First American Home Warranty Reviews

Updated on 10/03/2018: AC went out during covered period. They fought me on it and wanted home inspection documents from when I bought my home 2 years prior. Every step of the way they denied and finally approved to put a new AC and Coil in. BUT, it was THE WORST and cheapest possible AC Goodman product possible. And hundreds of dollars in “non covered costs”. They took FOUR WEEKS in July, IN TUCSON ARIZONA to approve install. And the “new” AC went bad AGAIN within 45 days due to the crap GOODMAN coil had a small manufacturer defect/leak and required another one.

4 days later they install it and their vendor hit me again with install charges for bogus reasons like drain pipe (same pipe I had before, no changes, just added glue) copper tubing, SAME EXACT TUBING I already had and a disposal fee for the hunk of crap Goodman product. Worst worst worst home coverage ever. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING from First American!!! Buyer beware.

During my first three years with First American, I was somewhat disappointed with some of the technicians that came out. It seemed like they weren’t that experienced or they just wanted to get the upfront money first before they did the job or they would quote the job but they weren’t that familiar with the process. Sometimes I had to follow up with them to find out what it was. But the last several technicians I had, they were good and I've had a good experience with First American for the last two years as well.

The contractors who came out lately had been fine. Our recent claims have been uneventful and we've gotten things fixed. But a few years ago, we had a problem with the AC and we had small children and it was sweltering heat. We felt it was an emergency situation and we weren’t able to get the services quickly as we wanted because it fell near a weekend. Also, over the last 10 years that I’ve been with First American, there had been four kinds of hikes. The price for their services continues to go up and it is frustrating.

About 10 days later from when the AC unit was damaged and calling First American daily, they finally dispatched another company. This technician quickly noted that everything the previous repairman did was incorrect: from installing the incorrect motor to jacking up all the wiring. He provided a temporary fix by swapping out the compressor but the incorrect motor was causing the AC to shake violently. So we call First American to explain that we need our old motor returned since it was mistakenly replace by the first guy expecting it to be an easy fix. The first tech denied having changed it and First American took his word over ours even though the second technician told them that it was a brand new motor and we had the serial number to prove that it was from the first company.

Fast forward to July 2018 when the AC unit finally crashes on us due to the violent shaking in 100+ degree temps. We call First American and they denied our claim because they “don’t know who tampered with the motor”!! They did not send anyone to check out what happened. How can an insurance company deny a claim based on something one of their providers did incorrectly?!? My wife texted/emailed them for a week where they told us that they aren’t responsible for health of our 1 year old and gave us a myriad of baseless reasons on why our claim was denied.

Fact of the matter: We PAY a warranty company monthly to help in case something like this goes wrong. When said thing does go wrong, this company needs to be held accountable for providing the service that we are PAYING for! Regardless of if the first technician did or did not put in the wrong motor, American Warranty still should have fixed it. I contacted the company that the original technician worked for directly and explained what happened to the manager. He informed me that the technician had been fired for incompetence the previous month and the motor did in fact belong to them. He promptly came over and fixed the issue himself. Why couldn’t the warranty company make this simple call 2 months ago?!?

Bottom line: STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. It is disgraceful how they treat their customers. We have records of all our communication with them including the comments about them not being responsible for the well-being of our 1 year old. We would love to talk to any and all media who is interested in protecting the well-being of American families from evil money hungry companies such as First American Home Warranty.

However, some people who have come to do the work have not always been exactly how I wanted that to play out. And the work seems to go much more slowly sometimes. The contractor Belco was not very satisfactory to work with because it took all summer for me to get the air conditioning fixed. Every time they came and looked at one thing, they made an assessment of what needed to be done or what part needed to be ordered. But I would be put on the back of the list for the next time to come out instead of at the front. It was very disconcerting. I don't know if that was because the claim was through a warranty company, that we got put at the back of a list versus a customer that they may charge more for different things.

On the flip-side, the Belco guys also warned me about some frayed wires in my air conditioning unit and I even saw pictures of it. Those wires were gonna catch fire and they warned me about that, so they had integrity and that was good. But then when they fixed one unit, another unit broke and that took several more weeks to be addressed. That's the only major complaint that I've had with any of the contractors, and that has to do mainly with who First American chooses to relegate me to and that's part of the way it goes. Nevertheless, I've been their client for 14 years and I've stayed with them for that long.

Submitting a claim for service is usually fairly easy. I just make a phone call and tell them what the problem is. Sometimes, it’s hard waiting 24 to 48 hours to get someone out here, especially living in South Texas when the service request is for the air conditioner. Also, our water heater issue wasn’t so bad but we were without the heat of the water for a couple of days, so I had to go to my mom’s. So, I just wish that their contractors would do a better job at not taking anything apart unless they know that they have the part because then you have to wait.

Other than that, the people that First American recommends for our dryer have always been really good. And when my refrigerator broke down again, it was fixed right on time. And every contractor we’ve worked with have all been nice. The electrician came out right away. It was a stormy day when something happened. He just waited for the rain to stop a couple of hours, and he was out within the day of the call. Also, First American's customer service told me I can wait for the techs to call but I can call immediately as well. And so we always call immediately instead of waiting.

I’m satisfied with First American. The only thing is when I first started, I used to pay $50 for a service fee and now, I’m up to $75 and it seems like every year, it gets more expensive. Still, we recommend First American to everybody. We’ve always been able to rely and not have to pay thousands of dollars when getting something fixed. If you have issues with appliances or electrical things, you can get a hold of them right away. They usually have someone out within a day depending on what the problem is.

Days go by and I haven't heard anything. I call the plumbing company and they never return my call. I call FAHM and they tell me my claim was denied because I must have "broken" my FluidMaster system for it to stop working! I have now spent $75.00 and spent a over a week with a broken toilet. I am handicapped and live on a impossibly small income and now will have to have another company fix my toilet. So I will end up with spending much more and having to have waited 2 weeks to get my toilet fixed.

I should have known better after my experience last year with my oven. I had a broken oven for 8 months on and off and spent a fortune in $75.00 repair fees. It would have been cheaper to call a reputable company and get it done right the first time. I will never get a First American Home Warranty Contract again. They are thieves.

One week without AC. So I canceled the 2nd service call and called a company myself. They came out the same day, filled out AC with coolant and it is working great (they also said the coils look great). The next day I received a call from the home warranty company that our claim with them got denied due to it being our fault since the coils are dirty. This is only the short form of the story... This home warranty company is a complete waste of time and money and did not help at all when we needed them. It was a very upsetting and disappointing experience. I am canceling as soon as I can.

And then my washing machine went out. Their contractor came about three weeks ago and they fixed it. And then it broke down again about four days ago. The man came out, he fixed it, and then it was broke again an hour later. I paid them $800 and it’s still out. They ordered the wrong compressor, so they have to order another one, and they’re supposed to come back supposedly on Monday to put in the right one, but it’s been three weeks now.

So now I am out of pocket $275.00. And I am still 20 days later still with no A/C. I would be very careful before choosing this company. At this point I would not refer them to anyone. If I didn't pay so much for this I would cancel my coverage and go with someone else. I have talked to other people that have home warranties and they say this is not something that would happen with their company. I am a first time home buyer and this is something that I never expected. Be very careful and just know you may be out of a lot of money because they modify something and not repair/replace it, like you are told will happen when you sign up for the service.

First American is fraudulently billing me for payment but not rendering proper service. They’re a rip off. You’re better off staying away from them. I’m filing a complaint with the attorney general's office, the BBB and contacting my attorney for further action. Horrible contractors, customer service can’t help you and they discourage you from going any further. But I’ll take it as big as I can and make sure consumers aren’t defrauded by this kind of predatory and false sense of home security they advertise. They’re a fraud. Period.

But we've had two not so fun experiences here recently. We had an AC company that really pushed their product and instead of being concerned about fixing ours, they wanted us to buy a new one from them and it was crazy expensive. We have an upstairs and downstairs unit and they wanted $24,000 to replace both of the units and to do the stuff in the attic. They said that they could get $4,000 from the insurance which we put our part at $20,000. And then they never got back to us about fixing the actual problem. We went on our own and got our own AC guy and replaced it for $13, the same stuff they were gonna do for $13,000.

The plumbing people were very nice and very professional. They knew what they were doing but we ended up paying a little over $700 dollars out of our pocket and nothing was fixed. It ended up being a septic issue, which I know is out of their control. But it was hard to pay them $700 when it wasn't that issue and when we're having to turn around and pay another guy $400. I showed a friend of ours who knew another plumber. I shared him the invoice that we paid for the company that came out and he was floored as to how much they charged us for certain things. It was the digging and they dug 10 inches into our ground. That part was the $500 part. It was like, wow.

But the plumber that came out this time, we have used them before and we had no problems with that one. They totally replaced everything they were supposed to replace and it didn't cost us anything but the service fee. We checked them out online as well and they had a lot of good reviews. We're perfectly happy with First American. But some of the companies that they're associated with or that they use aren't the best. We told them about these two companies, because if they have any control as to who they contract out to, they may just be more cautious in contracting out those two particular companies.

