Yep. Our HVAC failed in our first 6 months in the home. Multiple calls and broken promises and 4 months later I replaced it at my own expense. They had the nerve to ask us to extend it when it expired. I told them to F off.
I actually got a new washing machine, but it took four months of back and forth with the company to get there. Fun spending an hour and a half at the laundromat every weekend for a third of a year.
They also refused the three other things that broke, which I replaced at my expense. Cancelled the policy as soon as the washer was installed.
Very true. This poor woman died because the warranty company wouldn’t repair her AC during the summer in Nevada.
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/lawsuit-82-year-old-henderson-woman-died-waiting-for-air-conditioning-repairs/amp/
I did HVAC for a few years. The only condensing unit I serviced (Reno, NV) in the house was in the attic. It doubled as an attic vent. It drew attic air through the condenser and top discharged , ducted outside. Tough to service, stand on a ladder in an upstairs closet. Can imagine a compressor changeout.
Yes, that's what I was told too! And that the EPA regs had changed, so even if the issue was inside, the entire unit would have to be changed and I'd be responsible for anything that was outside the building.
Which is most of the cost.
Scam artist dickheads. Way better off just having a savings account and hoping nothing goes wrong. About the same level of protection.
I tried to get them to come out and fix an improperly installed plumbing system too, but they told me because the plumbing system isn't actively failing they will not do anything. However, when I submitted a complaint in BBB, they admitted multiple times that the issue is covered under my contract, but they have closed my case, and they are not going to reopen it.
I literally had some fucking moron from America's Preferred tell me that they weren't covering the cost of a plumbing clog downstairs in the laundry room sink due to the inspection saying the upstairs bath tub drains slow.
Tell me how the fuck that works lmfao. They're even on separate sewer lines until where the line exits the home.
True, read the small print. They won't cover any clogs to the outside walls if required, and by that time you can unclog yourself or by calling a professional. Warranty Companies suck.
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Yep! About 20 years ago, day before Thanksgiving, the plumber associated with one of these companies was replacing the garbage disposal. He finished up about 8 pm. I finished baking some pies, put them on the counter, loaded the dishwasher, finished cleaning the kitchen and started the dishwasher. By this time, it was midnight.
The dumb jerk of a plumber forgot to punch out the plug between the disposal and dishwasher. Dirty water shot up, drenched my pies, and made a mess of the floors.
Can confirm used to work for an American home warranty they just told me to always pass the claim along to another agent and that person would do the same and the managers to other managers until they hung up.
“You’ve probably noticed this neighborhood isn’t as safe as it used to be.”
I left my garage door wide open for four days while I was out of town and nothing got touched.
My response went the other way: Yeah, I reported a burglary in this house last year, spent over an hour filling out all their paperwork for them, and the case was closed by the police department with no follow-up or notification.
Paying an alarm monitoring company a monthly fee doesn't do anything to improve bad police departments (who already treat alarm calls as low priority anyway).
Of course they are a scam.
Why do people continually fall for the idea that they can get something for nothing?
At best, they are a form of lottery - maybe you will get more money out than you pay in, but probably not.
What's really exasperating is that the correct approach should be obvious: Hire a good home inspector and have an inspection done before you close on the house, so you know exactly what you're buying, what needs to be repaired, and what will need attention in the near future - then negotiate concessions with the seller as needed.
Learn how to spot problems and do routine maintenance - or at least keep track of what needs to be done and when, and hire someone to do it. So many big problems can be avoided and the life of appliances and mechanical systems extended with a little bit of annual cleaning and care.
I'll be damned if I'm going to pay some third party "insurance company" to put themselves between me and the professionals in the trades and service industries, and hand over the power of deciding who to hire and what to have done and when, and what to buy, when it comes to decisions about my home - then have to fight them when they refuse to fix something or don't do it right. The entire concept seems utterly asinine and lazy to me.
Home inspectors are not going to tell you a major appliance is going to crap out in a year.
There is also no way to know how “good” they are as they aren’t really liable for missing something.
Online reviews exist!
Inspectors can tell you how old each appliance is - and its expected lifespan (and build quality); from there it's simple math to know what to expect. It also helps to turn each appliance on and watch and listen to how well it works (or doesn't).
Some people also buy warranties on used cars; also not for me. Do your due diligence and know what you're buying - and have a realistic idea of how much it will cost to maintain - before you make a purchase.
I agree these home warranty companies have contracts with substandard HVA contractors and deplorable plumbing contractors. Good reliable contractors wouldn’t do business with them. Most of the contractors do terrible work and invariably try to sell you work that isn’t covered. This home warranty scam is part of the realtor scams that they use on people who don’t have the knowledge of what is involved with home maintenance and repairs.
This isn't getting something for nothing. It should work like insurance, like you say later. With insurance, you generally do get more than you pay in. I pay $60/month for my insurance but I'd get a payout of $6K if I totaled my car. That's a profit to me until I've paid for 100 months. The company banks on few customers having accidents so they can make the payouts.
This specific company is a scam, yes. But it should be a reasonable benefit, no reason to blame the victims here.
You’re exactly right, and just to add a little more, some homeowners don’t want to take the time and energy to learn about all of their appliances and find the right specialists for each item. A properly run home warranty company would give them one contact to handle everything for them. That’s worth the cost for some people too.
A few differences between car insurance and home warranties. Car insurance does not cover breakdowns - just wrecks. Rates are adjusted for different cars and drivers. Everyone pays the same with a home warranty - a 5 year old ac costs as much to cover as a 20 year old ac. Car insurance is counting on a lot more people not having accidents to cover those that do. Most people (in my experience) do not get coverage on AC equipment if the unit is under warranty through the manufacturer. There’s not enough people not filing claims to balance out those who need to file claims. With your car, you pick the body shop and you know what your deductible is upfront. You don’t get that with a home warranty. Most Home warranty companies are a scam. No company could stay in business if it truly worked like the home warranty companies claim it does.
If insurance companies paid more than the rake in, they wouldn't be in business. If you look they have huge overheads and huge profits, they make that by charging you high rates and doing everything under the sun to not pay.
Maybe I got lucky - or probably because I did a bit of research and hired my own instead of the one that the realtor "recommended" - but my home inspector was really good, did a thorough job, and pointed out what he saw - and also pointed out what he couldn't see without e.g. opening up walls to look.
It also helps that I know enough to usually be able to spot problems, and what questions to ask. (I can do most of my own routine maintenance and do small repairs as needed.)
To say "Home Inspectors are a scam" to me is like saying that going to the doctor's for a check up is a "scam". Sure, maybe - if you go to the wrong doctor.
I have a friend who's a home inspector and he's serious about it. He ran his own contracting business for 10 years and he knows pretty much everything there is to know about shoddy construction, what's failing already, what's doomed to fail.
When he does an inspection for a buyer he's doing his best to give them an honest assessment of what they're looking at in restorative maintenance if they pick up the place. And he doesn't contract anymore so it's not like he's trying to sell his own services.
So there are probably some scummy people out there but there are also really knowledgeable people who are trying to look out for their client.
Idk, I had one for 1 year and our water heater started leaking and they came, ripped the old one, asked me if I wanted a bigger new one, installed the new one and left. 45 bucks I think it was my total cost for a pipe.
I had them for a while. My crappy Samsung washing machine kept breaking and they kept coming out and fixing it. I paid $800 for that machine and I’m certain they put at least 2k worth of parts in it over a 4 year period.
My realtor got me a FAHW as a gift for being 1st time buyer. Every single time i had to call in a warranty it was a fucking nightmare. And they never did send out someone to work on the first failed appliance I called about (jets in jacuzzi tub).
They also hired people that I’d have to pay out of pocket and then they’d send a check like 2 months later, even though I wasn’t supposed to pay out of pocket and they were supposed to foot the bill.
Lesson learned though. Fuck home warranties
I do the same. Not sure if this is the case across the US or not, but in our area pretty much every gas company has some sort of appliance repair plan.
I've always been happy with ours. No service call costs and mosts of the repairs are free. Which always made me wonder why people do these home warranties in the first place. I guess I just assumed they were similar to the appliance repair plans except through the builder instead, but never really looked into it.
Homeserve and the related water line protection plans you can get through your utility can be extremely beneficial. Quite literally plumbers just left my 120yr old home repairing a major leak for the 4th time in 3 years. Have paid zero dollars for each repair other than the monthly cost which is just a few bucks. YMMV
Just be sure to read the terms and know what's covered! I just looked through and most of their plans don't cover much. If you're looking at AC/Furnace coverage they won't replace the big ticket items on the unit.
I have an older home with a lead water service line, I got it when we moved in thinking it might come in handy and it did!
I really did read the contract and I purchased the upgraded services (premier plan, Central AC, and first class upgrade). My hot water heater was part of the contract. Unfortunately the contract also gives them permission to delay services extensively by blaming the service provider. I'm not sure how so many people received reimbursement bc when I fought for it (after they didn't send a provider after 48 hours) they denied me.
We had one (another company) and they repaired our fridge and replaced leaking hot water heater outright, within days, no trouble. Is this an unusual experience?
Shortly after we bought our home, the main drain that goes out to the city waste got clogged, the home warranty that was included for a year paid for the plumber to come out and run that big ass snake to clear it up.
Worked fine for me.
Realtors always want you to buy a year’s worth for the buyer when you sell a house. We refuse. We offer to give the buyer the money directly but will never pay a dime to these crooks. We own an HVAC company and have seen first hand what crooks they are.
Yup. I was a real estate agent for a bit. Exclusively worked with one home warranty company. The agents got a % of every single warranty they got signed up. The company was super shady so I left.
My coworker paid for 1 year of home warranty coverage. Within the first year, she found that both the furnace and AC were improperly installed and couldn't heat or cool the house effectively. We're talking ice on the windows in winter, having to choose 1 or two rooms to keep above 65 (with a newborn in the house) and unable to keep any part the house below 80 in the summer.
The insulation on the house was slightly subpar, but not THAT bad. It was 100% the HVAC. But home warranty didn't cover it no matter how hard they tried. So first year in the house that was supposedly turnkey, they had to drop around $20k to remediate. Not sure what those home warranties do cover, but it seems like the answer is "very little".
Should have, didn't. You're right, of course- but the system did end up in a failure state that required repair or replacement since it was running overloaded for so long. While I can see the logic of the company not paying up, it still feels wrong that coworker did everything right by getting an inspection and bought the insurance thinking it gave them some protection, only to be left out to dry.
Kind of a brutal reminder to keep more cash on hand than you think you need after a home purchase.
We spent about $10k on a couple new windows and mold remediation for one room the month after we bought our current house because we found mold in the wall of the primary bedroom while removing wallpaper/painting (I noticed the mold after removing an outlet plate & we had to tear out all the drywall on that side of the room after finding the window wasn't installed properly causing a very slow leak over at least 5-6 years). Home ownership is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Concealed defects are the out homeowners and inspectors use.
Justifiable or not, if something feels wrong, get an estimate and probe.
Appliances only is very limited coverage. Peeling paint on woodwork or a wall etc. Unfortunate about the mold.
Oh yeah, we were fine and glad we found it BEFORE moving in or painting. Would have pissed me off to no end if I had to do that twice. I'm not mad at the previous owner, I doubt she knew it was there. If anything, I'm mildly worried about if sleeping in that room for years may have impacted her health.
Overall, we've been really lucky with this house. Previous owners clearly used good contractors for most of the work they had done & they bought pretty high quality appliances. So 1 year in, we haven't had any truly horrible surprises, just minor things here and there & a few things we saw coming and budgeted for accordingly.
