First American Home Warranty
Home Warranty Plan Details and Reviews for First American Home Warranty
Premium: $355
Deductible: $55
Effective: Upon payment receipt
Web: homewarranty.firstam.com
Deductible: $55
Effective: Upon payment receipt
Web: homewarranty.firstam.com
| 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: « 26 … 17 16 15 14 13 [12] 11 10 9 8 7 … 1 » Show All
This company has always treated me right, unlike Home Warranty of America who are complete con artists..
Two caveats.. I bought the more expensive plan which I think you probably have to do with home warranties… I know it has probably helped me in their case… and boy it was expensive like 6 hundred or more.. the only thing they didn’t fix was cleaning out my AC which was a unsolder the vent job for 400 bucks. Otherwise, replaced water heater, fixed light switches, and stove all in one year. Highly recc… if you get the more expensive plan.
Lets start off stating our washing maching broke on May 5th and were stil waiting for the tech to come back with the replacement part. It is now June 5th and after 15 plus calls to 1st American we are still waiting for that tech to come back and do the job. I would NOT recommend them at all to anyone. I’ve talked to serveral reps along with several supervisors who always seems to have an excuse for why the tech has not shown up. Usually it is because he can not contact us, stating we are not answering our phones. In todays world with all the technology we have, you would think he could come up with a better excuse.
DO NOT use them, they send crapy service companies and don’t really care whether or not your repairs are done correctly. just a cheap fix and a month later it breaks again.
I am realtor who advised clients to purchase home warranties so naturally, I purchased one for myself and let my Sears service agreement on my appliances go. I contacted FA directly and told the girl EXACTLY what appliances I had, EXACTLY what I wanted covered. She quoted a price. I paid. A few months later, I needed to make a roof claim and was told I didn’t have roof protection. I lived with it as it turned out to be a fluke anyway involving flashing and not the roof itself. Now, my free standing ice machine goes out. (This is one of the items told to the agent I possessed when purchasing the contract almost a year ago.) I filed an online claim and was told I didn’t have coverage. I contacted the local area manager who works with all local realtors and was basically told the same thing. Their callls are “recorded or monitored” and you’d think they would stand behind their agent representing to me I had coverage on two separate items but alas, they will do nothing. I am held to a high standard of ethics regarding transactions I conduct with my clients and am held to things I represent as factual and/or known. Too bad for consumers there is not a law upholding First American to do the same. First American shame on you for taking my money and referrals of business. There will be no more.
They use AZ Remodeling in S Florida and AZ gave me such a hard time with multiple plumbing and AC claims. Technicians even lie telling you to pay cash and get coils cleaned when they don’t have to be cleaned. Office people lack a basic form of customer care. First American’s customer service is OK. I really don’t think after so many complaints and time explaining too their phone people of the issues that they really care. They make notes but really don’t assist to make things right. I am moving to the Coldwell Banker warranty company and I hope they are more responsive as well. If they choose the right contractor, things work fine but that’s the problem, they probably choose the lowest bidder.
First American has continually gone up on the service fee since we have been with them the past 5 years. Recently we had a leak under the kitchen sink. They sent a plumber who didn’t fix the problem. Another plumber was sent who replaced parts of the faucet. After 4 months, we detected another leak under the kitchen sink, then a leak sprang from the replaced faucet part. We requested a different plumber who showed up 3 days later. When he arrived the faucet had fallen apart. The plumber simply said that the faucet problem was unusual wear and tear on our part and asked for $60.00 service fee to do nothing. We have replaced the faucet on our own but the company is demanding that we pay the service fee or not be able to place claims. The customer service representatives will not allow me to speak to a supervisor and I cannot get through to the cancellation department. This is terrible treatment after 5 years of being with them also not good business of their part.
This company is a total joke. two days after moving into my new house, my pool equipment sprang a leak, this resulted in a pump blowing. I reported the problem to FAHW. this was 10 days ago. A tech came around and filled a report that basically claims the problem was as a result of poor maintenance. Clearly this is a new home for me, so I have no way to dispute the claim. Moreover,on their marketing materials is claims that a malfunction caused by lack of maintenance is covered. Their rep would not have any of it. Does anybody know if there is a way to appeal? If not this whole thing/company is a total rip off.
same review as every other one on here, THEY ARE A RIP OFF!!!! is what i don’t understand is ho the ALMIGHTY BBB still gives them an A+ rating? i guess if you pay the membership fee they require they will give anyone a good rating. the website these customers really need to go to is THE TEXAS REAL ESTATE COMMISION who regulates these clowns. there is already a class action lawsuit against some of these companies like F.A.H.W. they may not be in one yet but if enough people file it could be coming… was informed of this type of lawsuit by the TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATIONS which is overthe a/c license dept. of TEXAS and yes i have the name & ph. # of the people i spoke with!!!!
