American Home Shield Reviews

Last year I called on a Friday as my AC was freezing up and they could not get out to look at it till Tues. Where I live it gets over 100 so I cancelled the call and somebody else came out by the next morning and fixed it and never mentioned that I have a rusted out heat pump. Now it's that time again, I called them and again their rep. spent 15 min. said we were leaking freon and the system needs replaced. He will turn it in and they should cover it, but never mentioned water damage. I got a call from AHS a couple hours later stating they were denying the claim due to contractor said heat pump rusted out due to water damage from sprinkler. I told the company that I do not have a sprinkler in that area and why would he say that as he didn't even take the hood off the system to look at it and anyway the system is outside in the weather and you don't think rain gets in there. She said rain is not covered.

I got a second opinion and they came, said, "No replacement needed. It's just the tank which is leaking and it looks like it's wear and tear due to the weather elements and again AHS should take care of this." They denied the first claim as the other contractor just wanted to replace it. 2 days later I just got a call that they are denying due to water damage. I have been paying for 10 years so that if my air ever went out I would have coverage. What a waste of money. I will be contacting all my referrals to let them know how this company works. I also had to pay $100.00 per contractor and still nothing was done.

After multiple phone calls of being on hold, they finally told us that it is not covered because it is our fault that the system is broken. My family and I have been so hot for the last few months only to be told that we would have to pay for it ourselves due to neglect. We are being retaliated against because we continued to call in. I have been with this company for over 10 years and this is really sad that this is what we are having to deal with.

Original Review: June 14, 2017

I'm very disappointed with American Home Shield. Our air conditioner went out. We called AHS and they told us the name of the company they would send. After looking up the company and seeing that they only have 4 reviews online and 3 of them are absolutely horrible, I decided to not use them. I called AHS back and canceled the work order. My husband called back to request a different company. The rude lady he spoke with doesn't seem to care about our situation. She said that company was the only one they used. He asked to speak with a manager. He gets ahold of a so-called manager and she says there are two other companies they could use. Both have great ratings so we picked one. The manager said she would personally send us an email with an update on the work order.

Next day, we called the chosen company and they haven't received the work order. We also never got an email. So my husband has called twice since then. It's been a couple of days now. No one has returned his call. What a joke! I'd like to make a prediction. What will happen next is that someone will finally come out to fix or replace our AC unit but it somehow won't be covered thanks to loopholes, special wording or lies.

Original Review: June 14, 2017

6 months after moving into our home, our AC went out. The tech from the local company that our compressor needed to be replaced, and would be completely covered under our warranty. Two days passed with no response from either company so we called to ask what was going on. They told us that we would need to agree to pay $700 for freon or they would not pay for any portion of the repair. I called two more companies to inquire about the price of freon and they said we were being severely overcharged.

American Home Shield refused to use any other company for the repair and refused to issue a check. They said if we do not pay they will not cover any portion of the repair. We have been living in a house that is between 90-100 degrees inside for 3 days since the claim was filed. We have now had to purchase two AC units because my wife has asthma, and are still being told to pay $700 for the repair. Isn't the purpose of a warranty to avoid paying for unexpected repairs?

The third (Jay's Appliance), the fourth (The Fridge Guy), the fifth (A&E Services) guy came out with a range of replacement parts from refrigerate boosts to replacement of small parts. Then, where I am now, the sixth (Suffolk Appliance and Parts) comes out and says there is a leak in the compressor and his solution is to fill it with more refrigerant. So, paid service fees for the first 4 visits and made an agreement with AHS that I would pay for the service fees after the refrigerator was fixed. The fifth visit I did not pay the fee because I felt the Thermostat replacement (took 4 days) would not be the end to this. And I was right. It isn't working.

I called up AHS tonight and was on hold for 25 min. The representative (Kieshania EMPL#**) said she could not send a technician out until I pay for the fifth service fee and the sixth service fee. The representative refused to forward the call to a supervisor. I was in disbelief that there wasn't anyone else I could talk to. She did offer to take my number a have the supervisor call me back. That was disturbing to hear because I did that on a previous service where it took 2 weeks for the supervisor to get back with me. Like I said, it's more miss than hit when dealing with AHS. Oh, they also don't keep accurate records online. It only shows 2 tech visits for the refrigerator. I was on the phone with the representative this evening and confirmed the other 4 tech visits.

I always enjoy talking to the technicians too but last time I got a little frustrated because it was hot and humid. But the guy was very understanding because he knows what the humidity and temperature here in South Texas is since he is from Bomont which is an hour and a half away. He rushed in and made sure everything got taken care of as it should have and it worked out well. I've been with AHS for about two years now and I've used them six times. I'm always telling somebody that I have AHS and if they just bought a house and they're worried, it's something they should look into especially the older houses because AHS covers almost anything and it gives peace of mind too.

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.

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.

Original Review: June 13, 2017

I have had 3 repairman out here to fix a dishwasher that's over 15 years old and that has taken over a month and it's still not fixed. I have never had a claim except this one and I've been paying $48 a month over three years and they refused to give me a new dishwasher. They say that they have to now research it since the service company which is Sears could not find the part.

Well at 8:00 pm I got an email that stated my portion of the payment was $1,060 for a 40-gallon water tank. I called HomeAdvisor and they sent 3 contractors and all of them were cheaper than that price without AHS. So I called AHS and explained the problem and the representative informed me that certain parts of the water heater are covered but not the actual water heater... WHAT? I am livid and beyond upset. I asked to speak to a supervisor but of course none were available. I will be pursuing this further... legally if I have to. BUYER BEWARE!

Original Review: June 13, 2017

After paying for AHS ShieldPlus Warranty for over 1.5 years and never asking for a penny, they weren't there when we needed them. A/C went out at my rental property and unfortunately the property manager did not go through AHS (clerical error). Even though they used an approved and insured vendor, AHS refused to reimburse the repair. I will say their customer service was polite but don't waste your money on AHS warranty.

On June 5, the repair man came back and he was able to detect one leak at the indoor evaporation coil and another leak at outdoor line valve (that was all he wrote down on the invoice). He took the pictures and then wrote down the units' numbers and said they would order the coil and the valve and they would called us to set up an appointment for him to come back to replace them. It would take him a couple of hours to fix it.

The contractor hadn't called us since June 5 and on June 12, I called the contractor (around 8:20 AM) and they said they still waited for a paperwork and would call us back. Around 5:30 PM that day, AHS called us. I was at work at that time and had to call them back. They said they denied the service because the contractor submitted that the coil leak was caused by being hit by an object which rendered the AC was not properly maintained.

I didn't have enough time to argue at that time and when I got home I called AHS again around 7:00 PM. This time we talked to an representative name Melissa (from Georgia center), we tried to argue that we did not do anything to the evaporation coil and the repair man did not mentioned about something hitting the coil at all. He also did not write down anything about the coil being hit. The representative insisted that nothing she could do and suggested us to set up an appointment for a second opinion.

Being a loyal customer for 7 years without missing a fee, we are really disappointed with AHS service. It has been 2 weeks since the 1st service and nothing has been done for our broken AC. Even worse, AHS denied to service our AC based something that was not true to our opinion. Being a loyal customer to AHS and seeing our kids suffered the hot summer with a broken AC really angers us. We feel like we were tricked into buying the home warranty and feel like we wasted all our trusts and investments to AHS.

Steven Vandervort is one of their appliance people and he is far better than when they dispatch somebody else. It's the same for D&T Heating and Cooling. It's very good. A guy comes and it’s professional. This year, I didn't get an increase from AHS but a feature was dropped. We've been paying for the water softener for the last 10 years and all of a sudden it was dropped. Also, some of the paperwork of AHS are a little hard to use. Nevertheless, I'm happy and I'll continue to stay with AHS.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I called another company and asked them what should be done. I got a list of all the things that weren't done that should have been done when the first guy came. I'm waiting for him to come tomorrow and we'll be going over the list. He didn't check the freon level, didn't check to find out if there was in fact communication between the thermostat and the compressor, and didn't blow out the condensation line. He said he fixed the wires but I don't know if he fixed them or not. I never saw him fix anything. This is crazy. This guy has got to be the dumbest guy in the company or he just didn't feel like doing what needed to be done as what I was told by the technician who I talked to. Contractors just come and tell the homeowner anything and leave. That may be the case here, but I will find out tomorrow. And if it doesn't work out, I'll be calling American Home Shield and will be telling them my experience with this guy coming for the third time.

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.

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.

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.

Unfortunately, that was my last pain and hassle-free interaction with AHS. Since, I've had numerous small, covered repairs for which I opened AHS service tickets, and every single one of them required significant work and time investment on my part in order to get the work approved or the contractors to show up. Every time I have a contractor out to my house, we go through the exact same song and dance. They will come check it out, call AHS for approval, and then tell me AHS won't cover it. This will start a long, drawn-out back and forth between me and the AHS service representatives. Every single time I have a service request opened, the default response from AHS is "That's not covered".

The first person I talk to will tell me it's not covered, and then transfer me to someone else who will admit that it is. Or the service representative will claim to not be knowledgeable enough about my contract to make a decision and transfer me to a "contract representative" who will know more, and that person will approve the work. Or they will blame the contractor, saying that their report of the needed work/repairs is different from mine and they'll have to reach out to them in order to reconcile the difference, which will take days or weeks. This problem is particularly nasty if you need follow-up work done. If a technician created 4 holes in your wall looking for a leaking pipe, but only wrote 2 in his report to AHS (which you don't get to see, by the way - I've asked), then AHS will summarily deny your request for follow-up service until they contact the contractor at their own convenience to resolve the discrepancy.

