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: 241 Rate this Company!
Service Timeliness
Repair/Replacement Service
Overall Rating
Total Reviews: 241 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. |
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Reviews
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Pages: « 10 9 8 7 6 [5] 4 3 2 1 » Show All
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I’ve had First American for 3 years and on two houses. They have always given me good service until I started having pool problems. The pool repair companies they sent out were horrible. I put a claim into them in April and it is now mid-June and the pool has not be repaired. The pool is now black and has to be drained and scrubbed. I called them every week letting them know the problem was not fixed. I explain the filters were not replaced even though the contractor told the warranty company that they had been replaced. The warranty company could not get a call back from the contractor but still refused to send out another contractor to fix the problem. And told me “Well you could be lying to us”. If I had brand new filters why would I want them to come back out and replace week old filters with new ones. I was shocked they did not respond quicker and take care of the problems that lasted so many months. They refuse to pay for the pool to get cleaned. Somehow this is my fault. This is why I have a home warranty so my covered items can get fixed in a relative quick time frame. I’m sure most people run into problems like this but I’m shocked at the fact that this home warranty company would keep sending out a contractor this not doing their job and is charging them for items that were not replaced.
The quality of service is poor, the customer service repres. will call you to renew your contract. When you do, do don’t get the help you need. Their service contractors have very little experience.Their plumber did not repair my leaking bath tub faucet.
I have had two claims with this company, one dishwasher and the other, which I am currently dealing with, the AC. The dishwasher took 2 weeks to get fixed. The contract company said that First American never faxed over the request. Ironically, the second company said the same thing. This is a crooked company in which you have to wait on hold for 30+ mins. If you place a claim, you better make sure they fax in the request and then you better pray that it gets taken care of the 1st time because if not then you will have to jump through hoops and spend a majority of a day on hold trying to get something done. Also, if it is not fixed the first time…watch them claim that it was a separate issue and you will have to pay the $60 again. p.s. I am on my second AC company since the first one couldn’t fix the problem. I slept in 80+ heat last night and am currently sitting in 86 degrees of crap. Lastly, I paid more to go with this company because they said they call after each claim to make sure the customer is satisfied…I have never received one phone call. Now that I am finished can someone PLEASE recommend a good company that doesn’t try everything in their power to deny a claim??
Beware of them. I had an oven repair issue. the company sent a contractor, who said the part was broken and they would be back in 2 days with the part. But repeatedly calling him and the company , no answer from him and the company ( who did not care ) and the then after more than 3 weeks said American first Insurance denied the claim because according to them this could have been because of power surge and was not normal wear and tear. Wasted a lot of time calling them and just waiting for a response.
Don’t waste your time, find some better company.
These guys are scam artist. They kept ignoring the fact that my ac unit was broken. Bad tactics and bad service. Very unethical company
I am a Realtor and have personally used and recommended First American Home Warranty to my clients for 20 years now. I had my Heat Pump replaced in a heatwave we had June 2008 and they were GREAT! I highly recommend them to everyone. They screen their companies and appreciate any feedback you can give them regarding performance. They only want the best technicians – their reputation is on the line! A+ in my book!
Unfortunately, First American will no longer renew contracts in my area so I must find another company. However, I’ve been quite pleased with First American for the past few years. When my a/c unit went out, they replaced it with a brand new one. When my heater went out, they had it repaired in a timely manner. Overall, my experience has been good with them. I have no complaints.
We had a lot of trouble getting our AC units fixed. We even had no AC for more than a week durig a heat wave here in Florida. The customer service reps didn’t tell us we were entitled to “emergancy relief” payment to buy a window/room unit. The warranty company would send the same contractor, yet the contractor repeatedly did a poor job–even damaging other parts of the compressor while adding a new capacitor for example. Finally when one handler needing replacing, the contractors work FAILED inspection by the county…and the contractors “re-work” failed –We had to fight for MONTHS to get the unit re-installed properly. In the end–they Warranty company cancelled us right after they paid a new contractor to do the install work properly–and we didn’t find out we were cancelled for 7 months… I gather we weren’t profitable enough for them (after paying our premiums for 4+ years)
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. our a/c stopped cooling 3 days after move-in. contractor is so overbooked that it took him 3 days to get here to diagnose, 7-10 days for new compressor, then even longer to schedule install, then First American didn’t give contractor our new phone number, so we missed his calls for an appointment 3 weeks after initial visit. now, it is nearly 4 weeks with no A/C with newborn. contractor always has excuse to not come (overbooked-not our problem, bigger “coil install” projects-we need a/c too, death in the family-find someone else for us then). we don’t have to pay for it so they can take all the time they want.
