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
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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. |
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Reviews
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I bought a foreclosed house last year and just to be safe bought a one-year warranty – even though the house was only 4 years old. My realtor recommended First American. So far it’s more than paid for itself since I had to have the water heater replaced, the disposal looked at, toilets looked at and issues with my furnace. I’ve always had someone call me right away and they’ve always been courteous and professional. I’ve never had an issue with claims either. I’m up for renewal. I don’t have the money to buy another policy right now but I will when I get the cash. It’s well worth it!
Waited 3 weeks in the Winter to get a broken furnace replaced. They took out an 85,000 BTU unit and were supposed to replace with the same or so they told me. When the new unit was installed, upon inspection I found that they had actually put in a 66,000 BTU unit. When I called them on it, their reply was that there wasn’t an 85,000 unit available and the next size up would be to big for my house so they downgraded me without my consent. The furnace has been in for 2 days now and running full blast you can barely feel it. Waiting on a customer service agent to call me back, considering suing them.
They are worst ever. They give you claim reps that never return calls or answer there phones. Every negative you have reviewed…they are true. I would highly recommend to no one. My heater went out and there so called contractor wanted my share to be $1200 and First American’s share to be $275. (they have there contractors in check huh) I have been so dumb to keep them because times I did use them it was nothing but wait wait wait. There contractors have to be the most worst (low budget). They take forever to respond. Be smart don’t use them I guarantee you will be sorry and be full of regrets.
I noticed a lot of people here have not filed with BBB…please do…they have a B+ rating on there and I know that is not accurate!!!
This company is a FRAUD. We had a leaking water heater that was on the verge of bursting. It was an emergency situation. So I called First American to file a claim. Sure: they said “This is a top priority!” SO I waited…and waited and …waited….Then I called again. “Oh yes…the dispatcher has been called”….And Night came…and I got a call at 11PM. “We have options for you m’am…please call us back the the 1-800 # so that this gets done tomorrow…” I called…no one knew about this “Options” arrangment. It was Saturday night. I got this “barely speaks English” woman on the phone who was very very rude… “Ma’m…you have to wait until Monday or Tuesday….” I explained this was not what had been explained. “Ma’m I have no idea what you are talking about…you have to wait 2 days”….So….then at 11AM the next day a “MIke” calls me and says they cannot find anyone who will do this job…And says That I can geta 3rd party to do it…only if it costs over $125 That I need to have it approved…No other issues….So I said we could do this….I called A reputable Plumber….They wanted an item by item detailed description…the plumber said he puts in a great quality heater witha 6 year warranty. They asked the cost…and it was $1200. The warranty people said “We will not cover that amount”…NO ONE EVER MENTIONED A LIMIT. They say their maximum payment for a water heater PLUS labor is max $600…this is bogus….no one accepts this measley amount…so the PEOPLE at First American say THEY supply the water heater and want only a One YEAR warranty…(IE some piece of CRAP made in China that breaks right after it is installed)So we asked to speak to a supervisor who said the same thing…They are Fraudulent! Misleading! Liars and I hope they go out of Business…SOON because they are NOT a reputable company! SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!!
First american is by far the worst service company I have ever dealt with. My heat went out in September and they could not even find a company to work on a oil furnace. 6 weeks went by before I had to find a service company myself. They promised me they could pay the service company directly and after the service was complete they would not pay the contractor. I had to fax them the invoice over 20 times! They would not send me any confirmations or allow E-mail communication (very smart if you do not want to be held accountable for anything) They promised to call me and confirm invoices and payment over 10 times and I never recieved a call. My invoice was approved for reimbursement on Nov 11 and today Jan 31 I have still not been able to get them to confirm a check. Also if you call in for a new claim the wait time is 5 to 10 minutes, try to call about an existing claim and no one will answer before 25 to 30 minutes. This was confirmed every time i called. Try to call in as an outside contractor and you will never be answered on purpose because they do not want to pay. I have been out 1200$ for 2 1/2 months because of First Americans poor service. Agents and homeowners beware you will want to pay out of pocket before dealing with this warranty company and that is exactly what they want.
Just another bad story to add:
Used them for 2 years and 2 clames. My first experience was with a leaking bathtub faucet, and a loose toilet, but functioning fine. They sent a plummer out (bank robber) he had to cut an access hole from the closet to get to the tub faucet underside, but missed the tub all togather and cut a whole from the closet into the the bathroom!! 2 ft x 1 ft hole. so he eyeballd another cut in the wall and gained accessed to the faucet and he did fix the leak. on the same visit i wanted the toilet flange repaired, he pulled up the toiled, placed it in the hall and said the flange is not cover. Said he could just leave the toilet in the hall or repair the flange and reseat the toilet for $450. It’s an $8 part. He told me to call First American and they will send someone out to repair the hole. Called them and they told me to Sue the contractor, wasnt their problem.