I have had things that are blatantly covered in crystal clear black-and-white in my contract denied by AHS. They invent new reasons to deny my requests every time I call, none of which are EVER listed anywhere in my contract, let alone in the limitations and exclusions section. They won't cut the holes to access plumbing, citing the standard note in all their contracts:

"NOTE: Where covered repairs require access to plumbing, AHS will only provide access to plumbing through unobstructed walls, ceilings or floors, and will return access openings to a rough finish. If the plumbing is accessible only through a concrete floor, wall or ceiling, AHS will pay up to $500 per contract term for access to, repair to, or replacement of such plumbing, including returning access openings to a rough finish."

They will never define what an "unobstructed wall" is, which leaves them total carte blanche to deny any service request, which they've done to me on multiple occasions for regular old drywall. I've even been told they won't cover any repairs if they have to cut through wood. I've called back the next day and had the exact same work approved by someone else. Or they'll deny the work because the technician has to stand outside the back door on the patio to cut into that section of the wall instead of inside the door, citing some other non-existent clause about covering work on the exterior of homes. Or the first service representative will tell you something isn't covered by the core coverage plan, and not even bother reviewing any additional coverage plan items you may have paid for.

It's always something, it's always a new excuse why they won't cover it, and their excuses are NEVER delineated in my contract. Prior to filing any service request, I review my contract carefully to ensure the work in question is indeed covered in clear language by my service contract. Each and every time, the first service representative will tell me it isn't covered. Often, the second or third person will deny the request also. Eventually, I'll get to someone who will say, "Mr. **, I'm reviewing your contract and hose bibs/leaking shower heads/whatever are indeed covered. Let me inform our service representatives and transfer you back to them."

The entire system seems designed to make customers so frustrated with the process that they decide to withdraw their service requests. I have handled multiple repairs myself because I simply didn't want to spend an hour or two of my day on the phone with AHS customer service. Additionally, my wife and I have a very small suspicion of collusion between AHS and some of the contractors with whom we repeatedly get assigned. The technicians who come out are quick to say they know AHS won't cover it, but fast to take your $75 for driving out. I considered not including this in my review because it is totally anecdotal and perhaps unfair, but we have noticed this several times and, as frugal and cynical homeowners, the thought has crossed our mind. At the very least, it has affected our experience with AHS, though likely due to no fault of theirs. Nonetheless, I felt it relevant enough to include.

This has been my consistent experience with AHS over the last 2-3 years and over approximately 8-10 service requests. I'm not here talking about a single request where AHS gave me some pushback and I got upset about it and now I'm venting online. It's a predictable, recurring theme that plays out, without fail, every single time I submit a request for service.

Because of this downward trend of poor service and increasing hassle, I will not be renewing my contract when my term expires later this summer. I cannot recommend AHS to anyone at this time. I'm happy to answer any follow-up questions, provide my AHS agreement number/contract for review, or anything else that will support this review.

The first plumber that came asked me if I put the hose on it. He told me it's water damage because the hose was on it for the whole winter. I am not a plumber but that didn't make sense because it was on it for less than 24 hours. He said we can call him to fix it but that's not going to be covered. I disagreed and I said I wanted a second opinion. A second plumber came in a few days later and he told me that's not water damage. He said it was normal wear and tear because it was right there for years so he fixed it. I received an email from American Home Shield saying that for the second opinion, I have to pay for the visit as well. I called to find out why. Somebody told me that because the second plumber has not billed the claim yet, they still don't know what his final diagnosis is. They want me to disregard this email and to wait until they have all the paperwork and then they will get back to me.

I have been a customer of American Home Shield for almost 10 years now and this is the first time I have a problem with them. I'm not going to consider a one thing like that to say they are not good. I would still stay with them and keep going. So far, my experience with them has been good. For American Home Shield, there will not be any lasting problem that would make me change my mind and terminate my relationship with them.

Then a couple of days later, I got a call from AHS saying that my condenser is old and they cannot supply me the same kind of condenser. They need to change it to a newer system. And they also have to change the blower that I fixed so that it will be compatible with it. For that, I will have a $3,500 out of pocket expense, which was outrageous. I told them that all the charges were extreme because I asked around and the charges for the material are not much. It’s the work that they charge me a lot of money. It was $3,500 and for every adjustment like garbage collecting, it was $200. They charge me for everything.

In the end, we decided to get cash back out of them and do the job ourselves with a company that we are very familiar with and we know to be very fair-priced. They only offered us $1,900. When the job is gonna finish, I will have to supply AHS the receipt to get the cash back. They wanted to only cover the machine itself. I was very unhappy and disappointed.

AHS charges you and doesn’t cover you 100 percent. The contractor comes and AHS decides which ones they're covering and which ones they're not and how much to charge for every item not covered. If there’s an adjustment that needs to be done, they charge you an outrageous number while every other person that will come and do the job for you will not charge you such charge. In the end, I had the feeling that with the amount that they ask me to cover out of pocket, they’re covering the cost of the whole job. That was my gut feeling. Even if I was gonna lose money, I’m not gonna give them the job. I didn’t feel that it’s right for them to charge me these prices. I’m very dissatisfied to the point that I’m thinking of coming out of American Home Shield.

The only way that I knew that they weren't ever coming back was I got an email from American Home Shield telling me that another appliance repair company was answering my service call. It was the initial service call, and they did not mention that the other guys were never coming back or that the call had been transferred to someone. The company got out and it took the guy ten minutes to adjust all six burners and he was gone.

That's been the case with a lot of my appliances. I tell the American Home Shield operator I have Fisher & Paykel appliances in my kitchen and it's a New Zealand company and there are few appliance companies that are qualified to work on those appliances. After several times of American Home Shield sending out people, they just look and they say that they don’t have an idea how to work on it, and that I’m gonna have to get somebody else.

Every time that I have a problem with any of my kitchen appliances, I tell them exactly what I've got, what the problem is, and to not send someone out that can't work or is not familiar with the brand because that frustrates me. Them having to redispatch somebody wastes my time. They may attempt to repair it and not know what they're doing and damage it even further. They never understand when I tell them that.

The guy that eventually came out and fixed the problem told me that the problem with American Home Shield vendors is they all say, "I can fix anything", and then they get out there and they can't. Then they just tell the customer that their not familiar with that brand, but they get the service call charge. And then the next guy has to come out for free. Then they told me on the phone that there would be another service charge. When I finally put this all together, that they had transferred the call, and called the 800 number, they said that I'll be responsible for another service call charge. So, I said, "I don't think so, because the guys that you sent out here the first time couldn't repair it and you didn't call me to tell me they were never coming back."

We went back and forth, and then they got a supervisor on the phone and then another supervisor. The upshot of it all was they couldn't make a decision on the phone whether they were going to charge me another service call charge so they said, "We'll call you back and let you know what we've decided." They did call back and they said, "Okay, there will be no second service call charge and here's who is coming", so on and so forth. The stove finally got fixed after a month of all of this going back and forth and the wrong guys and the new guys.

A lot of times American Home Shield wants to replace parts instead of replacing the entire unit. I had a freestanding ice maker in my kitchen and they replaced every major part in that ice maker before the last guy came out. They've replaced the compressor, the motor, the refrigeration unit, the ice delivery mechanism – every single thing. The guy goes, "That's $3000 worth of parts." I said, "The whole thing was $1400." Then he goes, "I'm going to recommend a new one."

The guy and American Home Shield had this big, long conversation on the phone, making him justify a new unit. And he finally said, "This guy has been repairing this now for three months and they've replaced every part in it when it should have been replaced from the get-go. You guys have wasted two and a half times the cost of this ice maker by replacing parts when you could have just, three months ago, bought him a new one and saved yourself $1600. But you didn't want to do it that way." After 30 minutes on the phone arguing with the American Home Shield people, they agreed that they would replace it. It took ten days to two weeks to get a new one, and then they came out and replaced it.

I've found that's a trend with them. I understand not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. If it's a simple part and it's $10 or $20 and it will make it right and fix it, I'm all for it. I don't care what it takes to make it work. I just want it to work, whether that's parts or a new one whatever, let's get it up and running. Let's get it fixed so people don't have to keep coming back out every three weeks, months, six weeks, whatever it is. Because that's frustrating.

I understand they're in the business of fixing things, not replacing things. I get the business model. I understand they can't just start buying people new refrigerators or new stoves because they don't work right this second. Let's find out what's wrong with it, let's fix it, but let's make sure that it's the repair that will fix the problem.

I had to do a lot of legwork to make AHS to get out. I've had friends of mine that have been canceled by American Home Shield because they had too many repairs. And I get it. If people are calling them every week and it's something in your home, at some point the folks are going to say, "This guy has got a bunch of old junky appliances and we're going to go broke fixing them all. Let's just go ahead and cut him off and cut our losses." A lot of my frustration would be eliminated if AHS can get the right people to come out the first time. It takes half a day of my time every time there's a problem in my home scheduling, getting them there, them calling me, leaving work or whatever I'm doing, getting them to the house, waiting for them. And then again when they can't fix it or they don't know what they're doing, again them coming back out and they get there and they say, "We didn't know it. You'll have to get somebody else."

The more people in positions of authority at that company know what the actual customers go through, then they can institute policies and procedures within the company where they could streamline a lot of what they do. Because it's costing them money to make these mistakes as well as being frustrating and time-consuming for me. It's costing them money to dispatch two or three different companies to fix something that took a guy, who knew what he was doing, ten minutes to fix.

