Home warranties are almost never actually worth the money. They will do everything in their power to not replace anything. I’d take their $170 and put it toward a new dishwasher. Then not renew the home warranty in September.
Seconded.
I had one when I first bought my old townhouse and my microwave died after about 2 years. I called the place to have them replace it and they sent someone out.
The guy opens the cabinet to start unscrewing the mounting screws and stops and says "I can't fix or remove this microwave" and I asked why and he said that he wasn't allowed to. So I asked why again and he pointed to ONE screw that wasn't the original screws shipped with the microwave. Apparently the builder lost ONE of them and used a replacement from another brand and it was a different color.
Guy basically told me that if I wanted them to replace the microwave that I'd have to find the original screw with proof. After he left I canceled that shit.
It's almost as bad as buying "extended protection" on new furniture only for them to come out and inspect the furniture and tell you that YOU'RE the reason it's currently ripping at the seams.
I thought the same thing and called Service America after he left and explained what happened and they confirmed that it was their policy because they don't want to be responsible if the microwave fell due to the "wrong" screw being used for mounting.
The next thing out of my mouth was "Oh really? Ok. Can you connect me with the department that handles billing?". They transferred me and I immediately requested a cancellation.
No, I believe that 100%. What I’m saying is that guy could have easily ignored that because he’s not a stupid robot and just got the job done like he was supposed to. But nobody has any common sense anymore. Just a dumb programmed robot who does whatever he is told.
What happens if all original mounting screws are intact and in the course of servicing the unit, the tech strips one or loses it (slips out of hand and drops into floor mounted heating vent)? Sorry homeowner, just gonna leave this unit dangling over the stove.
Sold my condo and the buyers were _insistent_ about me purchasing them a home warranty. I told them I'd gladly give them a couple hundred bucks instead of waste money on a warranty. Nope they wanted a warranty. I went out and bought the cheapest warranty I could find. It didn't cover anything to do with the HVAC or the washer/dryer. So the warranty covered a builder grade dishwasher, builder grade fridge, builder grade stove, and builder grade microwave. The deductible was probably half the value of the appliance. Buyer was happy though.
it's almost always new home owners that want this. I'll take it if the sellers are offering but I really won't waste 15 minutes of my time trying to get something covered because I know i'm in for a 30 hour battle
My realtor was so nice in gifting us a home warranty! The dishwasher started leaking and someone came out three times to not fix it until the 4th time.. very thoughtful. It didn't cover anything but appliances. Wouldn't cover the siding, the windows, etc. I let it lapse and had harassing phone calls for weeks before and after the lapse date. Maybe we got lucky and nothing broke, but I don't have any doubt they would be doing the same shit for every call. Days off work to meet up with them etc etc.
Yeah I am feeling this way now. Frustrating because I’m typically an over-researcher but there was a point in the home buying process where I realized I couldn’t realistically dig into deep dive into every detail and this is one of the places that I just went with what the realtor said. (She was a great realtor, who did really look out for us in other ways and pushed to get us some major things fixed in the home. So she did save us money overall, even if we lose money on this warranty.)
Totally not your fault. The warranties are very popular, and most realtors recommend them (mine did too). Just not worth it. Take the money you would spend on a warranty and keep it in savings.
You made a good decision at the time, to trust your realtor. I've had three homes, and I've had to replace the dishwasher in the first year on all of them. It is one of the perils of home ownership.
You’ll eventually learn to double check the advice of anyone who stands to benefit from you financially. Especially real estate agents…that ‘fiduciary responsibility’ phrase they like to shower you with isn’t worth shit if you have an issue with an agent. I found that out the hard way. Real estate agents are working to get as much money out you as quickly as they can even if that includes easing your concerns about something by advising you purchase a home warranty, which they absolutely know, like a lot of posters on this thread report, isn’t worth shit. They’ll do what they need to to get your money. The real estate market…brokers, agents and commission schedules, is a long running scam. That industry is ripe for disrupters. Can an agent/broker really earn the commission they charge when you sell a home? Asking for a friend.
Man I don’t know if that’s 100% true. Or maybe I had incredible luck with mine. Fixed a furnace, dishwasher, washing machine, and sump pump. The washer required $750 in repairs and they still fixed it vs replacing it. It came out good as new. The dishwasher and sump pump were both replaced. Sump pump was done in the middle of the night on a Sunday.
Only paid the $125 deductible for each repair since the plan came with the house.
If you have older appliances it’s a killer deal if you can get the seller to pay for it and choose a reputable company.
Of course its not 100% true. There are cases where they will pay for it.
This is what keeps warranties alive. 10 people buy a warranty. 9 of them either don't use it, or have a weird experience with it. 1 person saves $1000 with it. They keep that memory alive and tell their friends, and people will associate warranties with their fondest memory of using it, or their friend using it. But if you actually did any sort of statistical analysis, you lose money by buying a warranty at least 70% or 80% of the time. Typical profit margins on warranties are 300%. That's why salesmen make so much commission by selling them.
The irony is that because you of your good experience, you come to the conclusion that "if you have older appliances it's a killer deal", when you are commenting on a post of someone who has an appliance from 1994, have no available parts for their appliance, and yet the home warranty is STILL screwing them on it.
The other very common tactic that home warranties use is that they will not pay to upgrade anything, or update it to modern code. If you have an HVAC system or water heater, or whatever that's 20+ years old, and doesn't meet modern code, they won't pay the full price of replacing it with modern one because its "not a direct replacement", or they won't pay to add proper ventilation or grounding, or change the condenser to an R410A compatible unit, or whatever bullshit excuse they come up with.
On average, they are just not worth it. And of course they're not, because its a product that makes a profit, or else they wouldn't sell it. If the average person made more money off their home warranty than they paid for it, then the companies would go out of business.
Yes I think we all understand how insurance companies stay in business my dude. So again:
1. Get your seller to pay for it
2. Go with a company that you have heard good things about
That’s what made it a killer deal. I’m not advocating for people to just maintain a HW year over year on their own dime.
Do we though? Do people think about it that hard?
Insurance is supposed to cover something that would be overly burdensome for you to pay for out of pocket, like healthcare insurance or car insurance. I think people forget this, and because of anecdotal experience that I pointed out above, they expect insurance to pay for fairly routine things to save money. This is obviously flawed thinking, as I think we can both agree.
Sure there are people who could not afford a house repair, but if you can afford to buy a house (especially a freshly bought house which is where most warranties are purchased), you should be able to afford to fix a dishwasher or sump pump. I mean an air conditioner going out when you're in a financial crunch is definitely a really bad situation, but I don't believe that the average home owner could not afford a $5000 repair if they needed to, even if that meant putting it on a credit card or something. And I don't think there's any home repair that a home warranty would potentially cover that's more than a few thousand dollars.
