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
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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Pages: « 75 … 40 39 38 37 36 [35] 34 33 32 31 30 … 1 » Show All
I have been with AHS for over 3 years and have had nothing but bad experiences with this company. Two summers ago, I had a problem with my AC not cooling. AHS sent out a contractor to diagnose the problem. He wrote up his report stating to me that the unit wasn’t working for one reason, and the report that he gave to AHS stated that I was having this problem due to lack of maintenance on the unit. I got a second opinion since this claim was denied and had the contractor to speak to the customer service rep telling them that my unit was not dirty etc. After months of calling etc. they finally reimbursed me for a portion of what I’d paid to get my unit fixed. Not to mention that the first contractor failed to put parts back onto my unit that he’d taken off thus also causing my unit to fail again. Now I am still having the same problem with my unit today. I called AHS, and they sent a contractor out to look at my unit once again. Well guess what happened: this guy immediately went outside to look at the unit outside. He opened up one part of the unit, called for me to come look at the dirt in a small portion of my unit and then told me that I needed to redplace the entire unit because the condenser was bad. He wrote up his diagnosis which stated that “the unit was 80% clogged, condenser needed to be replaced, took pictures.” He then told me that AHS would be calling me in an hour. Well, AHS called me within 20 min. stating that the contractor told them the my unit had gone bad due to “lack of maintenance” and that my claim has been denied. Rep on the phone was very rude and uncaring as well. I contacted another contractor to get a 2nd. opinion and was told after the guy did a number of tests, unlike the other guy, that my condenser was fine, but had stopped running. He went to the parts store to get the part that was needed to fix my unit, and my unit was working. I paid the 375.00 fee to repair my AC and am very happy. Yes AHS is a RIP OFF and I will be cancelling my policy TODAY!!!!!!
I had this home warranty since June 2007 and my first service call turned out great. I thought boy this is going to be wonderful. My next service calls were not good. I needed new faucets at my bath tub and they sent out a plumber. He looked at the situation and said he could not get the faucets that would fit the openings. I told him that I had found them at Lowe’s and he said he could not do that. So I paid him the service call and he left. I called American Home Shield back and opted out. I called my regular plumber and he came and fixed it right off. They paid only a small portion of it. Then I had air conditioner problems and after 1 1/2 years I was told that there was probably a leak in my coil. They ran the dye test and sure enough you could see there were many places that were leaking. They said I needed a new coil. Again I opted out as I wanted my air conditioner company that I had used for 27 years to do it. The unit was 16 years old and a new coil could not be found to fit it. So I had to purchase a new heating system. I did not expect AHS to pay for that. The coil in the new unit was $1,800.00 and AHS would only pay me $799.00. I tried to get AHS to tell me what they would pay on a new air conditioner and hot water heater if they sould go out and they could not tell me. I answered an e mail survey about all this and then a young man called me back. He could not anwer any of my questions and offered to give me the first two service calls free. I told him that would not do it. So I cancelled.
It is really very disheartening to read the reviews for AHS, but I am not surprised. My family and I have been without ac since May 23, 2010 and the run around we have experienced between AHS and Air Plus Services has been the worst experience I could have ever imagined. I am in the process of filing a small claims complaint against Air Plus but would be interested in a class action against AHS. Just to give you a brief history: We have had AHS for @ 5 years and each year we renew the warranty because of the initial scare of having to repair the ac unit. Well as luck would have it, the unit goes down every year @ May. AHS sends Air Plus, they do whatever and then it works, that is until the following May. I also maintained the warranty because I wanted to establish history. If the same company has been repairing the unit and the calls are repetitive at some point replacement would be inevitable. Not so, they have been patching it for several years. Since the previous owners used AHS, we continued and now I see why! Anyway, we have been in a constant daily battle between AHS and Air Plus to repair the unit. The tech ordered another air handler for the attic and swore to me that the problem had been resolved and that it would take several hours before the area cooled to a comfortable temperature. We left the unit on all nite and by morning the unit was blowing hot air. The tech later said he had to troubleshoot the issue with Carrier. We waited several days and after not hearing from anyone, we began calling again and Air Plus had not even called AHS! We requested another company come to repair the unit and after two weeks of AHS telling us to allow the company to complete the work, by the way we had to pay the company $425 for work undone…AHS