American Home Shield (AHS)
Home Warranty Plan Details and Reviews for American Home Shield (AHS)
Customer Service 
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 598 Rate this Company!
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 598 Rate this Company!
Coverage Area: USA - All States
| Home warranty is a complex insurance product. Unlike home insurance, it does not provide blanket coverage for all appliances. Pre-existing conditions and problems resulting from lack of maintenance of appliance are are generally not covered by home warranty companies. Home warranty sellers may not state these factors clearly, and this will create dissatisfaction among customers. Due to these factors, you will see many negative reviews here. Don't be intimidated by some negative reviews here. If you have maintained your appliances in good condition and go with a reputed home warranty provider, your coverage will be fine. |
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Reviews
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Pages: [25] 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 … 1 » Show All
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Worst Experience I can Remember in recent history. This company really does bite the big one. The first person they sent out to fix my heater didn’t fix the problem, and lied to my face and he didn’t know what he was doing. The second guy they sent out was a second opition, and the guy made me feel that he didn’t understand the problem. He told me he fixed the yellow flame problem, and when I asked him if I could look myself, I knew something was up. I looked and saw that the yellow frome was still there as before. AHS charged me for the second opinion guy even tho the second opinion guy didn’t charge me. I was led to beleive there would be no charge because of the treatment I received from the first guy. Im still stuck with a heater with a yellow flame which leads to sooting. The heater guy that AHS sent out to me, said that they dont clean the air duct. Secondly, AHS said that they show a bill owing that was past due even though they didn’t send that bill out to me. Also, I was not informed of the charges before service was provided. I knew there was going to be a charge but they didn’t tell me how much. I cancelled the contract, and they are going to pro-rate it. I RECOMMEND TO ANYONE THAT AT THE FIRST SIGN THAT YOU ARE BEING LIED TO BY ANYONE DITCH AHS.
[...] company will cover only heating and cooling appliances. Most of the home warranty companies such as American Home Shield offer a blanket policy covering many other appliances in the home. This program is unusual, [...]
“Bad, Poor, Pathetic, Horrible” are words to use when referring to AHS. But somehow they are worse and beyond these words. Called to have water heater repaired or replaced on 27 Jan 10. There was a big bulge in the side, seam coming apart and wet to the touch with goo coming out. They sent a crooked plumber to do their crooked bidding. The plumber said stuff like…that looks funny…it’s going to blow…it needs to be replaced. BUT, since it wasn’t leaking on the floor and/or didn’t explode in his presence I guess…AHS said not to replace it and they called it “Not Leaking”. But wait, he offered to replace it at a cost to me and offered a deal. What? I complained to AHS and the first call back from them they told me that if it was mechanically working ok then they couldn’t change it. What? The crooked lady that called me today, 2 Feb 10, said it wasn’t leaking…what? Did she see it? I did offer to send pictures. We had another plumber come out within 30 minutes of the AHS plumber on 27 Jan 10. They said it needed to be replaced immediately and were surprised AHS didn’t consider it an emergency. In short, we had to hire that other company to come out to replace it and we were without hot water in our home for a few days. This was all last week…now AHS just calls back today, a week later, to see if they can send someone else. I told them in my complaint when they said his assessment was good for 60 days that it wouldn’t last the weekend. Hello!!! We have had some good home warranties in the past and thought all were equal, they are not. AHS is just bad, bad, bad. I implore you to not do business with this company. Unless you like frustration and being taken for your money…don’t use this company.
Terrible service, terrible contractors. We been in our home for 5 years and have had heating and air issues every year. My story is too long to post, but simply put, we were without ac for 2 weeks in July (and we live in the south), our child was 18 months old at the time, we basically had to move out for 2 weeks because AHS would not get our part expedited, it took 7 days for a compressor to get here from Iowa…I could have driven to Iowa and back in 24 hours and picked up the part myself.
They are terrible and we are switching this year after being a customer of AHS for 4 years.
Run away!!
36 hours for a call back on emergency heat issue. Waited 72 hrs for replacement of expansion tank. This is not rocket science. I could pick up a small expansion tank locally and had it done in 2 hrs.
