Total Protect
Home Warranty Plan Details and Reviews for Total Protect
Premium: $350
Deductible: $90
Effective: 30 days after enrollment
Web: totalprotect.com
Deductible: $90
Effective: 30 days after enrollment
Web: totalprotect.com
| Home warranty is a complex insurance product. Unlike home insurance, it does not provide blanket coverage for all appliances. Pre-existing conditions and problems resulting from lack of maintenance of appliance are are generally not covered by home warranty companies. Home warranty sellers may not state these factors clearly, and this will create dissatisfaction among customers. Due to these factors, you will see many negative reviews here. Don't be intimidated by some negative reviews here. If you have maintained your appliances in good condition and go with a reputed home warranty provider, your coverage will be fine. |
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
This company also operates under the following alternate business names
- Total Protect
- Cross Country Home Services
- Haa Of Virginia
- HMS Home Warranty
- Home Warranty Service
- HomeSure of America Inc.
- Homesure of Virginia, Inc
- HomeSure Services, Inc.
Source: Better Business Bureau
It took a week of me going back and fourth with these people to finnally get a DENIAl for my boiler to be fixed. They will find a way out of anything.
Total Protect Home Warranty is supposed to provide a repair or replace on appliances in your home. Typically, these warranties are included in the purchase of a hose to protect the home owner from have to repair or replace a major appliance. Anyway, I have a policy through them (Policy Number 55933968). I called to have them repair my dishwasher for the third time, and this time they say the repair is not covered under warranty, even though they did the same repair the last time when they were at my house. I talked to their customer service representative (Marcus), and someone was supposed to call me so that we could discuss this. Needless to say, they have not called, and I still have a broken dishwasher. In fact, I just went and purchased a new one on my own … So much for the repair or replace “guarantee” from Total Protect. I just want to warn people who think they are covered, and I’m sure other people have been affected as well. Please people do not purchase a warranty from this company. They need to be shut down by our Government and by the Better Business Bureau since they are not responsive to the customer, and have ripped people off … Total Protect is a RIP OFF!! Buyer Beware … DO NOT PURCHASE A WARRANTY FROM TOTAL PROTECT!!! YOU ARE NOT PROTECTED … THIS IS A FALSE SENSE OF HOPE!!
I am pretty disgusted with the way they word their policy. They make it sound like it is all that and more. WRONG! We called them on a wall heater in our home that went on the blink. The service person said that the unit needed to be replaced. Low and behold… They refused the claim. You need to quit lying to people to make that fast buck! We are out $1600.00 . Did that amount scare you? Shame on you! Taking advantage of the elderly! MM
Excellent service. Replaced a boiler for me. 3-day turn-around not bad. Would suggest to others. Many people complain about declined claims, I too have had a declined claim but they follow the policy. We pay a small amount monthly for the service so there has to be some limits as to coverage. I’ve had the policy for 2-years — they replaced the boiler and a dishwasher. Would have cost me $5000.00+ easy.
Complete rip-off. Service tech sent out was a complete fraud and to cancel you have to pay the the amount of the fee they covered for you!! Our bill was 200+ so to cancel I had to pay 200+ and we’ve been paying 40/mth for a year on top on that!! Disgusting.
very poor service.We had a power loss in our house due to circuit breaker and they did not show up for 3 days. At last i have to call some electrician myself and asked for reimbursement check. this company really lacks the quality
3-25-08 My name is Tim Austin my phone is 903-445-1785, I live in Plano, Texas. Please call me or read this before using these Liars and Thieves. I called Total protect about my AC not working. They sent Rangers Heating and Air out to my house. The rep from Rangers said that my compressor was out and that it would cost me $300.00 for the gas & freon recovery. I gave the O.K. to Total Protect to have the work done and they again explained to me that I would have to pay the $300.00 for the gas and freon recovery. I told them I understood and had them to get it on order. When the compressor came in, Rangers AC called and told me that they were ready to come and do the work and that they would need to pick up a check for $680.00 at the time of service. I was dumbfounded, as this was the first that I had heard of this extra $380.00. I asked what it was for and they told it was to have the coils cleaned. I called Total Protect to find out what was going on. They called Rangers AC and the guy there said that the coils had to be cleaned before he could install the compressor and that he would not install the compressor without cleaning the coils and without the extra fee being paid. Total Protect backed him up and then explained to me that if Rangers damaged the coils in any way while cleaning them that they would not cover paying for the coils, so if there were any further problems with the issue of the coils, I would have to take that up with Rangers AC. I had no choice, but to have the work done. Both Companys are out to stick you and waiste your money. Make sure that you stay away from these people. THEY ARE LIARS AND THIEVES, AND THEY ARE IN IT TOGETHER. I have spoken to three other AC companies that assure me that they could have cleaned the coils for half the price and they hear many complaints about both of these companies. They expalined to me that this is the reason that none of them will work for Total Protect Home Warranty Company. If you are trying to get Rangers on the phone it is 469-335-3125. I am sure that he had to change it from to many complaints coming in on the old line.