The contractors that Home Shield sent are all cordial, respectful, and professional too. They respect your home. They come in and do what they got to do. Also, they talk over the issue with you. If they know they need Home Shield’s approval, they'll tell you right upfront, “'Hey, I need to turn this forward at Home Shield,” and then they'll get back with us and we'll go from there. However, one thing that irritates me about the company is that every renewal period, they change your contract number. I have this locked in my phone. I have to memorize the first one and next year, I got a new number. I don't do this like that, but that's their way.

The amount of issues I did have with this company is completely ridiculous. From them not having me or my information on the schedule, calling me 3 times before they even came to my house (taking up my morning at work) to calling me one more time telling me I owe them money for this repair and that repair (when they hadn't been out to my house yet - they had me completely confused with another customer), to them requesting to use my pots and bowls because they didn't have bucket, and hardly looking at anything on my AC and just assuming it needed Freon...which they added right there before talking with me about anything. 1 week and $300 later, my AC is having the same problems again!

The representative I originally talked to at the company told me that they will do whatever they have to do to 'repair' AC's, instead of replacing them so the customer has to pay for everything and AHS doesn't have to pay for anything. I already wrote a complaint letter and attached the 'live chat' I had with the representative, and the reviews I had pulled up, and mailed it last week but I haven't heard from them. But since I woke up this morning with my AC leaking all over the floor and air not cool enough (original issue), I reached back out to AHS and requested to speak to a supervisor. Apparently supervisors are not available for you to speak with, so you have to put in a request and they will contact you in 48 hours.

As customers, we pay too much money and put too much of our trust into AHS. I would NEVER recommend them to anyone after dealing with what I had to deal with, and plan on spreading word of this horrible experience through multiple outlets. Not only has this situation caused me to miss work, but also sleepless nights caused by the stress of this situation. It is not my responsibility to be checking in with a company to make sure I am confirmed on their schedule (but I'm glad I did) and for me to supply them with my household items to use for them to get their job done.

The company they sent to my house was a complete joke, and I did not feel comfortable with them there at all. AHS should be ashamed of the way they have handled my original concerns and that I am even in this situation. Also, they should have more pride in their company than to send such a disorganized company who doesn't even get the job done, and makes customers uncomfortable.

I finally spoke to multiple customer service representatives whom I had to explain the situation to each time, they all seemed very sympathetic to my situation and that I was even having this experience, but they kept telling me that the company would come back out, but I do not want that company in my house. I feel as if I am getting ripped off by them and AHS...not to mention how uncomfortable they made me.

I was then told they would 'review my account' and offer me cash to use another company based off of my diagnosis from the company - this is the biggest joke, this company cannot even give a diagnosis because they didn't look into anything! One technician took about 1 minute looking at the spot where I was. There was a big leak, and they immediately just put in Freon and left. (I now have to replace my baseboards and possibly the flooring of where there was water damage from the leak that happened after they 'fixed' my unit which was not even a week later).

It's been a week and I have not heard from AHS, so I had to reach out to them about getting this resolved since it's about to be 90 degrees this weekend. I am now being told that the cash they offered I may not receive because the company claims they completed my job. I am beyond frustrated at AHS, why do I pay so much money to have a home warranty when they won't even help me? The kicker to all of this is I had a family friend come look at the unit, he laughed and said, “I can't even believe they would try to put Freon in this, it obviously needs to be replaced.” I am so frustrated that I am even in this situation... If only they would have listened to my initial concerns the first time I would not even be in this situation.

But when I purchased this house, they had already picked up a Home Shield contract and so it transferred with the house. I decided to give them another chance and thus far, since I purchased this house in 2011, I have not seen the same behaviors. I’m still okay with their service but I am attentive. I find the hold wait to be long but if that’s their worst crime, I can cope with it. Also, the basic tone of people has been different and it was a pit before. There’s nothing like a class action suit to get their attention. At least based upon what I've read on the internet, that helped to cause some of the problems to back off. That’s what changed it.

I called AHS and every time had to wait more than 20 minutes to speak with customer service rep. They said, "We are waiting for the diagnosis from the tech." I then called the service company and they said they have submitted everything. This continued daily till June 6th. Finally AHS called on 6th and offered $670 which was the cost of compressor, labor charges plus tax. They said we could either get the compressor replaced or get a new refrigerator and $670 will be reimbursed after two to three weeks. We have been without a refrigerator for twelve days now. Our new refrigerator is being delivered on 9th.

You would think that a customer who has been with a company that long would have a great relationship with them... NOT!!!! At first we only needed minor repairs and the service fee was very nominal so it seemed fine. Most recently, as my home is aging, the cost of the warranty as well as the service fee have increase which wouldn't be so bad if I was experiencing the excessive "uncovered cost" that exist with major repairs. Let me explain some of my situations (in no certain order)...

Last year I had a problem with my dishwasher holding water. I only use it when we have gatherings so I did not know it was doing so. I begin to smell a moldy smell in my kitchen and discovered the dishwasher was the problem. I called AHS who sent out a contractor who said they "had" to repair it, even though it was an older model, the door was hard to shut, the knob was hard to turn and had mold in it, cause AHS would not authorize them to replace it. So they came back with parts a couple of days later cleaned and repaired it (leaving the molded cleaning rag on my counter). I ran the dishwasher several times after that with bleach and vinegar to make sure the mold was removed. I also checked it several times after that to make sure the water was no longer standing in it.

Then came the opportunity for me to actually use it which was several weeks later. I opened it up and lo and behold there was water and mold. I called AHS who told me that it was too long after the original repairs so I would have to pay another $75 service fee (to the same company that came before... really). My dishwasher is still not replaced or working properly. A combination of the dishwasher and a now leaky garbage disposal (which AHS previously repaired) I now have a mold problem around my kitchen sink area that is probably making us sick and will cost me a fortune to repair.

Now on to my furnace. Our furnace went out during the winter before last. I called AHS and they sent out a contractor. I was told the furnace needed to be replaced and I would need to pay out of pocket cost of upwards $1200-1600. Okay a senior, on a limited income with disabled people???? I don't have it like that which is why I was paying for a warranty. Oh yeah, contractor eventually became very rude and condescending to me. They initially told me at my home it would be $600-800 but once I complained his final quote was the higher figure. They said AHS supplied the actual furnace and the labor cost surrounding that but they did not pay for essentially the "tie in" to our system/ductwork and or some fabrication that would be needed. (I might be a little off in how I am saying it.) Sooooooo make me understand?

I asked for a second opinion as I wanted to see if I could get a better cost and I really did not want to give that contractor a dime of my money, but was told that once a contractor submits their cost AHS is under contract to them to do the work. Sooooooo the contractor's has a better deal than the customer? I was told my only other option was to take a buyout offer of the cost AHS would spend in my situation. I asked how much that would be and was told they would calculated and get back with me.

Well after a couple of days they called me back and offered me a few hundred dollars (to get a decent furnace for the size of my home with a good rating was going to be way more than that before labor - what were they putting in?). Really... That's all y'all pay the contractors... Is that why they submit these absorbent "uncovered cost." I would also have to have the work done out of pocket then submit a receipt for to get that!!!

I eventually did talk with someone who was nice enough to get me another hundred dollar out of AHS but I had to pay the majority of the cost to get the furnace replaced. Now summer before last, my air conditional went out. I called AHS. They sent out a contractor who said it was shot and needed replacing. They submitted their recommendation to AHS who agreed and then called me to let me know I would have to pay for the freon and I think some line (can't remember those details right now). This was actually before the furnace and again I was not happy with it but paid the around $4-500 cost (again I wasn't prepared to do this today so I might be off on the figure a little). So they installed the air conditioner (manufactured June 2015) that summer (it didn't run a complete season).

Well the next summer rolls around (2016) and the brand new air conditioner stops running. I called AHS who tells me I have to pay another $75 service charge as it was several months (not years) after it had been installed. Okay so this equipment is not a year old and it stops running. The contractor said the compressor had went out and needed replacing as well as the freon which was going to cost me another $4-500 dollars. I just did not have it and it was close to the end of the season so I decided to wait until the spring of this year to get it repaired, hoping I could save the money up over the months. Well I did and called AHS this week to have a contractor come repair the air conditioner. They came out this week and said the compressor did in fact need to be replaced and it needed freon which was going to be a out of pocket cost of $1260 this time to be exact. REALLY!!!! Imagine my shock!

I called AHS several times and, guess what, nothing has changed. I either pay the money or take the couple hundred buyout option. I had a couple other cooling contractors look at it and they both said the exact same thing. AHS should have never let them put that unit it in the first place. It uses R-22 freon. All heating/cooling contractors know that the Government is mandating phasing out those units because the R-22 freon is considered hazardous and cannot be purchased after 2020 which is why it is such a premium now. They also were both of the opinion that the contractor who installed it knew AHS would not scrutinize what they were doing and was simply "getting rid" of what was a useless unit. They both said there were also other things wrong (they both said the same other things) and that the unit was shot and needed to be completely replaced.

They suggested it had to be installed improperly in the first place because it shouldn't have happened to such a new unit. One contractor felt sorry for me and changed out a $150 part free of charge hoping it might be the problem instead of the compressor. Neither charged me a service charge by the way. And both expressed how these warranty companies are ripping people off. So I called AHS back and told them what was said and was told that AHS doesn't promise to provide "government mandated equipment." I said, "So what is SEER 13 appliances then?" To which she answered that AHS concern is that if the product works they are not responsible to make sure that I can buy Freon down the road.

But again if the government is mandating to stop selling something that you are expecting a lifetime of at least the next 5-10 years why would you allow it to be put in your customer's home...and at a premium cost for supplies? Well, today as I was sitting here trying to figure out what I was going to do next, I decided to stop anyone else from going through what I am going through right now. I hope this was helpful.

