American Home Shield (AHS)
Home Warranty Plan Details and Reviews for American Home Shield (AHS)
Premium: $360
Deductible: $60
Effective: Immediately after payment
Web: ahswarranty.com
Deductible: $60
Effective: Immediately after payment
Web: ahswarranty.com
Customer Service 
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 626 Rate this Company!
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 626 Rate this Company!
Coverage Area: USA - All States
Offers plans to cover pre-existing conditions and lack of maintenance repairs, for an additional fee.
| 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. |
We do not endorse any company in particular, however you should ignore the reviews that are overly negative or positive. Such reviews are not likely to offer a balanced view and some of them could be fake reviews posted to promote or demote a company. It is always a good idea to check BBB ratings and make sure the company is licensed to do business in your State by contacting State Insurance Commission. Try to avoid paying annual premium and keep your cancellation rights
Reviews
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We have had American Home Shield for at least 7 yrs now.
We had one positive washing machine experience claim at the beginning – then it went to horrible by the next need of their service – at least 3 years later.
We had a leaking water heater.
I called and was told it would be covered.
Like most people who purchase these warranty plans – it is because we ourselves are not knowledgeable in home repair enough to fix any of these type of things when they go wrong.
So the guy comes out, we pay the $65 and he says oh yes the water heater itself is covered – but the labor and parts to ‘bring it up to code’ would up the price over $500.
I could not accept that.
I told them no thanks – never mind: you are quoting way too high a price.
I called a friend and he bought the parts and labor he through in – and it all cost us under $160.
One part – a drip pan of sorts – they were trying to charge us an outrageous amount of money for the installation and the part – and the labor involved was simply setting this underneath the water heater and tightening a few screws and the part was purchased for around $20 at Home Depot!
I agree that they use sub par services and I am now shopping for a better plan.
The question is: Does one exist?…..
Like a lot of the other reviewers, we got suckered into laying out a lot more than we should have–and Customer Service doesn’t exist (Customer DISservice is more appropriate). Unfortunately, we didn’t learn from our first experience, when they unjustly increased our premium, and got socked with unnecessary charges several times. We are out several years’ premiums, exorbitant upgrades and service fees. If you DO read the entire contract, you should be scared away instead of learning the hard way as we did. We DEFINITELY will not renew this contract — we already paid them too much.
Service technicians are inept and yes they do lie. Was losing power in kitchen. Call AHS for repair ASAP. This was a Friday night. Since whole house was not out of power it was not an emergency. Assigned me a company from Arizona. I live in VA. They had poor scheduling practices plus a bad rating with BBB. I requested another. Gave me another company which is not listed in any local phone book or website. Said the electrical problem was my power company’s problem. Nothing wrong in the house. Had power company look around outside. Found meter base to be bad, which AHS said is a covered part. The meter base was damaged when the power company employee tried to put the meter back in it. Home Shield denied coverage because power company broke it. Never mind the thing was corroded and leaked water when it rained. I could have been electocuted. They stuck by their technician and couldn’t have cared less what happaned. the technician didn’t tell the truth. To my knowledge there is no appeal process. I won’t be renewing. There’s got to be a better company out there.
I had them for (2) years, first year was great, when my water heater went bad, it was replaced for Under $200; as you have to pay disposal fee. then this last year was terrible, my ac blower motor went bad, they sent a tech, he said he’d have to order it, he showed up one afternoon, without calling and my (20) yr old daughter was luckily home. he replaced motor with the WRONG one, it burnt up the next day, which was a saturday. AHS said only he could repair it, they left he him vm and faxes, he never responded. Come to find out he’s on vacation for (2) weeks…. they finally canceled him and got me another a/c company, they said furnace had to be replaced as a/c coil was leaking causing motor to short out. they then ordered replacement, i made an appt with them for the following week at 8am, they finally showed up at 2pm and then couldn’t get it finished by 6 and wanted me to wait AGAIN for (2) more days, as they other appts scheduled.
AHS hires anybody to do there work and when you call to complain, they promise everything and you get nothing.
I am a Real estate agent and I have been referring AHS to so many of my clients. My clients used to complain about AHS everytime, but I always gave benefit of doubt to AHS as I thought every company has their share of unhappy complaints. But when it struck me personally, I understood how bad their service was.