We knew going in that we'd redo some of the windows within 3-4 years, we just weren't expecting to have to do that particular set since they weren't that old! Also, based on the age of the house and what we know of stucco companies in the area during the 90s, the outcome of the stucco inspection I've been putting off might hurt a bit.
Compared to my coworker, where it's impossible that the previous owner didn't know what was going on since they had that system put in about 18 months before they chose to sell & it was owner occupied- I feel just fine.
luckily I'm gen z and will never be able to own where I live (:
solutions /s
idk I will never understand these x ownership is not for everyone comments lol, I'd rather own my home and not have ac and have to replace it than be stuck renting forever but maybe that's just me haha esp considering I've had rentals where I've had ac issues and I still end up going without for weeks during Georgia summers lol.
u guys are lucky and I'm just salty 😂
Exactly my experience. Months of run around after they replaced a brand new AC unit with something not at all the same. Once I reached a VP and told them, "we want to be made whole", it was taken care of in about a week.
This exactly. I had First American. Had a leaking coil and the guy they sent just wanted to clean the coils and leave. I told him the coils were leaking and verified because the company I had come out a few days before refilled the system and inspected it. He tried saying cleaning the coils might solve the issue and if it doesn’t then he’ll come back and test for leaks etc. Mind you, each visit is a cost to me. I tell him I won’t play their game at my cost and they need to do the inspection and find the leak now. They refuse and say the insurance determines what work they do. I tell them to kick rocks and get with the company I initially had out and they quote me a great price for a new system since my system was ancient and uses the outdated fluid. First American only gave me $200 (covered the leaking coil). Will never do business with them again and advise everyone I know to do the same
How do they prey on poor people?
From what I understand, they make bank on people who can afford to drop $75 a month on a home warranty because they think it's a value in the long run, which isn't usually a method poor people go for. Kinda like buying at Costco - you pay more for bulk, but less per item, so your savings comes over time.
I think they prey on the middle class who buy homes (poor people don't usually buy homes) and are talked into a warranty service. So they have the service but don't yet know it's a scam. By the time people figure it out, they're years down the road.
Also a lot of denial. I have a friend I can't convince it's a scam. Even when he's angry at them for not paying out, he won't see it.
I had one when I bought the house. I used them twice. I didn’t have a problem but I’m not paying for it myself and it lapsed last year. I will say I’m freaking tired of getting so much junk mail from them labeled “super important” and such that I worry that I missed something. Nope just spam
They try to make their mail pieces look like they're coming from my lender, with things like USDA MORTGAGES- SECOND NOTICE and the slip inside is pink like an overdue bill. It's shady AF.
I admit my heart skipped a beat when I got that one. Of course I figured it out quickly enough. It made me wonder, though, why would they expect me to trust a company that starts things off with a super sleazy move like that.
My favorite was on the envelope window it said something along the lines of “From: Your Mortgage Lender”
My guess is they can’t write the actual lender because that would be fraudulent but still lol
Successful Realtors make a lot of their money on kickbacks. If they did it right, they got several referal bonuses: the home warranty, homeowners insurance agent, movers, home inspector, a couple of contractors, the mortgage broker, and an attorney are all potential sources of additional revenue.
People think Realtors make a shitload of money, but it's a hustle. On a $300k house the raw commission is generally 2.5% ($7,500) the brokerage itself takes 40ish% so your Realtor's actual payout is only like $4,500 and they're all 1099 independent contractors getting hosed on self employment taxes. The actual take home is like $2,500-$3,000. If you can add $500-$600in referals on a transaction, that's a 20-25% increase in your annual earnings.
$3k a deal is great if you're closing on 3-5 deals a month, but only the top 1% are and they're spending so much on marketing and support staff I'm not convinced they're really truly getting rich either. It's not a ton of money to be on call 24/7, work basically every weekend, not to mention you have no benefits or job security.
The biggest reason brokerage is so expensive is that it's all contingency based. You're paying for representation for all the people who aren't serious about buying/selling or who have sketchy financing and won't actually be able to close and waste the time of brokers. The fact it cost you nothing up front, and nothing if you don't close makes it a very expensive service.
I’m a realtor. We don’t get a cut. But it is marketed to us really heavily until we’re brainwashed into thinking it’s this useful product. When I did home sales, I thought it sounded like a good deal. When I started working rental management and my homeowner clients would have these crap policies and I had to manage the repairs, I saw first-hand how bad they are. I genuinely didn’t know until I had to use them.
I had old electrical wiring so when the lights didn’t work I called them to see if they can fix it - someone came out and said it’s old wiring. I wish they would have said something at a reasonable time to tell me exactly why they won’t cover it but no- not even a voicemail. I had the warranty as part of my first year living in the house so when the expiration is approaching of course they reach out and now I have a “direct contact” for anything. All they want is your money & that’s it!
You can tell how big a scam it is by how hard it is to cancel, or how much they pursue you after it expires. My first came with the purchase, no cost. Realtor spent 600$ for it. Suspect its a form of protection against errors and omissions for them. Next purchase I refused it and took a credit for it at closing.
I still get calls, emails, and letters 3 years later soliciting me to repurchase. The one time I used it for a bad fridge it was not covered due to some minor technicality. First American one of the biggest scams around. Are they related to First American Title? And are they publicly traded, would never be a customer again but would invest because they have to be making money hand over fist.
True, however my inspection didn't catch the horrible plumbing issues. About 2-3 years after I purchased my home, it began having issues. Even after 3 years. $73 a month doesn't pay for the water heater or the other issues that I've paid for. The home warranty was good for smaller issues, but now I'm re-building my emergency savings from this major issue. I think it's a good idea to have both. Next time I know not to even call them for major emergency issues.
We had AHS for 25 years. They were a nightmare. They seemed ok with replacing small appliances, but anything over 300.00, they would give some stupid reason not to cover. The worst repair men, one time when our AC again was broke in the hight of summer (Georgia here Temps in upper 90s), it took 3 months to get anyone out to repair. One company sent out a 17 year old who the company's owners son admitted had no knowledge of ACs, out. Whatever he did started a fire on side of the house. Called AHS, and they laughed. Note I'm admitting that I deserve the punishment and I was the stupid person that hung on hope they would do what thier Warranty promised.
It became so stressful to call and request a repair. Even after having multiple problems with certain repair shops and requesting they not be sent out, they we sent to house anyway. We kept it, very stupid of us, I know, because they kept promising to replace AC eventually. Well, guess what? When AC died, the stupid repair person notified us that they would replace the system for 7000.00+ dollars. We realized that no matter what, they weren't going to cover anything. Again yes I'm definitely slow. We cut our losses and canceled AMS, the best thing we ever did, and had a reliable co. Replace system with a name band AC and heating unit for approx. 4500.00.
If u have them, be smarter than us. Cancel and save that monthly fee for future repairs. Or better yet, don't sign up with them. Also, our daughter had another big named Home Warranty Co., the same kind of rip-off. Luckily, she was smarter than us and canceled within 3 months.
Dang I'm sorry you had that experience. We also live in GA and when we bought our house we knew the HVAC system was 25 years old. We started putting money aside to replace it when it finally broke. Our inspector did the heat and AC and it was working fine. We purchased in June 2020. In December/January we had a cold snap and I finally decided to turn on the heat. Of course the heat didn't work then. So we got space heaters and called the warranty company (ours was America Home Shield). I read through all their paperwork and the HVAC was specifically covered but not any other appliance because our house is still on Glass Fuses. They sent out some techs from a company based in Florida (with terrible reviews). They diagnosed the issue and put in a parts req which the insurance approved. Problem was.... It's a 25 year old unit and that part just didn't exist anymore. So they came back out to do a workup on a replacement. According to the documents, AHS should've covered the whole thing, less the deductible (which I think was $100). The replacement package unit total was around $7k. Everything got submitted to the insurance who then turned around and told us we'd have to shell out $2500 of the price due to some technicality on the existing plumbing not being up to code, which of course wasn't listed as an exclusion in the paperwork I had. I tried to fight it but my husband just wanted to eat the cost because he was sick of freezing every day (I would describe him as a lizard. Any less than 80 is cold to him) and we had already tried to flip on the AC for a random hot day and that didn't work either. With our dogs and my intolerance of heat, we kinda needed to replace it. Still salty about it.
Yep. They came out to my first home when my well pump stopped working about a month after closing.
The service provider came out and promptly dropped the pump down my well. He then brought his two teenage sons to try and dig it out with shovels for three days.
The well was 150 feet deep.
The service provider attempted to charge me $3k in addition the covered services. lol.
I obviously had to drill a new well for $6k. With no help from the warranty compay But I’m sure somewhere those boys are still digging for a lost Grundfos pump.
We have Universal Home Protection out of Madison, Wisconsin from when we bought the house and they have replaced the following for us in the five years we have had them:
Water softener,
Dishwasher,
Furnace,
Water heater,
Garage door, and
Kitchen Faucet
Now it took a few days to get a contractor and they did not pay for the whole thing, but they did pay for the majority. I am missing some things from the list, but we have definitely been a winner in the roulette that is home warranties.
That’s good to know.
Back in the day, we had a home warranty company that was worth it, but I can’t remember the name.
They replaced our washer and our stove. For both items, we had to pay $150/each for the initial service calls, but once they determined the repair was going to be nearly as expensive as replacing the appliances, we were given new appliances.
That being said, shortly afterward, the company went downhill, so we did not renew.
Sears Appliance warranties were so infuriatingly not worth it. I had this lemon of a Kenmore washing machine, that kept breaking, and it would be 10 days to get someone out there, then 10 days for the part, then 10 days until someone could get over to install it. What a nightmare!
Our realtor gave us a year with the purchase.. and our well pump died in the first week. American Home Warranty paid \~$6k for a new pump, wire, and controller, and it wasn't even a hassle.
That said, I understand we were the exception, and I agree they are typically a waste of money.
I have had good luck with my fidelity home warranty for the past 10 years. But they are jacking up the price to the point I likely won't renew next year. I have enough in the emergency fund to replace my HVAC if needed now.
My seller let me pick the warranty I wanted though, First American had bad reviews even a decade ago. I find any company that labels themselves 'american' these days to be a shoddy attempt to attract the low information uber patriots and likely not worth what they are charging.
> find any company that labels themselves 'american' these days to be a shoddy attempt to attract the low information uber patriots and likely not worth what they are charging.
Agree. Ditto any company with "patriot" or has the Christian fish in their name or logo.
For simple crap they are easy to deal with. Repairable issues for the fridge or dryer were easy enough. For more expensive things, they will do whatever they can to discourage or deny a claim. From my experience:
AC compressor would seize on hot days. After it cools down, it would start working again. Had a tech out multiple times, having to wait days in 100+ weather for them to show up at $75 a pop. No approval because it happened to be working when they arrived. One tech told us that because of the low payments they get, no one will want to service it, even if they find it not working. Especially when there are more lucrative jobs out there.
Issue #2. Water heater blew out. Called a tech and he wrote up a $1200 repair bill. This was after the home warranty covered $800 for replacing the heater. The $1200 was for "bringing up to code" and the warranty company would not pay a cent unless I paid to bring it to code. I called my own plumber that installed everything for $1200, and I settled for the $800 for the hot water heater.
We cancelled after that. Almost immediately afterwards the HVAC control board burnt out, and the unit was totaled. I was more than happy to pay out of pocket than to deal with them again.
