American Home Shield Reviews

I've had two other companies that I paid to diagnose the problem and was told that the "maintenance" issues had nothing to do with it not working, but the units being mismatched was a problem. I filed a complaint with the BBB and they responded to them that if the units were mismatched, they would not have been covered, but they have been servicing (or pretending to for 4 years) the unit. I just think that AHS are con artists. The rates are extremely high now, $50/month and $75/service fee, and they still don't fix anything. Now I've had to pay over $7,000 to have the whole thing replaced and feel that they should reimburse me. I am totally dissatisfied!

American Home Shield will not send out another contractor to confirm that a pan is what is needed. American Home Shield has taken my fees for over 12 years and has banked a lot of money over the years and has only offered me $125.00 for the week without A/C so I can go out and buy a window unit or more fans. My house doesn't have windows to accommodate a window unit. I was on hold the first time for over 15 minutes and someone picked up the phone and hung it back up. I had to call again only to be on hold for another 15 minutes. I asked for a supervisor and was disconnected again. However, that rep named Randy did call me back and put me on with Delores who would not send out another company for a second opinion or try to find the part with another vendor so I could have A/C quicker. I've only used AHS for minor repairs in the past, but I will definitely choose to look into another company.

Also, I paid $1500 out of my pocket for a new furnace. They said they would only pay $200! It took 3 days to get a new one. I live in Wisconsin! Winters are very cold and I have children. I asked about a hotel or some heaters. They said, "Not our problem!" Really, what good is a contract if you're not going to fix anything? Waste of money that I could have saved!

We got a call from AHS today telling us that we have been denied coverage. The person was nasty and rude, and took about one hour to actually answer the call. Since we told the repairman that we don't have a dog, he changed his tune and wrote that we have our sprinkler aimed directly at the A/C unit and it caused corrosion. My husband asked how he could have known that since the serviceman's visit was at 6 pm and the sprinklers go on at 5 am. No response. We began reading the comments online about the scam AHS uses to deny coverage to customers. I have been a customer for approximately 18 years. I have had some small issues in the past, but this is the first time I have a costly item that needs to be replaced. Stay away from this company and read the reviews!

At that point, American Home Shield called Piedmont Mechanical to come back out on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 to assess the problem again only this time, the tech decided to open the unit and discovered the entire unit need to be replaced. It took American Home Shield 24 hours to approve for a new air conditioning unit and ordered the unit Thursday. Still today, my unit has not been fixed and I have lived in my home for over 17 days without air with a temperature of 85-90 degrees in Atlanta, GA weather conditions. American Home Shield will not and cannot accommodate any urgency service and told me it was out of their control.

The other issue is I took a total of 4 days off thinking this matter will get resolved and now my job is on the line as I have no more days off to have this done. If only Piedmont Mechanical would have done the job right in the first place, I would not have had such a negative customer experience. The worst part is there is nothing I can do as a customer to be compensated for such inconvenience and right now, I have a headache and not feeling well and still no air in my home. It should not take 15 plus days for an air conditioning unit to be replaced. This is the worst customer experience I have ever had. I have several friends who have American Home Shield and they are ready to cancel.

He told me he would try to contact AHS later this afternoon to let them know. When I contacted AHS and tried to get a new plumber to come and do the work, they told me they had to wait for him to call them before re-assigning the ticket. They said they would not transfer it to another company until the first one admitted they would not repair the problem. They also stated they were still going to pay the technician for the service call in spite of the fact he told me he could not fix the problem before he even looked at it.

Even though I have already waited a week and he told me he would "try to call them in a few hours,” AHS will not do anything to get my issues fixed even though I have already had to take a day off work to wait for this guy. I am now at the mercy of AHS yet again because they hire incompetent companies that are not capable of doing the repairs for which they have been dispatched. It sounds like I will probably have to call someone and pay for the full amount out of pocket.

Two weeks ago, my tenant called about the AC unit upstairs not cooling. I placed a service request with AHS. Five days later, a tech called my tenant to schedule. When he came out, he diagnosed the problem and phoned AHS with his quote. When the service company did not show back up to do the work, my tenant called to see what the issue was and she was told that AHS denied his request and cancelled his work order, never notifying myself or my tenant. When I called again, the problem was dispatched again. This time, it took 4 days to get a response. The tech came out and basically did a patch job instead of fixing the initial problem. I am not planning to renew my contract with AHS this year after 5 years of being a customer due to the poor service and communication. I do not recommend this company.

My toilet backed up and the guy can't find my main clean out. He said I had to install at over $1,000. I called a competent guy and he found and resolved my problem. Of course, I had to pay my $65 service fee and the new guy. This was Friday, I ended up having to stay at a hotel for 2 nights at another $250 as apparently a toilet isn't a necessity for AHS, which is really surprising as the all full of crap!

Last Friday, I have a water heater problem, no issue as long as I didn’t need hot water for more than 3 days, Tuesday before it is resolved. I asked them why I have no email confirmation and asked to re-email the confirmation. Monica ** in Tennessee, a supervisor, told me she isn't "required" to resend. I found out they average the charges from the service provides and lowest average gets the calls. So the guy who does the least to fix something is rewarded with more business. What a waste of money and I feel foolish they have taken me for many years.

Now, we decided that we don’t want to have this insurance anymore. I called to cancel. That was in February. The service rep did not cancel the existing contract. He only cancelled the new contract as of May 5th. I noticed the charge on my credit card and called them again. They said that they have to listen to the call to ensure that I really wanted to cancel both contracts and they will contact me again. Of course, I am now in the same situation as I was at the beginning. Nobody ever called me back. I am so angry with this company. What a hoax. People should be aware of these practices. I just hope that the contract is over in May and that I really don’t have to ever deal with them again. How they can be still in business is a big mystery to me.

I finally found the leak on the back of an exposed PVC pipe and made the repair. It was simple and should have been an easy fix. Do not ever buy a warranty from this company. You will regret the money you dumped into this company. Put your funds in a savings account and pay for your own service. They are a racket and inscrutable. I cannot tell you how far you should stay away from AHS. We are cancelling our warranty as well as the one on our primary residence. They have lost 2 home warranties and we will share our experiences with as many people who will listen! After posting this review on AHS, I will be surprised if this review makes it on their website.

The part was installed, but it's still not working. The tech came out again and said the gas control valve was bad. Then I waited a week for part to come out, and he came and installed it. It is worse now. He said a supervisor needs to come and that it will take a week for him to come out and probably need to order another part which will take another week.

They put in an order for a new water heater, but AHS denied it. So now, they're playing around with me, my time, and the water heater. Bottom line is there's still no hot water. This is ridiculous. We called multiple times to complain to AHS, but everybody is so rude, unhelpful, and disrespectful. They shouted, wouldn't allow me to speak, and refused to help. I have hired a lawyer to help me resolve this issue.

Apparently, they will look within a 25-mile range for a company. There is only one HVAC AHS-approved company where the property is located, and the closest company is approximately 30 miles away. As of today, April 9, 2012, I still do not have any heat in this house. I have been a customer with AHS since 1998, and I can definitely say the service AHS gives to their customers is really bad the last couple of years. I'm thinking of not renewing my policy when it is due.

Now, on March 23 2012, I actually had AHS to order me a new dishwasher due to this one is un-repairable. They ordered the dishwasher and told me 5-7 days. I called today 04/02/2012 and they told me it was on back order that it will be an additional 3-5 days. They stated it was on back order when I ordered it but no one ever told me. It’s been almost 2 months of washing dishes. I have not yet dealt with AHS for repairs prior and I have had this contract for years. The first time I use them, I get the worst treatment and service.

I ended up going to Home Depot and purchasing an electric 25 ft. to 30 ft. sewer line rod. I cleared my own line in 15 minutes. The device cost me $149.00. No one should join service with AHS. Use another home warranty provider. This is the 6th time AHS has not helped me. I had to clean my own dishwasher, fixed my own dryer, and I even purchased a new dishwasher (again) after paying $60.00 for AHS service. AHS has cost me $360.00 for someone to come out and say they can not work on my issue. Add another $60.00 for them fixing my fridge one time. Now, my AC is on the brink and I can not even submit a request for service.

We called our air conditioning person out who installed a new condenser at cost for us so that I could have air. He only charges me $600. My husband faxed a copy to their office as they requested and we never heard from them. I wrote a letter to their main office and explained all of this and after a month or so, someone named Cindy called me and left a message stating they never received the invoice. We could not locate our original invoice so we contacted our repair person and got a copy. The writing was very light so I called Cindy back to get an address to mail this to. Of course, she never answered her phone out of the 20 some times that I called her and she would only call my home number during working hours knowing we would not answer the phone because we too were at work and she would say this is Cindy returning your call. It was all a game to her. I called her from work at all hours of the day, but she never once answered her phone.

We saved them a lot of money and still they will not honor this claim. I hear there is a class action lawsuit against this company for just this same stuff. It has almost been one year and we still have not gotten our money back and now it looks as though we never will. I did turn in a report to the state insurance board and the BBB. Some people go to jail for Ponzi schemes, isn't this pretty much the same thing? They are taking money with the promise of something in return, but the only thing we are getting in return is aggravation. Can't something be done?

We have requested a cancellation of the said policy and full refund. So far, there is no response. The previous owners paid $400 and we paid $50 additional for supposed better coverage. This business is a total scam.

The city code inspector went to check the home and found that the electrical outlets are not working, and a faulty switch breaker. That is completely the opposite of what the AHS contractor had said. I do not trust this company at all or their contractors. I am requesting that those outlets to be repaired as well as the switch breaker. I will be filing this complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I do not recommend this company to anyone and will not renew the insurance policy with them. It was a big mistake to get this insurance since they tell you that they will fix anything till you buy it, and then good luck trying to make them do repair service!

I had open claims regarding a leaking on my garage with American Home Shield in many different occasions, but instead of them correcting the problem they just place parts that never stop the internal leaking. Therefore, now I'm facing over $3,000 in damage, including the replacement of the unit for which American Home Shield doesn’t even want to cover the full amount. We (me and my family) had to spend two weeks in the hotel until the repairs are done in my garage and in the house.

When the renewal came due in September, I decided I wanted nothing to do with AHS and I never renewed. AHS kept calling and sending emails asking me to come back. By approximately March, I decided to give them one more try and I sent in the payment. Keep in mind my contract had already been cancelled. Well, they decided to to make my contract effective from September instead of March when I restarted the contract! At that point, I said to them that I wanted my money back. To this day—about 10 years later—they have yet to pay me. Not only that, but they have also sent my account to a collection agency! I filed a formal complaint with Consumer Affairs. But let's face it, that's the state. Ain't nothing ever going to happen. Do not fall in the trap. AHS should be shut down for good.

But today the worker came out, and the temps were good. So AHS said do nothing for them and leave. Also, my stove hood is broken. They send 2 people out here to look at it, and now, they are saying they need 3 to 5 days to look for parts. Why is it so when the other people said it needs to be replaced? In 2010, they sent a fan repair person out. He wired the fans wrong, and he never came back to fix it. So finally, I had to call another repair person and pay the $60.00 again. I can tell you they are not getting my good rating until they fix these issues mentioned above.

I was advised that service provider would call. When they finally did call, they advised it was after hours and not an emergency and they would come out on Tuesday to assess the system. I had to move my elderly grandmother to a hotel for four days until they would come and service the heating system. The second case was my stand alone freezer. When I called for service I was advised that I didn't have coverage for a standalone freezer. I explained that I purchased a warranty for this property and was told that “all appliances" at this insured property were covered. Then when I have a service call they are now saying it only covers what a "standard" home would have, one refrigerator, one microwave, one dishwasher etc. I have two full kitchens and was never told that the warranty only covers one kitchen. I was told it covers "all appliances in the insured property".

