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
Customer Service 
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 350 Rate this Company!
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 350 Rate this Company!
Coverage Area: USA - All States
|
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
Pages: « 15 … 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 [3] 2 1 » Show All
Pages: « 15 … 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 [3] 2 1 » Show All
Loading ...
I used this company on an older home and had 5-6 service calls over a 3 year period. the customer service was good and follow up again pretty timely. We had one less than average experience w/the contractor but that is par for the course. All in all, the policy saved me thousands of dollars. I began shopping for another policy for a different (newer) home and after reviewing the other companies, decided to go back to first american.
READ the fine print with this company. Once done you will find they really do not cover anything. They are masters of the delay tactic. Company HQ is in Vannuyes California I strongly recommend a Better Business Bureau review. They are very prompt at taking your money but if you want to just give your money away I can be prompt at taking it as well. Hot water heater has now been out for 3 weeks while the plumber and the insurance company “play the game” at my expense. $600 in “mandatory” upgrades for still no hot water after 3 weeks.
READ ON TO LEARN HOW I GOT PNEUMONIA BECAUSE OF THESE PEOPLE
What a joke! I can only imagine these guys are in trouble on account of the housing market. And, like all other loser insurance companies, the first thing they do is cut back on service and claims fulfillment.
I filed a claim with these jokers two weeks ago about my upstairs heater and have slept in 40 degree temperature ever since. They sent out a heating contractor after a week, and he told us there was a problem with the circuit board.
Well, while waiting for the guy to return with the part, which took more than a week, I developed what I though was a cold and later learned was pneumonia, all due to sleeping in near-freezing temperatures. I tried a space heater, and it blew all the circuits in my house, so that wasn’t an option either.
When the guy ultimately returned he tried the new circuit board, to no avail. He tried to tell me that he needed yet another circuit board, and, of course, I blew up at him. How could it possibly be that they’re both bad?! I told him to take a circuit board out of my home’s other heather and see if that one worked in the broken heater. Sure enough, it didn’t. Clearly, not a circuit board problem.
The guy ends up throwing his hands up and telling me he can’t fix it and that his boss would need to come out. Well, I’m still waiting, and now I need to check into a hotel because sleeping here is no longer an option. So now I’ve got medical expenses and lodging expenses all due to these jerks.
Do you think those morons at American Home Warranty gave a crap? After 2.5 hours on hold waiting for various idiots there, they told me they were unable (more like unwilling) to call out another contractor. They’re talking to a guy with pneumonia, all due to their negligence, and still they refused to make a move.
I hope these guys go bankrupt along with the rest of these loser insurance companies that treat customers like crap. Stay away from them. Don’t be deceived by the name and logo that project an image of been-around-since-the-Mayflower. The truth under the hood is more like Mrs. Murphy’s Warranty Company.
In order not to repair or replace my heater. They claimed it was not maintained by a licensed professional Wanted proof. My maintenance was not good enough. I am a professional engineer!
The bank selling the forclosure we bought included a home warranty for the first year as part of our contract. Our escrow company happened to be First American – so I imagine that’s how we ended up with the First American Warranty. To keep things simple, I can attest to all the negative things said in this site as well as ripoffreport.com. My husband and I decided that we did not want to deal with them and the companies they send out and we are paying to replace our furnace on our own. They were going to send out a company with a BBB rating of F!! I called them to tell them about that and express my concerns and they didn’t care since the company was licensed, insured, and bonded. We decided that it’s not worth the stress and hassle to deal with them and their fraudulent excuses. Good luck to all who are financially forced to deal with them.
We had our air-conditioning unit go out and called for repair. The service contractors they sent were 2 hours away. They installed parts that would have cost us several thousand dollars.
All went well until a few days later when water started to come through the ceiling. Apparently when they put the tray in the attic to catch the water it was not level and so the shut off valve did not kick on and water came through the ceiling. We had to have them come out and do the repairs, of which the owner of the service was very apologetic. However they were often very late from the promised time and when the person came out to replaster the ceiling he did not come, did a very bad job and eventually we paid someone in town to complete the plaster work for us – it saved money in the long run but it caused months of disruption and the worse part – we were in the process of selling our house.
re: previous comments some of the claims representatives are polite and helpful; but once you get to their “claims evaluation department” or “legal dept.”, that’s when calls are not returned, issues are manipulated, and loopholes are creatively constructed.