Poor service all around from AHS. I cancelled my policy.
3 Jan – Called to put in service request for plumbing, I had to shut off plumbing until problem gets fixed.
5 Jan – No call back from AHS, I called back and they said they’ll put in another service request through Simensen.
8 Jan – No call back. I called Simensen (Simensen is a good honest company, btw), they said AHS called them and asked if a plumber was available, but never placed a work order. I called AHS back and they said they haven’t been able to find a service company yet. AHS said they’ll call me back within the next hour to update me on the status; never got a call back.
9 Jan – Called Simensen, I placed an after hours work order with the friendly receptionist. She stated that somebody will give me a call on Monday.
11 Jan – Got call back from Simensen, addressed that they will have my water running again by Wednesday. I called back AHS to submit my work order number, they fed me more complications that this is a ‘duplicate work order,’ and ‘may not be covered if duplicate.’
Simensen Plumbing did a great job servicing my needs, but not AHS. Home Warranty companies serve two main purposes, to make it convenient for me to have work orders placed and to serve as a semi-insurance policy for repairs. AHS never put in a work order and lied to me on multiple occasions about the status of my order. Each telephone representative gave me a different story why the order wasn’t placed and were clearly lies. AHS lacked integrity and behind closed doors, they are not there for their customers.
I’m currently on the phone with them still on hold for the past 30 minutes, listening to their recording say they “care about our customers” and “your call is important to us;” yea right. This isn’t my first time I’ve had a problem with AHS. I’m actually calling to cancel my service and switch to another company which has good reviews, from what I’ve read.
To all who plan on buying a home warranty plan, I reccomend you do a thorough review on the company as all companies are different in some way. I failed to do that before I purchased AHS. Now, spending $60 for my deductable doesn’t compare to losing water for 10 days. I’m not commenting on the repair service since that was done through another company.
AHS is the Worst Home Warranty Company EVER!. When I called to reimburse my claim, AHS told me ‘Claims’ Department don’t have Phone number and all the correspondense is only thru mail or email, Which is Horrible, AND I HAVE TO HOLD FOR 70 MINUTES JUST TO TALK TO SOMEONE. Secondly when I called to cancel my Contract, I was hold for 75 minutes just to cancel my contract. The customer service is the WORST EVER!. They only repeat what ever wsa tought to them and they dont have any real solutions. I am going to try someother service company and see how that is. BUT FOR SURE DO NOT GO WITH ‘AHS’.
Extremely dissatisfied. The “fine print” requires you to be a service provider (plumber, HVAC, etc.) to understand. They refused coverage on having my plumbing snaked because there was no outside access. I live in a 100 yr. old house; they didn’t make outside plumbing access back then. But since it’s in the fine print, I’m now out $900. I’m canceling my contract with AHS.
I was with AHS for over 10 years. They started out great then went to the dogs. I had trouble with my dishwasher. Repairman came out and said nothing was wrong with the washer despite I told him I heard a loud noise come from the dishwasher. He assured me it was okay to use. I continued to use my dishwasher. After a while, I started to see my floor turn dark. I called AHS to come out to check the dishwasher again. They did not respond for several weeks. They finally came out and said it was the plumbing behind the wall. The repairman said it would possibly be covered. I called and requested a repairman come out. Again, several weeks had gone by before a response. When I told them damage had occured to my floor, they immediately sent someone out and said that the plumbing was installed improperly so they denied the claim. I requested a second opinion and the repairman consulted with the first repair company and then he came up with the same diagnosis. When I asked a representative, they advised the 2nd repairman was suppose to do an independent diagnostic exam of the problem. When I assured the representative the repairman was on the phone at my home with the other repair company, the representative said it was nothing they could do. When I asked if I could have an independent plumber come out and assess, the representative advised they could not use any company outside of the ones they contracted with. When I stated the second opinion was biased, the representative said it was nothing they could do. I asked to speak to a manager and the representative blew me off saying there was no manager on duty. I also had a pending dryer claim because the repairman said the dryer could not be fixed. They refused to fix or replace my dryer because I advised I was not paying a $60 service fee for a biased opinion.