Total Protect is an absolute consumer fraud. The advertise that they will replace expensive items such as heat pumps. I won’t bore you with the nightmare I encountered when dealing with Total Protect after my heat pump broke down. They tried every trick in the book not to cover it, sent out unbelievably incompetent repairmen and after my own independent heating and AC company found that the unit had to be replaced Total Protect would only cover the cost of a well below builder grade model and then tried to tack on multiple additional charges. They offered $2,000 toward a unit that cost me over $7,500 to install. This company is an absolute fraud and should be shut down by State and Federal Regulators. Large mortgage companies push Total Protect on unwary customers knowing fully that an cursory internet search reveals Total Protect’s fraudulent practices. I don’t know who is worse Total Protect or the mortgage companies that sell their policies, but the unfolding mortgage fraud crisis provides you a glimpse into their normal business practices. The Better Business Bureau for the Washington, D.C. area notes “this company has an unsatisfactory record with the bureau due to unanswered complaints.” You have to dig to find the company, however as they exist under a number of different names. In this area they appear to be HMS of The Mid Atlantic States. I discovered this only because my complaint to BBB about Total Protect was answered by the claims correspondent for HMS. The also appear to be rated by the BBB in Florida under Home Sure Services. This information is a start for anyone willing to file a class action suit to shut them down.
If you wish to read more about my particular continuing nightmare with Total Protect see the following link:
http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=31570
Found them adequate at best. Not sure it is really worthwhile since they hesitate to repair major items like AC units. They gave us only a portion of replacement cost of our stove so we paid the $60 deductible and $150 additional for a replacement over what they gave us in order to buy a comparable stove to what we already had.
Company has come through for me on every occasion. This includes two plumbing problems and a dishwasher problem. On one of the plumbing problems, we did wind up paying out of pocket because the drain issue that we were having was of cleaning out pipes and not of the pipes itself. BUT, the company did replace a dishwasher panel as the door handle broke off (so it was a mechanical item). That saved us a considerable amount of money.
ive heard people say total protects a fraud but when my dishwasher went out they for the 60 deductible had aguy come out try to repair it when it could not be repaired they paid sears the full price for the equvilent plus had it hauled here free, but when they couldnt get sears out to do it immiadiatly(install) they paid me 120.00 to do it of course im a home builder and am licensed was a sweet deal im not complaining and i think their really good and they evn offered me to do repairs for em a job whew not bad although i turned it down as i build homes not do appliance reapirs are notto my likings i give em a thumbs up
Rude…Definitely do not have it together….
This company is absolutely horrible. We had a propane leak in our stove top, the appliance repair man ordered a part, when it became obvious that the part was no longer available anywhere….totalprotect (homesure services) denied that there was anything wrong with my stovetop refused to fix or replace it. Then our furnace quit working..we had to wait two months in the middle of winter before they would replace it. Now our water heater isn’t working. Called at 11 am today…at 11 PM,..called again. They gave us the number of a plumber who was supposed to call us back…called the number. The guy is a plumber, but is on the other side of the state…doesn’t work for Totalprotect, etc. Uffffff….called them back and they say they are updating their system and that it won’t be back up all night. This is always the way our claims are handled. Horrible company!!!
