Fidelity National Home Warranty
Home Warranty Plan Details and Reviews for Fidelity National Home Warranty
Premium: $350-445
Deductible: $55
Effective: upon payment receipt
Web: homewarranty.com
Deductible: $55
Effective: upon payment receipt
Web: homewarranty.com
Coverage Area: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Texas
| 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: [9] 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 » Show All
Compared to the horror stories that I have read on here, I am rather pleased with Fidelity and believe that the investment has been worth the warranty.
I have had a number of claims during the past year and list the brief experienced below:
1. Ceiling fan refused to turn on. They sent out an electrician, determined the motor was bad, and sent me a check to buy a replacement fan (when I showed them proof of purchase). I had to pay to have the new one installed.
2. We had a plumbing leak in the bathroom which caused water to pour into our kitchen ceiling. They had someone out the same day, and fixed the leak which was good. The bad part is they do not pay for anything more than a “rough patch” which means I needed someone to come in and redo the drywall and paint.
3. Refrigerator stopped cooling. This was a more frustrating ordeal because the first provider they sent just didn’t know how to fix this brand. They sent the same provider out a second time to attempt another fix, but they still couldn’t figure it out. Finally, with a few phone calls, they partnered with an authorized repair center and fixed the problem. A hassel, and a lot of $$ spent on food, but as long as you are polite and persistent, I found they do want to service the customer.
Overally, the people on the phone were kind and did try explain the limitation on the warranty. Caveat emptor, Buyer Beware. Understand what a warranty covers before buying and your likely won’t be upset.
Compared to the prior warranty company, prompt service and did get the above items fixed. I will renew.
Contract #692186 (expired). I have to upgrade my review of Fidelity, because there is evidence that they are changing their business practices. I contacted the Better Business Bureau about my problem with their work on my A/C unit. In response, I was contacted by Fidelity main office. Apparently their use of inexperienced Sears technicians initiated the problem, and the endless loop situation I experienced with their Customer Service is a problem that they now recognize. Long story short, Fidelity sent a different contractor: No Sweat, Inc from Torrance CA, who correctly diagnosed the problem, and then quickly and efficiently replaced the condenser and compressor, which involved hiring a crane to lift the unit onto the roof. The work was done under contract, and the total cost to me was $225, for some necessary modifications not covered in the agreement. I had to bring in a third party (the BBB) to get resolution, but Fidelity finally came through. I have not yet renewed my contract with Fidelity, but might consider it in the future if further evidence of improved relationships with their clients appears. I wait with cautious optimism.
I have had this warrenty service for 4 years now and it is the absolute worst service ive ever had.. My stove has been out of commision now for a month ( note this is during christmas)so i couldnt cook for the holidays. So 440 for the yearly service plus 55 for the co pay per visit. They have tried fixing the stove 4 times. So the 440 and year plus 55 per visit = i could have baught a new stove myself.. I hate this company and will not be renewing next year.
I’ve been with Fidelity Home Warranty for 2 years. I had a gas leak in the wall of my house. Because the leak was associated to the key valve of the fire place they refused to cover it. I had the gas company speak to the rep before having them send someone out explaining the leak. If they knew it wasn’t covered they shouldn’t have sent anyone out at all. The plumber I got was good but the fact the warranty company doesn’t cover repairing something that could potentially cause me or my family harm is bogus. Then after I pay the plumber over $400 they still want their $55. I’d be better off putting the money I’m paying them each month into an emergency fund. They are useless. They also didn’t cover our under-mount sink in the kitchen falling out. I feel like I’m throwing money away.
Year after year I pay over five hundred dollars for this service. Year after year I have to argue with them for even the most basic repairs. Moreover, their authorization department is rude. It would appear they are instructed to turn down almost anything unless contested and even then, they make the process miserable. Based on the reviews I have read, I am not alone in my dissatisfaction.
Regardless of what the issue is, a 3 day wait for a repair person is the norm. Don’t have heat and 30* outside? Oh well! Gotta wait.
Definitely will be going with a different warranty service when this is up
DO NOT EVER PURCHASE A HOME WARRANTY WITH FIDELITY — after purchasing a new home about 2.5 years ago, we have had heater problems on 7 different occasions, all of the parts from the heater have been replaced minus the blower . . .everything! I spoke with one technician who promised to replace our heater – however when the “independent” Sears tech comes out, he tells me all we need is a new gas valve . . . I would NEVER purchase or recommend FIDELITY to anyone, even my worst enemy. They have spent more money on parts and could have replaced the heater a long time ago and still refuse to do so . . . I’m also in the process of obtaining an attorney and taking them to court!
DO NOT EVER USE FIDELITY! EVER!
We are new homeowners and purchased a home with an air conditioner/heater unit that was not large enough or even working properly (it worked just long enough for the ink to dry on the loan docs).
