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. |
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Reviews
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Pages: « 26 … 20 19 18 17 16 [15] 14 13 12 11 10 … 1 » Show All
We never had an issue with any of the technicians sent out, although it always took forever to schedule an appointment. However, their customer service is non-existent. I had requested an electrician to come out for a ceiling fan and a garbage disposal problem. The operator incorrectly entered the request, and sent a plumber instead. When I finally got the electrician out, First American treated the call has two separate service requests and charged us twice. When I called to complain since it was their mistake in the first place, they insisted that their system was correct and refused to acknowledge the issue. They then sent our account to collections even though all invoices had been paid. In sum, a terrible company to do business with. I would not recommend this company to anyone.
My AC went out June 19th. I placed a claim. After NINE WEEKS of blame shifting, miscommunication between the warranty company and the contractor, lack of communication with me if anything was going on, and temperatures in the 100s, I managed to have it replaced. There were $635.00 of “uncovered charges”, and since I had spent the past two months unable to cook in my own house, having to beg and borrow fans and a window unit from friends (which only cooled off the one room downstairs), and thanking Jesus that I didn’t have a roommate or renter who I would have had to pay for them to get a hotel room or just move out on me, I asked them if they could help me absorb any of the costs. They would not budge. Then, they reluctantly told me that they sometimes offer a $150 reimbursement for the purchase of a window unit, to which I wonder exactly how hot it must have to be or long you must have to wait for them to offer that BEFORE you melt in your own home, but since I was about to have the repair made and hadn’t purchased one earlier to keep a receipt, that they couldn’t do anything for me. The best I got was that they would reimburse me the $60 service call fee that I paid 2 months prior. I filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau. They still won’t budge, quoting me the contract right and left and failing to recognize that the issue isn’t contract-based. I would have gladly paid the amount, had it been fixed within a couple of weeks even. But NINE WEEKS. In ATLANTA. Then they closed out the complaint. Now, I have the AC working, but to install it, they had to remove an incorrectly installed part of my furnace, of course installed by another contractor through the warranty company, undoubtedly cutting corners and trying to save them money. They have said they won’t replace it because they don’t cover costs to bring anything up to code. Even though the vent they removed had been banged up and taped onto my furnace and hidden from me because it wouldn’t fit in the first place, because it wasn’t code. I mean, really?!
So, if you’ve made it through reading this whole thing, please realize I am in search of an attorney and will BEG anyone who is considering this company as a warranty service to RUN FULL SPEED the other way. This is only one of the many run ins I’ve had with them. (No AC for 6 weeks 2 years ago with a nursing newborn in the house, no stove for a month, the list goes on. Not to mention, it seems the only thing they DO cover is the parts, which they find the absolute cheapest peaces of crap they can muster that they must have hand-delivered from the other side of the world based on how long it takes to get them in.)
Run. Don’t walk, Run the other way.
My A/C and freezer went out in the same week, it took over a MONTH to get my freezer fixed and a week for the A/C. I called everyday for a week to report my freezer and for some reason they did not put it in their system. I got a confirmation number but it didn’t matter. I wrote two letter to the Pres. of the company Daniel Langston who NEVER wrote me back instead a got a form letter from their claims department. Stay away from this company you get nothing for your $40.00 a month fee, NOTHING!!!! They took a week to fix my A/C, it was over 100 degrees all that week, it’s been 3 weeks and the A/C is broken agian. After waiting a week for a contract to show up I paid out of pocket to get the original problem fixed.
First American Home Warranty is a rip off.. My AC unit went out and it took a week to get someone to fix it. I got stood up for four appointments with the contractor. When he finally replaced the unit they told me I owe $350. I had to call First American and the contractor at least a dozen times to get this done. When I finnally complained enough they told me they would pro rate my premium and buy me out without fixing anything. (that is what they want) Then the girl tells me she lives in Phoenix AZ and it can’t possibly be hotter here than it is there. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China. MY AC IS BROKEN AND IT IS FREAKIN HOT WITH 90% HUMIDITY AND YOU REFUSE TO HELP ME.
Have had a several repeated bad experiences with one of their vendors. They have misdiagnosed a problem that cost me an additional $400 out of my pocket. First American has decided that the problem is ours alone yet they have only one vendor that works on pools in our area so I have to switch warranty programs because of their lack of customer service ability.