Here we are three weeks later and the AC went out again. The unit is over 20 years old and is breaking down when we keep the temperature set on a reasonable temperatures during a time of year when there are no heat waves causing the AC to work harder than normal. I am very concerned what will happen when the weather actually does get hot.

The interesting or concerning part of all of this is that the company has tried saying this is only the second time it's gone out so there is no issue. When we mentioned that we actually have every invoice from the past two (and only two) previous owners showing they have been servicing this unit for over a decade they started interrupting us and tries to get us off the phone.

They said they would call back no later than 1pm and we had to follow up at 4pm. We still do not have a resolution on the matter. They are going to have someone come out in 4 days to repair it. We are very disappointed by the fact that we are paying for a service That we are not getting at all. Given we have all documentation they should not make this such a difficult process. Until then we have no AC in our bedrooms and two children one of which isn't even 2 yet in a hot house.

Today I ask them to send another company, and I'm told I would have to pay another deductible if they change the dispatch! Seriously?? I ask to speak with a supervisor and was told the supervisor said s/he could not do anything else... "The only option was to move forward." As soon as this issue is resolved, I will be switching to a new warranty company. This is unacceptable. Up until now, I have been patient and did not fault AHS, but this lack of responsiveness to an inefficient sub-contractor means AHS is complicit in the lack of customer service. I spent 40 minutes on the phone, holding for most of that time, and I am no closer to getting a resolution than before I called.

I recently had an electric hot water heater fail. Plumbing company wanted to charge me $125 for an aluminum drip pan ($20 at Home Depot), and $150 to pull a permit, even though I told them that according to the permits supervisor for my county no permit was needed, they still wanted to charge me!! They should be charged criminally! These are the kinds of folks AHS has on their payroll. And clearly, they don't compensate the contractors well, so the contractors will try to squeeze it out of you! I am currently in a dispute with them over a $75 service fee that was never cancelled on their end. Not my fault. They have incapable call-takers that most of the time have no idea what they're doing. With AHS, the customer is always wrong. So, after 13 years, I am cancelling my contract.

Well, come June, 2017 the downstairs unit does the same exact thing as our upstairs unit did for our first claim 9 months ago. Due to the age (house being built in 2008) we knew the downstairs unit would have to have the same thing done as our upstairs unit. We file a claim and we get assigned a different contractor (Contractor B). Not understanding how the process works I just assume AHS no longer has a contract with Contractor A maybe because they were slow to respond the first time, I'm unsure. Contractor B contacts me quickly and schedules an appt. in the next few days. Contractor B comes to the property and states the Freon is low by around 2-4 lbs. and just needs to be filled up. I state that's what happened with our upstairs unit 9 months ago and the compressor was bad that's what caused the Freon to be low and had to be replaced and refilled.

Contractor B says he cannot find any issues just that it is low and Contractor B is charging me an arm and a leg to just fill the unit. Contractor A told us there was no point in filling up the Freon in our upstairs unit because the compressor is bad and would just leak again and filling it up would only be a temporary fix. Contractor B is only wanting to fill up our unit which would not fix our problem and I would have to file a claim again in the future for failure again. I do not feel Contractor B knows what he is doing and I refused his service because of this. I called AHS and they stated Contractor B has to complete the job since they are assigned to the job. They told me Contractor B was assigned since contractors are assigned based upon availability; however Contractor A didn't have a quick availability and we were assigned to them 9 months ago.

I complained saying that I would have just preferred Contractor A to come back out to the property instead of Contractor B and the representative told me I would have to request that before Contractor B was assigned for the job. I don't understand the process and nowhere in my contract does it explain that when I file a claim my request is placed in a "pool" of contractors and then I am assigned to whoever is free. I feel that I am placed in a situation where I am "stuck" with a contractor who is telling me incorrect information about how to resolve our problem and I fear for any future claims because I will question whether or not I am getting a knowledgeable company or not since I do not know the options of contractors I have for what job.

I called and spoke with Contractor A and an independent contractor to ask questions about my situation and they have both told me the Freon being low would mean there is a leak and a compressor is bad. I just feel I cannot do anything about my situation and I would pay close to $400 in Freon to be filled up in my downstairs unit when that is not truly the correction to my problem. I'm just disappointed that I had such a good experience 9 months ago and now I am in a bad experience with an unknowledgeable contractor for something that was just resolved for the same exact item.

The Allen wrench cost me $3.00 and 5 minutes to do it. I called AHS and tried to reason with them. These "robots" (because they can't be called humans) are trained to said: "We do not cover lost parts". Finally, I was so frustrated that I decided to cancel this junk of warranty and the representative got the nerves to tell me that I was going to be charged an administration fees, plus $75.00 for this visit and one extra month for I needed to cancel 30 days before next payment. Thieves!!! They are getting away with abusing us as consumers.

The fridge was only about four years old. To file it was easy, but to get it sorted out was very difficult. We had the technicians called out about five times, and each time they kept saying it was something else that was wrong with the fridge. I asked Home Shield about replacing, they said no. They categorically refused and said that they had no responsibility. They were happy to keep sending people out and had two different companies come in to do it, but it just was never fixed. It never ran properly and we had to keep throwing food out. It would stay cold for a few days and then it would go again, so I ended up getting rid of the fridge and buying a new one. Home Shield did not help in any way, shape, or form. At the end of the year, I may well think about changing and getting another company.

Our most recent claim was for our garage door that wouldn't open and I thought it was the garage door opener. I went online, submitted the claim to American Home Shield and someone called me within 24 hours. Their website was fine and I had no problems. Also, the guy that came out was really great and clearly professional. He was early which I loved because I hate for people to be late. He told me it's my spring and I looked up. Sure enough, it was broken in half. I thought it was supposed to be like that because not a garage door pops up. I get in my car, I back out, I drive in and I get out. I never looked behind me. He came in exactly what was going on, what was wrong with it and fixed it in less than an hour. The spring part wasn't covered by AHS but it was only $50 and because of American Home Shield, I'm grateful.

The door has been perfect since. It does exactly what I need it to do just when I need it to: go up and come down. Getting in and out of my garage is really important for me because I leave my house to go to work at 4:15 in the morning and I'm a charge nurse so I can't be trapped in my house when patients are waiting to dialyze. Also, we're doing great. There's no stopping, having to lift the door and move the cars outside the door. I'd tell even the people that don't have American Home Shield to get it and I would recommend the technician to anybody. AHS did great with choosing him to be a part of their contractors. They're a great company and my experience has been pleasurable.

Then a second technician came out and he was awesome and very knowledgeable. He worked on the washing machine and replaced the refrigerator. Right off, he said the door can't be fixed because it kept freezing. He knew we've had that problem and they had already been out so many times to replace the little part. He even put a tape inside the refrigerator to redirect the air. It was a zoo. I had no water in the refrigerator and the ice maker didn't work for weeks while trying to get them to fix it. They would come out but as soon as they leave, the refrigerator would do it again. Finally, AHS was good enough to give us some money to get a new refrigerator.

Although I wasn't pushing to get a new refrigerator 'cause I liked my old one. It was just that they weren't able to fix it. That's fine and we got a new ref. However, they weren't the same size and my other one had some other kind of front that never show dirt. It was really good. Then, we paid a little more to get the same door because it was an upgrade. They didn't really care what the outside looks like as long as it was a workable refrigerator. I understand that though, and I'm glad I have a workable refrigerator now too.

As for the washing machine, the guy that came out ordered one part, came back and fixed it. It's been working fine since. So far, so good. The problem was that he could have fixed it a lot sooner but it took seven days to get the part in to fix it. I couldn't use the washing machine since it wouldn't pump the water out. I had to take all the clothes out and do what I could. AHS is a big company and it still took so long to get the part. If they could expedite that, it would be awesome. If that had been our air conditioner, I would have been really unhappy. Overall, the experience was all good except for the time delay.

I also had a refrigerator repair done. The tech came out and he looked at the fridge, and did this and that. They said they didn't have the part and they waited instruction. I had to wait for two weeks for a repair man to come out and it was too long. He got the part and he put it on, it was about 8:00 at night. He said, "Well, I don't know if the refrigerator is gonna get cold yet or not. I'll have to wait an hour or so." He left and the refrigerator never got cold. Also, the tech didn't charge me the right amount. He said, "Well, my thing is paying $119 for that." Then, they called me back and said, "Hey, you were $5 short or something on your payment." I discussed that with the guy when he was there, that I'm supposed to pay this. That wasn't cool because I didn't have a refrigerator for two weeks. Another guy came out and he spent a whole bunch of time in there. He got it working the second time.

I also had to get some work done on my septic system. I specifically said that I wanted that covered. But they said, "Oh, we don't cover anything outside the home." I said, "Well why am I paying that septic system in if you don't want to cover it? It's outside the home. So why is that on the contract?" I paid for a service that they didn't provide me because I thought that the septic tank was supposed to be covered.

American Home Shield has nothing to do with that. It was the people that that they were sending out. The second guy that did my refrigerator repair was outstanding. The first guy was not so much. The problem with that was he got here so late in the evening he just wanted to go home. I don't want him there either because it's night time. You visit people's house during the daytime to do stuff like that. You don't come at 8:00. I took off work that whole day and he didn't get through that night.

I'm a retired military, and I've been a supervisor. I've managed government and very large medical clinic. I have a bachelor's degree in engineering so I'm not just some guy. I didn't know the root and that's what we deal with, root causes. But as far as American Home Shield, I plan on renewing because some of these repairs are minor.