If you are looking to invest in a home warranty, look somewhere else. The “customer service” reps are little more than robots trained to say the exact same thing over and over. I have been waiting over a month for my microwave to be repaired. This is a new model and the part is readily available. I have contacted the company five times and three of the times they said they would call me back and they never did. It is sad when you purchase a warranty in order to feel protected against unforeseen break-downs and you feel like you are being scammed by the ones you trusted to protect you. Do your homework BEFORE you trust in this company!
they take your money but when something happens they send repairmen who don”t know what there doing or they find away out so they do not have to replace the item and your stuck payiny for it. rip off we need to get together and fight them take them to court.
I have been with AHS for almost 18 years and have always had problems but this time has been the worst. I put a work order in on 6 Jan 10 and now have been without heat for nearly a month. Same as everyone else, I have been told the company that make my unit has gone out of business and that they would have to do a national search for the part before AHS would consider replacing the unit. As for someone in charge of AHS forget it the MANAGEMENT of this company are bunch of idiots they don’t return phone calls and when customer service asks if you would like to have a manager call you back it won’t happen. The CEOs or who every runs this company should be slapped just for existing on this earth. THey are useless people, my recommendation would be to get a new company as quick as you can. I do know now that I will not renew my insurance with this company when it is due in June.
This is the WORST home warranty company. My experience is as follows:
1) Customer Service reps are rude, uninformed on policy and purposely speak a canned script over and over again. Do not listen to the issue but continue to drone on and on from a canned speech.
2) They do not vet their contractors well if at all. I’ve repeatedly told AHS that the plumber and electrican they’ve sent to my home were not reliable and have done damage to my home, but they refuse to do anything about removing them from their contractor network.
3) Raise monthly premiums annually. AHS has a habit of raising premiums on an annual basis if you actually have anything replaced (which takes an act of God to prove)
I would encourage anyone researching a home warranty company to look elsewhere.
Our oven quit working 2 days before Christmas and a service repair person came in a timely manner. After inspecting the oven he informed us that it needed 2 parts to be repaired. The part order had to be obtained by AHS and we told that a national search would be conducted to find the right part. After two weeks of waiting we were informed that our oven was no longer being manufactured and parts were not available. We were told that we needed to wait to be approved for a replacement oven. AHS tried to give us a oven that was inferior to the professional model we had purchased and we declined and demanded an oven of equal value. After waiting another 10 days, we were informed that we would be allowed up to $4999 for replacement costs. We went to the dealer where we had purchased our original oven and found a comparable oven for $5400. I called AHS and requested that they cut a check to the appliance dealer and I would make up the difference. They refused and told me that the only way I could be reimbursed was if I paid for the entire oven and then they would reimburse me the $4999. I asked to speak to a manager and was told they were unavailable but someone would call be that same day to discuss the issue. No manager called as promised, which is in keeping with our previous experience with the company.
I got a bid from the dealer and headed home. On the way home as my wife drove, I used my I-Phone and entered my oven’s name into Goggle and did a search. Within a half an hour, I had contacted the manufacturer (they were in business using a different name) and was assured that the parts were available to repair my oven. I also learned that the the most expensive parts had a life-time warranty and the parts would be provided and shipped to my home at no charge. The charges for the other parts not under warranty was $190.
I called AHS and informed them that I had easily found the manufactures and arranged for the needed parts to be delivered. I requested that if they sent the service person back to my home to repair my oven and reimburse me for the parts, and I would consider the matter settled.
AHS informed me that they could not reimburse me for the parts since their contact does not allowed insured parties to get their own parts. I was told that I needed to wait for the service person to be approved by their parts and services department. I had saved AHS $4779 and they were still trying to avoid taking care of the expenses of $200.
We have not had a working oven for nearly 5 weeks, (it is now the end of January) I am not convinced that they were really sincere in their efforts to resolve this issue by the tactics they used to stonewall us from getting resolution in having the matter settled. We kept getting sent to various departments who needed to do some minor part of the process of getting the oven repaired or replaced. They promised to call back and didn’t and wouldn’t give us the full name of any person who could see this repair or replacement through.