We just tried out our home warranty with FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY…
1. Problem: furnace not powering on.
2. Furnace contractor said he needed to scrub the burners, but didn’t think this was covered.
2. We asked First American Home Warranty if scrubbing the burners was covered: First American Home Warranty said ‘yes this service was covered’.
3. The furnace contractor completed the service and submitted his paperwork to First American Home Warranty. First American HW told the contractor that this service was NOT Covered.
4. We again called First American Home Warranty to ask about the coverage: First American HW NOW said this service was not covered, only if the burners were replaced!
Recently filed a claim for malfunction of a well pump in a home we own remotely in Manatee County, FL covered under our First American Home Warranty plan. Denial of claim was communicated to me by claims department and confirmed by two supervisors, namely, Sergio Estrada and Kathy Cotton. I felt my claim was unfairly denied, so I subsequently filed a complaint with the Insurance Division of the Florida Department of Financial Services. We have tenants in the property with several children so I have a legal responsibility as a landlord and an ethical responsibility as the homeowner to restore running water in a timely manner. After First American denied my claim, I had to go ahead and authorize the drilling company to make the necessary repairs. First American now cites as part of their defense to the Florida Department of Financial Services that we attained these repairs without authorization from First American. I followed proper procedue by notifying First American of a problem. First American dispatched a contractor of their choosing and then denied the claim citing damage was caused due to well pump running dry due to lack of water. It is inherently unfair to deny the claim, force the homeowner to make the repair, and then defend your original denial based on the making the repairs without their permission. During the dispute process, Nahun Espino (a claims evaluation specialist) contacted the drilling company after we made the repair and requested copies of our receipts. I found this out because since we paid for the repairs, the drilling company called to ask me permission to send the information. Not sure what to do since claim is in dispute, I called Nahun Espino to ask if that meant First American would be proceeding with honoring our claim. He said he needed the information for possible reimbursement and he was working diligently with the contractor to try and determine what happened. I quote from our denial letter “Also, per your service agreement under Important, “The Company will not reimburse you for services performed without prior approval”. If my attainment of the necessary repairs subsequent to a preceding denial automatically precludes me from a rememdy, then why did the claims evaluation specialist continue to tell me they were pursuing possible reimbursement? If First American really wanted to know what happened to the well pump, they would have obtained a second opinion which is an option for them according to our contract. Citing our making the necessary repair as a primary reason for denial AFTER they already denied my claim is unethical and obtaining the documents to support this is deceptive. As far as the “lack of water” issue, a well pump is a physical mechanism that pulls the water out of the well; the pump itself does not run dry. Before the pump malfunctioned, we had adequate pressure in the home and immediately upon replacement of the pump, adequate pressure was restored. With the “lack of water” loophole in their contract, when is it possible then for a well pump to ever be covered? Obviously if the pump stops working you are going to temporarily have lack of water. Sorry for the ramble.
The crappiest service ever. I went two months without a refrigerator because they tried fixing it twice and finally had to replace it. My food spoiled and I was not reimbursed either!
It took over 2 weeks to get First American to set up a follow-up appointment to an initial claim. After 7 calls, where various customer service reps promised to ‘call me back’, ‘redispatch the claim’, ’set the appointment for me and call me back with confirmation’, nothing was ever accomplished. After all was said and done, the contractor bailed out and refunded my money and I had to start the process of setting the appointment for pest control all over again. I will never use this service again and from the looks of the rest of the reviews, home warranties seems like a scam in general. You’re probably better off contacting a contractor off Angie’s list, getting an estimate and working with them to set appointments, etc.