Thirty minutes later, a guy shows up all the way out from Dallas to do the same thing to me. He said the opening through my sewer line was three feet under the house and that they’re plumbers, not dogs. They don’t go under houses, so I’ll have to do it and extend the pipe to the house before they can do the work. If I got under there and extended it, then I'm a plumber. I could do the work myself and I wouldn't need them. So I refused to pay the second one.

AHS dispatched two people that refused to do any work. So I called and complained to the dispatcher that they sent somebody out here that doesn't go under the house. She said the first guy went under, looked and said it's animal damage. I said, "First of all, he didn't go look. I told him face to face that I thought it might be. He never went under the house at all. So if he said he did, he's a liar." I'm upset that I paid this guy and he didn't do anything. The lady started saying something about animal damage and that was in the contract. In my contract, it didn't say anything about animal damage, that it's not covered if it was. Regardless of that, he didn't even look in the first place. For me, if the kind of service people they employ will lie, then I don't want them at my house because that lying will become stealing.

When I was talking to the dispatcher, I asked what they're going to do about this and she said that there's nothing they can do. She was very, very rude in her tone and manner. I'm a paying customer. I don't feel like I deserve to be disrespected by her and then not get service done and have to pay the show up fee. I didn't want to sit and argue and I did not want to deal with it anymore. So I asked them to cancel my service.

I'm not gonna keep paying $75 a pop for them to dispatch somebody that won't do the work. I signed up for someone to show up, do work, and then I pay him the $75 show up fee. I've had the service for years and had other claims a long time ago. I pay a monthly charge, and then a service fee when they show up, and if I can't get work done and I'm paying all this money, then the service is not worth it to me. It's disappointing. Not only will I not recommend them to my friends, but I have been warning them against American Home Shield.

I'm going to take this further up the ladder to get some results. I'm a Realtor and I'll definitely inform everyone of my clients, friends and family members NOT to get a Home warranty from American Home Shield. If there was a negative number/star rating that is what I would give them. Totally useless, confrontational, unwilling to help their own customers. What a joke...

We contacted AHS and they immediately texted the name of a service company that would call me within 24 hours to make an appointment. Advanced Air Services came on Friday, spent 1/2 hour inspected the boiler and decided it needed a new electrical panel. When I heard this I contacted him and left an urgent message that the issue is not the electric panel and I sent him a photo of the hole in the heat exchanger. He called me Monday morning and advised that he was putting in for a transfer of service as a certified Weil-Mclain company should be looking at the boiler. I called AHS and spent 1/2 hour on the phone asking if they could just hire the person who already did the diagnostics... but they said they do not operate that way and that a service company called Rubber Duck would call me within 24 hours to make an appointment.

Meantime my father has no heat or hot water since Wednesday!! I looked up Rubbed Duck on a consumer rating site and was floored by the negative reviews on the company and can't believe that AHS would continue to use this service person with those kind of reviews online. Perhaps they are not aware or perhaps they just don't care. Rubber Duck has yet to call me to schedule... it's well over 24 hours. I am now working with the original HVAC person I called as I know I will get the job done properly and quickly. We are looking into cancelling our contract if they do not cover the costs we will incur.

I was transferred to 5 people and departments, placed on hold for 19 minutes by one person who never picked up and eventually I did cancel the policy but was charged a months fees to cancel. What a scam. I am so disappointed and hope anyone out there reconsiders purchasing a home warranty thru American Home Shield. If I was making a purchase they would jump through hoops ensuring satisfaction but offered little opportunity for satisfaction with canceling the policy. Rest assured I will not be purchasing another warranty thru them when the HVAC manufacturer warranty expires.

Finally, we had a competent plumber come out and finish the job. It was Artesian Plumbing and they were very nice. And they're not even contracted with AHS, but they agreed to come out. They also gave us their cards and said, “If you have any problems, call your contract people and we’ll come out on their behalf.” The other two companies did not do what they were supposed to do and I called American Home Shield and gave both of them bad reviews.

We also had another instance with All Pro Plumbing where it took a month to get our kitchen faucet fixed. We had water leaking underneath the sink for at least three weeks. It was almost four weeks before we got it fixed. The seal in one of the lines underneath there had gotten loose so at first, they came out and tried to replace the seal. And then they came back out with a part and said it wasn't going to work. They needed to order the whole thing and that's when they came back with over $600 total charge for everything. The service call fee was $75 and AHS was going to pay them $250 and then they wanted us to pay them an additional $285 when they come out, which was ridiculous. So we decided to opt out of that and get the $250 check from AHS. We bought the faucet part for $80 and then had a certified plumber come out for $130 and install it.

If we're paying to have a warranty, we shouldn't have to have four people come out in order to get something fixed, be charged over $600 to replace a faucet part and wait for a month to get it fixed, or have to deal with the intermittent tankless water heater for two months when it should’ve been fixed right the first time we called to have somebody out. Every time somebody comes out for the second or third time, they’re charging a service call fee to AHS, and they're not taking care of the problem. Whereas if AHS found somebody competent that would come out and do one visit and maybe do a follow-up, too, when it’s completed, that wouldn't be a big issue. But to have incompetent people coming out means they're just paying for incompetence.

The gentleman on the phone was very nice and professional but he had no power or authority to actually help me. (He was placed on hold by his own Customer Care or escalation team for 15 or 20 minutes) The only resolution he could offer was for me to prove that I had paid for the contract, regardless of the fact that AHS already had a record of the contract. I asked to speak to a manager but there was no one available. He did put a request for a manager to contact me within two business days, which put that after a long holiday weekend and no service to my pool. The next Wednesday manager did call but I could not get to the phone. I have called every business day since then and I have not been able to reach anyone.

I clearly informed the representative when I filed my claim that my wife had just gotten at the hospital and I needed my air conditioner repaired immediately. That did not matter to American Home Shield. They don’t deal with local repair companies that could do the repair in a shorter period of time. The repair guy that came told me that he came all the way from Statesboro. I live in Savannah Georgia and I know there are numerous AC repair companies available in my local area.

I have spoken to numerous other customers of American Home Shield and they all have the same complaint. American Home Shield only cares about bottom line profits and does not care about the customer. It is sad that you pay for service and every time that you need to use it is a very upsetting experience. I have friends that have used American Home Shield and they all have the same complaint. And they have dropped American Home Shield Home Warranty service or they are in the process of doing so.

I got an email with about 50 dishwashers on it to choose from. And of course, I couldn't see them. I didn't know how to buy a dishwasher without looking at one. I wrote down a bunch of model numbers and went to Home Depot to look at the particular units and that was how we ended up picking the one that we picked. They didn’t actually have it there on the floor, but the salesman was really nice and he got it up online for us and we didn’t need anything special in our specifications, so that worked out fine. But it was certainly within a reasonable time period. We had also filed other claims in the past and they've all been positive. AHS is professional and friendly.

Last week, I submitted a claim. A latch on my built-in microwave broke then one of their technicians came out. He was a great guy. The latch was deemed unrepairable so American Home Shield offered us three options. The first one was to replace with a similar one, another was to purchase an upgrade and then we would pay them the difference, or we would buy our own and then send them the receipt and then we would be reimbursed up to $498. We needed it in stainless steel and they said that wasn't an issue and made us an offer. They came back the next day saying that it was not available. I sent them an email today saying I'll just go buy and install it and I'll just send them the receipt later on so they can reimburse me for the microwave. The only bad thing is that the microwave gets in Thursday and I do a lot of cooking with the microwave. But other than that, we're good to go.

The other experiences that I had have been regarding my pool pump and things of that nature and they've been very helpful and very pro-active with the contractors. There was one contractor though that came a couple of years ago that I complained about and I never saw them again. And another issue that I have with their techs is, because it's down here in Texas, they just can't get to it fast enough to fix it. So we've gone about four days without seeing a tech but that's the nature of everybody having a pool down here so it's not their fault. I don't mind paying the money every month for the peace of mind if they're going to come and take care of it. But, I rarely had to have them come back out to fix what they've already fixed. It's kept the kids in the pool as opposed to being running out on the street so that's always good.

The first company took advantage because people didn’t know about it. They also told American Home Shield that they changed the underground pump which wasn't true and they charged American Home Shield for it. I had people coming over and taking pictures. The underground pump was about 300 feet underground. They cannot do that with bare hands. They need a machine and they never even brought anything. They also indicated that they changed things that they never did. They wrote that they put it like a brand-new cap but when we took the cap out, everything was old inside.

It was terrible. The second company was more upset than I was. They couldn't believe what the first company did. And it looked like American Home Shield never took the second company very seriously. Even though they came and told American Home Shield how bad the job was and the first company didn’t change the underground pump, American Home Shield continued not wanting to pay for another pump. It very easy to prove that the underground pump was was not changed because one would need a big hole to go inside. And the ground was not even touched. So I didn’t understand American Home Shield took a month and a half almost to fix the problem. They dragged the problem so I didn’t have water for a month and a half. With the kids in school, it was a nightmare.

When I called American Home Shield, I had a girl who was always trying to take care of the problem and did an amazing job. But the supervisors were cutting her off and constantly saying that they're not going to pay. And she continued to say that it's not fair because the company that they paid didn’t do the job. She defended me in so many ways.

Finally, I got someone to fix the pump but American Home Shield didn’t pay for everything. My warranty was not to pay for everything though. It was just to pay the pump so I needed to pay the rest of the things. I paid $2000 and it took a month or so for me to get the $1,300 check. But at least it was a help. And the gentleman was so nice to me and changed my pressure tank for free. He felt so bad about what I was going on. He told me what he put in was not brand-new but it’s very good and will give me pressure. He was amazing and took care of us. And he even wanted to wait to get the money. I divided the billing three times because I didn’t have the money as I already gave it to the other company. And I'm wondering why American Home Shield doesn’t have this gentleman in their list.

