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: 906 Rate this Company!
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 906 Rate this Company!
Coverage Area: USA - All States
Offers plans to cover pre-existing conditions and lack of maintenance repairs, for an additional fee.
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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: « 38 … 22 21 20 19 18 [17] 16 15 14 13 12 … 1 » Show All
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When we purchased our home two years ago the warranty was purchased by the sellers. We renewed after the first year. Up until recently we were satisfied with their service. Someone would usually be there within 3 days if it was not an emergency. There were a couple of occasions where the contractor had to come back because the job was not done right.
We have a GE Advantium oven which stopped working. The contractor came out and said he would have to order a part. It was a couple of weeks before the part came in and he came back and fixed it. The microwave was working fine but the oven still did not work. I called AHS and they sent the contractor back. After two more visits, more parts ordered and a day where they were here for at least six hours, the oven was finally repaired after not working for about two months.
Our renewal comes up at the end of July. We received a letter last week advising that they weren’t going to renew. It seems as though these plans are great as long as your repairs are minor. As soon as something comes up that costs them some money they drop you.
I would not recommend this company. They are happy to take your money as long as they don’t have to pay anything out.
This summer I called AHS to place a services call for A/C repair. The unit was leaking. This is the cover letter sent to Mr. Crawford, head of AHS. I had sent pictures and a 13 page detailed report of how 3 contractors could not diagnose the leaking drain pan and how after 4 weeks and 100 degree temps needed to find my own contractor. AHS would not reimburse me the $425 for the repair.
The lack of customer service afforded to me by their reimbursement department and a declined response letter was very disappointing. They pay mostly substandard contractors a fixed rate and when the repair is more than the fixed rate these subs do the very least or nothing at all. i suggest all readers to find another company.
Dear Mr. Crawford:
Following this letter is another correspondence I sent to your AHS Reimbursement request department a few weeks ago. I received a call from the Reimbursement call center on 6/9. I have to say the scripted response and lack of customer mediation to the request could only point to absolute focus on bottom line numbers and mirrors the many negative postings on various Internet sites.
As you read the below, I can not believe 4 weeks of time and 3 A/C vendors could not diagnose a problem and correct a condensation tray leak issue. In Phoenix, where it is 100 degrees, A/C repair is vital, especially in a rental unit. I had no choice; even after a second call escalation, to hire my own company for resolution. All indications point to the prior 3 A/C contractors being able to correct the issue. These contractors most likely evaluated the flat rate they would receive as less than the cost of the repair. That should not be my issue as I have been a customer for many years.
I am contacting you to escalate resolution of the documented complaint and as such am requesting your approval for reimbursement of the following:
1. Reimbursement of $425 and,
2. The waiving of two of the service fees for these three vendors. One contractor, [name withheld] found that the unit needed Freon and that was addressed, however the original leak problem still persisted.
Last year we ran into an issue with our AC so we called to have a technician come out. After spending about 15 minutes looking at the AC he came down and said I’m not sure what the issue is you will need to call the home warranty company again and have them send someone else out. When I started asking him questions he became nasty with me and just said he needed to collect his co-pay and if I have a problem then I could call his manager. So I called AHS and his manager. AHS apologized, but there was nothing they could do because they are the only AC company they deal with. I was furious. I don’t them I would call my own repair company and they could of cared less. Said they wouldn’t cover the charges. So when it came to renewal time we didn’t renew and we have paid out of pocket to have our AC repaired. I would never recommend them to anyone and I will never use them again.
We live in the Arizona desert. We’ve been sitting here for five days in 112-degree heat with a broken air conditioner. The American Home Shield contractor came out, decided the issue was “lack of maintenance,” said he “didn’t have time” to do (chargeable) maintenance for us, took the co-pay, and left.
We paid for an independent serviceman, who actually examined the unit and found that the 27-year-old drip pan had finally corroded away (which he stresses is an age issue, not maintenance) and water is pouring into the electrical section, causing a shock and fire hazard.