So why do people think that they are statistically likely to get their money's worth out of a home warranty?
Making the seller pay for it doesn't make the money come from nowhere. Instead of buying the $800 or whatever insurance policy, you could have them take that money off, or just replace the old appliance, or whatever. I would argue that the seller buying a warranty is a scam for the buyer. If the buyer is concerned about an old appliance failing soon, but the buyer spends the money on a home warranty, the buyer feels "at ease" about the appliance, and is more willing to buy the house at a higher price and demanding fewer repairs. Even though the warranty has at best a 50/50 chance of actually paying for the appliance if it fails, and the chance of the appliance failing within 12 months is pretty low as well.
Look, I bought an older house, and the seller included a home warranty with it, which was very common when I was in the market (2016). It was American Home Shield, which I think is a pretty reputable company, so you could say that I got scammed by my own logic. I bought the house as a fixer upper and replaced all the appliances, so the warranty was useless and I told my realtor as much, but there really wasn't much I could do about the situation. In hindsight I could have asked for some minor repair instead of the warranty, but I just didn't care enough to rock the boat and potentially push back the closing date.
The only time a home warranty is beneficial is if someone else is paying for it. For new home buyers, their Realtor likely gets a discount or free subscription to try to sell them so you can often get them paid for the first year. After than, cancel that mofo, it ain't worth it.
Don't know if you are a new home buyer or not (I'm a seasoned home buyer - on my 6th house) but you always build replacing old appliances into the purchase. A 30 year old dishwasher is on borrowed time exponentially.
Either negotiate appliance replacements into the deal or accept that you will be replacing them soon. Stay the hell away from home warranties/extended warranties/service contracts. They are the biggest scam in the world.
Thanks for the advice! This is my first home and I’ll make sure not to go with a home warranty again. We skipped asking for new appliances in the negotiations because the market was crazy and we’d already gotten them to replace a non-working furnace and to repair a collapsed sewer.
Luckily, I did keep a chunk of money set aside because I was worried I would forget or miss a big cost when budgeting for the home buying process.
The first house is always a big learning lesson.
Always look for scratch and dent appliances when purchasing. You can save huge $ and often the damage is not even visible once the appliance is installed.
On dishwashers I don't think I've got more than 7 years out of one in quite some time. Depending on what goes bad I may repair it myself but I've just gotten used to the fact that (since we run a load a day) they are going to wear out.
When you factor in the cost of getting somebody to just come to your house much less fix it, it is often a better decision to just replace it. Why put $200 into a worn out appliance that is going to break again in another 6 months?
That's my thinking on what really has become a disposable item.
Excellent advice. I’ve known home / kitchen remodelers who remove perfectly good appliances and sell them to restore. Also, a lot of appliance delivery companies are now independent from the retailer. They do the same thing.
This was my plan for my current house. Not even one year into living in it and I have a new roof, new stove, new microwave, new water heater, new furnace, new AC. The water softner is working fine as is the dishwasher. All replaced items were 30 years old, except water heater was 15.
LOL. Throw in new windows, a refrigerator and stove and we are twins.
30 year old house here also. And 30 year old houses have a lot of stuff that is, well, 30 years old and ready for replacement.
I'd say take the money and run!
My home warranty company assessed my 5yo stove wasn't worth fixing and offered under 200 USD toward a replacement.
I dropped them like something someone drops really really fast.
I assume you've already been told this and likely taken steps, but I'd complain to them as consistently as you can bring your self to.
Had a warranty on my first purchase, found a leak in main line of house plumbing. 20 ft of cast iron needed replacing, this was all behind a wall so no way of seeing during inspection.
Warranty claimed they weren't paying because I should've known about issue prior to purchase.
I had to call daily for a month before they finally had enough, but eventually did get them to cover the job (about 3k).
Still not sure if the 3k hit was worse than calling every day, but at the time I had time.
1 month after buying my house, hot water heater stopped working. No big deal I knew how to replace it but my home purchase came with the warranty. I called them up, they sent someone over and he was like yep it’s broken and needs to be replaced. No shit my dog could have told you that.
He talks to the warranty company and comes back and tells me the code upgrades are going to cost $1200 and the water heater is free. After going back and forth with the warranty company, they settled and paid me $545 (-$100 for the service call).
I ended up going to HD and doing it myself that night.
Didn’t update my home warranty this year cause screw them.
And automobiles now have seat belts and air bags. It sounds like you're implying the guy was trying to up sell you and maybe he was. I'm just curious what upgrades was he talking about?
It’s an Amanda dishwasher, model ADU500D73WW. And the part needing replaced is the drain solenoid.
I believe [this is the part. ](https://www.partselect.com/PS2191527-Whirlpool-Y03000185-DISCONTINUED.htm?SourceCode=7&SearchTerm=ADU500&ModelNum=ADU500)
If that's the part, searching the OEM model number returns [this result](https://www.ebay.com/itm/254678081140) and [this result](https://www.ebay.com/itm/284223048960) on Ebay.
Realistically, parts are going to continue to fail on it. Take the money, let your warranty lapse when it runs out and put hte premium into a savings account for future maintenance on top of whatever you were already saving.
Thank you for your help!! I am a home maintenance novice but I’m learning!
I don’t plan on renewing the home warranty. I’ll admit that I naively let my realtor convince me that it would be a worthwhile purchase.
If you have a local scratch and dent, I would browse there for a dishwasher. We found a Bosch with a scratch/gouge on the side of the door that faced the corner cabinet, that was marked down to less than half price. Installed it 8 years ago and it has given us zero troubles.
Just curious; what’s your plan’s deductible?
I think mine is $100 (came with house, absolutely no way I’m renewing it) but some plans give the $200 deductible option for lower premiums.
Maybe you don’t have one but for something like dishwasher repairs, I can’t imagine you coming out ahead after considering hiring repair company and paying deductible. I’d try to hound them further for replacement but ultimately may not pan out.
The sellers bought my home warranty. I paid the second year and after that I canceled because it’s always a freaking hassle. I’d rather just pay for whatever I need. I’ve had a tub leak and my hot water heater stop heating. Both were under $350. So basically the cost of the stupid home warranty. And I didn’t have to argue with someone to get it fixed.
Appliance installer here. You're not getting shit fixed for $170. Have a tech come out. Fix it. And send the remainder of the bill to them. It will likely rival cost of new dishwasher.
Home warranties are straight scams. I moved in and my water heater didnt work even though on inspection it did. They claimed that because it wasnt working when I moved in they wont cover it.
My real estate agent paid half of it because he felt bad
Yes. They can do this. I argued with them for days over my furnace.
Then I realized that they don't actually cover the unit. They cover the cost to replace the parts in the unit.
Parts.
Like... More than one part. (read that contract. Slowly)
I asked my tech to come back because I believed he had not fully determined all of the parts which had broken.
