First American Home Warranty
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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.
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
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I have been waiting three weeks for my dryer to be fixed. The technician came and said the dryer is not repairable, however First American denied the replacement and said they feel the unit is repairable. I don’t care whether they fix it or repair it, but I’m sitting waiting without a working dryer. Customer service is fine, service is HORRIBLE!!!
From reading the complaints posted here, it is undeniably clear that the vast majority of you do not read your contract.
PLEASE, READ YOUR CONTRACT.
If you expect First American to hold up their end of the contract, why on earth wouldn’t you READ your policy? Read it.
And there is no “fine print.” In fact, all sections of the contract are in the same size font, and most list the not covered portions in italics, bold, or capitalization. First American is not trying to trick you. Just read it, all the way through. And if you have questions, regarding ANYTHING AT ALL, call and ask. They have reps available to answer your calls 24/7/365.
Also, the service fee that is listed on your contract will be due for EVERY SINGLE CLAIM that a technician comes to your home for. Regardless of the outcome of your claim. Again, this wouldn’t come as a shock to you, if you actually read your contract. It clearly states this in the very first section.
And please realize that it is completely unrealistic for you to expect everything you place a claim for to be fixed immediately. Of course, special efforts are made in emergency situations, but not everything is an emergency. And yes, you might be able to find service on your own faster, but you’ll also pay a lot more out of pocket. The value of the warranty is that you don’t have to pay retail charges & mark-ups from local technicians. You can get your appliances, etc replaced at little to no cost to you, and without the warranty you would pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for the same work to be done. So to put it clearly – the point of the warranty isn’t to get service faster, it’s to save you money in the long run.
And lastly, you must understand that First American contracts are written the same way as other warranty companies. The same types of things are not covered, there are limits to the warranty coverage, etc. And if you look at reviews for every other warranty company, you would see that the complaints are about the same exact things. It is not exclusive to First American.
If you have a choice, steer clear of First American.
I feel cheated with buying my first home and being forced to use them for my warranty (*it was not our choice to select the company).
Do you reviews for home warranty’s. This company nickel and dimes you, sends out untrained (lack of trained) technicians.
Poor customer service, a lack of proactive solution finding and truly out to get their money.
Going to say this first, some of you may have a valid point, Most the rest of you is another story.
I went to this blog to see whats being said about this and other home warranty company’s. The negative reviews dont bother me much. Why you ask. How many take the time to write good. Ha NEVER. So its only the so called BAD is posted.
Being in the HVAC trade 28years and owning the company since 2001 I have some insight.
First, Look at your unit, it was probably junk already, and needed upgraded.
Inefficient wore out 25yr old junk. POS
Second, Iv seem many of you same people here try and SCAM a new unit, ask me how I know. HaHA
As some of you say,,, wow they came out three times for a repair to get it fixed right,ever hear of multiple problems. Ahh ya, its JUNK were working on.
What, you think once we wave our magic wand across the unit and, wala its new again. Give me a break.
I can only wonder what you say about your doctor or auto mechanic or dealership.
Let me ask this of you, Buy a car and never have the oil changed or maintained, you think you get the repairs FREE. You think you get a new motor YOU didnt maintain for free. If so your Stupid. You wont get nothing I hope you see why too.
Yea, you know how many ac units I see a year that NEVER had been maintained. Ruined from your stupidity.
Just like medical or dental insurance, the provider has to work for a cut rate on labor and material, so theres not much money to make anyway.
Do they scree the provider, they sure do. I had to have back ground checks on everyone. Plus the cost of general liability and work comp amounts they require with them being named in the policy as additionally insured. That all cost me money. So we dont make the coin you think.
Id rather have retail customers I charge 75hr and 40% mark up on parts.And there just as happy with the working ac unit.
Oh dont get me wrong the providers have there own snake oil also. They love to tell us how great these calls are we make peanuts on, because we didnt have to spend money to get the lead. There big selling point to us. However, if we cant make money at it, why do it.
Some calls are just not worth doing, I hear all day long that,,, I have no air and Im diein, got cancer,to fat, bad heart, just to try and get us out there.
Funny as you walk in there may be health issues, funny again as I enter I see oxygen bottle hooked up and the owner with a extra long 100 cig hanging from the lips puffin away, wow Stupid again.