I advised them that they were no longer authorized to deduct warranty payments, and they told me I would have to call some other number in order to cancel payments. AHS does not service their contracts, their sales people misinform and mislead customers into believing that their appliances are covered for 24/7 service and that all appliances in the house are covered, until you try to call for service.

Finally, the Sears serviceman arrived and installed the parts. The washer worked for about 10 loads, but it is now doing the same thing it was before the parts were installed. I can't get a service person to come back for the recall and American Home Shield doesn't care! I have made about 6 phone calls to the company and all they do is pass the buck onto another person! I am very angry at this point and want to warn other people about this company!

I even spoke to a supervisor, and each time they said, they don't handle that department and there was nothing they could do! This has been going on for over a month, and I am documenting the date and the time. I still have had no luck! This is so wrong! I've asked if there was a website or another number I could try, and the supervisor said no. I am not sure what I can do! Does anybody have any ideas! Help!

March 4th, I called again and got told that AHS would call and get a status update and call back within two hours. No calls. I called and was told that the company would be calling me and making arrangements. I got no calls but called them and no answer from them so I called AHS and explained no answer from the vendor. They said, "We will call you in two hours." I spoke to a supervisor and explained the situation, "We're sorry, sir. We will call you in two hours." No call. Monday, I called and explained that due to AHS and their vendor not servicing the problem in a timely manner that the sheet rock on the ceiling was coming down from the water leak. AHS responded, "We are sorry, sir. We do not cover secondary damages." If they would have serviced the issue in a timely manner, we would not have secondary damages. I have had enough of AHS and their in ability to service the customer which causes further damages to the home. An emergency work order is just that, an emergency. Please spread the word that AHS is nothing but a scam and is nothing but a money theft ring. I will be calling the Georgia Department of Insurance Commissioner and filing a formal complaint.

I didn't notice a problem until Oct. 2010 when my contract would automatically renew, when my bank statement showed two payments were withdrawn. I contacted them, with profuse apologies they agreed not to charge me again until the next payment in Dec. 2010. But they never explained what happened.

Fast forward to Oct. 2011, at this time, they did the same exact thing, two withdrawals in one month, six days apart. Because I run a very tight budget, this time, it threw me into an overdraft, since both payments bounced. My bank charged me $60.00 in NSF fees. I wanted to know how this happened again. It seems my actual contract renewed on Oct. 22nd, but they took a payment on the 15th and again on the 22nd. So they blamed me. I thought when they agreed to move the withdrawal date to the 15th, that meant my contact date would also be moved. But, no, it stayed the same, so that every Oct. they would take two payments and had I not requested for my contract to bill on the 15th, there would be no problem.

I still don't understand this business practice, but I told them I expected them to return my second payment and reimburse the NSF fees. Six different "customer care specialists", which included the department supervisor, agreed. I did receive a check for the second payment. But I continued to go back and forth with only getting excuses.

After fighting with them until Jan. 2012, I finally realized it wasn't going to happen and I would just forget about it. So luck would have it, the very next day, I received a notice in the mail announcing a class action law suit against and I was eligible to participate. If any of you folks are interested to file a claim, go to ** and follow the directions. After seeing how many complaints were voiced, these folks need to be run out of business. If they would do this to an elderly, disabled person, they'd do it to anybody.

Somehow, they still do not have your cancellation request, and therefore the bill will still continue coming to your address. You will get the invoices for 2-3 cycles, threatening to report to a national collection agency, if invoices are not paid. It has been a nightmare to cancel a contract, or have them remove your credit card information from their file. Good luck. I would never recommend them for the aggravation I have been through, just for them to simply remove my credit card information, and cancel my contract. They do not even acknowledge your written request, and they do not send confirmation of cancellation over the email, in contrast to the enrollment procedure, which takes place in just a few minutes, and everything is done electronically.

This is horrible customer service. This repair should and could have been completed within a few days. Both the contractor & American Home Shield are unapologetic and unwilling to obtain the parts from the online vendor that I found. Do not use American Home Shield!

Furthermore, the leader was downright rude, ineffective and not service minded. The part was not replaced until Wednesday after many phone calls by my self. Our house was not far from freezing levels at that time point. Despite that I called AHS several times and AHS was not able or willing to push the contractors to do their job! If AHS had done so, they could have had the part in by Monday evening! I would have organized this better myself. This is not what I expect from professionals. Thus, I simply end my contract with AHS. And I strongly recommend AHS to find another contractor for A/C in Savannah, GA!

I called AHS and told them this information. My plumber also called them and spent an hour on the phone with them trying to make them understand the danger this posed to my home and health. He also submitted an estimate. I was told by rep that I would need a second opinion. I agreed to that. She told me she would have to locate a plumber to come out. She actually found someone then. So this guy, Larry, comes out, looks under my house and runs a snake out toward the road. What he pulls out may or may not be a small piece of clay pipe, definitely not roots. He tells me my line is clear and if there is a breakage it should be fine because of the soil around it... really?

I called my original plumber to tell him that they had fixed it and that it was just a stoppage. He tells me, no. There are multiple breaks under your house and you are at risk. The second plumber will need to run a camera under the house to see it, not just shine a flashlight. Here is a quote from my plumber" Had a Customer in Rockdale call about a stoppage. Upon arrival, I checked under his house to find raw sewage in a couple of major areas. His buried sewer line under the house was cast iron and falling apart due to "Normal wear". Suggested he call his warranty company that he has been paying since he bought his home 15 years ago. They asked me to give them an Estimate on required repairs. I gave them a very low price to replace. They told me they were going to get another quote (normal practice by Insurance Co's). This was not a problem because the Home Owner's other bathroom was working fine. American Home Shield (AHS) called a Plumbing Company (out of College Sta.) to unclog his sewer and paid him $300? Now he has City Sewer Gas in his house! This is a dangerous situation. Methane is odorless, explosive not to mention Deadly.

The Plumber only unclogged the line and made no repairs because "That is all they were called out to do by AHS" The Tub/Shower can not be used or water will run out on to the ground under his house. Keep in mind, the home owner originally wanted me to unclog his sewer... until I explained that he would need the Sewer replaced immediately afterwards due to the breaks in his line (Both, above and below ground...and all under his house). That is when he requested me to call AHS. Comes now, AHS is refusing to pay for any more work. Simply because they claim he had a stoppage and now it is fixed? My customer of several years is beside himself as to what to do!"

I called the second plumber and asked him what he was paid to do at my house. Was it for a second opinion? He got loud and angry fast and told me he was paid to fix a stoppage which he did. I agreed that he did fix the stoppage. But what about the break in my line? He got more angry and stated that "I was paid to come out, that there was a stopped up line not about a breakage and AHS told they are not going to fix it. It is over, I was not sent to fix a busted line under your house" and we exchanged strong opinions over the matter.

I called AHS and was told by yet another rep that the stoppage was fixed and the case is closed. After reviewing my contract, I called again to report a new problem... a break in my line. I was told they'd need to send someone out to check. I told them not to send Larry but then was told that he was the only one they would send or I could pay to have one of my own. So I agreed to have him come back out but this time to look for a break in the line under my house. Did he? No, he promptly told them that the breakage was outside out my home's foundation and there were roots in the line... two thing AHS doesn't cover, mind you, this was after I called him and asked him what he was paid to do. So I get call from AHS and spoke to a rep who said, and I quote,"We will not honor our warranty until you fix the main line breakage." This is not in my contract. No where does it state that repairs must be made anywhere on my property before they will honor their warranty. Be sure to note that they were involved in a class action lawsuit settlement for breech of contract. The litigation is about not making repairs and replacement per the contract. As it stands I still have a breakage and a lake of raw sewage under my home.

AHS approved the work. However, I was left with a 3' x 4' hole in my drywall. AHS approved the repair of the drywall. However, they will not pay for the removal of the water heater, so the drywall guy can do what he does. I have to pay $100 to have the water heater removed. This is something that was caused by faulty work of an AHS-approved tech which is now my responsibility. By the way, I've been an AHS customer for 13 years. Somehow this doesn't seem right.

Then I called for an electrician to check a floor electrical outlet. After not being contacted for a week, I went online and put in a request. 4 days later, I called and was told they had no record. The electrician came out did not bring a tracer to locate the line in the floor and proceeded to take every out and light switch apart. I was left with a broken switch plate, plaster all over and pool lights that no longer worked.

I called the next morning and told the company that he had all the light switches exposed and was checking them. When he replace the cover and put them back the pool light did not work and was concerned that I had a hot line exposed in the wall. The electric company did not call back and I called at 4pm. After being treated rudely by that firm, I called AHS and was treated again rudely. My contract comes up in April and I will not renew. Customer service is not what they have in mind.

After going through AHS, he agreed to come back out, but he never showed up! AHS transferred the ticket to Sears. The first tech had to order parts again, while the second tech couldn't complete the job because he said the first tech should have known to order special screws.

Today, February 21, the 3rd tech from Sears came to install the screws only to find out that the 2nd tech only ordered 1 of 4 screws. I just spoke with Brandy, a supervisor with AHS, and she said human errors occur! Last week, AHS sent me a debit card to use for my next service call, go figure!

These two companies are the worst, most disreputable, unscrupulous, inept and incompetent businesses that I have ever encountered. They should not be allowed to do business, period. Now, I will become engaged in World War III over this charge, which the inspector said was bogus and that there was no reason, whatsoever, for for them to assess any charges. When I began the coverage with AHS, they said that there was a monthly fee, and that I would pay a service charge.

Never, never, never never, never, never use American Home Shield or their contractors. They are predators of the worst kind. Is it apparent that I am infuriated?

The next day, I receive a call from AHS saying that they will not pay for anything because it was my mistake to overload the washer. I said that I did not overload the washer and they said that this was what the technician told them. He didn't mention anything about overloading to me the day before and when I called his company, they were very rude and said that he doesn't have to communicate with me.

I will file reports about both these companies, AHS and Factory Service Appliance Repair. Something is definitely wrong here. They seem to work together in ripping people off! It looks like AHS's company policy is to not allow anything major to be fixed.

And in addition to it all, I am a real estate broker in two states and have sold 100's of your worthless warranties (which is of no personal benefit to me). As of yesterday, I removed all mention of your product from my website. I have also called all clients that are closing on their homes this month that neither I nor the seller was going to pay for an AHS warranty and revealed to them that I cannot in good conscience ever promote your product again.

Because of AHS sending an incompetent contractor to my home to repair an active leak under my home, he ,in fact, did not repair it, but we didn't know that until weeks later. I am now faced with moisture damage, standing water under my home and as I type for you, I have no water because we were forced to shut it off only turning it on to bath, and use the bathroom.

I will make it a priority to warn everyone I can, by email, internet or any other means what kind of business you actually run. I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I will be speaking and this will be one of my subjects. As a senior broker, I will warn all of my colleagues about promoting your product as well. At the end of the day, as a business you will be exposed for who you really are.

Their technician came and did not do nothing, and they charged me $60 and wanted the gas on to do diagnosis. I informed them it can't be connected due to fire hazard as the heater was bad and they have to shut it off. Also, I complained a lot to them, and I suggested if they insist to reconnect the gas, they have to be fully responsible for any accident that can happen. This is based on the gas company recommendation.

This company has violated and breached their contract agreement. It's an untrusted company, and unfortunately, I discovered a lot of bad reviews on them and directed to your site, hoping we can protect other people from misleading contracts and bad faith promises.

Due to the delay in getting things done it also cost us an additional $175 in wasted utilities. Next, we called because our stove top was not working. They said they would have someone out to look at it. No one ever came out or called. We ended up fixing it ourselves. Last of all we called them about another plumbing problem with a clogged drain. They sent out the same plumbing company. AHS said that clogs are covered; however, this clog is in the wall and so that was not covered. So all in all, they covered nothing, gave us the run-a-round and ended up costing us a lot of extra money. This company is a scam.