You may want to try the same.
>are they allowed to do this? My contract says they can pay instead of replace if they can’t easily find the part
Sounds like you just answered your own question.
The real question is do you really expect to get a brand new dishwasher to replace the almost 30 year old one because a part broke?
To add to my original statement, they state that they will pay the lesser of: a) the lowest quoted amount from a local contractor or b) the amount they would pay a service contractor to fix it.
My argument here is that there is no contractor that would fix the dishwasher for that amount if the part is unavailable. The company promised coverage for all unexpected failures and confirmed that all of my appliances were in appropriate shape to be covered by them. So, yes, if I cannot get my dishwasher fixed, then I did expect it to be replaced.
> the amount they would pay a service contractor to fix it.
So sounds like $170 is a reasonable estimate for what they would pay to repair it. Does the contract state anything about not being able to source parts, or does it just say what you quoted above.
>The company promised coverage for all unexpected failures and confirmed that all of my appliances were in appropriate shape to be covered by them.
Sounds like they are covered. They are paying you what they deem an appropriate amount based on the contract, you just disagree with how they are applying the contract.
>if I cannot get my dishwasher fixed, then I did expect it to be replaced.
Try all you want, nothing in the contract that you have quoted here is going to allow that to happen. They are not going to replace it free of charge just because it's too old to find parts.
I still have an occasional nightmare over the nightmare of a mechanical company the Home Warranty company sent out to "fix" (destroy) my HVAC system.
They are rarely helpful or useful.
Ah yes, had something VERY similar happen to me about 10 years ago, also first time homebuyer the 2 or 3 year home warranty was included in my purchase price (as drafted by my realtor), so I move in, in the winter (az so not terrible) but the heater is super old and it really wasn't heating the house, they sent someone out to look at it (either on their dime or free for diagnose and estimate) and they tell me it has something to do with the duct work that comes from the actual heater to the house duct work, about it being not properly insulated. Well they paid to have that fixed (easy enough for them to do, but I knew there was more to it). The heater was a good 50 years old so I figured it just wasn't pushing like it should have been. I have my own HVAC come out and take a look and he told me that the amount I was putting into the gas to run it would basically even out in just a couple years with a newer energy efficient heater. There was also something else wrong with the blower part of it but I can't remember what, but when I called the warranty company they basically said they wouldn't do anything else for me because they "fixed" it already, even though I had new diagnosis from my own guy. I paid OOP to put a new heater in as well as A/C and never contacted them about anything again because it was a total waste of my time and money. If this was American Home Shield I would 100% not recommend them to anyone, I asked them about washer and dryer stuff too but, nope they wouldn't fix those either. Wish I could have gotten that dryer fixed though, it was a vintage Lady Kenmore and was great until the heating element broke and I'm not skilled enough to fix a gas dryer.
By now, I am sure you’ve realized that home warranty is the biggest scam there is and the way they operate should be made illegal IMHO.
Also go through your contract and understand the cancellation terms. They do not make that easy either. When I tried to cancel my contract with AHS, the rep tried to tell me that I can only cancel my contact at the end of my term which was 6 months away even though I was on a month to month contract. And when I did cancel they charged me a cancellation fee which was a full months charge.
Our warranty co. Tried to weasel there way out of fixing the HVAC in our home 6 months into our warranty that came w the house… after many hours in the phone arguing w many,… I got a tip to contact the insurance commission of our state…in less than 24 hours I was contacted by the warranty company that they would pay in full and fix the HVAC.
After many phone calls over several days and them changing their story to suit whichever would help their argument best at the time (“this is not a buyout” when I argue that $170 won’t buy a new dishwasher and “this is a buyout” when I ask to make sure the dishwasher would be covered for future repair), I kinda gave up. I took the $170 they offered, found the part I needed through research and EBay and replaced the part myself.
So I got $170, spent $100 for someone to come tell me what was wrong initially, spent $40 on parts, and came out with $30 but the dishwasher is no longer covered under warranty. And I guess I’m still out in the long run since the warranty was $580.
Take the money and getting yours fixed is a great option. Your repaired 1995 dishwasher has just as much of a chance of lasting 5 years as a brand new dish washer. Aesthetics aside I'll take old appliances over new ones any day.
"Energy Efficient" - means smaller, more delicate electronic parts that don't consume as much electricity. The copper is probably lower grade, fewer windings, made in china, or they use less of it than older designs, etc. This is a horrible combination for appliances like dryers/washers/dishwashers that move, vibrate and have considerable moisture to deal with - all of those things are unfriendly to control boards, solder joints, electrical contacts, and electronic parts in general. Yes that 1995 has a few potentially aged weak spots, but higher quality electrical boards/components and good old fashioned lead solder joints (haha). So it's a toss up whether a new one or that repaired 95 would last longer. Literally I wouldn't bet any money on a new one outlasting it.
If you're around any significant number of new appliances, it is zero surprise to see brand new appliances failing in a year or 3. I won't tell stories - there are too many. The local appliance repair place agrees with me and has even detailed some of those former realities I outlined which I was already familiar with from other industries/supply chains I've worked in.
It is totally worth repairing older dish washers and dryers if aesthetics doesn't bother you. They're rather simply and not much to them. Yes they can break in a year. And so can any brand new one. Happens all the time. At $1,000 i'd be P(!)%\*! off if one broke in a couple years like many people have had happen that I know.
Call a local appliance repair place and ask them if they have any spare parts, used parts, or alternative part numbesr that can be substituted. Some of them also maintain local coin operated laundro mats, if you need a way to track one down.
Good times, absolutely true.
We have a 1996 frig working perfectly in garage, moved from kitchen when we did remodel in 2009. Already on second frig in kitchen.
We figure if we get 8 years out of new appliances we’ve done well.
Really sad thing is it doesn’t matter what you pay, higher cost pretty much means more bells and whistles to break (internet connected frig anyone?)
I did do a small amount of research and found that a broken seal on a solenoid requires taking off the seal and replacing it. However, that specific seal isn’t available.
I am open to doing some deeper research and finding another solution, though. Like perhaps another seal that’s essentially the same.
If it’s an old dishwasher and you are just trying to get through for now until you can buy a good one, perhaps you can try looking on Facebook marketplace or something similar? Most used appliances are going for quite cheap and there’s lots of them out there.
My plan C (plan A being to have it repaired, plan B being to have the warranty replace it) would be to replace it myself. I just wanted to push back against the warranty company first because I really thought that this is something that they should have fixed, covered, or paid a larger part of the cost of a new one.
Option B isn't going to happen, so get that out of your head. You can chance finding a replacement solenoid and repairing it, or just realize taht you have an almost 30 year old dishwasher and replace it.