eventually sent two companies. Both companies agreed that the compressor on the unit was dead and that they were recommending replacement. The second company however ARS Rescue Services did recommend replacement but they also indicated that they would not attempt to repair and that if the company was to repair the unit, Air Plus needed to perform the job. How is that for customer service. So, AHS goes with the recommendation of ARS, totally ignoring the recommendations to replace the unit. At this point we are well into July (remember this started in May), and Air Plus just replaced the compressor but couldn’t charge the system because it was too hot! Is that even a reason? As a professional shouldn’t they be able to provide relief to customers in extreme temperatures. I cannot imagine them telling their customers “we can fix your unit but it has to cool down outside first”. Unbelievable! Yesterday, the tech came out, while we were not at home (supposedly) and told my husband there was no need for him to meet him at the house because he had already charged the system. When I got home yesterday afternoon I turned the unit on only to wake up this morning still with hot air blowing! This is just a brief description of our issue as there were many more encounters with AHS and Air Plus. Bottom line we have fulfilled the obligations of the contract, but AHS has not and in the meantime we have suffered tremendously by having to leave our home when the weather was too hot to stay at home or unsafe for our 4 children. Worst of all, neither company offered and refused to get us some other source of air conditioning until the unit was repaired. I apologize AHS did offer us a $75 reimbursement towards a new unit! There’s my case in a nut shell.
In my new (older but recently remodeled) home one month now. I’ve called them twice, once for a busted oven and once for a busted dishwasher. AHS customer service people have been courteous In both cases I haven’t heard back from the service contractors for over 2-3 days First service appointments never available in less than a week (from the time THEY called ME) In both cases the service guys didn’t have the parts on hand, had to order them, adding a delay of at least another week. So, that’s 2-3 weeks minimum from my initial call to getting an appliance that works. I’ve been using the toaster oven alot more and have washed alot of dishes by hand, but I am NOT satisfied with the turnaround time in this system. I do not plan to renew.
don t waste your time or money. bad service does not return calls does not fall under normal wearandtear catagory? that seems to be their only reason for denial. old lady in simpsonville sc…..
I have now had a similar experience once again. The coils on my air conditioning unit have failed and need to be replaced. AHS will replace the coils but will not cover certain other things, some of which are in the contract languate and which I understand, others are required to complete the repair regardless of code.
The installer wants $731 in addition to the $60 AHS fee to do the warranty install.
The $125 disposal fee for the old coils I understand. The refridgerant is hazardous material and can’t be simply thrown in the trash.
The $178 Code Support Hanging Kit (metal strips and nails, alledgely to comply with code, the installer will not re-use the current ones) I disagree with but might possibly be contrued to fall in the category of construction. Not sure how they would install the unit without supporting it like it currently is supported on straps.
The $154 float switch is required by code but not sure why the current float switch in the current pans cannot be reused.
The $274 Mastic Air Seal I really disagree with and they have not shown me the language in the agreement that says it is not their responsibility. To replace the coils, it is necessary to remove them from the duct work. Reattaching to the duct work and resealing so the air does not leak out is a required part of the repair, not an option, upgrade, modification, new construction, etc. and is the reponsibility of AHS. In addition, the mastic is about 5-10 minutes of work and $5-$20 of parts to apply it with a putty knife, and cleanup/disposal of the putty knife if a plastic one is used.
Furthermore, they indicate that only this one repair company can be used to do the work, so they do not have an option for me to get a different quote to do the warranty replacement work from another one of their approved installers. This tying agreement with their installers makes them part of this transaction and essentially lets the installer recover its costs and profit on “non-covered” items. If I had the option to seek other AHS approved installers to do the work, that would be different than AHS mandating that I use this installer with its high costs.
The installer itself said that these charges would not be required if I were to take the upgrade option, using the buyout value that AHS would provide for replacement of the old unit. If the same work needs to be performed and doing it under warranty is a required, chargeable expense and doing it as part of a new sale is just part of the normal install process, then it calls into question if these are necessary or just a way of cost recovery and profit.
So, while the coverage is useful, the consumer needs to be aware of and fight the typing agreements that AHS has with its approved installers, that force the costs of the install to the consumer with no option for competitive bid to do the work.