I called AHS and explained what happened. She just wanted to call Sears and reschedule the repair. I live in a rural community that is 93 miles from where the repair tech comes from. I told her I did not want to take more time off work and I asked for an outside authorization so I could get my washer repaired by someone here in my town (which I have done before) and I was told that because Sears is available to repair my machine, I could not have an outside authorization.

I am not happy at all that I took time away from my job with no pay so I could sit at home and wait for someone who not only did not show up, but no one from Sears even called me to tell me that they could not fix it today. I am also not happy that AHS was not more accommodating to me (the customer) so I would not have to take more time off work on another day. I would have to wait another week to get my washer fixed because Sears only comes to my town on Mondays. I requested a phone number for their discontinue department so I can discontinue my account with them. If they are not willing to accommodate their customers, I don't need their insurance.

When I got home about 8:00 PM, my spare bedroom carpet that butts up to the garage wall, was soaked! The water had even gone into the next bedroom. I immediately called AHS, and they told me I still had to wait for the plumber, who was scheduled to come on Tuesday, between 4:00 and 6:00, and that they were very sorry, but AHS does not cover secondary damage anyway! I would not have had any other damage, had a plumber arrived on Monday morning! Needless to say, I called a different plumber who came out immediately on Tuesday morning, and replaced the heater, and told me what I should have done to avoid the leak into my bedroom.

I have now spent $1,400 for a new water heater, and $1,500 to dry the carpet, etc., in 2 bedrooms. AHS couldn't have cared less. They told me they handled my problem as an emergency, and that they only had to have a plumber out within 24 business hours to be within the guidelines of the contract. Of course, I am cancelling my contract, as soon as I can talk to a representative. Good luck getting through on the phone. I had been warned about this company and failed to follow my friend's advice. Do not use this company. They do not care about the customer, and their contract is totally one-sided. I wish I had read these complaints before signing up again with this company.

Their choice was they would give me the cost of the part $113.00 to buy a new machine or they could try fixing it again. I had to put new carpeting in my home because of the two floodings. I do not feel confident that the problem is going to be resolved. This is nothing new with AHS. Every time you call to see if something is covered, the answer is always no. This company needs to be investigated for business ethics. They are a disgrace!

My first call to AHS was on 9/11 for my refrigerator/freezer (I have a size by size). It was not staying cold. I called to request service for my refrigerator/freezer that was not freezing or staying cold. You have a 48-hour window for the contractor to call you to setup an appointment. Well, I always have to call AHS back to get the contractor to come out. AHS would have to call them to see when they would be available. AHS would come back with an appointment within a week or a week and half before anyone would be available. I would say you only have one company that service the District of Columbia area. I have not had any cold food in my refrigerator since 9/11. Thank God for winter because I have been putting my food outside to keep cold; this is inaccessible.

AHS is very disingenuous. When I initially called for a repairman they send out the same personality tech but different company. Before the tech left he would be told that refrigerator is not working; that did not matter and he left anyway. AHS customer service employees are programmed to say “I am sorry.” Whenever you spoke with a lead person you get the same attitude, “I am sorry.” You get tired of hearing “I am sorry” when you know they are lying. I could go on the unacceptable service I have received from AHS but this complaint would turn into a book. But I have given you enough to never use their services. Someone needs to make them go out of business because they are taking undeserved money from honesty people.

Just a note: The persons I have spoken with were less concerned if my refrigerator/freezer got fixed. I would suggest that you never contract with AHS!

Ha, that's a joke! The original plumbing company has yet to contact us, and neither has AHS! This has been two weeks going on three weeks now. AHS did, however, call to offer us $90.00 to fix our ceiling! They stated that they could not find a contractor to come and fix it. I told them no, that the plumbing issue had not been fixed, and that they needed to continue to look for someone. What makes me think that I can patch my own ceiling with $90.00 if they can’t find a contractor to do it for that price? Hence, I sit here with no shower; thank goodness we have a second one to use! Calls to American Home Shield get me nowhere. And calls to the original plumbing company Perfect Plumbing have not been returned. Contacting the first company that came out and identified the issue and most likely will have to pay out of pocket, which is sure that's what they want at this point.

The company informed me they would not call or speak to AHS as they were not allowed to. I called AHS at noon and informed them that I had found a company that was willing to come to my aid, but the company would not contact AHS. AHS told me they would not be able to reimburse me for this service since the agent of my company would not speak to them. AHS was unable to provide me either reimbursement for the service nor provide me with a refund of my insurance premiums. They failed to provide the advertised service, which was to get my heater repaired. They also failed to provide a refund.

The final conclusion is that they don't cover the access. After several weeks of hearing nothing, no call back from the plumber. Not to mention, I was denied the use of another company despite the fact that I have complained in the past about the Aaron Plumbing. Never hire this guy unless you just want him to mop up a water link. He provides inadequate services, slow to response and totally unreliable.

I don't feel AHS fulfilled their contractual obligations. I believe that in the beginning of contract all is well and good work. Once you renew your contract or a job cost extends a threshold, you will have problems having the repair done. I believe this amount is the based on the amount you pay for the warranty. I am disappointed and they were not willing to correctly rectify the issue but I was expected to only accept what they were willing to give me. No true customer service or accommodation, not to mention the surveys they email you regarding the contractor. They are aware of the poor quality of the contractor but continue to force them on you. Finally, the issue with available contractors with living in a city as large as Chicago. Not having more then one contractor option is ludicrous.

I had to hire another plumber to get the work done. AHS only offered cash out of $300 after I have the work done and send them a bill. By the way, the $300 is what Aaron Plumbing would have charged minus his initial charge for accessing the problem and the service fee (deductible) that I would have paid if he did the work. Bear in mind Arron Plumbing never contacted me once. He made the initial visit over three weeks prior. I never heard back from him once he told me he would call and setup a time to complete the work. I never heard back from him or AHS.

In early fall we discovered that one of the heat pumps wasn't providing heat. We called AHS. An HVAC technician was dispatched and arrived in good time. He quickly identified the problem, told us he would order the part, and that his office would call to schedule installation. We waited a week without hearing and called AHS to find out what was going on. AHS called us back and said the contractor would call us to schedule the repair. Two more days passed and we called the contractor directly.

The contractor told us the technician was no longer with the company and they'd send another technician out as soon as possible. Two days later, two technicians showed up--but without the part that was supposed to be installed. They spent a long time up on the roof with the unit and subsequently advised us that a part was missing from the unit. We subsequently received a call from AHS denying the repair since it was contractually excluded. The AHS contract did contain a provision excluding repairs when there was a missing part. Since the AC worked and heat is only needed occasionally in our climate, we decided to postpone a decision to replace the unit.

The next spring we were surprised to discover that the AC on the same unit was not working. Since the AC had worked perfectly the previous summer, we called AHS to have it checked out. The technician who was dispatched by AHS turned out to be the same technician who had worked on the AC the prior summer. After inspecting the unit he told us that he couldn't get the AC to work because a part was missing from the unit. We asked how that could be possible since the AC worked perfectly the prior summer. The technician said it was very suspicious since he would have noticed a missing part before. He suggested we file a complaint with AHS.

Full circle. Now we had a unit that suddenly had a missing part and wouldn't provide either heat or AC. We filed a complaint with AHS, alleging fraud. The missing part clearly had been removed, either by the technician who mysteriously left the company or by the two subsequent technicians, so that AHS could deny the repair. But we had no concrete proof since neither of us had climbed up on the roof to personally supervise the technicians. AHS advised that we look to the contractor for any remedy.

Since our AHS contract was due to expire, we did not renew. However, before we purchased a new unit, we wanted a second opinion. We asked our handyman if he knew anyone reliable who could take a look at the unit. He did. The guy came, diagnosed the AC problem, ordered and installed an inexpensive part, and recharged the freon. Voila! AC for a total cost of $100. Unfortunately, since the AC and heat functions are separate, our heat still doesn't work, and the missing part is no longer available because of the age of the unit. We now have to replace the entire unit if we want heat.

We called AHS back requesting a Wednesday service call. The Wednesday appointment was set for a 3 to 6 pm window. No call, no show until we received a call later that night at 8:30 pm from the contractor saying they would be at our home in 30 minutes. We were not home, so he had to reschedule for Thursday morning (9 to 11). Contractor came around 10:30 am on Thursday, assessed the water heater, and contacted AHS.

AHS would not replace the water heater because it had been disconnected and the contractor could not tell the reason for leak. I guess we needed to let all of the water just leak into the house until the 50 gallons was gone as long as the water heater stayed connected. The contractor said he could replace it if we liked, but it would cost us $1250. AHS has lost all integrity in our opinion. We have been loyal customers for years, but the last five years dealing with them have been horrible. Their customer satisfaction and appreciation has deteriorated greatly. Our $600 annual premium may only be a very small drop in their bucket, but we can at least give that to a company that has integrity and one we can trust. For a company that once was so great to be associated with, AHS is a tremendous disappointment.

When I called today, I was told that they had only two companies on record that service the area: one from Shelby (Sears, has deplorable service) could come out on January 4th and the other from Gastonia could come out on January 3. This was unsatisfactory to me, therefore, I asked them if they would call a local company that had serviced my washer a year ago but was told that the company was no longer on their list but since they could not get a service person to come out within the 48 hours as stated in their policy manual. I could request service from this company and pay them upfront and get reimbursed.

AHS is very disingenuous. When I initially called for a plumber, I requested my local plumber who was not on their contract list, however, they permitted me to give them his name and telephone number and they sent him out. Now, I am told I cannot do that and it has never been permitted. I have always had good service from the technicians because I only use my regular techs that I suggest to them. The one time that AHS sent out their tech, Sears, the service person arrived late, sat in the car after he arrived talking on his phone and was not able to service my stove on the spot. Had to come back several days later. When my service terminates in September 2012, I am not renewing.

Just a note. The person with whom I spoke with, initials PAM, could not have cared less if my refrigerator was leaking water on my hardwood floors and my food would ruin in seven days. I would suggest that you never contract with AHS!

The service company that came out did not have any knowledge of how the system is supposed to operate or how to repair. After notification of the service order submitted to AHS they tried to called other companies. Before accepting the appointments we called the companies and asked if they were familiar with the system.We found out that none of the companies technical representatives had no experience or knowledge of working with the system. It has taken several weeks of waiting and trying to get some results from AHS and no communication.

We decided to contact them and we were giving the run around from one department to another and no one could make any decision on what was going to take place. Finally, we contacted them again and we were told that they would pay us $1,500.00 toward the replacement of installing a new unit. The company we contacted ourselves, had an estimate submitted to us and the unit cost to replace is $3,875.00. I am not pleased with the results and expressed to the customer service person (Rae). This person had no other option to try and resolve the matter with a higher amount towards the cost of a replacement because they could repair.

Every contract holder is provided a copy of their policy and renewal information. If you are on an automatic payment/renewal option, it is the homeowner's responsibility to call about upcoming renewal. Letters by law are sent out prior to renewal of prices changes for premium and services fees, however, most homeowners do not bother to read this information only to later be stunned when they learn of a price increase. That is not the fault of the warranty company but a result of homeowner's laziness. Also, most homeowners do not realize they are responsible for routine maintenance too as part of their obligation of the contract. Non-emergency Service is provided in what is determined to be reasonable by the warranty company and typically within 2 business days (Monday-Friday) during the contractor's normal business hours (8-5).

Emergency service is provided within 24 hours. Emergency service however is typically confused of that of a health care setting which is not the same. Customers also tend to assume the warranty company is responsible for providing emergency generators, heaters, window, a/c units, cash, food, medicines, hotel stay or lost income. These are secondary losses which are the homeowner's responsibility and not liable by the warranty company as the warranty company did not cause the mechanical failure and only are responsible for cost for covered repairs. Also, homeowners get upset that an item fails at some point in the future. That is the entire point of having a warranty service. You can repair anything but it does not guarantee that it will not break down again in the future. Wear and tear continues even with new parts.