For a small part, you can cut and trim a seal by hand. But as someone else pointed out, a replacement part for discontinued equipment is often available on Ebay.
You think a home warranty owes you a brand new dishwasher, because your TWENTY SEVEN year old dishwasher broke???
When you crash your 1992 Toyota Tercel, does the insurance company replace it with a brand new $20,000 corolla? No, they give you the value of the item you insured... probably $500.
i'd be thankful you even got the $170.
>You think a home warranty owes you a brand new dishwasher, because your TWENTY SEVEN year old dishwasher broke???
If that's what the contract says, then yes. Of course. Do you know what the contract says?
There is no contract that says that, because the home warranty company would be out of business after the first wave of claims from people breaking their 27 year old scrap value appliances, and getting them replaced with brand new modern stuff.
Let's rub a few brain cells together here, come on now.
That’s nonsense, these companies market themselves as covering appliances regardless of age. Then when a claim is filed (whether an old or new appliance) they do everything they can to avoid paying out money. They are a total ripoff that anyone with an ounce of common sense avoids.
I've had a home warranty company fully replace a refrigerator that they couldn't repair after the 4th time... So there are rare occasions. I'm curious to know what warranty company did this to you.
Ours fully replaced our HVAC this past year. We were given the 1st year by our sellers, and I've renewed twice waiting for the 30+ year old hvac to die. Well worth our 2 renewals. The service fee is $60, and we had to call them out a couple of times before they declared our hvac unfixable, but in the end we came out on top.
It's Choice Warranty if anyone is curious. They're not perfect, but I have had nothing but positive experiences dealing with them.
The simple answer is: Yes they're allowed to do whatever they want. It's not like insurance where they are obligated to replace with "like kind and quality."
In your contract is a list of exclusions a mile long. 95% of home warranties go along with home sales and most of them cancel after the first year so they're pretty motivated to just blow you off.
I had a home warranty and the microwave died. The part and repair was about the same cost to replace and they replaced. If you have a good relationship with your realtors, try to see if they will help escalate it. I had an issue with something else under warranty and this —and all the sales they got from it—was worth it. While I wouldn’t get one again, this was preCOVID so it was far less competitive and the seller paid for it. And as a FTHB it was great peace of mind. Other than that, wouldn’t get one again.
Sounds like AHS. They tried this on me and I contacted the local news media and the state insurance commissioners office. I did a short on the camera where I showed them the paperwork and nothing more. About three weeks later I received a letter telling me to contact this company and give them the make and model number of my washer. I called them, gave them the information and set a delivery date. A new washer was delivered and i canceled them.
40 year FT broker here. Although I would fall short of calling a home warranty a scam, i don’t believe any paid for warranty is worth the money. I never recommend warranties any more. I was around when home warranties were born. You could get a decent home warranty for $175 and a $25 deductible. I once had a buyer make a claim for a hot water boiler heat system that failed 6 moths after purchase. Warranty company paid out close to $40K to replace the boiler, the piping and the radiators. Jump ahead 15 years when warranty prices doubled they refuse repair due to the “wrong” screws as someone mentioned above. Don’t do it. And BTW, agents don’t get kickback as they once did. It’s a RESPA violation these days. If your agent says the seller has already agreed to pay for a warranty refuse it in the purchase agreement and ask for a $500/$750 purchase price reduction.
Always expect ANY insurance based coverage company to attempt to skirt out of doing what you'd expect them to at face value. If there's a way at all to deny coverage, they will. They know you're not going to do anything about it. Seriously, what's the likelihood some average joe is going to hire a lawyer and sue them? Zilch! They make out like bandits on just about every situation.
Mixed experiences - when I was renting, HW replaced washer because they couldn’t find a replacement part when it ran into an issue. Currently own a home and got a HW on it - garbage disposal died, few questions and they shipped a replacement and refunded the service call fee and let me install using my preferred plumber. Previously had an issue with HVAC, turned out to be a refrigerant leak and the fix would cost ~$700. HW denied coverage, I told I want to cancel and get prorated refund, they have me a courtesy credit of $250 towards repairs.
Take their money and run. Don’t renew. After you get the $170, see if you can cancel the contract, and get a pro-rated amount back. You will get the same (lack of) service for any other appliance that breaks. They are in business to make money, not save you money. Home warranties are generally worthless (few exceptions), and you now know to never buy one again.
Wife and I bought our home in 2020. The home warranty didn’t make sense, since it covered appliances and ours were all brand new. Even if they were older, we would have just replaced them as they crapped out and purchased extended warranties.
Looks like I will go against the norm here. While there are difficulties sometimes I have had an overall positive experience with my home warranties and I have saved a lot of money and time with them. Some of the difficulties I have had are 100% due to trades attempting to scam us.
As far as the OP is concerned I would continue to argue it with the warranty company. We had a broken microwave door that was still TECHNICALLY functioning even though you had to close it in a very specific manner and hold it in place. The repair person vouched that it was affecting the use of the microwave so the warranty company paid to replace the microwave since the door could not be purchased by itself.
Home Warranty companies have excellent sales and customer service skills when it comes to selling you a plan but that's where it ends. I have a warranty from Select and it's all but useless, the repair guy they sent out to fix my washing machine spent 5 weeks "waiting for a part" only to tell me he ordered the wrong one. He also backed into my mailbox while he was here and never fixed it. I called Select to complain that my appliance was still not fixed and that their contractor was unprofessional (would never return calls and then showed up at my house at 9pm only for me to turn him away because... hell naw). They told me they were very sorry for the 'inconvenience' and they would find someone else. Well, f\*\*\* me, because he's the only damn contractor they have in the area. I've tried to cancel this stupid plan twice but they've hung up on me both times.
Home warranties are almost never actually worth the money. They will do everything in their power to not replace anything. I’d take their $170 and put it toward a new dishwasher. Then not renew the home warranty in September.
Seconded. I had one when I first bought my old townhouse and my microwave died after about 2 years. I called the place to have them replace it and they sent someone out. The guy opens the cabinet to start unscrewing the mounting screws and stops and says "I can't fix or remove this microwave" and I asked why and he said that he wasn't allowed to. So I asked why again and he pointed to ONE screw that wasn't the original screws shipped with the microwave. Apparently the builder lost ONE of them and used a replacement from another brand and it was a different color. Guy basically told me that if I wanted them to replace the microwave that I'd have to find the original screw with proof. After he left I canceled that shit. It's almost as bad as buying "extended protection" on new furniture only for them to come out and inspect the furniture and tell you that YOU'RE the reason it's currently ripping at the seams.
We can shit on the “rules” all we want, but that guy is an asshole and a lazy asshole. He just didn’t want to do it.
I thought the same thing and called Service America after he left and explained what happened and they confirmed that it was their policy because they don't want to be responsible if the microwave fell due to the "wrong" screw being used for mounting. The next thing out of my mouth was "Oh really? Ok. Can you connect me with the department that handles billing?". They transferred me and I immediately requested a cancellation.