We’ve called AHS repeatedly to get them to send out a technician who will actually do something, but the story is always “fax us this receipt,” “none of my supervisors are available to talk with you,” “we don’t have any record of receiving your papers,” “my supervisor didn’t leave me any instructions,” “I was out two days this week,” and (my favorite) “I’m not the person you talked to before, so why are you all bent out of shape?” (112-degree weather will do that to you, baby.) They claim they have only one AC contractor in the Phoenix area, the 6th largest metropolitan city in the US — is that credible?
Finally, we were given to “Danielle,” whose specialty is to interrupt whatever you are saying, and then drone on and on, repeating excuses she has told you five times before, and not allowing you to even get a word in edgewise. When you call her on that, she says she’s “not going to be talked to like that,” threatens to end the call, then proceeds to drone on and on some more.
We’re planning to call Johnson Bottini LLP, who just won a class action suit against AHS for this same kind of obstructionism.
I’ve had my home warranty since 2001. Each year I keep renewing it. When I noticed they were offering additional services under there basic plan I knew these services would be automatically covered. WRONG!!! I’ve been told by AHS that is my responsibility to find out any new products/plans and notify them that I want my plan to include the same thing the new customers are entitled to. This is unacceptable. I am tired of the runaround with them and definitely will not renew. Stay away from them and save your money.
We have AHS warranties on two homes in San Antonio, TX. We consistently have problems with AHS repairing equipment in one of the properties. The service companies that respond tell me one thing and report another thing to AHS. This has resulted in AHS not making repairs on my Air conditioner and we ended up replacing the hot water heater ourselves. We will be cancelling our warranties as soon as we can find another company.
This Company SUCKS! I needed the controller for our salt water system pool. I explained in detail what the problem was and they confirmed the replacement part would be covered. Yeah right. When the service repairman came out he infomed us that any parts for a salt water pools were not covered. But of course they took our $60 co-pay. This company has so many loop holes that is umpossible to get anything fixed under their policy. You are better off paying to get things fixed rather than experiencing this headache! Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!They suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My A/C went out 3 weeks ago and the need to replace the evaporator was identified by the service repairman at that time. After 3 weeks, and with 90 plus degree heat, American Home Shields is still researching the problem. Promises are made to call back, but are never followed through.
Nick in Palm City, Fla
This company hires the worst contractors w/ no scruples. One plumbing company missed a leak in a dishwasher, cut through walls and pipes costing me nearly 5,000 dollars plus the 60.00 fee. In the end the bottom floor flooded because the dishwasher was the problem. That cost me 22,000 to repair flood damage. A private contractor found the AHS contractor scammed me into a job that wasn’t necessary. It will cost me several more thousand to re-do. I was advised to submit this info and file a complaint w/ the state.
BTW AHS is the one who 3 months prior fixed the dishwasher w/ a faulty valve. Call me stupid but I ended up staying w/ AHS only to recently have my AC quit in 100 degree weather. Called and was told a contractor would be out in 24 hrs. Kept calling back (eleven times) no one ever showed up (apparently they never had a contractor to come), AHS never offered to find a new company they just kept saying whatever the “script” said. I ended up having to hire a local company paying 230.00 to fix and having to shell out 200.00 for a window unit because it was 100 in my house and we were being told to keep waiting by AHS customer service. Was told AHS would reimburse me for these expenses but seems that is changing now too.
AHS takes no responsibility and they have cost me over 25,000 dollars in damage to my home and still have fixed nothing. I have filed complaints and submitted the paper work to them and not even an apology. Save yourself the money and hassle. I am sure there are better companies out there, this one is very unprofessional and run by scammers. There are no laws out there or anyone big enough to do anything about them so they keep on w/ business as usual. People need to think twice about doing business w/ them. Don’t be stupid like I was!
Their customer service representatives have a I don’t care attitude. They also use vendors that are unprofessional and disrespectful to their customers even with them on the line.
We noticed a water leak behind the fridge and we called AHS. They sent a technician out ($55 first visit) who found the issue which was that a certain part in the fridge for the water supply had a leak and needed to be replaced. The tech said he would get the part and left and later called back to say that AHS said they would not pay for it since the part “was not part of the fridge” and it would cost $280. It was the most ridiculous thing to say. The part was certainly part of the fridge and came with the fridge. It was a made up excuse to avoid paying for the repair. I have never felt so ripped off. Needless to say, i dont recommend this company. But i suspect most home warranty companies are like this.