Second clame. AC electrical short with smoke. Because of the urgent nature of the problem they was able to get someone out much quicker. 4 days business days latter they arrived and informed me it was a mfg defect and not coverd by them. I needed to work that out with the MFG.
I let my “warranty” expire 6 months ago and now getting calls from them to renew my coverage. They told me for $36 a month i could have peace of mind again. I gave them a piece of my mind!! Save your money and your sanity stay away.
*********** BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY ********************
IT IS CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF BEING SUED BY 3 STATES ( TEXAS, NEW JERSEY, AND NEW YORK )FOR FRAUD, THEY ARE AN UNLICENED COMPANY. ONE OF THERE MANY TRICKS THAT THEY USE TO GET OVER ON THERE CUSTOMERS ARE:
1. CONTRACT DON’T START TILL AFTER 30 DAYS FROM SIGN-UP
2. YOU ONLY HAVE 14 DAYS TO CANCEL FROM SIGN-UP WITHOUT BEING CHARGED, BUT THEY DONT SEND YOU THE CONTRACT UNTIL AFTER THE 15TH DAY.
3. THERE IS A SERVICE LIMIT ON ALL SERVICES CALL OF $1500.
4. YOU CAN’T FIND ANY INFO ON THEM BECAUSE, EACH TIME THERE FORCE TO CLOSE, THE JUST START-UP A NEW BUSINESS. HERE ARE A FEW OF THE A.K.A *** SENSIBLE HOME WARRANTY, HOME WARRANYT OF AMERICA, FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY, NATIONAL HOME PROTECTION, AND CHOICE HOME WARRANTY ***
5. IF YOU CHOOSE TO GIVE THEM A TRY, PAY FOR THE SERVICES ON YOU CREDITCARD THAT WAY IF FOR ANY REASON YOU CHOOSE TO CANCEL W/IN THE 1ST 30DAYS YOU CAN DISPUTE IT W/ YOUR CREDITCARD COMPANY AFTER MAKING CONTACT W/ CHOICE, THAT WAY YOUR NOT OUT OF ANY MONDAY. THE CREDITCARD COMPANY WILL REINBURSE YOU THE FULL COST AND TAKE THE ISSUE UP W/ THE WARRANTY COMPANY. I HOPE THIS INFOMATION HELP YOU IN MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE, WEATHER IT BE CHOOSING THEM OR SOMEONE ELSE. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR CHOICE.
My claim and work are in process, but I am not having a good experience from the git-go! I just purchased this house last month, and yesterday & again this a.m. have had blown circuit breakers. Called my handy-woman, who is a retired fire fighter and she said it is a potential fire hazard and to get it checked out ASAP. After almost 2 hours on the phone with 1st American, being transferred 3 times to another CS Rep … I’m not expecting too much. I spoke to the electric co. that is coming out, and their 1st visit will be to asess the situation. Dang folks! I’ve got a potential fire hazard .. let’s just get the thing fixed!!!! I am fuming! And the fumes are not coming from my blown electrical circuits! Mediocirty at its finest!
I have had a problem with my ac unit for OVER a month now and no resolution yet or even in sight. It is not working at all and this company has not met my expectations at all for the monthly fee I am paying them. I do not plan to renew my contract with them.
First American kept sending the same plumbing vendor to aid in our plumbing issues even after we made a large complaint about them and even turned this company into the Better Business Bureau. We asked them not to send them yet time after time it Just happened that was the only plumber available. Last call I placed when out sewer backed up, it took over 3 hours for dispatch to get back to me, when they did I cancelled the call. I am going to hire my own plumber. I would rather pay out of my own pocket then have them send out a vendor that cannot do their job or has extremely bad customer service.
left me without a hot water heater for two weeks over Christmas
left me without a furnace for 4 wks in January.
Overall bad company. Claims reps do not return calls. Sent unliscenced contractor to my home to install new furnance. I had to pay to have a new contractor come and bring item up tocode and repair damage. The company did not seem to care that I was taken for a ride.