Right now I am stuck. The work has not yet been performed and I have escalated the issue within AHS. I am in a take it or leave it situation due to the tying agreement between AHS and its installer that does not permit an alternate installer quote for non-required services. I an locked in to use the one they sent to diagnose the problem. Out of pocket for $731 additional, non-covered charges, delayed service on air conditioning unit (I live in Texas with temps in high 90s/100s) and have my grandson (infant) that will be staying with us for a week who may be at risk due to high temps in house.
me and family have been without a/c for month and half in 95 degree days and after all was said and done ahs wont cover repair cost..thx a lot
We live on the Gulf Coast where we have daily temps in the mid to high nineties with heat indexes exceeding 110 degrees and very high humidity. OSHA will only let the oil spill workers to work only 20 minutes per hour. Today is 14 days without A/C.
Your service tech was here Mon. 7/12, 13, and on the 15th, subsequently he condemned the compressor( the 15th). On the 15th, after speaking with AHS he informed us he was told it would be shipped RUSH, HOT and be here for installation Mon. 7/19. IT DID NOT COME. When calling the status office they said it wouldn’t arrive the 19th, but the 21st. IT DID NOT COME the 21st. We were told it arrived too late to be loaded for delivery but would be delivered to the tech the 22nd. Again, IT DID NOT COME on the 22nd. We called you again the 23rd and were told it WAS delivered to the tech that day. Once again we were lied to as the tech informed me that night IT DID NOT COME, that he has not received anything.
At this point the cabinets in our home will not close as they are swollen from humidity, we are very concerned about our antiques and the humidity, and our wood floors are beginning to swell. My wife is treated for high blood pressure and is having trouble in the heat (God forbid the heat causes a serious effect to her health as we are both in our 60′s). The interior of the home ranges from 88 on a cooler night, to 94 degrees during the day.
We have been flat out lied to, stonewalled, and extremely angry. We are exasperated that AHS has deprived us of the use of our home, that we have to eat sandwiches or go out to eat as a necessity.
I spoke with their supervisor today (Mon 7/26) that promised the needed parts will be here tomorrow. If they are not, this will go directly to my attorney that has won judgment against them previously.
DO NOT USE!!!!
I had this company for so long I can’t even believe how stupid I had been. I do not plan on renewing this coming month. I had an AC/Heating system problem and it took 3 months to finally get replaced and I had to opt out to do it. The new system cost me less than what they wanted me to pay them for repair. I am glad I found someone honest in this area. I am not sure why they are even a company. The worst excuse for home warranty coverage. Don’t suggest them to anyone.
I would never recommend this company to anyone. I am in the process of getting ready to close my contract with them. It has been a nightmare dealing with them Service is not just poor but extremely poor. From the time to get service until the time to get reimbursed. I had a problem with my dishwasher and then motor went out. The first provider they set up to come out to schedule took forever and could not get their schedule straight. Finally somone else was recommended then came out. Took over 3 weeks to get this straight. After someone came out I opted to just get a new dishwasher which costs $247.00. They said I am only going to get reimbursed $193.00. So I went ahead and purchased a new dishwasher faxed and also e-mailed the receipt. Called to confirm and spoke with an employee and he said he recvd the fax and will take 2 weeks to get reimbursed. It is now over a month so I decided to call why I have not got reimbursed. They said they never recv’d anything. Then this means the individual I talked to just lied to me (I should have known better to get his name). I faxed it again and then e-mailed it to them once again. As of todate no one has confirmed they got my e-mail or fax. It is funny how quick they take your money but when you need their service it takes forever and to get reimbursed is just unacceptable. In the first place all these years I have been paying and they cannot reimbursed the full amout of $247.00 that is just crazy. I am better off saving that payment monthly in an emergency fund account and then I wont have any frustration dealing with them.
I have called this company 3 times in 3 years. Twice they have found baseless reasons to not cover the fees. But, I am out $60 each time I call. The technicians they send out are not good, I think they pick the lowest performing company. In my case it a company called the Plumbing Doctor, the repair man showed up chewing on a Cigar with a bad attitude. He assumed that I should thank God for him just showing up. I call the owner of the company and tell him about the poor attitude and the answer I got is “We are working 10 hours a day, we are too busy and tired to be nice to everyone”. The tech and the company found every reason to give me a run around. This is it. I will not renew with these guys. All together an awful bunch to do business with.