Most contracts include a maximum service repair work guarantee (see your particular contract for details). That brings up the next major issue. Denials. Homeowners too often assume that because they have a warranty, it will be fixed regardless. That is untrue. Contracts state the cost of covered repair issues will be paid if the failure is from normal wear and tear. Dropping heavy items on a glass service, pouring thick paint down your drains, failing to change filters (months after the filter is nasty and full of pet hair) or attempting to make your own repairs and failing and then calling your warranty company (mind you, these are just a tiny sampling of the causes of failure) are not normal wear and tear. Any licensed tech can tell the difference which is why the warranty will not accept a homeowner's diagnosis.

Homeowners do have the right to dispute and request a second opinion. If the denial is overturned by the second company's diagnosis opinion, the covered repair costs will be approved. Cancellation also don't take months either. 2 business days typically is the average (because calling, yelling at a CSR and saying cancel me and hanging up is not a legal cancellation request). Warranties have special departments that process cancellations and refunds are processed according to the cancellation terms as stated in the contract (which again, most don't bother to read and remain ignorant of their rights and responsibilities).

It was a waste of my time to be home all this time in vain without counting the time calling, holding the line and speaking to a million of employees. Yes, I recorded the name of each one and the date. Almost nobody returned the calls, neither supervisors nor regular employees. I was fuming the whole day on the phone. Now, I am in search of finding a good one which respects the contract and gives a good customer service answering the phone fast. Do you know one? I do not wish now to hire Global Home since I read the bad reviews.

I have requested for another service appointment on 12/14 and made sure that I was there to see what the technician will do but just the same, no tools. The technician simply ignited the equipment and left. He worked less than an hour and after that no hot water again until today 12/17. I made 2 more requests and I was told that the latest would be 12/19. I don't see the guarantee of peace of mind that they spoke about when I signed up. It was just one phone call and no hassle but it's winter and just imagine how hard it is not to have hot water.

Unfortunately, they collect $60 each time parts are ordered (so they tell me),and then days later, they'll tell you that the claim has been denied. They are nothing but a bunch of crooks. When you speak to the repair service, they tell you the service will be completed. This contract has cost over $500, and I have received nothing but aggravation, and time lost from my job. No repairs have been made, which included my water softener, two plugged drains, and two leaks. Everything has been denied, but they still got their $60. I want the trade service fee refunded to me. I also want all costs associated with this contract, since date of inception. Again, they are crooks!

AHS does not keep a repair department or an experienced parts department of their own. In both situations, you will end up relying upon the local contractor that has an agreement with AHS to provide service and or parts to repair your appliance, plumbing, HVAC system, etc. according to guidelines established by AHS. Those guidelines are set by actuarial tables based upon the age of your home, the listed appliances, and any previous records of repair from your policy or a policy that may have been in effect before you purchased a home.

I expect that realtors all over the country will contest. But the reality of the situation is that your realtor was "spiffed" or otherwise paid a commission to recommend that you accept a home warranty as a part of your purchase contract. In some cases, they receive an increased stipend when a home for sale has been "under policy" and the new owner continues the policy "in effect" at time of purchase. Please don't deny this tactic.

AHS is notorious for delayed, non-existent or inconsistent handling of the claims process. If the policy that you have purchased were sold and regulated by insurance commissioners in your state, then they would very likely be out of business.

If you do have a policy and you do have a claim, please be very consistent about documenting time of calls, exact descriptions of the problem, repairs that you are quoted to receive, and be certain that before you authorize repairs, that AHS has been contacted and approved your claim to the "authorized contractor".

Now the contract states that if your appliance cannot be fixed, they would replace it. I guess, they do not want to live up to their contract, what a disgrace! I refuse to call them again for the same issue or to pay any more money to AHS. I also had an issue with my range, and again nothing was done about it. I am finished with this company.

I am free from them at last. The little guy can do something and that's cancel your contracts and go elsewhere.

As a result, American Home Shield denied our claim. Our dishwasher is now very badly damaged and we must buy a new dishwasher and pay for our home warranty. We will cancel our home warranty immediately! We have only had the home warranty service for 20 days and payed $60 and $549 for no repair.

My pipe burst just the other day, November 12, 2011 and a technician came out but told me that I would have to take the wood off my house for him to get to the pipe because his company cannot be responsible for doing that and they would not replace it either. They also said that the work would not be covered under my warranty because it was not due to ‘wear and tear’. The plumbing company wanted me to sign the form and pay $60 service fee. They must be crazier that a dumb blonde wearing a red clown suit in a bull’s fight if they think I'm that stupid to pay for something that has not been fixed. Who's ready for a class action lawsuit against American Home Shield?

When the technician called in to AHS, their computers were "down" for an unknown amount of time. I called and specifically asked if we were going to have problems since AHS was having technical difficulties. They said no and to submit the claim. I sent in a claim and was denied because the vendor didn't call. AHS then says that they won't reimburse because they don't use that specific company. They are criminals.

I’ve been with this company for six years before I finally documented all their scam routines. When caught red handed at scam, their reply was to file a written letter to their headquarters back East knowing full well over 50% of most people will not follow through. No complaint department phone number to contact or to speak with. This is purposely done to discourage complaints. The Attorney General needs to look into this company that operates nationwide. Scam, scam, scam. Don't buy their sales pitch. You will seldom receive any coverage for service.

On Saturday Oct 15, 2011, the AHS vendor scheduled service between 8am and 12noon. I made more than five calls to inquire about the time of arrival. After calling both the vendor and AHS after 12:30pm to notify both about the repair personnel not showing up, I finally left my house to run errands at 1pm. The vendor called at 1:30pm to say that he was en route to my house. I told him that it would take at least twenty minutes for me to return to my house. The repairman agreed that if he arrived before I did, that he would wait. However, when I got to my house, he had left a post-it note saying that he had left at time: 1:45pm. On Monday, Oct 17, a vendor for furnace repair was scheduled to arrive between 8am and 1pm. The vendor was repeatedly (four times) called to confirm the arrival time. The vendor finally called after 11am to say that they would not be able to arrive until some time after 1pm. We rescheduled for the first appointment on Wednesday, Oct 19.

On Wednesday, we tried to reach the vendor three times in the morning, and they finally responded that the vendor would be there at 10:15am, even though they claimed at 8:30am that they were 30 minutes away. I called AHS at 1001 to register a complaint about the services, and told them to cancel my contract once the current month's payment period was over. AHS then called the vendor and told them that we had no contract and when the repairman arrived, he stated that we had no contract and sped off without confirming.

I was on the phone with AHS which stated that our contract was good until Nov 7, 2011, even if we decided to cancel that day. AHS offered no compensation, such as a refund for the monthly fee. I believe, I am due at least a refund of the monthly fee ($45.00), given that AHS services did not meet the outline in the contract. Further, I want a refund of the fee ($35.00) assessed for terminating the contract, given that their service is unacceptable and tremendously unsatisfactory.

Our refrigerator broke on Sept 25, 2011. We had to transfer all of our food to a neighbor's house so we didn't lose it. We have since been transferring enough food to make an occasional dinner, and have spent a small fortune eating out. My wife phoned and was told that a Sears repairman would be sent, but would not able to come until Oct 4 to look at it. After asking to look for our own repair person, we were denied and told under no terms that this was not considered an emergency. At that time, they told us that they would try and find someone else to come out and take a look. The repairmen showed up on Sept 28 and diagnosed the problem as a broken fan motor, but never contacted us back to let us know if they had the part, or when they would be back. After another phone call from my wife to the repair company, they said that they would be back to install the part on Thursday Oct 6. Sears would have already come out and probably had it fixed by that time.

We have since gone 17 days without a refrigerator. We had to purchase a mini refrigerator so that we could keep a small amount of food and drink available. This cost us $250, plus the $60 that we had to put out for the repair. It has also cost us a lot of money driving to pick up food for the evening. We signed with this insurance company to have our appliances covered in case of emergency, and to have them repaired in a timely manner. All we have at this point is a total fiasco. We have found the help desk people to be rude, and usually have to talk to a supervisor to get anything accomplished. Why are we paying good money for this? We have had people to the house on three occasions now, and they still cannot figure out what is wrong with the refrigerator. This is totally ridiculous, incompetent, and the service is almost non-existent. This has made our life a mini hell trying to feed the family, and keeping enough food around just to make sandwiches and have something to drink, let alone the time that has gone by with no satisfaction whatsoever. It has been nothing but a lot of stress and inconvenience. I expect we will be looking for a new refrigerator soon, as they can't seem to get this right. Had we just gone out and bought one in the first place this nightmare would be over.

I spoke with a another AHS rep in billing. I was told that I was being charged the service fee because nobody put anything in their notes. I asked to speak to a manager who basically just referred it over to another department so they can investigate the claim. It could take 2 weeks. Meanwhile, I am still on the hook for the $60 until they make a decision. They cannot even defer the due date on the fee, pending the outcome of the "investigation". So, I will be responsible for any late fees associated with the claim. Then, I asked the ultimate question: why is the handle not covered and why does AHS consider an oven door handle "cosmetic"? We are talking about an item that can reach temperature of 500 degrees. It hardly seems cosmetic. I was told that I should have checked my warranty and that no handles are covered. I was also told that she could appreciate my difference in opinion but AHS considers all handles cosmetic. I experienced all of this over a stinking door handle. The translation is regardless of what you do or say. You pay! I held off canceling until after the contractor was paid. But after this, I am done with them.

A few months ago, they decided to go up on my premium of $300 without my authorization. This caused an item to bounce in my checking account. I have been trying to get this resolved since September 9th. I called four times and have been on the phone at least 35 minutes each time only to hang up with merely a promise to have someone call me back.

Finally, today they tell me they don't know why this was done and put me on hold for about 20 minutes. I eventually rolled back to the main line and had to give them my info all over again. This happened 3 times in one 45-minute call. This isn't rocket science, I can't understand why they couldn't look in their system and fix the error.

I am extremely disappointed with the lack of customer service and consideration for my time. I cancelled my policy and will be writing a letter to their legal department requesting a refund in the amount totally the unauthorized increase.

I called AHS back on Saturday morning, after not hearing back from anyone, and beg to get someone to do something because we had no running water. Some "dude" came in (he looked like someone you would not let into your house) and he said that the only thing he can do at that point is to get the cold water running so at least we have running water at home.

AHS said that the water heater will be installed Monday. I called the company first thing Monday and was told that we are not on their service schedule for today. I called AHS and I was told that since it happened over the weekend, paper works needed to be done. They are just getting the service order started and most likely, the water heater will be installed tomorrow, Tuesday afternoon!

Finally, they came to replace the heater. I recently turned on my heat on October 1, 2011 to find it was blowing cold air. Trying to be optimistic, I ran my heat for a day thinking it had to warm up. I turned my thermostat up to 90 degrees for hours but my house's temperature stayed at 68 degrees. I called AHS, who said they would have to call the company back and I would have to pay the $60 for them to come back out and look at my furnace, although it was less than a year old. I spoke with Tonya and Aubrey who seemed uncaring and did not even respond to my concerns, except to say that there was nothing that they can do. Tonya even replied, "we are not even sure that your furnace is broken" after I told her I sat over my vent for 15 minutes and it blew cold air. Aubrey, who was a supervisor, got on the phone and said I had 60 days to report that the heat was not working for them to fix it without the fee.

However, when my furnace was replaced, the weather was getting warm outdoors so I had no reason to turn on my heat for more than 2 weeks after it was replaced. Initially, it worked well so I was unaware that it was no longer working. Since I have young children, my only option is to do what they say and pay the fee although I paid for a new heater less than a year ago. I feel bullied and not valued as a customer. I have gave them no arguments in the past and complied with everything in the contact, but I believe this is highway robbery and they are getting away with it.