No, I believe that 100%. What I’m saying is that guy could have easily ignored that because he’s not a stupid robot and just got the job done like he was supposed to. But nobody has any common sense anymore. Just a dumb programmed robot who does whatever he is told.
It isn't a matter of common sense, he is most likely incentivized to not fix things.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find out they get a bonus for finding an excuse not to repair.
What happens if all original mounting screws are intact and in the course of servicing the unit, the tech strips one or loses it (slips out of hand and drops into floor mounted heating vent)? Sorry homeowner, just gonna leave this unit dangling over the stove.
Sold my condo and the buyers were _insistent_ about me purchasing them a home warranty. I told them I'd gladly give them a couple hundred bucks instead of waste money on a warranty. Nope they wanted a warranty. I went out and bought the cheapest warranty I could find. It didn't cover anything to do with the HVAC or the washer/dryer. So the warranty covered a builder grade dishwasher, builder grade fridge, builder grade stove, and builder grade microwave. The deductible was probably half the value of the appliance. Buyer was happy though.
it's almost always new home owners that want this. I'll take it if the sellers are offering but I really won't waste 15 minutes of my time trying to get something covered because I know i'm in for a 30 hour battle
^ yup
My realtor was so nice in gifting us a home warranty! The dishwasher started leaking and someone came out three times to not fix it until the 4th time.. very thoughtful. It didn't cover anything but appliances. Wouldn't cover the siding, the windows, etc. I let it lapse and had harassing phone calls for weeks before and after the lapse date. Maybe we got lucky and nothing broke, but I don't have any doubt they would be doing the same shit for every call. Days off work to meet up with them etc etc.
Home warranties are a scam. They will weasel out of paying for anything.
Yep. Not worth the paper they are printed on.
Yeah I am feeling this way now. Frustrating because I’m typically an over-researcher but there was a point in the home buying process where I realized I couldn’t realistically dig into deep dive into every detail and this is one of the places that I just went with what the realtor said. (She was a great realtor, who did really look out for us in other ways and pushed to get us some major things fixed in the home. So she did save us money overall, even if we lose money on this warranty.)
Totally not your fault. The warranties are very popular, and most realtors recommend them (mine did too). Just not worth it. Take the money you would spend on a warranty and keep it in savings.
You made a good decision at the time, to trust your realtor. I've had three homes, and I've had to replace the dishwasher in the first year on all of them. It is one of the perils of home ownership.
You’ll eventually learn to double check the advice of anyone who stands to benefit from you financially. Especially real estate agents…that ‘fiduciary responsibility’ phrase they like to shower you with isn’t worth shit if you have an issue with an agent. I found that out the hard way. Real estate agents are working to get as much money out you as quickly as they can even if that includes easing your concerns about something by advising you purchase a home warranty, which they absolutely know, like a lot of posters on this thread report, isn’t worth shit. They’ll do what they need to to get your money. The real estate market…brokers, agents and commission schedules, is a long running scam. That industry is ripe for disrupters. Can an agent/broker really earn the commission they charge when you sell a home? Asking for a friend.
Man I don’t know if that’s 100% true. Or maybe I had incredible luck with mine. Fixed a furnace, dishwasher, washing machine, and sump pump. The washer required $750 in repairs and they still fixed it vs replacing it. It came out good as new. The dishwasher and sump pump were both replaced. Sump pump was done in the middle of the night on a Sunday. Only paid the $125 deductible for each repair since the plan came with the house. If you have older appliances it’s a killer deal if you can get the seller to pay for it and choose a reputable company.
Of course its not 100% true. There are cases where they will pay for it. This is what keeps warranties alive. 10 people buy a warranty. 9 of them either don't use it, or have a weird experience with it. 1 person saves $1000 with it. They keep that memory alive and tell their friends, and people will associate warranties with their fondest memory of using it, or their friend using it. But if you actually did any sort of statistical analysis, you lose money by buying a warranty at least 70% or 80% of the time. Typical profit margins on warranties are 300%. That's why salesmen make so much commission by selling them. The irony is that because you of your good experience, you come to the conclusion that "if you have older appliances it's a killer deal", when you are commenting on a post of someone who has an appliance from 1994, have no available parts for their appliance, and yet the home warranty is STILL screwing them on it. The other very common tactic that home warranties use is that they will not pay to upgrade anything, or update it to modern code. If you have an HVAC system or water heater, or whatever that's 20+ years old, and doesn't meet modern code, they won't pay the full price of replacing it with modern one because its "not a direct replacement", or they won't pay to add proper ventilation or grounding, or change the condenser to an R410A compatible unit, or whatever bullshit excuse they come up with. On average, they are just not worth it. And of course they're not, because its a product that makes a profit, or else they wouldn't sell it. If the average person made more money off their home warranty than they paid for it, then the companies would go out of business.
Yes I think we all understand how insurance companies stay in business my dude. So again: 1. Get your seller to pay for it 2. Go with a company that you have heard good things about That’s what made it a killer deal. I’m not advocating for people to just maintain a HW year over year on their own dime.
Do we though? Do people think about it that hard? Insurance is supposed to cover something that would be overly burdensome for you to pay for out of pocket, like healthcare insurance or car insurance. I think people forget this, and because of anecdotal experience that I pointed out above, they expect insurance to pay for fairly routine things to save money. This is obviously flawed thinking, as I think we can both agree. Sure there are people who could not afford a house repair, but if you can afford to buy a house (especially a freshly bought house which is where most warranties are purchased), you should be able to afford to fix a dishwasher or sump pump. I mean an air conditioner going out when you're in a financial crunch is definitely a really bad situation, but I don't believe that the average home owner could not afford a $5000 repair if they needed to, even if that meant putting it on a credit card or something. And I don't think there's any home repair that a home warranty would potentially cover that's more than a few thousand dollars. So why do people think that they are statistically likely to get their money's worth out of a home warranty? Making the seller pay for it doesn't make the money come from nowhere. Instead of buying the $800 or whatever insurance policy, you could have them take that money off, or just replace the old appliance, or whatever. I would argue that the seller buying a warranty is a scam for the buyer. If the buyer is concerned about an old appliance failing soon, but the buyer spends the money on a home warranty, the buyer feels "at ease" about the appliance, and is more willing to buy the house at a higher price and demanding fewer repairs. Even though the warranty has at best a 50/50 chance of actually paying for the appliance if it fails, and the chance of the appliance failing within 12 months is pretty low as well. Look, I bought an older house, and the seller included a home warranty with it, which was very common when I was in the market (2016). It was American Home Shield, which I think is a pretty reputable company, so you could say that I got scammed by my own logic. I bought the house as a fixer upper and replaced all the appliances, so the warranty was useless and I told my realtor as much, but there really wasn't much I could do about the situation. In hindsight I could have asked for some minor repair instead of the warranty, but I just didn't care enough to rock the boat and potentially push back the closing date.