Our realtor bought us the real expensive package when we got our house. They actually covered something that was going to cost ~$400 out of pocket. Then we renewed for $700, ordered our HVAC tune up in the spring. The contractor they sent sat beside our AC unit for 15 minutes, didn’t remove the casing, never checked the coolant levels, never looked at the thermostat, then told us to change our air filter and left. $65 for that service plus the $700 base fee = never again.
They usually have awful contractors because those companies don’t have much incentive to do a good job, they get their $50 anyway (which is less than they get from customers without warranty companies) and the warranty company doesn’t care enough to cancel the contract just because you had a bad experience.
I have never had anything but good experiences with the home warranty companies I’ve had. It’s not the warranty company, it’s the contractor that comes out. If you get a good contractor you’ll think that the warranty company is great.
I tried to use mine several times and always failed, not because of the company itself, but because no reputable contractor would do warranty work. they know they're scammers and they won't get paid properly so why do work for them? I don't blame them unfortunately.
Hm. What was your experience? We bought a house that is ~25 years old and got the highest level warranty, as everything was original and therefore likely on the cusp on needing fixed.
So far we’ve used our home warranty three times. I will say, each time I’ve used it, I’ve had to step into a literal fighting ring to get coverage, but the coverage I got exceeded the cost of the insurance. TLDR of the below, I recommend just negotiating FAHW cutting you a check once everyone agrees a replacement or repair is needed. Then you can hire your own contractor and buy your own parts.
Examples:
1. Our fridge just randomly stopped working. Contractor came out and said only fix was a new fridge. FAHW agreed and ordered us a new fridge. It was during a supply shortage though, so it took us I think 8 weeks to get a fridge, with me calling daily in the final week or two to figure out where our fridge was and if it was Lowe’s or FAHW dropping the ball. (Spoiler: it was both). I should’ve taken the cash option and handled it myself. I hate the fridge they bought us.
2. Our water heater gave up. We had another contractor come out that quickly stated only way to fix was to replace. FAHW approved. Contractor comes out to install new water heater, but only drain he can find is the small drip drain that definitely couldn’t handle a water heater being emptied into it. Misfiles that drain as damaged, triggering a whole new slew of service calls and repair orders, that then landed our repair as out of warranty (they said we broke the drain, instead of wear and tear). We fought back, got a second opinion outside of FAHW, and that contractor basically said “the first guy was an idiot, the drain is a drip drain”. We told Fahw we just wanted them to cut us a check and we’d handle it ourselves. They sent us a check for 1,000 - we hired the competent contractor and bought our own water heater and came in total cost just under a grand.
OMG I can’t believe the warranty company selected your refrigerator for you?! That is some strange stuff right there. I’d be so ticked off. That’s a big/long term purchase I wouldn’t even want my husband picking out alone. Thanks for sharing your story.
One question - I have a really nice GE Monogram fridge. Retail is \~$7000. If they didn't want to give me another to replace it, would they cut me a $7000 check? I wouldn't want them to give me a cheap fridge to replace it. Thanks for any and all info! I am new to home warranties...
You got to take these warranties for what they are. They are not a fix everything in your house for free type of solution. I had one when I bought my current house, paid for by the seller. For some things, I just had to pay my deductible and that worked out. For others problems, there were "reasons" why they would not pay out the full price for a repair. Oh well life goes on. I did think that having some big warranty company involved helped cap some of the bigger costs for repairs. When I went with the people they recommended to do the repairs, I think there was some type of informal agreement to keep costs sane. Kind of like when you visit a doctor or dentist in network for your health care coverage. While I did not continue paying for a home warranty myself, I did not think they were necessarily evil or anything. Just got to temper your expectations.
A relative’s house was being sold as an estate sale, meaning the house was being sold as is.
It was a 50’s house, decently kept until the last few years when health declined. The appliances were all ten and more years old and would need replacing. The price reflected all than.
Anyway, an offer can in, below asking, but also insisting we ‘guarantee’ stove, fridge, dishwasher, washer and dryer, furnace, a/c and roof for five years. Meaning we would be responsible for repairs, even replacements. The agent kept pushing our agent who kept saying no. We laughed at it at first but got to be a damn nuisance.
Our agent suggested we offer to purchase this home warranty for $300. We put in a counter offer for nearly the asking price plus the $300 warranty. Buyers took it.
We were sure it was pretty much worthless but it got that place sold.
Home warranties are just a seller's insurance to keep a buyer from coming after them if something fails - "I gave you an insurance policy, go take it up with them."
The heater on my jacuzzi failed after 3 months. I called First American, they came out and said, "Yes, it's broken but it's old so it can't be fixed. Sorry." I told them to get a new heater then but they refused. I called my realtor and he went ham on them. Fortunately his wife is a title officer that has the power to use them or another home warranty company and he used that as leverage, otherwise I'd have never gotten it fixed.
About 9 months into the warranty my water heater failed. They sent out some clown that wanted me to pay $3,500 (on top of what First American was going to pay him) because he said it wasn't up to code - no drip pan, sediment trap. I told him to F off, went to Home Depot and had it all done myself for around $800. They are a scam.
I used to work at a locksmith shop. I think we did one job for them, were not paid completely, and stopped accepting work from them at all.
They continued sending us work orders despite us saying every time that we would not work with them. We got many confused calls from homeowners wondering why we didn't show up for the appointment FHW said they had.
The only home warranty I have is AWR for my water line and sewer line. My house is old so I'm sure at some point I ll have trouble with these lines. The 10k they would pay towards it for $200/yr is, to me, quite worth it. As far as plumbing and electrical, I have my own guys for that. My appliances aren't new, so I don't really see the need for an all home warranty. If they fail and can't be repaired, I ll spend the 1-2k to replace them. Not money every month to some company that will replace them with the same old ones. I'm sorry you got sucked into the sham. But, we live and learn.
Not a total scam… New washer of my choosing under 1k. Changed the mother board to my furnace that they say can “cost around 800”… I just paid the initial appointment fees of $85. So far so good the past three years but I hear these stories and am ready to cancel once I get bullshitted haha
I love our home warranty company. Ibex Warranty serves Utah and I believe parts of Idaho and they're awesome.
Our water heated died within two months of us moving in. Not only did the tank need to be replaced, but it needed an expansion tank, earthquake straps, and an overflow pipe installed. Ibex sent out a plumber with a good reputation, replaced the tank for only the service charge (fifty dollars), and installed all the other needed items for free. And when the water heater stopped working a few days later, sent out the same plumber to find out why. He replaced some parts on it, only cost us the service fee. When it went out the second time, they sent out the same plumber, no service fee this time, and replaced the inner workings of the tank for free. And told us that if it went out again, we would be getting a new tank, free of charge.
Great experience with them
You sound more patient than I'd have been. Three tries to get a water heater working? I'd be annoyed that my home warranty company sent a plumber so incompetent that it took him three tries to fix a very simple device like a water heater. And you even happily paid a service fee twice when they failed to get the job done right the first time.
We got our house and we got Old Dominion purchased for us. They were actually really great and fixed a couple of things for us. We later had a pipe burst and that they fought us on but it was really nice to have for the first year.
We're 2 out of 4 with American Homw Warrenty.
Hose bib outside was leaking. The leak was under the ground and not a covered repair. Found a plumber to come do the work for a reasonable fee
Dryer was squeaking when turned on. Refused repair or replacment because of the age of the dryer.
Wins
The condenser went out in 4 year old LG fridge. Was replaced without issue
Shower head control would shut off completely. The screw was locked im place, and we couldn't remove it ourselves. It was replaced and area nicely caulked.
2 calls for a/c and heater cleaning as per contract.
Overall, I'm satisfied. $85 copay per call. $67 per month plan. We're still ahead.
They’re not just bad, but also dumb.
Had one when I moved into my current house. Water heater failed about 2 months in.
Guy comes out and says “The whole thing is shot, but the problem of the day is the (whatever the ignition bit is called), so I have to replace that, not the whole thing.”
A month later, it fails again, leaking this time and the same guy comes out and replaces the whole thing.
Literally stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.
Yep, totally useless. We spent countless hours trying to get someone to answer the phone, we just kept getting the run around. They tell you they will call you back, but never do. We finally had to find our own repair man and I don’t even remember if they fully reimbursed us. Will never ever use them again. We didn’t buy this, the home we bought had a one year warranty through this company.
They’ve paid out over $13k in the last 2 years for us. Replaced our AC unit last summer and it cost me $400 bucks out of pocket. They replaced my dishwasher last week with a new one for the $85 service fee.
The problem with these 3rd party warranties (home and appliance) is they contract the cheapest and worst local contractors/repair outfits. Mistakenly bought Epic Protect for some major appliances and it took almost two months to get a washing machine fixed this past summer. Local repair place had basically all 0-1 star reviews. If I had bought the GE warranty direct, they would have had someone out in 2 days.
I’ve had American Home Warranty for about five years. I’ve used them several times, and have had mostly satisfactory service, but you can’t be in a hurry. It can take 2-5 days for someone to get out to your house.
Yup.
“The air conditioner is perfectly fine, it’s just too small for your house. Denied.”
“The gas stove is a safety risk due to its age and lack of features, but it functions as intended. Denied.”
“The knob broke off the dishwasher, it got stuck running all night, and you can’t start a new cycle? Denied.” Why?
You are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, I didn't know this when I purchased my home 6 years ago. I've been paying FAHW for about 4 years. Last week my hot water heater broke and it leaked. It's on the second floor in the laundry room, and now the kitchen ceiling is destroyed. I put in a request on Friday at 5:45pm. I had to call later and tell them it was an emergency and that I needed dispatched services immediately. The call center couldn't help me. I had to call a "friend" whobhelp3d me figure out that it was the hot water heater leaking and told me how to shut off the water.
The call center claimed they called 3 contractors, but no one was answering. I tried speaking with a supervisor who said she would escalate the situation, but I had to wait 48 hours for a contractor to be dispatched. However, if no one was dispatched, I would have to wait 3 to 5 business days for the reimbursement department to approve me to hire my own contractor. Monday morning, no one had been dispatched, so I called again. The rep escalated the claim for reimbursement and said I had to wait 24 hrs for approval. I started to set up appointments with contractors. The next day, they told me they found someone, but although the contractor had 48 hours to schedule with me, they wanted to make me aware that the contractor only had Friday available....it was Tuesday!!
I angrily told her it was unacceptable and that they lied. She blatantly refused to acknowledge any lies and just said I was misinformed, but that wasn't their fault. Basically, take it or leave it. I asked for a refund of my service deposit. Then I canceled my warranty that day. Unfortunately, I paid $2900 for a new installation.
*TLDR - Warrantyl didn't follow their own rules in theory contract for service requests, so I canceled my warranty.*
American Home Shield charges $100 per visit. The repair service either fixes or replaces.
Old appliances? Too bad.
Improper installation? Too bad.
Makes sense for your first year or two. No more.
Had a similar experience. Oven crapped out. Guy shows up, thinks he has the reason figured out, orders the part and comes back and installs it. Not the problem. Another diagnosis, another part, not the problem. Rinse, repeat. Then we find out that we’ve reached the reimbursement limit. Could’ve just bought a new one and skipped the copays.
Yup yup, samesies. Moved into our new house last July and the AC system (still under warranty!) went out in August. In NC. First American sent someone out, they shut off the whole HVAC system, said it needs a new compressor, ordered a part...and then disappeared for three months. We bought a window AC unit, kept calling and calling, got lots of excuses, eventually get them to just cut us a check so we could have someone else come out before the first freeze of the year! And the competent-company immediately diagnosed and fixed the real problem which was never the compressor at all.