I have had First American Home Buyers Protection for several years. It has certainly not been worth the money. I agree that they look for any excuse to deny a claim and they only keep vendors who deny claims. I had one vendor who did not deny the claim and now they are no longer on the list of approved vendors.
I had a hot water heater problem. I called and got service sent to me the next day. The guys that came out weren’t the most professional looking or acting, but they were helpful and got the approval to replace the hot water heater since the repair would cost about just as much as replacement. They went to the local home builder store and finished the same afternoon. I was very happy actually.
My dishwasher broke in November of 2008 and until now May 2009, I have no resolution. Each time I have to talk to a different person, and the rep says they have to check into the claim and get back to me. I have not heard back from anyone. Each part of this dishwasher has been replaced. I have waited for technicians and been on the phone regarding this matter for over 30 hours. Over 5 visits from one tech, then another 2 or 3 from another. They keep replacing parts and refuse to replace the broken dishwasher which still does nto work properly. I was so upset that when I was angrily informing the last rep what was going on, he cut me off and said “is there anything else I can help you with? If not, have a nice day”!!!!!!!!! What customer service is this? I recommend never using First American Home Warranty and do your research before signing up with any warranty company.
My Attic gable fan broke. Called First American and after 2 of their technicians passed on my problem got a 3rd technician. He came to look at the problem 1 week later since it took that long for First American to sort out why the other technicians passed on the problem. 2 Weeks later he came with the wrong part. 3 Weeks later he came with the right part and during installation fell from the attic (unfinished attic) through my ceiling. Of course neither First American or him would pay for the hole in my ceiling so I paid and had it fixed which wasn’t cheap.
So it is now 2 months since the install nightmare. The BRAND NEW fan that he installed is making a grinding noise that you can hear 2 blocks away. I called First American. First they said that even though the blade is wobbling in the fan it is not technically broken because the fan is spinning so the claim will not be honored. WTF! I asked to talk to a few managers who all were saying that a fan making noise is not a problem that is covered – even though I told them the blade is about to fall off the shaft. Finally a manager caved in and they said that there is only a 30 day warranty period on all repairs so I have to pay the deductible again and they will send out the SAME technician. No Thanks. I went on ServiceMagic.com and got my own guy – easier to just pay a good guy to fix something than paying a guy that does a bad job and then forces you to fix the external problems that he causes. Stay away from this company!!
My realtor recommended this company, my a/c went out the day before July 4th weekend, First American gave me the numbers of several service providers, none of them ANSWERED the phone! Noone returned my calls and It was looking to be 102 degrees all weekend, I called them back the next day and told them to FIND ME a repair person. Thank God the lady I talked to felt sorry for me and put me on hold while she called their list until she found someone to come. The repair person was polite and did a temp repair until he could get a compressor for me. He did end up charging me for numerous things outside the contract and my $60.00 warranty fee ended up being 180.00 in charges! I am looking for another company as both of my sons have had horrible experiences also (we all used the same realtor) do not use!
I had a low water pressure problem in a house on which the seller had provided a warranty policy with FA. My regular plumber said probably the water pressure regulator needed to be replaced. My wife called FA and confirmed with FA that the pressure regulator was covered and a service contractor would be sent on which I would have a co-pay of $60. He came but departed saying the home owner was responsible for locating and exposing the regulator before he could work on it. (Still wanted $60.)