1. I had their service for all my rental properties. And everytime I call them for a problem, they deny the service either on grounds of lack of maintanenance or abnormal wear and tear. How do you define abnormal wear and tear and lack of maintenance?
The faucet of my bathroom went bad and AHS denied to repair. I asked for second opinion and paid out of my pocket and the second plumber could repair it in 10 minutes. All their contractor vendors are below par.
2. Recently I had a problem with A/C unit. The service technician reported that there was lack of maintenance and therefore has to be replaced and cannot be covered under AHS. I wanted to get a second opinion, but they don’t have any preferred vendor other than this guy in that area. So I paid separately to another vendor and he said that A/C unit is perfectly fine except that there is a leak that has to be fixed. AHS does not want to pay for the repairs, all they can do is lift the exclusion on A/C for future repairs.
All in all, pathetic company and service. So avoid it totally. So which Home warranty is a better one then? I don’t know, I am still trying with different ones and post my feedback on this website.
I have had both good and bad service from AHS. water heater they replaced in one trip no issues. For my pool pump I had to fight with them but they fixed it. They claimed they had looked at it in the past when the house was owned by someone else. At that time the repair company said the pump was not for the pool. I made them send someone out to inspect it again and they did the repair. plumping is always a issue and it ussually takes more then one trip at $55.00 each trip to fix. The warranty ussally pays for its self over the year for us.
I always thought I picked the best Home Warranty Company. But you never know how good they are until something breaks. Had A water heater go out. Been with AHS for some 5 years. They sent a fly by night company to fix it. Never did. Complained to AHS. It seems they didn’t care. They never responded.
My pipes sprang a leak under the house.
As covered by my warranty American Home Shield sent a plumber to repair. It took three days to repair.
Two days later the repair failed.
Original plumber said repair was good but new leak needed opened up 8 inches away and that 5 feet of pipe would have to be replaced.
American Home Shield sent another plumber out the next day.
New plumber said the original repair failed and that all cold water pipes under house would have to be replaced.
American Home Shield sent yet another plumber out the next day.
New plumber said the pipes under the house must be replaced.
American Home Shield has now said that the plumbers have told them that the pipes must be re-routed outside the foundation, which is not covered. THIS IS NOT TRUE IT IS A LIE.
The repair and/or replacement of leaking pipes under my house is specifically covered by my warranty and American Home Shield is refusing to honor their home warranty. Not to mention the fact that they are refusing to fix the failed repair that they had someone perform in the first place.
They also will not even let me speak to someone higher than a phone center individual to resolve this.
I only want them to honor the home warranty contract, which I have with them.
I honored my payments for this warranty why cant/wont they honor the contract that they wrote?
THIS COMPANY WILL DO ANYTHING SO THEY DO NOT HAVE TO PAY… I HAD AN A/C PROBLEM THEY SENT SOME ONE OUT DAYS AFTER MY REQUEST HE CAME HE LOOKED AT IT FOR 2 SECONDS AND SAID I HAD A LEAK AND THEN SAID AHS WILL CALL. NEXT DAY THEY DID CALL AND SAID THAT THE SERVICE GUY SAID THE UNIT HAD LEAVES I IN IT AND WAS NOT MAINTAINED (WHICH IT WAS) AND THAT THEY WOULD NOT COVER ANYTHING FOUGHT WITH THEM FOR WEEKS AGAIN DENIED CLAIM FOR TECH REASONS ASKED FOR ANOTHER COMPANY TO CHECK IT AND WAS DENIED. I HAD TO PAY FOR A NEW A/C UNIT OUT OF MY OWN POCKET..
THIS IS A RIP OFF INSURANCE…DO NOT BUY IT I LEARNED THE HARD WAY…HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE….
The seller purchased the AHS home warranty contract as part of our home purchase/closing. I continued to renew the contract at approx. $400 per year. Into the third year one of our a/c units ceased to cool the air. It only circulated the air. We called AHS. They sent a repairman and he put additional freon in. The next day the same thing happened. We called AHS.
They sent someone to inspect the unit and told us the condensor unit needed to be replaced, but it was a pre-existing condition! They would do nothing further.
After four months of arguing with AHS and seeking assistance through the state Insurance Fraud division, I finally gave up and had to purchase a new unit. What could I do? It was now June in Florida. Four months of frustration. My only consolation was my decision not to renew the third year – saved $400.