Fidelity contracts out with only the WORST contractors, ones that will not replace this unit even though we’ve had them out 6 times in two months. The AC did not work in the summer and it was 115 degrees in the house. Now the heater turns off if the temperature gets too low (it blows cold air as the unit freezes over). I was told by the latest Fidelity repair person that my heater would not work if it got too cold.
Getting Fidelity to replace our unit is impossible. I would STAY AWAY from these crooks.
I’m a Real Estate Broker who discovered a leaking water heater in a vacant listing. Upon cleaning up the floor & shutting off the water, I called Fidelity Warranty on a Wednesday with their promise that a plumber would contact me within 24 hours. No plumber called so, I called Fidelity back on Friday morning and they suggested I call the plumber directly, I did so only to find that the Company number was no longer in service. I called Fidelity back and offered to call them for me. After waiting another day they confirmed that I was correct and they would e-mail someone from within to locate another plumber. I’m just wondering who Fidelity called on my behalf when I first made my claim, certainly they too would have gotten a message that the number no longer existed ? I finally got a call from another plumber on Monday who said he couldn’t make it out till Wednesday. The plumber made it out and after taking my deductible said Fidelity would contact me to let me know about the approval process. I finally heard back from Fidelity (after 2 additional calls to them) on the following Monday, which was 12 days from the start. They indicated that the electric water heater did need to be replaced as I originally thought however, the upgrades were going to be $560 in addition to the $610 they would pay the plumber to replace the unit. It seems that $1,170 plus my deductible is far more more than a $229 water heater should cost. Thankfully this was a vacant house and I was the only one who had to deal with cleaning up, draining The unit & having a house without running water for showings but, this would have been a horrible situation if the Seller still lived there, therefore I won’t recommend a Fidelity Warranty to any clients in the future.
Refused to cover a failed heater coil and plenum, which is clearly covered in the policy. Had to get an attorney and then they finally covered part of the claim. Will never do business with this company again.
I had not used this warranty service before. I want to be fair in my ratings so I have to say the rating of 1 on ‘repair service’ may be unfair since it has not happened. I had a failure in a covered system- garage door opener. The first gentleman with whom we spoke said it was covered, a real problem and would put it on the ‘rush list’. “It is covered. Someone should contact you within an hour”. No one did. We called a few hours later, were put on hold by the woman who answered and came back and reported she could not reach anyone in the dept. that dispatches service calls but WOULD call. No one did. We placed multiple calls, spent LOTS of time on hold. Finally, someone did call. We were told now they doubted it was covered because the failure probably created damage to other components(?) and they were not liable but would send someone out but we would charged a $55 fee. The technician would not actually fix anything. They would simply look at the garage door opener and call Fidelity again. THEN, the technician would return- IF APPROVED- (we would have to pay another $55 fee to have him conduct the repairs.ACK!) I called again and escalated the complaint first to a supervisor, then a manager. No progress. The manager even told me that due to the ‘extent of the damage’ he doubted it would be covered. I asked how he knew how much damage was done since no one had been here. His response was that one of his associates had reported it to him. When I asked for the next step in the resolution process, I was literally told that the next ‘formal’step in thier policy was to transfer me to someone’s voicemail who would not be available to speak with me. I said I doubted their escalation policy really said that.He (the manager) said it actually was a formal part of their escalation process to connect customers to the voicemail of someone they knew was not currently available.I suddenly heard the phone transfer to voicemail! So, I left a voicemail for someone who was reportedly a VP. I asked for a rapid call back due to the security problem of not being able to close a garage door due to the problem. I received a call (~two hours later) from someone whom the VP, who reportedly went home early, asked to call me. A reasonable guy named ‘Nick’made the call, the most customer centric person with whom we have spoken yet. Nick explained that my file noted that Fidelity had failed to find someone to come and fix the opener but gave me the option to contact someone myself. Even though by this time it was 9:30 at night, I said this was better than any option I had heard yet but given the time of night I speculated that I would not be able to get anyone here. However, Nick said that if I DID find someone to make sure they did not actually fix anything when they came until they contacted Fidelity. Then the service provider, if approved, could return at some future time/ date to actually conduct the repair.Back to square one. I still had the security problem of a garage door left open to the world.To Nick’s credit, he continued to try to problem solve. He then said I could call Fidelity again tomorrow morning if I had not heard from them. (I’m not sure how this helps me.) I said since I had spent the better part of a day making calls to them that I would not be making more calls that would simply start the process over. He guaranteed they would contact me by 10:00 a.m. my time. They did. The purpose of the contact was to tell however, that someone else would contact me ‘Probably within an hour’. When I asked if that was a firm time, she (Jodie) said goodbye and hung up. The hour has now long since expired. No response.I still have the problem and strongly suspect that no one at Fidelity actually cares that I do. During the process, I was asked if the problem was “caused by abuse”? I replied that I wasn’t even sure how one would abuse a garage door opener.However, I pointed out that a licensed home inspector had inspected it at the time took the policy with Fidelity and had certified it as fine. I mentioned that it (garage door openers) only did a couple of things- open and close doors. I want this to work but given the quality of service we have experienced so far, I predict a failure. I will make one more call before I totally give up on this provider.