I WAS A SERVICE PROVIDER FOR FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY AND DID NOT CONTINUE BECAUSE THEIR FIXED PRICE IS $120.00 THIS MEANS EVERYTHING HAS TO BE REPAIRED UNDER THIS AMOUNT ,DEDUCT SERVICE CALL TECH TIME AND PARTS ACTUALLY YOU END UP WITH NEGATIVE NUMBERS. SO CUSTOMERS BE AWARE ,CHECK RATINGS AND BBB SHOP AROUND BEFORE YOU BECAME A VICTIM OF THIS KIND OF COMPANYS THAT ONLY WANT TO MAKE MONEY AND DO NOT CARE FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Beware::: The service contractors have set fees with FAHW now and they have to make money some other way. I have had a warranty in place with FAHW for 8 years. Have made many claims that they have taken care of with no problems in the past. The last three service calls have been nightmares – the company has changed. Water heater went out 8 years ago and they replaced it for the $45.00 service fee. Same thing just happened and they sent a plumber out, and he said it needed to be replaced. He added on $472.00 of addition items that are not covered and not necessary (replace the following ball valves, gas line, inlet flex line, out flex line, venting, relief pipes) and the $60.00 service fee. FAHW would not send a second tech and said they needed to be done. I found out that FAHW is contracting with techs at a fixed price that the contractors will lose money unless they added on things that are not needed at huge prices. In this case FAHW only pays the plumber $132.00 for the replacement of a hot water heater. Under FAHW they have cash out price if you fix it yourself, that is when they told me that they have a contract to replace it for $132.00, they deducted the service call and sent me $67.00. I installed an energy star A.O.Smith 50 gallon gas HW heater for a total cost of $325.00 to all the existing fittings with no problems by myself, so my total cost was $258.00 not $532.00 and I put in a more efficient water heater.
This company buys your business then ups premiums yearly. When the need come to use the warranty, the information given by the claims agent is first and foremost to protect the company- NOT to inform the policy holder of the proper steps to make certain the repairs are covered completely. BEWARE! BEWARE! This company doesn’t even need an inspection to cover the items! That should have been my first red flag when the seller offered it to me as a package to buying the condo! BEWARE! You get what you pay for!
We called in for Air Conditioning work in a house less than 8 months old. First American Home warrenty then refered us to Sensible Heating and Air out of San Antonio Texas. Sensible was very difficult to get into touch with. When they finally contacted us five days later on a Thursday. We canceled our weekend trip to wait for them on Saturday morning. Saturday morning Sensible called us and advised they couldn’t make it until Sunday. We refused and then called FA Home Warrenty. They said their systems were down and it would be noon before they could get back with us. We waited until 5pm on Saturday and they finally returned our call. They told us that they had five or six other contractors they could send. They called back and said Sensible was scheduled for Monday. We refuse to let Sensible Heating and Air, which is obviously second or third rate AC contractor, into our residence, because it is very obvious they do not know or care what they are doing. I highly encourage any new home buyer to not be satisfied with a First American Home Warrenty. It is a scam. A week has passed and our air conditioning is still not serviced, repaired or has even been seen by a technician. I have lost all faith in home warrenty products. They expect the customer to lose hope and finally call a reputable contractor. As long as society keeps giving in these crooks will continue.
I bougth my Home Warranty with First American this month, AND CHECKING THIS REVIEWS I WAS WORRY ABOUT WHAT I DID, My ac stop cooling enough I give them a call May 12, 2010 around 4:00 pm, the costumer service representative told me with in 24 hours the service provider will call me, also she give me the number of the provider, with in the next 2 hours I got the phone call, he was next day 10:00 am in my front door, he said he was not able to work on the problem today because one of the pipes was frozen, he turn the ac off and told me they are coming back next day 10:00 am again to work on it, he did not charge for the first visit he say will charge me when the work is done. so far so good, I have the premiun service which incluide ac service, I’m so glad I give them a try… good costumer service, they are fast, Today May 14, 2010 I was told coils were dirty and it would cost me $165.00 to clean, plus the $55.00 service call, sound fair to me… I have a second opinion, with a local ac company they said they charge between $400.00 to $500.00 to clean the coils and re-charge the ac, but also they said they did not recomend this to be done, they want to change the coil and charge me $1,700 to get a new coil, I’m not an ac technician, but i believe the system just need to be clean and recharged, I’M SO GLAD I HAVE FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY…THEY SAVE ME A LOT OF MONEY… I just pay total of $220.00 (service call incluide) and my ac is cooling like new. THANK YOU FIRST AMERICAN.
