment?" I didn't feel comfortable with her telling me that because what if my son came and he couldn't stand the heat and I had to send him to the neighbors to cool off or he's in bed because of some heavy pain medications and they knock him out? With the heat itself, it makes it even more uncomfortable. It wears him out.

I said, "What if he would not have been visible to this technician and the technician puts it down that it's not an emergency or it's not due for escalation for whatever reason?" I told the rep I could send the doctor's orders and discharge paper from the hospital where he had the back surgery. I didn't want to end up paying any additional fees because the technician didn't see it as a medical necessity. That aside, I really enjoy American Home Shield. They've always been great and I've been very satisfied with them for the most part.

AHS is number one on the market and they should make some allowances for seniors, but they don't. When you contact them, they send out a professional who has to take pictures of everything and collect information. And then, they have to send it to AHS to approve whether or not they're going to pay it. And that needs to change too. That's like saying that the professionals that they send out are not qualified to make an assessment. And I don't like that, because anything that they would be sending somebody out for, it should be addressed at the time they send somebody. You don't need to add on two or three days to wait to find out if American Home Shield is gonna cover it.

AHS collects their fee over the phone and that fee doesn't even go to the professional they send out. That goes to AHS for their time to reach out to a professional. Now, that's fine so long as they're gonna follow through on what I have paid, which is top dollar, and with what needs to be done upon my calling them. Because it's my understanding that on both of my properties, I have the very best coverage. Today, I received an email from American Home Shield letting me know that my policy for my property in Reno has changed. And it gives a list of changes. I have their platinum for 2023 and it says I should take a few minutes to review my coverage and note the changes. So, that would be interesting when I take a look and compare.

Dockside, the plumbing company, was excellent. AHS selected them, which was fine, and they took the pictures. It was a hot water heater and they got everything back to AHS. And because I didn't want to have to sit here with no hot water, I got on the phone and called American Home Shield half a dozen times in 30 minutes to approve this. The plumbing company came out and took care of the problem at hand. The two repair persons were very nice, mannerly and knowledgeable. All the way from the lady that I spoke with on the phone to the owner, to the representatives that were sent out, they were top-of-the-line, 5-star. The plumbing company was superb and acted in a timely fashion but if I had not pushed AHS, I would have not had hot water for the rest of that day or the weekend. To have to hurry up and wait, I don't like it as well as changing my policy with no notice and not knowing what it is.

One of the issues is my policy expires on Thursday. They would not send the dispatch out until Thursday. It's gonna be a week between the call and when someone could come. So, my fear is when the repair person comes, he’s gonna say, “This is not a ceiling fan. This is an exhaust fan.” And that might cause some issues.

But when Diamond Garage Doors came out, they did it when they said they would, and they fixed my garage doors. They tried to upsell me something. I expected that. But they fixed the problem. Each of my two doors has two springs. On one of the garage doors, both of the springs were stretched out. The other door was fine. So, I had a baseline. I know what they should look like when they're good. Diamond came. I took pictures and said, “I don't want anybody coming out unless it's covered.” And I was told it was, but when they came here, he said, “Right now, I just gotta make sure it's covered.” So, they don't completely trust their repair people. But I like that it didn't cost me anything other than the deductible. They call it a service charge, but to come out to fix the garage door springs, it cost me $125.

It took longer to get someone out than it should have. If I was just to call someone up for the garage door springs, I'm sure I could have had someone the same day, if I didn't have insurance. But they had someone dispatched. Took a week. I searched on the person. I knew the company AHS sent and they rated F in the Better Business Bureau. That was not my experience with them, but it leads up to, “What kind of company am I dealing with at this point?” But I was satisfied with the work they did.

I waited five days for South Cooling to come. I called them. Maybe they at least would see if it could be a little bit earlier than the Thursday that they gave me an appointment. They said, “We put it on the computer that you ask for that, but if we will have that cancellation, we will send you someone.” But they never called. They never did it earlier than the day and the hour that was scheduled.

The first time the guy came, he checked it out, especially I just have a unit inside my apartment and another on some piece that I never saw, but it was on the roof of the building. He checked inside. He also checked outside. Found out that I needed two parts to be changed. One, some part inside the apartment in the air conditioning unit, another part on top on the roof. He wrote it down. I signed it. And they submitted that to Home Shield. It was approved. And they made an appointment. They said they needed to get the parts and somebody to come.

I waited five days. Another tech checked inside the apartment. The part is needed. And he went on the roof with the security guard. He did this part on the top, checked it out in both places. It started working. I signed another paper that he changed two parts in my apartment. I called South Cooling and I said to somebody that I was very happy with both technicians' work and behavior. It was very professional. And they were polite.

It's just that the panel they put on the microwave is acting up a little bit. It could just be me doing it too fast so I'm slowing it down and see if we're having any issues. But I don't think we are. It was a little tough for the laundry on the claim with the washer and dryer. It took 15 days total from beginning to end and that seemed a little long.