Dan arrived at around 11:00 AM on Saturday, 23 Jul 11, to inspect our unit. My daughter, Patrice, and her sister Pamela were present as we were out of town. Dan determined that the unit was more than 20 years old and agreed that the compressor had gone bad. Additionally, he noted on the service invoice that the coil had 50% cloggage and the unit needed replacement. He also advised that the next step was to have his manager come out to verify replacement and options.

If, at the time, Dan inspected the unit, he could determine that the 50% coil cloggage was the reason for the AC unit's expiration. Why would he send a manager to verify? Anthony's (a manager with United Air Temp) visit was merely to sell his business. After he inspected the unit, he immediately contacted AHS and we were advised that a replacement unit would not be authorized due to lack of maintenance.

We informed Anthony and AHS that Mr. ** maintains the upkeep of the unit. Anthony insisted that what Mr. ** has done in the past was not considered maintenance. Obviously, we disagree, given that we have not had to contact AHS previously for this dated unit. Anthony then proceeded to want to discuss options. We were not interested and advised that his services were no longer needed.

While this may not be Mr. **'s area of expertise, this unit has clearly outlived its life expectancy. Mr. ** has been responsible for properly maintaining the up keep to this unit to reduce cost to the family since moving to this property in 2004. He regularly replaces the filter, cleans and replace parts as needed but admittedly not on any particular schedule other than the filter.

I told AHS I had someone locally and they totally ignored my request and instead found two other companies and they turned the job down as it was too far for them to travel. Again, I recommended the local company who had already been to my house. They put that company through so much BS, that they told me they would not accept the job from AHS regardless. Then AHS found a company 75 miles away, and they came and repaired the HVAC stuff 3 times and kept telling me it was electrical, which it wasn't. They finally got it running okay (AC only) as they told me the heat was causing the high electrical draw. The high draw was from the motors which in reality needed to be replaced but AHS would not consider that as the motors were part of the air handling and that was not part of the heat pump.

We had to start over with a new claim number, when the same company grudgingly came out, they got the motors running. So it would not blow a 100 amp fuse. But they took away my heating electronics and told me they would have it fixed. Now, five months later, I asked them to finish the job and they can't remember it, plus they are 75 miles away. I reminded them I told them that and they accepted the job anyway. It's still not fixed and AHS is constantly asking for the payment which we have not paid. What a worthless company, always trying to screw someone!

He immediately turned on my faucet and said, "You've got no water.” I said the angle stop is turned off due to the leak, it’s rusted and stripped. He then ponders and says "I think you've got an obstruction, I'm going to have to take this wall out and replace the pipe. I do these all the time.” I said it’s a 7-year-old custom home, there's no obstruction, and I just want the leak fixed and the angle stops replaced. He then put in a work order for "no water pressure due to obstruction”.

Well, we all know this isn't covered. The claim was denied and AHS phone rep tells me, “Your whole house is denied. We don't warranty homes with pressure issues." I said, “Did he mention why I called you out? I don't have pressure issues. I just need the simple leak fixed, along with angle stops replaced.”

Well after the investigation, AHS claims the computer went down on that day and the rep only wrote by hand "low water pressure" and nothing was said about a leak. After speaking with four people, finally a superintendent gets on the phone who has any concern and a brain. His name was Charlie, out of the Iowa office (they seem to be much brighter than the Carolina and Memphis call service). He said, “Sir, due to your inconvenience, we're going to fix whatever is wrong with your sink and drain the lines and obstruction in the pipe." I said, “I don't have an obstruction, or drain issues. Just repair my leak, which is covered in my contract. What’s so difficult about that? You've got a vendor who is trying to rip you off of a $2,200 service call and I'm now a victim of it canceling my plumbing warranty." They set an appointment, only for it to be canceled hours later by some moron named, Zoe **, evidently head of authorizations.

No one in this company cared that I was caught in the middle of a vendor creating a ** job for himself. And my home is flagged with dropping my warranty due to his false claim. I've invested over 10 hours in this just to get a $250 at most repair job done. I'm dropping this service once I cash out. Not only is their lack of service not worth it. They don't deserve my money. This is undoubtedly the poorest run, most unprofessional service-oriented company I've ever dealt with. Unfortunately, this posting is of little service for protecting consumer’s rights. Though, I appreciate the forum.

Friday the 19th, I got a voicemail from AHS stating that we would be responsible for the $410 charge for the freon recapture and disposal of the old compressor. I spoke to my Dad about the charges because they seem to be excessive. He confirmed that he only charges around $45 dollars for these things and he works on commercial units which are much larger. Monday the 22nd, I called AHS for a status and they told me that the part was ordered. Tuesday the 23rd, I waited for a call all day to schedule the repair but did not receive a call. I called AHS again to get a status check and they told me that the wrong part was ordered and they had to reorder the correct part and that it would be on its way to the contractor the next day. I made it known that I was very unhappy with the amount of time this was taking to obtain a part and the fact that we were trying to live in this house during temps over 100 degrees. They offered a reimbursement of $75 that could be put toward a hotel room or a fan etc.

Wednesday the 24th, still no call from contractor to schedule repair. I called AHS to get the status and was told that the part was ordered and is in route but they could not give me an ETA. I told them again how dissatisfied I am and asked that they extend another $75 reimbursement for another night in a hotel, which was refused. So I spoke to a supervisor who apologized and also refused the additional $75. I asked to speak to her supervisor and was told that they would have to call me back in two hours. I declined the call back because it was already 11:30PM by this point.

Thursday the 25th, still no call from the contractor to schedule repair. I called AHS to get the status and was told that their computers were down and that they would have to transfer me to a different call center if I required assistance, I asked to be transferred. I explained the situation to Lakisha who told me they haven't even found the part yet. I asked to speak to her supervisor, Tammy. After explaining the entire situation to Tammy. All she did was apologize and did not offer any solution, so I told her that I do not want the part. What I want is a whole new condenser unit. She advised that she would try to get to the bottom of the issue with the allusive part and said that if she could not by 12:30 the next day (August 26th), that she would consider a new condensing unit.

Friday the 26th, I called Tammy two times and did not get an answer. I left a message for her to please call me regarding the replacement of our condenser unit. I did not get a call back. I called AHS's regular line and found out that the condenser was ordered. However, they could not/would not provide proof that it was, in fact, ordered. The agent said she could not give me an ETA on the part so I requested a supervisor. I was connected to Alisha. Alisha told me the ETA was Tuesday the 30. Saturday the 27th, I called to check the status, tried to get a tracking number and was told that we would have to call the contractor to get it. I was told the ETA was still Tuesday the 30th.

Monday the 29th, I called to check status, tried to get a tracking number and the agent said she would call the procurement department to get it and call us back. I was told the ETA was still Tuesday the 30th. I called back in the afternoon and was told that they could not give us a tracking number until after the ETA date. I requested a fax number to fax a demand letter to and was given another runaround, so I requested a supervisor. The supervisor gave us her fax number. Tuesday the 30th, I called to check status and again, tried to get a tracking number and was told again that we would have to call the contractor (Sheltons Pride) to get the tracking number. I advised the agent that Sheltons told us to call AHS to get the tracking number.

Shortly after, Sheltons Pride called to schedule the installation for the next morning. Wednesday the 31st, the brand new condenser unit was installed. The AHS contract/booklet states, "Commitment to your total satisfaction", "That's why we back every job we do with the unique money-back guarantee shown on the back of your home warranty", "AHS guarantees that all approved covered service repairs will be completed to your satisfaction. If for any reason you are not satisfied with that service received, we will work with you until you are satisfied or we will refund the trade service fee."

A total of 15 days without air conditioning during the hottest period of Texas summer. Temperature topped out at 112 outside. This was a major inconvenience in time, as well as, a financial burden to me and my family. The service provided by AHS was completely unacceptable. The whole purpose of having AHS, in the first place, is to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses and inconveniences of home appliance repairs. AHS is definitely not working for the well-being of the client.

To say I am dissatisfied is a gross understatement.

The repair company tried three times to fix it, and said it's no good. AHS offered me $300 for my $900 machine and when I said no, they suddenly said the repair company could fix it (even though the repair company said it's irreparable). Now neither company wants to step up. Either fix it or replace it. Isn't that what the AHS warranty states? Not true!

The plumber called me when he was en route (he was eating and had a mouth full of food while he was talking to me). We discussed that I had a Bosch tankless water heater system with a dual unit. He seemed very familiar with the unit and said that he didn't like Bosch and he was going to put in a new unit. This was before he even arrived at the house to have it inspected.

When he did arrive at the house, he looked at the Bosch tankless water heater for 30 seconds, and then came down and told my wife that there was nothing he could do as he was not qualified to work on tankless water heaters. I called AHS and they said that they were sending out Lindsey Co. to take care of it. I asked if they would upgrade the ticket to urgent due to sending out the wrong company to resolve the issue the first time. The dispatcher replied, "Yes, Mr. **. We have marked your ticket as urgent."

I hung up and called Lindsey Co. They said that they could come out on Tuesday. I asked if the ticket was marked urgent and they said no, but they would call the dispatcher. When they called the dispatcher, they were told that a 'no hot water ticket' could not be marked as urgent. I was shocked that the dispatcher would have lied to me like that.

Our AC broke every year and we finally paid the original installers to come out and look at it. They said the AHS company was using the wrong parts which are inadequate for the size of the AC I have. They won't cover my toilet that needs to be replaced. They don't cover ice makers on a refrigerator. I have paid more money on trying to get my dishwasher repaired than it would cost to buy a new one because it keeps breaking and now they won't cover my reverse osmosis system under plumbing. This company is absolutely useless.

So, I waited. I got no phone call, so I called back. I was told that they contacted a company that would come tomorrow. I told the AHS representative that that is not emergency, but next day service. I told them then to authorize me to do the reimbursement as I was told. They said no. They said that according to them, service within 24 hours is considered emergency. I am glad to know now what are this company's values are and what an emergency means to them. I guess the bottom line is more important. What the company really should understand is that what makes them valuable is customer satisfaction. After 10 years of being a loyal customer and spreading the word, now I truly understand how they pay back loyalty. They have poor business practice. I was forced to get service at my own expense. I am glad the hospitals or ambulances follow this meaning of emergency.

I am writing every place I can complain to and get the word out about this company. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I foreclosed on my home. I cannot afford this. I want a refund. Do not use this company. Guess I will have to just cancel my charge card.

We have an oven that came with the house we purchased that is obviously old and falling apart--the reason we bought the warranty in the first place. We have had two people out to "fix" it in the last six months or so. After the first guy, the oven started acting up about a month after, but we didn't report it in time and had to pay another 60 dollars to have someone come out and "fix" the same problem.

The very next day after they came, our oven just turned off in the middle of cooking. My husband has spent way too much time on the phone complaining about how long it is taking for service, etc.

There is no concern for the customer. They are just happy to send someone out to "fix it". Last night, the outside of my oven was burning hot while I was broiling something. I had to turn it off because I have three children and did not want them to get burned. I called today expecting (I dont know why) for them to say they would replace the oven, and they are yet again sending someone out. I think they have a really good thing going between the contract workers and we are the ** paying them.

I ended up paying $1,016.00 for repairs on my own. Because of a contract clause, they could not and would not budge and try assisting me in some return. To put it bluntly, they suck.

Two days later, I tried again. Again, I was put on hold for over an hour. Finally, a lady named Brenda answered just as my phone was about to die again. I asked her to call me back immediately on another line. Much to my surprise, she did, and assured me that she would cancel the policy. She even told me that she had done so as we spoke. I was overwhelmed with relief that it had been taken care of, and I would never have to deal with them again. Yeah, right.

