American Home Shield Reviews

It took them a while to determine that the stove top couldn’t be fixed. The contractor was very difficult to work and communicate with. I couldn’t get him to call me back and it took him days to call me to schedule. I couldn’t get through to a real person. When I call him, I get voicemail and they never call back. It’s bad that I had them put on my “never send again” list. Stove tops are a little different now and it’s my responsibility to make sure that what I get fits my countertop. Now, everything is off by about an inch and I’m trying to find someone that can do modifications to a granite countertop.

This experience was really bad. The appliance was shipped out and if I keep it over 30 days, then they’re not going to take it back. Also, it’s difficult to find somebody to cut granite. The installers that American Home Shield used don’t do any modifications. They said, “This won’t fit. Nothing we can do.” When I do get it cut, AHS won’t pay the cutters to install my stove top. I have to call another installer. This has really been a nightmare.

The customer service rep has been ridiculous too. I've been calling for two weeks and waited on the line for more than two hours. I've had an opportunity to speak about the same issue with three different customer service reps and two of the reps were very pleasant while the other one didn’t satisfy what I was trying to discuss and wasn’t listening to my concerns. This last claim was really rough and the repair turnaround time was limited. I've been dealing with this issue for a month now and our unit isn't repaired yet. But my experience with AHS has been good for the most part. But the aspect where they send contractors out especially when dealing with AC issues needs to be improved drastically.

We're unhappy with the fact that we had to pay for two service calls because the first guy didn't fix it right. Then the second guy got the job done, but he can only come after business hours. So, we're a little bit inconvenienced by the whole thing. Plus, it was difficult to get through to get our claims. It’s pretty terrible because when I call I had to sit on the phone for an hour waiting for somebody to take it. But once it gets through, it's okay.

AHS never completed the repair. I got another company to come out and replace the whole unit after waiting three to four days. They owe me for some vile amount for an air conditioner because it was covered at the time of the problem. I did all I could do to make sure they're managed but they dropped the ball and I've been given the runaround. But he air conditioner is working great now and I'm happy camper, no thanks to American Home Shield.

We had a bad experience with AHS on Christmas when we had a leak out to underneath our refrigerator. We had called them and they sent out a company who spliced the refrigerator line instead of replacing it. Six months later, we had flooding in our bedroom that we thought was coming from outside until I made my husband dig up some landscaping. It was Christmas Eve so we had this restore company called NWA Restore-It come out because we thought it was from the rain coming in. But it wasn't from there so the guy from NWA went around in the kitchen, pulled the refrigerator, and found out the refrigerator line was spewing water. We put in a claim with our insurance but then we really felt like that company sent by American Home Shield should be charged. We contacted our insurance company and told them we want our $1,000 homeowners fee. We never put in a claim in the 30 years we’ve been married so we had a $1,000 deductible.

The contractor came back for that a week later. They ended up replacing another part on our refrigerator, not just the one that was leaking. But because they replaced another part too, our insurance company didn’t feel they have any recourse to go after that company. They ended up okay with all the settlement from our insurance. That was a bad deal so I called American Home Shield and complained. They said it was the same company that came out both times for that particular problem.

I’m afraid to cancel my contract with American Home Shield because my husband does not fix anything. We’re not mechanical and my husband’s disabled and I don’t have the time. It’s worth it for me to have the peace of mind to have American Home Shield but I need to know that they are reputable people. I don’t have much confidence in American Home Shield that they’re going to stand by me. They seem like they want to protect their people that work with them. Overall, I’m fine with using American Home Shield because they can get somebody out right away.

Then the plumbers were absolutely horrible too. The ones they partner with here in Birmingham always fail in rating if you look at the Better Business Bureau. And the guy that came out to do the plumbing, he recommended a solution that would’ve flooded my house. And so, I ended up getting a second opinion which I’m paying for. They contacted a company that they had a relationship previously and I’ve still got to get reimbursed for it. Though I’m not sure I’ll get it. I haven’t had the time ‘cause when you call into their number, you’re going to be waiting for 30, 40 minutes to get a hold of some neurotic fellow.

AHS need people in customer service that actually have customer service skills and understand that, purchasing their product is the reason that they have a job. Being without the use of your bathroom for a week, that’s unacceptable. And they got no compassion for getting anything done. Also, look at the people they partner with. If you partner with somebody that’s flunking on the Better Business Bureau, I’m not having them into my house. So, the coverage for me is actually useless because I’m not having some guy come in that is not properly trained and would cause more problems than he does correcting them.

However, when I was trying to get ahold of somebody there to ask a question once, I couldn't get in the prompts. When I finally did, my wait time was gonna be 45 minutes so I never really got ahold of anybody at that point. I hope there was an option to speak directly to a person. My wife got ahold of somebody through email though so that was the best way. Other than that, I've been satisfied and would be a repeat customer.

He even crashed through a piece of tile to look at the pump and he told me it was $20 and very cheap, but it cost $200 and that tile could've been pulled off. So there was a lot of chaos with that and I’m very disappointed in the fact that Home Shield was gonna let this happen with this rationalization that had no sense at all if you knew plumbing, mechanics and electricity.

This young man said the pump was well enough and that it wasn't the problem but the outlet, then my husband pointed out that he hadn't even run the pump to make sure it was working. The plumber said he turned it on. He ran our pump without water and the system was breaking down during the cycle of running. When my husband and I checked it after he left, we had an electrical problem that filled three rooms of our house with electrical odor. That's when we had a real meltdown and decided it needed to be taken care of properly. The outlet was certainly not the problem, it was the pump. We had to bring in another plumber from another company and had to stand our ground so that Home Shield would pay for a pump that was obviously broken.

We have paid $120 every month for eight years, waited an hour and a half to get an answer on a phone call and had to argue our point with them. Their system is broken. When their people come out to fix our stuff and call AHS, they’ve also gotta wait on hold to get a repair done. If you call first thing in the morning before anybody else is up, you can get through to Home Shield but if you call during the day, they will put you on hold so I had run around and done all my work and I just kept dialing with my phone in my pocket until they decided to pick the phone up. Customer service is poor.

We really didn’t have many things for American Home Shield to do before, but as we started getting our house ready to be sold, we came up with a few things that we must do before we have people come through. This company has not supported us and that’s why we’re disappointed. I know so many people that have gone with American Home Shield and I have one friend out of all the people that I know who hasn’t ran into a problem yet. But then she had a central air unit problem and there was a back and forth whether AHS was gonna replace it. They told me AHS wasn't and then they came with a new unit the next time in. That’s American Home Shield for you.

So when we sell this house, we are done with Home Shield. You might make a mistake once but you don’t turn yourself into a fool by doing it twice. They are more frustrating than what they are worth. And the reality is, the contractors out there know about the way things are handled in American Home Shield and their contractors. They need to send qualified people out here and that’s where my problem lies.

This company has even repaired old appliances over and over again when they need to be replaced but they’re not gonna put their money out to replace the item. I’ve got a stove that was gonna be fixed and it was gonna cost $600 yet that stove was only worth $2000 and it’s almost 20 years old. They were gonna waste $600 just to fix the clock portion to repair it so that it’ll run again and I can’t do that with the next house.

Our air conditioner also broke in the worst time of the summer. This unit has been replaced years ago through AHS and they put in an inferior brand. I looked it up and Consumer Affairs rated the air conditioning they put in as one of the worst. I knew it was going to break and a part broke in it after not that many years. It should last longer than it did and we feel like we're trapped to continue to pay for it. We also went without air conditioning for almost 10 days because AHS said that we would hear from somebody but we didn’t. I had to call the people they assigned us to and they were nice but they said that they couldn’t come out for three more days.

The tech who came out was nice. My husband was here with him and he said that the tech was very knowledgeable and knew exactly what was wrong. He said that he was going to see if he could get the part overnighted because we've already been without air conditioning for four days. He told us that he's going to call but we never heard a word and we waited for about four more days. Finally, somebody called the following Tuesday and said that the part was in and asked if they can come on Friday to fix it. When the tech came, he fixed it and the air conditioner was working right away. This time, it only cost us $75.