All of the other negative reviews that you have read…they’re all true. I had my refrigerator diagnosed with a failed compressor on 12/18/2008 and AGAIN on 1/21/2009…today is 1/23/2009, and I’m still without a working appliance, and no closer to a solution. At this point, there has been mention of a possible THIRD need for a diagnosis!!! Customer service is awful. The claim reps are happy to give you their direct extension, what they don’t tell you is that they will NEVER answer your call and they will NEVER return your call. Not once have they contacted me to status with me…I have always had to be the one to make the call. They contacted the manufacturer a week ago and were told that the appliance was not covered under warranty…I even confirmed that they have this documented…today, I was told that I need to contact the manufacturer to see if the appliance is covered under warranty. THESE GUYS ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC!!!
All I got were excuses and delays. I filed three service requests and NONE were ‘approved’. Do not waste your money. This company is a fraud.
I have had this warranty for over 18 years and canceled this year. I have always had problems with the customer service and very rude managers that really dont care(just give me your money) is what they are really saying. I had a plumbing problem and had 4 companies come out that said it was improper,no coverage for it. They then sent out the last company c-home which fixed it right there and then. I decided then not to use the home warranty anymore. Now i call this company and they come out with a very resonable price and get the problem fixed,and I do not have to hear the rude customer service or managers.
Customer service is abysmal, multiple times we have been promised a First American rep would call back and they don’t. Attimes we have waited weeks for service to be completed. As I write this I have been on hold 45 minutes waiting for arepresentative
When I bought my condo, the heat went out immediately. I have gas heat. The contractor came out to look at it on a Thursday and said the part would be in on a Tuesday and he would be out to fix it. I heard nothing from him and I called repeatedly until I left so many messages that he finally called me back. Notice he didn’t take it upon himself to call me. Anyway, he said the part didn’t come in and it would be there on Wednesday and I said I had plans Wednesday but could he come on Thursday, he said there would be no problem with that. Thursday came and still no phone call, despite the fact I called him and left him messages. Then I had to call the home office on Friday and I told this lady that it was rude of him not to even call. She had the nerve to say “ma’am there is no need in him calling if the part wasn’t in.” In my mind it’s common courtesy to let people know that if you schedule a time to come out and can’t, you should call and tell them. SILLY ME! I think that is sort of a given. Most of us work and can’t lay around (in the cold) waiting on someone to stop by at their convenience. Anyway, I finally had to talk to her supervisor who promised me the contractor would go to the warehouse and get the part then would be out there Saturday. My feeling is, if you can just “go to the warehouse” how come you just don’t do it? Anyway, that never happened. Finally the lady offered to buy me a heater which I didn’t accept because I figured that would give them an excuse to take even longer, plus I had borrowed my cousin’s heater. Finally my realtor called
First American and said this company got plenty of business from them and if they didn’t fix it TODAY, that they would need to put me up in a hotel. Well wouldn’t you know it? IT GOT FIXED THAT DAY! This took 2 weeks! Anyway, same thing is happening with my mom she has been without heat since Dec 23.
Let me start by saying…I really wish I could give this company a rating of zero(0) because I think a one(1) is too high. When we bought our house, First American was the warranty company that the seller picked. I now wonder if they hated us…because I wouldn’t wish the quality of service this company provides on my worst enemy. ABSOLUTELY THE WORST SERVICE I HAVE EVER HAD!!! When you first call this company about a claim you’re so glad you have this warranty and you think the problem will be fixed right away. It doesn’t quite happen that way. My experience with First American lead me to believe…their policy it to deny, deny, deny…then, if you don’t go away because of the denial of your claim they place you on hold for a very long time every time you call…and I’m not talking 15 or 20 minutes…no, I’m talking 45 minutes to an hour waiting on ignore (with no one checking to see if you are still there)…I don’t even call it being on hold anymore…you are on IGNORE! (maybe they’re hoping you’ll just give up and hang up and they won’t have to deal with you anymore)! This all started with a simple pool/spa claim…the pump motor burned out..I called on a Friday and the next Tuesday they sent a contractor out to look at it…he confirmed the pump needed to be replaced. Well, here we are over 3 weeks later and many phone calls put in and hours waisted on ignore and not to mention out $55 for the deductible we paid and all we have now is a swamp in our back yard where our beautiful pool used to be. After being denied because they considered the pump required to get it to code was an upgrade, then being denied because the cost of the repair was over their $ limit so they didn’t want to cover it, and now being told they will cover it..several days ago they told me they’re just waiting on an authorization code to go ahead with the repair…I would think it would take only a minute to do this…think again! I’M STILL WAITING!
Two and a half weeks after our central heating went out during some of the coldest weather in recent history, we are still waiting for First American and the contractor they sent out to stop passing the buck back and forth about a part needed for the repairs and actually get the heater fixed. Their one year contract is non-refundable, even on a pro-rata basis. You can be sure that we will not be renewing with them when our current contract is up.