The experience with American Home Shield has been very good. The people say they're gonna call you and they do when they say. They check back with you. There's always somebody in the office, like at Rick’s Plumbing. It's not like he's the only one there and out and it's just an answering machine. And the insurance policy people followed up. I said I checked for the part and they said they did the same thing, so they knew about it. I told the lady it was a rush and she said she would put it in for the rush. So, the techs got the part overnight and were here the next day. It was efficient and painless. They knew what they were doing. American Home Shield’s system is based on them making money and if it's a little slower, then they make more money. If they try to rush things, there's a cost usually involved for shipping faster. But the outcome was fine so it was okay. We had communication with everybody.

This time, I had a claim on the air conditioner and the tech said the drain on it was not working properly and it caused a big buildup of fluid. In Arizona, in the bottom of the air conditioners and anything that's left outside that has water in it, it evaporates and leaves this gooky grime. And that had developed in there and that wasn't something that was covered by AHS. So, I took an air hose and put it in the drain and sprayed all the gook out of it. I had to pay an extra $100 for the tech to do that and that wasn't covered by AHS either. I've been a customer of AHS for a long time and every time I've called, the contractors have come and fixed the problem, except for those two times. I like American Home Shield and if I have a problem with anything in the house, they'll come and fix it for me. I love it. I was surprised when they raised the rates but I understand inflation has got it.

I have to wait another 5-7 business days for them to buy the part (surface of the cooktop) which they are not sure if it is on stock. What can I do? I have young children and I have to cook for them every day. I haven’t had a cooktop to cook for more than 3 days already and AHS asked me to wait again. I need an answer from AHS please. Thanks!

Recently, my air conditioning unit wasn't cooling. We had someone come and put Freon in it, and less than a week later, it was blowing hot air again. AHS sent a technician out from Climate King and he told us the unit needed to be replaced. He said there was a leak in the coil and you can't replace the coil so you have to replace the whole unit. He turned in his report and then we received an email from American Home Shield stating that the parts were being ordered by Climate King and the amount that we would be responsible for paying. We were satisfied with the service by the contractor.

We like how AHS gives us peace of mind. We like knowing that if something breaks down, we have some protection. We may have to pay some, but we don't have to pay all of it. So, we absolutely did not complain about the portion we had to pay because we knew if we didn't have American Home Shield, it would have been a lot more than that.

I was charged again for the dishwasher because it was outside the 30-day window. The dishwasher that the company installed had missing parts. We just thought it didn't work right. So when the contractor came out to make the repair recently, they said, "Oh, where's the upper arm?" I told them there had never been one. This dishwasher sucks.

The air conditioning people are crooks. I have to have another company always come in to double check what they're doing because they've done some things that we even caught on video, but lost the video because of Ida. But the appliance people have been excellent. The plumbing companies have been hit or miss. American Home Shield doesn't cover plumbing things at times, and then other times they do cover stuff.

I have a number of properties and I have some other accounts that have American Home Shield. But in the last two years, it kind of exploded on the cost, which I'm just noticing from the bills that I'm getting. It's gone well over 2,000 a year and the deductible is going up. But overall, I would recommend them if I need to have a home warranty company right now. It's gotten much better when it comes to calling in or making service requests.

I felt bad for one guy. They should have two guys on the truck and not do that to him. He was out by himself. He had 30 different installations to do that day. The stove took five minutes. He cleaned up behind it, which was good. The dishwasher took a little longer because it hadn't been moved in a long time, and that was nasty. So, I got that all cleaned up. Then he put the new one in and got it all hooked up. There are no leaks, and we use it every day.

As far as American Home Shield's customer service, they answer quickly. You don't have to wait, and they seem to be very empathetic. I had no problem communicating with them. So, I was very satisfied speaking with them. The app is really easy to navigate. It's very self-explanatory. I did one of the claims through the app and had no issues. I'd tell my friends to get AHS. I don't know how long I'll keep the plan but right now, it's been a godsend. What makes it good is it covers so many different things. You're not searching for people. It's a one-stop shop. You call them and within a day, you get a call back from whoever it is.

As far as their replacements, you have an option of a voucher for what they thought it was worth or you just pick from them. They had everything from zero cost to $700 out-of-pocket. It just depends on what you want to do. I went with the zero cost, and the only difference that I can see within the machinery is that newer stuff is made from more plastic parts than the old stuff, but everything works fine.

I had to pay the $85 fee to have someone come out on each visit, and with the split unit, I also had to pay 300 bucks for a different kind of line that they had to put in. On the roof, I had to pay $700 over the amount as well, but on the microwave, I did not pay anything on top of the $85 fee. All in all, it turned out great. Otherwise, we would have had to come out with thousands more. I got $8,000 worth of repairs for $1,800.