When I contacted First American to fulfill the obligation to repatch the exterior wall, they refused to do so, because the contractors do not acknowledge that they had opened up access holes from the wall. (So they essentially lied about the work they have done). I then had to upload pictures (with time stamps showing when they were taken) to First American as evidence, but they still do not accept their responsibilities. In other words, they hire incompetent contractors who do poor jobs, trust what the contractors said but ignore counter-evidence from the customer, and do not fulfill their responsibilities. This is so far the worst experience I as a customer have had with any merchant in the country.

Also, I would like to know the policy to apply for getting an equipment replaced when something breaks two to three times. I had a dryer break three times and they keep sending people to repair it and it takes time for them to come. And they need to order the part and the part takes 10 days to arrive. I feel that if you have been paying your insurance policy for x-amount of time like I do, when something breaks two to three times, it should immediately be replaced. Still,I'm keeping First American and would recommend them. It has reliable service, but it has room for improvement.

I want to be able to post positive here about them but cannot due to the way this has been handled 'so far'. How long can this possibly go on? I don't want to but feel I have to escalate this situation to further authorities to get relief and resolution... Funny thing is, my last premium payment was accepted 2 days AFTER I called this in for service... I've never had a problem with them until I needed their help. By the sounds of it they are now overseas (terrible English with reps) and couldn't care less about an old man stuck at home with no water (after paying them to ensure I'm not). Beware.

I'm completely home-bound, unable to drive, with home health nursing for 5 months, so after getting the runaround, FAHW finally said this was an emergency and would be handled quickly. 7/6/2018: Everyone at FAHW took the WEEK off for July 4th while I sit in an unairconditioned house with 109 temps outside, 85 inside with 45% humidity after suffering 2 strokes a few months ago. We've repeatedly contacted FAHW every way possible and rarely get a person to speak with, and when we do, they lie to us to get us off the phone.

We did get one phone call July 5th from the electrician who started the fire. He lied and said he worked for FAHW and wanted to know what was going on. Not only did he start a fire out of stupidity, but now he calls to harass us and lie to us to find out if we're blaming him for the fire. Zaza NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE at FAHW! Their emergency status means NOTHING! My health means NOTHING! Customer service means NOTHING! THREE WEEKS+ and they have done NOTHING to fix this!

Original Review: July 7, 2018

We have been having problems with our ac since 2013 when they sent out an ac tech to install a condenser. Every year it has just gotten worse and will not cool when it gets over 102. On May 16th they sent out a tech from company (#1) who said it was doing all it can do. When the thermostat is set for 72 or 70, in the afternoon it gets up to 80. Which means it is not working the way it should. Argued with the claim adjuster when he told me it was working fine & he said he would send out a different company (#2) on June 13. The tech told us it was doing all it could do but we needed a new unit since it will not cool in the afternoon during the hottest hours and the install on the ac was the worst install they have ever seen.

The claim adjuster did not like that report & told me that was not the report they received. He said they would send a different company but we would have to pay for the call. I agreed and they sent out a different ac company (#3) and paid another $75 for the call. He said there was a huge gap so that I was only cooling the outside and came back day later to fix it which did no good and did not correct the situation. Called claim adjuster & said he would resend the company out again. My husband called the ac company to set up the appt. and was told that there was nothing else they could do. I called an ac company to have them come out and diagnose our problem. We sent the report to claim adjuster who said they would send the ac #3 back out. At one point he even asked my husband if we would have the company we had called to handle it and we pay for it and they would reimburse us. "No way," we said.

On July 5th they sent #3 back out again who said to us we need a new unit. Was supposed told that they would get the report to First American by the next morning. When my husband talked to claim adjuster he said he would get the report which supposedly did and would talk to them about it and would call my husband back before he left for the day. He did’t and also never responded to the calls left. We can’t cook because it heats the house up too much. Yesterday it was 112 & our ac would not get lower than 82. Still trying to find a claims adjuster that understands how ac works. It is designed to cool your house to the temperature the thermostat is set at. I can understand a 2% differential but not a 12%.

Not the first time we have had problems with them. Been with them since 1995 when our real estate agent sold us our house. The problem is they do not want to put a new unit in even though it was put in 2006. They do not mind taking your money but do not want to replace anything. Still waiting to find out what is going to happen. We are in Las Vegas, NV and have extreme heat warning out.

First American's customer service, however, has been terrible since they outsourced it to South America. I can’t understand what they’re saying half the time. And I had one issue a year ago where they made it a very difficult situation for me. And finally, they got it resolved, but it was a pain in the neck. They couldn’t understand what I was saying and they were like 1,000 miles away in Costa Rica. Prior to the outsourcing, they were really good. But overall, it’s a good warranty company. I’d definitely recommend them and I have, actually. They were the best. So, everybody and anybody who buys a house, I tell them, “Hey, you may wanna go with these guys because the other companies are terrible.”

But sometimes, I had a bad experience with their technicians. The most recent claim ended up not covered in the process and I was not alerted about that at any time in the process. It was 75 bucks because of that. The main thing is to be clear on what’s covered during the claims process and it would be good to learn if a specific part is not covered under the warranty. Other than that, First American has been pretty good as far as these things go so I would recommend them. And if a friend of mine asks me about First American, I'll tell him that the warranty is fairly valuable if they're buying an older house, but it is not if they're buying a new house.

After it was finally installed, upstairs doesn't cool down like it did with the old unit... from 1991 and it has to run constantly to keep up. I googled the unit provided. Suspect reviews, cheapest available, $958 online. I give it a two year life max. This thing is running nonstop 24/7 to keep up with what my unit from 1991 could output. Meanwhile I paid for the warranty, a $75 fee to contractor, a $300 NINJA fee for unknown reasons, and $315 for a window unit to keep said newborn happy for over one month. This company is total scumbags. Pissed me off enough to take the time to warn future homebuyers. Stay away.

The day finally came for the system to be installed, and the repair guy finds that another part is malfunctioning. That was on Monday. Again, the part had to be sent by (FAHW) to the repair co. Did they ship it overnight? No, another frickin week! I contacted FAHW and both Edwin and supervisor Rick told me they couldn't overnight it. It's 96 degrees outside and it will be over a month without air conditioning. So, you decide, is it worth a month of no air conditioning to deal with this? I don't think so.

FIRST AMERICAN then sent me an advisory letter stating that my contract contained the following provision(s). * "Under the section marked Limits of Liability, Number 2, Repairs or replacements required as a result of missing parts, fire, flood, smoke, lightening, freeze, earthquake, theft, storms, accidents, mud, war, riots, vandalism, acts of God, damaged from pests, lack of capacity, or misuse are not covered by this contract. Based on this information, FIRST AMERICAN has determined that the item failure is not covered under the Contract and is denying this claim."

not functioning properly, and it needs replacement.

It also appeared that the compressor was tripping the breaker switch when turned on, suggesting the compressor needs replacement. Asper the NEESE technician, the mechanical system fails and locks up. This company’s resolution is to replace the thermostat and compressor and update to new 410 A unit. (Oddly enough, these ARE repairs, covered under my Warranty with FIRST AMERICAN, were deliberately overlooked, and ignored, by the FIRST AMERICAN technician.)

When I called FIRST AMERICAN to report the obvious differences between the two technical reports, your representative stated you need to have another company come out and look at the A/C unit. This decision simply continues to shift FIRST AMERICAN’S procedure or policies to place me at continued discomfort, and inconvenience, while FIRST AMERICAN searches for yet another reason to deny my claim. While I am sure your business model is unique to your company, you have a very disreputable history on-line from many prior consumer complaints. It seems, you have a continued pattern of denial of claims, which denials push your insured’s essential repairs off as far as you can, thereby allowing you time to continue manipulating data and information to make sure your company’s Warranty fails to cover the actual loss.

This procedure, once again to check my heating and cooling equipment at my residence, is simply more delay. Your surrogate inspection company NOW appears to employ policies that are onerous.

what they have also said is “if it rains or if there is a chance of rain they will cancel and they would not give me a time.” This whole process (entirely controlled by your offices) is designed to frustrate and obfuscate the failure of my air conditioning unit, to delay, and to concoct yet another false reason to deny coverage. How many more technicians do you plan to send out?

another repair company to do an inspection, is onerous and unnecessary, just another delay, and waste of time, and money. I did not purchase a Home Repair (Warranty) Insurance Policy to stand around and wait for your company to find a reason to deny my coverage.

I would like this issue resolved immediately, by replacing the compressor and thermostat at my residence within the next 2 weeks from the date of this letter. If I do not get this result, I will turn my complaint and the technical reports over to the GEORGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE for review. Unless you are unaware, this is the state agency that enforces the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. Sections 10-1-390 et seq.) Under this state statute, your unfair and deceptive acts or practices in your insured warranty work, are prohibited. This law applies to consumer transactions involving the sale, lease, or rental of goods, or services for personal, family or household purposes. The GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF LAW'S CONSUMER PROTECTION UNIT will pursue a case, whenever the Attorney General’s office determines there is a substantial public interest.