We also had several issues a few months ago when our hot water heater rusted at the bottom and was leaking. I went online, put the claim in and AHS assigned us to someone. Then the tech came and picked up the water heater immediately without getting our approval if we were taking the cash buyout or having it fixed through AHS. He was all right but the bill he gave us was going to be $900 which was an outrageous amount of money. AHS was going to pay $400 and we were going to have to pay the rest. The tech also said that he couldn’t replace the unit with the same size unit because they don’t sell them anymore, so he had to redo all the piping.

After finding out that it was going to cost us that much money, we ended up finding someone that could do it that was licensed. This gentleman went right to a local store and bought the exact same size that we had and it cost us less than the amount given by the tech sent by AHS. In effect, that tech lied to us so that he can make more money. We informed AHS that we'll be taking the buyout from them of only $400 and the replacement only cost us $200 more. But the unit had to be brought back to us and AHS called and told us that they were going to charge us for that. I spoke with a lady who was the rudest I've ever spoken with there at AHS and I made sure they knew. She gave me incorrect information.

The next woman whom I spoke with said that the first rep should have never said that. I said that it's not our problem and that they're reducing the amount of money that they're giving us because the tech already picked up the unit. That’s not our fault because they never approved it with us to have it fixed. Overall, we're not satisfied with AHS. We've had too many things that happened that should not have happened the way they did.

The first company called me and my wife a liar. I am really not too thrilled about that. I know what was said even though I was in my bedroom and sick. My heater was right outside my bedroom window and I heard the whole conversation. He said that the system was too much to fix, that it was open to the elements and could not get all the parts. He verified it again with his boss after he spoke to us and the boss stuck with the employee. I got diagnosed with cancer a couple of weeks ago and if it wasn't for that, something would have been done with these people already. But, the second company was really professional and unbelievably great. Another thing is that the jet stop stopped working but that's a nothing deal. It's just an adjustment with the line because my pool guy came out here and did some things.

Other than that, AHS has been absolutely 100% great. Every time we have them come out, the problem was resolved. I needed new knobs for my stove but because they couldn't get the knobs for my stoves anymore, they put a whole new stove in my house instead, for $100. So, I can't beat AHS with a stick and I am trying to get people to join up. I keep telling everybody we know, it's the best policy I've ever had in my entire life. It covers my whole entire house. I've used electricians, plumbers, pool guy, all the appliance guys and they were excellent.

My wife submits claims over the phone and she gets assistance. She knows what times to call up and what days. If she calls up on a Sunday, she's in there within 10 to 15 minutes, but Monday is the worst day to call because everybody is waiting since the weekend. Overall, AHS is the greatest company on the planet. We've had a couple of these and AHS are the most professional out of all of them that we've dealt with.

We also had a technician who came and checked out the air conditioning. He did a great job and there was one concern, but it turned out that the problem was communication between us and the lady who’s buying the house, this realtor. I ended up spending $3200 from the air conditioner. It's an older home and we've had a number of repairs done on it and in every case, American Home Shield and the people they refer have done a good job and we've been very happy with it.

The only thing was that about two years ago we had a contractor come out and replaced the garbage disposal on the house on Hogan Drive and about a week later, the tenants called us and said that the dishwasher was flooding. It turned out that the contractor who installed the disposal had knocked out on the dishwasher drain and I found out about it a couple of months later. I was really disappointed and it's kind of upsetting, but considering this job we had to pay an extra $100 for another service call that the first contractor should have taken care of while he was there. But then he came in the house with his boot on so as not to mess up the floor. So, we've been very impressed with the contractors except with that one occasion with the disposal.

We have a second contract on our house in Springville and last fall we had a problem with our thermostat there. A neighbor who first checked on the house said that it's 95 degrees in there and that our thermostat was locked in heat. AHS was great to work with. Their contractor worked with the neighbor and got a hold of the neighbor to let him in and it worked very well even though we were 1500 miles away at the time and weren't able to be there when the contractor came. So that was another very positive experience.

Then every once in a while we would get a rather long hold waiting for the phone to be answered, but we just deal with that because it was on a Monday morning and the reps are busy. Once we finally get a hold them, they're always helpful. It also paid off in spades and we are so glad we got AHS on our house on Hogan Drive which is a rental and it was wonderful. They had been prompt and they're doing the work with us. We've had a pleasant experience and we recommended them.

AHS needs to get better contractors that come out and service. I had more of an issue with the people who are coming out than I do with AHS. My refrigerator was serviced a couple years ago and it took about six times before it got up and running the way it needed to when the last person got it right. But I also got my central air fixed and the people they sent out went awesome. They came really quickly and fixed everything and they were really professional that I had no issues.

How is this okay?? What are we supposed to do all weekend without functioning plumbing?? We cant leave because we have pets not to mention the expense. NOT OK especially when the plumber was here but could not do repairs because of your poor systems and customer service. FYI we let our real estate agent know who escalated it and their agency rep was on hold for 2 hours and had to hang up due to other appointments.

The way this company operates and the manner in which they treat their "customers" is shameful. I had to provide the PHONE NUMBER & etc. for the vendor THEY USE, leave messages for their vendors, basically do their job for them to get anything serviced. I'm getting this recent issue fixed, and then seriously considering leaving this "plan" behind. Very unhappy with each service experience I have had (3 SO FAR TO DATE) using this company, and my "warranty". Buyers BEWARE!!!

Now they are saying that I am responsible for a new AC unit. I purchased the home warranty to protect me in case an appliance failed. Just like their advertising says to do. This company is dishonest and has no integrity.

I’ve had American Home Shield for a long time so I’ve had plenty of contractors come out. The one that I had the most time with was when I had a washing machine that kept going out of balance. They sent the same guy three times. Issue kept happening so they turned around and sent out a different company. The second contractor who came fixed it, no problem. We had zero issues. So, I wasted three service calls which are $70 a piece with a guy that was essentially just perpetuating the problem. But that is not the norm with them. Usually, I got a one-stop shop where I call with an issue and they send somebody out to fix it.

Also, another thing is the timeliness of the contractors. Whenever I call American Home Shield, I already know that I have to reach out to the contractor because that contractor is not going to reach out to me. That has been the case, no matter who the provider is, what the appliance is, or what time of year it is. AHS would say that somebody’s gonna reach out to me in x amount of hours. And if I wait, I’ll end up prolonging my problem because nobody calls me. I have recommended American Home Shield to a lot of people, though, because in the long run, it’s a money saver. There are some issues but in the long run, I’m still saving money so I’m not going to get rid of them.

I tried to call AHS back to ask for a different contractor when I read that review but I had a hard time trying to get a hold of them on my phone. It told me the estimated wait time was over 30 minutes and there was no other way to contact customer service. A lot of people now have a thing where you call and they say to put in your phone number and they'll call you back in a little bit so I was disappointed they didn't have something like that. So the contractor finally came out for us and he was professional and courteous. Overall, AHS is a good home warranty company and I'd recommend them.

The contractor called the day after I placed the request and we got an appointment. It was a very reasonable response and the gentleman came. He inspected everything and the toilet was not in good shape. He drained it and the bolts were completely rusted and causing some seepage. He showed me what the condition it was in and it was not a simple fix. He had to replace the various mechanisms inside in order to fix it and he did a great job. He was great because not only did he fix the immediate problem, but also because fixing it required more than I would have thought. He had everything he needed with him and was very thorough. Now, it's working perfectly well and our first claims experience with American Home Shield had been very good.

The second time I called, I got someone who had been with AHS for a while and understood the difference between a very basic GE product and a more basic but superior KitchenAid product and she said the first person I spoke with didn’t pick the right product category for me. The second person then took a few minutes and found KitchenAid product, which was something that's more in line and made that an offer. I ended up turning that down not because it was not a decent offer but it so happened that when all this was happening, KitchenAid was having a sale on their products and I was able to buy from them a dishwasher. I then asked AHS for the cash, the equivalent of the replacement, instead. And now, I’m waiting on the check. From that perspective, I’m happy with the services.

I got the machine from Home Depot and had them deliver and install it because AHS doesn't do the installation. Otherwise, everything American Home Shield has offered me and done so far has been good. I have used AHS for over 20 years even though my company recommends another company. I am a real estate agent and when I feel that a home warranty is warranted, I recommend it to my clients. There are other companies but I know what my clients and I are going to get with AHS. It would be nice though if AHS would recognize a real estate agent that brings them a client, some other companies do.

