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 … 14 13 12 11 10 [9] 8 7 6 5 4 … 1 » Show All
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This week, one of the nation’s largest home warranty companies, American Home Shield, settled a class action lawsuit in federal court. The case involved a California woman who said AHS misled customers about the meaning of federal regulations on newly manufactured air-conditioning systems.
The purpose, the lawsuit alleged, was to sell upgrades to existing customers. The company denied wrongdoing.
Philadelphia lawyer Jamie L. Sheller has researched American Home Shield on behalf of several clients. She said she learned that AHS creates incentives for contractors who perform repairs to keep costs down. The better they are at that, the more business they get in referrals from the company.
AHS assigns grades to contractors based on how many claims they deny, the average cost of repairs and the ratio of repairs versus replacements, she said.
That creates incentives for contractors to deny claims or to do minimal work.
Full article: http://www.star-telegram.com/northeast/story/1146855.html
They refuse to make necessary and valid claims. They put exlcusions in the contract for items you believed would be covered. For example, my application stated the plan included plumbing,but when I got the contract AHS, in the fine print, excluded facets.
Horrible referrals. Refers address less guys who doesn’t show up and not bothered to let us know atleast the reason for not showing up.
Please don’t go with these guys unless you don’t care loosing time, money and patience.
My heat pump needed repair and American Home Shield found a way not to fix it. They sent out a repairman who spent two hours working on the unit and said they would return. AHS called and said the repair was not covered, even though they had told me it was when I made my first call to them. The Unit is now totally unusable since the repairmen did not come back. Save your $550/yr and have a local handyman do the work, and you will be money ahead.
My Furnace died in December. It took 2 weeks to get the subpar furnace delivered. Had to move out of my house. AHS offered one space heater. Heating subcontractor indicated they could have had furnace next day, but had to wait for delivery from AHS which took waaaaay too long. Then I had to incur additional expenses to fit new furnace into existing ducts.
Renewal rates went up and service fees went from $55 to $95 per call. No remorse by cust service, that is just the way it is.
I had a few things I called to ask them about, but they weren’t covered (dryer vent duct was clogged). But I had to use the termite add-on I thankfully got and it saved me a lot of money. This was my first year with them and I was considering adding my washer/dryer/fridge when I renewed. But I got the renewal notice and they jacked up the price. So, not only will they not be getting the add-ons they always want to sell you, they won’t even be getting my renewal. For as much as I’d end up paying, if one of those appliances breaks I can just buy a new one and be able to choose my own vendor.
I have had a few service calls with AHS and every single one I have to follow up and make sure they do what they should be doing. From going w/o A/C in the summer to w/o heat in the winter – both over night because AHS didn’t follow through with getting service people here. I’m still w/o heat, more than 24 hours with 2 small children in the middle of Feb!! They tell you they will call back, and don’t. They told me it took 2.5 hours to find someone that was avail to fix the heat!?!?! Then the service guy didn’t have the part and AHS told me they’d look for someone else that has the part. I call back and AHS says they aren’t looking for someone else. WTF??? That person did authorize me to buy $100 worth of heaters. First mention of that idea. If you get a contract with them, be very aware you will need to stay on them HOURLY to ensure you get service. The service people they send are nice and competent, but AHS is not. And, as a final note – I had a flood in my basement, on the phone with them for a plumber for the broken pipe. I was asked TWICE if I wanted to provide my email address?!?!? Are you kidding, I want a plumber!!! I need a new warranty company!!!
I bought my first home, which was older, and so got the warranty my real estate agent recommended. The garbage disposer blew out and they responded very quickly. The only thing was they sent two guys to change it, they REEKED of smoke, and reused whatever they could from the old unit. Didn’t even leave me the warranty for it or sink plug. I still have the old cruddy one. I just received my renewal notice, and in just the one year it increased from $336 to $466. I don’t know if that’s because I had one claim or the economy, but I will not support a 27% increase. That’s why I’m here–checking out other companies. Find one that wants to create a little loyalty and not punish you for a single claim.