When we got our bank statement, a $22 charge had been drafted from AHS. We gave AHS the benefit of the doubt, assuming that I had contacted them after the draft had been made. However, when the next month's bank statement came, a second draft of $22 appeared. I emailed AHS with my complaint, but the email wouldn't go through. I'm at wit's end, and have better things to do than spend hours on the phone waiting for it to die, or writing emails that won't go through. Who knows if they would even be read if they did go through? This whole ordeal has been a complete nightmare. If you decide to go with this company, don't come crying to me when they ** you over. You have been duly warned!

I have been given excuses that a lizard bit the cable (when asked about cable and lizard, the tech manager didn’t have it anymore on hand, although he was still in process of doing repair). Another reason was that the part came from China and they don’t make good parts, so it came in faulty. In other words, "It wasn’t their fault."

They have been to my house a total of 6 to 7 or more times in 3 months! Just for that.

I have tried to talk to everyone in American Home Shield and requested another company to come and fix it once and for all. But their answer is that the same company has to come. If another company comes and it’s something wrong the first one did, then the first company has to come back and fix it (since the company has changed every one of its parts, now I’m stuck with them for life? Calling them every week the A/C breaks down again?).

When I asked the tech manager what was going on with the A/C, he replied, "If I have to sit here and explain everything to you, it would take me about 4 years. Since that is how long it took me to get a degree on this," then he packed his stuff and left! Later, he sent another tech to fix problem.

After I told AHS about the rudeness of this company, they offered to then send another company if it falters again. It only took 7 tries and a disrespectful company for them to offer this!

The latest, and most current, is a call I made on Thursday regarding my garage door opener. I had to wait until Tuesday for their contractor to call me. When the company called me (#1 R&R Electrical All Star with # 772-621-8184), the earliest appointment was for Wednesday at 7:00 AM. I explained to the woman on the phone that I live in a gated compound and I am not allowed to have service done before 9:00 AM. She then started being very rude, raising her tone of voice and said, "Well, this is how we do our business and we do the repairs early in the morning."

I again repeated and apologized and said I wouldn’t mind if it’s late at night or even on the weekend. I would wait because I know it’s an inconvenience, but it’s not me, it’s my compound rules that I cannot change. She repeated that that is the time they do business. Sarcastically said that she would do something or other and then hung up the phone on me!

I called American Home Shield and they apologized and said that they would send another company. I just received a call from their customer service saying that out of all Miami, they don’t have another company to send! I explained what happened once more and she said that she called for 2 reasons. Number one was to see what has happened and number two was to tell me that they don’t have another company to service me.

I told her that the company is the one not working with my hours and that they haven’t called me back since Tuesday. And they won’t, considering what the other woman said and how she hung up the phone. She then said, "Well, I will transfer this to another department and see if they can find a company for you. But I’m telling you that there isn’t one."

This company is driving me crazy. I don’t understand how a company made to alleviate your household problems is only creating more of a stressful environment. And contracting vendors that are so rude, impolite and unprofessional.

Regarding the contractor, I received a call at 3:30 PM. The person asked me if I needed assistance, and when I told her that the AC was working, she merely said she would close the request. I told her I had one simple question concerning the breakers. She re-iterated her first response. I asked again if I could get one question answered. She again reiterated her first response. At that point, I gave up. I still have not heard from AHS regarding this matter.

I had to wait 48 hours for one of their companies to call me, which was American Plumbing. The lady was so rude and had an "I could care less attitude". She then told me that I had to wait another 48 hours for someone to come and check my plumbing out. They sent a plumber who was in a hurry to my house; the next day was Good Friday. He fixed the problem with our basement toilet. However, when it came to our garbage disposal, he told us that it would have to be replaced.

He went back and told his company that he found bottle caps in the garbage disposal. He lied. He flat out lied. There was nothing in the garbage disposal because we hadn't use it due to the fact that the water from the dishwasher would back up into the kitchen sink. This, in turn, would cause the water to spill out onto our kitchen floor because our kitchen sink was divided. Even if there were, the warranty states: All components and parts, including unit are covered. I warn you, this company is the pits.

We understand that the there was no permit for the second water heater filed. I called our county for an inspection date and realized that no permit was filed. This is a violation. We are still waiting to see how long Star will take to contact us regarding this. We'll take up the matter at that time. Also, we have had a/c repair jobs almost every year. They would make us spend $500 or so out of pocket for some upgrades every year and do patch up jobs. Finally, last year, when they said that we have to spend $900 for a unit, we declined as we did not want one more patch up job. The evaporator coil was leaking but they refused to fix it. We have decided to change out the a/c units on our own. We asked for a cash out and they offered $400.

Our dishwasher was busted and they gave us a cash out of $100. The new dishwasher was $900, which we bought out of pocket. We are still fighting for the $100 claim from AHS. They have taken our money for 11 years. I think they push the customers out after 10-15 years. That way, they can keep the money before the claims start coming in, or somehow, they'll claim that it is an upgrade and make you pay. AHS has been the most frustrating experience, along with Terminix Termite protection being a close second. However, I hang on to it and AHS thrives on! Thanks to a few dumb customers like us! I was also told by them that they do not need our business and to feel free to cancel it when I told them I have outstanding claims that I have been fighting over.

Get a second opinion and double check with your local code enforcement agency to keep them honest. Don't accept AHS saying you have no choice, pay what contractor says, or accept a buy out. AHS isn't interested in keeping the contractors honest. All they care about is collecting the premiums from the home owners and keeping their out of pocket as low as possible--even if that means that their contractor is overcharging the home owner.

Saturday morning, August 27, my seven-year-old A/C broke. With a heat index of 100+ in the Kansas City area and an elderly resident in the house, this was definitely an emergency. I spent 45 minutes waiting for a human at AHS to answer the call. After answering, she promised that I would get an email confirming my service request.

I got the email. I also received a (recorded phone message) telling me that, "Someone would be coming out between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m on Sunday, August 28." It confirmed that the service technician would "telephone me to confirm the appointment." This is standard operating procedure and I awaited the phone call from the technician as we sat on our back porch beginning at 6 a.m. Sunday morning. All of the windows were open in the house and we anxiously awaited the technician's phone call--and arrival. The name of the first company chosen by AHS is: Allright Heating & Cooling. They are not all right.

As we waited for the phone call ("I am in the area and will be at your house in 10 minutes" or something like that) and were sitting on the back porch, we noticed that a business card had been taped to our front door. It was a business card from Allright Heating & Cooling. On it, the technician had scribbled the words: "Was here at 8:33 a.m."

What? How? **? We have been waiting 28 hours in sweltering heat and the technician did not knock on the door? He did not ring the doorbell and he never called us on the telephone! It turned out that he parked his truck in the street, quietly tiptoed up to our door (as witnessed by our neighbors) and quietly taped his card to our glass door! He then quietly snuck away, got in his truck and drove out of the neighborhood.

Why he did not ring the doorbell is beyond us. Why he did not knock on the door is beyond us. Why he did not telephone us--as he was supposed-- to is beyond us. Why he drove all the way out to our home only to sneak away and not do the job is beyond us. Perhaps he had a hangover? Perhaps he "double booked" another customer and wanted to be able to tell AHS that he had tried to come to our home? We have three dogs who would begin barking like crazy if a butterfly were to land on our front porch. Even the dogs did not hear the jackleg technician from Allright Heating & Cooling. He clearly and obviously did not want to do the job. Puzzling.

But it gets worse, much worse.

It was now 8:40 a.m. (only seven minutes had elapsed since he had taped his card to my door) and I called his cell number. When I asked why he did not call, he said, "I do not have to call you". When I told him that he is supposed to call (it is right in the email plus the AHS customer service people told me to expect a call) as a standard operating procedure, he again told me he did not have to call anyone AHS connected or not. When I asked if he could turn around and come back to my house, he became argumentative and told me to, go ** yourself! Needless to say, after waiting for 28 hours in sweltering heat, this was not the right thing to say to a customer.

Now, the AHS nightmare began anew.

I telephoned AHS (waited 66 minutes on hold) to report what just transpired. The customer service rep did not give a ** about the rude treatment I just described to her. She said, "You can write a letter of complaint to PO Box 849, Carroll, IA 51401." Of course, I still have a malfunctioning a/c unit and the sweltering heat. When I said that I knew of a professional a/c company that could come to my home right away, AHS refused! They claimed I had to try another one of their companies before they could get authorization to have an outside contractor work on my a/c unit. And, all they could do was leave a message for J&N heating and cooling in Grain Valley, Missouri. They said, "If they do not call us back in four hours, you can call back and get an authorization for your own contractor."

Needless to say, the illiterate monkeys from Grain Valley never called me. I told the AHS rep that this company would never call me and that this was just delaying the inevitable by four hours. I was 100% correct.

So, I called back again and waited 45 minutes on hold again. This time, the customer service rep cut me off the phone once she answered it. I had to re-dial again and wait 77 minutes on hold. This time, they told me that I could use an outside company. He would just have to call AHS after diagnosing the problem and tell them his estimate and he would be given the go-ahead to fix my a/c. That, too, was a lie.

The tech arrived and determined that my entire a/c system died. Even though it is a seven-year-old Lennox and even though it has proper maintenance for the last seven years, the unit has died. So, I called AHS to get them to speak to the tech and give him the OK to fix my unit. I waited 28 minutes on hold this time (the technician refused to go on hold with AHS and I don't blame him). After I described that the tech was ready to speak to AHS, they said I would have to be transferred. You guessed it, another 30 minutes on hold. It was now 8 p.m. Sunday night and we were sweltering. When the technician finally got on the phone with the AHS tech, we learned that they would not give him any authorization unless he had the exact serial number(s) of the new equipment that he intends to install. Also, they wanted him to produce a detailed estimate before proceeding. As you can imagine, the technician did not have a computer nor a printer to create a professional detailed estimate. And because this was a late Sunday night, he did not have all of the materials with him.

But wait, it gets worse, much worse.

I learned today that the entire unit, including the evaporator that sits on top of my furnace in the basement, will have to be replaced. Since the newer evaporators are larger than the one that needs replacing, they have to install an entire new furnace also. I did not design these machines -- that is just the way they work. AHS is balking and fighting with the contractor and me. It is now three days since the unit went out and I anticipate a multi-week battle with AHS.

I will be reporting them to the department of insurance in Missouri. And, if necessary, I have the skills to sue them in court, which I will do if necessary.

The worst part? AHS does not seem to care. They do not care about the treatment that I received from Allright Heating & Cooling. They do not care that we have a health situation with an elderly person in our home and that the heat indexes are expected to rise over the next several days. They do not care that their other vendors never responded when messages are left. And, they do not care that I have been a customer of many years and I am unhappy and will take my business to another warranty carrier. They do not care how I was treated by Allright heating & cooling -- and I am sure they will remain one of the vendors that AHS uses.

AHS will care, however, when I sue them in court for non-compliance with the very contract that they issue to their customers. It is too bad that I have to take the time and money to get an insurer to comply with the law. Obviously, from the comments here, I realize that I am not alone and that there are many, many people who are very dissatisfied with AHS.

I will update this post as this nightmare unfolds.

During that time, I had also placed a service request online. I was given the name of a contractor. I called the number and was told to call back during regular business hours. While waiting on hold, I did call SCE and was told to check the breakers (duh!) and found that the circuit had tripped. However, I wanted to find out if this would reoccur and if this was going to be an ongoing concern.

When I finally did talk to the CS representative, she merely asked if this was a life-threatening situation. I told her not at the moment, but with an outdoor temperature of 114, if it occurred again, then it could be life-threatening. She again asked if it was life-threatening. If not, then we would be contacted on Monday. I didn't want to "cry wolf", so I thanked her but wanted to talk to her supervisor. After another 21 minutes on hold, I got the voice mail of her supervisor to leave a message and said she would return my call "at her earliest convenience".