Now I’m concerned of even calling American Home Shield to ask for anything here at home. I’m concerned for when something big comes along, we’ll have the same experience. So my husband told me that every time American Home Shield would give the name of the company, we'll investigate the company before we allow them to come to our home.

I have American Home Shield for many years now since I bought the house. I never had an issue with them until this company came to my home. And what I didn’t understand was why were they still using that company. If one would put the name of the company online, they would see so many people saying so many bad things. They wouldn't see anybody happy. American Home Shield should investigate the company they send to their own customers because they are the ones who are looking bad. I also had another experience when the plumber they sent came a little drunk. American Home Shield is a great company but they don’t have a lot of communication between them and that’s what worries me.

The first company that came out and brought the microwave was also told to install it. There was two gentlemen, one was very kind and funny, the other one was very rude. When they were installing it, it was being done incorrectly. I had to ask the gentlemen a few questions and he assured me it was being done correctly. Then when they left I realize that the exhaust system on the microwave was blowing into my attic, not attached to the vent.

So I called American Home Shield back and I ask for them to kindly send somebody else out because I have tried already to recover with the first people that were at the house who apparently didn't believe a word I was saying and I didn't want them back. American Home Shield sent Ace Appliance out and instead of taking another half day off of work because everybody comes during the day, I had my son who is a young adult meet them at the house, all he did was stood there the entire time and go, "I don't know why I'm here, I thought I was looking at a broken microwave. This looks new and there's nothing wrong with it."

I called and talked to a representative from American Home Shield. I was on a recorded line twice, had to slowly explain my issue and I left this gentleman a handwritten note on top of the stove right by the microwave explaining why he was going to do this today in case he did not get the proper information from the company because that happens all the time. He was rude and didn't even go up into the attic to see the way it was vented. He adjusted a screw and it's installed crooked and left.

I called Ace Appliance back directly, ask them to send another representative out, I never got a phone call back. Then my husband called American Home Shield to take care of it through them. Nobody has called us back from Ace Appliance and I still have a crooked microwave in that space and it's still blowing into my attic.

I do my claims online not because I don’t like talking to Home Shield but it seems more convenient just to plug it in if I have a problem and then it seems to be handled quickly where someone will give me a call and it will start the claim rolling. I called at one time to find out information about my policy on what would be covered in a claim and one girl acted like she could not answer that question. She kept me on this very long hold. And then somebody picked up finally and answered the question immediately and knew exactly what I wanted and she couldn’t believe that someone did that to me.

I don’t look at that as a bad light on Home Shield. Sometimes some people have bad days and some might not be trained to the best and don’t know everything that everyone else might know, or they might not be as seasoned because they haven't been there as long. And they document very well. It seems like that kind of stuff is in the system and everything gets kind of written in. Overall, American Home Shield’s been a savior to me, and I'd recommend them to everyone. My niece just bought a house and I told her she gotta get American Home Shield. It's a great thing to have. It's an insurance for what your investment is.

They let me know what was going on and gave me some helpful hints going into the future, like how to prevent things from happening, because it looks like my daughter put something down in the garbage disposal that she shouldn't have, which jammed it off. And then they gave me a bar to put in there so that nothing foreign that shouldn't be in there could get in. They also gave me some cleaning tips like to put ice in there, things that I never knew to maintain the disposal. It's been performing perfectly and quieter when I run it. Now, I can use my sink and not worry about nastiness coming back up.

My warranty with American Home Shield is probably one of the best purchases that I've made. When I bought the house, it came with a year free and I kept it. I like the monthly payments on it and I use it. It takes away all the hassle of trying to find a reliable service person to come in and fix things. At the time, I was a single mom and I've been using a screwdriver, so my skill set for fixing things wasn't so good, and American Home helped a lot. I used it a few times for my dryer and washer, and they actually replaced the hot water tank once, where I paid the fee of $75 and got a brand new hot water tank. It's definitely money well spent.

I called back to AHS and they assigned another contractor, All Right Mechanical (ARM) who contacted me the following day on the 23rd. They scheduled an appointment and the company owner and a jr. tech came to the house on time. They put a gauge on the line and said I was low on refrigerant and I probably have a leak in the Evap Coil. The owner then tells me that my warranty company won't pay for all the work that needs done because it is not covered and that my out-of-pocket expenses are likely to be more than $3000. Or, he can sell me a system for $10K and spread my payments over 20 years to have a brand new system rather than repairing my 27 year old current system. I believed that he was trying to scam myself as well as the warranty company, so I called AHS and told them as much. They said they couldn't do anything because they didn't have their report yet.

The following day AHS received the report from ARM and the next day, they authorized them to do a leak test. When AHS told me this, I again complained about ARM and stated that they were ripping both of us off. AHS advised me that if I wanted to select my own vendor, I could request cash in lieu of service for the leak test. They would send it to authorizations and let me know how much cash would be available to me, but unfortunately the Authorizations dept. was running behind and it would be 2-3 days.

On the third day when I still hadn't heard from them, I called only to be told that the rep had misinformed me, and that they couldn't offer me cash in lieu for a leak test. It can only be offered for a diagnosed covered equipment failure, and that I had no option other than use ARM for that Leak Test. After 3 more days passed, a tech finally came to the house. He looked at the condenser and the evap coil and stated both were leaking and needed to be replaced. He didn't inject dye or nitrogen into the system, but said he would write it up in 15 minutes and send it in.

The next day, when I hadn't heard anything by the end of the day, I contacted AHS who said they still didn't have the report. I then contact ARM who said they would submit report that day. The next day I again contacted AHS, and they had the report, but it was in authorizations and they were behind. 2 days later, they contacted me and the woman said "I have never seen a report with this many non-covered items." The total out of pocket was $4030! So I asked what my cash in lieu amount would be and they said it would have to go back to authorizations to determine that.

3 days later, today June 5th, authorizations offers me $1,288.23 for a new condenser and evap coil and the labor to install both components! This is less than the cost to purchase the items, much less have them installed. So I again complained that this company was ripping us off and asked for a second opinion. She had the nerve to tell me that I was past the 7 day window to request that (all their fault), and my only options were to take their offer, or have their contractor do the repair. Incidentally, an independent third company giving me a "friend of a friend" pricing, diagnosed that an entire new system was needed and priced it at $6,800... A far cry from $1,288.23 I was offered.

I have been an AHS customer for 15 years or so. I have had small issues (washer, dishwasher, microwave, etc.) that were all handled with no issues during that time, however this was not and if you as a company, can not bring the system back to full operation without the customer having to spend over 3 times what you're willing to pay, then maybe you shouldn't say you are even covering the item! It may be "legal" by the terms of the contract, but it most assuredly is NOT ETHICAL! This is horrible business and as soon as I reach final resolution on this issue, you will have one less customer!

Here's the problem. AHS will not assign the work to the second contractor which would mean over $4000 out of pocket cost for me. I obtained a quote for the repair, which would only be about half of the $4000 out of pocket for me, and that is without one cent from AHS. I have tried to escalate this in AHS, twice. They tell me someone will call. They have not called yet and it has been over 4 days. So no A/C for over two weeks in the hot humid deep South. I have been a very long term customer of AHS and until now have had good experiences with the company.

Original Review: June 5, 2017

We requested the refrigerator repairing service on 10/17/16 and 3/5/17 for the same problem for one of our rental house located in Newark, CA. Both technicians couldn't fix the leaking. We requested for a second opinion and AHS gave UKH Enterprises to us on 4/19/17. In one month, the technician put some tapes as a fix (please see the attachment), but it's still leaking. We contacted AHS many many times and our tenant has lived without a refrigerator over 6 months. We asked for a replacement for a non-repairable item after three repairing companies can't fix it, but AHS only offered us a repairing option ($121) after we talked to the supervisor.

We don't understand why AHS ignored the fact of non-repairable. We have 4 houses with AHS in the past several years. We never requested the replacement before. We put lots of time and efforts to call AHS for the case. We are really dissatisfied with AHS the way to deal with this. We purchased a new one for our tenant yesterday to not lose our tenant. We are looking for a reimbursement from AHS to settle down the claim.

I call the repair company on Monday 6/5. I was told that I would be a work in again today. I called back at 12 noon to check on a repair within my 48 hr. contact with AHS. The Ed, at the repair company said ,"we have you scheduled for any time today or tomorrow. You can contact another company if you want." I contacted AHS to notify them of Ed's statement. I was basically told that if I changed company then it would increase my service time. So what is the use of having a 48 hour response time if no one follows it? Also, how does AHS choose the companies that they contact with? Because if Advance Appliance is an indication of the customer service or professionalism that we can expect then save your money in a savings account instead of paying AHS.

UPDATED ON 06/27/2017: I wrote an initial review of American Home Shield on 6/2/17. The complaint was two fold: 1. The non-empathetic customer service agents from AHS. No matter how many times you call them pertaining to the same issue; they never suggest a supervisor getting involved. It appears that this is just standard operational procedure to perpetual repair issues of the clients. This is my 3rd service call for my air conditioning unit.

2. The 2nd issue is the servicing company. Advance Appliance company has been to my home twice on 5/24 and On 5/24 they added Freon and sealant and on 5/30 they blow air through my AC line. Both of which seemed to be temporary attempts or patch work at best. On 6/26 my air went back off. On 6/27 at 9:57 am I contacted Steven, customer service agent for AHS. After I explained the history behind my attempts to have my air conditioner, which is an item covered under my AHS contract, the best he could say was, "So, you need a service call?"