In a nut shell, I speak 100% truth to my customers, yep no sugar or spice. Just brutal truth many of you cannot handle.
I read the above posts on this cost this or this and that cost, well in truth if you dump a compressor and dont have the insurance, you will pay heavy coin for the repair, compressor, labor, freon ect. Haveing warranty will take the sting out.
I have had this warranty for 4 years, we received one year when we purchased the house. 2 days prior to the warranty expiring our AC went out. We received service the same day. Part had to be ordered, then it was delayed, then it had to be reorder for some mysterious reason, then it was fixed. Then the very next day we had a leak in our bathroom, coming out of somewhere. Called, got service the same day, the man was able to fix the problem after cutting 3 holes in my wall (2 in my bathroom and 1 in the kitchen), but problem was fixed. I extended the warranty until now….
Friday before Memorial Day, none of my drains were draining (no sink, not the bathtubs, and the toilets were not flushing). Called to get service… obviously an emergency.. hello couldn’t use any type of water anywhere….
I was told sorry it was a holiday weekend and there wouldn’t be anyone to come and fix/look at the problem for 4 days! That they would be happy to discuss on the phone with what they would cover if I could find someone to come out. Last straw. I found 3 different plumbers that were able to come out the SAME day. Decided on one, he came out (for free estimate) told me the price. Called First American and they wouldn’t cover it as they could not be sure that was the problem…. uh… then why didn’t they get someone out there. I ended up eating that bill (as toilets and showers are a need around here) and have cancelled with them.
Buyer Beware…. I have found that it really is just worth saving the money that you would be giving and pay for the repairs. (also our water company actually offers cheaper annual premium, cheaper service fees for coverage for ALL water and sewer pipes inside and outside the home up to the main).
This company is the absolute worst They claim theyr screen their contractors LIES. The called City Wide Heating and Air out to my home. They didn’t call me to confirm appt. I tried calling the contractor, and the phone number didn’t work. I sat on the phone while First American tried to reach them, they couldn’t reach them either!!!!! Ridiculous!! I’ve been waiting all week for my a/c repair. WOn’t be until the middle of next week I’m sure. I’ve called First American about the issue several times, they lie to me to get me off the phone. And worst of all, every time I call I have to wait $20 minutes!!! Do yourself a favor, avoid this terrible home warranty co.
They have really bad service, when ever you call them it takes them 2 or more days to send somebody and people they come they don’t know whats going on with the problem its hard for them to diagnose,most of the time we are ending up calling local companies to fix problem…
We purchased this policy about 3 years for our home that is 21 years old. Our first repair issue was with a built in microwave/oven combination. The microwave part that failed was no longer available, and First American replaced the complete combo unit with no hesitation. Several months later, we had a problem with the ice maker of our
12 year old refrigerator and since it was found to be an electrical short inside the wall of the unit, making it a safety hazard, they replaced the refrigerator. Again, with no hesitation. And just a month ago, the blower motor on our spa went out and a week later a new motor was installed.
We have had no problem with First American and will continue to renew our annual policy. In fact, I will be purchasing a policy for my mothers house as well.
I owned a home in Michigan. We had the First American Home Buyers Protection Plan for almost 2 years. I recently sold the home and requested First American Home Buyers Protection Plan to cancel the policy. I still have 78 days left of warranty and expected a refund (a pro rata return of the $588.00 premium I paid). I received an email from First American stating the there no funds left to return and that my contract would stay in force until the expiration date of 7-25-2013. At the same time I was told by a customer service rep that I could not transfer my policy to the new home buyer. THIS COMPANY SHOULD NOT BE IN BUSINESSS. I WILL BE CONTACTING OTHERS WHO HAVE BEEN SCREWED BY FIRST AMERICAN TO INTIATE A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT TO STOP FIRST AMERICAN FROM STEALING FROM ITS POLICY HOLDERS. THEY ARE A SCAM OUTFIT. THEY DO NOT PAY THEIR CLAIMS NOR DO THEY ISSUE ANY REFUNDS
Called for a dishwasher repair. They sent me an e-mail telling me the name of the company they would send. I checked their reviews online and they were atrocious. And interestingly, the reviewers had also gotten them via First American.
