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: 630 Rate this Company!
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 630 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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Pages: « 27 … 13 12 11 10 9 [8] 7 6 5 4 3 … 1 » Show All
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This company simply delays and avoids you. As noted by others, their own contracted repair guys recommend that they not be used. You would be better off not getting any home warranty rather than throwing your money away by giving it to this company. ERA Realty pointed me to this company when I was buying my home and my experience has been so bad that I will never use that realtor again simply because they connected me with AHS.
2 repair requests. 2 items not repaired. Had a faulty hot water heater and the “tech” turned up the temp on the valve. problem not solved.
The second was a leak which the “tech” did not come out when requested and I had to pay for an emergency plumber call. By the way AHS billed me anyway for a service call that was never completed.
THE WORST COMPANY I HAVE DEALT WITH IN QUITE SOME TIME. THEY USE SUBSTANDARD REPAIRMAN WHO DON’T RESOLVE THE ISSUE OR NO SHOW. LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR YOUR HOME WARRANTY.
All these complaints have pushed most warranty companies to have a “Cover-All” type of plan. No more denials due to pre-existing conditions, or lack of maintenance. The limits will only be if there is obvious proof that something never worked (missing parts, disconnected, totally rusted, etc.) The policies are even better now.
I have been extremely displeased with the customer service provided by American Home Shield, and will not renew the contract that was provided when I purchased my home.
I quite frankly forgot that I had a home warranty until they sent a renewal notice this month. When I contacted them to ask for a technician to come look at my problem — a persistently leaking U-bend under my kitchen sink — and said that another plumber said that the leak would only be permanently fixed by changing the position of the outflow pipe in the wall, the customer service representative very abruptly told me that they would not cover a pre-existing condition.
Fine, I said, then I suppose there’s no point in paying $60 for a service call. Unless, that is, you all might consider waiving the service charge fee?
The customer service rep was very abrupt — almost belligerent — and told me that I should have read the fine print on the contract, and that they will not waive fees, ever.
Fine, I said. In light of what you’ve told me, let’s skip the service call and I just won’t plan to renew my policy. But I would also like to speak to your supervisor so I can explain why I won’t be renewing.
No, ma’am, she said.
I beg your pardon?
Ma’am, I need to know why you need to speak to my supervisor. It’s a policy.
So I said I wanted to ask further questions, and she said she could answer them and I didn’t need to speak to a supervisor.
We went around like that for about three minutes, at which point I finally said, “I guess I’d like to speak to your supervisor because I need to explain that I think your policies about speaking to a supervisor are completely ridiculous.”
She put me on hold for 20 minutes, at which point I explained my problem, got a prompt (if disappointing) answer, and then told the supervisor that I have never had so much trouble getting a CSR to connect me with a supervisor, and that their policies about it seem silly.
“What policy?” she said. “When you ask for a supervisor, you’re supposed to be connected immediately.”
I did not have a problem with this company. About a year after moving into our home we had problems with a leaky hot water heater. They came out the next day, and about a week later we had a new hot water heater. That was do to a litte phone tag because they didn’t call my cell in stead of my home phone like I asked. Also, we had to pay for upgrades to get everything up to code. That cost about 200 dollars. Other than that the service was nice and we have not had any problems since.
The sub contracters were not licenced. The repairs were incopmplete. Customer service was rude and unhelpfull.
Water leak under sink. Connection had been installed for over 15 years. Contractor looked at it, called American Home Sheild and said it was not installed properly. So AMS declined the claim.
The contractor then told us it was not covered, but he could fix it for 189.95 plus parts (about 30.00).
When I called AMS to question this, I was told that 1) Even if it was installed, up to code and working properly for years that the repair of an item is subjective to their evaluation (they could fix at their option) and 2) The contractor was just trying to save them money, which was good, or we could ask for a second opinion from another contractor (if he ruled against us them we had to pay 75.00 for the service call, plus time and materials to repair) We had already paid the 55.00 deductable. I was incensed.
I had to stay on the phone for over 45min with customer service trying to convince them that this deserved a second opinion
However asked for a second opinion.
The second contractor took one look and said it was covered and repaired it. He also said he had heard many stories of the first contractor and AMS pulling this scam on other home owners and advised us to “look arround for a more ethical service and warrantee provider: (And gave us a couple names)
I have had american home sheild for 4 yrs now and have had to use the warranty only a handful of times… the first couple of times i used the account was a disaster. The comapny sent out a man to work at my house that was so rude to my kids in their own home after the 2nd time he came to the house and did not finish the work i called and spoke to them about the situation and they were goin to demand i let the same man return to the house to finish… this was the same contractor that informed us that he hated american home sheild. We finally had the situation taken care of after having to get a lawyer involved. The last time we had to wait over 9 days a to have our ac worked on in some of the hottest weather of the year with a disabled a child in our home .Customer service is one of the worst i have ever experienced. I have owned homes in ca. ohio. and oregon.This was my first experience with american home sheild and my last. my warranty is up this year and im on the hunt for a real warranty.