I got a call indicating who would be coming but no one came. I didn't make it an issue because they typically call first. And for some reason, I was balancing my budget and I noticed I had a pending charge for a visit that never happened. Typically when somebody comes by, they will do the work and you would sign that the work has been accomplished. In the past, we used to pay them directly when they came. But American Home Shield changed it now where they give you the option to pay it upfront or after the service is done. I chose to pay it after the service was done. But in this particular case, there was never any contact, action or notes about the ACs outside.

Initially, I was trying to convince myself to let it go and do my next service, anyway it was already paid for. Worst case scenario, they may have said nothing was wrong and it was just doing the best it can, or that I needed a new AC or Freon. But because I've used them quite often, I wouldn't have had any problem with the service fee if they told me something, even if it's just "We didn't see anything." But none of that ever happens.

I decided I would call and complain but I felt like I was going to have to jump to some hoops to get my refund back. They were going to debit it and then I could submit some forms and then they would send me a check back. They told me they came by. However, if they hadn't done anything, why was AHS taking it in the first place? I asked whether the contractor told AHS that they did something, and if that's what they said, who did they see and what did they do? They had nothing to give me. So it wasn't evident. Eventually, they retracted that fee but it was only through some persistence by me.

I learned from this issue, but I will use them again. Overall, I'm somewhat satisfied with my experience and I would recommend them. It's still a great service to have when you need it. You pay a monthly fee and you may not need it for six months or a year but if the garage door opens and goes down, it would cost more than that to find someone at Lowe's or Home Depot to come over and do it for you. If you can do that, you're going to work yourselves. Besides, there have been cases when I'm sure it cost more to fix the situation than the service fee. If you can afford to pay the monthly fee and then pay the service fee, it's worth it to have it.

It was the hottest time of the season and I have a daughter who has asthma, so I needed to do something right away. I had to take it out of my own pocket instead of dealing with AHS. They waited too late to get back with me and I needed some air and it was just too hot for us to be waiting. The person I hired to take care of the unit took a look at it really quickly, fixed it, had me up and running within a half an hour. He also only charged me $300.

However, what he did was not the same with the guy AHS sent out. It wasn’t the problem that he determined and that’s not the problem he fixed. I asked the lady from AHS if I would get a refund of my $100 fee, since I didn't use the service, and she said that they couldn't do that. I just take that as a loss and chalk it up for next time. The overall experience was not bad, but it took way too long in between days to hear back from them.

We’ve been with AHS for about 30 years. Every home we've owned we've had them. My only complaint is that the rate for the service fee keeps going up. 30 years ago it was $30 but today it's $82. They're charging sales tax now which they never had before, but everybody gets their taxes either way overall. We've always been pleased with AHS. They’re professional and speedy.

We knew we had an American Home Shield warranty set up as part of our purchasing agreement, but were unaware that we had to use a pre-designated vendor. The vendor would have to come assess the malfunctioning heater, determine if it was in need of repair or replacement, and the over all process could take 1-2 weeks. In stepped Carina, who exhibited an understanding of our plight, comprehended we needed to immediately address the circumstance with a local vendor, and found a means to offset some of the cost of our emergency with empathy, and dedication to premium customer service. We're extremely appreciative of the extra effort made by Carina on our behalf, and highly recommend American Home Shield for homeowners as a result of her value added accomplishment.

Five days later, I finally received a message. I have returned the call nearly two dozen times, and the employee 'Porche' does not answer or return messages. I have also sent two online email inquiries, with no response from there as well. Not sure why I'm paying for an insurance, when a job isn't getting done correctly the first time, they have little to no accountability with the companies that they send out, and there is no initiative to get things right.

So for my two kids that have been enduring the Florida heat index of over 100 on most days, I decided that others should know of my experience. Not right that I pay them monthly, trust in their repairs, but some of their companies (specifically AirBoss) just are not worried about doing a thorough job, and getting things right on the first attempt. So now I'm on my 3rd repair in a year, and I'm expected to pay the $75 and pay $600-$800 again for the gas. They are not interested in any other solution. I have also not been able to get into contact with anyone from AirBoss either.

The other is the AHS call center where you wait on hold to speak with someone for at least 20 minutes and then get a disconnect before being connected. This has happened to me on six out of eight calls in the past two days and it matters not whether I'm calling from my cell or a landline. I'm not going to say that it's intentional, but it's certainly one way to frustrate customers. I have finally gotten through to a person at AHS who insists that 60 days is 60 days, irrespective of my inability to know whether the repair was successful for 150 days after it was made. This is a very difficult company to deal with. Plan to spend a lot of time on the phone trying to resolve simple issues.

We tried calling again and never got through. So we once again did a work order. However the heat was getting unbearable and we have an 11 year old daughter in the home that is a recovering cancer patient and very heat sensitive. We decide to go ahead and just replace the unit. I took off work this morning so I could wait on hold for however long it takes today and was told since we did not wait for American Home Shield to come back out and try look at it again American Home Shield is saying they will won't cover the unit. They said when it went out the second time we should have called and escalated it so they could send someone out ASAP and not have done the on-line slip.

Besides from us having no idea that was how we were suppose to do it for return visits, we both work and do not have 2 hours a time to sit on the phone waiting for someone to answer the call. The AC guy that we had come out and look at the unit and is now doing the replacement said that the company not only possibly fried the system they caused the system to lock in heat mode and now our AC unit is blowing hot air. Which potentially could have caused the fire. The AC guy I had come out to do the install/fix until a new unit was installed did get it back working temporarily and now American Home Shield says if they sent someone out they would see the unit is working and not cover the new unit anyway.

We called and he’d be very frustrated on the phone. He would say he has just been here and I told him that he needs to stick around for a while as we’ve been trying to tell him. We’ll run it and then I’ll show the damage. I know he was getting frustrated himself so I can’t fault him. My daughter was here and she kept telling them what happened and saying that it’ll work for 10 minutes then it totally stops. It took 10 weeks before AHS finally said that we’re going to get a new dishwasher. Thank goodness they sent a different technician out that installed it. He was different from the one that came out several times. And then, it’s not even hooked into the cabinet because they said that they’re not allowed use granite on the counter tops. So, every time we open both doors, the whole thing wants to fall off the cupboards. Other than that, we’ve had a good time with them, they had really been good and we've been really pleased.

However, this was the third time I'm calling for the same toilet in the last one and a half years so I told the technician that it's not just the flap and they can't keep changing the flaps every three months. There had to be something else so he looked into it and he said there was something wrong with the design of the toilet bowl and I needed to order the part for something inside it. That made sense and I said okay. He charged me $75.

But every time I've called him since March, he has said the part is in back order but it's coming. However, the last two times, he had stopped taking my calls. It's been four months and when I complained to American Home Shield when they called, the rep confirmed that the part is still in back order but he was going to work with me for any backup options. This happened on Tuesday and he was supposed to call me on Wednesday but he never called me. American Home Shield also told me that they will call me on Thursday to check if the technician has called me and they never called me as well.

It's a water leak and I am paying so much extra money monthly for this water leak in my bathroom for the last five months and it's way more than the $75 which I've already paid. Plus, it's a master bathroom and I have two little kids but I had to shut the water off to save my water bill. I'm definitely not very happy with the technician they have assigned and that American Home Shield is not taking my complaints seriously. They're trying to do a follow-up with the same technician and not updating me with anything. Forget the repair, I'm still waiting for a phone call to even tell me what is going on.

On top of that, I've noticed these last three years that there's been a significant increase in the monthly price every year so I'm definitely not very happy with that either. I've been with American Home Shield for the longest time and I have them in my three other properties as well. I even talked to the customer service and asked them if, since I'm such an old customer, they could give me a better price or a discount with multiple units. They said there was nothing they could do.

Then, a guy comes in to fix the dryer and he says the knob is broken and he said I need a new one which is true because he had to use pliers to get it going. So I said okay. I asked him how much a new one is going to cost me. He said he needs to see if it is covered first. I told him the knob had better be covered because they’re going to have a problem with me if I paid a $100 deductible for him to come here and tell me my knob needs to be replaced and I got to pay for it. And he called them and said they're going to pay for it.