I called First American back and told them I didn’t want this repair company in my house. The woman asked in a condescending tone “Have YOU had problems with this company?” I told her that when so many other people have had problems, I wasn’t going to wait to find out. She refused to change the service provider and refused to tell me how they monitor and review their providers. I cancelled the contract.
On another note, the provider’s website said they charge $35 for a service call. First American wanted to charge me $60 for the service call. WTH?
I was a property manager for 10 years and know that saving money can sometimes be VERY expensive.
I was very disappointed with this company. When a problem developed with my central air conditioner their service people insisted that my unit required a deep cleaning which I had to pay for out of pocket. This service cost me an additional 210.00 plus another 60.00 for my service call deductible.The so called deep cleaning consisted of service man spraying the coils of my unit with a chemical and than running the garden hose spraying down the unit.This took about 5 minutes. The service tech got the unit working but it wasn’t cooling my home very well. Within a couple of months my unit broke down again. The service tech told me the compressor was broken and the rest of the unit was failing and barely functioning. He told me that I needed a whole new unit but the warranty company would only pay for the compressor because the other parts were not completely broken.However, due to the age of unit replacing just the compressor would not cool my home well. It was just a matter of a short time before another part would fail. Instead of honoring their contract and allowing a needed replacement unit the warranty company insisted that they would only cover the compressor. They did not care that this would not keep my home cool. I would just have to suffer on humid days. I hired my own contractor and had new unit installed. My home is now comfortable. My advice to everyone is stay away from this company. It is better and cheaper to have no contract and get your own repairmen.
I just had an experience with the company where they denied my claim on a broken outdoor faucet that was leaking as a result of the connector bolt breaking off in the faucet as a result of rust.
This was explained to the plumber and First American to which they responded by reading the sections in the contract regarding “normal wear and tear.” If a rusty bolt and 30 year old plastic is not normal wear and tear I don’t know what normal wear and tear means.
Their claims representative was obviously coached along with the contracting company to deny claims at all cost.
This is a horrible service they seek to steal your 60 bucks and not honor their contracts.
I’m going to the BBB about the Plumber next.
Been with this company for about 4 years and when I finally needed them to repair a leaking toilet base,they refused to pay. First said it was caused by roots. I had to put plumber on the phone to tell them there was no roots. Then they said it was connected improperly. This toilet had been working properly for 20 years. How can this be impropery connected. When the plumber removed the toilet, found that the wax ring was just worn. First American still refused to pay. I cancelled my policy with them.I do not recommend them at all.
We received this warranty our our new house (built in 2010) and opted to continue it. We have called them out on five different occasions (air conditioning duct work, microwave, garage door/motor, plumbing, leaking window), paying $60 each time (sometimes twice), and they always find some reason to avoid taking care of the problem. Their customer service people are inconsistent and difficult.
We have reviewed the contract and disagreed with their assessments. Twice we had our contract lawyer review and our lawyer said we would certainly win if we pursued it, but due to the expense and time of pursuing a lawsuit, we have opted to have the repairs done ourselves. Our last straw call was this week, so we are shopping for a new warranty company.
We have had them on 3 houses over the past 4 years (one is our rental house). We had a major wall/shower plumbing leak in a house right after we bought it and they repaired it, we have had a couple minor electrical at the rental house and they have repaired them, and we had one plumbing issue/one garage door issue at our current house and they fixed them. We have not really had any problems with them at all, and have renewed at the 2 houses we currently have. Note-check which policy you want/need, i.e. Gold/Premium, etc. as there are diff. coverage levels and you get what you pay for. Knock on wood-so far we have been happy with them.