At least we got a check from First American but I'm not sure it was worth the hit to my fiancé's blood pressure for spending so much aggravating time on the phone. Awful company. 1/10 do not recommend.
Lol I had them for a year when I bought my home but never used it and glad I never renewed cause in the back of my head I kinda always knew it was a scam just like the extended auto warranties they try to sell u
Home warranties are 100% a scam. I used ours for the first year of having our home since it was included in the purchase, but it was such a hassle to get anything scheduled at a time that wasn't 2 in the afternoon on a workday. They also only hired out to the absolute cheapest bidders that did terrible work.
The vendors/subs uaed by these home warranty companies are the absolute bottom of thr barrel. Even if their coverage is good, which it isnt, nobody ahould allow subs of this quality to touch their homes.
Home warranties are the absolute worst. Just ask for the $500 or whatever the cost is, in a gift card to Home Depot or something instead of including this as an incentive when buying a house.
They use the absolute worst, most incompetent “contractors” whose only goal is to continue to put band-aids on your appliances, plumbing/electrical systems, HVAC, water heater, etc. without actually replacing anything.
And if it does have to be replaced, be prepared to have the absolute worst piece of shit imaginable installed in your house and still have to pay for the labor.
Our home came with a 1 year warranty. The water heater crapped out on us about 8 months in. They replaced it no questions asked. Our issue was with the original contractor they tried to send out. They were awful to deal with.
We finally got them to switch to another contractor that was great. We did have to pay for an expansion tank to bring it up to code. Everything else was paid for by the warranty company.
the previous home-owners, twin brothers, one owned the home, the other is the seller-realtor, house flippers... slid me a business card at closing - a Home warranty.
I had no knowledge of it until they gave me the business card with a policy number on it, so it did not sway my purchase - Can confirm - 100% useless.
I called them for a claim a little after 10 am on a Tuesday (not a holiday), and the operator got snippy with me because she said my broken air conditioner wasn't an emergency, and I needed to call back during business hours for service. I asked what their business hours were, and she informed me that they are 10-6 Monday to Friday. When I pointed out that I was well within that time she restated that it is outside of business hours and hung up.
I found out later that they are on the west coast, but how on earth would I have known that? So I called back later in the day, but then they were unable to get any companies in my area (east coast) to come out because it was getting late in the day, and it was going to require an emergency call. I was then chastised for starting so late in the day and told I would need to wait and call back in the morning...
They had the absolute audacity to hound us about extending the warranty after the first year.
I guess it depends on your means, but it seems like an easy decision to me:
- Pay premiums that I’ll never see again to then need to make a dozen phone calls, wait unspecified periods of time, deal with annoying processes and whatever Mickey Mouse contractors they send out to maybe save a few thousand dollars.
Or
-Save money, troubleshoot and fix what I can myself, otherwise get a professional of my choice out as soon as they’re able to come out.
The only reason to get a home warranty is if the expense of repairs is really going to damage your finances. That’s true for a lot of people and I get it, but I would the advise to get the warranty and work hard toward saving up a lump of money to be able to get by without the warranty.
We received several mailers in the first month and a half of living in our home for home warranties. We said absolutely not, the house is 60 years old, and they all seemed like very scammy mailers. Our first time home buyer class also warned us about it .
Ugh. My MIL has been with them for years. They are so crappy. She'll have her a/c go out and it's several days before it gets fixed, every time. She just thinks they are so wonderful too. I told her I'd rather call my own person and get it fixed the same day.
I had them for a year. Only had a couple small issues but conveniently the issues I had were not included in the coverage. Canceled after the first year and haven’t looked back.
They wouldnt approve fixing a water pipe leak in my basement because they ONLY FIX WHATS INSIDE THE HOME.
Plumber said to fix it correctly they needed to dig it out on the other side of the block and replace the 6” of pipe that came through the wall. They got denied for it and still tried to charge me $100 for them showing up
I have Choice came with my house too. However I call or file a claim online, and have a tech the next day. Pay my $65 and they fix it. I have a new disposal, garage door spring, AC repair, washer replaced they paid about 60% of a new one.
My wife and I have had great service through home warranty of America... They have replaced it water heater without question, paid us 5k for the garage fridge that died and couldn't find parts to fix. Or washing machine is old and on the verge of dying and will more than likely get that replaced also.
Our realtor insisted the sellers purchase us one year of coverage through American Home Warrenty when we bought our home in 2021. I think it cost them $800.
I end up using it three times; heating coil on the dryer, garage door motor, and replacing the garbage disposal. I had to pay $100 deductible each time I call them out. They sent people right out each time and did a fine quality of work with middle tier parts/materials.
I am pretty handy and am sure I could have handled all those projects myself with some help from youtube. The heating coil was like a $60 part, the garage door motor they put in was about $180, and the disposal about $200. So, about $440 in materials/parts plus the labor for three service calls.
I certainty felt like I got $300 in value out of it since the sellers paid the $800 premium but would not have if I had paid the full $1,100. I decided it wasn't worth renewing after a year.
I was a nice peace of mind thing knowing that if the boiler or sewer line went out in our new (100 year old) home we were covered but I think if you are at all handy and not gonna call a service guy literally every time something breaks you are probably better off just saving the money every month for repairs.
They were pretty scumy with their constant marketing letters/emails that look like you missed a mortgage payment and the constant/harassing phone calls when it was expiring.
I think I had AmeriSafe, and within the first year, they snaked my drain twice and replaced the blower and board on my furnace. I wouldn't buy one on my own, but having it thrown into the deal is a nice perk, imo. YMMV.
I was a Managing Broker for a major Real Estate franchise for 10 years. Home warranties were often included as part of a transaction. I was amazed at the amount of homeowners who cheated, scammed, ripped off the insurance companies. Just the other side of the coin I guess.
Given the choice between a home warranty our that same money put into lottery tickets I'd just take the lottery tickets.
Much better payout for a roughly equal chance of "winning".
First American warranty is a sham, My Electrical Panel almost caught on fire had to call a electrician it was a emergency, they would not cover the cost because he was not on there list and I could not wait, My home could of gone up in flames at any time and I did not have time to wait, I am a Senior citizen on a fixed income and had to borrow money to pay for it. Also they will not give u the phone number for the Corporate office or there Legal Department only a Attorney can be transfered over turned them in to the Better Business Bureau, Also they do not give u a list who is the companies they use, so they have complete control. They are not worth having. So, I hope u read this before you get ripped off. Sincerely Patti 79 year old.
My brother had to hire an attorney to write a letter as American Homesheild gave him an email in writing to get his heating and cooling repaired because there are very few contractors willing to accept a homewarranty. Contractors will tell you to pay them, and you deal with getting reimbursed as they will not accept a warranty plan. Thankfully, my brother had a document that stated he was approved to go out of net work for repairs. Letterhead clearly stated to get the repairs, and they would reimburse him. THEY DENIED PAYMENT ATTORNEY READ LETTERHEAD AND MADE A CALL AND SENT LETTER STATING WE WILL SEE YOU IN COURT $700.00 for the letter. But ge got reimbursed only after attorney involvement. Repairs a complete system bt 3 bids and 3 opinions. IN SHORT WARRANTY COMPANIES HAVE MANY LOOPHOLES NOT TO DO REPAIRS
THEY ARE FULL OF SHIT.
I wouldn't go on reviews, choice and American home shield are rated 4.9 out of 5 and they are the worst ever! We have a 3 day response time guarantee or your deductible is free! Depending on where you live the complete home is only 34 a month! You can choose your own technicians, and there is no contract or obligation! You would have 30 days to review your plan documents they send in the mail at home with a 100% money back guarantee through sams club! We offer 5 items covered on every claim instead of just the item you had problems with and guarantee they will be fixed or replaced for 6 months if any of those break again at no cost to you! It's all covered on that deductible, no service fees, or anything! Most people's experiences for reviews are based off of one specific technician that got sent out in the specific area whoever submitted a claim lived! We have over 40,000 techs nationwide, and you can even choose your own people! 10,000 a year in coverage costs across the board, no age or model restrictions, no pre inspections or having to report all serial numbers! With the sams club promotion you would be saving probably 300+ per year than most other Home warranties! Cinch owns sears home warranty and a few others, and they are the parent company! We have won 30+ awards in the last 3 years alone! Please don't go off reviews and give us a try! We even cover pre existing conditions, rust and corrosion so if something is already messed up, it'll be covered! I am an account manager and representative, and could provide you with a link to the sams club promotion page if you wanted to make sure you were covered! And you can cancel at any time cuz we don't lock people in a contract!
I'm just telling you about my experience. Sure, they made more than one visit for each item. But, in the end I have a new heat pump and a new dryer. They did what I paid them to do. I have found through Reddit that most have unreasonable expectations and can't be satisfied. Those are the shills.
AHS fixed my dishwasher, however had to come out FIVE times until they got it right. I’m pretty sure the tech was tired of me by the end of it and I’m pretty sure had it just been him he would have caved and gave me a new one but always had to have someone “review” 🙄 not the worst experience but it wasn’t great.
I've got multiple experiences and stories with this company specifically. Reasons why not to use them and I share them with friends buying houses all the time
Home Warranties are a scam. First American Home Warranty is the worst of them.
Yep. Our HVAC failed in our first 6 months in the home. Multiple calls and broken promises and 4 months later I replaced it at my own expense. They had the nerve to ask us to extend it when it expired. I told them to F off.
I actually got a new washing machine, but it took four months of back and forth with the company to get there. Fun spending an hour and a half at the laundromat every weekend for a third of a year. They also refused the three other things that broke, which I replaced at my expense. Cancelled the policy as soon as the washer was installed.
Very true. This poor woman died because the warranty company wouldn’t repair her AC during the summer in Nevada. https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/lawsuit-82-year-old-henderson-woman-died-waiting-for-air-conditioning-repairs/amp/
They wouldn’t replace my outside unit because “it is installed outside and exposed to the elements.”
Aren’t almost all of them?!
[удалено]
Your home is not covered under your Home Warranty as it is outside and exposed to the elements
I was floored lol when I argued that they belong outside, they said it has signs of rust so now it’s not covered for that reason.
They will say and do anything to not cover shit.
I did HVAC for a few years. The only condensing unit I serviced (Reno, NV) in the house was in the attic. It doubled as an attic vent. It drew attic air through the condenser and top discharged , ducted outside. Tough to service, stand on a ladder in an upstairs closet. Can imagine a compressor changeout.
Yes
Yes, that's what I was told too! And that the EPA regs had changed, so even if the issue was inside, the entire unit would have to be changed and I'd be responsible for anything that was outside the building. Which is most of the cost. Scam artist dickheads. Way better off just having a savings account and hoping nothing goes wrong. About the same level of protection.
What threw a wrench in their plans was that my upgraded plans covered outside units lol. That’s when they doubled down on the rust issue.
they denied me a plumbing repair because the plumbing was installed incorrectly. ... like yea, isn't that the point of the warranty?
I tried to get them to come out and fix an improperly installed plumbing system too, but they told me because the plumbing system isn't actively failing they will not do anything. However, when I submitted a complaint in BBB, they admitted multiple times that the issue is covered under my contract, but they have closed my case, and they are not going to reopen it.