Had bad service by AHS regarding water heater replacement. 13yr old water heater developed a leak day before Christmas and no one to come till couple days later. (Not an Emergency by there book) Their Contractor Graydon Kouri In Fairfield CA comes out and “Yes your 13 year old water heater has a leak and needs replacement” Nothing for done over weekend now more days no hot water so I tell AHS will buy a 12yr warranty water heater vs the one they are going to get that is warrantied for 6 years so will not have to file claim sooner and have the inconvience of water heater out sooner. So win win for AHS and Me though I know I will pay difference of cost of what they were going to put in. Now Gradon Kouri tech very unprofessional comes out and installs water heater 5 day after went bad and does not install earthquake straps properly and I have to loan the guy my tools to do the job. Complain to owner who has to come back out and fix his techs work over hour and half only later find out he overcharges me what AHS rate is and AHS does not reimburse me difference of cost of their water heater really cost paid just over $100 for 40gal gas water heater. Now Im screwed by both AHS and Gradon Kouri
Simple equation…
21 Year old, maintained furnace stopped working consistently. Was instructed use until service could arrive. Was deemed not maintained. Second opinion = Furnace was maintained. Original tech. could NOT have diagnosed correctly without dismantling and continuing to run the furnace was a MAJOR fire hazard.
AHS response? Too bad so sad. It was negative 15 out but you had your furnace replaced by a company second to the one THEY sent out.
Solution – Simple small claims court deal – suing them for the max.
i had 2 leaks in my basement:
1. Water pressure valve
2. water valve for my refrigerator
The service was denied because it apparently was not covered by the contract. I have never seen a contract! The salesperson (from American Home Shield) said that all problems related to plumbing were covered, and i do not have to worry about anything if i have a leak that would cause a damage to my property.
i ended up paying $389 for repairs. When i called to cancel my contract, i was told that they never send a copy of a contract to sign to a client. And nobody knows exactly what is covered until it actually happens. The company’s representative usually makes a decision based on a specific situation.
My contract was #86988782 – just in case company’s rep reads it and decides to apologize and refund my $$$. Ha Ha – will it ever happen?
I had a sewer blockage inside the house in 1 of the pipes. AHS service person misdiagnosed the issue/ root cause and concluded that it was outside the house where a pipe was swollen. They would have to dig the entire ground up, run cameras, replace pipes etc. to fix the issue – costing me thousands of dollars. I aksed them to send another company; the guy came and left in 2 – 5 minutes with the same conclusion (the 2nd company was aware of the 1st company’s conclusion, and didn’t make any effort to make an independent analysis.)
Anyways, then I hired my own company. They came and found clog within the house; cleared up the clog, left the place clean, and it’s been many months without any issues.
The height of the dissatisfaction was when I tried to work with them based on evidence at hand, but AHS wouldn’t work with me at all.
this company send out technicians that want to get up out as fast as they can. they don’t do anything more than try to get it a quick fix. They don’t spend not one more minute trying to do a diagnosis unless the unit is completely down (broken)
I am a real estate agent, and I selected AHS as the warranty-provider for my client based on suggestions from other agents. When my client called AHS to schedule a repair (toilet was leaking to ceiling in basement), it took over a week for them to send a technician. Then, the technician, who DIDN’T FIX THE PROBLEM, was absolutely rude to my client. It was embarrassing. I called AHS and they said they had no control over who their subcontractors send to your home. Hmm. Never again.
actually the rating is .00000000000000000000001
As long as you pay your renewal on time everything is great. life is good. as soon as something breaks forget it.
My 3 yr old $1000 ge harmony dryer broke in NOV. the guy coulnd’t diagnose it at my home takes it away. he had it for 2 months brought it back last sunday 1 week later not working again. and to top it off he “trashed it” the whole top of the dryer which is made of resin like cars is cracked. he apologizes like its ok. then to top it off they do not want to help, customer service . customer service is the worst, i can’t get a manager or a supervisor on the phone on ma monday morning they all play dumb. i even said i do not want this guy back in my house and she threatens to charge me “another” service fee. i am sick to my stomach that these companies are allowed to function. can some one please help me. My garbage disposal started leaking 2 weeks ago they still did not send someone to fix it. thanks
I went almost four months without an oven while they searched for parts, ordered the wrong parts, ordered additional parts, and returned almost none of my phone calls.