Simultaneously, I will also file a complaint with the GEORGIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER’S OFFICES. This agency supervises your insurance license. It has an obligation to prevent misleading insurance claims, and false representations, as to the use of an insurance policy guaranteeing home repairs. Their complaint process is lengthy and will likely give your offices far more problems than fixing my air conditioning unit may create. In your case, you have previously represented in your Warranty that you cover certain repairs and yet, you directly make every effort to deny reasonable, necessary repairs, finding and using a company that has sent out a poorly trained technician. These circumstances you choose to take advantage off, thereby damaging an insured consumer. Forcing the insured consumer to incur expenses, be inconvenienced, and charged for repairs your insurance policy, your ‘Warranty’ is marketed as covering. This is a deception.

In addition, I will also send my complaint to the US FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, as your offices transact business over state lines and are covered by that agency. THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER PROTECTION is the division that protects the US consumer. This agency has a complaint portal through which I will file my complaint. The business and trade practices your company engages in are fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, and illegal. So while you read my letter, I want to assure you, I am not going to stand idly by and watch your disreputable practices cause me more and more inconvenience. Why would I buy an insurance policy to prevent the loss of a vital heating and air conditioning component, if all I now receive is your excuses, denials and delays?

My demands and requirements are simple, my air conditioning system needs to be immediately repaired, as I have clearly described above. Trying to offer me $1500.00 to close my case is not the answer. A new Lennox unit costs around $6000.00...why would I accept $1500.00? This has been a back and forth routine with the wrong equipment ordered and then telling me after the fact that I need to take down a wall, when J&S originally stated that the unit comes in pieces and can be installed.

We have had unbearable heat and my upstairs stays at 90 degrees, which is not tolerable. First American told me to buy a window unit, which is not allowed in my complex!!! They could care less and are only interested in taking your month and running. BUYER BEWARE AND DO NOT... I REPEAT... DO NOT BUY A WARRANTY FROM THIS COMPANY IF YOU WANT ANYTHING REPAIRED. They will make is a horrible experience and you still will not have the issue resolved.

July 2, 2018 the same problem happened. The washing machine stopped working and the clothes and water was in the machine. I tried holding down the start/stop button and that did not work. I unplugged the machine and that did not work. I took my soaking clothes out of the machine along with 2 kids' clothes and took it to a laundromat. Then next day Sebastian ** called and said there was no availability until July 5th. Then he calls on July 5th and said he has to go to the hospital and doesn't know when he can reschedule for. I asked him if I can call back First American Home Warranty to assign me to another GE contractor. He said yes.

I called FAHW and they told me that I would have to pay the $75 service fee again since it has been over 30 days. I asked them even if it is for the same problem that happened back in March and they said yes. Somehow, I feel ripped off with First American Home Warranty. I have to keep going to the laundromat since I cannot have a technician come out in a timely manner. I have to keep paying $75 for the same problem that they seem to cannot fix on a relatively new 2016 washer. Sears technicians were the best. No $75 charge to fix a problem.

They came out within a 2-day turn around time. If they couldn't fix the issue after a 3rd attempt within the year they would give you a new appliance to replace the one they could not fix. I was even thinking if I did not renew my contract with FAHW back in April. I should have taken that money of $492 and the $75 service fee to get another washer. I am just not happy with the service and I will have to reconsider my options when my Annual Premium expires for FAHW :(

Right now, I’m going through a claim as we’ve been without hot water since Saturday. We are trying to get a hot water heater, and the plumber could not get a whole new heater yesterday. First American will provide the hot water heater to the plumber so it is very inconvenient for the homeowner. But if I had been able to get my own plumber, they could have gotten a hot water heater yesterday. That aside, having a warranty is valuable and it’s okay. But, you are at the warranty company’s mercy for when they are ready to repair. If you can pay out of pocket, to begin with, do not get a home warranty.

But before those, we had a problem with our fan motor in our heating unit and the closet was making some noise. And that was kinda touchy with the company that they sent out to do the work. The gentleman came out and fixed the cage. Then, the fan motor was making a lot of noise and vibration in the wall. They repaired that but then the noise came back after a few days.

We called the contractor back and they came out and told us that the gas line in the closet was not up to code which was strange because it was up to code when the house was built. The service company wanted to $600 plus to repair it. And so my husband went to Lowe's, bought the material needed and did the repairs. It only took him $29 and half an hour to fix it. So the service company wasn't too happy because they really wanted to charge us that extra money. First American was sorry that that happened, but for the service fee that I had to pay for with them, it was a no-brainer. We got the upgraded plan that covers everything which is amazing. We're glad to have First American Home Warranty.

First American then sent a second person out who charged me $325 to clean my coils and said that may or may not fix the issue. I'm still having the same problem where it's not cooling like it normally has. My air conditioner runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it's struggling to hold the temperature. Basically, there's nothing that anybody said they can do about it anymore.

We've found out that the contractor that First American used does not have a real good reputation. They've probably done it because he's got cheap prices but he's been known in the past just to push customers to the side and spend a little or no time. He is a contractor based out at Fort Worth and he's the only tech they have here in Amarillo. I'm not real happy with who they chose to use this time or the outcome of this claim but they’ve taken care of us in the past.

I contacted the salesperson who sold me the home warranty. She was not very sympathetic or helpful. I’m trying to get a full refund, but the company is not very responsive. You can only email the cancellation dept. Even though they provide a telephone number, when I called, the representative said that dept. doesn’t accept calls... I feel like I paid $600 for nothing. If they can’t service high rises, then they should graciously offer a refund, instead of making me jump through hoops.

Around five months ago, we had a leak so a plumber came out and did something. It’s been a couple of times when the person really hasn’t fixed it. When they came, they looked at something but did not do all that they were supposed to. We had to call back again within that month because it started leaking again. And when a different person came out, they fixed the problem. Usually, people get it done on the first try but there have been a few times when we’ve had to call back. Also, the air conditioner was auto heating and the guy did something and they were saying the switch was getting bad. Instead of fixing it, the next person had to come out and replace it. But other than that, it’s been pretty good.

It gives me no pleasure to write a 'negative' review for any company. I have done my best to fairly detail my experience with FAHW, and, because the claim was resolved to my satisfaction, I will upgrade my 'star-rating' from one to two stars.

Original Review: July 2, 2018

We had their 'service' for over four years. In all that time I have only had to call twice. BOTH times after paying the $75.00 deduction, they have refused to honor the warranty. The last time, for my AC, when I questioned their decision, they said they would follow up with the contractor and 'get back to me'. After two weeks suffering under an average outside temp. of 107 degrees, I had to call them back, and was told that they were STILL WAITING for pictures from the contractor. Disgusted, I told them to just cancel my contract. NOW in order to stop paying for supposed services, (that they refuse to provide) they are having me jump threw 'hoops' to cancel. I feel that I have wasted my money for four years on a warranty that is so full of 'loopholes' that the provider never actually has to honor anything. My next 'challenge' now will be figuring out how to get rid of them.

Updated on 07/07/2018: On 03 Jul 2018 I was called by the First American Claims Department. They advised me that they had received my complaint and would like my permission to send a technician from 'another provider' out to take pictures of the frayed wiring. (Since the first company had not done so.) Of course, I said yes. However, because their call was made to me at approx. 3:00 pm my time, the claims 'resolution' specialist said that with the HOLIDAY, she probably would not be able to contact /schedule the replacement tech. until Thursday, 7/5. It is now Saturday and I, like Consumer Affairs with my initial complaint, am still awaiting a response from First American Home Warranty. My 'CLAIM' is now being carried forward well into its THIRD WEEK. My outside temp. yesterday was 111 degrees. This is NOT the type of 'Customer Service' I expected or deserve.

If client disagree, client must hire at his/her cost his/her own technician to get a second opinion, which, if different from the original technician, then FAHW will send another technician. This other technician will come out and do the same as the initial, and client is back to square one. Most people at this point will just get frustrated and quit and get the work done by they own technician.

One of those companies is banned as when we had a very bad leak during a 75th birthday party, the technician said we cracked the toilet but we kept saying we didn’t and we said it needed a seal. The bathroom was flooded and I had 20 people with towels in the guest bathroom. After fighting with the technician, we paid an independent person to come to find out that the toilet needed the seal at the bottom. We should have gotten a new toilet. It was a mess but we decided to stay with First American because we know they’re better than the others. Also, other than the two companies, the technicians who came did good work.

The last interaction I had with First American, however, was not very positive because I had a complaint about the service. And instead of transferring me to a resolution department, they just told me that my warranty was invalid because of what a contractor said. And I told them that the problem was I was disputing what the contractor said. They put me on mute so they didn’t have to say anything. And then I asked to speak to their supervisor, which they put on. And then he acted like he couldn’t hear me and said he was disconnecting the call. I was very disappointed. I had a problem with the pool company that was sent out because the gentleman didn't know what he was doing for the issues that I had and he had no equipment.

