American Home Shield

After arriving home from work at 6:30 pm July 9, 2016, I could hear a loud noise coming from the fan on my central air condition unit in the attic. Upon going into the attic I could tell that the fan was rubbing inside the housing, A short time later the noise became so loud my wife ask if someone was discharging firework outside and I explained it was the air condition unit fan. As it is stated in American Home Shield Contract I filed a repair request online.as soon as I found a malfunction and I considered this a malfunction. On July 10, I received a call from their repair contractor and after explaining what was going on, I was informed that the service would not be covered because the unit was still working and only making a noise. I called American Home Shield and after more than 30 minutes of waiting I talked to a live person and he told the same thing. I ask him to tell me where this was stated in the contract. After about 10 minutes he told me it was in section A, and quoted me something not related to my problem. When he was asked if I could talk to someone else, he said no he was the only one. I informed him that after using his company for 16 years I wanted to cancel my contract. After another long wait while he typed into the computer he said my contract was deleted but, someone would call me within 24 hours.

I only wanted someone to come and fix the problem before it became a major problem where we would be without air conditioning for several days during the extreme heat.

A couple of things before I begin my review:
1. I have been an American Home Shield customer for several years.
2. I have somehow on occasion lucked into getting AHS to do what they promise to do; repair or replace a covered appliance.
Now, I will continue by saying that I echo every other customer review and complaint in that I have been subjected to the one hour plus calls to the “cancellation dept.”, incompetent service technicians, and horrible customer contact and communication from AHS and its contractors. I am grateful to come out of dealing with AHS mostly unscathed after two unauthorized payment transactions (which were thankfully reversed by my bank), no shows from the service tech for my appliance repair, and of course the dreaded aforementioned cancellation department (Seriously? A separate phone number just to make frustrated customers wait even LONGER). Anyway, a word to the wise…steer clear of AHS. I have cancelled my policy two times now and I think I have finally learned my lesson. I hope it doesn’t take anyone else as long as me.

This Is My 5th review for this company today. I will continue to write reviews until someone calls me back that actually knows something. All day I have talked to people in front of computers that talk for them. At no point did anyone help except one gentleman that actually listened and said that he would have someone call me. Before him I was hung up on and jerked around pretty much all day. Would not recommend this company to warranty or fix anything.

I have been a customer of AHS since 2009. In the beginning they were legitimate, but have slipped into a category of gross negligence. They are slow to respond to claims, days turn to weeks and sometime months. They put you on hold for 20-30 minutes a phone call. They often send incompetent service people who misdiagnose problems that turn into hazardous disasters months later. My dryer had a timer replaced and weeks later it needed a heating element. THis is after a technician had investigated the dryer on 2 occasions. When the earliest appointment to replace the heating element was another 2 weeks, I watched a few [redacted] videos and tackled it myself. On opening the panel, I immediately saw the primary issue, the exhaust pipe within the unit had disconnected. There was so much lint inside the dryer, it could have easily started a fire. How is it a technician overlooked that simple but VERY serious problem, not once but twice. I am canceling AHS immediately before their lack of competence burns down my house.

This company is the absolute worse. Their customer service is terrible. You spend endless minutes on hold trying to talk to someone. As of now I have had 3 people come out to look at my cooktop. It is now almost 2 months and it still isn't fixed! First company diagnosed the problem. Did not here from them for 3 weeks. I called the company and they said they don't service my cooktop?!?! no notification from them or AHS explaining the situation. Another contractors sent. Says we need parts. Wait 3 + weeks for parts. Comes to fix and says nothing wrong with it and doesn't have right parts. Says just use the cooktop without exhaust fan and it will be ok or open drawers under the cooktop and the ignitor won't click?!?! Really??? Not an option! Called AHS and waited 30 minutes on hold to SPEAK TO SOMEONE, I was cut off in mid sentence and transferred into ANOTHER voice system where the wait time was another 30 minutes! you have got to be kidding me. This is unacceptable! I have not been able to use my cooktop properly for close to 2 months now... On hold AGAIN to speak to someone. This is unacceptable customer service.

Had a sewer pump issue in the house I just purchased. Called AHS was on hold for 45 minutes then they hung up. I had sewage backing up. I called back, while on hold I called a local plumber. The local plumber showed up prior to AHS customer service rep answering the call! ( 42 minutes ) Once the AHS Service rep did answer the response was " we can have someone out there in 24 to 48 hours" The local plumber overhearing this laughed! We fixed the impeller and were back in service within the hour. AHS is a fraud!