Company’s practices are questionable at best. We first engaged with Total Protect when our 30+ year old hot water heater started leaking. They sent out what could possibly be the worst repair company in the city, who took a week just to come out and inspect the unit, which was leaking an inch of water into our laundry room every 24 hours. The hot water heater was plumbed to a pair of old solar cells on our roof, which needed to be disconnected anyway. I instructed the tech to bypass the plumbing completely, and just run it normally. After 2 weeks of disrepair, the tech finished the job and left without testing it. We checked, and there was no hot water coming out of the pipes, only cold water out of both sides. We called them back, and after 2 more days of “repairs”, we wound up with a bird’s nest of pipes above our hot water heater, a new valve on the hot water out side of the heater, and still no hot water to the faucets. No water would come out at all! We finally discovered that the valve was the shut-off for the hot water to the house. When we turned it on, we could hear this rushing sound through the walls, like something was running. Our water meter was turning like crazy, even though nothing was on. We called Total Protect and informed them they needed to investigate this, and they would NOT be sending the same bunch of clowns out. They sent out a different company, who said it was not only improperly installed, but now a hot water line was busted in the walls, and Total Protect doesn’t cover that. I called Total Protect back and informed them the pipes worked before THEIR “service tech” touched it, so they said they’d cover it for an additional claim fee, and they wouldn’t cover the cost of the locator service to find the source of the leak. Needless to say we’re still waiting to gather the money together to afford a locator service so they can “cover” the repair of the slab leak in our house, indirectly caused by THEIR service tech.
The second time we called them was on our Air Conditioner. The air conditioner, also over 30 years old, was blowing black smoke into our house. We called them, they sent out the repair tech, who stated in his report that the unit was 27+ years old, in very poor condition due to age, both motors were burned out, and there were signs of corrosion around the condensate plate, and because of the age of the unit, the condensate plate isn’t available anymore, so the unit should be replaced. Total Protect denied the claim (naturally) because of rust. I called them on it, saying their contract states “unit failure as a result of rust will disqualify a claim”, and the unit failed because of the two motors. They fired back with how the report also says the unit was very poorly maintained, and that the report repeatedly states that it was poorly maintained, and their contract says poor maintenance disqualifies a claim. I asked to speak to their supervisor, who told me the reason for the denial was not rust, but poor maintenance. I explained to him I was present all 9 years I’ve lived in the home when maintenance was performed, every year, and the unit worked every time. They insisted the report repeatedly stated “poor maintenance”, and there was nothing he could do, because he’s in the Customer Service department, and the Claims department makes the final decisions. If I wanted to appeal and ask for a second opinion, I could but I would lose, because they very seldom overturn their decisions. I explained to him we needed all the help we could get, we have an 8 year old child with a bad heart at home, and live in the central Arizona desert, where it’s going to be 130 degrees in a couple of months, but he said there was nothing he could do.
The next day I asked to speak with the technician who did the inspection, who read the report to me, in which NOWHERE did it state anything about poor maintenance. He then faxed me a copy of the report as proof. The report stated nothing about poor maintenance or rust, simply what I mentioned before. We were stuck paying $4500 for a new air conditioner. Then, they had the brass spheres to send me a CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEY on my experience with the A/C claim. Needless to say, I’m cancelling my coverage ASAP. If anyone’s looking to sue Total Protect for anything send me an email to ps66.16@gmail.com, I have evidence they lied to avoid having to pay for the claim. And yes, I paid the claim fee for them not to cover the A/C unit too. Unbelievable!
This thread is almost 2 years old but they’re still ripping people off. We’ve been with them for almost two years, because they were recommended to us by Washington Mutual. We’ve paid $37 each month. Our shower broke and we called them to fix it… They sent a guy over who stayed for 5 minutes, notified us the shower was broken (duh), didn’t fix anything, then tried to charge us $60 (why are they charging us money for nothing? why are they charging us at all when we pay the insurance company monthly?) We refused to pay unless the job was actually done, and they told us that now we’ll have to pay $260, and that they’re not coming to fix our shower anymore. We tried to get through to the manager or supervisor on the phone, and they took our number down and said the manager would call later that day but we got no call. Basically these guys are completely useless, and are nothing more than theives and scammers. Hopefully someone will raise a lawsuit against them sometime soon.
This company is a rip off! Service agents including “Supervisors” are unprofessional and lack knowledge as it relates to warranty services. Sub-contractors are sub-par and work is unreliable. Total Protect is aware of this yet continue to utilize these company’s holding them to no standard of rating. I have had the same issue with my air conditioning unit for the last two years. Total Protect has sent three different company’s out to repair the unit with still no resolve. I came out of pocket $500 to have a coil REPLACED only to learn that the technicians that Total Protect sent out did not replace it! Now, Total Protect is claiming that they are not responsible because the issue was pre-existing! Of course it’s pre-existing because their lousy repair company did not replace it even though they were paid to do so. I would not recommend this company to anyone and urge those seeking a reputable company to take Total Protect off your list!!!!!