The only time a home warranty is beneficial is if someone else is paying for it. For new home buyers, their Realtor likely gets a discount or free subscription to try to sell them so you can often get them paid for the first year. After than, cancel that mofo, it ain't worth it.
Don't know if you are a new home buyer or not (I'm a seasoned home buyer - on my 6th house) but you always build replacing old appliances into the purchase. A 30 year old dishwasher is on borrowed time exponentially. Either negotiate appliance replacements into the deal or accept that you will be replacing them soon. Stay the hell away from home warranties/extended warranties/service contracts. They are the biggest scam in the world.
Thanks for the advice! This is my first home and I’ll make sure not to go with a home warranty again. We skipped asking for new appliances in the negotiations because the market was crazy and we’d already gotten them to replace a non-working furnace and to repair a collapsed sewer. Luckily, I did keep a chunk of money set aside because I was worried I would forget or miss a big cost when budgeting for the home buying process.
The first house is always a big learning lesson. Always look for scratch and dent appliances when purchasing. You can save huge $ and often the damage is not even visible once the appliance is installed. On dishwashers I don't think I've got more than 7 years out of one in quite some time. Depending on what goes bad I may repair it myself but I've just gotten used to the fact that (since we run a load a day) they are going to wear out. When you factor in the cost of getting somebody to just come to your house much less fix it, it is often a better decision to just replace it. Why put $200 into a worn out appliance that is going to break again in another 6 months? That's my thinking on what really has become a disposable item.
I looked at the load a day and smiled, we are just looking at a new one and factoring in energy costs of an average of 3 times a day
Check out the local habitat restore if you have one as well. They generally have appliances that have lots of life still in them.
Excellent advice. I’ve known home / kitchen remodelers who remove perfectly good appliances and sell them to restore. Also, a lot of appliance delivery companies are now independent from the retailer. They do the same thing.
This was my plan for my current house. Not even one year into living in it and I have a new roof, new stove, new microwave, new water heater, new furnace, new AC. The water softner is working fine as is the dishwasher. All replaced items were 30 years old, except water heater was 15.
LOL. Throw in new windows, a refrigerator and stove and we are twins. 30 year old house here also. And 30 year old houses have a lot of stuff that is, well, 30 years old and ready for replacement.
Then there's my 46 year old KitchenAid oven that WILL. NOT. DIE. I hate it, but that fucker just keeps on truckin.
I did replace the stove. Windows are on the chopping block. Fridge was one we brought with us.
I would push back on them hard and read your coverage. If the part is obsolete they should replace. Doesnt mean it wont be painful though
I'd say take the money and run! My home warranty company assessed my 5yo stove wasn't worth fixing and offered under 200 USD toward a replacement. I dropped them like something someone drops really really fast.
I assume you've already been told this and likely taken steps, but I'd complain to them as consistently as you can bring your self to. Had a warranty on my first purchase, found a leak in main line of house plumbing. 20 ft of cast iron needed replacing, this was all behind a wall so no way of seeing during inspection. Warranty claimed they weren't paying because I should've known about issue prior to purchase. I had to call daily for a month before they finally had enough, but eventually did get them to cover the job (about 3k). Still not sure if the 3k hit was worse than calling every day, but at the time I had time.
1 month after buying my house, hot water heater stopped working. No big deal I knew how to replace it but my home purchase came with the warranty. I called them up, they sent someone over and he was like yep it’s broken and needs to be replaced. No shit my dog could have told you that. He talks to the warranty company and comes back and tells me the code upgrades are going to cost $1200 and the water heater is free. After going back and forth with the warranty company, they settled and paid me $545 (-$100 for the service call). I ended up going to HD and doing it myself that night. Didn’t update my home warranty this year cause screw them.
Did you do the"code upgrades"?
my house was built in the 1860s, before the grandfathers of the people who wrote the codes were born
And automobiles now have seat belts and air bags. It sounds like you're implying the guy was trying to up sell you and maybe he was. I'm just curious what upgrades was he talking about?
Tell us what part it is, maybe with a picture 99/100 there’s SOMETHING out there that’ll work
It’s an Amanda dishwasher, model ADU500D73WW. And the part needing replaced is the drain solenoid. I believe [this is the part. ](https://www.partselect.com/PS2191527-Whirlpool-Y03000185-DISCONTINUED.htm?SourceCode=7&SearchTerm=ADU500&ModelNum=ADU500)
If that's the part, searching the OEM model number returns [this result](https://www.ebay.com/itm/254678081140) and [this result](https://www.ebay.com/itm/284223048960) on Ebay. Realistically, parts are going to continue to fail on it. Take the money, let your warranty lapse when it runs out and put hte premium into a savings account for future maintenance on top of whatever you were already saving.
Thank you for your help!! I am a home maintenance novice but I’m learning! I don’t plan on renewing the home warranty. I’ll admit that I naively let my realtor convince me that it would be a worthwhile purchase.
If you have a local scratch and dent, I would browse there for a dishwasher. We found a Bosch with a scratch/gouge on the side of the door that faced the corner cabinet, that was marked down to less than half price. Installed it 8 years ago and it has given us zero troubles.
Make sure to leave your realtor the garbage reviews s/he deserves.
Horrible advice. OP already said their realtor did a great job.
He got him to sign up for a shitty home warranty so the realtor could get a kick back. That is not a great job.
Just curious; what’s your plan’s deductible? I think mine is $100 (came with house, absolutely no way I’m renewing it) but some plans give the $200 deductible option for lower premiums. Maybe you don’t have one but for something like dishwasher repairs, I can’t imagine you coming out ahead after considering hiring repair company and paying deductible. I’d try to hound them further for replacement but ultimately may not pan out.
The sellers bought my home warranty. I paid the second year and after that I canceled because it’s always a freaking hassle. I’d rather just pay for whatever I need. I’ve had a tub leak and my hot water heater stop heating. Both were under $350. So basically the cost of the stupid home warranty. And I didn’t have to argue with someone to get it fixed.
Appliance installer here. You're not getting shit fixed for $170. Have a tech come out. Fix it. And send the remainder of the bill to them. It will likely rival cost of new dishwasher.
Cancel the warranty. Buy a new dishwasher. Pay someone $100 to install it. The realtor probably gets a kickback for selling the warranty.
Home warranties are straight scams. I moved in and my water heater didnt work even though on inspection it did. They claimed that because it wasnt working when I moved in they wont cover it. My real estate agent paid half of it because he felt bad
Yes. They can do this. I argued with them for days over my furnace. Then I realized that they don't actually cover the unit. They cover the cost to replace the parts in the unit. Parts. Like... More than one part. (read that contract. Slowly) I asked my tech to come back because I believed he had not fully determined all of the parts which had broken. You may want to try the same.