I found the reps on the phone were short and rude. My paper work said I had emergency service. However; both times I used the company for a water leak and once for my hot water heater that had flooded my basement I was told that the service required a 48 hour turn around. The truth is 48 hours is Monday – Thursday. My hot water heater happened at 1:00 am on Friday morning so the plumber arrived at 12:30 P.M. on Monday. I also had to pay him for taking my old hot water heater away.
Waste Disposal unit stopped working, called AHS. Their tech came and looked at it and said it is broken. He then put his hand inside and picked up an half-inch small plastic strip and said the machine broke because of this and AHS would not cover. AHS denied the service. I cannot believe how such a small piece of plastic can break this 2HP motor unit. The tech seems to be insurance inspector rather than a tech who can replace the item. He was not at all in a mood to work that day. I even doublted that they carry this plastic stuff around to come up with the excuse.
BEWARE This company will take your money and you will not get the service in a timely manor. So here it is July 3, the day before the big weekend. Your Air-conditioning goes out in south when the temperatures are over 100 degrees. You have family members in their upper years and small children and pets. You think well I will just call in my people AHS because you have given them “insurance” money to protect you, your family and pets. Or should I be objective and say air-condition unit? In either case, I provided them with money up front to shield my home incase of product failure. Low and behold after 13 days of July heat, I now have air-conditioning. If AHS provides a shield it must only be made of…well… HOT AIR. Thanks for your service AHS. Next year you will not be getting my money. This comment will be duplicated on the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Not Respectfully
Pensacola Fl
Called AHS for a Stoppage at Bath Tub. Tech came and fixed it and next day both the toilets were blocked. Placed a Recall & they don’t have Tech. AHS Authorized to call any (fine print to it not from their banned list) tech and tech need to call with diagnosis. Since this house do not have a ‘Cleanout System’ AHS will not cover. Older houses won’t have a, the so called Cleanout system. To put in a cleanout system it costs around $500. Finally I had to pay from my pocket to fix the drain problem. AHS denied authorizing this work.
After having a pleasant experience with this company in CA, I started a policy with them in August. I was okay until I began to repair a spa bathtub drain. Well, the first tech could not do it but looked at it and then removed the drain cover. He said that it needed to be removed with the entire drain and replaced by a person who knows about spas. Then we called AHS to get a spa tech to come who came and saw it and then said that the needed repair is a plumping issue not a spa issue. Well, this guy seemed to know what he was talking about and he personally called AHS to tell what we needed. Well, the next plumping tech came out, said he needed to go under the tub and that required more time. He then called AHS to get authorization which was denied “because we are not covered for a spa”. I told the customer service person that it was a spa tub (Jacuzzi) and all it needed was the drain replaced so that it would hold water.l Well, she continued to say that we were not covered for over $300 worth of repairs which I found astonishing! $300 for WHAT? Well, I screamed at the customer service person who hung up and I showed the plumber to the door since I was not going to pay that amount of money for the repair. This is crazy! They are so quick to disallow a repair and they find flimsy excuses to not cover something. Why pay this money when we can contact repair people on our own? I will say that AHS has put me in touch with some skilled repair people who know what they h— they are talking about. The rest of these tech are clowns!!
I have had AHS for several years and I have recommended them in the past, but not anymore. I have had A/C problems for 3 consecutive years and only received bandage fixes. It has become obvious that the unit needs to be replaced, so today I received a letter from AHS informing that my contract will not be renewed when it expires in the next 9 days.
I have had this service for about three years and I have to say everytime I have used AHS there has been no issues. We have had the AC serviced three times and it recently went out over the fourth of July. AHS covered 100% and the agent worked all day to find a company that would replace it same day. They also have covered three plumbing issues and also covered and issue with the garage door. They were clear and concise over the phone on what was covered and what was not. They followed the terms of the agreement perfectly. All I have had to pay is my deductible each time. I have heard bad stories, but I have not had any issues over the three years we have had them.