I have had AHS for 2 yrs. The service techs sent out are lazy, not the most knowledgable. THey use fly by night companies in many instances. I had a problem with my a/c and they swore it was an electrical problem, when they sent out there electrial person, they still would not cover it, even though I had electrical coverage. They will find any way they can to get out of paying for covered costs!
I do NOT recommend them!
OK, let me tell you my story with AHS. In short, this company only wants to rip off their customers. I am an immigrant and I have been living in the states for more than 10 years. I would say that AHS is the worst one, among all kinds of companies I have ever dealed with.
When we bought our house, the previous owner bought the warranty service from AHS for us. The second month we moved in, there was a heavy rain. We found there was standing water on basement floor. And then, we knew the sump pump didn’t work. It was humming but didn’t take the water out.
I called AHS and was told they would send a service guy the second day. He did come on the time. The first thing he did was to ask for $50 as service fee. Then he only checked the sump pump about 30 seconds visually. That’s right, only 30 seconds visually. He then concluded the whole unit was broken and had to be replaced. He said AHS would not cover this because the sump pump was not “installed properly”. He further said he could install a new one for us right away. Since we were AHS’s customer, he would only charge us a very low fee, $500.
We argued that this house was only 3 year old. How come the sump pump was installed improperly? But he insisted it could not be covered by warranty. My wife wanted to install the new sump pump right away to clean up the mess. But I thought I should do some research first so I let him go.
After he was gone with my $50 service fee, I called a few local service companies for a quote to install a new sump pump. The highest quote I received was $250, including labor and part! Obviously, I was almost ripped off by that AHS guy.
Then I did a little research on internet by Google. It took me about 30 minutes to guess it might be the problem of air lock. I then borrow a drill from my neighbor and drill a small hole on the pipe. The sump pump worked right away and this problem has never come back again.
This is the whole story of me, a non-handyman without any previous knowledge about sump pump and the licensed technician from AHS. Anyway, I will not buy any service from this company and try to ask all my friends to do the same.
This is the poorest excuse for a company I beleive I have ever seen. First and foremost, I work for a property management company and we have rules that we are to follow that this company has broken time and again in hopes that the owner will “give up” and replace the parts at his cost. Just for everyone’s knowledge the CEO’s name and mailing address for this company is the following: Dave Crawford PO Box 849 Carroll, IA 51401 We filed a complaint on May 26, as of July 23, we are still having problems. The contractor they hired to fix an electrical problem was not licensed to do work in our area. He took one month to complete the repair. The applaince repair has been another experience in and of itself. Sears was coming and then did not. Too long of a story to write. The second company hired “completed part” of the repair, but they have yet to get the microwave and oven to work. In any case, run the other way. DO NOT waste your time or money. This company has wasted 5-8 days of my staff’s time for these repairs.
we had AHS for 5 yrs. At first they were good. Last wk. i called them for washer repair. tech came out, diagnosed problem, needed new transmission. the washer is 15 yrs. old. the repair was done with a USED part. has 30 day warranty then we would have to pay the $60 serv fee again if it fails. i called the co. they refused to allow me to talk to supervisor but offered to “cash out” the item, not the washer but the $72.00 transmission. I’ve had 3 calls to them now and pd out total $180. so far this yr on the washer. for another $200 i could buy another one! I have had the serv fee raised on us, and cannot get a copy of the contract either. At first, they would cash out the item fairly if the repair was expensive, not anymore and u can bet on this, they will not get another dime of our money!!! DO NOT USE AMERICAN HOME SHIELD< they are a rip off!!
I’ve had Am. Home Shield repair warranty on a home for over 4 years with no claims. I added a second home and had an a/c problem. (It took over 2 days just for them to set up the account.) Now I’ve made over 8 calls trying to get the a/c fixed with hold times of over a total of 3 hours. A repairman came and said the compressor is going out and the circuit breaker continues to trip. The comp. is under warranty but after the repairman called and held for over 25 minutes he was asked by Am. Home Shield if the a/c was working. He explained the situation but they said if it is working right now he was not authorized to fix the unit. He left and within 30 minutes the breaker again tripped and the a/c unit quit working. Technically the a/c unit works so they won’t repair it until the compressor burns out so we continue to reset the electrical breaker during the day also at night when the heat in the house wakes us up and we know the unit is not operating due to the compressor tripping the circuit breaker.