Will not renew my contract (seller paid initial premium) and will be filing claim against FAHW in CA court. Issue: spa-side remote control that stopped working, likely due to water intrusion. Inital claim denied by FAHM. I called to discuss, they noted their denial was not based on the items listed as NOT COVERED under my pool rider, but instead was disapproved under the Fine Print Limits of Liability, Para 5. To their credit FAHW sent a 2nd company out free of chaege to provide a 2nd opinion, but that claim was also denied for the same reason. Limits of Liability Para 5 begins “Solar Systems and components…” but contains a second sentence “Electronic, computerized, penumatic and manual system management and zone controllers are not covered.” FAHM’s position is that 2nd sentence is applicable to every type of controller, whether solar, pool, spa, A/C, HVAC, garage, etc. I’ve had 2 legal professionals review that paragraph, both agree that if FAHW desired that 2nd sentence to cover every type of controller, it should be a separate paragrahp as opposed to buried within one that begins by discussing solar systems. CA contract trail precedent errs to the side of the protected, so I’ve opted to go after them on the technicality of paragraph composition. Am also going to file a complaint with the BBB based on this technicality. Bottom line – not overly impressed. If you are considering a Home Warranty, remember: THEIR PURPOSE IS TO MAKE MONEY! Keep that in mind if you opt to pay a FAHM (or any company) $300-500 for a warranty vice just putting that money in a savings account. Good luck – I was strongly considering renewing my contract with FAHM as my neighbor had neutral things to say and the though of having it for an expensive problem like A/C or Furnace was somewhat comforting, but after listening to their explanation on where the fine print is and how they interpret their legal contract with me this is my first and last home warranty experience. I’ll be opting to put the money I would have paid in my premium renewal into a savings account instead.
This warranty was provided with the purchase of my condo in 2003. I didn’t use it at all for a long time because I replaced all of the interior appliances before I moved in.
I had a leaky toilet shut-off valve and my kitchen faucet replaced always with a $40 service call. The faucet was replaced with one that did not match well with my kitchen but that was all that they had. A few months ago my washing machine would not turn on. The technician came out, determined that it was due to a broken switch connected to the lid. But, because it was a stacked washer/dryer, I was told that I had to hire someone to pull out of it’s closet for him to work on it (not covered).
I called the company I bought it from (certified to work on that brand), they came with the part, removed two panels, and installed the new part. I asked for a refund of what I had to pay for the part. I received a refund, but a letter followed stating that First American would not guarantee this part for any future failures because they did not install it. Really!? Recently, I had problems with my furnace not working. I told First American that they would need a 12 foot ladder to reach the roof where all of our furnaces are. Of course, they send someone with a 6 foot ladder who cannot go up 12 foot ladders and I had to schedule another appointment (at no additional charge, whoopee, think day off from work $$$). They replaced a small part, assured me that it was working, but it still would not work before 9 am. They refused to schedule another service because they could not get here before 9 am to see it not working. I finally determined that it was the thermostat (I ran it rare and always in manual mode). Some timer settings were preventing it from coming on. Duh. It would help if their repair people spoke English (I speak English, Spanish, Greek, and Italian, but not Russian).
Since I live near the beach, rust is an issue with appliances. But, of course, there was no coverage for rust. I also had an air-conditioner leaking in my unit. They refused to fix it because I had not done routine maintenance on my air-conditioner in the last year. There was also a code issue (not a code issue when this condo was built, but changed later) that they would not cover.
Just call me stupid. I figured that I could replace every appliance in my condo twice for the amount of money that I have wasted (expensive) on this useless coverage. So, I did not renew this year. A representative of the company called me today and told me they NOW cover rust and code issues. Right. Until they don’t when you need it.
This is the best home warranty company that we have dealt with. I have had Old Republic in the past and had terrible issues with them responding to claims quickly or even having anyone call me back. First American has gone above and beyond with replacing my HVAC, Water Heater, Furnace. So, we have certainly seen this company through several claims and they have always been responsive and timely. Thank you First American for saving us over 2K in the first few years of owning our home. I would highly recommend this company to anyone looking for a home warranty, but do your research because every insurance policy has its limitations. Many of these reviews are negative because people don’t read and they set false expectations from what I can see.