I submitted a claim online for an already diagnosed issue with the pool, they sent bad company A out to tell me what I already told them was wrong with them pool. BUT the problem isn’t covered under my contract. Now they want me to pay the $60 for the service fee to the vendor. The rep told me that if I would have called in the service claim instead of filling it out online that they wouldn’t have sent the technician out in the first place so it’s my fault for doing that and not realizing that it wasn’t covered. Lovely! Time for a new home warranty company.
the poorest excuse for a home warranty ever – bought by the person selling me this home as part of selling costs – we have both been ripped off – wonder if the realtors are getting a kick-back? as hard to believe they have never been told what a crappy company First American is — am now filing my third claim (always take your chances when buying a home that is 7 – 10 years old as all the applicances and major items – hot water, A/C, etc. . . are just about ready for replacement depending on upkeep)- so far not a single item has been satisfactorily fixed by First American subcontractors – we have paid someone else each time to fix problem (when filed A/C claim – was 101 degrees and went out on a Saturday – they arranged for a repair person 10 days later!! saying that it was supposed to cool down to 95!!! — I live in Texas where the weather is quite mercurial!) Luckily I hired a good quality repair person who fixed that day!
What a sham company! First American executives need to be sued for everything the greedy little owners have accumulated!!
This is by far the biggest joke of a company-they should be ashamed at their tactics and lack of customer service. Lesson learned!
If you are now having a problem with First American, OR have had a problem at any time in the past, please contact this attorney who is going to DO something about the problem:
John Branum
johnbranum@me.com
405/249-4215
You will not be charged anything and Mr. Branum will speak personally to you and try to help you recover what you have lost.
Been with First American for about a year and just tried to make my 1st claim. A/C unit went out yesterday(Friday) afternoon. Mid nineties forecast for the next 3 days with heat indexes of 105. Children/animals/electronics in the home and they could care less. Their idea of 24/7/365 service is someone at the service center there to answer the phone..period. Their service technician puts us on a list and MIGHT get to us by Monday. 1 technician for all of Northern KY. Absolutely terrible/inexcusable and downright dangerous. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY..you will be sorry.
1st American is a joke. My AC went out exactly 2 weeks ago. After multiple calls to FA, I still hadn’t had a contractor contact me for the repair. FA says they sent a work order multiple times to the contractor, but I highly doubt it. I honestly believe they stall in hopes of you taking the issue into your own hands. 6 days layer finally get a shady contractor to the house who spends 8 minutes diagnosing the problem and informs me I’ll have to pay $650 out of pocket to fix the prob. Turns out FA only pays for the cheapest parts, and we pay everything else. FA also doesn’t have any control over how much the contractor charges. The contractor could charge $1000 for labor and you’re stuck paying it. We cancelled our FA warranty after realizing that it took 14 days to fix our AC, and it only saved us about $400 dollars. In my opinion, FA is a complete ripoff, and should be avoided at all cost.
Much like the other reviews have stated, horrible service. Contractors sent to the home were not quality, and had no reason to get the job done in any time frame. Have been without HVAC for 2 months in the middle of summer and no one seems to care. Have been billed for 2 service calls at $55 each even though HVAC still not fixed (as multiple contractors have been dispatched as they generally just disappear after the initial “diagnosis”). Do not waste your money.
yes thats the way it works, no body wants to pay full price for any thing, you get what you pay for, dont blame the contracter, blame your warranty co, blame the fat cats on top, all they want is to make a bib fat profit, contracters have to make aliving to. you have to pay a co pay at the docters, any they are the biggest rip offs , but when it comes to the contracter, it means nothing to some people, think about what it costs to run a small bussiness, company insurance, fuel equiptment, workers comp, thats right, so the next time some of you stingy, cheap, penny pinchers start talking crap about any hard working contracter in any craft, think about taking your sorry butts to work every day and not get a pay check on friday and see if you feel like doing anyting, p.s good luck with any warranty co
The first time we had to use our home warranty was for a broken/leaking garbage disposal. The contractor that come out did not fix the problem the first time. We had to have the contractor come out 3 times before finally getting the garbage disposal fixed, but the worst part was that the new unit that was installed was not even close to the quality of our previous disposal. First American does not use reputable companies or companies that replace quality for quality, there are hidden costs, and it is hard if not impossible to schedule evening appointments. Please do not use this company. I am about to get my license and I will never let my clients choose this company!