Called AHS 5/14/10 about my AC not working. Nine weeks and 2 incompetent HVAC companies later (7/21/10)and its 86 degrees in my house…..still not working.
I have all details of all the people I spoke with at AHS, and I WOULD LOVE TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!! Anyone looking for another AHS horror story or if you want to set up a class action law suit, email me sohehaze@hotmail.com
OH BOY where do I start. I have mixed reviews on this company and how they perform their job. I requested for an overhead microwave to be fixed and they subcontracted it out and the next day it was completed which was awesome. However, as for the AC getting fixed its been a total nightmare. Nothing but a true hassle without results. To provided a position of argument I will explain my scenario briefly. I called the warrantly this past monday morning and told them my AC stopped blowing cold air and needs to be looked. FYI this point in vegas its been 107 to 112 for a week in a row. They sent the work order out as emergency fix which is good but the sub contractor didnt schedule me to the following day. Once scheduled they positioned me for a 4 to 7 pm window slot. The techinician was then late by an hour. Once he actually arrived he went out to the central unit and said that he was entirely out of freon and needed to do a system check for further diagnoises. Which is great but he also said it requires about 4 hours to do the whole repair. That being said I am now schedule for the same time 4 to 7 pm which I dont believe he will have enough time to even finish the repair. SO I called the the warranty company to see if I can get reimbursement for the local hotel I stayed in so I wouldnt pass out of heat exhaustion. They offered to give a credit of 60 dollars which is good however they said because its not in my warranty plan they can not cover more then one night. I responded to the call center supervisor why would I plan on having hotel coverage in my plan when the job was suppose to be addressed and completed two days prior. In the end I am most likely going to drop this companys service for failure to care about their customers needs or health after they pay to get my unit fixed. I HOPE ANYONE THAT IS COVERED BY THEM lives in a non-extreme climated because if so they might suffer when things go bad.
BEWARE! I had a hot water heater that stop working. Because THEIR people could not do the electric hook up and the water hook up THEY called in an electrician. Then they charged me two deductibles because THEY sent two people out. I talked to a manager who kept quoting company policy and refused to take care anything. LOOK UP CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS ABOUT THIS COMPANY!!!!!
Not available on weekends.
I have had an AHS warranty for about 6 months. I called in to see if my first service ever would be covered. I am a little obsessive, so I called 3 times, including asking for a manager once, (each time waiting about 25 min on the phone). I was assured that it would be covered and that it was written in my file. The tech came in a timely manner and was nice, but said that AHS wouldn’t cover the repair and that I owed the $60 service fee. He detailed the problem EXCACTLY as I had described it to AHS. I knew exactly the problem, but was trying to save money on the repair. Now I get to still pay repair costs, $60 and have wasted a lot of time on the phone with AHS and arranging my schedule to have a tech come. DON’T believe customer service if they say your repair is covered. Read through your contract and if there is any question (as mine seemed to be a gray area) don’t call for a repair service.
This is the first time I write a review, I feel that I have to, after the awful treatment and the unfairness that I reiceived from AHS. Long story short : water heater out I called and they sent Dynotech out in wichita KS, The tech told me that it will be more then the warranty will cover, I called them and of course some how if you call to complain they put on the phone with the meanest employee they have. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My A/C has been having problems for the last month – we are going through a heat wave here in Oklahoma right now and I still do not have a working A/C. They told me my coils needed to be replaced and that the AHS would cover the cost. What they DID NOT tell me was that I would have to pay for my A/C unit to be up to code first. They quoted me $1100 to get it up to code. I called around and other A/C repair places laughed and said OH MY GOD, we will only charge you 1/2 that. Basically they included the cost to replace the coil in the code costs – so what I would have paid a service man to come in without the warranty is the same price with the warranty – Will not be renewing my contract unless they show a huge improvement – I am still without an A/C a month later!
I am nearing the end of my warranty. AHS customer service is terrible. I had two issues I needed repaired and they found loopholes to get out of both of them. They initially refused to provide me with a copy of my contract. On one issue that they partially fixed, they refused to contact the contracted provider that we had problems with. STAY AWAY from AHS!!!!