After that FA used one excuse after another as to why the claim was not covered or why their contractor would not do the work. First they could not show me in the contract that it was my responsibility to find and expose the regulator. Then the FA rep said it really was because their contractor was worried about damaging an Oleander bush near the regulator that he refused to do the work. When I said I don’t care what damage is done to the bush the the FA rep called back to say the Contractor wouldn’t do the work because the Oleander bush was on top of the regular. That was untrue; the regulator is located between and in front of two Oleander bushes. Then the FA rep said their plumber would not do the work because the plumbing was so bad and that’s why the regulator failed. I said their plumber had no way of knowing the condition of the plumbing since he had not inspected it and I had no reason to think the incoming water pipe was bad. Then the FA rep said the regulator was not covered because the Oleander roots had damaged it. I said there is no evidence of that. Then the FA said the regulator was not covered because it was not within the inside perimeter of the foundation of the house. Well if that is so, then virtually every house in El Paso is not covered as almost all residences in El Paso have the regulator located as part of the incoming water line about 3 feet from the front of the house at a depth of about 1 foot. The FA ep said their plumber said it was root damage so not covered. (FA has only this 1-person company as their sole plumbing representative to service all of El Paso, which has a population in excess of 700,000. Also, although they offered, and I accepted, that they should get a 2nd opinion, they later called back and said they could not find anyone to provide one.)
I hired my regular plumber to replace the regulator. He did so in the usual time frame for this job (under 2 hours). He said the regulator (on this 48 year old house) had just malfunctioned due to normal wear and tear and the near-by Oleander roots had nothing to do with it. He had the top of the regulator exposed within 5 minutes, then had to dig out around the pipes so that the water line portion containing the regulator could be cut out, and a new regulator inserted. The pipe and regulator were not snarled with roots. He just cut away one near-by root of moderate size to work comfortably on the incoming copper water pipe. The cost was $220. I have not decided whether to just drop the matter or waste more time getting no satisfaction from FA.
Customer now for 2+ years (came w/home purchase) I would rate them as avg. They have fully covered what they said they would and generally the tech’s have been quite good. They recently switched from a local appliance reapir service to Sears and I am not overly thrilled with Sears’ service as compared to the local company!
Generally I have found their customer service folks to be attentive and quick to respond and the policy coverage has been reasonable. The real downside is that often they will only give you a time range for the tech to be at your house..say 8am to 5pm. Sorry, but I do have a life with other things that need to get done…8am to 5pm just does not cut it as good customer service in my book.
Otherwise they have been ok and I really haven’t had any hassles with them or the level of their service.
If there was a negative score I would have checked that box off! I wish I would have seen this report prior to renewing my contract with FA. I’ve never seen an older model A/C not have some form of mildew/scale/stain on the air handler coils. The tech they sent out marked “fungal growth” on the report and that was all FA needed to put a hold on the claim. This forces the customer to spend $500 – $1,000 getting a professional hygienist to inspected,take samples and issue a letter that says there is nothing there than what’s normally in the air outside. This takes so much time out of the customer’s schedule, not to mention they are without A/C for days/weeks until the insurance company releases the claim. It’s funny how their contractor’s technicans do not claim to be experts on growths, but it seems they are really good noting any mildew, calcium deposits as fungal growth on the reports. I’d recommend saving the $50-$60/month fee and all the “non-reinbursables” you would have spent in a year and put that into an account and use that to make any needed repairs. You won’t be that far off from what you would have spent using insurance companies such as this one, not to mention you could probably get in done much faster.
Never before have I been laughed at by a customer service rep by any company when I called to make a comlaint. When I threataned to cancel my service they acted like they didn’t care at all. They were incompetent in just simply transfering me from one department to another and when I called back to complain again I was met with attitude. For what I pay them every month I expect better customer service
I have been a customer for over five years now. I have referred numerous friends and family to this company. Unfortunately I have had nothing but problems with them now since December. I put a claim in on my washer and dryer. It has been 5 months and I am still battling with them to fix it properly. My washer that was attempted to be repaired on Tuesday worked like a dream up until today in the middle of laundry it just broke. Started making a horrific noise and now it wont spin or drain! I called the warranty up and they passify you and say “procedures are….” I now am stuck with out a washer for who knows how long. Instead of just cutting our losses and replacing this washer they just keep on attempting to fix it. In the mean while something else breaks in the process. Since they don’t want to replace the washer and just make a customer who has invested five years of annual premiums to them, they will be the one who is replaced. I DO NOT recommend or will ever recommend this company again.!