After reading other posts concerning AHS, I'm quite disconcerted. Like most insurance companies, you don't know how good the company is until you file a claim.

As the saying goes, AHS provides great customer "non-service". And what is meant by life-threatening? In that case I'm dialing 911.

I do think there is something significantly wrong with their contractor network, and while I worked for them, that was my biggest internal concern. I have personally caught contractors ramping up non-covered cost and "bringing up to code" issues numerous times while I worked for AHS and when I caught it, I dealt with it and made the contractor to back off. I went as far as calling local code enforcement personnel to validate contractor information about code violation corrections and found out some of the contractors were stretching the truth just to make the extra buck. Why would they do that - because AHS does not pay them enough, simple math. I just wish I kept that documentation (it's still in the AHS logs) because if I had, I would launch a class action suit against them, because I know the consumer is getting ripped-off by this dirty under handed secret that the AHS company officials like Dave Crawford turn a blind eye towards.

Now, for my own personal home repairs, I had 4 contracts with AHS on my personal home, my mother's home, and 2 rental homes. At one of my rental homes, in the winter of 2010, we had a gas leak and the utility company shut off the gas, thus no heat. I immediately called the order in around 9:00 am on a Saturday morning and was promised that it would be escalated to an emergency and a contractor would call me within 4 hours. So far, so good and within the procedures outlined in the contract.

I did get a call from Quality First Plumbing who told me they would be out at 1:00 pm that day. They did not show up, and I waited until 2:00 and called them back. They said they got held up and would be there within the hour. This promise that they would be there kept going every 30 minutes that I would call up through 10:00 pm that night and then I got a call from AHS that told me the contractor could not come out to the home. I was totally pissed because I had called the contractor and AHS numerous times throughout the day and was promised would see a contractor today, and they understood the house was without heat.

I consider that as lying. If you can't keep the appointment, why would you lie and say you will be there when, if they had been realistic and honest earlier in the day, AHS could have found someone else to provide service. As it turned out it was a five minute repair and I lost a tenant over the entire deal. I was mad. Since my disability, the rental income is what my wife and I live on, and here I am, losing a tenant because the AHS contractor dragged this out all day long and then at 10:00 pm decides they can't do the job.

Now, here is the kicker in this whole story. I write Dave Crawford, President and CEO and emailed at ** and yes. I was angry and yes, I was adamant in my comments. I also called the corporate office and spoke to one of his assistants at **. All I wanted was an apology and an opportunity to tell Dave that AHS's biggest problem is their contractors and how Contractor Relations coddles the contractors to the point where the contractors end up border-lining, if not, crossing the line into dishonesty. That's it. All I wanted was an opportunity to do that. Did I get that apology, No; did he respond to my email, No.

What they did do was cancel all 4 of my contracts! They knew I had hit a nerve. I also think they did it because I was an ex-employee and knew too much about their inner workings. Don't get me wrong, I loved my job with AHS and in many ways they do the right thing. I did not leave as a disgruntled employee. I left because I was sick with Fibromyalgia and could no longer work. But after this experience and how they treated me, I would be pumped if someone had the resources to initiate a class action law suit. I know exactly how to investigate those so-so non-covered cost and code upgrade extras that the contractors charge the consumer. Not all the contractors are guilty, but there are some real dirty dogs out there and AHS does nothing about it.

Not so. I called again and was told they'd put in another request for service. I told them we had a local company who could respond that morning. AHS provided pre-authorization for local company and the local company fixed the problem.

A week later, temperature was at 89 degrees. The local company came back and said it was compressor. AHS would not authorize. They said we had to have a second opinion. We waited another 24-hour period for another company. We are now three days w/out air. We ended up having to wait an extra day because the technician did not get the message to call me 10-15 minutes prior to him heading to the house so I could be there on time. Tech arrived and then called me and told me he couldn't wait.

When I called AHS and requested for another company, I was told I couldn't do that without an additional charge. Well, three days without air, new tech shows up and says compressor is working and it should be fine, but there are other parts that should be replaced and he'll submit info. Three hours later, temperature is 92 instead of 97 degrees in the house. I called AHS and was told they had not received any info from the company reporting findings. I called the company in the morning and they had not yet submitted info to AHS. I was told they would submit report to AHS in one hour.

Two hours later, no report yet to AHS. I called the company back and requested a copy of the report. They told me I can't get it from them, that I have to get it from AHS. AHS told me this is not true; the company should provide it to me.

All in all, company says it's six to eight hours worth of work, and they can't get to it until the following Monday. That's six nights without air conditioning. AHS says we still have to use this company, even though they were only called out for a second opinion.

AHS does not follow their company's mission, vision or values. We will not be renewing with AHS in the future. Customer service reps in general are courteous. Company policy is despicable.

Then, I have a drainage backup issue every year in my home as well as a running toilet. They will send two to three different plumbers out before the issue is temporarily fixed. In the meantime, the same toilet is running, the same two sinks drip constantly and the drainage issue will be back. I lost a wall in my bathroom because they said that it was the pipes behind the toilet but it wasn't. The biggest issue (as if that is not enough) is I have had constant air-conditioning problems. They replaced our unit in June 2003 but it has never worked as well as the original unit. We put a service request in on the new air-condition on August 2008, August 2009, May 2010, July 2011 and now, another one.

Last year, we were told that the unit was installed wrong and is too small for our house by the contractors they sent out. Of course, AHS has never heard this. This year, our air-condition unit, when it is working, only cools our house 15 degrees more than outside. But now that it is 96 degrees outside, our house is just in a normal 80 degrees! We are being told that this is normal for our unit. If your pets are having respiratory problems, no one can sleep because they are so hot and items in your house are melting, then, how is that normal? They will usually come out and adjust the freon but it only works for 45 days and would stop cooling again. I would pay another $60 and it happens again!

Now, I have been waiting over three days for the service and I just found out from the contractor that AHS never even called him to alert him that we were having a problem. They are ripping people off and not helping the consumer. When you tell them your issues, all they do is repeatedly quote policy or contract information.

On Monday, August 8th, I was told that a Sears service/repairman would be out to look at the stove on Wednesday, August 10th. Sears came out at approximately 2:00 p.m. and confirmed that there was not a problem with the stove; it was in the wiring. They (Sears) notified AHS and they contacted Thilsted Electric from Enid, Oklahoma to come out the following day. Thilsted Electric basically tore everything apart and informed us that the wiring and voltage is too small for the stove. The electrician also informed us that he would have to contact AHS to get approval to replace it with the correct voltage wiring. He said it would probably take a day to get in touch with them and he would call us back.

Four days later, I contacted AHS to find out what was going on. They informed me that their computers were down and there was nothing they could do for up to 30 hours. I'm not exactly sure how they determined that their computers would be up 30 hours later, but that is exactly what they said! So we have waited. Now, it's been almost three weeks and I still have no stove. A supervisor by the name of Tranita informed me today that the issue is now in their Research Department being handled by a Ms. **. She said that Thilsted Electric informed them that there was nothing defective in the wiring. I explained that something was defective because the brand new stove does not work! I also explained to her that our contract with them states that it will cover:

d. Undetectable pre-existing conditions which are defects or mechanical failures that could not have been detected by a visual inspection and/or simple mechanical test. A visual inspection of the covered item verifies that it appears structurally intact and without damage or missing parts that would indicate inoperability. A simple mechanical test is defined as turning the item on and off to ensure that it is operational. While turned on, the item should operate without causing damage, irregular sounds, smoke, or other abnormal outcomes.

The items listed above are included in the enhanced plan that we paid for. We were told by Thilsted and Sears that the improper voltage is a fire hazard also. I'm assuming that is why they tore everything apart and just left it dismantled. This company should be evaluated for its lack of customer service. I purchased the home warranty for problems just like this and now, I'm not getting any results or help with the situation.

Darryl **

My second experience, which was even more stressful, happened about a month ago. I had placed a service call to fix my cooktop range and they said that they needed a part. It has been about four weeks now and they still are waiting for the part. The vendor keeps giving dates for the part but with no results. The customer service agents and the supervisors were less than polite.

I have to manage without a working oven and inconvenient gas range for more than four weeks. It requires me to use a match to light the stove and I cannot let the two seniors use a match box. I don't see the purpose of having a warranty and paying close to $600 a year if I cannot get a response and a solution for more than a month. Otherwise, my claim will gets rejected for unacceptable reasons. Please help! It is companies like this that the consumers need to be warned about.

The second call for service was for the air condition on 7/13/11. The air conditioning was cutting on and off. I live in Houston, Texas and it's been 100 degree for the last 30-60 days. The technician who came out said that nothing was wrong with the system and that it's just so hot. The air condition continued to do the same thing, so I called AHS back and they advised that it would be 2-3 days before someone could come out.

So, I called my own serviceman who advised that only 1 thing caused the problem. I had it fixed, called ACH, and explained about the temperature and that the air condition went out. They refused to pay, saying I should have called them first. When I explained to them that I did, they said, "Sorry, we can't pay." My response was, "You can't pay, I can cancel."

We called AHS to re-open the service case and to request that we do not want to have the same company coming out to do the same job they kept ** up on. They denied us and would not budge. They told my husband, “Too bad. You have to have the same company again.” They took customer service to whole new level! And with all the other reviews I've been reading about this horrible company, they shouldn't even be in business anymore. Our request was simple but we were made to feel that we were being difficult. Enough is enough. Do not give these people our money. Find another home warranty company.

San Diego, CA

Let's not let the fact go that I had to call them on the 29th to get an update on what was going on. They had nothing and they had to call Ideal Services so I was on hold again. When he came back on the line, he said that the contractor's systems were down and he would try again later. To make a long story short, they were going to cash me out for $377.00 which was just for basic installation and to bring it up to code, I would have to pay for that out-of-pocket.

I went to Home Depot and exchanged the water heater at no cost, thank you GE. I bought the material for the installation, brought it up to code, for less than 100.00 bucks and I am in the process of cancelling the contract with AHS.

These people show no sense of urgency on anything that is going to end up costing them money. I would suggest that if you're considering AHS, don't. They are the worst!

I had problems with toilets and according to my coverage, it covered plumbing problems. I contacted them, and they arranged to send somebody to look at the toilets. One toilet was not fixed--the toilet still backs up. When I called them (AHS) back to report the problem, they told me that my contract did not cover water sediments.

I paid $60 deductible out pocket for them to show up and the report that the technician wrote does not mention any water sediment findings. AHS made this up to avoid paying to fix the problem.

We called back to AHS and they referred us to another company for emergency service, which came to look at it on 8/6. The technician diagnosed that the motor of blower was burnt out and took away the blower and motor. Since then, we have tried to call AHS and Airmax. The needed parts were not ordered until 8/10 and has not arrived as of today, 8/16. The outdoor temperature in our area has been over 100 degrees F for 40+ days consecutively.

It is now Monday. I called the contractor. The secretary has no idea where the part is. It hasn't been delivered and I already paid $60 for the visit.

I called AHS and their computer systems are down as usual. No one can give me any information on where the part may be.

I feel helpless. My wife has horrible allergies so we cannot open the windows. Fans only blow around hot air. Every time I call AHS, it takes an hour on hold to finally speak with a rep. They say they will do things but they never do. I really believe we have been scammed by AHS.

AHS representative instructed my husband to return the unit to condition he found it (melted knobs and all) and call back the vendor. AHS vendor stated that he was not interested in this service call. Seven days later and approximately 14 additional contacts at AHS, repair was denied. AHS informed me that no other vendors can be found for a second opinion per AHS; the decline stands.