If you’ve read this far, then you shouldn’t even question going with this company. This warranty came with the home we purchased so we had no choice on which company to go with. I regret having to contact them for service.
Even though the contract with this company states what they will and will not replace, they still fight you and try to get away with not doing anything. If you finally get them to approve the repair like they should, they only cover a small portion of it and not the full scope of work. Anything else is out of your pocket. It is at this time that you have the same terrible contractor providing you with an outrageous quote to complete the work not covered by the warranty company. Your only other option to getting screwed is to do the work yourself or beg to have another contractor complete the work for you.
I.E.; We had the shower valve leak within our walls. We finally got them to approve replacement of the valve system as it stated in their contract but they are refusing to tear out and replace the ceramic tile and drywall as required to complete the replacement. It’s pathetic!
Every time you want to talk to them, expect to spend an hour on hold till the next rep is available.
This company seems to be all about not paying out a valid claim. We had to have two guys out here to before First American decided to pay out the claim. The contractors they usually have out are pretty pathetic. We have figured out which ones are decent to deal with and we have to make sure that we demand they send one of the good companies as opposed to the ones we have found out suck.
I’ve been with this company for 3 years and have had several repairs made. Downstairs furnance, Downstairs Air Conditioning, Attic Fan, garage door opener, Running toilets. Overall, I’m fairly satisfied with the service I’ve received and have even recommended FA to a friend. I pulled up this website to review for my friend who is looking for a home warrantee company. I suspect that these ratings are somewhat skewed because only the people who had problems seem to be rating the companies….even though anyone can post a comment. Basically these ratings are only based on “How Bad” was your experience.
I would be interested in seeing ratings which include the hundreds of positive experiences as well as the negative ones. The positive ones are just not here.
I still think that my $40 a month charge and $50 service call fee is fair and a good deal. Neither my husband nor I are the handy-man type and it gives us great piece of mind to know there’s someone we can call to help. I’ve called at 1am before and spoke to a live person when my attic fan was making a horribly loud noise. The repair man called on a Sunday and wanted to come out the next day (Memorial Day holiday)at 7am to fix it for me. Without hesitating and with no questions asked…he installed a brand new attic fan.
We also got good service on our replacement downstairs air conditioner even though we had to wait for a part to come in and some disposal/upgrade/modification work was not covered by the home warrantee.
We got great service on our garage door opener. The repair was booked (and served by) with Sears repair service. I saw from other reviews that poorly skilled repairmen (F grade?)were used by FA but the Sears repair man was very knowledgeable, friendly, prompt and I highly doubt that he was a F-grade repairman.
Maybe it’s just my area in TN that has a good FA department but I would bet that readers are just not hearing the other side of the story. There are happy, content customers out there. Am I crazy-in-love with FA?…No But I am a satisfied customer.
“If you have a choice – DON’T GO WITH FIRST AMERICAN. Our dishwasher leaked. They sent out a contractor who we later learned put in the wrong part. We had paid our $55 fee for the service call. The dishwasher continued to leak and we called for service again (after we had been out of town for several weeks) and we found it was still leaking. A second service man came out (we paid another $55). He told us the part the first guy replaced was not a water seal at all but a bumper and that he’d order the correct part, which he did and it now works properly. I called First American to ask for our first $55 back. They said no because it needed to have been reported within 30 days of the first call. I explained that the guy put in the wrong part but that made no difference. I further argued that it was First American who chose the service man, not me, and therefore they should bear the expense of his mistake. By this time I had been transferred to a “Supervisor”. The supervisor refused to refund my $55 so I asked to speak to a Manager. When I was transferred to the Manager’s Voice Mail, I was disconnected prior to having the opportunity to leave a message. The entire experience on the phone took 56 minutes – 29 of which were spent on-hold to speak with the first customer service agent. I have given up at this point and simply want to warn others about this company.
All in the span of 3 months…hot water heater went out and they said it was not installed correctly, so nothing was covered – $1100. Beginning of December (highs in the 20’s and 30’s), heater/AC unit goes out and after 2 days, my repair was still not approved. When finally approved, it would take 6-10 business days to receive the unit at the repair office. This means AT LEAST 2 weeks before it is replaced. Also, if I used their co., there were $1100 in uncovered expenses. I said forget it, send me the cash payout. The amount they approved for the payout is $1730 (2 independent estimates I got were $4600). Independent co. had it replaced the same day. I requested payout on 12/06/08 and as of 12/27/08 I am still waiting on the check. I would cancel this policy if I could. Absolutely the biggest scam I have ever been a participant in.