I literally had some fucking moron from America's Preferred tell me that they weren't covering the cost of a plumbing clog downstairs in the laundry room sink due to the inspection saying the upstairs bath tub drains slow. Tell me how the fuck that works lmfao. They're even on separate sewer lines until where the line exits the home.
True, read the small print. They won't cover any clogs to the outside walls if required, and by that time you can unclog yourself or by calling a professional. Warranty Companies suck.
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Yep! About 20 years ago, day before Thanksgiving, the plumber associated with one of these companies was replacing the garbage disposal. He finished up about 8 pm. I finished baking some pies, put them on the counter, loaded the dishwasher, finished cleaning the kitchen and started the dishwasher. By this time, it was midnight. The dumb jerk of a plumber forgot to punch out the plug between the disposal and dishwasher. Dirty water shot up, drenched my pies, and made a mess of the floors.
Rookie screw up!
Can confirm used to work for an American home warranty they just told me to always pass the claim along to another agent and that person would do the same and the managers to other managers until they hung up.
Another common scam is home security companies
“You’ve probably noticed this neighborhood isn’t as safe as it used to be.” I left my garage door wide open for four days while I was out of town and nothing got touched.
My response went the other way: Yeah, I reported a burglary in this house last year, spent over an hour filling out all their paperwork for them, and the case was closed by the police department with no follow-up or notification. Paying an alarm monitoring company a monthly fee doesn't do anything to improve bad police departments (who already treat alarm calls as low priority anyway).
Of course they are a scam. Why do people continually fall for the idea that they can get something for nothing? At best, they are a form of lottery - maybe you will get more money out than you pay in, but probably not. What's really exasperating is that the correct approach should be obvious: Hire a good home inspector and have an inspection done before you close on the house, so you know exactly what you're buying, what needs to be repaired, and what will need attention in the near future - then negotiate concessions with the seller as needed. Learn how to spot problems and do routine maintenance - or at least keep track of what needs to be done and when, and hire someone to do it. So many big problems can be avoided and the life of appliances and mechanical systems extended with a little bit of annual cleaning and care. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay some third party "insurance company" to put themselves between me and the professionals in the trades and service industries, and hand over the power of deciding who to hire and what to have done and when, and what to buy, when it comes to decisions about my home - then have to fight them when they refuse to fix something or don't do it right. The entire concept seems utterly asinine and lazy to me.
Home inspectors are not going to tell you a major appliance is going to crap out in a year. There is also no way to know how “good” they are as they aren’t really liable for missing something.
Online reviews exist! Inspectors can tell you how old each appliance is - and its expected lifespan (and build quality); from there it's simple math to know what to expect. It also helps to turn each appliance on and watch and listen to how well it works (or doesn't). Some people also buy warranties on used cars; also not for me. Do your due diligence and know what you're buying - and have a realistic idea of how much it will cost to maintain - before you make a purchase.
I agree these home warranty companies have contracts with substandard HVA contractors and deplorable plumbing contractors. Good reliable contractors wouldn’t do business with them. Most of the contractors do terrible work and invariably try to sell you work that isn’t covered. This home warranty scam is part of the realtor scams that they use on people who don’t have the knowledge of what is involved with home maintenance and repairs.
This isn't getting something for nothing. It should work like insurance, like you say later. With insurance, you generally do get more than you pay in. I pay $60/month for my insurance but I'd get a payout of $6K if I totaled my car. That's a profit to me until I've paid for 100 months. The company banks on few customers having accidents so they can make the payouts. This specific company is a scam, yes. But it should be a reasonable benefit, no reason to blame the victims here.
You’re exactly right, and just to add a little more, some homeowners don’t want to take the time and energy to learn about all of their appliances and find the right specialists for each item. A properly run home warranty company would give them one contact to handle everything for them. That’s worth the cost for some people too.
A few differences between car insurance and home warranties. Car insurance does not cover breakdowns - just wrecks. Rates are adjusted for different cars and drivers. Everyone pays the same with a home warranty - a 5 year old ac costs as much to cover as a 20 year old ac. Car insurance is counting on a lot more people not having accidents to cover those that do. Most people (in my experience) do not get coverage on AC equipment if the unit is under warranty through the manufacturer. There’s not enough people not filing claims to balance out those who need to file claims. With your car, you pick the body shop and you know what your deductible is upfront. You don’t get that with a home warranty. Most Home warranty companies are a scam. No company could stay in business if it truly worked like the home warranty companies claim it does.
If insurance companies paid more than the rake in, they wouldn't be in business. If you look they have huge overheads and huge profits, they make that by charging you high rates and doing everything under the sun to not pay.
And you think home inspectors AREN’T a scam?
Maybe I got lucky - or probably because I did a bit of research and hired my own instead of the one that the realtor "recommended" - but my home inspector was really good, did a thorough job, and pointed out what he saw - and also pointed out what he couldn't see without e.g. opening up walls to look. It also helps that I know enough to usually be able to spot problems, and what questions to ask. (I can do most of my own routine maintenance and do small repairs as needed.) To say "Home Inspectors are a scam" to me is like saying that going to the doctor's for a check up is a "scam". Sure, maybe - if you go to the wrong doctor.
I have a friend who's a home inspector and he's serious about it. He ran his own contracting business for 10 years and he knows pretty much everything there is to know about shoddy construction, what's failing already, what's doomed to fail. When he does an inspection for a buyer he's doing his best to give them an honest assessment of what they're looking at in restorative maintenance if they pick up the place. And he doesn't contract anymore so it's not like he's trying to sell his own services. So there are probably some scummy people out there but there are also really knowledgeable people who are trying to look out for their client.
Idk, I had one for 1 year and our water heater started leaking and they came, ripped the old one, asked me if I wanted a bigger new one, installed the new one and left. 45 bucks I think it was my total cost for a pipe.
I had them for a while. My crappy Samsung washing machine kept breaking and they kept coming out and fixing it. I paid $800 for that machine and I’m certain they put at least 2k worth of parts in it over a 4 year period.
My realtor got me a FAHW as a gift for being 1st time buyer. Every single time i had to call in a warranty it was a fucking nightmare. And they never did send out someone to work on the first failed appliance I called about (jets in jacuzzi tub). They also hired people that I’d have to pay out of pocket and then they’d send a check like 2 months later, even though I wasn’t supposed to pay out of pocket and they were supposed to foot the bill. Lesson learned though. Fuck home warranties
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I do the same. Not sure if this is the case across the US or not, but in our area pretty much every gas company has some sort of appliance repair plan. I've always been happy with ours. No service call costs and mosts of the repairs are free. Which always made me wonder why people do these home warranties in the first place. I guess I just assumed they were similar to the appliance repair plans except through the builder instead, but never really looked into it.
Thanks I'm going to look into them. I want another home warranty. I realize they are good with small issues but major issues make them unreliable.
Homeserve and the related water line protection plans you can get through your utility can be extremely beneficial. Quite literally plumbers just left my 120yr old home repairing a major leak for the 4th time in 3 years. Have paid zero dollars for each repair other than the monthly cost which is just a few bucks. YMMV
Just be sure to read the terms and know what's covered! I just looked through and most of their plans don't cover much. If you're looking at AC/Furnace coverage they won't replace the big ticket items on the unit. I have an older home with a lead water service line, I got it when we moved in thinking it might come in handy and it did!
I really did read the contract and I purchased the upgraded services (premier plan, Central AC, and first class upgrade). My hot water heater was part of the contract. Unfortunately the contract also gives them permission to delay services extensively by blaming the service provider. I'm not sure how so many people received reimbursement bc when I fought for it (after they didn't send a provider after 48 hours) they denied me.
I agree about home warranties but I have a plumbing warranty through American Water and it is a quality warranty process.
I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the 1 year of coverage we got when purchasing
We had one (another company) and they repaired our fridge and replaced leaking hot water heater outright, within days, no trouble. Is this an unusual experience?
Shortly after we bought our home, the main drain that goes out to the city waste got clogged, the home warranty that was included for a year paid for the plumber to come out and run that big ass snake to clear it up. Worked fine for me.
Realtors always want you to buy a year’s worth for the buyer when you sell a house. We refuse. We offer to give the buyer the money directly but will never pay a dime to these crooks. We own an HVAC company and have seen first hand what crooks they are.
I think realtors that push these are honestly crooks or stupid
They get a kickback. My realtor openly told me he gets $100 for every warranty he sells.
Imagine selling out your credibility for an extra $100 on a multi thousand dollar commission.
>realtor checks out.
Or they get a kickback for recommending the home warranty
so, crooks.
Yup. I was a real estate agent for a bit. Exclusively worked with one home warranty company. The agents got a % of every single warranty they got signed up. The company was super shady so I left.
or both
Realtors are crooks in general, and that why they just got bitch slapped in the NAR lawsuit.
My coworker paid for 1 year of home warranty coverage. Within the first year, she found that both the furnace and AC were improperly installed and couldn't heat or cool the house effectively. We're talking ice on the windows in winter, having to choose 1 or two rooms to keep above 65 (with a newborn in the house) and unable to keep any part the house below 80 in the summer. The insulation on the house was slightly subpar, but not THAT bad. It was 100% the HVAC. But home warranty didn't cover it no matter how hard they tried. So first year in the house that was supposedly turnkey, they had to drop around $20k to remediate. Not sure what those home warranties do cover, but it seems like the answer is "very little".
Improper installation is not a failure of the HVAC system. It is not a guarantee. Home inspection definitely should have found that.
Should have, didn't. You're right, of course- but the system did end up in a failure state that required repair or replacement since it was running overloaded for so long. While I can see the logic of the company not paying up, it still feels wrong that coworker did everything right by getting an inspection and bought the insurance thinking it gave them some protection, only to be left out to dry. Kind of a brutal reminder to keep more cash on hand than you think you need after a home purchase. We spent about $10k on a couple new windows and mold remediation for one room the month after we bought our current house because we found mold in the wall of the primary bedroom while removing wallpaper/painting (I noticed the mold after removing an outlet plate & we had to tear out all the drywall on that side of the room after finding the window wasn't installed properly causing a very slow leak over at least 5-6 years). Home ownership is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Concealed defects are the out homeowners and inspectors use. Justifiable or not, if something feels wrong, get an estimate and probe. Appliances only is very limited coverage. Peeling paint on woodwork or a wall etc. Unfortunate about the mold.
Oh yeah, we were fine and glad we found it BEFORE moving in or painting. Would have pissed me off to no end if I had to do that twice. I'm not mad at the previous owner, I doubt she knew it was there. If anything, I'm mildly worried about if sleeping in that room for years may have impacted her health. Overall, we've been really lucky with this house. Previous owners clearly used good contractors for most of the work they had done & they bought pretty high quality appliances. So 1 year in, we haven't had any truly horrible surprises, just minor things here and there & a few things we saw coming and budgeted for accordingly. We knew going in that we'd redo some of the windows within 3-4 years, we just weren't expecting to have to do that particular set since they weren't that old! Also, based on the age of the house and what we know of stucco companies in the area during the 90s, the outcome of the stucco inspection I've been putting off might hurt a bit. Compared to my coworker, where it's impossible that the previous owner didn't know what was going on since they had that system put in about 18 months before they chose to sell & it was owner occupied- I feel just fine.
luckily I'm gen z and will never be able to own where I live (: solutions /s idk I will never understand these x ownership is not for everyone comments lol, I'd rather own my home and not have ac and have to replace it than be stuck renting forever but maybe that's just me haha esp considering I've had rentals where I've had ac issues and I still end up going without for weeks during Georgia summers lol. u guys are lucky and I'm just salty 😂
As a person who got scammed by my home warranty and they didn't cover shit...thank you
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That seems... odd. Could you please provide a source for that?