I have had three service calls and I was very pleased with the outcome on each call. They responded in timely manner to replace my hot water heater. I was allowed to take cash in leiu of replacement for my clothes washer. I had a circut board replaced in my garage door opener. I will continue to protect my home with a First American home warranty.
I recently purchased this warratny then found this site and thought “what did I get myself into?” But I was pleasantly surprised by the service I received. Just 2 days after purchasing the warranty my ice maker stopped working and my washing machine broke. (I did pay extra to cover the ice maker). I calleed and scheduled servce both were scheduled through Sears 2 days later. I was slightly dissapointed when they told me that the ice maker tech would be there between 8 – noon and the washer tech would be there between 1-5. However the day of the claim they asked ice maker tech to make my house the last stop and told me it would not be before noon. The technicians were quick and efficient. The entire ice maker had to be replaced which would have cost me $300+ instead I paid the $55 and now enjoy ice anytime I want. The washer is fixed but did not require any parts. Overall I am happy with my choice of purchasing this warranty.
I wonder if perhaps the people with possitive experiences do not comment here because it seems that all other comments are very negative.
The company basically sells policies, collects premiums and then denies claims. Do not use this company.
i currently work for FA, not by choice, but its a job.
i take new claims and would like to give an inside look.
i dont know too much about other companies, as i dont own a house myself, but i can say how this one is.
i dont think its first americans problem, they do try very hard to get high customer satisfaction and we get tested for quality weekly. the problem is definitaly with the contractors we use. we do have to backround check and screen them and they must be licenced and bonded, but the trend i notice is that most of them do not want to work for us. as a result, they are not very timly most of the time, and are not helpful, and may even be dismisive, saying things are not covered, trying to charge home owners extra or even in some cases being rude or unprofessional.
it is almost just luck to have a claim go quickly and efficiantly, and that is due to getting one of the few technicians we use that are good.
again, i dont know too much about other ones to say what to choose instead, but i would not recomend this company to freinds or family.
They go by the least expensive way to get the issue resolved, regardless of whether they solve the core of the problem or not. When I tried to resolve the problem I had with one of the rooms not being heated, they suggested that I pay on my own close to $1000 that the contractor suggested that I repair even before they can start doing some diagnostic tests to figure out what the problem was with heating. I sought the advice of another specialist on my own. The First American Home Warranty will NOT honor their advice. We paid everything on our own to resolve the issue. We paid close to $850 out of our own pocket.
Be extremely careful!!! Better yet, don’t even think about subscribing for service from this company.
Their advertising and even the contract are extremely misleading. They make you think you are covered if your furnace breaks down, nor matter its age, etc. I purchased the plan where my monthly premiums were $47.00 per month (consisting of the following: Preferred Plan – $34/mo, First Class Upgrade – $5/mo, Central A/C – $8/mo.)
The company’s website is: http://homewarranty.firstam.com/ if you want to take a look at their advertising.
After paying premiums for 10 months, the service man they sent out in response to my call said my furnace needed replacing because of a gas smell leak that could not be repaired.
First American claims in its advertising that “. . . if First American determines your covered system or appliance cannot be repaired, we’ll replace it. It doesn’t matter how old they are or what brands you have. You could save hundreds, or even thousands of dollars per year with a First American home warranty. ”
Furthermore, the brochure they sent me last year states prominently that the average cost to replace a furnace in 2006 was $3,232. When my furnace went on the blink last month (February 2009), I was told that the cost to install the cheapest replacement furnace was $1,884.75.
American agreed to contribute only $629.53 towards replacement of the furnace or to “buy” me out for $629.53. This amount is a far cry from “repair or replace.”
I am unable to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, because First American shows up under various addresses and names. When I try to file a complaint online specific to that address, the BBB for the specific county or locale does not recognize the company as being within its jurisdiction.
After this incident, I called to cancel the policy. Even as I was on the phone and on hold, waiting for someone in their Customer Service to reply, their on-the-phone advertising misleadingly says that a policy with First American means peace of mind because if a system or appliance in the home fails, First American will provide “repair or replacement coverage — regardless of age, make or model.”
Thus, with this company it is CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!