It is amazing to me that the level of customer service is so wanting, that it leaves one wondering whether there are policies/procedures in effect to promote attrition on the part of AHS customers. Try this experiment, it works for me. After being put on hold for over 30 minutes hang up. Block your phone ID, and call back, and surprise someone picks up within 5 rings. Coincidence???\r\n\r\nI live in Texas, and had my air conditioning go out last August. I called AHS. The serviceman came out, and stated that it was a leaky evaporator. He also said that there would be extraneous charges in order to bring the unit up to code. I brought in two other AC people, and was told that the company ([redacted]) was padding the bill. $285 for a hanging kit, $250 for a drain ( 3/4\" PVC). I called AHS, and informed them that their contractor was not on the level. I was told that I could have the work done by a contractor of my choice, and that they would cover the needed part, but the labor would be negotiated. I submitted the bill in September. I heard nothing back.\r\nI finally got an email address....it didn\'t work. After getting another email address, I sent the invoice, information in. This week, after nearly 5 months, I get a check for approximately 10% of the bill. The AHS check was made out for approximately 25% of the cost of the evaporator alone, and did not consider the other parts (e.g. plenum, refrigerant). I ran into a scripted response from AHS. When asked to speak with someone with higher authority, the calls do not go through to a person. I leave messages, and do not get a response. \r\nI would advise people out there to think twice.\r\nThis last month, a refrigerator in the house quit working. We again called AHS. They sent a technician who told us that the problem was a faulty relay, and that it would have to be ordered. This was fine. The next day we get a call from AHS stating that since the refrigerator is in the laundry room it isn\'t covered, and we would pay the full rate. My wife was then told over the phone that it was not a relay, but the compressor, and the charge would now be increased by $600. I asked to speak to the technician, and received a prompt call back. I asked him why the story had changed, and now a new compressor was required. I was told that it was prudent to get a new compressor, and that it would be a gamble to just change the relay. I took this gamble, and for $179 dollars had the relay installed. The refrigerator started up, and within 24 hours was cold, and working perfectly. I do not trust these people. They do not appear to be dealing square with us.\r\n\r\nI am not going to give up on the air conditioner until I am satisfied, and have a feeling that this will require much effort.

If you want Customer Service, do not choose this warranty company. I have kept warranty coverage with this company for twenty-one years. I regret I didn't opt out of the coverage. I have had two customer complaints over the years and both were handled unprofessionally and without a desire to keep my business.

American Home Warranty does not care about customer satisfaction, they are concerned about their bottom line. They didn't want to know or have any concern when I told them about a problem I had with the service technician who came to repair my air conditioner. American Home Warranty management said that it was just my opinion and people have lots of different opinions. In other words, they don't keep track of problems, they just move on to the next customer who will give them their monthly fee. Please don't support a company who doesn't care about your customer satisfaction. Dallas, Texas

The call delay when you call AHS with an issue that does not make $ for them (such as contract cancellation or question about coverage) is horrendous and you will be lucky if your call is not 'accidentally' dropped. Twice, I got the run around, was put on hold for 30min and was then dropped.

I have had AHS for several years for my home in Florida. The microwave has conked out. I have tried repeatedly to talk with their Appliance Purchasing Division. I was on hold for 1-1/2 hours on Tuesday and an 1 hour on Thursday. No one ever answered. I am totally unhappy with them. I have also called 6 additional times and each time they indicate over 30 minute wait time. This is awful!!!!

Our upstairs toilet would flush water out and would fill back in but shortly afterward the water would suck backout. Soon afterward sewer gas odor seeping out. Called AHS to report toilet commode problem and they sent plumber out who took a look and said there was a problem with the design of the plumbing system. They were suppose to provide written statement but never received it but did get receipt of my payment for service call. They would not look at vent to see if clogged so asked if who could and they did not know. So I found a company that did did home repair. They sent plumber and said we had a crack and needed new toilet. Because of sewer gas odor so strong in our house I bought a new toilet and so far plumbing problem fixed and flushes properly. I called AHS to report the plumber they contracted out misdiagnosis and was told they would not reimburse me for the service fee or toilet. I should have called for second opinion. Why do I need a warranty with AHS?

I'm writing this review while I'm on hold with them. It usually takes an hour to speak to someone. If you can use their automated system it's great but if you need to speak to someone for any reason, you are stuck in telephone purgatory. I put a service call in 4 days ago and never heard from the contractor. I called the contractor and was told they would be out the next day. That is today. No visit, no call. I will look for another company next year.