This company only wants your money and does NOT care for the customer. They will try to find any loophole available to avoid paying for the service they are paid to cover! They are unethical! They charged for a plumber standing at our doorway to say that they cannot touch a kitchen sink ,because there is a septic system in the house! Then they will send you to collections for the $60.00 .They do not screen the calls to force you to pay the $60.00 when nothing is done. On other occasions they went our of their way to avoid covering a service with made up reasons!
I’ve had two recent negative experiences with First American.
First, a few months ago our built-in microwave stopped heating food. I figured the problem was probably a broken magnetron–an expensive part–so I called First American. They assigned a contractor, whom I spent 4 days trying to reach. He finally called back on a Saturday morning and told my husband that he would “stop by today”–didn’t specify a time and wouldn’t answer return calls. So we stayed home all day waiting, and he finally showed up around 5 p.m. He agreed that the magnetron needed to be replaced, took our $55 service fee, and left us a copy of his paperwork. On Monday, I called First American to see how long the process would take, and they told me that the contractor could not fix the microwave because he could not find the model and serial number to order the replacement part. I told them that not only were the model & serial numbers clearly visible inside the microwave, but the contractor had written the numbers on his paperwork and given me a copy. First American offered to find another contractor and get back to me. It took more than a MONTH, five different contractors, and countless phone calls to get the microwave fixed. And we later discovered that the lights under the microwave (over the stove) were no longer working–my dad fixed these for us himself.
Then last Thursday, our hot water heater (in the attic) sprang a leak, and water was pouring through our ceiling. I turned off the water and gas to the water heater and called First American to place an “emergency” claim. They sent out a plumber about 6 hours later. Truthfully, if I hadn’t been expecting him, I would have been afraid to let him in my house. His truck and clothing were unmarked, his appearance was very unkempt, and he did not present a business card or any form of identification. When I asked for a business card, he dug one out of his truck for me. (I wondered what kind of fly-by-night contractor this might be, because don’t most professionals at least have a logo on their shirt or something? All online reviews for this plumber were terrible, citing further leaks, damage, and costly repairs.) He examined the hot water heater and told me that it would need to be replaced. I called First American an hour later, and they said it might take up to a week to ship a new water heater and get it installed! I asked for information on a cash-out hoping that I could purchase a water heater myself and have my friend, who’s a master plumber, install it for us over the weekend. The next morning, First American offered me only $240 for the cash-out, which wouldn’t even cover the cost of a 50 gal. water heater, much less installation. So I asked them to go ahead and order the water heater and get us on the schedule for installation. The water heater arrived to the plumber mid-morning Monday, and they came out Tuesday morning to install it. Everything went smoothly until the contractor wanted to collect my $55 service fee PLUS $225 for fitting new water intake/outtake lines and $55 for haul-off and disposal of the old water heater. (When I said I’d just dispose of the old one myself, he scratched off this fee and said he’d take it for me anyway.) Then I called my master plumber friend to see if the other charge was legit. He said that he normally charged up to $170 for fitting new lines, only if they were somewhat complicated. But my friend said that if the contractor did not receive verbal and/or written permission from me to do the work at extra cost, then I didn’t have to pay the fee. So I told the contractor that I would only pay the $55 service fee, which he took and left. First American called to get my side of the story and said that they would not pay the extra charges to the contractor–the contractor would just have to eat that cost. The owner of the plumbing company called to bad-mouth First American and say that he had learned his lesson and would ask homeowners to sign paperwork giving permission for extra work before completing the installation. Surprised it’s taken him this long to learn that lesson.
So after both of these experiences, I’ve learned that First American works with low-quality contractors who make very little for each job but count on high volumes of calls through the warranty company. Because the warranty company pays them so little per call, contractors either bail out on small jobs (microwave) or charge extra fees to the homeowner to make up the difference (water heater). I plan to shop around for a different warranty company, preferably one closer to home so that I don’t have to wait so long for parts to be shipped.
Wish I would have read this before I got succored into a real estate company that offered this service. What a great big major joke/ scam
They will do just about ANYTHING to deny a claim – don’t waste your money on these people and ignore your real estate agent if he recommends them. I had to retain a lawyer and threaten them with a lawsuit to get them to fix an air conditioner.
DO NOT BUY THIS!!! i filed a claim n they denied it cos they thought it was pre existing condition,which it was not.i talked to the tech who came to my house for repaired n he hsaid that he didnt mention abt pre existing condition n they assumed it.so instead of paying money to them n not getting anything repaired buy some other one.