I have a 17 year old exhaust fan in my bathroom. It recently started running at very low rpm and occasionally seizing. The last time it was used the kids reported an electrical sizzling sound when running. I called for service…
100% automated process; AHS used a fully automated voice recognition service to determine the item needing service. Within 24 hours I received another 100% voice prompter/survey from the electrical service company. While I like technology and the efficient usage of it, I do not like not having the opportunity to explain the problem.
I was given an arrival time between 9AM and 1PM, not bad but would like to see a smaller window.
The electrician pulled the fan down, poked at the motor shaft to clear debris, dropped some oil on it, put it back up. The fan spins now, marginally better than it did before. I felt the old, corroded, potentially unsafe fan need replacing. The electrician said AHS requires complete failure before deeming it replaceable.
After calling AHS directly they stood behind the electrician and said their policy is repair before replace. In my opinion, that makes sense as long as the repair brings the unit to 100% operational capacity.
I’ve paid the $30+ per month for a few years now and the $55(now $60) deductible for a few drops of oil.
Had I known at the time of calling for service (my earlier point about explaining my problem during service request) that they would only marginally repair the fan, I would have not wasted the money.
In my opinion they are not worth the money.
As a former client of AHS I can say that some of the subcontracted service companies are not reliable and some have even lied.
The policy covered things I don’t even own, and many things that I see other companies do cover, they would not. I was told they have one set policy.
Plus, my deductible was $90.00, not $60 as the rating list indicates.
On the good side, the customer service people were very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.
They sent me someone to fix my air conditioner. I did not select this company. The sellers of my home purchased it as part of the sale. AHS sent a repair person that did not fix the problem and would give times they would be there and then they would not show up. I complained to AHS and it was “too bad, so sad” – they would not give me a new repair person until I threw a fit on the phone after several days of calling and complaining. It was an awful experience!
I bought the new policy that they started in early 2008. This policy covers all preexisiting problems and includes anything improperly installed and/or maintained. I have had the AC and furnace replaced, some plumbing fixed, and the garage door springs and track replaced. This policy appears to be better than the others and the people they send out comment on it every time. They usually tell me its not going to be covered, but when they call it and find out about the new policy they fix it. From what I am told AHS came up with this policy because of all the complaints. If you go with them make sure you get it because I have not had any problems. Also, all the service people have been very helpful and friendly.
I have had them for a year and have now found another company.
AHS has sub par contractors that are unprofessional and incompetent. I had several issues that rquired service calls and on half of them the contractors had to come back to fix their poor work.
Customer service is horrible. As someone said rlier, they DO take pleasure in denying claims.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. I only hope that the one I chose is better than this scam company.
Very disappointed with AHS. My water heater busted on Christmas morning, the tech came out on friday morning to tell me AHS will cover the heater and labor, and I have $525.00 of uncovered charges I will have to pay due to my house is so old (10 years old) the water heater was not put in under code. AHS and their contractors are rip offs. I called customer service trying to speak with someone with intelligence and all I got was the run around and should have received a return phone call in 24 hours…needless to say I have not received the call yet. I have been without hot water for 4 days so far. AHS will be receiving a cancellation call.
Terrible company that has gone from bad to horrific in the six plus years I had a policy with them. Nightmare customer service – reps have hung up on me multiple times when I called in to complain and two told me to “cancel my policy if I was so unhappy”, as opposed to trying to provide me with “customer service” and assist me. These reps should be fired but pale in comparison to the contractors sent to my home from over an hour away – no plumbers reside in metro Atlanta????????? My furnace was repaired by ASH twice and then once it needed replacing, out of the blue, they annouce it “was not installed properly”. Why was it installed properly every other time they repaired it, but all of a sudden the furnace was deemed “not installed properly” at a time it needed to be replaced? A plumbing call was beyond a nightmare – leak onto basement rug required an “emergency visit” by some company that came from literally an hour and a half outside of metro Atlanta. They could not figure out what was wrong. I called in my own plumber who diagnised and repaired the problem immediately (and came from 10 minutes away, since there actually are plumbers in the metro Atlanta area). I had to argue a lot to be reimbursed by AHS and it wasn’t until realtors called them to complain on my behalf (these realtors use them on their property listings), I got my money refunded immediately. I called in a repair on a garbage disposal today and was told a company could be out on Tuesday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. I told them I had to work all day Tuesday but that I had all day Monday off and that I was free all day today. I called “customer service” back to request that my order be placed with a company who could come today or anytime on Monday or even next weekend
and was told they could only send this one company – again, a company an hour from my home, as opposed to a tried and true local company…..I asked to cancel my contract immediately and was told to “call back on Monday to cancel with customer service”. I said I thought I was speaking to customer service and the person said “you are, but call back on Monday to cancel your service”. Bad service has gone to horrific service over the time I have used AHS, which has been infrequently. Incredibly rude customer service reps on the phone who must pass a rudensss exam to work for AHS. Highly unethical business practices (telling me a furnace they had repaired in the past all of a sudden had been installed improperly so that they could avoid the replacement cost). I will do as told and call back and speak to customer service again on Monday to cancel – even though I was speaking to customer service today and trying to cancel. I still have a broken garbage disposal and company from out of town visiting. Nightmare company to deal with – rude, not helpful, dishonest and where do they find the contractors??????????
virtually every item that breaks has some pre existing condition or “installed improperly” so you’re out the premium, plus the $60 tech visit and then you’ve still got to fix it.