There are some things that they question paying for which reminds me of something I saw on TV, about a home protection program where the lady's refrigerator needed to be replaced. She paid her deductible and they aren’t going to give her a certain amount for a new refrigerator. She has to pay the ref. I hope that's not the cost of this company. So, I’ll call to check on that with AHS. I hope I don't have the problem. But the service people I’ve met are very polite. They come in, do their work and don't tarry. It’s been a positive experience.

Other than that, they're usually able to resolve whatever issue I'm having. One time, Sears came for the washer and they were really great. But there was another company that came to repair our stove and fridge which both broke at the same time and they were absolutely horrendous. They were most unprofessional and we had to have them back two or three times. One of these times, the tech was supposed to get there at 6:00 PM but he didn't come till 9:00 at night. I said, "Don't even bother. Plan another time," but he said, "We're right around the corner. It will be quick." This was on a Monday night and he had me unload all of the contents of my fridge and freezer because he had to fix the wheel on the bottom.

That problem with the wheel started when the tech tried to fix the defrost timer in the freezer before and the wheel broke, so I had to have him come back. I told AHS to send out two techs because the tech can't touch a wheel at the bottom of the fridge without someone's help. But they only sent out one guy and I had to convince him that it was the wheel that had a problem because he thought that my floor was not leveled. I even had to take out a level to prove that it wasn't my floor that was not leveled. He was going to tilt the fridge forward and have me hold it while he fixed it but I said, "I don't think so.” I've called AHS a few times and put in a couple of reports about how they should not work with that company anymore. These issues we've had have been a pain, but everything seems to be working fine now and we're happy overall.

Southern Comfort came the following week and they checked everything like they wanted the first time. They told us that the thermostat needed to be reprogrammed. They did that but it had the same results. So we had to call AHS again and we waited for 45 minutes. Southern Comfort came the following week and the person who came told us we had an electrical shortage. But we only got the unit for five years so I couldn't understand that. We told our rep that we wanted a second opinion and he told us that that would be an additional $75 which was no problem. We also got an e-mail telling us that the cost was a little bit more for coming back out. AHS then referred us to H&M and that took care of the problem on the first try.

The first time I filed a claim was for my built-in microwave oven that died. That's a Bosch and there were only a few people around to fix it. When AHS sent someone out, the tech couldn't fix it. Then they sent another person, but he couldn't fix it either. They then told me on the phone that at this point, they couldn't fix it because they should replace all the parts, that I should just go buy it myself and then they'd reimburse me. So I found the unit and I ordered at Sears. I brought it in and installed it myself with a bad shoulder. Then they said that they didn't tell me to do that and that they will only give me a certain amount. Then they gave me $300 or $400 for it, but the unit was $700.

They said that I can't prove what they told me, so they didn't believe me. Then they said something about looking into the contract that I signed. I went online and tried to dig deeper to try to find something that they were talking about, that they would only pay so much on it. I told them that it was not in the contract that I signed, but they said that it's online, which I thought was a bit shady. I have friends that have used them but never had a problem with them. I would not recommend them to anyone else, but my house is eight years old so I'll probably keep the contract.

We also bought a house in Pennsylvania and I’m glad it had the home warranty, because we had a leak. It happened Friday night around 7:30 or 8:00. The girls were having a bath and it started leaking into the kitchen. So, we didn’t add any more water and let the tub drain, and suddenly water pour through the ceiling. One guy came on Saturday morning around 9:00 but had to come twice because it was a two-man job. He tried to find another guy on Saturday but couldn’t. So, they came on Sunday and fixed the plumbing. And they were great.

I would definitely recommend buying from American Home Shield. I understand that I have to go through the process of calling, waiting on a plumber, etc. But it turned out to be a blessing and it was worth it in both instances. An older lady bought our house in Florida and so, there's peace of mind that if something happens with the house, she can just call related to the package that we purchased. Also, our home in Pennsylvania is 50 years old and I'm thankful the homeowners got the warranty like we did with our Florida house. Because that would have been a nightmare. I wish we didn’t have to use it but it's always nice to have it when you need it.

The experience I had submitting a claim was lie, lie, dance, dance, dance. Nobody's going to tell the truth. We got to go by the rules. I've never heard and I've talked to a rep from American Home Shield who contracts various vendors to go out for and he says, what they're telling me is not really the truth. I can have a second vendor come out for another $100 and I could gamble on whether or not they're going to be just as bad as the first one. I need somebody that knows what they're doing.

The contractor they sent out was good. I just don't think he understood. I guess he understands because I think his quote was if I come out here and say, I need a whole new unit, American Home Shield is going to send out five vendors until they get one that says, that they won't. So when it froze up for the second time, I didn't even know what he did the second time even if he tried to fix anything. I don't know if the condenser wasn't working on the second time. And the third time, they sent somebody else out and he came out with his little sniffy thing and said, the compressors leaking.

According to American Home Shield, if you have an R-22 system, they're only going to pay $10 a pound in my nine-pound system, is curiously jumped up to 12 pounds at a $100 and something per pound of R-22. I elected to say, "Screw that. Just give me the money. I'll get somebody who knows what they're doing. I'll put it in and I'll buy a whole new unit myself."

I got more bang for the buck because it was $100. I broke it down to $33 per service call because normally, it should have been $100 and they should have came out and fixed it. So I came up with a diagnosis that was really going to work and they answer is, no, no and no. I'm going to bite my tongue for a while because I got a certified and inspected system that's going to get put in tomorrow. And the other thing too is, here's your great American Home Shield, I say, "Why can't I pick my own vendor?" Total Home Protection allows you to take your own vendor. Everybody else does but not them, no.

They said, "No. The best we could do is to bandage him first and can be second and that would be another $100." You know, by the time I get done, American Home Shield has been the biggest disappointment, period, of anything I have ever done. I usually make pretty valid decisions. I'm actually embarrassed by the fact that I went to the higher program that didn't cap off at $1500 so American Home Shield can do what they could to keep it under $50.

I hope AHS goes out of business. That'd be the highlight of my day. I hope somebody gets off and piss off at them and actually sue them and get done with the game and just say, Come out and fix this stuff. It's a 29-year old unit.It's going to cost me $1100 in R-22 even if they did put it in, just to put in a compressor and then, I can get the buyout for $850.12 minus whatever service fees and I paid $100 at the services and everybody else that comes out charges $85. I'm sure, there's going to be some scam charge on that too where I don't get the whole $850. They're going to say, there's some hidden fee somewhere with the hidden scam, American Home Shield scam. As you can see, I'm not excessively disappointed. I'm disappointed at myself that I believe American Home Shield really was a decent company and they are not.

Bottomline is if they want to be a company, just eliminate the air-conditioning aspect of what they cover. Just take it off their map because they're not going to be honest about it. I want all my premiums back, is what I want, for the five years that I've paid because they lied to me. They lied to me. They did not do anything that they said that they would do. They did not offer me any type of choice of any vendor. I was told that more than once and if it was, they would pick the next vendor. Everybody else offers choice of vendor. They don't. They sent one rag after another until they can get one to get the cheapest Band-Aid to get it out the door. They're horrible. I can't be more disappointed any decision I made other than my first wife that would even compare to this.

Everyday, they told me the same thing. They promised me that they would call me and let me know about the progress. Nothing happened. I have been paying the fees for many years, but until now, I am not sure that they plan to replace, repair or going to help us with the defect washer. Looking for advice. I thought this company has a good reputation, but unfortunately it did not look like they plan to fix or replace the washer or help their customer. Not even a callback.

We called again and out came the contractor again (after a week of waiting). He called American Home Shield again and again told them the microwave is too old to repair, but they would not authorize a new one. This time they told him to put in a new circuit board. Another week with a dead microwave. When the board was finally installed it worked... for only a week, just like the contractor told them. Clearly the microwave is shot, but they are intent on replacing one little part at a time instead of just doing the right thing and replacing the microwave. The contractor is dumbfounded that American Home Shield is putting us through this. But tomorrow he is coming back to look at the microwave. He already told us that he will just call American Home Shield AGAIN when he gets here and tell them it needs to be replaced.