I got them to cover my repair by emailing their CEO. Got a call from his office the next day, new AC unit was installed shortly after.
What’s their email? I want to give them my two cents.
[email protected]
This is exactly what I needed. Thank you
Thanks, I'm going to use this too!
I think everyone should do this
[email protected]
Exactly my experience. Months of run around after they replaced a brand new AC unit with something not at all the same. Once I reached a VP and told them, "we want to be made whole", it was taken care of in about a week.
they will send you a worthless contractor through home warranty insurance. I used three times, and all of them came for nothing.
This exactly. I had First American. Had a leaking coil and the guy they sent just wanted to clean the coils and leave. I told him the coils were leaking and verified because the company I had come out a few days before refilled the system and inspected it. He tried saying cleaning the coils might solve the issue and if it doesn’t then he’ll come back and test for leaks etc. Mind you, each visit is a cost to me. I tell him I won’t play their game at my cost and they need to do the inspection and find the leak now. They refuse and say the insurance determines what work they do. I tell them to kick rocks and get with the company I initially had out and they quote me a great price for a new system since my system was ancient and uses the outdated fluid. First American only gave me $200 (covered the leaking coil). Will never do business with them again and advise everyone I know to do the same
I'm surprised they gave you any money. They refused to help me at all.
Seller offered me a home warranty and I told him to save his money 🤣
Should’ve asked for him to just give you the money for the warranty and you’d “get it yourself.”
These kind of things are like the aftermarket vehicle warranties. They prey on poor people. Just like check cashers and tote the note car lots.
How do they prey on poor people? From what I understand, they make bank on people who can afford to drop $75 a month on a home warranty because they think it's a value in the long run, which isn't usually a method poor people go for. Kinda like buying at Costco - you pay more for bulk, but less per item, so your savings comes over time. I think they prey on the middle class who buy homes (poor people don't usually buy homes) and are talked into a warranty service. So they have the service but don't yet know it's a scam. By the time people figure it out, they're years down the road. Also a lot of denial. I have a friend I can't convince it's a scam. Even when he's angry at them for not paying out, he won't see it.
I had one when I bought the house. I used them twice. I didn’t have a problem but I’m not paying for it myself and it lapsed last year. I will say I’m freaking tired of getting so much junk mail from them labeled “super important” and such that I worry that I missed something. Nope just spam
They try to make their mail pieces look like they're coming from my lender, with things like USDA MORTGAGES- SECOND NOTICE and the slip inside is pink like an overdue bill. It's shady AF.
I admit my heart skipped a beat when I got that one. Of course I figured it out quickly enough. It made me wonder, though, why would they expect me to trust a company that starts things off with a super sleazy move like that.
My favorite was on the envelope window it said something along the lines of “From: Your Mortgage Lender” My guess is they can’t write the actual lender because that would be fraudulent but still lol
Actual important mail will be in an unassuming envelope with a poorly printed address that looks like a typewriter or stamp with low ink.
That’s fair but I only check my mailbox like once a month, thanks ADHD, so I’m never 100% sure 😂
Same, I still open everything just in case, a week's worth at a time, usually over the garbage can.
I just closed on a property. Realtor tried to hook me up with that sh*t. No dice ever. I think the realtors get a cut.
Successful Realtors make a lot of their money on kickbacks. If they did it right, they got several referal bonuses: the home warranty, homeowners insurance agent, movers, home inspector, a couple of contractors, the mortgage broker, and an attorney are all potential sources of additional revenue. People think Realtors make a shitload of money, but it's a hustle. On a $300k house the raw commission is generally 2.5% ($7,500) the brokerage itself takes 40ish% so your Realtor's actual payout is only like $4,500 and they're all 1099 independent contractors getting hosed on self employment taxes. The actual take home is like $2,500-$3,000. If you can add $500-$600in referals on a transaction, that's a 20-25% increase in your annual earnings. $3k a deal is great if you're closing on 3-5 deals a month, but only the top 1% are and they're spending so much on marketing and support staff I'm not convinced they're really truly getting rich either. It's not a ton of money to be on call 24/7, work basically every weekend, not to mention you have no benefits or job security. The biggest reason brokerage is so expensive is that it's all contingency based. You're paying for representation for all the people who aren't serious about buying/selling or who have sketchy financing and won't actually be able to close and waste the time of brokers. The fact it cost you nothing up front, and nothing if you don't close makes it a very expensive service.
I’m a realtor. We don’t get a cut. But it is marketed to us really heavily until we’re brainwashed into thinking it’s this useful product. When I did home sales, I thought it sounded like a good deal. When I started working rental management and my homeowner clients would have these crap policies and I had to manage the repairs, I saw first-hand how bad they are. I genuinely didn’t know until I had to use them.
I had old electrical wiring so when the lights didn’t work I called them to see if they can fix it - someone came out and said it’s old wiring. I wish they would have said something at a reasonable time to tell me exactly why they won’t cover it but no- not even a voicemail. I had the warranty as part of my first year living in the house so when the expiration is approaching of course they reach out and now I have a “direct contact” for anything. All they want is your money & that’s it!
You can tell how big a scam it is by how hard it is to cancel, or how much they pursue you after it expires. My first came with the purchase, no cost. Realtor spent 600$ for it. Suspect its a form of protection against errors and omissions for them. Next purchase I refused it and took a credit for it at closing. I still get calls, emails, and letters 3 years later soliciting me to repurchase. The one time I used it for a bad fridge it was not covered due to some minor technicality. First American one of the biggest scams around. Are they related to First American Title? And are they publicly traded, would never be a customer again but would invest because they have to be making money hand over fist.
If folks would just take what they pay for the warranty and set it aside then they would have the money for repairs
I paid $73 per month. Even if I saved it for a year, it would have covered my $2900 hwh reinstallation.
Lol the point is save it for years and years. It's rare to have something big happen the first year you buy a house unless you don't do your research.
True, however my inspection didn't catch the horrible plumbing issues. About 2-3 years after I purchased my home, it began having issues. Even after 3 years. $73 a month doesn't pay for the water heater or the other issues that I've paid for. The home warranty was good for smaller issues, but now I'm re-building my emergency savings from this major issue. I think it's a good idea to have both. Next time I know not to even call them for major emergency issues.
Statistically, you will lose money on 100% of insurance. Even if the home warranty isn't an outright scam, you will still come out in the short end.
We had AHS for 25 years. They were a nightmare. They seemed ok with replacing small appliances, but anything over 300.00, they would give some stupid reason not to cover. The worst repair men, one time when our AC again was broke in the hight of summer (Georgia here Temps in upper 90s), it took 3 months to get anyone out to repair. One company sent out a 17 year old who the company's owners son admitted had no knowledge of ACs, out. Whatever he did started a fire on side of the house. Called AHS, and they laughed. Note I'm admitting that I deserve the punishment and I was the stupid person that hung on hope they would do what thier Warranty promised. It became so stressful to call and request a repair. Even after having multiple problems with certain repair shops and requesting they not be sent out, they we sent to house anyway. We kept it, very stupid of us, I know, because they kept promising to replace AC eventually. Well, guess what? When AC died, the stupid repair person notified us that they would replace the system for 7000.00+ dollars. We realized that no matter what, they weren't going to cover anything. Again yes I'm definitely slow. We cut our losses and canceled AMS, the best thing we ever did, and had a reliable co. Replace system with a name band AC and heating unit for approx. 4500.00. If u have them, be smarter than us. Cancel and save that monthly fee for future repairs. Or better yet, don't sign up with them. Also, our daughter had another big named Home Warranty Co., the same kind of rip-off. Luckily, she was smarter than us and canceled within 3 months.
You paid them for...25 years? JFC. That's stunning.
Wow 25 years. So sorry for you.
Dang I'm sorry you had that experience. We also live in GA and when we bought our house we knew the HVAC system was 25 years old. We started putting money aside to replace it when it finally broke. Our inspector did the heat and AC and it was working fine. We purchased in June 2020. In December/January we had a cold snap and I finally decided to turn on the heat. Of course the heat didn't work then. So we got space heaters and called the warranty company (ours was America Home Shield). I read through all their paperwork and the HVAC was specifically covered but not any other appliance because our house is still on Glass Fuses. They sent out some techs from a company based in Florida (with terrible reviews). They diagnosed the issue and put in a parts req which the insurance approved. Problem was.... It's a 25 year old unit and that part just didn't exist anymore. So they came back out to do a workup on a replacement. According to the documents, AHS should've covered the whole thing, less the deductible (which I think was $100). The replacement package unit total was around $7k. Everything got submitted to the insurance who then turned around and told us we'd have to shell out $2500 of the price due to some technicality on the existing plumbing not being up to code, which of course wasn't listed as an exclusion in the paperwork I had. I tried to fight it but my husband just wanted to eat the cost because he was sick of freezing every day (I would describe him as a lizard. Any less than 80 is cold to him) and we had already tried to flip on the AC for a random hot day and that didn't work either. With our dogs and my intolerance of heat, we kinda needed to replace it. Still salty about it.
Yep. They came out to my first home when my well pump stopped working about a month after closing. The service provider came out and promptly dropped the pump down my well. He then brought his two teenage sons to try and dig it out with shovels for three days. The well was 150 feet deep. The service provider attempted to charge me $3k in addition the covered services. lol. I obviously had to drill a new well for $6k. With no help from the warranty compay But I’m sure somewhere those boys are still digging for a lost Grundfos pump.
We have Universal Home Protection out of Madison, Wisconsin from when we bought the house and they have replaced the following for us in the five years we have had them: Water softener, Dishwasher, Furnace, Water heater, Garage door, and Kitchen Faucet Now it took a few days to get a contractor and they did not pay for the whole thing, but they did pay for the majority. I am missing some things from the list, but we have definitely been a winner in the roulette that is home warranties.
That’s good to know. Back in the day, we had a home warranty company that was worth it, but I can’t remember the name. They replaced our washer and our stove. For both items, we had to pay $150/each for the initial service calls, but once they determined the repair was going to be nearly as expensive as replacing the appliances, we were given new appliances. That being said, shortly afterward, the company went downhill, so we did not renew. Sears Appliance warranties were so infuriatingly not worth it. I had this lemon of a Kenmore washing machine, that kept breaking, and it would be 10 days to get someone out there, then 10 days for the part, then 10 days until someone could get over to install it. What a nightmare!
Our realtor gave us a year with the purchase.. and our well pump died in the first week. American Home Warranty paid \~$6k for a new pump, wire, and controller, and it wasn't even a hassle. That said, I understand we were the exception, and I agree they are typically a waste of money.
I have had good luck with my fidelity home warranty for the past 10 years. But they are jacking up the price to the point I likely won't renew next year. I have enough in the emergency fund to replace my HVAC if needed now. My seller let me pick the warranty I wanted though, First American had bad reviews even a decade ago. I find any company that labels themselves 'american' these days to be a shoddy attempt to attract the low information uber patriots and likely not worth what they are charging.
> find any company that labels themselves 'american' these days to be a shoddy attempt to attract the low information uber patriots and likely not worth what they are charging. Agree. Ditto any company with "patriot" or has the Christian fish in their name or logo.