i HAD A POLICY WITH THIS COMPANY FOR 1 1/2 YEARS. DIDN’T REALLY USE IT UNTIL MY HEATING UNIT FAILED. IT TOOK THEM 3 MONTHS, DURING THE COLDEST WINTER MONTHS, TO GET THE REPAIRS DONE. I WAS TOLD A SERIES OF EXCUSES. THE PART HAD TO BE AUTHORIZED BY FIRST AMERICAN. FIRST AMERICAN HAD TO ORDER THE PART. THE PART HAD NOT COME IN. THE CONTRACTOR WHO HAD INITIALLY WORKED ON THE SYSTEM WAS NO LONGER WITH THE COMPANY. (SO WHY DIDN’T THEY PUT SOMEONE ELSE ON THE JOB RATHER THAN WAITING UNTIL I CALLED TO COMPLAIN?) “OH, NO ONE HAS GOTTEN BACK WITH YOU YET?”. THE CONTRACTOR HAD A HEAVY WORK LOAD. ANOTHER PART WAS NEEDED DUE TO AN ERROR BY THE PREVIOUS CONTRACTOR. THE PART HAS COME WE WILL CONTACT THE CONTRACTOR. THE CONTRACTOR DOES NOT WORK IN YOUR AREA AND WAS WAITING UNTIL HE COULD GET BACK INTO YOUR AREA. EACH TIME I CALLED I REMINDED THEM I HAD NO HEAT AND IT WAS VERY COLD. BY THE TIME THEY FIXED THE UNIT I NO LONGER NEEDED HEAT. WOULD STRONGLY NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE.
Although your web site says “effective upon receipt of payment”, this is not the case…FAHW didn’t put warranty into force until 30 days following the day I contracted them. In addition, my new tenants child overflowed the updstairs toilet (we believe too much toilet paper), and our property managers contacte FAHW 2 days prior to warranty effective date so FAHW didn’t cover the repair (the repair was accomplished by the husband once he returned home using a plunger–no recurrence since that time). I had no problem with FAHW not covering the “repair” since it was priot to the 30 day period; what I did have a problem with was, FAHW immediately sent me a letter explaining that this toilet was now considered a “pre-existing” condition and until I had a professional plumber fix the problem, and I then provided a copy of the invoice FAHW wouldn’t repair this toilet in the future. I contacted the company’s company service registering my dissatisfaction and requesting they remove this condition and letter from my file–they refused to do both. I them immediately cancelled my contract which took about 30 days to get my refund. Bottom line–I wouldn’t recommend FAHW under any circumstances.
Please, please take caution to the other honest reviews for this company. This company will inf act deny claims that are in your contract to be covered, they will hang up on you regularly (and not for being rude, they place you on hold and then disconnect the call), they will lie about coverage and once you pay the deductible they will deny the claim, etc. Their customer service is truly the worst I have ever experienced in my life and their “supervisors” are more rude and more appalling then the reps themselves. This is a very unethical company and I too will be filing a complaint with the BBB. Save yourself the stress and the money and look elsewhere – I am now.
I had First American Home Warranty for almost 10 years, but after faced lack of coverage in my police and paying lot of money, like do not cover garage door hinges/spring, not cover faucet leaks, not cover pipe leaks out of foundation, some situations a faced in the past and increase of renewal price, then I decided to look for other providers and found Landmark with good coverage, close same costs and cover all issues I had in the past for less service call cost.
I should do that before when moved a house last year. Other point, it is terrible to reach a service by phone at First American, takes long.
Notified them on Friday my water heater went out. Repairman shows up Tuesday yes water heater is out will need to be replaced but will need warranty company to approve it . Late Thursday after 5 calls to get it repaired the plumber calls yes will repair it but certain uncovered charges will need to be paid by the homeowner. Pipe adjustment $195, Vent adjustment $125, Pipe drain $115, trap $85 Removal $85 for a total charge of $605. A local plumber already quoted a price of $225 to install one. So I wasted several days and would have paid more for them to do it versus just having a professional plumber do the job. I will be dropping coverage with First American today and would warn any potential customer to stay clear!!! My mistake was staying with them as long as I did. All my poor experiences in the past should have made me drop coverage sooner.
Very simply – the negative reviews you have read about First American are unfortunately true. The first response is to deny a claim followed by a fruitless path of appeals that are denied. All respomnses are well canned and rehearsed. Just shop elsewhere and save yourself the hassle. Sadly this is the first and only negative review I have ever given a business in over 40 years.
I am not happy with the service I received so far. It has been over a month, I am washing dishes by hand and the dishwasher is not working. So far 4 technicians have visited the home and recommended several expensive repairs which takes several weeks. In this process it appears that my voice is not heard and my inconvenience is ignored.