I am still waiting to for the phone call to have the service person authorized to repair my oven. I will probably have to go to court and report them to business and regulatory agencies before I feel finished with this company. They do not appear to be honest in their dealings with people. How else do you explain that I was able to find a solution for the oven within 30 minutes after waiting for AHS for 30+ days.
Same story as all i have read above, heat went out it is now 4 weeks ago ( in january ) The vendor they sent wont answer his phone, wont call back and has missed a show up appointment 3 times now,( arranged through AHS ). I was so upset over missing work a 3rd time to wait for this vendor when i called AHS i raised my voice to the rep. after hearing the same old story “theres nothing more we can do” The icing on the cake was when i raised my voice the rep raised hers louder and was actually yelling at me over the phone, and told me theres no way she would go without heat for 4 weeks, she would do whatever she had to, than deal with the “consequenses” later. Her meaning was i should go ahead and pay the $1000.00 dollars extra on top of my yearly AHS premium, and service fee. Goodbye AHS. I recommend finding alternate ways to handle repairs in your home, with reputable companies.
Reading reviews are very beneficial. I would advise anyone to use any other warranty company than American Home Shield. They are the worst company I have ever used.
I have been using them for almost 5 years and they never totally fix my problems. It never fails every summer and winter I have to make numerous calls about my AC and heating unit. They only piece things together to get by. Neither unit has yet begun to work properly. I had a guy out yesterday that said he needed to do $80.00 worth of work; when he came out today he had the audacity to say it will be over $850.00.
Please search elsewhere, seriously. I am trying to save you the trouble and money…..
I am completely and totally appalled at your company and service. On one different occasion, you’ve sent contractors to my home who were absolute crooks! In essence what they try to do is stick the homeowner with enough “extras” they say are required to cover their fees for the repair. Case in point, my hot water heater blew, which is covered in my contract with you. The contractor AHS sent out tried to tell me it was in code violation and I would have to pay an additional $905.00 w/out the heater cost for the extras to bring it up to code. Earlier this week I learned I could “cash out” with AHS. What a joke, The contract tried to say that parts included and attached to the water heater needed installation, when they are already installed. Do not use this company, they are making you pay for the water heater and then additional cost. CROOKS
The following is a letter I sent to AHS on January 21, 2010
American Home Shield
To whom it may concern,
I am completely and totally appalled at your company and service. On three different occasions now, you’ve sent contractors to my home who were absolute crooks! I basically paid $60 per contractor to find this out. In essence what they try to do is stick the homeowner with enough “extras” they say are required to cover their fees for the repair. Case in point, my hot water heater blew, which is covered in my contract with you. The contractor AHS sent out tried to tell me since my hot water heater was 18 years old, it was in code violation and I would have to pay an additional $905.00 for the extras to bring it up to code. He also stated the cost of the water heater was $400 and the cost of labor was $400 to install. These amounts ($800) would be covered by AHS. For a grand total of $1,705 to install a 40 gallon water heater. I paid him the $60 and told him to leave. I found another company to install a 50 gal water heater, bring everything up to code for a grand total of $925.00.
Earlier this week I learned I could “cash out” with AHS. What a joke that is. I’m presuming you are going to pay what your contractor told me he was going to charge for the water heater and the labor, $800. Only to find out from AHS you will only pay $425.00 total because AHS buys water heaters in bulk and the contractor is under contract with AHS to only charge a certain amount. So why did your own contractor tell me $800??? I would love to see an invoice where this amount was actually paid to a contractor for this type of work (labor) and another one where you paid such a discounted rate for a comparable water heater!
To summarize, you send out contractors to shaft the homeowners with extras to cover the cost of the repair. You do absolutely nothing to replace the items, but you charge a premium to the homeowner under the pretence of insuring their mechanical and/or appliances but in reality AHS provides nothing more than a glorified referral service. To crooked contractors none the less!
I’ ll make this short and sweet. Stay away! I am with them now and I am leaving asap! They’ ve denied me twice. They don’ t want to spend any money over $200.