A couple of months went by and then, we found another spot. The same thing was done and everything was fixed. Then we found another spot, which was when the tech said our coil needed to be changed out. We explained to them we were leaving to go out of the country and we were told we could probably wait till we come back. So, we put it on the shelf. When we left the next day, the outside unit went out so we had to deal with that when we were overseas. We were in Italy so, the only times that we could coordinate with American Home Shield were between 10:00 at night and 1:00 in the morning due to the time difference. So, we spent our evenings calling between the contractors and the insurance, trying to make sure we were on top of it and things were still moving forward.

We had to get someone to come out and look at the outside unit. Sub-Zero's techs came out and my father said they were just going through the motions, especially the one who came out on the Friday before Labor Day and the Labor Day weekend. He was here no more than five minutes. And then, we didn't have the best service from the phone coordinator. I asked her what time the technician would be there for the Friday job and she said anywhere between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. I said that’s a 12-hour window. I remember exactly what she told me because I was in shock when she said, “Well, honey, I'm just fitting you in.” I told her she could speak to my husband and that I was done with her.

The tech replaced a part in the unit and went to start it up. The guy opened the box outside and said the breaker got blown out. The wires were burned so he couldn’t do anything. We needed an electrician to come out. So, they contacted the electrical company. The electrician came out, looked at it and said the breaker was fine. He was just gonna replace it just because he was there. He was great and very knowledgeable. We then had to wait for the AC people to come back out again to finish the job that they started. And it turned out that the AC unit needed more repairs than initially assessed. Everything was done via phone. But my father was here.

My father and my mother-in-law were supposed to be staying in our home with our children for 10 days while we were out of the country. But the AC went out so they couldn't stay here. We're in Arizona and it's 110 degrees outside. My parents live in town, a little further away, so they just relocated to their house. If they weren't in town, we would have had to put them in a hotel. But no solution was offered.

I wouldn't recommend American Home Shield. I would rather set my money aside for the what-ifs that happen around the house. Instead of paying your premium every month, you can use that money to put into an account. That way, you don't have to pay the deductibles or the service fees every single time. We've had the techs out for the AC unit at least eight times and it's $100 every single time at minimum. That's just the service charge. If there are parts to be replaced, we have to pay for those as well on top of it.

I was disappointed with the service with AHS. There was no sense of urgency on behalf of some of the technicians to submit their reports to the insurance so we could take the next step forward. It was always waiting on reports being submitted, reviewed, or any sort of direction on where we should go. And by the time all was said and done, we were having to pay almost $8,000 to get our unit fixed. But the issue is that we were informed that once the unit gets fixed by these contractors, there's only a 30-day warranty on their work. So, if it goes out again, we're out of pocket again. So, we decided to take the route of just purchasing a whole new AC unit because that's about $4,000 more and we get the peace of mind of it being warrantied for 10 years.

AHS is a complete joke! They are breaking all the terms to their contract and they refuse to help. I have escalated the issue three times with no outcome. They just keep telling me to call back in three days an escalate the issue. It's like you're in the twilight zone dealing with this company. They will just keep sending you to different department and never send you to the right place to talk to someone that can actually help. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this company! I'm surprised they don't have a million lawsuits against them.

Recently, there was something wrong with my garage door and it voided the warranty. The door was dented and AHS said that the door is not covered by them and then, I'd have to replace the panel on the door before they could cover my garage door opener being fixed. So, I had to pay 800 something dollars out of my own pocket to have a company come out and fix it. But AHS has been good for everything else. They replaced all our appliances like they were supposed to. You get what you pay for but I don't like that AHS is going up in price every day here. When I started off, it was $50 a month and now, it's $99 for your prepaid to get someone to come out.

Recently, my air conditioner wasn't getting cold air and the guys came in and changed a motor. Then, the same day at night, it started not working and the next day it was completely gone. So, I called again and they came in and fixed it and it's working great now. I'm very pleased. The same guy came both times. He explained to me and he was very professional. The only downside with American Home Shield is the wait time. For this claim, it took a week and a half. When we first started the first claim, they didn't have any appointments until five days later.

By experience, I just say, "Give me whatever you have first available." Because they were like, "Oh, we can try to go with another contractor." I've done that before and I said, "Nope, give me the first available that you have." He came in, found out that it was one of the motors. So, he needed to go and get the motor. That took another three days, and then he came in and installed, and then, the next day, it went out again and that was a three day weekend. So, they didn't come until the Tuesday to come and fix it. I'm very lucky that I had a second unit.

I always tell my friends about AHS. They're like, "Oh, I spent this much on fixing this or that." They just need to get American Home Shield, and they go. It's a flat rate. If they cannot fix it, they'll just replace it. I like the peace of mind. I know that if anything goes bad, they will come. I'll pay the $100, and if they cannot fix it, they'll replace it.