AHS was called by me day before Thansgiving my dishwasher wiring caught fire. Repair guy came following Monday, which was ok considering it was a holiday weekend. 8 days later after offering me a cheaper model as a replacemant which I declined, AHS decided to order parts to fix mine. The day after Christmas my repair guy showed up with the parts which finaly came in and opened the box for the control panel and to our surprise it was white not the black one he told AHS to order, so now I’m still without a dishwasher and I guess it will be another week or so washing dishes by hand. My repair guy called AHS before he left and told the idiots about the wrong colored part, but since he had told them black to begin with I don’t fault him.
LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR A WARRANTY! PLEASE DON’T GET AHS, YOU WILL BE SORRY. Customer service is very rude and their contractors are sub-par at best. They refused to replace our AC unit even though it was serviced 7 times over the past year. They left us without AC when it was over 100 Degrees for over a week and without hot water when it was January. I’d strongly caution anyone against doing business with AHS. They are deceptive to the point of actually condoning what really feels to me like institutionalized fraud.
I have been really unsatisfied with AHS. Most recently, I called to verify that a problem with my sink was covered. They assured me that it was and sent someone out. They then decided it wasn’t covered and their representative called to explain that it was a problem with the faucet, not the plumbing. And, while the plumbing was covered, the faucet was not. This seemed fishy, so I checked my contract. Turns out that no part of the sink is covered – I was lied to not once but twice. This had happened previously with a problem with my toilet that should have been covered but wasn’t. I’m not in the process of trying to get out of my contract with these guys. I’d strongly caution anyone against doing business with AHS. They are deceptive to the point of actually condoning what really feels to me like institutionalized fraud.
As I write this it is 19 degrees outside and I am waiting on an AHS service call on my furnace. It is the second one. My problem was supposedly “fixed” the other day.I am literally freezing in my own home. Home buyers, LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR A WARRANTY! PLEASE DON’T GET AHS, YOU WILL BE SORRY. I also had an issue with my hot water heater which they told me was my fault since I didn’t maintain it. My water heater is 16 years old. It is time for a new one, but they aren’t going to fix it. America’s Home Shield stinks. They take money from their customer’s and then try to weasel out of doing the work.
My water heater began leaking on a Friday. AHS sent a repairman out the following Monday. (3 days without hot water since we had to close the valve) The technician showed up, was rude to my wife, told us that the warranty would only cover a small amount of the total repair, told us it would take 10 days to get the parts, and broke the shut-off valve to the water heater. So we had to turn off all water to the house to stop the leak. We would have been without ANY water for 10 days.
We called AHS and told them to send someone else, they wouldn’t, we told them we wanted the cash out option, and they said OK, but when the check arrived, it was only for 30% of the amount they were going to pay for the first repairman. We called someone else, who showed up and replaced the heater on the SAME DAY. First guy was a total jerk, and AHS stood behind him. AHS paid us $350 for a $1700 repair. AHS was indifferent when we told them that we were going to be without ANY water for 10 days. Horrible.
I will not renew my home warranty contract with AHS. The customer service representative only follows up with their selected vendor when WE placed the call for follow. The vendor has been attempting to repair a an oven for 5 weeks. This has been a poor experience and unfortunately, I’m still waiting on repair. By the way, the I would give customer service a 3 as they are always polite but you will get voicemail hell before you get a customer service agent.
I had AHS for fourteen years, since moving into my current house. At first they were good, sending qualified people who fixed what was wrong. Over the last two years this has become a scam company. Everyone they send shows up in a small compact car, with a backpack looking for reasons to deny a claim. I don’t think anyone who came could actually FIX anything. This just not my experience. Two other people I know with AHS have had the same experience lately. They no longer want to fix anything. Just take your money. I am seriously thinking of starting a class action suit against these crooks? Interested? If so, e-mail me at baseballsensei@yahoo.com
I have had this company for a few years, my first experience was less than satisfactory. They tried to find a way out of the repair but didn’t win. I gave them the benefit of the dought and kept them. My second experience was very satisfactory other than the repair man stated he wouldn’t use them. This experience is completely unexceptable and I will not renew with them. They use repair companies that are substandard, cheap and unprofessional and take far to long to get the problem fixed.
I would not recommend a American Home Shield warranty. I had purchased a home and thought their coverage would be a good idea, but it was not only a waste of money and time. Plumbing issues-simple ones such as kitchen drain running slow/clogged was not taken care of. I tired using my policy again for a heating issue. The pilot light had gone out and needed to be lit. They did not even take care of that. They always send someone who in turn tells you that your problem is unique and they can’t fix it. Surprise, surprise when private repair companies were called that the repairs were “no brainers” and fixed in a jiffy! AHS is a total waste of time and money you would do better to build a reliable list of repair companies through friends recommendations and your own experience.