I think this home warranty business is a scam. Every time we put in a claim, we have a nice contractor sent out–which is all done very timely and with courtesy. But then the contractor tells us the item is not covered, or the specific part of the repair is not covered, they collect their $60 for their ten minutes of “expert” analysis, and it’s over. I am beginning to think this is a way for contractors to collect some easy money for doing no work at all. I would not renew this policy or recommend it to other homeowners. It’s not a benefit and provides no useful value.
I placed an internet request for service on a Tues, I got no response so I called back Thurs morning. I got an ignorant person on the phone. I called back 20 mins later and spoke wiuth a very nice woman. She didnt have any different answers than the last one, she just wasnt ignorant. I called the contractor (Kevin from sovereign Plumbing)an hr later and he said he could be here the following night (fri). He was here w/in a half hour of the appointment and diagnosed that my water heater needed to be replaced. He agreed to do it the following Sat. I emailed him on Tues with no response. I called him on Thursday w no response. I called him Fri morning no answer. I called AHS and they have no report from the previous week nor a warranty claim and told me “he’s your contractorso we have to call him and give him time to get back to us.” So, it was the day b4, I have no appt time nor do i know if he’s coming. AHS calls me back and said the claim has been filed. Cool, so I call the contractor again. He said his brother was supposed to get back to me, no “sorry”, and that he’ll know 9:00 Fri night what time Saturday. I said great, thanks. I received no phone call Fri night. I got up at 7am this morning not knowing what time they start on Saturdays. I called Kevin at sovereign at 8am and left a message. I called AHS at 12:00 and spoke to an ignorant woman who told me, when I asked ho long I wait, that Sat ends when Sun begins. They didn’t care about the lack of service from their outrside contractors and when i asked to work w someone else I was told sure, then they will call you within 2 business days to schedule an appointment, you can pay another deductible, and wait for them to have a chance to install it. I will never buy a warranty from them again.
I had AHS with my home in Texas and had good service and only one problem with a service call during 4 years there. I moved to Alabama and bought a 1 year old home and in my 3 years in this home have 6 calls for heat or A/C problems. The latest being my heat went out on Dec 17, 2009, I called AHSthat same day and a repairman was sent out on Dec 18. The repairman said the circuit breaker on the heat strip (I have a heat pump) was bad they would be back that afternoon. Well that day went and the next day was Saturday then Sunday. Only after I called on Monday morning was I told someone would be there to install the breaker. Mean while its below 20 in Alabama. And how hard is it to get a circuit breaker! I could buy one at Home Depot! Anyway the heat pump was fixed or so I thought. It put out some warm air but not a lot. I was told heat pumps don’t work well in cold weather so I got what I got. On Jan 2, 2010 again the heat pump was not working. It was warmer outside in 20+ degree weather then inside the house. It was not an emergency so the repairman could not come until Monday. The company sent two repair men and a supervisor, they could find nothing wrong with the system. However, I have a zone heating system. I had the zone heating system for all 6 of the previous calls. I was told that zone systems are not covered by AHS, BUT to give me heat he(repairman) will bypass the zone system and give me heat. They gave me heat all right the system NEVER turns off. I have used over 4789kwh of electicity in 3 weeks! AHS will not send anyone out to fix the system because they donot cover “energy” zone systems. So I have constant heat with outrageous electic bills or I disconnet the system at the circuit breaker and have no heat! According to the websites for heat pumps their experts say a zone system is the best economical heating system to own. But don’t get one because AHS will not cover it!
HORRIBLE. Customer service reps are very polite — until you have a claim. Then they give you the run around and every rep you speak to seems to have a different policy. AHS’s overall policy seems to be to keep fixing things (even 20 year old water heaters) until they are completely useless and a fire hazard. They don’t send nearby companies to do the work, even if you request a contractor on their “list” who is in your same zip code and available to do the work! Today, while trying to sort through an issue, an AHS rep hung up on me. I’m done….looking for a new company.
I have been an AHS customer for 12 years and they have replaced my cooktop, built in microwav and waterheater. They have repaired my dryer, washer, refrigerator, HVAC (three times), toilet (3), pressure regulator valve, dishwasher and icemaker. I plan to renew again this year.