I fully expect them to instruct him to replace some other random part. It will then take him 3-4 days to order the part that won't fix the problem, another 3-4 days to get back out to install it, a few days for the microwave to function before it dies, then we will start the cycle all over again. This is so unfair and frustrating. It feels like American Home Shield is dragging this out in the hopes that we will just give up and buy the new microwave ourselves. We paid for the warranty, we paid for the service and they provided nothing but frustration in return. Not to mention the fact that every time we call them we are on hold at least 50 minutes. I am amazed that a company that cares so little about their customers can remain in business. How can it take two months to figure out a microwave needs to be replaced!!!

Original Review: Aug. 10, 2017

The most recent claim I had with American Home Shield was on my kitchen sink. I did an online request and they came out the next day. They did it in a timely fashion. Everything was repaired and the technician was really nice. But the one before that was the worst, and that was with my washer. The technician came out on the 20th of June, diagnosed the problem and ordered the part. But, they didn’t have any open slots until July 12th so he didn’t come back out to finish the repair until then.

I called back to American Home Shield and they said it was the policy. When I was on the phone, they initially told me that it would be the 5th of July but they sent me a confirmation that said July 12th. I told them that Sears offered me a $50 laundry coupon to wash my clothes on a laundry mat, but what is $50 going to do for a family of four? With all the towels and washcloths, $50 was going to be a waste of my time. But it’s all right now. It just took me a month of waiting with no washer.

The technician told me they are the best ones to have. If they're the best I couldn't even imagine what the worse would be. They were the absolute worst. It would have been three weeks and my floor would have been ruined. I paid $550 to have my air conditioner fixed which was wrong but I did it because I had to. But I'm glad I didn't have the contractor fix it because I don't know what he was capable of doing.

I was in the retail business for 30 years and if I ran my departments like AHS does, I would have been out of business in two weeks. I was appalled. It was so bad of an experience. I could deal with the fact that my claim wasn't covered, but they also never called me back when I wanted a price and I was going to pay. Also when I first talked to the woman, she was just downright rude. I even called and blocked my number so she wouldn't know it was me. But she doesn't even answer the phone. It's like a half a man operation. AHS is hounding me to renew with them by the end of September but I won't be giving them a red nickel.

However, their contractors were okay, but it depends. Some were absolutely the worst and they are contractors who cover icemakers. A year ago, I called to get my icemaker fixed and the guy said “That's not covered, but we're not going to charge you for it." But he demanded to write him a check and I didn’t, so American Home Shield charged me. They charged me for a work not done so I went after them and I contacted the Better Business Bureau. When I had another issue with the refrigerator, I made sure that company doesn't come back. They were tough to deal with and a lot of females had problems because they were intimidated when these guys came to their house. I ended up with another company that sent out a guy and explained to me that people have also told the police on them.

Overall, I have been a customer for 17 years and I've referred them to multiple people, but about three or four years ago, they switched. Now, I would turn those people away and say "Just go on your own and get somebody else, because you don't deserve this kind of treatment." Having referred these people, I’m amazed at how they’re not going the extra mile for me. It was unsatisfactory and cruel.

But then, neither of my two toilets would flush. And even in the kitchen sink, the water wouldn’t go down for quite some time. In the beginning when I had a problem, I had to wait three days for a plumber to come out. I understand they’re busy and one toilet would be stuck up so at least I had the other toilet to use. But this time, I couldn’t use either toilet. I couldn’t flush both toilets for over a week. They sent out a different company, Drain Go, and they said they needed an outside access but there was none. My son had to cut the pipe on the outside and get something wide so they had access. Then we called them back and they drained and fixed that but they said there’s either a clog or a crack somewhere in the line.

We didn't know if these plumbers knew what they were doing and what kind of experience they've had as plumbers. They said they’ve been doing plumbing for over 20 years and that they knew what they're doing. But it didn't look that way. I’m on city sewer and now they’re saying I have to take off half my back porch and dig up the ground to find out where the pipe is going and where the blockage is.

The problem still has not been completely solved. Although I have hot water and I could flush the toilets, but for how long, I don’t know. They’re also telling me I’m going to have to pay for the city service, but I’m paying AHS monthly for the service which they're taking automatically out of my account. I also had to pay the $75 deductible twice and now they’re saying this is not their problem. But they didn’t even know if it was the city or if it was septic. Besides, my son said the city is not responsible for it even though I pay the Leeds Water Department and these plumbers don’t know what the heck they’re talking about.

Additionally, I was very happy that I didn't have to pay for the second guy who came out. I'm more than satisfied with AHS. I wasn't satisfied with my other warranty because when I call, they didn't want to respond when I had a problem with my plumbing. And all weekend, I couldn't use my bathroom because it was flooded. I had to move to my daughter's house for a while. But with AHS, the phone was answered when I called and they replied kindly to my questions. The only thing is they don't work on weekends. But the contractors were on-time. When they said 8:00, they were here at 8:00.

But the contractor came out and they were courteous and considerate of my home. They had to take off their shoes and they tried to perform their duty. I have an older unit and they kept working until they got it fixed and anytime the problem comes back, the contractor would also come back and fix it. Everything went well and I'm satisfied. Since the repair, my unit seems to be working well. There's additional charge for Freon. But other than that, I know how much I'm going to have to pay, and I appreciate that.

I didn't really like the first contractor Rich. He came out to my home and the first thing that he did was to clean the lighter stick with a dollar bill. The furnace came on and he left, but a day later, the furnace went off again. I called American Home Shield and made a complaint. They sent Rich out again and this time he came out with an attitude. He made it seem like it was a user error and he did the exact same thing. I told him that wasn't working and he disregarded my comment. Since the furnace came on before he left, he figured he had resolved the problem.

I contacted American Home Shield when the furnace went off again and this time when the company contacted me, I gave them everything that was happening and the demeanor of Rich. However, they did not do anything about it. They simply called the company and asked them to come back out. I had no charge and that may be an American Home Shield issue meaning that they don't get involved, but they did not help to mitigate the issue. I had to go to the company myself and actually write the owner of the company to have them resolve it swiftly and send out someone too. They tried to send Rich again but I sent videos of the furnace going on and stopping seconds later. I myself have tried to clean the lighter stick so I also sent a video of doing the exact same thing Rich did and the furnace cycling going off. So I asked them not to send Rich because his solution was not working.

They sent another gentleman named Charlie. It took him 20 minutes to assess the entire furnace and he did a very thorough job. He found out it had to do with the motor, water bagging and the system. He checked the pipes leading out from the system outside the home. I was very pleased with his thorough assessment and he diagnosed that I needed a new motor so he put an order in for one. And it was still under warranty.

To install the motor, they sent another gentleman out. His name was John and he went further than simply installing the motor. He actually replaced the motor board and fixed a couple other things that he thought would deter the motor from working appropriately. Now it's performing as it should and running the air. Whatever he did actually improved the way the furnace was working prior to the service call so I'm very satisfied with John. But in my experience, American Home Shield just provides access to various technicians at an affordable price.

It had to do with plumbing and they were supposed to have my water heater replaced and fixed but I find out that the company was telling me one thing and AHS something else. It boils down to having to pay $1000 upfront to get it fixed and I didn’t have that money to get it fixed. They were telling me lies and trying to undercut AHS. I didn’t like the service that they gave me and my water heater hasn’t been fixed yet. I've had to constantly reset my water heater. I don’t want to call it in to get them back out here to put in a new thermostat because every time they do that, I’m still having the same problem and it's been for at least five years now. Other than that, AHS has been excellent. My experience with them is very professional and detailed. They’re easy to talk to and explaining my situation to them is a very pleasant experience. They are very kind, understanding and they show that they really want the problems to be attended to and taken care of.

I contacted another AC company for the same product and it was more than five times of what they charge. Plus, I have a neighbor who lives just right across the street from me. He has an air conditioning business and he said that the way this company was charging was ridiculous. So, I asked to change the company and AHS did it. In this case, they handled it very well. The other company did a good job to resolve the issue. I have been with AHS for 3 months now and, overall, my experience has been okay.

They were scheduled to come between 1 and 5 pm today. At about 3, I called Red 1 appliance to find out if they were in fact coming (and the reviews came true). Nobody answered and they did not return my message. I called AHS and was once again on hold for over 30 minutes - finally got to an agent who told me that he was going to call the company - left me on hold for another 45 minutes or so - then the phone went dead. Also, didn't bother to call me back. Sure enough, I got a call at 4:20 pm from Red 1 appliance to say that his truck broke down YESTERDAY and could not come and haul the dishwasher away so he wasn't going to come at all.