We had flushed a paper towel used to clean up our dog’s vomit (sorry), which caused stoppage in both (only)toilets in the home. We called AHS and explained what had happened in detail. They opened an emergency ticket and said that they would call a contractor. Several calls over 14 hours gave us the same response, “We’re still trying to find someone.” I asked if I could call someone myself. They said that we could, but before they could do the work, they must call for an approval number. My first call produced a response and they were at my home within 30 minutes. They called for an approval number and was asked, “How much?” When they gave them the price, AHS said, I’m sorry, this is not covered because they flushed a foreign article down the toilet. I had told the dog barf story to no less than 4 people at AHS and not once did they tell me that it wasn’t covered. 14 hours later I’m stuck with a $300 bill. I cancelled my contract with AHS on the spot. They continued to deduct the monthly payment for two months. Today (over two months later) we received a letter in the mail that the contract was cancelled effective the day I spoke with them by phone.
they never replace anything. say you did not maintain it and if they did replace it the year before they send you back to the seller. and the companies they contract with are horrible. they broke my fan which never got replaced. broke the garbage disposal which ahs refused to replace… never again!!!!!
This rating is based the service and professionlism received from the last 2 vendors that we made contact with. It’s not completely targeted to AHS> I’m not impressed with the fact that my issues were not elevated to a manager or supervisor to resolve and satisfy the customer. As a result this reflects on the survey as a whole.
I just cancelled my policy with AHS. This was our first house and was sold by our real estate agent to purchase AHS. Of the 7+ service calls we made over 3 years, I did keep track of them all, at least were items AHS were not coverd under our plan and 2 were diagnosed as existing problems. The latest was a leak the first guy said was due to the shower needing recaulking and AHS did not cover so we paid out of pocket to have it caulked but the problem remained. The second guy came out and told us the leak was coming from the roof but told AHS it was due to the shower needing recaulking which was already done.
I think the vendors give causes they know AHS won’t cover so they get paid their service fee and don’t have to pay for parts and labor to fix the actual problem.
I have since cancelled my policy and I’m researching more reputable companies, not sure there are any.
I’ve had AHS for about 6 months. They contract workmen with dubious skills. Two separate companies came out to repair our hot water heater. One charged me $180 to put on a shut off valve that he said wasn’t covered by AHS. The second was better, but I ended paying close to $400 becasue of the various things that were not covered. I had another call in today, and they sent this bozo who said he didn’t know a thing about the problem but charged us anyway.
A job transfer caused my family to move leaving the sale of our house in the hands of a relator. When she stated that as part of the listing agreement her company would cover our home with a home warranty while it was on the market I thought it was a great idea. Our warranty was with American Home Shield.
One day when the house was being shown it was discovered that there was a water leake that had ruin the carpet. We called AHS and decribed the problem and the rep said it was covered but it would take three days to get someone out. 2 contractors later someone finally came out at a cost of $65.00 just to tell us it was not covered.
We contacted a friend who is a master plumber and he fixed the problem for $99.00.
I think the idea of a home warranty is great but the odds of finding a good company is very poor.
We have had nothing but problems with this company. Our plans cover everything and why do we have to do through crap when its time to file a claim. The service is horrible. We have had at least 4 people come out for the same problem and they continue to want us to pay the 60 fee. This issue was for a gas leak with our heater. Why? If the people they send out are professionals we shouldn’t have to see 4 different people to only fix the problem ourselves. If zero was a rating that’s what this company would get. We are trying to find another company that offer the same benefits. If anybody know of a place please let me know.
An absolute rip-off! We could smell a gas leak and Consumers came out within an hour. They said that there was improper venting and it could be leaking carbon monoxide so it needed to be fixed right away. AHS finally came out about 3 months later! They said that the water softener was outdated and wouldn’t pay for anything. We got the venting fixed through another company that we had to pay for. After that the water softener died and they still wouldn’t pay for it because of “improper venting”. Pretty sure that after 20 years of running, the venting wasn’t the problem. Anything we had a problem with, AHS had an excuse for not having to pay for it. Plus the service fee was outrageous! I would not recommend this company. You will just have to pay beyond what you pay them since they won’t replace anything!
They only try to send repair companies that will reject any services that need to be done that is very expensive. Very very very unethical insurance company. Do not be fooled. I am cancelling my service after 5 years b/c I have learned the hard way how their system works. Fix the small problems and find a reason to reject the bigger ones.