Wow, should I have expected more from an agent representing an agency that I am paying for service? Well, he gave me a service reference number and name to another ac company, Controlled Climate. I can only hope that they will respond to my issue within the contractual 48 hours and all the more important when they respond will my ac finally get REPAIRED OR REPLACED. I'm too hot to be happy.

I used to use another company so I know that in that case, they order a part and wait for several weeks then they come again to fix it. The other company took about a month with that so in that one month I couldn't use my kitchen. However, the kitchen sink and water leakage was a very urgent thing so I didn't want to wait a long time. The guy sent by AHS told me he could go to Home Depot, buy some part and fix it within 30 minutes. I was very surprised but that was the best thing. It's amazing and I'm very thankful for him. I have another property and I'm thinking of changing it to American Home Shield.

I’m not fully happy because it took forever to get the ice maker fixed the first time. The second time they came out to fix the same problem, I had to pay another $75 to get it fixed and they didn’t fix the whole operation. The drawer that goes in the refrigerator was broken and the guy has never done anything and he knew that it was broken. I’m dissatisfied with their performance as far as work is concerned. He just put the drawer back in knowing that it was broken and he said, “That should work” and he pulled the drawer out the next time and it fell out all over the floor. He could care less as long as he got his money. Other than that, they’re a great operation and very helpful.

I asked him if I was going to have to take another vacation day to have it fixed and he said it's not his problem. Mind you that I had to pay 100.00 service call to AHS. I received a call from AHS to inform me that my claim was being denied because Victor said it was maliciously broken. I've had this washer and dryer for six years. I'm not quite sure why I would maliciously break my own knob to spend another hundred dollar service call. I looked up his company on Yelp and the reviews are all horrible not just about the company but also about AHS. I canceled my policy immediately. I called another repairman and he came out on Saturday and the cost is $60. Home Warranty companies are all a bad idea but I believe AHS is the worst. You've been warned.

Updated on 06/13/2017: On June 2nd, my furnace stopped working. I opened a ticket with AHS and they would not work the ticket until Monday as it wasn't an "emergency". Emergency in Chicago means the temperature outside has to meet or exceed 101. I escalated to Executive Relations after customer service kept telling me "No, No, No" to escalate. I had to divulge my wife's medical issues in order to escalate the ticket. The tech that came onsite wasn't able to fix the problem and the other HVAC complained "we're not comfortable" working on my furnace. AHS finally agreed to replace my furnace which was supposed to be replaced today... AHS dropped the ball and didn't verify that the parts were in the warehouse to be picked up and sent the HVAC tech on a wild goose chase to get the furnace. After sitting at the supply warehouse for over an hour, the HVAC owner told his crew to move on that it was taking too long.

I now have to wait until FRIDAY to get my furnace installed and all AHS offered was $150 for a window unit. I HAVE CASEMENT WINDOWS SO A WINDOW UNIT WONT WORK!!!!! This is unfair business practices and illegal for AHS to make me wait until Friday to get my service completed. I now need to contact my attorney to sue for illegal business practices. They DON'T care about their customers. All they care about is collecting their money and holding their customer hostage. Susa, from Executive Relations was great, but I feel that more could and should have been done to get this completed today AS SCHEDULED!

He came out and looked at it. He turned the motor on to make sure it’s what it was. I said, “How long it’d take you to get one?” He said, “I’ll order one this afternoon and I probably hit it on a Friday so if have it Monday, only thing, if they’re gonna have it Friday, but I won’t be able to put it in 'till Monday or Tuesday and I’ll let you know which day it will be.” He came out here and did it. He laid me a bill here and I wrote him a check for a $100. American Home Shield was reliable because if I have problems, I call them. There’s Johnny on the spot who said, “We’ll take care of it now.” And he did look it up right there. Whenever I said pool, they went straight to the pool and got it.

We had an issue with a vendor that came out and did some bad work. They came out several times before they wound up replacing something. But AHS is prompt and it's great service. They have somebody there and they're Johnny-on-the-spot. They're a good company, quick and thorough with a good list of vendors. If it’s a very in-depth repair, just be prepared for more than one call if it’s not fixed correctly. That’s not the fault of American Home Shield but the vendor they send out because only so much is authorized each time.

My husband was home and explained to me that the contractors took out a small heating element, cleaned it with some sandpaper, and put it back in. They were there for less than 10 minutes and the claim was processed and completed in about 24 hours. It was successful. People got back to me right away. They were professional and they came out when they were supposed. Everything went well and we’re satisfied.

There was an issue with us more from a one-year to a two-year and that needed to be cancelled. Once we got that straightened out, the claim process took about two hours in total, including the waiting time before I got somebody on the phone. I thought we were gonna have to drop them, but it got worked out so we were able to retain our contract. We’ve been in the house about a year so this is our first winter and the first time that we’ve been using the heating, but so far, so good. We didn’t have a problem the rest of the winter. Overall, AHS was good and I would recommend them. I'm pleased with the service that we have and it’s scheduled to be renewed for another year on the 15th of the month.

Before that, my water heater was leaking and I called American Home Shield to get an appointment. The rep was very knowledgeable but that process actually took two weeks to be completed. The other part I didn’t like about that was I had a $925 out-of-pocket expense because my house was so old and my water heater was original. It had to be upgraded and a floodstop had to be put in. By the time they finished it, the modification to the pipes and all came out to be $925 out-of-pocket. That was not good. The warranty only covered certain things and the rest was left up to me. I could’ve asked for them to give me the check for the water heater and the labor, and then I could have found someone else to see if they could have done the work cheaper. But then that would have taken another seven days, so I had no choice while I’m leaking in the garage. I had to get it fixed right then.

The contractor wasn’t too bad. They were pretty professional. They explained to me what they had to do and the price quoted. They told me I had to pay $925 before they started work. Then they came in, took the old one out and did the modifications. However, they gave me a bigger tank. The pressure inside of the kitchen is not what it used to be. I don’t know if that’s coming from the city or have any direct correlation with the water heater. But it seems to be working okay and heats up fine. I just had to set the temperature all the way up on the new heater because for some reason it takes a little while for it to heat up and wouldn’t stay heated for a long period of time. Other than that, it seems to be working okay.

The only thing I didn’t like is for the City of Killeen, I had to get an inspector to come and inspect it. That was entailing the contractor to pull the permit. But when he pulled the permit, he did it around 3 o’clock the day he installed it and he said the inspector was gonna come out. So, I was waiting around for the inspector, who never showed. I thought they were gonna call and say they're coming the next day at a certain time but when I came home the next day, there was a sticker that said they came, I wasn't there and that I needed to pass something.

That was a Friday and I had to go down to the city to get the inspectors to come out the following Monday. They said that if the permit was pulled at 9, they would come out the same day. But if it was after 3, the contractors were supposed to leave my contact information so the inspectors can set it up. But none of that was explained to me. So, I had to go track them down to come out and inspect my house.

For the most part they have been very helpful and reliable. The only issues I have with them is local versus out-of-town repairmen. I live in Killeen but the people that they usually send live in Waco. That’s an hour away from where I live and I was wondering why is it that they don’t look at our zip code and figure that people in Killeen may be able to get a request in faster and they’d be able to come out. I could understand if Killeen is booked and we go to Waco and get the next best person. Or give us the opportunity if the person out of Waco can’t come in till two or three days, and I have an AC problem and it’s hot, why can't I switch to see if somebody in Killeen could come out earlier or find me somebody that can do it. That’s the only thing I don’t like about that because they say this is policy and they can’t change it. We go with who they pick.

At one time, I had a garage problem and I had to tell them not to send somebody from Waco. Their garage company is right in my neighborhood. So, I told them to get me a local garage company if I ever have a garage problem. Sometimes I make those requests. Other than that, I haven't had that many issues with them and I'm very pleased with the warranty. I’ve also had some good experiences where people will come out on time and get my stuff working. I wouldn’t have to wait too long.

I like that AHS stops to ask me quickly all through text and also sends some email telling me who the contractor is going to be. Today, I’ve been told the contractor is coming out to fix my air conditioner. The contractor texted me and asked what the problem is so that they can be prepared for it when they come. And they usually accommodate me in the late afternoon.

Also, we had a guy come out to work on our kitchen faucet and he just tightened it up. But it needed to be replaced because it wasn't flowing what we thought should be a sufficient amount of water pushing through it. I did the repair myself and to this day, I have half the water pressure that should be coming out. It takes about a minute and 33 seconds to a minute and 37 seconds to run the water through my kitchen sink. I'm not happy.

Lastly, American Home Shield dropped the ball on my refrigerator. I was told there was nothing that they could do. It took them four months to not fix my refrigerator and finally Whirlpool stepped up and they said because it's covered under the sealed unit, my refrigerator was fixed via Whirlpool as opposed to American Home Shield. I'm paying $75 a month for American Home Shield warranty services on my home, and so far they haven't fixed everything that they were supposed to. We had everything fixed by going through the manufacturers. We're looking at cancelling American Home Shield and going with another service.

8 days later they approved their contractor to compete the job. 4 days after that they confirmed they ordered the part. They stated it takes 3 to 5 business days to get the part. Upon arrival they will call to set up a install time but warned it could take several weeks due to the "busy season". It's now June 1 2017. The part was ordered 6 days ago. We still have no A/C and no idea where things stand. I estimate I've spent approximately 30 hours on the phone with AHS. The management/ leadership has compartmentalized decision makers making it impossible to escalate a complaint or repair. Each call requires you to start from the beginning. Not to mention the "authorization department" is terrible at documenting. I was ever advised by one person on the authorizations team that I would be better off just getting the repair done and paying for it myself.