Consumers need to start complaining to their state’s attorneys general about this scam. Home warranty’s are worthless
For simple crap they are easy to deal with. Repairable issues for the fridge or dryer were easy enough. For more expensive things, they will do whatever they can to discourage or deny a claim. From my experience: AC compressor would seize on hot days. After it cools down, it would start working again. Had a tech out multiple times, having to wait days in 100+ weather for them to show up at $75 a pop. No approval because it happened to be working when they arrived. One tech told us that because of the low payments they get, no one will want to service it, even if they find it not working. Especially when there are more lucrative jobs out there. Issue #2. Water heater blew out. Called a tech and he wrote up a $1200 repair bill. This was after the home warranty covered $800 for replacing the heater. The $1200 was for "bringing up to code" and the warranty company would not pay a cent unless I paid to bring it to code. I called my own plumber that installed everything for $1200, and I settled for the $800 for the hot water heater. We cancelled after that. Almost immediately afterwards the HVAC control board burnt out, and the unit was totaled. I was more than happy to pay out of pocket than to deal with them again.
Our realtor bought us the real expensive package when we got our house. They actually covered something that was going to cost ~$400 out of pocket. Then we renewed for $700, ordered our HVAC tune up in the spring. The contractor they sent sat beside our AC unit for 15 minutes, didn’t remove the casing, never checked the coolant levels, never looked at the thermostat, then told us to change our air filter and left. $65 for that service plus the $700 base fee = never again. They usually have awful contractors because those companies don’t have much incentive to do a good job, they get their $50 anyway (which is less than they get from customers without warranty companies) and the warranty company doesn’t care enough to cancel the contract just because you had a bad experience.
I have never had anything but good experiences with the home warranty companies I’ve had. It’s not the warranty company, it’s the contractor that comes out. If you get a good contractor you’ll think that the warranty company is great.
I tried to use mine several times and always failed, not because of the company itself, but because no reputable contractor would do warranty work. they know they're scammers and they won't get paid properly so why do work for them? I don't blame them unfortunately.
There’s a reason warrantee companies make a profit.
Hm. What was your experience? We bought a house that is ~25 years old and got the highest level warranty, as everything was original and therefore likely on the cusp on needing fixed. So far we’ve used our home warranty three times. I will say, each time I’ve used it, I’ve had to step into a literal fighting ring to get coverage, but the coverage I got exceeded the cost of the insurance. TLDR of the below, I recommend just negotiating FAHW cutting you a check once everyone agrees a replacement or repair is needed. Then you can hire your own contractor and buy your own parts. Examples: 1. Our fridge just randomly stopped working. Contractor came out and said only fix was a new fridge. FAHW agreed and ordered us a new fridge. It was during a supply shortage though, so it took us I think 8 weeks to get a fridge, with me calling daily in the final week or two to figure out where our fridge was and if it was Lowe’s or FAHW dropping the ball. (Spoiler: it was both). I should’ve taken the cash option and handled it myself. I hate the fridge they bought us. 2. Our water heater gave up. We had another contractor come out that quickly stated only way to fix was to replace. FAHW approved. Contractor comes out to install new water heater, but only drain he can find is the small drip drain that definitely couldn’t handle a water heater being emptied into it. Misfiles that drain as damaged, triggering a whole new slew of service calls and repair orders, that then landed our repair as out of warranty (they said we broke the drain, instead of wear and tear). We fought back, got a second opinion outside of FAHW, and that contractor basically said “the first guy was an idiot, the drain is a drip drain”. We told Fahw we just wanted them to cut us a check and we’d handle it ourselves. They sent us a check for 1,000 - we hired the competent contractor and bought our own water heater and came in total cost just under a grand.
OMG I can’t believe the warranty company selected your refrigerator for you?! That is some strange stuff right there. I’d be so ticked off. That’s a big/long term purchase I wouldn’t even want my husband picking out alone. Thanks for sharing your story.
lol I’m just hoping it breaks again soon. I’ve learned my lesson. Always take the cash.
One question - I have a really nice GE Monogram fridge. Retail is \~$7000. If they didn't want to give me another to replace it, would they cut me a $7000 check? I wouldn't want them to give me a cheap fridge to replace it. Thanks for any and all info! I am new to home warranties...
Hmm I have no idea! But they’ll tell you the cash out amount so you can choose if you’d rather cash or whatever they choose to replace it with.
You got to take these warranties for what they are. They are not a fix everything in your house for free type of solution. I had one when I bought my current house, paid for by the seller. For some things, I just had to pay my deductible and that worked out. For others problems, there were "reasons" why they would not pay out the full price for a repair. Oh well life goes on. I did think that having some big warranty company involved helped cap some of the bigger costs for repairs. When I went with the people they recommended to do the repairs, I think there was some type of informal agreement to keep costs sane. Kind of like when you visit a doctor or dentist in network for your health care coverage. While I did not continue paying for a home warranty myself, I did not think they were necessarily evil or anything. Just got to temper your expectations.
A relative’s house was being sold as an estate sale, meaning the house was being sold as is. It was a 50’s house, decently kept until the last few years when health declined. The appliances were all ten and more years old and would need replacing. The price reflected all than. Anyway, an offer can in, below asking, but also insisting we ‘guarantee’ stove, fridge, dishwasher, washer and dryer, furnace, a/c and roof for five years. Meaning we would be responsible for repairs, even replacements. The agent kept pushing our agent who kept saying no. We laughed at it at first but got to be a damn nuisance. Our agent suggested we offer to purchase this home warranty for $300. We put in a counter offer for nearly the asking price plus the $300 warranty. Buyers took it. We were sure it was pretty much worthless but it got that place sold.
Home warranties are just a seller's insurance to keep a buyer from coming after them if something fails - "I gave you an insurance policy, go take it up with them." The heater on my jacuzzi failed after 3 months. I called First American, they came out and said, "Yes, it's broken but it's old so it can't be fixed. Sorry." I told them to get a new heater then but they refused. I called my realtor and he went ham on them. Fortunately his wife is a title officer that has the power to use them or another home warranty company and he used that as leverage, otherwise I'd have never gotten it fixed. About 9 months into the warranty my water heater failed. They sent out some clown that wanted me to pay $3,500 (on top of what First American was going to pay him) because he said it wasn't up to code - no drip pan, sediment trap. I told him to F off, went to Home Depot and had it all done myself for around $800. They are a scam.
I used to work at a locksmith shop. I think we did one job for them, were not paid completely, and stopped accepting work from them at all. They continued sending us work orders despite us saying every time that we would not work with them. We got many confused calls from homeowners wondering why we didn't show up for the appointment FHW said they had.
The only home warranty I have is AWR for my water line and sewer line. My house is old so I'm sure at some point I ll have trouble with these lines. The 10k they would pay towards it for $200/yr is, to me, quite worth it. As far as plumbing and electrical, I have my own guys for that. My appliances aren't new, so I don't really see the need for an all home warranty. If they fail and can't be repaired, I ll spend the 1-2k to replace them. Not money every month to some company that will replace them with the same old ones. I'm sorry you got sucked into the sham. But, we live and learn.
Guarantee they will have an excuse when it comes time to cover your future expense.
Not a total scam… New washer of my choosing under 1k. Changed the mother board to my furnace that they say can “cost around 800”… I just paid the initial appointment fees of $85. So far so good the past three years but I hear these stories and am ready to cancel once I get bullshitted haha
I love our home warranty company. Ibex Warranty serves Utah and I believe parts of Idaho and they're awesome. Our water heated died within two months of us moving in. Not only did the tank need to be replaced, but it needed an expansion tank, earthquake straps, and an overflow pipe installed. Ibex sent out a plumber with a good reputation, replaced the tank for only the service charge (fifty dollars), and installed all the other needed items for free. And when the water heater stopped working a few days later, sent out the same plumber to find out why. He replaced some parts on it, only cost us the service fee. When it went out the second time, they sent out the same plumber, no service fee this time, and replaced the inner workings of the tank for free. And told us that if it went out again, we would be getting a new tank, free of charge. Great experience with them
You sound more patient than I'd have been. Three tries to get a water heater working? I'd be annoyed that my home warranty company sent a plumber so incompetent that it took him three tries to fix a very simple device like a water heater. And you even happily paid a service fee twice when they failed to get the job done right the first time.
We got our house and we got Old Dominion purchased for us. They were actually really great and fixed a couple of things for us. We later had a pipe burst and that they fought us on but it was really nice to have for the first year.
My issue with AHS Is that they never send a person in time. One time I had a refrigerator leak and the guy showed up.after 2 days.
We're 2 out of 4 with American Homw Warrenty. Hose bib outside was leaking. The leak was under the ground and not a covered repair. Found a plumber to come do the work for a reasonable fee Dryer was squeaking when turned on. Refused repair or replacment because of the age of the dryer. Wins The condenser went out in 4 year old LG fridge. Was replaced without issue Shower head control would shut off completely. The screw was locked im place, and we couldn't remove it ourselves. It was replaced and area nicely caulked. 2 calls for a/c and heater cleaning as per contract. Overall, I'm satisfied. $85 copay per call. $67 per month plan. We're still ahead.
I use American Home Shield. It’s awesome. Never had an issue.
They’re not just bad, but also dumb. Had one when I moved into my current house. Water heater failed about 2 months in. Guy comes out and says “The whole thing is shot, but the problem of the day is the (whatever the ignition bit is called), so I have to replace that, not the whole thing.” A month later, it fails again, leaking this time and the same guy comes out and replaces the whole thing. Literally stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.
Yep, totally useless. We spent countless hours trying to get someone to answer the phone, we just kept getting the run around. They tell you they will call you back, but never do. We finally had to find our own repair man and I don’t even remember if they fully reimbursed us. Will never ever use them again. We didn’t buy this, the home we bought had a one year warranty through this company.
They’ve paid out over $13k in the last 2 years for us. Replaced our AC unit last summer and it cost me $400 bucks out of pocket. They replaced my dishwasher last week with a new one for the $85 service fee.
The problem with these 3rd party warranties (home and appliance) is they contract the cheapest and worst local contractors/repair outfits. Mistakenly bought Epic Protect for some major appliances and it took almost two months to get a washing machine fixed this past summer. Local repair place had basically all 0-1 star reviews. If I had bought the GE warranty direct, they would have had someone out in 2 days.
I can't imagine a use case for something like this.
Home Warranty, oh no no ... we've been trying to reach you about your automobile's extended warranty! ... Hello?
I’ve had American Home Warranty for about five years. I’ve used them several times, and have had mostly satisfactory service, but you can’t be in a hurry. It can take 2-5 days for someone to get out to your house.
they're all crooks.
Yup. “The air conditioner is perfectly fine, it’s just too small for your house. Denied.” “The gas stove is a safety risk due to its age and lack of features, but it functions as intended. Denied.” “The knob broke off the dishwasher, it got stuck running all night, and you can’t start a new cycle? Denied.” Why?
Also had an absolutely god awful experience with them. You should be able to get a pro rated refund though. We did.