All the company contractor brought were some test strips so I asked, “How can you test anything?” I told him, “You’re not evaluating anything. I can sit there on my salt system and run through the diagnostics as well as you did.” I took my salt cell and had it tested and it was not functioning. He said that it was working fine. All I needed to do was add salt. I told him that the reading was 2900, which is within normal limits, so I asked why would I need to add salt? He didn’t seem very knowledgeable and all he was here for was to collect $75 and go on.

He also said there was a wasp nest in the heater, which I don’t believe since I’ve had an insect company come out here. And yes, there are some wasps that fly around in the backyard but for him to say that there was a wasp nest inside the heater, that then my warranty was invalid. So I asked him, “How can you say that when you didn’t see it?” So I’ve been very discouraged with the pool people. But I finally spoke to someone at First American and they are sending someone out today.

So, sometimes the First American customer service department is not real helpful. I understand that their only job is to take the complaint and assign a contractor. But when it’s something that they cannot handle, instead of trying to tell me about a resolution department, they just blow me off. And it wasn’t until I called back a few days later that someone told me about it; so some of it is just education of the customer service specialist. Also, sometimes the contractors are iffy to me and it’s hit or miss whether you get a good contractor or not. But I’ve had good dealings with them, and I told that to my neighbor who asked about the company.

First American is also raising the service fee every year and it is not good. They do this even with the customers who have been with them for 10 or 12 years. I've been a member for 12 years and every year, I think of canceling the insurance. I’m paying so much money every month and then they say, “This is not covered.” My friends tell me that there's a company that's good and I should switch to that. And for some reason, I’ve kept my First American warranty but I'm going to think about it this year.

One of the technicians actually told me they are putting a band-aid on the situation and all his company wants him to do is put more freon. For over 2 years I have been making my monthly payments on time and paying $75 service fees for them to lie to me and continue to collect my money while there were bigger problems. When the bigger problem was addressed they denied my claim. So I have been paying for 2 years on an air conditioner that they will not cover. Mind you in 2017 they sent 3 technicians to look at my air conditioner and none of them made the ridiculous claim their last technicians made. I had to fight for them to overturn the denial. Now I have to deal with their company they sent and they aren't responding.

The lady who is handling my claim was more than unhappy to tell me that the denial was overturned. They act like I am a problem for making a claim. Nobody helps, nobody calls back, nothing has been done in over a month. I have notified them that I have 2 small children and we live in Sacramento California and it is over 100. All they did was offer me $150 for assistance like welfare to go get at window unit when the window units cost over $300. Every time I call I get attitude and nobody wants to connect me to a supervisor until I demand it. Every time I call I am on hold for 20 minutes to one hour and a 1/2. I highly suggest you look elsewhere for a home warranty. This company is in the business of denying claims and don't care about your home or your family.

Other than that, First American's service fee has gone up since I started with them and that's the worst thing. From $50, now they’re at $75. There are other companies out there that have service fees that are less for the initial technician to come out and that’s what hurts First American the most. I also think that the service fee should be inclusive in the $600 that a pay for a year.

In the meantime, we spent over $200 to pay for lodging since without air conditioning, we could not stay in our home. The weather was over 100 degrees in this area. The next Tuesday, June 26, was given as the day someone would be available from SILVERADO AIR CONDITIONING to check our unit. We were later told they could not come out until Wednesday because First American had not filed the necessary paper work in time for them to come on Tuesday. Wednesday, June 27, a repairman arrived and we were told that we would need a new unit which would come from Las Vegas and be installed on Saturday, June 30. This morning we received a phone call stating that the job cannot be done until Tuesday, July 3 since First American once again got the needed paperwork to Silverado too late and the air conditioning unit must come all the way from Phoenix!

If this is an example of prompt service and 24-7 customer support we are NOT impressed. I am well aware that the loss of one service contract means nothing to this company and so will not bother to mention this loss. I also will not thank you for the previous service we have received from First American Home WARRANTY as this incident more than makes up for it in the lack of concern and responsibility you have shown. We will be employing another home warranty company as soon as possible. The reason for this review is so perhaps someone else will be saved from the same aggravation, non-caring attitude and waste of time that we have experienced.

So Pedro shows up with Quality Plumbing and starts working on the kitchen sink then says he has to leave to go get parts. He leaves and doesn't come back all day. When I called the plumbing company the next morning I am told they are waiting for authorization from First American. Then when I call the warranty company they tell me the color is not covered and typically all they offer is chrome. Whattt??? This is not a high dollar spigot but is bronze in color and it needs to match. After several more days of calling both parties I get continued finger pointing and excuses. During all the calls I am told I could get a "Cash Out" for the spigots at $150 each.

Again more calls are made and several times I am told a supervisor will call me. I am told this on at least three different occasions. Never received one call. Today I spoke with Jonathan in claim resolution department and was offered $100 total cash out. I was willing to accept a small reimbursement since I had already grown so disillusioned I contracted with another plumber to get the job done without warranty involvement. The more I spoke with Jonathan the more I realized it was just more of the same runaround. I'll take the hit because I didn't do my research with this company and also had a major service failure with American Home Shield as well.

I am requesting all three of my contracts to be cancelled with First American Home Warranty. My thoughts are most warranty companies want to pay low ball prices to the different trades and customer gets put in the middle. Terrible industry. Not only about the money but all the frustration, time and energy invested with few success stories. That's all Folks.

But she got hold of the guy and came back on and told me that the guy ran into conflicts and wouldn't be making it that day. I asked her what happened and she told me that the guy didn't tell her. She then told me that the guy can come out at 10:00 AM or 4:00 PM the next day. I called my tenants and they told me to keep the same time. And the guy came out. In that same house two years ago, the tenants were without a dishwasher for a month and a half. I called First American then and would give them grief. I told them they don't care.

Then, I also submitted a claim for the AC in my home in Athens, Georgia. I did that on May 12th and the contractor just finished the job on July 1st. Five people live in that house and they're tenants, so there were times of the week they send different people down there to schedule it and they're college students. But I got a call one morning and the guy told me that he was trying to get in the house. He told me that he has an appointment and the front door was supposed to be unlocked. I asked him with whom did he make an appointment with and he told me he didn't know and to ask the office. Later on I was told the front door really was unlocked, but the guy went around behind and he saw somebody in the house. My guess is the guy was down in the lower level because it was cooler rather than being upstairs in the master bedroom where he lived.

I called a neighbor and asked them if they could unlock the door and she left the key in there. But by that time, the tech has left. I assumed he was coming back later that afternoon but he didn't. He came back two days later. Then, one time in our own house, the guy they sent for our bathroom set our house on fire. My wife came home and she smelled smoke. She asked the guy about it and he told her that it was fine and he put it out. She called the fire department and when they came, they told her that it was a good thing she called them because it could have smoldered up in the attic. It could have resurrected itself and we could have had a fire.

A hot water tank also went back and they came and took it out. I had to take care of some other problems first because we had mold. Then when we were gonna put the hot water tank back in after I got the place ready to put the hot water tank back, they went, "Oh, no, we can't cover this.” I asked them why and they told me that it was because it’s a commercial hot water tank. I told them that it was residential, but then they insisted it was commercial. I then said, "Well, even if it is commercial, that’s what was there when you took it out. That’s what's been covered the last seven years. So, how can you now say it's not covered ‘cause it's commercial? You're the one that had the opportunity to come look at it."

So, I called two different plumbers and those guys took their time and got on the internet and then sent me an email showing me why they said it was commercial. And they sent an email showing me in the residential portion of the book that it was residential. So, I had to spend six hours finding people, imposing on other people to get them to finally approve it.

But they've been able to solve some problems. I had an air conditioner in Naples, Florida and the man came out. He looked at it and said that the blower motor is bad and that it was gonna be $800. Okay, fine. But he told me that if it were him, he would just put a new air conditioning system because it's throwing money away to put a blower motor on a 25-year old system. I told that to First American and they brought in another technician. And the guy basically told me the same thing. But they came back and St. Clair’s Custom Air came in and put the new blower motor in the system. But two years later, we have another problem.

And then, this time they put in about a $15,000 air conditioning system because the blower motor was fine but something else went wrong. The guy before told me that First American would never replace my system, and they did. Then, once, my garage door opener wasn’t working right. I called it in and the garage door guy called me and within 15 minutes he agreed to come out before the end of the day. He called me around noon and he was there by 3:30. He fixed the garage door opener. That’s the way it's supposed to work. It was wonderful. But they don’t all works that way.

I also have been trying for 10 years to go and give First American an email. They can only take one email. So I need to give my email or I give them my tenant’s email. If I give them my tenant’s email, they don’t have room for two emails. I told them again and again that they need room for three emails. But that didn't go anywhere. They'd tell us that their techs didn't allow that. We also got a double in German Village and we put a home warranty on it. However, nine months later, I called in for something and they didn't have it on that. They had it on my own house.

I said, “Well, I already have one on my own house.” They went through their system and they confirmed it. So the one that I bought for the double really wasn’t covering the double, it was covering my house. But they did go ahead and honored the one that was on my house that was supposed to be on the double. Another time I spent an hour and a half on the phone because some of the names on the contracts are wrong.