I asked him why he didn't let me know yesterday when his truck broke down so that I wouldn't have had to waste the whole afternoon waiting for him not to show - totally unresponsive and couldn't care less - I called AHS about 45 minutes ago and wanted to speak to a manager - want to find out why since I believe I am paying for decent service and AHS is hiring unprofessional vendors - am still on hold for a manager (56 minutes waiting now). I am looking around for another warranty company - it's amazing how they take my money with no waiting every month - but my time is worth nothing to them. DISGUSTING customer service!!!

I received a call from Teresa in the complaint department from America Home Shield and noted they couldn't replace it! But it clearly states in the contract that it is replaceable if it can't be repaired. She was very rude and unprofessional, evidence by cutting me off in conversation. I asked for a manager and she communicated that it wasn't no supervisors around. THIS WARRANTY Company doesn't honor the contract at all and set their contractors up to state the item needs to be replaced so they don't have to worry about fixing it!! Don't give them any of your money!!

Of course, the last repair was done through the warranty company, so I call them and tell them what the technician told me. They re-dispatch the last company (Consolidated Air) that repaired the unit the last time and told me that it was up to me to get them to fix the issue if they caused it. They also tell me that unless the unit cannot be repaired, they won't replace it, regardless of how old it is or the state it is in. On top of that there is fine print in the contract that they cover $10 per pound for coolant.

As a typical consumer I have no idea how much coolant costs. They proceed to tell me coolant is $30-120 per pound because it has been banned by the EPA, depending on the technician they send. But that they don't ask the companies ahead of time, you just have to pay whatever price is quoted. I was again shocked, how can they be responsible for picking the technician, and not know how much the repair would cost and not pick the one that has $30 coolant vs $120 coolant?

So I wait another week for Consolidated Air to come look at the unit. At the time, they tell me that they have diagnosed the problem, but will need to have their parts department get back to me with an estimate... After a couple more weeks I finally connect with the parts person (who had been on vacation) and am told that it would be $850 to fix it. I tell them what the warranty company told me, that they were responsible for the repairs... They said it wasn't their issue. After a long conversation, I finally agreed, I need it fixed, so just come on Monday and I will pay the fees. Monday comes and I get a call from them saying they are not coming, and that I need to call the home warranty company.

Now that it has been several weeks, when I call them, I then ask, can you replace the coolant with the "new" kind that isn't banned by the EPA? They tell me to talk to Consolidated Air to see if that would be possible and if so I could get $150 toward the repair. So, I call Consolidated Air, the guy tells me that it makes perfect sense to him, since the "old" refrigerant will be banned in 2020, that replacing it today would be "like putting new tire that you were going to sell"... and tells me that the parts guy would call me back. That was over a month ago. I have repeatedly called and no one has returned my call. I was told multiple times that the owner would call me. It has never happened.

In the mean time I have contacted AHS multiple times to tell them about the situation, and finally told them I would not be renewing my contract because this has been such a nightmare. I did ask if I did not renew would this repair still be covered, they said yes. They also told me if I hired a third party to fix the unit they would "try" to get the actual cost covered. The contractor who is fixing it tells me that it is a waste of money to repair this unit and that he can't believe any other contractor would recommend that. There is hail damage to the condenser, loose wires from the previous repairs, etc. etc.

I called AHS to ask them why they didn't just replace it, and they basically told me if I still had a contract, they might be able to do something, but since I didn't renew, I was on my own... I asked them if I renewed now would they repair and there was nothing they could do. Very long story to say, I do not recommend American Home Shield. I have used other warranty (BFS, 2-10) companies in the past that have been very good and had much better customer service.

Forgot, the only other positive thing I have to say is when you request service, it can be done via phone tree or website. Not a hassle. However from there things go downhill rapidly. I think policy for contractors is they have 48 hours to contact the client. However, I've seen other reviews that indicate contractors aren't so responsive or even competent for that matter.

Response time: If you are fortunate and get a good contractor, they make an appointment within a day. That's not my experience, though. Our first contractor for our present issue made an appointment for 5 days out. That was unacceptable, so I called the warranty company (on hold waiting for them to pick up for 50 minutes) and they gave me another company that was 3 days out. Once they come out, they analyze the issue. They don't fix because they must get approval. They must submit a request for parts or permission to fix to the warranty company. Once that is approval is accomplished, they then make an appointment to return. All this takes time, and if you are like us who have tenants or paying guests, you can't afford waiting a week or more to fix a problem. And that is my experience with this company.

We have ended up calling a repairmen outside of the warranty company to fix the AC issue ($200 out of pocket) and fixing the last issue ourselves (my husband ordered the part online and installed it himself ($75 out of pocket + $75 for the tech analysis visit) due to the fact we can't wait for the warranty company response.

Communication: Communicating with this company is a complete hassle. You get someone on the phone immediately if you are buying a warranty. However if you need to talk to a customer service person, to do anything other than purchase a warranty, you wait for someone to answer for a long time. I've never waited for under 30 minutes. My last call to them was a 50 minute wait. And I've had to call them several times. I've read other reviews where the person waited 2 hours or more!!!

Since we fixed the current problem ourselves, I wanted to cancel the technician's return. I talked to the contractor and they let their technician know, but she tells me I have to cancel through the warranty company. Ok, I face the prospect of calling the warranty company or going to their website. The website has a "cancel" button, but when pressed, it says you have to call them. Oh no! Everything you need to do means getting on the phone with them. And there is no option of leaving a message for a return call. I have to talk to someone and I'm not Looking forward to that hour + wait on the phone.

Approval for other repair people outside of their permitted list? Non-existent. So you can't get someone who can respond immediately and submit a repair bill to the company afterward. All contractors must be already on their approved list. Bottom line: this company sucks and we are cancelling our policies. That's more than $1000 a year they will lose from us.

However, when the guy came out, he only looked at one air conditioner. I told him I had parallel failures in my air conditioner but he said that he can't look at the other one because that would be another $100 service fee. He was already here and already knows that both the air conditioners are bad. So from the time I reported the initial fault to the time they actually repaired both my air conditioners ran over 14 days. I'm totally unsatisfied. I had to keep calling American Home Shield and every time I call, I ask to speak to a supervisor. The person sounded honest that they would advise the supervisor with my complaint. That didn't happen until a supervisor called me back after the eighth day. If there was something that I would say that needs to be revised, it's the automation process.

I'm a software guy and I understand. It doesn't take long to revise an automated process for reporting a homeowner's repairs. There needs to be a method for a homeowner to call in a parallel complaint. Both are unserviceable and I need to be able to report that claim otherwise the only option American Home Shield would give me on average is a 55-minute wait to talk to a human on their automated line. I know this because I called there four times.

That's totally unfit for the volume of money that American Home Shield is collecting from homeowners across the United States. American Home Shield can't tell me they can't reduce that call time to 50 minutes in average but that was my only option because I needed to tell someone I had parallel air condition failure. I had to go back and submit a work request for my second air conditioner and for some reason I'm supposed to wait a couple of days for them to call me back. But American Home Shield never called me back so I wound up calling them instead.

Their process is not working. It's just not the way they brief it as a brand new customer. I've dealt with American Home Shield before because I used to have it on my rental properties. It wasn't a big issue at that time because the owner reporting a single failure was always captured. But if I have multiple failures, how am I supposed to know that I need to actually call and talk to a human to have that complaint recorded. As a customer, it wasn't briefed to me. I'm a military vet and stretchered. American Home Shield tells me what to do and that's what I execute. If they don't tell me that, then they'll leave me out there trying to guess what the process is, maybe it's right or maybe it's wrong.

In this case, I got it wrong because the guy showed up and he wanted another $100. To fix the air conditioner, the air conditioning company would have been some great information that they do not accept credit cards. They only accept cash or certified check. So I had to have $1,200 on hand and then $800 for the second repair. Cash money is what they would like. These are some details that a customer should know in advance. I did not have a good experience, overall.