This company will nit pick and come up with every little excuse to not cover the problem. To make matters worse, their customer service is cold and aloof (they don’t seem to care weather or not you are satisfied). The contractors they use are often second rate and often amateur.
Get this, they pay these contractors much less than what they would normally charge. So, the contractor comes out gets your $55 and finds something to nit-pick so that they don’t have to do the work yet they made $55 just for showing up and they move on to the next better paying job. *He makes $55 and did nothing but show up*
You are totally at the mercy of the contractor because First Am takes their word that it is your fault that the item wasn’t maintained or installed properly or “not up to code” (they sometimes use this one to get you to do extra work for their normal charges).
Example: First Am sent out some jack leg contractor to fix my my pool pump. The contractor reports to first am that the original pump was improperly installed….claim denied.
I protested that it was the very same contractor that installed it the first time and if it was improperly installed THEY DID IT! First Am didn’t seem to care but after much protest they finally relented and installed a new pump. Later, a leak developed in one of the pipe joints leading to the pump which the contractor installed along with the pump.
I filed another claim for the leaky joint and the same contractor was assigned. He comes out gets the $55 dollars and then tells Firs Am that another part (on the same line with the pump) was improperly supported and caused the leak. This is the same contractor that did the previous pump replacement and the pipe configuration was his doing.
I tried to explain to First Am that it was the contractors fault from a previous repair but they wouldn’t hear of it….CLAIM DENIED….AGAIN! Further more, they say that they will not cover any of my pool equipment (even though it is in my contract) until I bring it up to “safety standards” whatever that means.
BTW, good luck getting a manager on the phone. They don’t want to deal with you. And the people that you actually get to talk to really don’t know squat. They are just reading from the file and have no earthly idea about anything technical.
This is but one of my “claim denied” experiences with this company. There are more that I could tell you about but you get the jist. Buyer beware.
When you get a home warranty: *There is no pre-inspection of your property. *They rely soley on the contractors word. *You have no way of knowing if the contractor is licensed and bonded. *You have no say in which contractor they use and they won’t let you request a different one. *when you do need a total replacement it will most certainly be cheap “builder grade” and they won’t let you pay extra for an upgraded product nor will they let you supply the item. You are stuck with new but cheap bottom of the line junk.
My plan is to drop this company as soon as my contract is up and start a personal saving plan just for home repairs. It may cost me a little more in the long run but not having the aggravation will be worth it.
They will find excuse to refuse the repair.
My current dealings with First American Home Warranty is leaving a sour taste. Since I purchased home in 2008 I have used this service sparingly. First American Home warranty prides itself on service and saving you money, however with restrictive business practices and ‘shady’ contractors they don’t truly offer any security at all. On a Thursday evening, My wife noticed a gas smell in our basement when she got home from work, because it was after hours we called the gas company. They did find gas leak in home on house line to water heater and furnace. To protect their interest ( and assumably ours) they cut off the gas until we could get it repaired by plumber and inspected by county inspection. I agent. I promptly alerted First American of the issue and let them know the seriousness incident as we have two kids (one with asthma). They auto assigned us to a vendor which tried to rip us off before (D&B Plumbing). I let them know that we wanted someone else, due to the fact they tried to do some unncecessary work on previous call last year which would have cost them/us more money. We filed a complaint then and had a another contractor come out to do the work without issue. Well they stated that they would ‘try’ but it was auto assigned. Well guess who we get a call from…? Due to the nature of situation I gave D&B another chance. They failed me once again. Although they were prompt in coming to home the next day, the plumber spent all of 30 seconds diagnosing the problem. He promptly stated that the job was to big for him and he did not have the equipment to handle the job. I ask him what he estimates the extent (cost) of work to be done. He quotes me $1000-$1200. He would call FA to get another contractor, but I needed to pay him the $60 ‘co-pay’. He then goes on to say that if he had talked to me on the phone, he could have told me he couldn’t do the work. HUH???? I am in the wrong business. Someone expects to get paid for doing nothing. I promptly called FA and they confirmed what the D&B plumber said, but I would not have to pay further fees and they would find another plumber. OK. FINE. I wait another hour or so with no contact with another vendor (it’s like 2:00 PM). It’s suppossed to snow over the weekend and I am getting anxious with no heat. I call FA back they state they have re-assigned my claim to new contractor and gave me contact info. I called new contactor and he stated that he was booked for the day. Additionally, since my work needed inspection from county it made no sense to try to come over the weekend since gas would not get turned on til at least Monday. OK I reluctantly agreed to wait understanding the circumstances. I relocated my family and waited for Monday. Monday morning comes and I don’t get a call from contractor by 9:30 AM. I call and contractor does not answer. Approximately, 10 minutes later I get a call from FA checking to see if contractor has called me. I state no, but I have left message. FA dispatcher states that she will follow up with contractor. 