But I have an open claim right now that's been going on for a while because of complications. Like my father had a stroke and had surgery for pacemaker so I wasn't able to meet with them when they needed to meet because I had to go across country to Indiana. But every other time, they're always contacting me within a day or two. And then they're always out here promptly and taking care of things. They've always done high quality work. We've never had to have anything redone.

Also, all the companies First American have used usually suck. I had a problem with the AC over the years. It has ruined my ceiling and I said it's not my fault because I kept telling a technician what the problem was. And then, finally, somebody good came and he named every company that sucks and that was every company First American has sent out. The tech did half the job and he said it was years of clogged water that’s why the AC was leaking. I wouldn't recommend First American to others.

Also, the service call charge keeps going up. First American completely messed up my air conditioner which was absolutely awful. They didn’t personally do it, but the companies they contracted out almost ruined it. But that's been fixed. I have my own guy for the AC and he has gotten that all fixed up. Also, six months ago or so, we had the dryer looked at, and the guy came out within a day and fixed it. And then a month ago, they had sent somebody out again and that technician said that the guy didn’t tighten stuff up and that's why it stopped working. But every other thing like with the washer and dryer, there's somebody there in a day or so.

I have stuck with First American simply because I've been with them for a long time. They are probably a great company and they’ve been around a long time. But when you contract, you're reaching out to contractors and not always the top-of-the-line contractors are willing to take stuff. There have been some really horrible contractors and then there have been some small mom-and-pop contractors that have come out and they have been so good that you're like, “I'm keeping your card because you guys are great.” They need to do a better job making sure their contractors are topnotch because not all of them are, but other than that, First American is all right.

I called First American Home Warranty. Told them what was going on. They called the company. Assured me it would be resolved and said it would be expedited. Was called 2 days later on the June 7th by TAC. Was told the part came in. I questioned the lady because I couldn't believe they already had part. She verified they had the part. They scheduled for June 12th. So the morning of June 12th a technician called me and told me the part had not came in and he was told by leaving us in over 90 to over 100 degree heat in Florida!!! First American Home Warranty to come back out and verify what was wrong with my A/C unit. I asked him if they didn't believe the first guy that came out. Which he said he was the first guy. They wanted him to look at it again. I couldn't believe at almost 3 weeks they want them to diagnose it again. I called First American and asked what was going on.

They said they didn't know. Would call TAC and find out. Meanwhile the technician never comes out. So when I called TAC they sent someone else out. He came in. Took the whole coil and pan and left with coil. I was told they were going to fix it cause now there is a crack in the pan too. Would be back out Saturday 15th June. They never came or called. June 19th I called TAC. Still don't have part I'm told. I called First American Home Warranty. I told them they had snatched the part out and told me FAHW company wanted them to fix it and not get a new part. Of course FAHW said they don't know anything about that. They called over there. Still can't get me any answers. I told them I want a different company.

So they finally gave me a new company on that day. which was June 19th. The new AC company called First American on June 22nd and was told by First American Home Warranty that they had to get the coil back from the first company. I was told this and called FAHW on today June 26th. Of course they needed to call TAC and of course they have no idea where my original coil and pan are and will get back to them later today. SO nobody wanted to call and get it back to me on the 19th when I told them they took the coil. Or when the new company called them on the 22nd. They know nothing and do nothing but give you the runaround. I talk to the supervisor. He says the same thing.

I finally got to a manager but of course I had to leave a message. Somewhere in here I will say FAHW did have someone call and give me $150.00 towards a window unit. Which only will buy a unit that cools 150 sq ft. Which does 1 bedroom. That does not help much when it's 3000 sq. ft. house. I switched from American Home shield to FAHW. That was a big mistake. If this is ever resolved I will let you know. This is the first time in at almost 50 years old I have felt I need to leave a bad review. for both companies.

Another appointment with the same contractor was scheduled days later-- with a promise to arrive between 9 am and 6 pm. The contractor never called and never showed up in the designated time frame, and First American representatives REFUSED to send out a different company. I have now spent nearly $300 and still have no working AC Unit. It's hard to see the value this company offers. If you want a company that is responsive to customer concerns and works with competent contractors... look elsewhere.

Updated on 07/05/2018: I recently had a horrible experience with First American's customer service representatives and contractors. The experience was so unproductive and expensive, I ultimately decided to cancel my policy with the company after being a customer for several years. I was told twice by First American representatives to email my cancellation request to claimreview@firstam.com. Which I did, in addition to informing a customer service representative, in writing, of my intent to cancel.

On this very website, the company acknowledged my request to end coverage. Yet First American continued to withdraw money from my bank account the following month. When I called to figure out why I was still being charged, I was told that I didn't send my cancellation request to the correct email account. Even though claimreview@firstam.com is the email address provided by multiple customer service representatives over the phone.

I have been struggling for weeks to resolve my issues with First American to no avail. It's very evident at this point that the company doesn't provide their staff with the information or training necessary to effectively serve their customers. The conflicting information I continue to receive from the company's customer service department gives me very little hope that my issue will be resolved any time soon, or that I will ever recover the money that the company has taken from me. It is unethical for this company to continue to take my money after I have made repeated attempts to end my policy.

Original Review: June 26, 2018

I have placed a service request when my LG clothes washer is broken and they have sent 2 contractors to repair the unit so far (it's been 40 days) and both of them said it's cheaper to replace than to repair it. When the repairs were expense First American delayed in addressing the problem (happened with my Refrigerator as well, they took 2 months and finally I bought myself with payout of 20% of the cost of the similar refrigerator). Very frustrated with their service, customer service person finally put me on hold for 28 minutes to look into my service request case and scheduled another contractor. I regret being their customer for about 10 years and when it really matter they are not helping at all.

Monday afternoon after taking off to wait for him never shows. I call him and he says he is busy and will be done in about 1 hour. I call back and get voice mail. I get a call back after 5 pm stating that the plumber wants to reschedule. I never hear back for two days. First American wants me to continue to wait, I request another vendor and he comes and states that since I have placed a clamp on the pipe it is repaired? Then I cannot get me money back until the first company provides invoice? This is going on for about 5 weeks?

Now, I feel like they're back on track again and recently submitting a claim has been easy. In the last two years, the previous four times someone came have been good. Those guys were great. They come back here all the time. The most recent one came to fix my garage and they were awesome. They came in ready to answer a lot of questions. I told them what they needed to look at, they looked at it, repaired it and were out of here. They were really fast to respond too. They were what I expect from First American.

And when I call their automated system, it's a little cumbersome because it can't always understand when I say, “Yes” and when I say, “No.” I don’t mind keying stuff in. But you have to say yes or no. If the automated system can't understand you, you have to start all over again because there's no, “Press 1 for yes, press 2 for no.” And then I call in, I get a claim number, a work order number and it gives me the phone number for the company and that the company should call me within 24 or 48 hours. But that's too long. The problem could have been in my kitchen and my refrigerator. I'd have lost all my food in my refrigerator and my freezer in 24 hours.

Also, I'm always having to call the company to let them know that I have filed a claim, that it's coming to them, for them to be on the lookout for it and I have to ask how long I have to wait. Usually, they tell me it's between two and five days before someone can get to me and that’s a long wait for a service call. And so I usually wind up having to call in, ask for a representative, and say, “Okay. I got a work order number but they can't get to me in three, four, five days and that’s unacceptable. Can you find someone who can service me sooner?” That has happened several times.

It's usually 100 plus degrees during this time of the year here in Texas. My air conditioning went out and I waited for the repair person to show up. They called me in the morning and they said they’d be here at 10:00 so I didn’t know if it meant between 10:00 and noon. But the repair person was great and understanding. He's gonna be back tomorrow with the parts needed to fix the AC.

Sometimes, they could be very receptive and get things done fast but other times, when it's a little bit outside their comfort zone, I would give them an F. I went without a refrigerator last summer for almost three weeks because they were not on it. We tried to get somebody on the phone and I got tired of waiting. I ended up solving the problem for them. I was able to find somebody and got them over in two hours. He got it fixed and replaced the part. He did a prime job. I submitted the bill to First American and they paid the $150 part.

I told my sister about how great a deal First American was, but she never came and received the information. She just went online somewhere and had gotten a company and decided to use it. That was when I first learned the term “preexisting condition.” They would not fix the problem so I've not tried to venture away from First American. When I moved in, I bought a new refrigerator, a microwave, and my washer and dryer. They were under warranty, so I didn’t have those items on then. But as time has gone on, those warranties have expired, and I've added things on across the years.

Most of my technicians have been excellent. But eight years ago, my air conditioner was not cooling and somebody had already been out a couple of months earlier. This one man came out and said that there was too much Freon in my air conditioner so it was not working. I told him that doesn’t sound right to me. He took more of the coolant out, and then we were really, really hot, there was no cooling at all. So I felt like he did that, so he could come back. We were really burning up. We live in Texas and it's hot as heck out here. So, he had to come back and work on my system. As a layperson when it comes to air conditioning, if that sounds crazy to me, he should have known that that was not a good thing to do. So I told them, “No. He can't come back.” He was the only person I've really had a problem with.