AHS is the worst company I have ever had to deal with for any purpose!!! Customer service is horrible!!! They send out repariman that give false reports so they dont have to repair your belongings
After a year and a half of fighting with these people, I have decided to try to find a better company, thus I’m here.
We have had AHS since we moved into the house. In that time we have had several issues that required service calls. We have had the water heater replaced. Plumber was out same day, ordered tank and brought it the next day and installed it. No problem, quick, professional. We had the air conditioner go out a couple of times in the middle of summer in GA! Tech came out at appointed time diagnosed the problem (ants in the condenser switch) got part and replaced it. Told me that normally this would not be covered but they did it anyway. This year we had the house inspected for sale and discovered that the furnace was leaking a little bit of gas (not dangerous but needed to be fix). The tech was great but he had problems getting the correct part from the part supplier. So while it took several days to get the system fixed the tech was always courteous and friendly, professional and concerned about my family being without heat. The company that came to fix the heater and the AC where from the same company and these issues was a year or more apart. The techs always called 20-30 mins ahead so we didnt have to sit at home for hours waiting on them. The one that worked on the heater, told us he wasnt running his heat until he got ours fixed. Stayed late a couple of nights trying to get the wrong parts from the supplier to work (up to 8pm). Overall, we have had good experience with them.
I think those that have had bad experiences are the ones that are going to be rating a company like this, most people who have good experiences are not going to go look for a place to post positive ratings.
Not worth the hassel. I called for a plumbing issue,where the diverter cartridge in my bathtub totally disentagrated and parts flew everywhere from the force of the water. AHS sent a plumber from another town 30 miles away and is a virtual unknown entity (no listing in phone book). After being there for approximately 30 minutes, the plumber told me I had “missing parts” and that he knew AHS would deny my claim. He went outside to make the call to AHS. In the meantime I called customer service. While speaking with customer service, the plumber came back in and was still on the phone with the “denial” department. I asked to speak with them and began to explain my issue. I told the “denial” representative that the entire diverter popped out into my hand and that I could see water flowing from the water pipe into the gap between the pipe and the wall and that is probably where the missing parts went. The “denial” representative told me there was “NO WAY” I could have seen the water and the plumber stated “There is no gap in the wall. Well I was livid. Did they think me to be such an imbicile that I don’t know a four-inch gap when I see one? (can you say 2X4?) When I expressed my dissatisfaction to American Home Shield, they offered to send another unknown plumber from 40 miles away. I said there are a number of reputable plumbers in my town, why are you sending me unknown contractors from another town? After some BS answer, I, subsequently, requested cancellation of my agreement. Definitely not worth the hassel and confirms that it’s all a scam.
AHS happens to be the worst for both customer service and the fact that many of there contract providers are probably the worst in the industry.
If you want to just flush money down the drain and never get any quality service in return then this is the company for you.
I’ve had similar issues with my A/C (I live in AZ). The A/C quit working July 3rd. I had to argue with the AHS rep to get them to submit it as an emergency. After about 20 minutes, they agreed. The tech came out July 4th…
He got my A/C working, but left my heater and manual fan inoperable. After three months, dozens of phone calls (me calling them, they never followed up with me), and three A/C companies, they finally fixed my unit so that the A/C, heater, and fan all worked properly.
Neither the warranty company nor the A/C companies EVER followed up with me–it was always me calling them to find out what was going on. The A/C companies kept scheduling the service calls with me (and even this usually required me to call them) but then not making it out when they said they would and never calling to cancel or reschedule.
Now we’re in winter and I go to use my heater… It doesn’t work. I call AHS to open a service call and explain to them the meriad of problems I’ve had with them not getting this problem fixed and the several companies that have come out to work on it… All they would say is that there’s only a “30 day” labor warranty.
So now I have to pay another service call fee for a problem that was created by one of their service companies and that has been ongoing since July.
To top that off, my heater is totally inoperable… They won’t submit this as an emergency. That makes me wonder what they consider an emergency–the heater doesn’t work and it’s just down right cold in my place at night. But that doesn’t meet their “emergency guidelines”. Go figure…
I will not be renewing with this company nor would I recommend that anyone use them… EVER!