I was not pleased with the contractor First American provided to me for a plumbing issue. The plumber they sent out was very apathetic and complained about the laundry units being hard to reach. Which laundry units aren’t? As far as I know, they’re always crammed into a small space! Now that I know what a hassle it poses, the next time I design a house, I’ll place the laundry units in the center of the living room so they can be reached from all sides.
So because the units were too bothersome to reach, he decided that the rubber washer just needed to be replaced in the hose connected to the washer. It’s always the washer, isn’t it? I asked if the hose should be replaced and he said no and anyway I would need to move the washer and dryer (they’re stacked) myself before he could even do it. Am I completely out of line or does the average homeowner have the ability to disconnect and physically carry a full-sized washer and dryer? I mean when you order them brand new, usually the service company sets them up for you, right? It’s not a simple laymen’s task!
Anyway, of course the new rubber washer didn’t fix the problem so First American reassigned the same contractor to come out again once I “created access” to the machines. So now I have to hire a plumber to disconnect the machines, wait around for First American’s plumber to replace the hose, so then the second plumber can then reconnect and stack the machines. They’ll probably have to be there at the same time in case the washer isn’t in the exact right position to reconnect the hose. I find this a bit rediculous but apparently First American thinks this scenario makes sense. I called to complain and they basically said home-owners are responsible for “creating access”. So I guess if there’s a leak in the dishwasher, I’ll have to remove the dishwasher and cut a hole in the wall so the plumber can have a look-see at the waterline? Makes sense to me.
I have called this company 2x and each problem I have had has not been covered. The latest incident was a plumbing problem in the kitchen that required weekend service. The provider assigned to us for our “emergency” was unable to be reached so I was instructed to contact a licensed and bonded plumber. I did that and they came out Saturday morning to assess the problem. They had to return on Monday with the proper parts to fix the problem. The technician had to cut a whole in the bottom of the kitchen cabinet to assess the problem. After the problem was repaired, the technician talked with a representative at First American to tell the problem and the repair. The representative later called me telling me that because the work was completed, they could not authorize the work….even though the work had to be done! DISAPPOINTED TO THE MAX with this company. I wish I would have saved my $355 back in October 2009 when I purchased the warranty.
We purchased an non-updated home with the satisfaction of having the upgraded policy with First American Home Warranty. The air conditioner runs but never goes below 78 degrees when it is hot outside. It runs and runs and runs. Our electrical bill is enormous. We called FAHW and they sent out a service company real fast. He looked around a little and went out to the truck and came back in and took pictures and said that the problem would be covered becaused of improper installation; we needed more ducts/vents. We paid them $100 service call with a promise that they would be back the following Wednesday to fix the problem. We were elated. Tuesday evening, the service company called and said that it would not be covered by FAHW. To make a long story short after many calls to FAHW and waiting on the phone for several minutes each they said they are waiting on the service company for the pictures, after that they were waiting for the square area of our house. Only finally to tell us it was not covered because it was not an improper installation; now tell me, if enought ducts were not installed, is this not an improper installation. The service guy told us that FAHW will not pay service companies good and they can’t get many to do work for them. Stay away from First American Home Warranty!