Then about three years ago I was having work done and the technician did not take all the precautions he should. There was a lot of dust and debris that got through to the air conditioner because the whole house was dusty. I tried to block that area off but it was getting too warm in there and he wanted to pull everything down and have all that dusts go through my intake. The system froze and was running continuously.

The tech said to turn the system off and everything that was frozen would run out through wherever the liquid goes in our air conditioning system. However, it ran into the bathroom and there was water all underneath the floor. Fortunately, the flooring that I have was water-resistant, so I didn’t get any molds. I was very upset about that because as it was melting, maybe I could have done something, but he gave me bad advice. I could at least have run the fan in there and maybe that would've helped. Nevertheless, I would recommend First American to friends.

Their technicians also seem very knowledgeable. They just come in, do their job and they're out within two minutes. I'm just hoping and praying that the $75 that we have to pay every time they come out doesn't go up anymore. It's a lot. Other than that, I am happy. I have encouraged a couple of people to come their way. First American comes out whenever they're needed and you don't have to worry about high prices when you call a person individually.

I paid for this warranty, so when something went wrong, I was protected. You can call First American, but they won’t help you. I don't understand why a customer calling over 10 times and pleading with First American for help with the claim, still can't get helped. They continue to tell me the HVAC company has been dispatched and will contact me within 24 to 48 hours. They don't care that the claim is not fixed. This warranty company cannot be trusted to get your problem handled. I would highly recommend choosing someone else for your home warranty needs.

24 hours came and went without 1st American getting a service provider. When I called they told me they did not have a service provider and gave me a number to call it was the same number I was talking to them on. I asked to speak with a manager. I was transferred to another customer service rep. This happened three times. Finally I was told the managers don't talk with customers. He said I could speak with a supervisor I said please. After an hour on hold I was disconnected. First American should not be called First American. I never spoke with anyone in the Americas. Only India and Pakistan. I am looking to change my warranty do not use them. Also my daughter ended up in the ER the next day I am now staying in a hotel. For the repair they stated they had no one to do the service.

I had an issue with the microwave several years ago where I talked to one guy who didn’t really wanna do anything extra or help me resolve an issue. But most of the technicians have been good. A lot of them just popped in and out as quickly as they could and they get the job done. I've only had one issue with one company that was hard to get a hold of. They were used twice and the second time, they never even called us. So, I ended up calling First American and got that taken care of and got someone else out here. I have recommended First American Home Buyers Protection .

To me it seems that First American Home Warranty provides false advertising on their warranty. If the warranty states items that are covered are suppose to be fixed and not fixed seems to be a legal issue to me. Our problem isn't rendered yet the contractor took the deductible and no one has been back to fix issues yet. No one has any answers to any of my questions, and we basically get the run around in regards to our claim. If the Government reviews these complaints would you please consider looking into the warranty right for the consumer regarding First American Home Warranty?

The contractors REFUSED to come during the weekend and First American REFUSED to send another contractor. When they agreed to replace the HVAC they said there will be an additional modification charges up to $300 on top of the service fee!! As we are desperate at this point we have agreed as they will not send another contractor. For homeowners looking for a insurance warranty company First American is terrible working with their customers on serious home repairs and will lead to other serious home repairs. On the end of our warranty we will be changing companies.

When First American called us back, we were told that the earliest a repairman could come to the house was 48 hours. So we were expected to have no hot water for two days, and then still have to wait for First American to decide what repairs would be covered, only to have to re-schedule the work to be done. Called Roto-Rooter, and had a technician at the house within 2 hours, and the repair done in an hour. Fourth claim. We have a two car garage, and one of the garage door openers stopped working altogether. Made the claim, and a service technician arrived and in 10 seconds said, “the motherboard is fried on the motor”. First American denied our claim saying, “it could have been caused by a power surge” which was not covered.

I still had to pay the $75.00 service call, but would have to pay the entire bill if I wanted to have the unit replaced. The warranty is not worth the money. Each time I called, the customer service person would run through a litany of questions only to say “that unit/appliance is not covered”. I would recommend either setting some money aside for a rainy day, or do your homework and find another warranty company.

Submitting a service request with First American is pretty easy. I just have to log on and it takes about two minutes. Then I usually reach out to the contractor before they reach out to me. Some of the contractors are very good and some of them are not so great. But I am fortunate because I have a number of properties with them and I have a portfolio manager, so I don’t have to go through the normal customer service queue if I have issues. The First American Home Warranty has some pluses and minuses, but overall, it’s a good product and they do their best to provide a good level of service.

The first company they sent out to assess the problem was required to visit a second time to confirm their initial report. We were told the parts were ordered and shipped to the HVAC company. Then, we found out - from the HVAC company - that they no longer worked with FAHW. We followed up with FAHW and learned that our claim had gone inactive without anyone at FAHW realizing it. We got it reactivated, only to be told they had to start all over with the assessment process. The parts had to be shipped back, re-ordered, and re-shipped after another HVAC company visited. The second HVAC company visited and confirmed the issues were as the first company had reported. We were told by FAHW that the parts had been ordered, only to be told one day later that the parts hadn't been ordered - they needed confirmation that we would pay a $100 labor cost. That was five weeks after filing the initial claim.

Today we were told that instead of the two parts they and the HVAC companies told us were required (and ordered), only one part is needed. We are awaiting confirmation of this new information. We were offered $150 toward a fan for temporary relief, and they refunded a service fee of $75. Our primary complaints are with FAHW's inefficient process, unreliable communication, and inability to expedite service when their process breaks down for a longstanding client.

I called First American and they said they were assigning us to another contractor. The man I talked to said that I had an appointment on that Tuesday with Reliance. I tried to get a hold of them just to confirm what time and Reliance said that Tuesday was their first availability but that was not when they would actually be able to come out. They said that they had an issue with First American people saying, “When is your first availability?” And then telling the customers that that was their appointment time.

They did finally come out and the contractor did not have a refrigerant and said he would come back. This was on a Friday. I called repeatedly and they kept saying that they were supposed to get a Freon in a few days which obviously, an AC company should probably have that. So finally, I called at First American, trying to get another contractor and they referred us to somebody called Bell Cow. But the First American lady told my husband that she had put in an emergency ticket. But then, when I called Bell Cow the next day, they said they had received any emergency ticket and they were paused from receiving tickets at all.

I ended up calling repeatedly to have somebody to come out. I have two small children. My daughter’s 4 and my son’s two, and he has some breathing difficulties. So, a house without an air conditioning is really not great especially since I had the windows open and all the pollen coming in. The lady I talked to on the phone, even though I just talked to Bell Cow, tried to tell me that they did have the ticket. I asked if I could speak to her manager. And she said, “This isn’t an authority issue. He’s not gonna be able to do anything I can’t.”

Anyway, I called and after holding for a very long time, her manager answered the phone and sounded like he was asleep or eating a sandwich. It was very garbled. He told me that he'd call them. And then he put me on hold for literally 40 minutes, and then told me he had problems communicating with Bell Cow, and that when he finally got a hold of them, they couldn’t tell him anything. So, I think he just put me on hold just to see if I would hang up, with what I could gather.

So, I said I needed to make a complaint and speak to his manager. First, he told me that they were only a two-level call center. So, there was no one he could put me up to. And I was like, “So, you don’t have a boss?” And he was like, “Well, I do. But he doesn’t have a phone,” which seemed odd. So then, he finally gave me an extension. And I can’t remember the name of the person that -- Lewis I think it was. That was his boss, which I don’t even know if it was or not. And he said that he only had a voicemail.

Nobody called me back. But Alex [unclear 07:32] told me that he was calling Cow Bell, that they would try to find a contractor and he would call me back in an hour. Well, it looks like 4:04:00. And I said, “It’s already 4 o’clock here. Are they even gonna be there?” And he was like, “Yeah, they’ll be there.” Then I was like, “Well, what time do they close?” And he was like, “Well, I don’t know. But they’ll still be there.” So, when I hadn’t heard back from Alex in an hour, I called back his extension. Nobody answered. So I called Bell Cow and they did close at 5:00. It went to their answering service.

Finally, I called First American and I got kind of ugly and I probably shouldn’t have. The girl who referred me up to Alex said they could give us $50 toward fans. And then, all of a sudden, it was $150 towards a portable AC. And I said, “I just want somebody to fix what I have.” They authorized us just to hire our own contractor and we ended up having to do that but we still have to wait. It ended up being three weeks from the time we made that service call to First American. So, Arctic came out and they fixed our AC. It was a 20-minute fix and it really just needed to be recharged. We’ve never had this issue before. We normally just put in a ticket, we get a contractor and they'd fix the issue. I felt like I was being lied to in this whole incident. I emailed First American and I haven’t heard anything back from anyone in customer service.