I was told the wrong vendor was there and they were not authorized, and I would have to wait until another day because I contacted the vendor on my own. (I contacted no one on my own.) I communicated this several times and 2 of the 3 customer service reps were very short and did not listen to my situation, instead kept repeating information that was obvious to the situation. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that they couldn't help me. Was not impressed with the service and my $75 fee turned into $330 because parts were only covered at 15% and I had to pick up the rest, which I was ok with. What I wasn't was not getting the answers I needed or the service I would expect from an organization like this and having to take additional time off. I felt like I was being rushed off the phone.

The recent claim was about my air conditioner. It wouldn’t come on so I called AHS and they had someone call me within a day. It took two days for my air condition unit problem to be solved. My air condition unit is on the roof so the technician had to go on the back porch and would need an 8-foot ladder to get up to the top. The first technician that came didn't have a ladder so he promised that he'll send somebody with a ladder the next day. The second technician came with a ladder the next day so he went up there and solved the problem. After that, the unit performed great and working normally. I’m satisfied. They did their job and I will continue being a customer. I definitely will recommend them.

I called up American Home Shield and they said they can't change to another supplier. I can't change to another supplier once I was assigned to that person. I was gonna have to deal with it whatever that turns up. I'm not used to that. I normally get a change when I want to ask for one. In the past with American Home Shield, I've changed the supplier and there's no problem with it. Maybe they changed their policy to not allow that, and I didn't like that.

After discussing that with them and telling them how I dislike that, I hung up, and I called the plumbing company back up again. This time, they answered. They told me that the guy was coming at such time, and I said "Okay." The plumbing guy came out and he did an excellent job of fixing things quickly and efficiently. He's a good plumber and everything was perfect with him. The plumber didn't know about what the companies put out, and that was it. He left and I haven't heard anything since.

The only flaw was the air conditioning system which kinda bites. Our system was a $25,000 brand new set, but then the computer board went out. American Home Shield assigned a company to us but cancelled it the next day and I had no idea why. I called back and the rep said she would reschedule it but I never heard from them. When I called the company, they said it has been cancelled and was never reinstated. Then, we checked the policy. Our home has phase two air conditioning systems and they never explained that it's not covered when we took the files to be updated. They didn't give us any answers. They just said it's not covered. That was our major flaw with them. We would want that covered, especially in Texas. Other than that issue, American Home Shield is fairly decent.

Original Review: June 1, 2017

Short and simple they offer you a "Warranty" they hope you never use. Should you have to use it, they delay repairs and never follow up. The contractors they do send out do a "garbage" repair, just put a band-aid on it, and let it limp along. Short version is this: AC died before warranty expired. Paid a "tech" a $75 service fee to get an estimate instead of troubleshooting. The tech's first words were, "I hope you don't think they are going to replace your AC" eyeballed my unit and said, "Yup it's leaking coolant, it's too old, oh it was never installed correctly."

I live in Florida, AC is a must have in the summer. So for 2 weeks I went without while waiting for the tech to submit their troubleshooting repair. Only when I threatened legal action did a manager ever send a second tech who decided he was nice enough to put in a few pounds of free coolant. This lasted about 5 hours. AHS called the repair good (despite no leak being fixed) and instead of fighting with them over the phone I just paid for a whole new unit. If you are offered to buy a warranty for anyone or even asked to buy a warranty DO NOT DO IT. They don't honor the terms of the contract and do as little as possible. This company is a scam, they've been sued once for it. I can't wait for the next class action suit.

AHS wouldn't respond for hours when my sump pump went out one night and then when I called a plumber myself, they simply said no coverage. When my water heater started leaking, they claimed it was installed incorrectly when it was originally installed 18 years ago, 15 years before I bought the house, even though the plumber said it had reached the end of its service life. No coverage. When the pipe leading to the outside faucet sprung a leak, they said it was because of freezing and that was an exclusion. The plumber rolled his eyes and shook his head. No coverage. I asked him how much it would cost to repair and he said $285. I talked to AHS and they were more than happy to cancel my $55 per month charge rather than pay the $285 (Really $210 after my $75 fee).

I went to the Better Business Bureau site and saw they had a B rating (Why I didn't check this before, I don't know). I called the top rated company. They charged less per month, had a lower per visit fee, and allowed me to call any licensed contractor I want. They also had a solid 5-star rating on this site (AHS was 3.5). I signed up with them and cancelled my AHS account. They charged me $60+ to cancel, another $60 for the plumber who came (their cost) then tried to get me to pay a service fee from January that I already paid. I'm expecting them to bill me for the $75 fee for the visit today.

The previous company I had always made me feel like they were trying to solve my problem. I didn't always agree with their solutions (repairing a 30+ year old furnace one part at a time) but I never got the feeling they were looking for a way to get out of a claim. AHS left me with the feeling that they are simply looking for an exclusion, a technicality, an excuse first for every claim and are really just in the business of collecting money.

Second attempt to use AHS was to repair a leaky pipe located in the ceiling. They promptly serviced request, but left debris and a coat of grime on everything in the room, paid extra money to the vendor to have the pipe next to it replaced as well, only to find a leak in the same spot six month later. Due to repair we had to have the ceiling repainted. We called to report it and was told that there was nothing they could do. So what does that mean? We will be paying again out of pocket to have the issue diagnosed, fixed and have the ceiling repainted again. Wasted money and frustration, what's the point of having a home warranty that doesn't stand by its work.

According to AHS customer support "IT IS NOT OUR JOB TO ENSURE THAT THE AC WORKS JUST THAT WE REPLACE THE UNIT!" How about that! I now have an new AC unit sitting in my backyard. NO AC after 4 weeks. Let me remind you I have young children and an open electrical unit with pipes and cords sticking out of the wall however AHS considers this ticket closed!! As my husband and I are both veterans I am ashamed to say the title American Home Shield. It's not a Shield, it's FRAUD!!!! We have contacted BBB and are calling Attorney Generals Office tomorrow.

Original Review: June 1, 2017

Having an issue with dishwasher for a year. Repair technician sent by AHS gives a repair estimate for nearly a thousand dollars. Plus the dishwasher is now near unusable due to rust, unclean interior, etc. A health hazard. When I try to explain to customer service that it's better for both for us to replace, they just give different excuses. 'If it can be repaired, it will be repaired' on and on in a loop. Technician didn't send us an estimate etc etc. whereas I have the parts and repair receipt. One almost yelling at me 'So what do you want me to do?' CS has gone down the drain in recent months. And looking at recent reviews, it looks like a trend. They are rude, aggressive, unhelpful, no knowledge. Bad communication. Till end of last year, it was a total reverse, almost a pleasure to speak to. Bad management. How does it make sense to repair at almost double the cost of replacement.

The reason I got American Home Shield was my unit was old, and I felt like I was gonna pay for it every time. I understood American Home Shield was gonna keep fixing it as long as there are parts, and that was what was going on. I only would always call Air Supply because of Travis who had fixed the unit every time. The last two times they sent somebody, Travis didn’t work there anymore and that’s where we had our issue. That day that I had called, it was a return because the technician came out here for one second and didn’t fix it. He said there wasn’t anything wrong. As soon as he left, it was the same issue. When I called, she said, “Well, you told us that was a reclaim for the upstairs but really it was the downstairs.” I told her it was my fault and that I was sorry and she told me it's gonna be $75. I told her I'd pay it. I was triggered and also told her I felt like I didn’t have that conversation with her. I got mad at the end and cussed her.

I told American Home Shield that Air Supply wouldn't come and service my AC unit and they were very nice about it and said they were sorry. They directed me to another person with R.E. Graves who was local in my area. Everything was fine and my air conditioning unit upstairs has been fixed but I have no heat. The technician from R.E. Graves had to re-route it. So I'm in the process of getting prices because I can't keep dealing with it. I feel like I had to call about it a lot and it was $75 here, $75 there. Nonetheless, I'm happy with American Home Shield. I've had decent luck with them and that's why I've stayed. When I called, they answered the phone right away and were very helpful. They’ve done pretty good on me and they’ve steered me in the direction where I needed to go to get things done.

Not to mention that I have had to get my ice maker fixed 3 times (still not working), and all they will do is simply place a reorder on my behalf instead of sending a new contractor since the existing one clearly isn't completing the required job. If someone was paying you, wouldn't you want them to receive the best service? Unfortunately I am currently stuck with them, but will be telling my friends, family and anyone who will listen to avoid them and their lack of customer advocacy.

This is insane, that is the contractor's job! They also want me to pay $75 for the service call. I absolutely refuse to do this since they sent me someone who completely wanted to take advantage of me. I am so upset with this company who has the worst customer service I have ever encountered. Do not go with this home warranty company whatever you do!

Original Review: May 31, 2017

Horrible! Our central AC stopped working so we called and submitted a claim. The company never called to schedule repair and when I called I was put on hold for 40 min before I hung up. I called AHS again and they transferred the repair to a different company. The AHS rep told me they would repair it the next morning. Fast forward to the next morning and when no one showed up I called company #2 and I wasn't on any of their schedules. This is not the way to do business.

I've been living in a house for 4 days and counting with no air in the SC heat. I had to get a portable AC to try and keep the inside temp of my house below 90. In the time since the AC stopped working I could've had 10 companies here to fix it! The AHS reps are quick to remind me that they are operating within the "time frame on our contract". Easy for them to say I guess. Long story short, if you don't mind wasting $700 on a warranty and don't mind waiting around for someone shady business (company #1 had a D rating) to roll around and "fix" your problem then sign up for this warranty.