Wish there was a 0 score option. 06242010 FA sent a plumber out to fix a leak in my dining room ceiling. He spent approx 30 sec in the dining room before “diagnosing” the problem – a leak in the upstairs shower drain (funny, he wasnt NEAR the upstairs shower at that time). left for about 30 min, came back and spent less than 5 min more installing a new rubber plug. said the issue was fixed. my husband and i left for a 2 wk vacation the next day while ServPro (A GREAT COMPANY, btw, sent out by my HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY — NOT FA) cleaned and dried the area. When we returned, my husband left town for another week for work. Sooo…long story made short, we were not made aware that the leak was not, in fact, repaired until 08/03/2010, when my husband came running upstairs to tell me that the leak was still there! Called FA. At first, they were sympathetic, but also said they would have to send out the SAME COMPANY to do the repair since that company had been the one to screw up the first time. Fine, whatever, but I demanded a different technician, and was promised one. Didnt know that this technician would be the employee of the first technician, sent out only to cover his bosses butt against a lawsuit. I had to call FA several times that day in order to get someone to come out. My husband had stayed home to deal with the issue. Technician tried to charge hubby ANOTHER $100 service fee just to wak inside the house. Hubby called me IMMEDIATELY. I refused to pay one red cent to this goofball and called the contractor directly to tell them so. I advised them I would be contacting FA and would NOT be paying any more money! The lady actually sounded like she was laughing at me when I hung up. FA, however, took the side of their contractor. Their csr said that this contractor had only come out on June 24 to fix a LEAK IN THE BATHTUB. I informed her there IS no BATHTUB in MY DINING ROOM! She said “well, ma’am, this is a “he said she said issue” … blah blah blah. She also said the plumbing company couldnt fix the issue properly on June 24 because “I” had REFUSED TO LET THEM CUT A HOLE IN THE CEILING TO ASSESS THE DAMAGES! I told the csr that was a blatant lie, to which she responded “well ma’am, this is a he said she said issue…” I also told her that ServPro (again, GREAT COMPANY, no problems whatsoever so far) had cut several holes in the ceiling of the dining room (to check for mold and moisture before initiating the drying procedure), as well as removing aprox 5 ft section of the dining room drywall to clean and dry the area. I had no problem allowing THEM to do their work, so why would I not allow the PLUMBER to do his job correctly??? The csr again told me “well, ma’am … this is a he said she said issue…” OK, at this point, I am not quite sure of my response. But I do remember quite clearly questioning this womans parentage in GREAT detail. In fact, I’m pretty sure I made up words to throw at her because normal curse words just didnt seem to fit. The csr calmy informed me that she couldnt hear me clearly when I was yelling, so I TURNED THE SOUND UP A NOTCH. Long story made short, her “supervisor” who never would come to the phone to talk to me (wonder why?) agreed that we would not have to pay another fee. I have since found out that the contractor, when informed that he would not be getting another hundred dollars, somehow enlisted the aide of my husband as an unpaid assistant in diagnosing the leak. Hubby is a verrrrry smart man, ok? Two college degrees, and when he’s out of town he sometimes even stays in a holiday inn express, granted. But NO experience in plumbing, or drywall, or anything constructionish in nature. Why a plumbing “professional” would think otherwise is beyond me. And this “professional” had to know that a leak going undetected for at least a month will very probably result in MOLD, which he exposed hubby to without a mask or gloves or any protective equipment. My homeowners insurance company is now filing suit against the plumber. I am also filing suit, and have since found that there are THOUSANDS of complaints against FA and their contractors. The scam is simple, really: FA gives the work to shoddy contractors and instructs them how best to collect their fees without spending any money. Deny deny deny — until the homeowner gives up and repairs the problem on their own. There is a class action suit against FA in California, and many of the complaints I have read say the best way to go after this shady company is to sue the contractor, which I am doing.
We bought a house where the Realtor had purchased First american home buyer protection company insurance. After moving in the sewer line clogged inside the house. The contract states that lines outside the house or that are broken or clogged with roots are not covered, but we had a clog in a vertical line inside the wall. The plumber sent by the insurance company opened the line for the deductible of $55, however they only made it drain, they didn’t really fix the problem. We hired a plumber of our own and they used a trailer mounted jet to clean the line. Cost me $700 and First American will not reimburse. Why buy the insurance if the work is substandard?
Water heater leaking, filed claim a month ago. While they are pleasant and polite on the phone, I’m getting no action. 2nd contractor showed up and immediately said firstam won’t cover due to age of heater, took pictures, took $60 service fee and left. Thats funny…everytime I’m on hold waiting for a cust rep their recording plays over and over again saying how great their warranty is and appliances are covered no matter how old they are. Now firstam said a 3rd contractor needs to come out and diagnose the problem. I think they are just waiting until i get fed up and hire someone to replace it right away. useless warranty, I won’t renew.