The next day we still hadn't heard anything so I called back. The guy I spoke with said that someone would be out Monday. I asked told him that I needed to have it fixed sooner than that, and he said that he would "escalate it to the highest priority". About 5 hours later I got a text that we had an appointment. The link didn't work so I called. The gentleman said that I had an appointment booked for WEDNESDAY... two days after the original appointment. Of course I was upset and basically said, "What do you mean?" I already had an appointment for Monday, why would they cancel that and book me something later? He was so rude and said "Well, you shouldn't have cancelled a good appointment. I am just here to tell you what we have." So I proceeded to tell him that I didn't cancel it and tried to explain what had happened and he transferred me in the middle of my explanation without saying anything to another lady. He was the worst ever!!!

But anyway... the next lady was so helpful and told me that she was escalating it to the highest priority (haha already heard that one). She said they would contact me as soon as something was set. Finally I called back on Saturday night and again heard that it was escalated and they were doing something... I asked if he could just give me back my original Monday appointment and he said I never had a Monday appointment and that it was for Tuesday... At this point I was so frustrated and upset that I didn't even care and I just wanted to be done with this company. Thankfully, we didn't pay for this service, it was included in our home purchase but if I were you, I would go with another company that can actually help you out in an emergency because clearly this company has no concept of what that word means.

In terms of their technician's professionalism, some of them had been good and some hadn't. Some of them make appointments then they don't show up and it's not ideal. I reported them to First American but talking to someone that doesn't speak English is a process in itself, too. It's not just user-friendly at all. I often went through my local rep but now she's retired so I don't know what to do. I'm a realtor so I refer a lot of people. But I'm starting not to refer them. And if a friend of mine asks me about First American, I'll tell him to look at a different company.

But the biggest issue I had was with the claim for my refrigerator. It was going out and making a loud popping noise. They told me that they don’t fix noises and that they won’t fix it until it goes completely out and stopped cooling. And that could take two days or two years! So, we listened to that for months. I refused to get another refrigerator without them replacing it because it’s gonna go out. I think they're waiting, thinking that I probably will just go out and buy one, but I want to wait it out. So I’m counting down the days when it goes out. I don’t wanna companies at this point. I’ve already invested a lot of money, and I feel like First American should be the ones responsible for replacing my bigger items like my refrigerator or my A/C unit because they're very old. Also, they stayed around the same monthly fee.

The service technician showed up at our home on Monday, June 11 without calling to schedule an appointment; but fortunately, my husband just happened to be home. Once he installed the parts, he came to the door and said, "It's fixed. You're good to go." Then he proceeded to walk to his car. He never came into the house to turn on the unit to see if it was working properly. My husband turned on the unit, and the fan would not blow. He caught the service tech getting into his car and told him it wasn't working. He checked it again only to determine that the wrong fan motor was ordered.

Our service tech found the correct part locally and requested authorization from FAHW to purchase the part and install it same-day. It was declined because they needed a serial number from the part. After arguing with their service tech for two days, FAHW ordered a new and different part with a UPS tracking number on June 13. After receiving the email verifying the order, I contacted our claims manager Dawn ** at ext. ** and left a voicemail.

I have never been spoken to so rudely by a business professional in my life. After we exchanged formalities on her return call, I said, "Dawn, I hope you have some good news for me." Her response was, "And what kind of good news would that be?" She was so incredibly rude and disrespectful. I started to explain our very lengthy plight with this ordeal, and all she kept saying was, "Yes, I know." When I explained how hot it has been in Arkansas, her reply was, "I'm in Phoenix, so I know about hot." Really?

I then explained to her that she needed to rethink her career because she was failing miserably and that if she could not adjust her attitude enough to speak to me with respect, then she needed to find someone else for me to speak with. She then attempted a half-hearted apology with, "I'm sorry you do not think I am empathizing with you enough." So she technically apologized to me for my own thoughts? A good claims manager would have said something like, "I am so very sorry this has happened to you and that our company doesn't seem to be assisting you expeditiously."

Dawn then actually suggested that it was not FAHW's fault but our service tech's. Really? I did not choose him. He is a contractor and, as a result, a representative of FAHW. This company contracted him. I would have chosen someone else - a mainstream, notable HVAC service company. I had no voice in whom was selected to service my unit. I was told who would service my unit.

I feel like we've been taken for a ride by a company with no integrity. Our boys were the ones suffering through the heat. Arkansas may not be Phoenix, AZ; but our heat it is not a dry heat. It's humid here - so much so that your walls will sweat with moisture when it gets hot. Dawn didn't care and obviously didn't want to hear anything about my family's suffering. We borrowed two AC window units from friends and purchased four box fans for our 1,900 square-foot home, and our house temps would still reach 85 degrees.

Dawn's AC would have to be out for her to empathize with me. I wasn't asking for empathy. I was asking for kindness, respect, and some encouragement - the basic necessity of any human, but especially one in temporary distress. Three weeks is too long for any repair, but it is most assuredly too long for one that disrupts the structure of a home with children and elderly pets.

The repairman told us he couldn't get to us for at least 2 to 3 wks, so I called First American and was told they would find another contractor and call me back within 4 hours. After 5 hours with no call, I called them and was told they will call me at the end of the day, guess who never called? Yup, I had to call them the following day and was told they could not find anyone. I paid the $75 service fee online and told them to just cancel the request and refund my money.

Took several phone calls of complaints and 45 days later, I finally got the refund. Once I got the refund, I called to cancel my contract and was told to go online to my account and remove the credit card info from the contract so it won't charge my account and it will automatically close account when no payment is received. I did this immediately and guess what? They still charged my account the following month and when I called them, they said even though I pulled my CC info out of my account, they can still use it and the only way to close the account is to send an email or fax something in writing! Refused to refund me the money so I had to file dispute with my bank to get the money back.

I will never use them again and best part is my new home warranty with Choice has a lower service fee. Instead of $75, I only pay $50 and the yearly fee all together was cheaper, but best part is they have an average turn around time of 24 to 28 hours and if not satisfied, will pay you back to use another contractor of your choice! Way better deal!

I've had hot water gone bad and when they were so bad, water would diss in the pan underneath that and it exposed around completely out. So I said that if the can is dry as a bone, then this technician knows nothing. Even if I'm just a woman, I know that stuff. And so, that technician was out and I got somebody else immediately. But when there was a problem with the air-conditioning, the renters called First American, the technicians came right out and it got fixed. My renters were happy about that. First American should keep up the good work.

I asked if I could have another vendor do the work and he said I was not allowed to have anyone else and I am not permitted to get my own vendor out unless I wanted to wait even longer or cash out for less costs than what it takes to make the repair. So basically me and my children suffer without water for however long they want me to. By Thursday, I chose to just accept the small cash out offer to have my own vendor replace the water heater because by now, it's been a week since it had burst and have had no running water. I spent my own money to have the water heater replaced and the check they sent to me says that if I cash it, my warranty is void.

Now let me back up a little on this. Their vendor that first came out and diagnosed the damages and wrote the estimate, claims that First American is demanding "code upgrades" and the pricing is not the plumbers and is in fact, First American's pricing. He said that he has no control over the prices that First American wants him to charge for the upgrades however if I go to them without First American involvement, the regular prices will apply.

The code upgrades by my warranty co pricing is $1,700.00. Without my warranty is $600.00. Both of these figures from the vendor they retained to replace my water heater. On top of this, these are not really code upgrades at all as I called my city building code officer and he confirmed that what I am being told as "code upgrades" is false and not necessary for my home. I confronted First American and attempted to resolve the matters, however they continue to be rude and ignore my concerns. Therefore I am alerting everyone of their fraudulent activities to their customers.

I am not even sure why or how they have any say in pricing of code upgrades since they are not covering this anyway. I am in the insurance industry myself (claims) and I have never seen an insurance company do this to their customers. If I were to do this to my customers, there would be constant court cases. I used to promote home warranty companies and in specific, First American, to all of my customers that did not have a warranty. Not anymore...

The claim process is very easy. But I had one little problem before and it was a misunderstanding how everything worked as far as claims were concerned. I thought that when we replace the item, I had to go back to the same people that replaced it and come to find out I'm supposed to call First American back every time if the problem persists and they dispatch them back out. I had a problem with the refrigerator and First American sent Sears out here. And I kept calling Sears because Sears was never fixing the problem. But other than that, the claim rep and everything else are wonderful.

However, I have nothing but negative things to say about the contractor who came in to repair the water heater. We were without a water heater for a month and a half. And the problem was everybody kept blaming other people. First American said the plumbing company has been doing the job and this is what has been done. But the contractor said that First American was supposed to be doing it. The person who was affected was the one in the middle. I wasn't gonna debate that about First American when they said that the plumber signed up for the contract and they get paid to do whatever they need to do. They were supposed to be handling the business. Everybody knew the contractor dropped the ball and no one wanted to come back up again. So I called back First American and then they dispatched another plumber out who took care of the problem. Their work quality was pretty awesome.

The next day I called the plumbing co. They told me that they would do the job but I would be charged extra. They charged me to get rid of the old water heater though I would have thought that should have been a charge the American First Warranty should pay. In fact every charge I had to pay should have been paid by the insurance policy such as the drip pan, new water lines and a new gas line. I know nothing will be done but I will let everyone I know on social media that this warranty of won't pay up if the job will cost more then they want to pay. Also they deal with very shady companies because I was even charged for items they never used.