15 minutes later FA dispatcher calls and says new contractor can’t come out today and they will try to find a new one. No reason given for contrator backing out on his word. SERIOUSLY!!!! I get off phone, promptly get online to servicemagic.com. I explain my issue and find a contractor in less than five minutes (H&S Plumbing in West Milton, OH). I call the number provided to see if I could get someone out that day. They understand issue and state they will have someone out in a couple of hours. I call FA to let them know I found someone. They give me their ‘script’, “We have 4 hours to find a new contractor. If we don’t find one we will then look into authorizing an outside reimbursement.” Fortunately their timefram coincided with timing of H&S plumber arriving on site, as I knew they were not going to find anyone. H&S plumber shows I ask for estimate of effort. The H&S plumber went above and beyond, explaining what needed to be done. He even figured out what needed to be done to get gas turned back on. He quoted me a price of around $500 (remember the $1000-$1200 by D&B). There was an additiional cost of $140 due to him having to come back for county inspection test, but still basically half the price. The only caveat was that they did not want to deal with home warranty company. Now I know why? I went ahead and authorized work as FA had yet to get back to me. I called FA after their time limit expired. They gave me a number for authorizations. I called the number and let them know my contractors position. They stated that if over $200 they would need to speak to contractor. I simply stated the contractors denial to deal with them. FA rep told me to then get invoice with contractor info (license, address, phone, etc) when submitting reimbursement requset. To sume it up the work was completed sucessfully, my family was back home after the week long ordeal, and I submitted my paperwork for reimbursement. Now FA has amnesia about what I was told and want to give me default payment (in contract for authorization) of $125. I have called several times and talked to countless reps. They don’t hear me and give me the usual script about procedure, policy, yadda yadda yadda. I keep saying this was an exceptional issue. I had to act to secure my family. My next call will be to cancel my service with them. I am better off saving my money and learning how to do some things myself. First American Home Warranty should be your last choice in home warranty service. When I needed them most they were not there for me. THANKS FOR NOTHING!!!
Today is Saturday, April 9, 2010. Tomorrow will mark one week since my first call to First American (FA) to report that my house had no hot water. After 22 phone calls and two service calls from Craftsmen Plumbing of San Antonio, which is 35 miles from my house and often does not answer their phone, I still have no hot water. The issue has not been resolved. FA has been rude, dismissive. Their various departments -customer service, supervisors, claims resolutions- each make you start from square one. I have never encountered worse service from any company. If there is a class action suit against them, count me in. Do yourself a favor, go with anyone other than First American. Strike a deal with the Mafia, a heroin addict or a corpse. You’ll be more pleased, I promise.
During my first year, I used this service three times. The first time I paid the $55 deductible and the rest was disallowed because of “tree roots” which were not covered. Understandable, at least the cause of the problem was discoverd. Also, I was glad to have found a decent plumber, however, so it wasn’t a total loss. I asked the plumber to do several other jobs for me on a separate bill.
The second time, a floor leak was discovered and it was found to be a copper pipe leak in the wall. The response time was horendous and after several calls, I finally got them to assign another plumber, which fortunately, turned out to be the same plumbing company as before. They determined that not only was there a leak, but I also had mold in the walls. Long story short, they paid for part of the bill (the copper pipe leak) and insurance paid for everything else.
Third time was a wall heater problem. The fan was not blowing and the heating elements were heating up and causing the smoke detector in the room to sound off. Sometimes the fan worked and sometimes it did not.
When the assigned repair man was there, it worked! After he left, it did not. He did not attempt to clean, lubricate or otherwise investigate why the fan sometimes worked and sometimes did not. He simply said, “It’s working now.” He charge me the $55 deductible and left. After he left, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I have to bang on the wall, fiddle with the thermostat/power knob, and sometimes the smoke alarm sounds off. Waste of $55 and poor service.
I am switching to another home warranty company when this one expires.
This company left my 9 month pregnant wife without heat because their so-called expert service provider could notdo their job. They have not taken any responsibility for their actions. They have not expresesed any concern or compassion. Every complaint that I have submited has been returned denied, with this company quoting legalese. Basically they did what they needed to do and we are wrong. No one should ever use this company. My wife and I had the worst experience with this company, worse than any other company we have ever used. Beware, beware, beware!!!!
We are not happy with this company. Terrible service and a waste of our hard earned money.