I also got American Home to look at my AC unit twice. It could be the lack of insulation in my home. My air conditioner is still not keeping things cool enough even after putting R-36 insulation in the attic. It needs to be replaced, but I don't think that they're going to do it. First time they filled up the Freon, and I was charged for more Freon. The one thing that I didn't understand is this: I know there's a way that they can recapture the Freon. There's something in the unit itself that's in the attic that looks like a radiator that they took out and replaced, and they did not show me the part. In my opinion, as a consumer, service people should always show you the parts that are being replaced. However, that's not the company, itself. American Home runs pretty smoothly through their app online to send somebody out, and their specific timing and their briefing are good. Their contractors are a little slow sometimes, though. Overall, it was a fairly simple experience.

Another problem is with the independent service that was going to work for them who didn't seem to be knowledgeable on a few occasions. They told me that they couldn't do this and that because they weren't allowed to by working for AHS and I came to find out they were lying. I needed Freon in my unit and they said they got to charge it. Why didn’t they include it the first time? They're going to charge the unit and wouldn't do any pressure check and try to check the line to find out where was it leaking from, so I had a problem with that.

They came out two different times and I said they need to at least check and see if they can find out where it’s coming from. They went up the attic where the evaporator was, took a look at it and said it's not leaking there. But it was and they ended up changing that. Some of those people don't know what they were doing, refuse to do the work or just want to do the bare minimum. I asked for them to change contractors and it took me almost all summer to get it done but the unit is working as normal and the new one is working better than the old one. Everything is fine now and it was overall a good experience.

Every experience I had with American Home Shield was fine. The only issue I got is every time I call them, I’m on the phone for 45 minutes waiting to talk to somebody. They said it’s the only way they can do it and I doubt it. I usually call in and I haven’t used the online. Other than that, I have no complaints. They handled all my service claims for the last 5 years and overall it was very good.

AHS couldn't refer me to another company because they had already referred me to one, so I had to wait until they had time. This is not humane. I've slept somewhere else for a couple of nights and when it cooled off by day four or five, I've slept on the air mattress on my first floor. I've been paying these people for ten years and that's all they had to offer. When I finally got a quote from the company which AHS gave me, the AHS lady on the phone was very nice and told me that if I want to pick a different company to work with, I can get the quote, pay and then they’ll reimburse me up to a certain amount. I told her no and that I just want to get the repair done. She replied that it wouldn't hurt for them to send the information to me. So I replied that it’s fine and they can send me the information.

I made arrangements with the original company that they gave me and didn't have any issue with that. This was day 9. My AC broke on a Saturday, they came out on a Wednesday or Thursday, and then they were scheduled to come back and fix it the following Monday or Tuesday. A day before they were supposed to come, I called them to make sure that they were still coming but they said that my appointment got canceled. They said that American Home Shield told them that I wanted to find my own company and get reimbursed. I told them that I declined this offer but they said that it was put in as my preferred option. I didn't even know it was an option. As for the company that AHS referred me to, they gave me a discount because they saw that they listened to AHS when I was the one who had set the appointment with them and not AHS. I appreciated how they handled it.

I am completely displeased with AHS. They've raised their price almost every year. This coming September, I would have been with AHS for 11 years. That's plenty of money. I’m looking at a couple of different companies right now because when you really need some help and the people you've been paying for years don't help, they don’t deserve your money.

Also, my interactions with their contractors vary. The plumbing people have been good. However, the people who have been doing their AC repairs have horrendous reviews on Google which say that the only reason these contractors stay in business is because AHS gives them business. Furthermore, when I talk to their agents and say that their contractors aren't living up to any SLA agreement because they aren't returning my calls, they say they have some title that manages that kind of service level agreement. Still, if they were managing it, they wouldn't have complaints that are over a year old. AHS is not holding their contractors accountable.

We got back a hold of him and I said he told me it was a condenser issue and asked why he wrote the work order as being a compressor issue when American Home Shield doesn't cover compressors. His exact words to me were that it was what they're told they have to write up which really ticked me off because that means they're told to write up what AHS doesn't cover. I told him somebody's going to contact me and talk to me about this issue because if they're telling me one thing and write it out as something else, that's not fair to me. We're paying for this warranty. But they worked it out and they agreed the unit was so old that they were going to replace the whole unit. American Home Shield covered the first thousand dollars of replacing the central unit like the paperwork says they would do and then we paid for the balance.

That's the first time that's ever happened with American Home Shield and I thought it was funny that they would tell a person how to write up what’s actually wrong with something so that they’re not responsible. But other than that, I love AHS and we've always been very satisfied with them. They decided they would do something and do the right thing and that's all that mattered.

Then on the furnace, the HVAC system, they sent an inexperienced technician out. This inexperienced guy looked at the problem, told me that I had a warranty and that AHS was not going to pay for them. He said I had to get the replacement part from the manufacturer. I wasted my time trying to do this only to find out that that was what AHS was supposed to do. Tracking down the system and finding the old receipt when it was done was just a little crazy. I had to pay $500 out of pocket for somebody to take the condenser out, to go over and get the new condenser. That was ridiculous and I am very upset about that. I was told AHS will reimburse me for my money but then they called me to say they have the part and they’re coming out. They told me I had to go back to the retail where I got the part from and have them to make the claim. It was just a long, laborious process as I was sitting in the house with no air conditioning for four days.

Those two are just tragic incidences. The best force they sent out was the electrician because he did what he was supposed to do. I haven’t filed a claim with AHS in years so for me to finally need them and have that experience, it's not a very nice one. So, I began looking at other home warranty companies with better service and I can work with. I just bought a plane in the summer for my mom who’s 87 years old. She can’t go through what I went through because that’s not good, so I called the other day to cancel both of my AHS policies. They’re trying to convince me to stay with them but I said no. I went with another company because I need service. I’m paying for service because that’s what I need.

I asked the technician a couple of other questions regarding the heating and cooling and he was very knowledgeable. He also had a lot of sensitivity to the fact that it was mid-July in Alabama. He seemed to try and take care of the problem as quickly as possible. Overall, they were outstanding. I called a couple of places and they were very knowledgeable in giving me the information I needed to make the decision to renew my AHS warranty.

After just over an hour on hold with AHS, I finally got to speak to a human being. I explained the situation and confirmed my address and phone number with the CSR. She said she'd be happy to help and offered to put me on hold while she called around to see if someone could come sooner. Somehow, she disconnected our call at the 1 hour and 16 minute mark. I assumed she would call me back since I had verified my contact information with her prior to being disconnected. I kept checking my online account to see if the vendor name had changed. No change and NO CALL BACK. Meanwhile, it's 90 degrees in my house and I still don't know when we'll have relief.

Three hours passed with no word, so I called another heat and air company on my own and set an appointment for the next day (Friday). Then I proceeded to call AHS back, since there is no other possible way to contact them - no live chat - no email address - just a phone number and the longest hold times I've ever experienced (all while listening to a pre-recorded message over and over and over... About how important my call is to them). At 1 hour and 17 minutes into the call, I was connected to a live person.

She seemed well aware of the excessive hold times and was eager to explain to me why her co-worker couldn't have possibly called me back, even though she had my number. She then informed me that they couldn't change the vendor because Monday afternoon was within the 48 hour window of service response. She made a snarky comment about our inability to endure the TX heat until that time (wow, that was a nice touch). I asked if there was any other way to contact them, besides phone, as I could not find another way on their website. She replied that she was not familiar with the website because she had not been trained on it. As I expected, she confirmed that if we went with the vendor we had called on our own, AHS would cover none of our out-of-pocket expenses. If they couldn't possibly change the vendor, what was the first rep doing when she disconnected me? She SAID she was finding me a new vendor.

Our AC was repaired on Friday by the company we had contacted on our own. We are out $400 for something that should have been covered by what may very well turn out to be a useless home warranty. I called the original AHS vendor and cancelled our Monday appointment. She said that if we changed our minds, to just call her back "because I know it can be difficult to get through to AHS."

We just purchased this home with the warranty through AHS, so we are stuck with them for a year. I hope someone there is reading all of the negative comments and actually formulating a plan to better service their customers. You are clearly understaffed and undertrained and there are easy solutions to both of those problems.