The first contractor that they sent out was horrible. They sent an outfit that didn’t even know what the heck was going on. Then they sent another outfit out and they said they couldn’t work on double dishwasher. Then the third one came out and jammed the drawer, and I think that’s what screwed things up. He jammed the drawer on the thing, and then these other technicians from Sears weren't able to repair it.

But the claims guy has been very, very nice. And they tried real hard to fix the dishwasher. They got some new parts in on a couple of occasions, and they finally decided and threw in the towel and said they gotta replace it. But they couldn’t replace it with the double-drawer KitchenAid. They wanted to put in a Kenmore from Sears, and I'd rather match this stuff because I bought it for my wife. I wanted to match all of the KitchenAid stuff here in the kitchen. But overall, I've had First American since 2007 and they've always been pretty good.

Well sure enough not even a week later the A/C goes out on 30 May and here we are 10 Jun and it still hasn't been fixed. Best part is the house is in good old Phoenix Arizona where the coolest day has be 98 since it's went out. I call the home warranty every day several times a day along with my property manager doing the same thing and every time it's a different excuse. The only thing they do offer is "temporary relief" of 150 to go get fans or a portable A/C unit, which let me tell you is about as useful as using a kids water gun to put out a forest fire. My wife is 4 months pregnant and I have a 2 yr old and 4 yr old at home which I have explained to them multiple times and their reply, "Well all of our technicians are busy and every call we get is urgent when it comes to A/C so we will get there when we can." At the end of the day the A/C still isn't fixed and this company is a scam.

But it has not generally been that quick in most situations, particularly for air conditioning. It was in the heat of the summer when our air conditioning went out, and it took about two weeks to get technicians out here. We were a little uncomfortable. But we bought a couple of windy units and put them in our bedrooms, and that covered us for two weeks.

Original Review: June 10, 2018

Before I purchased the home warranty, I thought to myself like many others well the low star reviews must be people who are claiming things that are clearly not covered. However, based on my own experience I can say now that this is not true. We were denied for coverage on repair of an HVAC heat pump which is clearly covered based on our contract. Below is our story:

DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT FIRST AMERICAN PUTS ON THE WEBSITE. They false advertise (period). They advertise that you do not need an inspection prior to purchase of the home warranty. However, when our HEAT PUMP broke they asked for a inspection from a licensed HVAC professional as of day one of the contract which the website specifically says is not needed.

Also, First American advertises that "the age of appliances does not matter". We purchased the warranty because of that particular statement. We wanted a warranty to cover our older system and protect our budget like most people who purchase a home warranty. However, when we submitted a claim for HVAC for the heat pump they said the issues must have existed before the contract date and pre-existed and without a inspection on day one they would not cover it.

I would never have tolerated that and I would have expected the work to be done within days, not weeks, especially in the heat of summer in San Antonio, but I went through that three times. So, I had some frustrations with them but for that repair, I simply paid my out-of-pocket cost rather than $8000. Also, in terms of the contractors, most of them are really good, but some are too busy, so they don't have time. On my recent swimming pool repair, the contractor was supposed to be out between 1:00 and 5:00, but they came after 6:00 and they didn’t stay very long because they were in a rush. Then, I had to get my own electrician when I needed one because there was nobody available in San Antonio. So, First American needs a bigger pool of contractors. Other than that, getting a home warranty with them is a good idea and it will save you money in the long run.

I have now been without A/C since May 7th (one month) and it is still not repaired. They have sent out 3 different companies to fix and all were so incompetent that they did not fix it. Finally, North Star agreed I needed my compressor replaced. First American told me that they had to issue a PO for my new compressor. I called 2 days later, and there was "no PO in the system" and was told they would submit. I called 2 days after that and was told for some reason they still had not ordered the compressor. Waited 9 days and finally was told they had the compressor. I was scheduled for repair today. The tech showed up to pick up the compressor from First American, guess what? No compressor. So still I have A/C. This is GARBAGE customer service. I am beyond frustrated and cannot even imagine how this company is in business.

NOW I have been dealing with them with NO AC! My AC has been out for a month now and they can't find a capable contractor to come and repair the issue. All the contractors are coming from 1-2 hours away because I live in a rural community. Not my fault, they made the contract, however they don't have any capable contractors NEAR me to repair the issue. They have offered me an allowance to buy window air conditioner to alleviate some of the heat, and I give them credit for that, but over one month and they STILL don't have the AC fixed is UNACCEPTABLE!

First American was good and everything was fine. But I would recommend that when we’re putting the service online, instead of automatically choosing which company will come out, First American should let the consumer choose online and have options of the company that could come and do the service. I like that better because there were several companies we worked with before and I know some of them and heard feedback about them. I would rather choose them than being with some other company being chosen for me. But I would recommend First American.

Over the years, I've had different contractors in and I've had instances when I've taken contractors off the job and called First American and refused to pay them. I gave them very valid reasons and then they had the contractor call me and then I cut loose on the contractor and I got what I wanted. I would never use them again. But some contractors come in and you like the work they do and you like the personnel so much that you want to use them again. So far, the contractors I've used have excellent workmanship and they cared for the house as if it was their own.

First American has been very, very excellent in their service and understanding of a problem that might be. They are also urgent in getting the repair done quickly. In fact, I've had instances where the heating system has gone out during the winter. During the winter it gets down into the 30s and it's really cold. I've also had an instance where the heating system has gone out and the parts that they needed had to be flown in and they authorized me to go buy a couple of heaters to tide me over until the repair could be done. They are outstanding. I get in the mail a lot of times inquiries from other companies or advertisements from other home warranty people, but I wouldn’t switch.

On top of that, I also opened a claim, for them to come and take a look at the AC, they couldn't come for a week, that is how busy they were. Will not renew the warranty and definitely would stay away from First American Home Warranty, if something is broke, you will be waiting a long time to get it fixed, some things you can wait and some you cannot. My experience with customer service and the whole company was negative, I would avoid them and you still decide to give them a shot, good luck!

The rep said it would take two days to get in contact with the person. So I explained to him that if the guy just works three days a week, he wouldn't contact me next week, so it wouldn't work for me. Some of their contractors are good but the other ones are a little light on their work. One time, I requested for my furnace to be fixed and they sent this really cheap company that fixed it wrongly. First American needs to find better service providers in the area. But overall, it's fine, and the system works.

Also, the contractors are shady, half the time. When my refrigerator broke down, the first guy who came out said he couldn't fix it so he took the $75 and took off. They had to send another guy out and he didn't fix it either. Then the third guy came out and the issue was something that was easily fixed. I only paid the $75 once but I was without a refrigerator for two weeks. Then when I had broken plumbing and flooded a couple of rooms in my house, the first guy couldn't fix it and they had to send a second guy out.

We also had a water heater that went out during this time with the home warranty company. They STILL charged me $700 dollars (for additional parts) even though everything was "supposedly" covered. Come to find out I could have bought and had it replaced myself for less than $700 total. I would stay away from this company if at all possible. Biggest scam of a home warranty company I have ever seen!!!

But one time, I had to place a service claim for a plumbing issue and there was a miscommunication. So, the contractors came out but they wouldn't take care of the problem because they claimed that they had to have some other subcontractor come out and inspect. It was a leaky toilet on the second floor and they're worried about mold. And so, they gave me a reference. I called and had the mold people come out who told me there was no problem. They checked the moisture and it was no big deal. Without First American's interaction, I called back that technician and told them the problem with the mold problem is fixed.

I was out of town, but a subcontractor doing other work in the house let them back in. But the technician refused to fix the toilet 'cause he claimed that it was still a problem with the moisture inspection. I got on the phone with the guy and I told him I called his exact guy but the technician still wouldn't fix it. So, my subcontractor ended up fixing the toilet. It was the wax ring at the base of the toilet which needed to be replaced so it was no big deal. First American sent me the bill for the $70 service fee. I called them up and explained to them the entire situation plus the fact that I had to pay my subcontractor. The rep that I had talked to told me they'll take care of it and dropped the call. But I got another bill three months later saying my account is delinquent and they're going to turn me over to collections if I don't pay it. And this was also in between switching contractors from year to year which was also the other weird part.

My account has gone to one of those intermediary collection people who were threatening so I finally called First American. We had to go back and forth and they told me I needed to submit paperwork about my guys fixing the toilet because their technician said another thing. I told them I should be the customer in this situation and they should deal with the technician and not me. I have also submitted the paperwork. I had to call a third time before they finally dealt with it and took off the service fee.

It was uncomfortable but I still ended up renewing with them because it was easier than switching. Also, Old Republic was not taking on new clients at that time and this was right at the break period. Plus, I had somebody else moving in. Old Republic got an exception to be able to bring me on but by then, it took long enough. My experience with First American has been good but it wasn't flawless. Overall, I'm happy and it's been a smart investment. It has worked out to my advantage and now that it's turned into a rental property, it's a saving grace.