We placed a service call on 6/23/09 for our A/C outage. We notified them that we had 2 small children with Asmtha. 2 days later I am calling and begging. Still no resolution. Call out Weeks to take a look. Try to call in for Diagnosis..45 minutes later Weeks guy has to leave to take another call, but writes up a detailed diagnosis that we can fax them and they can call him with questions. AHS refuses to accept any faxes, has to talk to tech themselves. It took 6 weeks to get resolved with us paying $1800 out of pocket.
Terrible company, they raise your rates and premium without informing you at all.
They did not fix my garage door opener because the contractor they sent said the pully was broken, I hired another contractor who said the pully was fine and the unit was broken. AHS refused to send another contractor over for reassessment saying they did not have another one that services the area and they do not corry pully damage. Long story short, I had to spend 200 dollars to get it fixed myself and I am still fighting with them for 2 months to get them to reimburse me.
Up until recently, I was thoroughly satisfied with this company. We called them regarding our ac unit. The company itself was prompt and courteous. THe contractor however, different story. We waited 8 days for the “new part” only to find out, he lied to us, he actually didn’t order the part at all. Calling the company, they were very apologetic but just kept saying he ordered the part. As we went up the chain of command, a supervisor became rude and stated that she trusts her contractors completely. Really, after multiple converstations with the company, contractor telling us a story then retracting the story. I’m done, it’s apparent that they choose their contractor over their customer. There is a corporate number. I finally reached the CEO’s assistant and discussed this matter with him yesterday. We’ll see how long it takes for my AC issue to be resolved. He stated that that contractor willno longer be coming to your home for future issues. YOu think? I told him I already requested that last week. So what is the message there people? Exactly. I’m switching companies. I will say up until this most recent issue, I raved about having this company. Each year, the insurance has paid for itself with service calls.
Question…has anyone known anyone who actually did get a new a/c unit from AHS?? Were on our 8th or 9th call for the same problem…AC. THey keep putting band aids on it but never fixing it. I was told today that we have to pay $250 for a new compressor. We just did that less than a year ago. We shouldn’t need a new one yet, right? Im so angry. And tomorrow, we a company is comming by to put in a part that we paid 150 bucks for last time that they were out but found out last week it was never put it. So angry.so so so angry.
JUST TERRIBLE!
Called them 4 times for the same problem
(toilet not flushing completely)
Cost us $240.00 ($60.00 per visit)
Then they told us that the toilet was not covered under our
home warrenty plan.
Nasty and dishonest !!
I have had an AHS policy for more than nine years and was, until recently, a mostly satisfied customer. In all that time I only had to call back once when I requested service and a provider didn’t call after 3 days to make an appt. Each call for service, (for repairs only), have been handled professionally, with the following notable exception: I’ve had to call at least once a year for a the same leaking toilet and all but 2 or 3 calls have been handled by a different plumbing company each time. Recently, while getting non-covered plumbing work done, a non-AHS plumber told me the part that was replaced on each AHS call was cheap and likely to last only a short while, which would explain why it’s been the only consistent AHS call all these years.
That is really my only complaint about AHS service and I would likely not be writing now, were that my only complaint about the company. To be as brief as possible…I didn’t realize that I allowed my coverage to lapse last year and AHS called to offer re-instatement of my policy at a lower rate and asked if I wanted additional coverage of my AC at an additional reasonable rate. Though I’ve had my AC for nearly 10 years w/ no problems I added the coverage – better safe than sorry. Now I need to have my garbage disposal replaced and I’m told that my new policy doesn’t cover the disposal. I HAD THE SAME COVERAGE FOR NINE YEARS – AND THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL WAS ALWAYS COVERED! And after having it serviced once a couple of years ago, I would never knowingly choose to remove it from coverage. Customer service only offered that I had 30 days to review and make any changes at the time – of course after 9 years I didn’t think to review my contract, because I didn’t request any changes. I truly don’t remember the entire conversation, but I know I was offered a “welcome back offer” w/o any mention of reduced coverage. Of course I know ‘buyer beware’ and I should’ve read the contract – shame on me. But I think the company changed hands recently and my guess is that the new owners are driven more by short-term profit margins than long-term customer loyalty. After 9 years – I’m done.
I recently had an issue with my AC. I submitted my request online. I then had an AC tech come, diagnosed the problem, had the problem resolved in a little less than one week. The only reason that it took that long, was that an evaporator coil had to be ordered.