This company was good, but as soon as I put in too many claims they didn’t renew my contract – and there weren’t many, I assure you. They never had to replace anything major. Typical insurance company – just want to collect premiums but won’t be there for the long run. They also dropped the ball in customer service several times, especially during some very hot days when all my air conditioner needed was refrigerant chemicals.
Shortly after moving into our new home, we had the furnace checked as part of routine maintenance, and it was found that the heat exchanger was cracked, meaning that the furnace would need to be replaced. So we called AHS, who sent another company out. This guy couldn’t find the crack until we put him on the phone with the first guy.
We didn’t want the bottom-of-the-line furnace that we knew AHS would pay for, so we asked about a “cash out” option. Yes, they would do the cash-out option. Turns out, however, the amount they’ll pay is … $1000. Our question is: Where can you get a new furnace installed for $1000? We ended up installing a top-of-the-line Carrier, and it cost $5700.
When speaking to customer service people, it’s obvious that they relish telling you “It’s not covered,” or some other bad news. My advice: READ THE POLICY BEFORE YOU BUY. There must be a better plan somewhere.
I called them regarding my washer, which backed up into my tub, and they said it was covered. So, I paid 55 dollars and the first company farmed me out to a second, which sent a really young guy who dropped my toilet and didn’t fix the problem. They left a new leak, and, my plumbing backed up again, worse, now sewage all over the floor as they didn’t fix the toilet seal. I called the company and requested a different company as I didn’t even know who my provider really was and as I felt the second company was incompetent. They said I had no choice but to have the same company come again (but they were farming me out). The next time the kid scratched my walls and doors with his machine, the problem still was not fixed, and eventually all parties left me stranded, with major plumbing issues, all drains backing up instead of one, and said it was root damage. Told me I needed an outside cleanout for 2000. I gave up, called roto rooter, and they found a hidden outside cleanout!!! Now I have damaged walls but at least my plumbing works. I never got the 55 back.
I like American Home Shield, they helped me and my wife when we had a dryer go bad. Upon getting a new dryer we were able to upgrade to the one we liked, we paid the difference of the upgrade and it still saved us a lot of money.
Pretty much exactly what Philip C had to go through. I actually also had problems with a light fixture as well. My issue is not that it was not covered, but the fact that it took about 3 months/4 contractors to finally tell me that the fixture was the issue, and that it woudl not be covered. In the end, it cost me only $150 to repair it on my own.
I do not plan to renew with this company. After our air conditioning unit developed a water leak, American Home Shield sent out two a/c companies and a plumber, each of whom said it was an a/c problem or a plumbing problem. None of them wanted to take responsibility and American Home Shield would not intervene.
After three months of delay, we hired our own a/c company who said it was in fact an a/c problem (a leaky drip pan) and opined that the other firms either misdiagnosed the problem or simply didn’t want to do the work for the money they get from American Home Shield.
When we tried to get American Home Shield to pay for the repairs done to the a/c unit by our a/c company, the company said it was a pre-existing plumbing problem for which it were not responsible. Based on that poor performance, we decided not to renew with American Home Shield.
The best one that I know about is American Home Shield. This company is based in Iowa. They sell through local real estate agents and some insurance agents. From personal experience, i.e. I have had them covering my home for over 8 years & I sell their warranties. They do come through for you. Look over the coverage carefully and realize that there is a small deductible. Also another advantage is that they call in the licensed & insured plumber, electrician, appliance repairperson, etc. so that you don’t have to look for one.
In our opinion, AHS contracts sub-par repair personnel. An air conditioning compressor took nearly three weeks to get repaired, and with the additional fees added, we could have it repaired ourselves for about $100 more (which would have been worth it, given the time it took). The repair person was surly and did not communicate with us except when we complained to AHS. Further, he outright lied at least twice, first stating that he would call the repair order in on the day he diagnosed it (he did not turn in the repair order for an additional five days…only after we called to check). Then he said that the part had been shipped elsewhere, which also turned out to be untrue. The AHS personnel were of little help as well, stating that we were moved down the list since it wasn’t “an emergency”; however, they would not clarify their definition of emergency. Evidently, a unit that is inoperable doesn’t qualify. GO ELSEWHERE FOR A HOME WARRANTY SERVICE! We will not be renewing.
I would not recommend this company. They are not interested in fixing your problem just putting a band aid on it. It’s bad when the repair guy says not to use them!