This company used to be great. I don't know what caused the sudden drop in customer service, quality. I came home on Saturday and found water dripping from my ceiling. On hold for over an hour, finally put in an online request. I was then advised that a contractor would call me Monday. I called the contractor Monday and was told that they didn't need to come out until Wednesday. I was also advised that it sounded more like an AC issue-in which case, I would need to start the whole process over after they looked at it Wednesday. Another hour on hold to AHS. They advised "not urgent" since I don't need AC (it is over 95 degrees here this week). I explained my elderly dogs would die without AC. Too bad, not urgent. I was then placed on hold several times, finally told they were referring it o an AC company located 100 miles from my house. I asked for options. Nope. Only one contactor available. Said contractor told me they had a5 hour window to show up, but they would call and give me a clearer idea on the scheduled repair day. No call after 4 1/2 hours of waiting. Guy in a beat up truck finally showed up, spent less than 5 minutes, saying he just put some glue on a pipe. I am not hopeful this problem is solved.

In summary, I wasted over $400 in lost wages as well as the service fee cost. I did ask if there was a way I could contact someone at AHS if this did not solve the problem without expecting to be on hold for over an hour, then waiting days for a repairman, hours waiting for the actual appointment. "Nope". I asked if that meant I could expect to be on hold for over an hour every time I called. "Yup". What happened?

This company, along with the companies they contract out, (**A A** B[redacted] A[redacted] LLC) are professional liars. I have never dealt with a company that is as unprofessional as these two are. They wi** te** you everything you want to hear to make you feel good about the situation, but what they te** you is anything but the truth. I have been without A/C for 3 days now. Both companies have been te**ing me there wi** be a technician out today but then hours later the tech wi** ca** and give the most ridiculous excuses as to why he can't make it out. The best excuse was from a Tech named Jeff 813-850-4089. On day 2 he told me that he wouldn't be able to make it out today because of the rain. Norma**y, I would tota**y understand that to be a reasonable excuse, only problem on this day was it wasn't raining. Nor did it rain within 50 miles of my location.
The short of this review/complaint is, do not use AHS or **A A** B[redacted] A[redacted] LLC. It honesty feels like I have been scammed out of the $440 I paid for AHS coverage.
I now took it upon myself to find a A/C company to come out and wi** be paying out of my pocket for their repair services when I should have has repair already done through AHS.
I would like AHS to reimburse me the amount of the invoice I have from the outside A/C repair company I had to use.

This company uses contractors that have no clue what they doing. The customer service is worse than C[redacted]. IF you can get a person, they hang up on you. My time is valuable. We called about leaks in a newly purchased home, and it's 30 days and still no action except for the plumber making off with our deductible for doing nothing. Poor customer service, poor business practices. Word of mouth and reviews go far these days.

Be careful, you are stuck with AHS dispatched contractors. They have regularly dispatched unprofessional (rude and inexperienced) contractors, for which you HAVE to pay the $75 service fee. You are then at the unprofessional contractor's mercy for proper care of your equipment otherwise, you will lose your $75 (they will not reimburse you.) In turn, they offer calling another contractor for ANOTHER $75 fee.

The above has happened numerous times for the past couple of y[redacted] in this household.

Our water heater was leaking and confirmed by AHS to be replaced but the contractor wanted over $500 in excess to comply Code. After telling AHS what I do for living (a mechanical/plumbing engineer & contractor) and disagreeing with the false code citation, AHS was silent and offered us less than $500 for us to do the work with NO cost break-outs (they claimed it was confidential.)

I will be reporting the apparent game AHS plays to the California Department of Insurance and intend to share my experience with the interested parties here.

PS: I should have stayed with S[redacted]' extended warranty service. I regret switching! :(

My first call was for plumber who came and said he fix my leaking pipe. Six or seven months later same pipe leaking and ring he put on pipe was rusted through. I called AHS and they said would send same contractor out to fix leak again and it would only cost my regular service fee. I felt this was wrong, that it should have been fixed correctly the first time and I should not have to pay again to fix the same problem. American Home Shield disagreed, so I told them not to renew contract when expired. I also had a service request in which is taking a month to fix now. Am on 2nd contractor who does not answer phone. I would not recommend this company to anyone. It seems like a scam. Every six months you are paying for the same repairs over and over .

Sent payment in MAY for renewal.AHS Claimed they never got it!

Called and AHS gave me a bogus number to call which was NOT their accounting department. In JULY filed claim with my bank and the bank called them with me on the line. The bank faxed them proof of payment that day and a second time in July. AHS said I would receive my refund in 7-20 business days.

