American Home Shield

[mikeyes]

American Home Shield sells a whole house warranty plan that goes something like you pay $350-$600 a year (depending on what you want covered) and then if you have a problem they send out a repair man and it costs you $60 per visit. Their claim is they will fix or replace the broken item if it is covered after their fine print contract is met.

Seeing some not good reviews about them and wondered if anyone here had experience with this company good or bad.

 

[sactoking]

No experience, but I can say that from an 'insurance' standpoint it is a very bad deal. You should check with your state's Insurance Commissioner to see if it is a registered program where you live if you're interested in it.

 

[Vette73]

Could be like a lot of car warranty programs that take your money and then go out of business later. Leaving you with just a peice of paper.

A warranty is only as good as the people/company behind it.

 

[Yreka]

I had one that was included with the sale of my house. It was pretty bunk.. They basically do anything they can to get out of service/replacement, so if you ever do need them to hold up their end, get ready for arguments and hassle.

I wouldn't buy one again, you would be better off throwing $600 in the bank every year, then using that money to fix issues as they arise.

 

[Codewiz]

Crap. My compressor for my A/C went out. Basically all of the electronics burned up because a cold starter blew up. They decided it was more cost effective to replace all the electronics while I roasted for 3 WEEKS! The parts were difficult to come by hence the long delay.

So while I roasted, they did nothing. I live in South Carolina. If memory serves me, it was in May. I raised hell over it and they didn't care. They only will replace a unit if it can't be fixed or it is cheaper to do so. There is nothing out there that can't be fixed with enough time and money to buy replacement parts.

I got it for free when I purchased my house. I was coming up for renewal within 2-3 months. I told them that unless the remedied the situation that I wasn't going to renew. No concern on their part but they still send me crap in the mail begging me to come back.

On top of it, the rest of the compressor went bad a year later and I paid out of pocket to replace the whole damn thing. Something that should have been taken care of by AHS if they held up their end of the bargain.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Insurance and Home Warranties are all crap. In both cases, sound business practices will keep them from paying out when something doesn't go their way...it's how they pay for overhead, etc...

I say have home owner's to cover fire damage, robbery, or the occasional tree falling on your property (or someone else's).

Other than that, don't waste your money.

 

[trmiv]

When we bought our house our agent put in the contract to sellers that they were to purchase an AHS warranty. I'm glad they did. In the 6 months we've lived here we've called AHS out three times. One time we got a brand new water heater for the $55 service call fee. The next time when our AC went out they replaced the motor in the outside unit, again we just paid the $55 fee. For us it's been more than worth it, but we didn't pay for it ourselves.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Had it with my house. Only had one service call so far - my HVAC was running all the time. Dad noticed a leak...the guy came out and filled it up with more freon but claims he didn't have his leak testing equipment. Fixing to make another service call soon and see if they can fix the leak - it's definitely leaking out. (You have 60 days from the first call for them to come out again without paying the service fee again)

I won't be renewing it with them at the end of the year, but figure if you already have one or can get it for cheap, why not.

 

[mikeyes]

Thanks for all the information. Think the choice is clear even if trmiv did have a good experience.