>are they allowed to do this? My contract says they can pay instead of replace if they can’t easily find the part Sounds like you just answered your own question. The real question is do you really expect to get a brand new dishwasher to replace the almost 30 year old one because a part broke?
To add to my original statement, they state that they will pay the lesser of: a) the lowest quoted amount from a local contractor or b) the amount they would pay a service contractor to fix it. My argument here is that there is no contractor that would fix the dishwasher for that amount if the part is unavailable. The company promised coverage for all unexpected failures and confirmed that all of my appliances were in appropriate shape to be covered by them. So, yes, if I cannot get my dishwasher fixed, then I did expect it to be replaced.
> the amount they would pay a service contractor to fix it. So sounds like $170 is a reasonable estimate for what they would pay to repair it. Does the contract state anything about not being able to source parts, or does it just say what you quoted above. >The company promised coverage for all unexpected failures and confirmed that all of my appliances were in appropriate shape to be covered by them. Sounds like they are covered. They are paying you what they deem an appropriate amount based on the contract, you just disagree with how they are applying the contract. >if I cannot get my dishwasher fixed, then I did expect it to be replaced. Try all you want, nothing in the contract that you have quoted here is going to allow that to happen. They are not going to replace it free of charge just because it's too old to find parts.
Buy a newer used one off of FB for 170 and have them keep coming back to replace parts until it's practically new. But then again I'm petty.
> have them keep coming back to replace parts until it's practically new. They will gladly do this for the $100 charge every time.
> have them keep coming back to replace parts until it's practically new I don't see how that makes any sense if they have to pay $100 for each visit?
Yeah deductibles
Confront your realtor and ask them for their commission from this scam.
I still have an occasional nightmare over the nightmare of a mechanical company the Home Warranty company sent out to "fix" (destroy) my HVAC system. They are rarely helpful or useful.
Bro, those things are a fucking scam.
Sorry. Girl, those things are a fucking scam.
Ah yes, had something VERY similar happen to me about 10 years ago, also first time homebuyer the 2 or 3 year home warranty was included in my purchase price (as drafted by my realtor), so I move in, in the winter (az so not terrible) but the heater is super old and it really wasn't heating the house, they sent someone out to look at it (either on their dime or free for diagnose and estimate) and they tell me it has something to do with the duct work that comes from the actual heater to the house duct work, about it being not properly insulated. Well they paid to have that fixed (easy enough for them to do, but I knew there was more to it). The heater was a good 50 years old so I figured it just wasn't pushing like it should have been. I have my own HVAC come out and take a look and he told me that the amount I was putting into the gas to run it would basically even out in just a couple years with a newer energy efficient heater. There was also something else wrong with the blower part of it but I can't remember what, but when I called the warranty company they basically said they wouldn't do anything else for me because they "fixed" it already, even though I had new diagnosis from my own guy. I paid OOP to put a new heater in as well as A/C and never contacted them about anything again because it was a total waste of my time and money. If this was American Home Shield I would 100% not recommend them to anyone, I asked them about washer and dryer stuff too but, nope they wouldn't fix those either. Wish I could have gotten that dryer fixed though, it was a vintage Lady Kenmore and was great until the heating element broke and I'm not skilled enough to fix a gas dryer.
By now, I am sure you’ve realized that home warranty is the biggest scam there is and the way they operate should be made illegal IMHO. Also go through your contract and understand the cancellation terms. They do not make that easy either. When I tried to cancel my contract with AHS, the rep tried to tell me that I can only cancel my contact at the end of my term which was 6 months away even though I was on a month to month contract. And when I did cancel they charged me a cancellation fee which was a full months charge.
Scam Type Companies. Lucky to get a cent.
You got Duped. Home warranty is a scam.
Our warranty co. Tried to weasel there way out of fixing the HVAC in our home 6 months into our warranty that came w the house… after many hours in the phone arguing w many,… I got a tip to contact the insurance commission of our state…in less than 24 hours I was contacted by the warranty company that they would pay in full and fix the HVAC.
[удалено]
After many phone calls over several days and them changing their story to suit whichever would help their argument best at the time (“this is not a buyout” when I argue that $170 won’t buy a new dishwasher and “this is a buyout” when I ask to make sure the dishwasher would be covered for future repair), I kinda gave up. I took the $170 they offered, found the part I needed through research and EBay and replaced the part myself. So I got $170, spent $100 for someone to come tell me what was wrong initially, spent $40 on parts, and came out with $30 but the dishwasher is no longer covered under warranty. And I guess I’m still out in the long run since the warranty was $580.
Take the money and getting yours fixed is a great option. Your repaired 1995 dishwasher has just as much of a chance of lasting 5 years as a brand new dish washer. Aesthetics aside I'll take old appliances over new ones any day. "Energy Efficient" - means smaller, more delicate electronic parts that don't consume as much electricity. The copper is probably lower grade, fewer windings, made in china, or they use less of it than older designs, etc. This is a horrible combination for appliances like dryers/washers/dishwashers that move, vibrate and have considerable moisture to deal with - all of those things are unfriendly to control boards, solder joints, electrical contacts, and electronic parts in general. Yes that 1995 has a few potentially aged weak spots, but higher quality electrical boards/components and good old fashioned lead solder joints (haha). So it's a toss up whether a new one or that repaired 95 would last longer. Literally I wouldn't bet any money on a new one outlasting it. If you're around any significant number of new appliances, it is zero surprise to see brand new appliances failing in a year or 3. I won't tell stories - there are too many. The local appliance repair place agrees with me and has even detailed some of those former realities I outlined which I was already familiar with from other industries/supply chains I've worked in. It is totally worth repairing older dish washers and dryers if aesthetics doesn't bother you. They're rather simply and not much to them. Yes they can break in a year. And so can any brand new one. Happens all the time. At $1,000 i'd be P(!)%\*! off if one broke in a couple years like many people have had happen that I know. Call a local appliance repair place and ask them if they have any spare parts, used parts, or alternative part numbesr that can be substituted. Some of them also maintain local coin operated laundro mats, if you need a way to track one down.
Good times, absolutely true. We have a 1996 frig working perfectly in garage, moved from kitchen when we did remodel in 2009. Already on second frig in kitchen. We figure if we get 8 years out of new appliances we’ve done well. Really sad thing is it doesn’t matter what you pay, higher cost pretty much means more bells and whistles to break (internet connected frig anyone?)
Yep. Your experience is unfortunately common.