They did really good with this claim but the claim we had with the dishwasher was a fiasco. AHS had sent out Ram’s Appliances which was totally incapable. They kept coming out here trying to replace the seal on the dishwasher but they did not know what they were doing. They were just running up bills with the warranty company. So, we told AHS that we will not have those people back in this house. They finally got somebody who was capable to repair it and it took us four months to get our dishwasher replaced. There were three different companies that came out for that claim. Finally, they realized that the dishwasher was not repairable. I called the corporate office to get something done and that’s when AHS said they would replace the dishwasher after they had paid a bunch of money to people who were ignorant in coming out here. That was really hard.

I had an AC unit that wasn’t working properly and from the time I filed the claim, it took two days for the contractors to come. They were efficient in coming out when they said they were going to. They were able to get an opening earlier in the day and they called and came out early. They knew what they were doing and it didn't take them very long to make a repair. It’s a pretty good experience but there’s always room for improvement. So far, AHS has been reliable and provides a good coverage that's needed from a warranty perspective.

From an American Home standpoint, I was a little disappointed with their company for customer service reasons. We spent the better part of our several hours on the phone trying to get someone to communicate with us on this last time that we needed help with our AC. One day, I spent close to three hours, trying to talk to someone there and no one has time for that. No one should have to do that. My husband also spent two hours on the same day, trying to contact someone. We also attempted to communicate online. My husband tried twice and was told he needed to call their representative, so that wasn't fruitful as well. We tried all aspects and got nothing.

We never got a clear response on whether someone was coming the next day, or if we were getting a company to come. The only time that we got confirmation was when the company that was coming called me two minutes before they were showing up. We never got any confirmation that all of our hard work on calling had ever yielded any benefit, and so I'm very disappointed with American Home Shield. We won't be recommending them to anyone. We are thankful our AC has been replaced and taken care of, but the amount of time that we had to spend to get our repairs accomplished was ridiculous. It was a disappointing experience, and there needs to be lots of improvement in the customer service.

Then the guy comes out on Monday to say he could do the work Tuesday and that it’s gonna be $450 for me to do the work because the warranty doesn’t cover it. It covers the pump, not the pipe coming out of the pump. We’ve got to first fix it, then see if there’s a problem with the pump. His quote was ridiculous so I got my own guy who charged half of that and was done with it Monday night. Then I had call back to reschedule the claim. They issued it to the same guy who took 48 hours to come back out. It ended up being a two-week period by the time the guy came out and actually did the work after which he had to come back out two separate times to redo what he had done because it was not fixed properly. It was a timer switch that’s what’s was wrong and I told him about that from the beginning.

I sent a photo to prove that I had gotten the work done and paid for it separately so that the pipe was fixed before they release him. Every time I called AHS, I am told that’s just how it goes. They kept saying someone would call me but and then no one would. I went online got escalated to the online customer service manager who did make an outbound call, took in all this information, and finally dealt with it. She followed up with me personally but the call center was a disaster as with the contractor. This one here was probably the worst possible scenario in every step of the way. I wanted to cancel my contract but with AHS, but I’ve already paid for the year so I’ll make that decision next year when it renews.

I had another claim right behind that where I had an issue with the fan right above my stove top. They issued the contractor that’s been out for all my GE appliances. The guy was out in 24 hours, went above and beyond, fixed it, no problems the way I’ve had every other interaction with AHS go. I use my home warranty quite a bit over the four years and every one of them has had no problems and the contractors have been great. Overall, I gotta give them credit for four good years versus one that was really bad. AHS is pretty good enough and I would recommend my friends to it every time.

The issue that I'm going to have to call and speak to AHS about is the payment. They charge a $75 deductible fee when the tech comes out for a service call. If it's the AC, they charge extra for Freon if this is needed. There are also a few things that they have an extra charge for, like the hot water heater, but this is in the contract. But the thing that they started doing differently was the $45 monthly fee. I'm now paying $45 a month and $75 whenever the service people come out, regardless of what the issue is. Also, once I file a claim, they now want me to pay the $75 deductible upfront. But how can I give them $75 upfront when the service people haven't even come out?

When I first called and this happened, I called back and canceled the job because they weren't able to do the job in a timely fashion. But I still got charged although the service people didn't even come out. I called AHS and they rectified that. The second time I called, AHS suggested two options — my paying the deductible fee upfront or they would go ahead and bill me automatically three days after the tech comes with whatever credit card I have that pays the $45 monthly fee online. But they didn't bill me the $75 three days after. The service people called me back and said that they didn't get the payment from AHS yet and AHS told them that they would pay three days after. The service people asked me to pay, but I said that AHS told me not to pay the service people that are coming out.

This is something new that AHS started within the last month or two. AHS wants to bill their own way but they need to iron out how they're going to do it, if they're going to bill me automatically after they come or if I pay them upfront. But I wouldn't agree to do the latter because the service people might not come and I don't agree to paying for something before they get the item repaired. But the contractors are always fine and I'm prepared to pay them when they come.

Everything is okay. A $75 deductible is the going rate that most service people charge to come out, look at the appliance, and repair it. But once they repair the appliance, the cost is going to go higher if they have to order a part that I'd have to pay for. I'm also paying $45 a month which is good for the big ticket items like plumbing issues since I don't have to pay the usual amount to get the problem fixed. AHS was just trying to make some changes with the $75 deductible payment and paying $45 a month is not too bad. They do what they say and I get my appliance repaired without having to pay a lot of money. AHS is a good company and the system works.

So far, AHS has sent two people out to check my dishwasher and they’ve kind of been patching it up, but it still doesn’t work. They were looking for parts for it, but so far, I haven't heard anything. It should have been replaced a long time ago. American Home Shield people are very friendly and very apologetic but the process is slow. If I've been out on the appliance more than once, there's a problem. However, their techs assess it and it needs to be really fixed because I'm going to pay $80 or $90 for a service call. If they come out three times, I can go buy the washer with what I paid for them to come out. Other than that, I can't complain.

The first company they sent said it was physical damage (as you can see it is due to age). The second company bold face lied to me and told me they were recommending it be replaced but submitted to AHS that "The homeowner just wants it replaced." I wasted two weeks trying to deal with this sham of a company. I have cancelled all of my policies and learned a very valuable lesson about thinking they will honor their warranty when something breaks. I would NOT recommend AHS to anyone!

AHS has taken care of the problems that I’ve had over the years and it’s been good. Most of us are not able to pay lump sums of money when something goes bad. Over the years there have been some things like water heaters, garbage disposals, dryer and air conditioner that they have replaced. So it’s been a good experience for me having them.

I promptly called AHS and after several hours of different calls and being left on hold at one point for over an hour their solution was for me to find my own electrician and pay them out of my pocket. Then they would refund the cost to me; but wait they did not pay the electrician so will they really refund the money?? Oh and they have a list of electricians in the area they will no longer work with (I wonder why) so I have to find one other than them. Isn't the purpose of insurance to take care of problems that arise so the homeowner does not have to come up with thousands of dollars all at once to get it fixed??? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!

We had to get on a plane to El Paso the very next morning and when we came back, the house was still piping hot so I called AHS who said I should do a recall. When I did that, the same company came out and the guy said that’s not the unit he serviced and I had to make a separate call to AHS so they can put in the request for him to come back out again. So I paid two service fees which took over two weeks to get it straight because the first time AHS put it in, they put it as a recall. The company refused to come out because they knew they weren't going to get paid for a recall, so back and forth with the phone on the line. They finally cleared it out and put a new one in.

On the second visit, he said the problem was a power surge and they need a compressor and a transformer. This doesn't make sense and AHS is not going to cover any of this. So my husband called the company that installed our unit, they came out, and in two hours, they had our stuff fixed. They said it was a bad transformer and it cost us $286.00. When I finally got to the supervisor of authorization, she understood my frustration. At the end of the day, AHS made it right because the supervisor approved the outside authorization and they're going to reimburse us.

It was almost a month that we were without air and it was tough because it’s the downstairs unit where the bedroom is. I would recommend AHS to friends, but they’ve got to get better at their customer service and their ridiculous call time wait. And when we called in the first time, we got the email about the vendor two days after I called. I got their information so I called them directly and asked when are we on their list to come out. They told me we're on the list for next day. But a few days later, AHS was still awaiting a response from them. Unfortunately, they were having problems submitting their trouble ticket to AHS but they didn't tell us. AHS is a great warranty company but the vendors are what's making them look bad.