This company is keen for taking premiums and deviant in taking care of responsibilities when a claim is filed. For five years we have paid premiums to them and whenever there is a claim they take their time sending out a repair person. This time they sent a contractor that has 23 complaints with the Better Business Bureau of California, of all the complaints only one has been resolved. The company came out tore up our appliance, then claimed the appliance was already in the damaged state that they left it in. First American claims to do a thorough check on the contractors that they send into people’s homes, but if they do then why did they send a company to my home that was unqualified to do the repairs, the technicians smelled like garbage, and the company that they sent out had such complaints against them as “inappropriate behaviour toward customers”. The claim is over a month old and First American nor the contractor has made good on the repairs. First American’s only resolve is to send the faulty contractor back (Because no one else will work on the appliance that they broke) OR we pay a contractor of our choice to fix the appliance and they will reimburse us. Well as stated before, we checked. There are no legitimate contractors who will get involved in the claim because of the faulty work that the technician did. So they are forcing us to either use the “Shady contractors” who may blow up our home, or go with a gas appliance that is broken and may possibly risk our lives in our home. DO NOT USE FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY……FIVE YEARS CONSISTANT DISSERVICE TO CUSTOMERS .
Dealing with this company has been a nightmare! I had a refigerator that broke down and called to have it repaired as per the warranty agreement. To make a long story short, almost two months and 5 visits by different repairmen, it was fixed (I hope). The process to get a repairman to look at the fridge was ridiculous. I had to call constantly to get firstam to get someone to look at the fridge. Each time the fridge was looked at, it would work for a few days and break down again. Needless to say, I lost hundreds of dollars of food for every occurrence. Finally, to cap things off, I was told by the claims specialist that I was alloted up to $150.00 of temporary relief to buy a portable refrigerator unit and that I would be reimbursed for it. I sent the fax of the reciept as per the instructions given to me. The fax showed that it went through but firstam conveniently did not recieve it. I sent it again after calling them and verifying the info but was later told they didn’t recieve it either. I called again but this time was told that they do not have any record authorizing me temporary relief and that they would only give $75 for a portable refrigerator anyways. This company is highly unreliable and extremely arrogant with its customers. I don’t know how they are in business.
Well, let me say this, if I had known that my landlord was using a home warranty company such as First American to fix problems, I would have never rented. Being in this home, the toilet was leaking, the sink was leaking and still is, the kitchen plumbing was rotted away (normal wear and tear)allowing raw sewage to dump right under the house (the foul smell made me sick for two days)Now keep this in mind I have been in this home for 3 months, it took, 8 weeks to get someone to fix the the raw sewage pipe, and I am now without heat, the sink in the bathroom still leaks and the only way the toilet got fixed was I paid for (after waking up sick from the foul smell to throw up) I slipped on the water that the toilet was doing!!! Now keep in mind, I am still paying rent, but told the landlord if things don’t get fixed in a timely manner that I would hold out for how many days it took to get fixed.
Now since reading all these review’s did it ever occur to someone to initiate a class action suite against this company….?!! I certainly would not take this warranty out with them and tell all people I come in contact with about the horrible service. I didn’t get service until I actually threatened to sue First American and who ever was a part of the transaction, contractor and landlord included. Since they are an insurance company I am filing a complaint to the Insurance Commission to have this company investigated.
I am a Realtor. Always recommended First American to my clients. Purchased a home in March 2008. That’s when the PROBLEMS and HEADACHES really started. This company is using F rated contractors (see BBB) and jeopardizing everything from home to health. DON’T USE THIS COMPANY!!! I don’t have a solution – all other Home Warranty Companies are bad too ;-(. Best thing is to find a reliable and reputable contractor on your own and than submit the bill.
I feel like I need to write something positive about this company since most people only take the time write negative reviews. I recently got a house that was empty for a year and within one week one A/c stopped working and one bedroom had no electricity. I filled claims and the next day both problems were fixed. The bedroom had a short in the ceiling fan and the A/C unit had a service valve open and the freon was empty. Cost me 2 deductibles of $50. The A/C guy said he would of charged me $450 for the service call for all the freon he had to use. It’s already paid for itself and I still have 11 months left on this contract. I would never buy a house without having a home warranty. I am glad I listened to my realtor.