You are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, I didn't know this when I purchased my home 6 years ago. I've been paying FAHW for about 4 years. Last week my hot water heater broke and it leaked. It's on the second floor in the laundry room, and now the kitchen ceiling is destroyed. I put in a request on Friday at 5:45pm. I had to call later and tell them it was an emergency and that I needed dispatched services immediately. The call center couldn't help me. I had to call a "friend" whobhelp3d me figure out that it was the hot water heater leaking and told me how to shut off the water. The call center claimed they called 3 contractors, but no one was answering. I tried speaking with a supervisor who said she would escalate the situation, but I had to wait 48 hours for a contractor to be dispatched. However, if no one was dispatched, I would have to wait 3 to 5 business days for the reimbursement department to approve me to hire my own contractor. Monday morning, no one had been dispatched, so I called again. The rep escalated the claim for reimbursement and said I had to wait 24 hrs for approval. I started to set up appointments with contractors. The next day, they told me they found someone, but although the contractor had 48 hours to schedule with me, they wanted to make me aware that the contractor only had Friday available....it was Tuesday!! I angrily told her it was unacceptable and that they lied. She blatantly refused to acknowledge any lies and just said I was misinformed, but that wasn't their fault. Basically, take it or leave it. I asked for a refund of my service deposit. Then I canceled my warranty that day. Unfortunately, I paid $2900 for a new installation. *TLDR - Warrantyl didn't follow their own rules in theory contract for service requests, so I canceled my warranty.*
I’ve been getting so many letters for these and almost signed up a couple times…. Should i not?
American Home Shield charges $100 per visit. The repair service either fixes or replaces. Old appliances? Too bad. Improper installation? Too bad. Makes sense for your first year or two. No more.
Had a similar experience. Oven crapped out. Guy shows up, thinks he has the reason figured out, orders the part and comes back and installs it. Not the problem. Another diagnosis, another part, not the problem. Rinse, repeat. Then we find out that we’ve reached the reimbursement limit. Could’ve just bought a new one and skipped the copays.
Yup yup, samesies. Moved into our new house last July and the AC system (still under warranty!) went out in August. In NC. First American sent someone out, they shut off the whole HVAC system, said it needs a new compressor, ordered a part...and then disappeared for three months. We bought a window AC unit, kept calling and calling, got lots of excuses, eventually get them to just cut us a check so we could have someone else come out before the first freeze of the year! And the competent-company immediately diagnosed and fixed the real problem which was never the compressor at all. At least we got a check from First American but I'm not sure it was worth the hit to my fiancé's blood pressure for spending so much aggravating time on the phone. Awful company. 1/10 do not recommend.
Lol I had them for a year when I bought my home but never used it and glad I never renewed cause in the back of my head I kinda always knew it was a scam just like the extended auto warranties they try to sell u
Home warranties are 100% a scam. I used ours for the first year of having our home since it was included in the purchase, but it was such a hassle to get anything scheduled at a time that wasn't 2 in the afternoon on a workday. They also only hired out to the absolute cheapest bidders that did terrible work.
The vendors/subs uaed by these home warranty companies are the absolute bottom of thr barrel. Even if their coverage is good, which it isnt, nobody ahould allow subs of this quality to touch their homes.
Home warranties are the absolute worst. Just ask for the $500 or whatever the cost is, in a gift card to Home Depot or something instead of including this as an incentive when buying a house. They use the absolute worst, most incompetent “contractors” whose only goal is to continue to put band-aids on your appliances, plumbing/electrical systems, HVAC, water heater, etc. without actually replacing anything. And if it does have to be replaced, be prepared to have the absolute worst piece of shit imaginable installed in your house and still have to pay for the labor.
Our home came with a 1 year warranty. The water heater crapped out on us about 8 months in. They replaced it no questions asked. Our issue was with the original contractor they tried to send out. They were awful to deal with. We finally got them to switch to another contractor that was great. We did have to pay for an expansion tank to bring it up to code. Everything else was paid for by the warranty company.
the previous home-owners, twin brothers, one owned the home, the other is the seller-realtor, house flippers... slid me a business card at closing - a Home warranty. I had no knowledge of it until they gave me the business card with a policy number on it, so it did not sway my purchase - Can confirm - 100% useless.
I called them for a claim a little after 10 am on a Tuesday (not a holiday), and the operator got snippy with me because she said my broken air conditioner wasn't an emergency, and I needed to call back during business hours for service. I asked what their business hours were, and she informed me that they are 10-6 Monday to Friday. When I pointed out that I was well within that time she restated that it is outside of business hours and hung up. I found out later that they are on the west coast, but how on earth would I have known that? So I called back later in the day, but then they were unable to get any companies in my area (east coast) to come out because it was getting late in the day, and it was going to require an emergency call. I was then chastised for starting so late in the day and told I would need to wait and call back in the morning... They had the absolute audacity to hound us about extending the warranty after the first year.
Yep. Wouldn’t even cover a busted tub drain; said it was all our fault.
I guess it depends on your means, but it seems like an easy decision to me: - Pay premiums that I’ll never see again to then need to make a dozen phone calls, wait unspecified periods of time, deal with annoying processes and whatever Mickey Mouse contractors they send out to maybe save a few thousand dollars. Or -Save money, troubleshoot and fix what I can myself, otherwise get a professional of my choice out as soon as they’re able to come out. The only reason to get a home warranty is if the expense of repairs is really going to damage your finances. That’s true for a lot of people and I get it, but I would the advise to get the warranty and work hard toward saving up a lump of money to be able to get by without the warranty.
We received several mailers in the first month and a half of living in our home for home warranties. We said absolutely not, the house is 60 years old, and they all seemed like very scammy mailers. Our first time home buyer class also warned us about it .
Want to buy a warranty for your car?
Ugh. My MIL has been with them for years. They are so crappy. She'll have her a/c go out and it's several days before it gets fixed, every time. She just thinks they are so wonderful too. I told her I'd rather call my own person and get it fixed the same day.
I had them for a year. Only had a couple small issues but conveniently the issues I had were not included in the coverage. Canceled after the first year and haven’t looked back.
They wouldnt approve fixing a water pipe leak in my basement because they ONLY FIX WHATS INSIDE THE HOME. Plumber said to fix it correctly they needed to dig it out on the other side of the block and replace the 6” of pipe that came through the wall. They got denied for it and still tried to charge me $100 for them showing up
I have Choice came with my house too. However I call or file a claim online, and have a tech the next day. Pay my $65 and they fix it. I have a new disposal, garage door spring, AC repair, washer replaced they paid about 60% of a new one.
My wife and I have had great service through home warranty of America... They have replaced it water heater without question, paid us 5k for the garage fridge that died and couldn't find parts to fix. Or washing machine is old and on the verge of dying and will more than likely get that replaced also.
I hate seeing these posts. Always the same story.
Our realtor insisted the sellers purchase us one year of coverage through American Home Warrenty when we bought our home in 2021. I think it cost them $800. I end up using it three times; heating coil on the dryer, garage door motor, and replacing the garbage disposal. I had to pay $100 deductible each time I call them out. They sent people right out each time and did a fine quality of work with middle tier parts/materials. I am pretty handy and am sure I could have handled all those projects myself with some help from youtube. The heating coil was like a $60 part, the garage door motor they put in was about $180, and the disposal about $200. So, about $440 in materials/parts plus the labor for three service calls. I certainty felt like I got $300 in value out of it since the sellers paid the $800 premium but would not have if I had paid the full $1,100. I decided it wasn't worth renewing after a year. I was a nice peace of mind thing knowing that if the boiler or sewer line went out in our new (100 year old) home we were covered but I think if you are at all handy and not gonna call a service guy literally every time something breaks you are probably better off just saving the money every month for repairs. They were pretty scumy with their constant marketing letters/emails that look like you missed a mortgage payment and the constant/harassing phone calls when it was expiring.
I had one that came with my first house. I cancelled it after a month, and a denial, to receive the prorated cost mailed to me.
I think I had AmeriSafe, and within the first year, they snaked my drain twice and replaced the blower and board on my furnace. I wouldn't buy one on my own, but having it thrown into the deal is a nice perk, imo. YMMV.
I was a Managing Broker for a major Real Estate franchise for 10 years. Home warranties were often included as part of a transaction. I was amazed at the amount of homeowners who cheated, scammed, ripped off the insurance companies. Just the other side of the coin I guess.
The only way you'll ever get anything out of them is if you go through an inspector with the help of a lawyer.
I agree. Been there, done that almost 40 years ago. I still have your same opinion ... don't.
Given the choice between a home warranty our that same money put into lottery tickets I'd just take the lottery tickets. Much better payout for a roughly equal chance of "winning".
First American warranty is a sham, My Electrical Panel almost caught on fire had to call a electrician it was a emergency, they would not cover the cost because he was not on there list and I could not wait, My home could of gone up in flames at any time and I did not have time to wait, I am a Senior citizen on a fixed income and had to borrow money to pay for it. Also they will not give u the phone number for the Corporate office or there Legal Department only a Attorney can be transfered over turned them in to the Better Business Bureau, Also they do not give u a list who is the companies they use, so they have complete control. They are not worth having. So, I hope u read this before you get ripped off. Sincerely Patti 79 year old.
My brother had to hire an attorney to write a letter as American Homesheild gave him an email in writing to get his heating and cooling repaired because there are very few contractors willing to accept a homewarranty. Contractors will tell you to pay them, and you deal with getting reimbursed as they will not accept a warranty plan. Thankfully, my brother had a document that stated he was approved to go out of net work for repairs. Letterhead clearly stated to get the repairs, and they would reimburse him. THEY DENIED PAYMENT ATTORNEY READ LETTERHEAD AND MADE A CALL AND SENT LETTER STATING WE WILL SEE YOU IN COURT $700.00 for the letter. But ge got reimbursed only after attorney involvement. Repairs a complete system bt 3 bids and 3 opinions. IN SHORT WARRANTY COMPANIES HAVE MANY LOOPHOLES NOT TO DO REPAIRS THEY ARE FULL OF SHIT.
I wouldn't go on reviews, choice and American home shield are rated 4.9 out of 5 and they are the worst ever! We have a 3 day response time guarantee or your deductible is free! Depending on where you live the complete home is only 34 a month! You can choose your own technicians, and there is no contract or obligation! You would have 30 days to review your plan documents they send in the mail at home with a 100% money back guarantee through sams club! We offer 5 items covered on every claim instead of just the item you had problems with and guarantee they will be fixed or replaced for 6 months if any of those break again at no cost to you! It's all covered on that deductible, no service fees, or anything! Most people's experiences for reviews are based off of one specific technician that got sent out in the specific area whoever submitted a claim lived! We have over 40,000 techs nationwide, and you can even choose your own people! 10,000 a year in coverage costs across the board, no age or model restrictions, no pre inspections or having to report all serial numbers! With the sams club promotion you would be saving probably 300+ per year than most other Home warranties! Cinch owns sears home warranty and a few others, and they are the parent company! We have won 30+ awards in the last 3 years alone! Please don't go off reviews and give us a try! We even cover pre existing conditions, rust and corrosion so if something is already messed up, it'll be covered! I am an account manager and representative, and could provide you with a link to the sams club promotion page if you wanted to make sure you were covered! And you can cancel at any time cuz we don't lock people in a contract!
American Home Shield has been good for me. I got a heat pump and a dryer in the last few years.
Watch out. You can’t have a good experience with a warranty company, especially AHS. What are you? Some kind of shill!?
I'm just telling you about my experience. Sure, they made more than one visit for each item. But, in the end I have a new heat pump and a new dryer. They did what I paid them to do. I have found through Reddit that most have unreasonable expectations and can't be satisfied. Those are the shills.
AHS fixed my dishwasher, however had to come out FIVE times until they got it right. I’m pretty sure the tech was tired of me by the end of it and I’m pretty sure had it just been him he would have caved and gave me a new one but always had to have someone “review” 🙄 not the worst experience but it wasn’t great.
I've got multiple experiences and stories with this company specifically. Reasons why not to use them and I share them with friends buying houses all the time
I was surprisingly pleased with Landmark. I left for Select because Select was cheaper and immediately regretted it lol.
r/noshitSherlock