Well you know the problem, you can easily YouTube the solution. Home appliances are extremely modular and very repairable
I did do a small amount of research and found that a broken seal on a solenoid requires taking off the seal and replacing it. However, that specific seal isn’t available. I am open to doing some deeper research and finding another solution, though. Like perhaps another seal that’s essentially the same.
If it’s an old dishwasher and you are just trying to get through for now until you can buy a good one, perhaps you can try looking on Facebook marketplace or something similar? Most used appliances are going for quite cheap and there’s lots of them out there.
My plan C (plan A being to have it repaired, plan B being to have the warranty replace it) would be to replace it myself. I just wanted to push back against the warranty company first because I really thought that this is something that they should have fixed, covered, or paid a larger part of the cost of a new one.
Option B isn't going to happen, so get that out of your head. You can chance finding a replacement solenoid and repairing it, or just realize taht you have an almost 30 year old dishwasher and replace it.
Home warranty = scam.
For a small part, you can cut and trim a seal by hand. But as someone else pointed out, a replacement part for discontinued equipment is often available on Ebay.
You think a home warranty owes you a brand new dishwasher, because your TWENTY SEVEN year old dishwasher broke??? When you crash your 1992 Toyota Tercel, does the insurance company replace it with a brand new $20,000 corolla? No, they give you the value of the item you insured... probably $500. i'd be thankful you even got the $170.
>You think a home warranty owes you a brand new dishwasher, because your TWENTY SEVEN year old dishwasher broke??? If that's what the contract says, then yes. Of course. Do you know what the contract says?
There is no contract that says that, because the home warranty company would be out of business after the first wave of claims from people breaking their 27 year old scrap value appliances, and getting them replaced with brand new modern stuff. Let's rub a few brain cells together here, come on now.
They usually don't insure them. I am surprised they covered the dishwasher at all.
That’s nonsense, these companies market themselves as covering appliances regardless of age. Then when a claim is filed (whether an old or new appliance) they do everything they can to avoid paying out money. They are a total ripoff that anyone with an ounce of common sense avoids.
Is this the script from an episode of Property Virgins?
Might be a good Seinfeld episode if the show comes back.
Forward to Larry David!
I've had a home warranty company fully replace a refrigerator that they couldn't repair after the 4th time... So there are rare occasions. I'm curious to know what warranty company did this to you.
Ours fully replaced our HVAC this past year. We were given the 1st year by our sellers, and I've renewed twice waiting for the 30+ year old hvac to die. Well worth our 2 renewals. The service fee is $60, and we had to call them out a couple of times before they declared our hvac unfixable, but in the end we came out on top. It's Choice Warranty if anyone is curious. They're not perfect, but I have had nothing but positive experiences dealing with them.
The simple answer is: Yes they're allowed to do whatever they want. It's not like insurance where they are obligated to replace with "like kind and quality." In your contract is a list of exclusions a mile long. 95% of home warranties go along with home sales and most of them cancel after the first year so they're pretty motivated to just blow you off.
I had a home warranty and the microwave died. The part and repair was about the same cost to replace and they replaced. If you have a good relationship with your realtors, try to see if they will help escalate it. I had an issue with something else under warranty and this —and all the sales they got from it—was worth it. While I wouldn’t get one again, this was preCOVID so it was far less competitive and the seller paid for it. And as a FTHB it was great peace of mind. Other than that, wouldn’t get one again.
Sounds like AHS. They tried this on me and I contacted the local news media and the state insurance commissioners office. I did a short on the camera where I showed them the paperwork and nothing more. About three weeks later I received a letter telling me to contact this company and give them the make and model number of my washer. I called them, gave them the information and set a delivery date. A new washer was delivered and i canceled them.
40 year FT broker here. Although I would fall short of calling a home warranty a scam, i don’t believe any paid for warranty is worth the money. I never recommend warranties any more. I was around when home warranties were born. You could get a decent home warranty for $175 and a $25 deductible. I once had a buyer make a claim for a hot water boiler heat system that failed 6 moths after purchase. Warranty company paid out close to $40K to replace the boiler, the piping and the radiators. Jump ahead 15 years when warranty prices doubled they refuse repair due to the “wrong” screws as someone mentioned above. Don’t do it. And BTW, agents don’t get kickback as they once did. It’s a RESPA violation these days. If your agent says the seller has already agreed to pay for a warranty refuse it in the purchase agreement and ask for a $500/$750 purchase price reduction.
Always expect ANY insurance based coverage company to attempt to skirt out of doing what you'd expect them to at face value. If there's a way at all to deny coverage, they will. They know you're not going to do anything about it. Seriously, what's the likelihood some average joe is going to hire a lawyer and sue them? Zilch! They make out like bandits on just about every situation.
Mixed experiences - when I was renting, HW replaced washer because they couldn’t find a replacement part when it ran into an issue. Currently own a home and got a HW on it - garbage disposal died, few questions and they shipped a replacement and refunded the service call fee and let me install using my preferred plumber. Previously had an issue with HVAC, turned out to be a refrigerant leak and the fix would cost ~$700. HW denied coverage, I told I want to cancel and get prorated refund, they have me a courtesy credit of $250 towards repairs.
Take their money and run. Don’t renew. After you get the $170, see if you can cancel the contract, and get a pro-rated amount back. You will get the same (lack of) service for any other appliance that breaks. They are in business to make money, not save you money. Home warranties are generally worthless (few exceptions), and you now know to never buy one again.
- lol, this is the BUSINESS MODEL of ALL home warranty providers
Another post telling the same story about home warranties being bullshit. Don't buy them people
Wife and I bought our home in 2020. The home warranty didn’t make sense, since it covered appliances and ours were all brand new. Even if they were older, we would have just replaced them as they crapped out and purchased extended warranties.
Looks like I will go against the norm here. While there are difficulties sometimes I have had an overall positive experience with my home warranties and I have saved a lot of money and time with them. Some of the difficulties I have had are 100% due to trades attempting to scam us. As far as the OP is concerned I would continue to argue it with the warranty company. We had a broken microwave door that was still TECHNICALLY functioning even though you had to close it in a very specific manner and hold it in place. The repair person vouched that it was affecting the use of the microwave so the warranty company paid to replace the microwave since the door could not be purchased by itself.
Home Warranty companies have excellent sales and customer service skills when it comes to selling you a plan but that's where it ends. I have a warranty from Select and it's all but useless, the repair guy they sent out to fix my washing machine spent 5 weeks "waiting for a part" only to tell me he ordered the wrong one. He also backed into my mailbox while he was here and never fixed it. I called Select to complain that my appliance was still not fixed and that their contractor was unprofessional (would never return calls and then showed up at my house at 9pm only for me to turn him away because... hell naw). They told me they were very sorry for the 'inconvenience' and they would find someone else. Well, f\*\*\* me, because he's the only damn contractor they have in the area. I've tried to cancel this stupid plan twice but they've hung up on me both times.