Called in AUGUST, again with Bank rep. on the phone. AHS claimed they NEVER got proof of payment! FAXED AGAIN, now they have to reaseach it AGAIN and "IF" they find it, I will get refund in 7-20 Business days.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!! IT IS BAD BAD BAD! In the past when I have had to use for a repair, it has NEVER been the amount they have quoted. AND to top it off they keep calling me telling me that I need to pay them cause my service has been disrupted.

Really, you want me to send you MORE money. I Do NOT think so. THIS IS AN AWFUL!!! company.
DO NOT USE THEM!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE NOTE: this was an electornic payment, so it should be very simply to find it, due to the fact that my bank provided them all the information required to do so.

This was not done via snail mail which could be very easily lost.

Purchased contract 08/11/2016 to cover appliances. The first time I tried to put in a service call no one would answer the phone. Just went to hold for next available person. Held on for more then an hour more then once. Had to call the South Carolina Insurance dept on 1/4/17. After being on line for over an hour the Agent finally got thru. The girl in service told me they didn't have someone near me, and had to look for someone. The company Lafayette Services aka appliance Guy still havenot called me back. I am requesting a full refund for the contract I paid for and couldn't use. Is this company real or a scam. Fred S

Im going to share my situation so potential customers may be aware to not buy coverage from this company.

Situation- Floors start to show signs of buckling. I wasn't aware why, so I looked up a company that specialized in flooring. They came out and said, I had standing water under the house in my crawl space. They told me, that I might have a potential pluming issue.

Called AHS and told them there was water under the house in a crawl space and it might be due to a pluming issue. They sent out a pluming company but also said that they don't cover "flooding". If the water was due to a broken pipe, they might send out an adjuster to check the damage. I paid the $75 dollar service fee and the

Plummer said we I good to go, no broken pipes.

So at this point, I have "no broken, leaking pipes", still have standing water, AHS doesn't cover "flooding", which all translate to me that I either have to figure it out myself or contract a company to do so.

Called a crawl space company, long story short, the want $20k to encapsulate my crawl space.

So I went under my house and started to clean out the standing water. There was a tarp that was laid under the house covering the dirt floor, which was covering the main sewage pipe. Upon removing this tarp, I immediately notice that the main sewage pipe was broken in two with a 1 ½ inch gap. So I called AHS to let them know that the Plummer that they sent out, failed to notice that. They issued a recall, the company called back saying that they couldn't get back to my house until next Tuesday the 18th and I made this call on a Thursday the 13th. So I had to be out of my home for a period of 6 days, with my wife and kids because they could come out on a recall. I expressed that this was an emergency and needed their services and the rep told me that they couldn't do anything because they contract the services, that if I wanted I can go outside the insurance I have and hire a Plummer at my own expense. What type of company says that? And they expect me to get a hotel for basically a week and live in that health hazard and wait on them, when they had an opening? I asked to speak to a supervisor who helped out and dropped the recall and sent my trouble ticket to the "dispatcher" and hopefully someone can pick it up and try to fix it that same day or maybe the weekend.
Received a call that a company will be coming out the very next day , so I only had to get a hotel foe 2 days. They showed up, went under the house and basically told me yeah your pipe is broken but we can fix it because of the standing water that is there, it's a health hazard and we cant work on your pipe. So there goes another $75 dollars just for them to tell me what I know already and that they cant do anything until the water is gone, which AHS doesn't cover.

Called a local company to get an estimate on the cleanup; they want $1500 dollars.

So all this back and forth with AHS on what they cover, what they don't, the wait game with the services, the extra money I have to dish out is becoming so complex. In the end they told me that if the water didn't cause the damage to my floors, it wouldn't be covered, that the moisture that the water gave off doesn't count as "damage" under the insurance.

So in the end this is my understanding of AHS:
1. Don't cover "flooding".
2. Pluming company that is contracted by AHS doesn't know what a broken pipe looks like.
3. Pluming company that is contracted by AHS doesn't do emergencies, only what's on their schedule.
4. AHS doesn't cover "Secondary damage" even if the pipe was broken, water got everywhere, but because the water wasn't basically on top of the floor, it doesn't count.

So remind me, why I'm paying into a company that doesn't fix any one of my issues I had?

The end result; it took me a $300 dollar vacuum to take out the water and a $13 dollar piece to fix my own pipe.

Oh yeah, they never called like they said they would. Thanks for the outstanding customer service. I don't want a call back from somebody up top, I don't want them trying to fix what should have never happened in the first place, I don't want anything. I'm just parting ways and ensuring that future customers don't go through this headache and pain, especially if they have kids. I'm dropping them.