Poor service/attitude. Reps always try to find a loophole to not cover the repairs.
I Reported poor airflow from couple of ducts. technician reported it as “Crushed” so now the repair is not covered…wasted $55. This money could have been used to do the actual repairs.
Part of the problem is the third party service providers try to gain maximum payout from the service requests which in some cases backfires and request gets denied from the insurance company….
I am a real estate broker and have recommended Fidelity Home Warranty to my buyer clients. However from this point on I will make sure the home buyer reads the fine print on the Fidelity brochure. I live in Texas, cockroaches are in the finest of homes, I would consider them to be a normal part of our lives. Therefore cockroaches are normal wear and tear. Evidently Fidelity Home Warranty doesn’t agree. A tiny cockroach “broke” our top of the line microwave, replacement part is not available and therefore will not be replaced………..
I’m a Realtor. They sent an unexperienced repairman to fix my mom’s heater last winter, but when our 105 summer came, the AC would not work. We called Fidelty and the AC repairman told us that the wiring was so faulty and jimmy’d, he didn’t want to touch it. So, Fidelty sent a second repairman and the solution was, we needed to buy a new unit. Unbelieveable! The repairman told my mom and I that we were being ripped off by Fidelity since it wasn’t our fault that the first repairman (THAT THEY SENT) had damaged our system beyond repair. He even took pictures of the wiring and encouraged me to go to court. I was furious, reminding Fidelity that they were the ones who broke our unit in first place and they should cover the cost. They didn’t care, and simply asked me if we wanted it to be installed, or not, and it would be $1,800. They are the most unethical company I have every worked with. My apologies to nearly 100 clients I’ve referred to Fidelity over the years, and I regret not sueing them.
Contract #692186 For 7 years, Fidelity Home warranty provided prompt service BUT when it came time to replace the A/C they installed a unit that does not work if the temperature rises above 90F!!! Each time the system started blowing HOT AIR through the house, I called Fidelity and they sent out a Sears technician, who fiddled about and then told me the compressor was overheating. He would advise me to leave the A/C off until it cooled. Once the outside temp fell below 90F, I would turn on the A/C and lo and behold, it was working again. After a full year of this dance (I live in Southern California) I decided that Fidelity was not going to restore the A/C system to proper working condition. So when it came time to renew on 11/12/2011, I decided save the $400 toward getting an A/C that will work when I need it most.
I had the same experience as Dissatisfied from Campbell, CA. After seven years with Fidelity, we needed our a/c compressor replaced. They replaced it with one that was inferior to the original unit. Now *every time* the outside temperature gets above 90, the air conditioner fails: it blows hot air. Then I call Fidelity, and they send out a Sears technician who fiddles around a bit, and then tells me that it is overheating, so leave it off for awhile. So I leave it off until the temperature falls below 90, and voila, it’s working again! Mission accomplished. Well, after a full year of this fiasco, I’ve decided not to renew my policy with Fidelity. I plan to put my money toward getting an a/c unit that works when I need it most.
They are a bad news. Stay away and save your money. I have a heating system problem and it has been four weeks and yet they have not authorized to fix it.
Our landlord has fidelity and since we’ve moved in to his house the dishwasher needed repair, the washing machine needed replacement, and now the hot water heater needs replacement. Fidelity has covered everything minus the $55 co-payments etc., though it took 2 weeks for the new washer. We are expecting a new water heater tomorrow. So if you are a home owner Fidelity could save you a tremendous amount of money, not to mention the trouble of trying to find a contractor in an emergency.
This has to be the chepaest company out there with the poorest cutomer service. We recommended this company because of the rep. Our first experience was that of a heating problem. they said they sent a wrok orderbut did not know what company would go. a plumber called and wanted acess to the home. I said what for? it is a heating problem. and again called fidelity and found out they sent a plumber and now sent a new work order. three days later still no service. we called again and they gave us the nuber of a compnay that answered with a baby crying in the background stating they do not work on the week ends. If there is a way to get full refund i would like to know. bad customer service, and vendors who apparently do not want to work
We were Fidelity customers until recently.
They have been fixing our a/c for last 2 years and still it is broken and we have no idea how much more we need to spend. Be careful, they can determine one issue with your a/c as a separate case from another because their “technician” thinks it is a separate issue and another $55 comes out of your pocket. You would think that once you have paid for your a/c, you don’t need to pay again. But not with these guys.