So basically, we have been told that under ANY circumstance, including the dousing of fire in a propane water heater; if vendors report permit necessary (false info), burner removed due to fire, and not interested in repair or replacing for AHS client, warranty is voided and we are stuck. After close review of contract, AHS stands behind their policy that only the $60 service call is jeopardized if AHS fails to provide service. No fee had been collected, except of course the $500 premium I paid in full for the last eight (8) years to AHS for service.

Certified Heating Air replaced the compressor to be called two later because my A/C is still not cooling upstairs adequately. AHS sent Harlow Heating and Air service. The representative told me he thought the unit needed to be replaced and he was going to report this to AHS. He did not provide a written diagnosis. The AHS representative called me and informed Harlow reported the compressor will be replaced under warranty. Harlow services came in three days. I called the AHS representative two days to report my A/C is still not cooling upstairs adequately. Harlow services came again and the representative thought my filters were advanced and putting a strain on the systems. We pulled out both filters and he would return two later hoping for a better report.

I called two days later to AHS to report my A/C is still not cooling upstairs adequately. Harlow services came out and provided freon. I called AHS the next day to report my A/C is still not cooling upstairs adequately. Harlow services representative inspected and informed me that the valves needed to be replaced. I called AHS four or five days and requested a diagnosis. The deceptive report was, " the system is working properly and suggested the home owner install attic fans" (Harlow Services, 11 Aug 11). When I spoke with the AHS representative, she said she did not see all reports I recalled.

I could not be more disappointed and appalled with deceptive business practices. I asked to receive a copy of all the contractor service calls out to my home and the representative informed me I could not receive what they see in their system because it is read only. I know I could get all by court order. I need AHS to provide the service which I paid for on a regular basis. Can you assist me or force me to seek restitution?

After five days and losing all of our groceries, we called another repairman. They replaced the ice maker and left. The next day we had the same problem. They came back and replaced the valve in the fridge and it is now fixed.

I think I am paying people to make sure it is not American Home Shield's fault. I will be canceling my warranty and I think anyone wanting one with them ought to reconsider. Thank you for listening.

It is 08/11/2011 and my unit is still not fixed and they don't have a solution. I have had two service people from different companies come out and the cost to fix the unit can't be negotiated down by AHS so I had to wait and am still waiting to have my unit fixed. Meanwhile, it is 108 degrees outside.

I called again today for status and no answer. I asked to cancel the contract and want my money back. It states in the handbook that refunds are made. We had credit card fraud and had to change cards, thus my July payment was not made but I was contacted by AHS to add my new card, which I did immediately online. They claimed this last payment was not obtained and therefore I am not allowed the refund.

They will take your money but they won't perform the service nor refund money.

It is now over 24 hours and I have not heard from anyone. I was also asked if I turned off the unit. It is 100 degrees here and I said I would never turn it off, I'm not crazy. If this is the kind of service I'm getting, I'd be dead from the heat before I even get a call back from someone. I will never call them again. I am calling the a/c company that does my regular maintenance and I am quitting AHS because $600 a year is ridiculous for this kind of run-around.

When a company has so little flexibility that they will not spend an additional $150.00 to meet a 10 yr+ customer's request for fair treatment, something is fundamentally wrong with their business model.

Of course, we canceled our contract and will, like everyone else on this site, spread the bad new about AHS.

Take heart in the fact that they will fail in the long run. Never forget to seek out opportunities every day to spread the bitter truth about AHS. Ahhhhh....now I feel better!

Steer clear of American Home Shield for your home warranty needs. They are trying to get out of repairing a covered issue by making it such a hassle that I stop calling and got the items repaired myself.

I went through my file and called back on 6/21/2011 and spoke with Jonathan. I told him that the last people to work on my faucets was a plumber sent by American Home Shield and that if they were installed incorrectly, they were responsible. He told me that he would send Florida Plumbing Works back out for a second opinion. Florida Plumbing Works came out on 6/24/2011 and said it was properly installed and that they would be willing to repair it.

I never heard back from American Home Shield again. I called on 7/8/2011 and spoke with Karen. She said I needed to pay the $55 service charge for AZ Plumbing. AZ Plumbing had told me I could pay it when they came out to finish the work. So I asked Karen if I paid it, were they coming back out to repair it since it was obviously their fault. She said, YES. I gave her my credit card over the phone and she conference called AZ Plumbing and Florida Plumbing Works. (I recorded most of the conversation with Karen.)

I was told that Florida Plumbing Works agreed to do the work after AZ came back and reassembled the faucets. They left them sitting because they intended to come fix them. I waited and waited.

One week later, 7/13/2011, I called and spoke with Vivian (another conversation that I recorded). She told me that there was nothing that they were willing to do because of the dispute and that it would be handed off to customer service.

One week later I received a call from Kim in Customer Relations @ 1-866-343-5674 x 1286. She told me she would be handling it and get back to me as soon as possible. It has been another two weeks. I have left messages for her on 7/27/2011 and 7/29/2011. She does not answer her phone or call me back.

I am trying to locate an attorney to handle the case since the parts alone are over $800.00 and I have good notes and voice recordings of the conversations.

AM Home then sent AZ appliance repair. The repairman told me he would order the parts and return to fix the oven. I paid them $60 for the assessment and repair. When I contacted Am Home to follow up the completion of the repair, Am Home representative told me the repair was completed. I requested she send me a copy of the repair agreement that I signed. I have not received any paperwork from Am Home.

I am sending a certified letter to Am Home to request a solution. I will also be contacting the BBB.

The day came that I needed to use the service. My air conditioner stopped working...in Houston, TX. HOT is an understatement when it comes to describing the weather here! It has been nearly one month and has taken six, going on seven visits by the technician to figure out what's going on with my A/C. And the problem has yet to be resolved. Every time they send the same technician out, he finds something different wrong.

Why couldn't he identify the problem to begin with? Or if there is so much wrong with the system, why not just replace it? Basically, I have paid for this policy so that I can potentially suffer heat stroke while the ** that are contracted with AHS bungle about giving a different excuse every time I deal with them. On average, it has been 96 degrees in my house at any given time, even at night. Now they want to replace another part and charge me more money. What is this?!

You spend large amounts of time trying to talk to them, they never call back and they always have a reason for not paying. Oh, yes, the contractors they use never fix anything. They wear you down until you finally get a professional to come do the job. I have three homes supposedly covered by them and I'm cancelling all three. Proceed with them at your own risk, but I'm sure before the end of your contract you will be writing a complaint, too! A total rip-off!

My second issue arose when I was advised of the estimate by AHS. Not only did the contractor reported that the condenser coils needed to be replaced, but that in addition to this there were approx $500 in "non-covered" work that needed to be done to bring everything "up to code". The need for this additional work to bring things up to code was surprising to me seeing that the home was not even 10 years old, and HVAC contractors that I questioned were not aware of any substantial code changes over this timeframe. Secondly, I have had numerous HVAC maintenance service calls in the past few years, and none ever mentioned or identified any of this work needing to be done. When I requested that only the covered work be done, I was told by AHS that the contractor cannot do the warranty covered work without also doing the necessary non-covered upgrades.

Suspecting a fraudulent estimate on the part of the contractor, I asked AHS for a second opinion, only to be told that I cannot obtain a second opinion on non-covered items. Ultimately, I refused on principle to pay for these non-covered repairs and therefore was unable to get the warranty covered work done either.

I called a local HVAC company who came out promptly and informed me that NONE of the items that have been identified as needing repair or replacement by the AHS contractor was necessary, and they repaired the unit in short order for minimal cost with cleaning and refrigerant recharge. It has since worked fine.

The second incident I have had with AHS involved the hot water heater which had begun leaking. I submitted a service request on Tuesday, and still had not received a call from the contractor for over 2 days. Finally, on Thursday afternoon AHS called and assisted me in scheduling the appointment for Friday afternoon. I actually addressed my concerns about my prior HVAC experience with the agent, who stated that I would be able to obtain a second opinion if I disagreed with the estimate. Well, you can probably guess what happened next. Sure enough, I was told that the hot water heater needed replacement which was covered under my warranty, but that there was an additional $440 in "non-covered" repairs needed to bring my unit "up to code". See a disturbing trend here?

I own a number of residential investment properties that are much older than this, and have had to replace a few hot water heaters in recent years. NEVER have I been told that additional work needed to be done to bring anything up to code. Again, when calling AHS to dispute this estimate, I was told that I could not get a second opinion as this was non-covered work. I requested cash in lieu of the repair, called my own local service company who came out and promptly replaced the unit for less than $800. I verified with them that no additional work was needed to "bring the unit up to code".

I did receive $250 from AHS in lieu of the work being done by their contractor. Yes, I ended up paying about $100 more by doing this with another service provider, but I think this is how the AHS service companies calculate their additional non-covered work costs. It's always a just low enough additional charge to make it less costly to go through the AHS provider than going to another company!

To help visualize, here is a hypothetical summary:

Scenario A

$510 total repair cost

Scenario B

$550 total cost

The way they calculate it, as long as the consumer sees they will still be paying less with the AHS provider in scenario A, they'd be willing to pay. In addition, they figure you've been paying all these premiums to AHS so you would want to get your money's worth. Remember, the "non-covered items" are really not repairs that are needed, but you are unable to dispute this as AHS will not support second opinions for non-covered items. Nice scam isn't it?

In summary, AHS uses a very select group of contractors that are usually not local to their coverage areas (except for small appliances), resulting in long wait times for estimates and repairs. The question arises: Why would this be the case when there are numerous licensed/insured businesses in my metropolitan area (the 3rd largest city in the state with a population of near 200,000) that could provide adequate, affordable, high volume service? I think the answer becomes clear when you think about their reimbursement model. It seems that AHS grossly under compensates their contractors, requiring them to use the aforementioned fraudulent business practices to make profit. AHS benefits by not having to pay the contractors a fair price for performing their warranty-covered repairs. The contractor makes their profit than by charging the client for additional non-covered items that didn't really need to be repaired.

The only one who doesn't benefit is the warranty consumer, who not only pays their premiums to AHS, but also pays a $60 fee for the initial service calls, then pays the extra money for the "non-covered" items. The key is, when you add in the $35 premiums per month, the scenario B above actually looks way better financially. So, in conclusion: don't ever buy an American Home Shield warranty!

On or about July 22, 2011, I informed AHS that my AC was not working. I want AHS to fix the problem ASAP because of our health, me and my wife's. I will tell the hospital that I have informed you about the AC.

We heard nothing from the AC company, so we tried to call them and their mailbox was full or they did not return calls. We repeatedly called AHS, with waits up to 55 minutes. AHS kept telling us that they had shipped the new compressor and that the repair company should have it shortly. We couldn't get the AC company to return our calls. AHS kindly agreed to give us $125 for hotel stays or reimburse us for a fan. Of course, we have to make initial investment and hope that, before the end of time, we get reimbursed. (how many nights can you stay in hotel for $125?)

I talked with two supervisors asking them to trace the compressor and they told me that they could not trace a shipment. That's a bunch of bull. We were told that the compressor would be delivered to the AC company on July 20th but it didn't happen, also on the 21st and finally on the 22nd, it was delivered. The AC company said that we will be out mid-morning of Saturday, July 23rd (19 days from the time AC went out). They did come at 3:45, then they wanted $295 to take off the old unit and they would not install the new compressor until we agreed to pay them. What a rip off.

We will not be renewing our contact with American Home Shield. Everytime we have called AHS, we have had weeks of hassle to get anything fixed from water heater, dishwasher, air conditioner or microwave. Don't be fooled by them. Don't give them a dime of your money. They will get no more from us.

My suggested solution, which relieves them of their ethical obligation, was to refund the premium. This was done early to mid-June with promises of a response at that time. To date, there has been no follow-up from the company. Communications with them is difficult; at best a response to an e-mail will take several weeks (if at all ), and wait times on the telephone are in excess of 30 minutes.