I had my oven go out on July 5th and called the warranty company, the repairman got his 60 dollars and told me he had to order a part it would take 2-3 days. 12 days later he calls me to let me know he got the part and scheduled an appointment 5 days later to come and install it. I took time off from work as he was going to show up between 3 and 5. He got there at 7. He got it working, but the faceplate to tell you what button you were pushing was damaged so he had to order that part again. He came 4 days later and installed it then an alarm kept going off right after he left. I called him on his cell and didn’t hear back from him. After 3 days I called the warranty company and they had him call me the following day and he told me he had to reorder the part, and it would be 10 to 14 days. First American has not done anything to help me with this, I’ve asked and asked and they just keep saying there is nothing they can do. I’m done with them as soon as this stove gets fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First American uses very substandard service companies. I’ve had both appliance and HVAC ‘contractors’ show up, no business card, no company vehicle (looks like their own personal cars and minivans??) and the people can barely speak English. Hard to communicate with. First American puts no pressure on their contractors, which we are forced to use, to service in a timely manner. Most recently, the mailbox of the service company is full so no messages can be left, First American says, if they pick up the part today, they’ll call you for Tuesday or Wed. There should be no IF they pick up the part, the part is ready, they need to pick it up. We have been withou hvac for 9 days already and First American couldn’t care less. Their phone representatives are rude, I believe they forgot who the customer is! Do not use First American…or any other home warranty company. Take the chance and if something breaks, bite the bullet and go with it. I could have had this fixed in probably 4-5 days if left on my own to handle it.
After 1 year with this company and requesting service 3 times (pool, washer, microwave), I am shopping around for a new warranty company. The problem with my pool was a potential leak and of course I was told leak detection was not included and if the problem was in fact due to a leak, I would be payout out of pocket all expenses. So, I cancelled the appt. When my microwave went out, the claim was assigned to a contractor that never called to schedule the appointment and never returned my calls to try and schedule. After 2 weeks of waiting, I called 1st Amer and had to haggle with cust service to get my claim referred to a different company. When I started having trouble with my washer leaking, I had to wait 3 weeks for the 1st available appointment with the contractor. Then the repairman didn’t show & I had to wait another 2 weeks for my 2nd appointment. He said the problem was over filling the washer and left. I’m not sure what he did to the washer, but after he left I was barely able to do any laundry due to it getting off balance on every spin cycle. I called & waiting another 2 weeks for them to come back out and the same guy shows up and again tells me it isn’t something he can fix. He suggests I do small loads and don’t do a load of all towels or sheets to avoid getting out of balance. I thought this was ridiculous since I didn’t even have the problem until AFTER he checked out the washer the first time. But I tried doing small loads on the gentle cycle, only to still have it go off balance and nearly shimmy into the kitchen on every load. I called back in to 1st Amer and was told the claim was too old and I had to do a new claim and pay another $65. I pitched a fit and spoke to a supervisor and finally got them to agree to reopen the service call since it was not my fault the repair was taking so long (due to having to wait 2+ weeks each time for the company to set the appointment). I then called the repair company directly and requested a DIFFERENT technician. Finally the washer got fixed, but it took nearly 3 months and 4 service calls to get it taken care of. Not a good use of my time or money!!!!
This company has poor “service after the sale”. If there is a problem with an appliance, etc, that is covered, they will drag their feet getting it repaired. And they do not seem to care how long it takes. It took them 7 weeks to get my washer fixed. The repair man misdiagnosed the problem several times, and each time he had to order a part that took weeks to obtain. Even though I found the part in one day, the warranty company would not obtain the part from the place I had found that was local. Instead they had it ordered from some company out of state. Nearly every time I placed a claim it was a nightmare. Please do not use this company!!!!!!!!
the are a scam- everything that needs to get replaced they say is your fault
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! I have been dealing with an air conditioning repair in Memphis, TN for a month and a half now. The first repair man that was sent out had no air conditioning technician equipment with him. He said he would come back and I never heard from him again. I called First American and they tried for three days to contact him. They could not, so they resubmitted the claim. After a few days another company called and came. They determined the problem and ordered the part. After not hearing from them, I called First American. They acted totally unaware of anything going on and made no real effort to find out any information. Two weeks later they came back with the wrong part. A week later they came back with the correct part. I had to pay a $250 “modification fee”. The repairman took the coil out of the metal casing that goes over the coil, took it and only it upstairs, and came down with nothing. Where was the modification? Three days later – no air conditioning. It is 100 degrees here with 90% humidity. My wife was pregnant and neither of these things had any bearing on First American’s level of concern. It has been a week since I reported the second outage and First American has no idea what is going on and has submitted a “Request for Report” from the service company. They obviously have no concern for your well-being or for getting your issue resolved. It is apparent that they take the lowest bids from the most unqualified technicians. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY!