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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Pages: « 15 … 13 12 11 10 9 [8] 7 6 5 4 3 … 1 » Show All
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Extremely poor service! A bureaucratic nightmare with procedure interfering with problem solving. I was talked into renewing since I have had the warranty for 10 years. I made a horrible decision. My water failed but becuase when they covered it last time (also a nightmare) they didn’t register it properly, Kenmore doesn’t recognize that we have warranty coverage and will only cover parts anyway. But because it should still be under the mfr warranty, First American won’t deal with the problem. They told me that the mfr warranty supercedes theirs. A fact they didn’t mention in the hard sell sales pitch I fell for. I will have to request reimbursement for the labor charges. But I will be out of pocket first. The bottom line is that it will be at least four to five days to replace a water heater in a home with children. If I didn’t have the “warranty” I would have had the problem resolved within 24 hours.
This company is a joke!!!
The gas company found a gas leak in our furnace and turned the gas off for safety. I immediately (as soon as the gas person left) called First American to initate a claim.
It took many calls by both myself and the contractor over four weeks just to get First American to send an order to the warehouse for the new furnace. When the contractor went to the warehouse to pick up the furnace, it turns out First American never did send the order to the warehouse. It took several more weeks of calling the contractor and the First American to ensure the order was sent to the warehouse.
Finally, after 6 weeks of no heat or A/C (temps have gone up to 94), the order was confirmed by the warehouse and the warranty company turns around and cancells our appointment due to an emergency!! WTF!! With 2 small kids in the house and temperatures dipping down to the 40s we have had to use space heaters for heat.
We are still w/out a furnace – hoping for a resolution.
First American is a rip-off!!
10 years of premimums, haven’t used them in 2 years, they send out a fake plumber who took 4 trips to replace a wax ring, same plumber sent out for a leaking faucet over my objections made it worse. First American reply? Tough Sh**
Fake plumber hangs up on me.
Had I had one bad experience I would say it was just a bad repairman, but I have used several contractors with this company only to have the same horrible experience. First, getting them to come out timely is a joke. A simple thing like replacing a ceiling fan took 1 month. Imagine this in Texas in the middle of July. The reason the contractor was having a hard time replacing my fan is because it cost $198 and he said he was only making $90 on the job,and AHW was not going to pay him the differnce. In essence he refused to make the replacement. After a month of back and forth with the ins. company, he eventually replaced it, but I felt he reboxed my old one and took it back to the store for a refend.
This was one bad experience, only to relive the same horrible experience with a water line leak in the slab. The plumber came out and looked at the broken line, said he would be back and I have not seen from him since. WHen I complained about the urgency of having no water during a swine flu epidemic, one of his assistant came out, and attempted a repair which did not fix the leak. The pumber no longer communicates with me, so I have to go through the insurance company. Their response is always he is on his way out. It is now 7 days without water, my faucets are have started backing up from dirt and grime, and still no plumber, and the insrueance company is now telling me they will not pay to repair the backup faucets as they are seconday damage.
I will not even mention my A/C service….This company is horrible,and I am getting out ASAP.
When you have a problem and it requires “uncovered expenses” they get down right nasty. 20 year old HVAC system, they want to keep repairing it year after year at minimal expense to themselves, major expense to you when the right thing to do is replace a system that has passed its lifespan. This is not “service, value and integrity” as they claim. They appear to be in league with the HVAC repair companies that jack up the fees for “uncovered expenses” to make profits. They even had one company “misdiagnosis” an issue to rape the customer. Find another company or open a savings account and save the money yourself, requires discipline, but worth it on the long run.
I wish there was a lower rating for this company. In short, they use the shoddiest companies; they promise call backs then don’t call; they tell you they have received your paperwork, then say they haven’t when you call back to find out what’s going on; if they don’t get the answer they want from the tradesmen, they send out another..in a few weeks ! My issue was my furnace, which turned out to be leaking carbon monoxide ! Even when faced with this life threatening situation, they tried to get out of doing anything. We went through 2 companies (because the first one they sent didn’t show up for the 2nd appointment !), before they told us we could arrange our own company to come out. After we did so, and the company sent in the report showing that we had a carbon monoxide leak, they insisted on sending out a FOURTH company making us wait with a carbon monoxide leak ! After weeks of fighting, chasing up phone calls (they NEVER called us!) and talking to “supervisors” who later turned out NOT to be supervisors, they replaced our furnace with the cheapest one which didn’t even meet the MINIMUM energy efficient standard. Then, we had to fight a few more weeks to get reimbursed for the fees ! It is a BAD IDEA to purchase a “Home Warranty” from 1st American.
This company is a joke. Was included with my purchace of my first home. It has been nothing but a nightmare dealing with them. It took me 5 weeks of fighting with them to get them to repair the ducts in my atic for my A/C. During the middle of the summer too. It was not untill the second repair tech that they sent out left his report by accident. What he wrote down was totally different from what he reported to the warrenty company. So I had written proof that they were commiting fraud and not following their contract with me. After bringing that up they sent someone out to spend 30 minutes fixing my ducts. 5 weeks of stress and suffering for 30 minutes of repairs. Made a claim for my doorbell. 25 days latter no phone call from anyone so I finally fixed it myself. I called to cancel that claim and next day a electrician called me to come out and take a look at my door bell. Been 26 days since my claim on my water heater and the sounds due to sediment, which is covered under my contract. Their responce was we will not do anything untill the water heater fails. So I guess I will have to wait untill then. Once again they are not following the contract that they send you. Be prepaird to fight to get anything covered from this company.
WHAT A JOKE,
Ive never, ever,ever, ever, paid a company that would argue with me over the phone. These guys think that we are as dumb as the day is long. I just purchased my first home ever and of course my dishwasher goes out on me in the 3rd week. The machine has to be at least 8 years old and is in bad need of replacement. I called my FIRST AMERICAN in order to fix the problem and the response time was ok it took 2days. Im ok with that no big deal. The tech comes out and fixes it in 10 min!!!! says i have a button stuck and there is no need to replace my unit. Even though he made the comment as he approached the unit “wow i havent seen one of those things in years”!!! I had to pay him $100.00 4 a 10 min repair and thats not the worst of it i called the Tech company that sent him out and they told me that a service call such as the one i just made would have costed me $40.00 but thanks to First American i got screwed outta $100.00. After calling them to try to find out why i got the run around with the customer service rep. got bounced around to a “so called” manager who gave me the runaround and they both argued with me as to it was my fault i didnt know how to properly diagnose a dishwasher!!!!
Since when is it the customers fault and why do we get argued with when its our money they are throwing away????
I have cancelled my contract and will never ever,ever, ever deal with these clowns again!!!
WHAT A JOKE!!!
I’ll try and be short here. I just purchased my very first home and went with FAHW. I had a water problem that resulted in the stuff coming through my floor boards into my basement. First American was called, they sent a “so called technician” and he told me without looking that my plumbing hook-up was illegal and that voided my warrenty. He then gave me an estimate of $1200. First American was called and they told me that they had to go with what the tech said and that I couldn’t have a second opinion. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told NO again!!!Needless to say there will be no more First American in my future.
ATTENTION!!!
To all First American Warranty contract holders –
If you want your claim handled in a timly and proper manor e-mail the senior manager Barry Miles at bamiles@firstam.com
also if you have to threaten to take your issue to the media that always seems to get the ball rolling.
This will work, trust me this info is comming from inside the company.
I hope this helps.
Very poor customer service…….
I called for Air conditioning problem.The technician came and he was trying to make money like telling that he can change the duct since it is not good.He first told that coil not working properly and he can change it for some money.Atlast they ended up saying it was poor maintenance and they cannot cover maintenance issue and it was design problem the AC is not working properly.Such a bad customer service and technicians.
contracter south carolina, do not purchase a contract with first american, all theyre service providers are made to agree to flat rate of 125.00 each call no matter how many tasks are on one ticket, with these numbers the contracter a contracter can not aford to due whats in the clients best interests,when your not getting the service you paid for ,just ask for a cash out, and get some of your money returned, it works every time, screw them before they screw you. and truct me it will happen. good luck
I have had this company for 4 years and have called them on the average of once or twice per year. Here are some of the experiences:
1. Pool Filter: The mechanic came and said that the filter was not maintained and so it will not be covered and I had to pay $200 to the mechanic to get it fixed by my cost.
2. Bathroom fawcett: There are two fawcetts side by side in the bathroom. One fawcett was to be replaced. They wanted to put any cheap nonmatching fawcett.
3. Ceiling Fan: Our fan has lights. The company covers fans but not lights. The replacement fan could not have lights.
4. Clogged Toilet: Toilet removal is not covered and will cost $200 to me. Afterwards the unclogging will be covered only if no foreign objects are found in the pipe. (What else could be found?). This is because clogging caused by normal wear and tear is covered.
After 4 years, I finally decided to quit.
We have had FA for three years and have only had to make two major claims during this time and this is what my experiences have been thus far:
In March our oven broke and I contacted FA to send someone out to fix it. The first problem was when the contractor called to schedule an appointment they could not get to us for four days (and this is not because we could not get a time that satisfied both of us for someone to be home. I am a stay at home mom so there was no problem with me being there.)When they finally go someone out I was told that it was the heating component that was broken and they said that they would have to “research” it and give me a call back. Well three days later I finally called them and they said that the part was not made anymore and that I needed to contact FA. I did so and was told that their purchasing department was trying to track down where they could send mine off to have it rebuilt! When they finally located a place they sent the same technician out again to remove the component and mail it off and that it should be back within 10 days (this was already taking place two and a half weeks after the first call was made to report the problem). Needless to say ten days came and went and still no clear answers from the contractors. I finally demanded that they give me the tracking number and when they did it said that they had actually mailed the part off only two days prior and not nine days before like they claimed. No wonder it was taking so long and why they didn’t want to just give me the tracking number at the beginning! When they finally got the rebuilt part back in it was another five days before they could get someone out to put it back in. In total it was six weeks from the day I called to make the claim until I finally had my oven back running.
Now, the morning of Wednesday, September 2 I called to report a claim on my refrigerator. They gave me the number of the contractor that they were sending the claim to and told me I could contact them to get an appointment set up fast. I called all day long and no one answered the company phone. Finally at 9:00pm they called me back and set up a time the following evening. When the tech came out he diagnosed the problem as the compressor and told me that they don’t service that particular part and that he would contact FA and let them know to send someone else out who did. Friday, Sep 4 I spoke with a claims rep, Rosemary, at FA and she said that they had not received anything from them yet and gave me $100 to get a mini-fridge because it was the holiday weekend and they probably wouldn’t hear anything until Tuesday anyway. It was hard for me to believe that a mini-fridge would hold all the food that I had just bought for all the people that were coming to my house for the holiday. When I went to get one, the cheapest one that wasn’t a one-shelf was $148 + tax. I called them again and the manager I spoke with said that they were not going to give me anymore money because I could have rented one (but everywhere I called they said that I could only rent one for a month and not just a week like I assumed this would only take, wrong again). I never heard anything else until today when another contractor called me and said that they were asked to come out by FA to diagnose the problem but they couldn’t come out until Friday. I told them that we already knew what the problem was and asked why they couldn’t just bring the new part to fix it when they come out instead of having to wait longer. Their response was that they could not do anything else because that is only what FA told them to do. I tried to contact FA again today to see what is going on but again no one knows and the people who are supposedly handling my claim will not call me back. I am already out $55 service fee to someone who couldn’t do anything and another $60 that they won’t reimburse, plus over a week of my time. I wish I had just listened to my instinct about my experience last time and just put my $115 towards a new refrigerator and had it the same day. Now who knows when I will get my fridge fixed but I know when I do, I am cancelling my contract with FA. TAKE MY ADVICE, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! THEIR CONTRACTORS ARE SCAMMERS AND THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS HORRIBLE!
southcarolina residents, beware big scam, all contractors are forced to work flat rate, with many calls that are multiples,flat rate at 125.00, now how can the contracter make any money when a garbage disposal needs replacing and tub fixture needs replacing, people are better off staying away from warranties, budget your money for repairs, and call who you want. and for all those people out there that believe what the realtor said about everything being covered, you deserve what you get. keep in mind they get there kick backs, good luck
This company is all about the sale and nothing about the service. Very poor customer service by people who don’t speak english as a 1st language. Had to threaten litigation through an attorney to get the warranty honored. A simple washing machine problem turned into a BIG hassle. I have been a customer for ten years. HWA continues to raise premiums and reduce benefits. In a word, HWA stinks.
I am also experiencing difficulty on a claim, and am seeking full facts on other claims. Please email details to FirstAmericanComplaints@gmail.com
Dan
Platte City, MO
I have been without air conditioning for 8 days now, and I cannot get anyone at First American to assist me in resovling the problem. I have spoken with 7 people in 8 days at the company, all of them promising to call me “later” to give me an update. Similarly to one of the other customers, after about 4 days in 100 degree weather in texas, one of the reps told me they would reimburse me for the purchase of a $75 fan (offered as “relief” to cool a 2 story home). When my ac is finally serviced, I will have paid over $700. My story is apparantly, consistent with many of stories other customers. To echo another customer, the reps, while friendly, are unclear, unorganized, and do not communicate in a timely manner.
I have been without air conditioning for 8 days now, and I cannot get anyone at First American to assist me in resovling the problem. I have spoken with 7 people in 8 days at the company, all of them promising to call me “later” to give me an update. Similarly to one of the other customers, after about 4 days in 100 degree weather in texas, one of the reps told me they would reimburse me for the purchase of a $75 fan (offered as “relief” to cool a 2 story home). When my ac is finally serviced, I will have paid over $700. My story is apparantley, consistent with many of stories other customers. To echo another customer, the reps, while friendly, are unclear, unorganized, and do not communicate in a timely manner.
They don’t have contractors locally. We had a garag door opener problem. We called First Am, they didn’t have a local contractor. They asked me find a contractor and they will reimbursh the cost of repair. Reimburshment took 5 months after 5 reminder calls.
They increase the rates every year from 10 -20%.
This company has very very poor communication skills. During my 1st interaction with them, the told me they hadnt sent my contract because i still owned them $20, I explained to this them that was paid at closing…blah blah they proved i was right and took my service request. I had issues with my oven, a nice guy came out and said i needed two parts and will be back in 7 to 10 days to install. well 7 to 10 days later that “nice guy” didnt show a new guy came. He told me he didnt know why the other guy said i needed two parts, only install one and SAID “I dont know why they send me out on jobs other people have started”. (Now i am a independent contractor, when i dont work i dont get paid.) I asked the guy if he could call the other guy and asking him about the 2nd part because i cant take any more time off to fix my oven. He said let the oven warm up and he would go to his truck and call the office to see if they could reach him. WELL I WAIT AND WAIT…FINALLY I SAID MAN ITS SURE IS TAKING HIM A LONG TIME…I STICK MY HEAD OUT OF THE FRONT DOOR……THEY GUY IS GONEEEEE AND MY OVEN IS STILLLLLLL NOT FIXED. THAT BONE HEAD DROVE OFF. I the company and first american they said its my word verse his and he is saying i was rude thats why he drove off. I told them that i had not become angery until i realize that he have left without fixing my oven. First A, set up another contractor…i waited and waited left work early to make sure i didnt missed them they no showed. So i have taken off 3 times from work…to NOT have my oven fixed. First A said they contractor said i never confirmed the appt….thats BULL. So much has gone on….please run…dont listen to your agent telling you to go with this company. I am now going to go with Old Republic…hopefully their service is better.