I’ve found the comment’s here “eye opening” for the various Warranty companies reviewed. It seems a bit skewed to those who have negative experiences, probably due to the need to vent the frustrations experienced. I also suppose that those who got what they expected, upon making the call for service, arn’t as compelled to say “Yes!” I got it. This is not supposed to be like winning the lottery. The comments make you feel like many have lost out though; Thats sad, it seems like the Warranty Industry trend, with no real star-company that stands out.
Any way my 2-cents. With purchase of my house I receive the First American packet in which the “Value Plus Plan” for $340 was paid by seller for the first year. Upon renewal this rate is now $460. A 35% increase? Apperantly that initial cost was the Realtor’s discount rate.
I have used them twice Shower-faucet replacement (took 3 visits to get the right part ordered and installed.)
and A/C recharge and inspection went without a hitch –easy enough I suppose.
Anyone know of any leading companys in this industry?
I have paid my premium faithfully for years. When our air conditioner went out during a 104 degree week, they told me since they could not find someone to come out and fix it that they approved me to have my own contractor come out and look at it. I got three estimates on what was wrong with it. I then called First American and they told me that I had been approved to get someone out ASAP and repair or replace the unit because we had our elderly father in the house. So I called the cheapest price we got and he ordered the unit to install it. All the while I was calling First American to make sure this was acceptable. They kept telling me to go ahead with the install. But when the company came with the unit to install it, I called First American one more time as instructed, and only then did they tell me they would not approve it. They knew I had the man there and the unit on the ground, then they said they would not approve it with out one of their contractors coming out first. So I had to have it installed and paid for it myself. We are going to take them to court on this but they have done things like this numerous times. They are cheap crooks. Do NOT give them a penny of your money.
Will never do business with this company again. I tried for two years to get this company to fix a problem with my A/C. They sent someone out eight times only to tell me that “there is a problem they just didn’t know what it is”. After eight visits and eight $55-70 service charges they told me that it was “installed incorrecly”. After sending someone out that many time you would have to think they just gave up and changed their story.
After 2 years of call for a leaking heater it is still not fixed. Do yourself a favor and avoid this company at all costs!!!!
Had big problems with 1st American, multiple times. Fridge broke, had to have a second oppinon. Had to take 5 days of work for different repair people (Insurance choice of repairmen), and the fridge was still not fixed. I waited 5 month on the money for the new fridge. They always send very unfit repair people, who want 4 times the price then other companies!
First American Home Warranty let my family sit in a dark and potentially dangerous house for nearly two weeks while they sat on their hands doing nothing but making up excuses. After two weeks and two visits by their technician they have denied the claim.
Both electricians said the riser – metal pipe – had broke free from our meter box and allowed rain in. The rain shorted the line out and a new meter box was necessary.
First American Home Warranty says it is not normal wear and tear and denied the claim.
After two weeks of jerking us around they leave us holding the bag while they redefine the English language. Normal wear and tear? Why is it not normal wear and tear? It is a thin box of pot metal that has been exposed to the elements for years. That box is certainly over twenty years old. What’s normal? Should it last a thirty years? Fifty? Perhaps a century?
3 Different contractors, 3 seperate fees, same problem. Company is unethical and fraudulant.. They work with pathetic contractors who lie, make false claims to avoid doing any work. Contractors like Miller A/C in Lakeland area is fraudulent, lies to customers and turns in false claims to warranty company. Custormer service would rather have us cancel our contract rather than credit us 55.00 service fee in which Miller A/C Did no inspection, no diagnosis, lied to us, filed fasle claim with warrany company to avoid doing any work. DO NOT PAY FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY They are of no significant value to homeowners, profit by not making any repairs, but charging contractor and warranty fees…They are Frauds and should be avoiding at all cost…
We have had First American for 6 years and it has gotten progressively worse. Our first year was wonderful. It more than paid for itself, although a hassle. They are very slow to respond, don’t use local technicians (be it plumbing, heating, electrical, etc.) and don’t return calls. They’re attitude is arrogant. We will not renew this year.
Not happy at all with this company. Seems to take forever to get your money when you are due a payout. Plumbing coverage stinks. Just doesn’t cover the costs to repair. You always have to pay quite a bit out of pocket to get the problem fixed.