They can also be rude on phone and refuse to repair unless you renew even though your original request was when your policy was current. All customer disservice representatives specialize in bulldozing.
Be a customer if you are masochist or you have money/time to waste.
Shortly after moving into a new home we had a roof leak. I called FNHW and bit my tongue when I offered the address and the CSR said “wait a minute, wait a minute, I’m not ready”. The rest of the call was pretty standard but with no empathy, personality, customer service, etc., I was left with the impression that my call had interrupted the CSRs day. The gentleman who came to fix the leak was very nice and seemed knowledgeable. It rained a week later. The leak continued. I contacted the service person and he returned to fix the roof again. A month later, it rained and the leak clearly was not fixed as water continued to leak in the exact same place. The difference was: there were less drip leaks and now some of the water now dripped down the wall. This caused water damage to the ceiling of the room below the leak. When I called to inform FNHW that their recommended repair person had not only not fixed the problem but now had created a larger repair, I was curtly told that “consequential damage is not our responsibility…read your contract”. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After nearly 10 minutes on hold, I spoke very clearly into the phone and said “if you are hoping I’ll hang up, you are clearly wrong. You’d better just deal with me now”, amazingly, the CSR returned to the line and told me she would patch me thru to a supervisor. The supervisor refused to give me her last name, stating “security reasons” (and when I read the ire this company has provoked and is posted here, I can understand why). Typically in this kind of service situation, the client is responded to with an empathetic voice from the CSR or Supervisor. Make no mistake. There will be no sympathy here. The representatives mrely state over and over again to “review your contract. I am sorry you feel that way” in a robotic voice. This tells me that CEO Billy either prides himself on hiring the least educated, poorly trained company representatives and/or that these employees are so used to dealing with complaints concerning their poor quality repair referrals that they are immune. I’d be curious if an employee would come forward and tell this forum what it is/was like to work in FNHW’s environment and if the culture is as bad as it seems.
I have had Fidelity Home Warranty for 7 years. I’ve had about 7 claims in that time. All but one were OK’d and completed. The one that was not completed was for my refrigerator. However, I have had plumbing, new water heater, electrical, and pesticide (ants) help through them. All were satisfactorily completed. Customer service was ok, but not exemplary. Vendors who came to do the work were knowledgeable and professional. I continue to use their service, so I guess I’m satisfied!
Stay away from this company. They don’t have there act together. They couldn’t even get a service person to come out and review the problem with our dishwasher and heating system but where fast in taking the $100
We purchased our home almost 3 years ago and have had a Fidelity Home Warranty for the entire time. We have had very little occasion to use them until recently. I made the terrible mistake in choosing to warranty the refrigerator with Fidelity rather then the manufacturer. The refrigerator has failed to regulate the temperatures in both the fridge and freezer. The service tech has had to come out three times and the issue is still not completely resolved. Perhaps it is a problem that is difficult to diagnose. The problem with Fidelity is that with each recall of the technician, they have charged me a new service fee. With each new service fee there is an entirely new explanation as to why. The second service fee was because I didn’t call within the 30 day guarantee period, a policy that I was unaware of, but I went ahead and paid for the fee. The third service fee, for the SAME problem, for the SAME technician that THEY chose to send to my house EACH time, was because he put in a different part then the last two service calls, therefore they have decided that it is a new problem and requires a third service fee. I understand that things don’t always get fixed the first time, but I don’t appreciate being triple billed. I will be shopping for a different home warranty company.
This is a home warranty company you want to stay away from.
The subcontractors they use are fine and do good work, however, if you actually get FNHW to approve a repair it is a rarity.
They will nickle and dime you to death on semantics so they can get out of doing the repair. They will argue over the definition of a word. For example, I had an outlet go out and they would not cover it. They said it was not an “improper installation, repair or modification” even though I have the Comprehensive Plan where it is clearly defined that they cover Improper Installations, Repairs and Modifications.
They suggested that normal wear and tear is mutually inclusive of improper installations, repairs and modifications! Last time I checked you couldn’t have normal wear and tear while at the same time having an improper installation, repair or modification. But in their world you can! Perhaps they think 2 + 2 = 3.
They made assumptions about how the outlet went out. They assumed the prior owner created the failure. Their ability to conduct deductive reasoning was basically circular arguments and parroting of…again…the words in the policy.
Do yourself a favor, tell your real estate agent, broker, friends and whomever else you know to spend their money somewhere else and go with a company that does not play games so they can get out of a $150 repair. I mean really, it was an outlet. Even if you had to string new wires it was a minor job.
When buying a house, save yourself the hassle, frustration and money. Go with a company other than Fidelity National Home Warranty.