We live in Phoenix, Az. and have had no air conditioning since 08/16/09 today is 08/20/09. We called First Ameerican on 08/12/09 when our unit started making a weird noise. Well, they gave us a name and number for a A/c contractor, we left several messages and were never contacted back. So on 08/14/09 we contacted First American again to get another contracter name and number, that took another two days. On 08/16/09 our air conditioner stopped working. We have children in our home, in Phoenix Az. Totally crazy HOT!!! Well, the second contractor came out on 8/17/09 at 2pm. I just got home from work and the guy is rude as can be. He says we need a new blower assembly and that he will let his office know, they will contact the supply house where they most likely will have to order the part,and I can call his office in 2-3 days to schedule an appointment to come out and install the part. I was like, you have to be kidding me. So I call First American to see how they are going to contribut to me and my family having to go to a hotel and sleep, get ready work etc…After holding for 20 minutes, I was told I can go purchase a wall air conditoning unit and they will reimburse up to 150.00 dollars. Ok, we have a 2 story, 1800 ft home and they want us to use a wall unit to cool it and run my electric sky high. The rep at First American said that they only give help with hotel rooms in the case of an emergency, like not having air for a month or something. This poor girl was so dumb I couldn’t say anything. The reps are young, inexperienced, no one takes ownership of the problem at hand. So, today I call the contractor, and the receptionist says that they may have the part tomorrow, but not sure she can fit us in for the install and they not open weekends. We’ll wait until 08/24/09. I could believe it, First American brags about these contractors, how they only pick the quality, trustworthy contractors. What a damn joke… Thanks, I feel a little better right now. I have been stewing for a fews hours. I still wonder if there are any laws pertaining to home warranty air conditoning repair in Phx AZ in the middle of the summer????
I’ve had two out of two bad experiences with the company. First, I had a pipe burst in my foundation wall. When I called they said they did not cover it. I went and got a plumber on my own and had it fixed…$653+/- later. Second, I had my central air stop working. I called and they sent out a company that said I needed an evaporated coil and duct work done. I felt like I was being taken for a ride so I had an AC repair person come and give me a second opinion. I did not need any of that, just had a plugged up drain line.
I then got in touch with Adrienne Freeman, a rep. for First American. She said to submit the bills into her and she’d have them taken care of along with my service call for the company that came out for claim.
I was just notified that they will not cover the broken pipe, no explanation given, and will not cover the AC line because the repair man did not have professional enough invoices (wanted it on typed letterhead). These are two services that are covered under my warranty and they will not pay the invoices.
This company has horrible customer service – very slow and lack of communication. They do not stand up for what they cover by denying accepting the claims. They should not be in business if they do not stand up to what they provide.
First American Home Buyer’s “Protection” Corporation are scam artists. I wish I’d gone with Old Republic. We have them for our other house and they’ve been great. The only reason we didn’t use them this time is that First American gave me a hard sell, had lower fees for a duplex than did OR, and gave me a discount b/c we’d installed new central a/c (under the installer’s warranty).
They have been horrible from the start – not faxing the invoice to my title company so that the policy could get started, making me wait 8 hours for a customer rep call-back on a major plumbing emergency. The actual plumber didn’t call till at least 24 hours after THAT call. I had another licensed plumber there when the rep called (I’d called him b/c we know he’s highly skilled and honest and I’d forgotten that the issue might have been covered by the warranty). I explained to the rep this could not wait and said could they reimburse me if I paid the guy who was there at that point. They said absolutely not (OR would’ve done this – have done it in the past).
I said in that case I wanted to cancel my policy. They said they wouldn’t let me!!!!!!!! I asked to speak to a supervisor, and the guy said he WAS a supervisor and actually laughed at me! I’d had it only a week or 2 at that point and they’d told me in their sales pitch there was a 30-day no-questions-asked cancellation period.
They’ve already collected their 2nd payment from my credit card (3 weeks after the initial payment!). I’ve closed my credit card to prevent them from stealing any more money. I’m going through the BBB and fighting them.
They are truly scam artists. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!!
COSTUMER SERVICE IS WORST. They don’t have any knowledge of service or problem that you are reporting.