A total rip off fraudulant company. This company should be put out of business. We have contacted our State Attorney Generals Office and the Better Business Bureau to alert other unsuspecting people of the way this company lies and promises repairs when in fact they will do nothing when a claim is submitted. Don’t buy this program. You are throwing your money away.
Comment: I signed on with TotalProtect Home Service. My claim was handled by HomeSure Services.(not sure why) The technicians sent to evaluate my HVAC said it was installed improperly,straight-wired & not maintained…CLAIM DENIED. All of this was not true. I had maintenance records to disprove. So I called & was rudely treated and bounced from one rep to another. I finally just asked to cancel. Three months later I am still being billed and have spent over 20 min at a time trying to get to someone who will authorize reimbursement for fraudulent charges to no avail. I was asked to fax in my mortgage statements.So the fight continues. I will try to have the charges blocked by my mortgage company. This warranty company–TOTAL PROTECT and/or HOMESURE are SCAMS!!!! BUYER BEWARE!!!
My husband and I received a letter from TotalProtect with our bank name emblazoned everywhere. I read the letter and talked to my husband about it, and we actually thought we might consider it… that is until I began the research.
Thank you to all of you who shared your experiences. On the salaries of a teacher and a social worker, we thought we might be making the smart move to purchase a “home warranty plan”, but I can’t afford to pay for someone to deny me service and then throw down the cash for the repairs. I guess I’ll just cross my fingers and save my $$. Thanks again.
This company is terrible. I hope someone starts a class action suite against them. It is time. They have ripped off to many people and should not be allowed to get away with this! All they do is take your money and give you the run around.
I had to go an entire year without an air conditioner. Just so happens…the issue with my air conditioner wasn’t covered by the warranty. I am completely dissatisfied with the plan.
After no hot water for 3 weeks, and getting the run around, they said that due to dust problems, yes dust, on your water heater unit we are not obliged to change your water heater. So I am stock with the $2300 bill. Who knew you had to dust your water heater in the basement???? This is a terrible company . I had two other people come independently and check the system and both said due to age of the system this needs to changed. NOne of them were told of the dust issue that total protect’s warranty companies use. The service companies are in with total protect, so that you are forced to pay them out of pocket immediately. It is not worth to have total proctect . Save your monthly premiums for a rainy day. If I could rate a zero , I would.
too long on hold, 20-40 minutes 2 and 3 times, couldn’t understand service rep, referred us to a place 50 miles away who said that they don’t service our area, another 30 minutes on hold, I said their system was malfunctuing, they said not, mistook freezer problem for a/c problem. Place they referred us to never called us, twice! ugh.
Have been with Total Protect for three + years have had 6 claims, none denied, and all work completed within 2 days. Repair man fixed our refrigerator compessor, three months later went down again, no deductible/charge for the second visit. And had to get a new compressor.
After waiting 10 days for an A/C condenser, they replaced my Trane HD Air Conditioner with a cheap Payne A/C that would not hold up in the AZ hot weather. The A/C is the low end of Carrier and costs less than what my compressor would cost.They legally stole my A/C and then told me they couldnt do anything about it.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences. You have helped us make our decision to not go with Total Protect. Actually, I don’t think we’re going to go with any home appliance warranty company out there. If any of these companies want our business they better get their act together and prove it just like they ask their customers to prove there was no pre-existing condition on their appliance or that it was not properly maintained – guilty until proven innocent… a very hard thing to do.
Well, color me shocked. After submitting my first claim with TP, I came and read others comments and had decided I was in for a battle. I signed up with TotalProtect about 6 or 7 months ago, after being solicited by CountryWide. As I knew some of my systems (heat and AC) were getting a little old and even though we had them under maintenance contracts for recent years, I thought it might be a good idea to sign up for the coverage. Well, sure enough, this summer comes, and the system just can’t keep up. I thought it just needed some routine maintenance, so I called TP and they set me up with a local company. The service company checks it out and says it needs some serious repair. They submitted an estimate to TP, and other than a little mix up in communication between the service company and TP, we finally got a report today that TP would pay to repair the covered portions of our system, just as they had promised in the contract. Now, granted there were some things they would not pay for, but upon review of the contract, they were certainly within their rights to refuse those items, and I have no complaint about that. My only real complaint is the time it took to get approval, but that was not TP’s fault. I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised! Thanks TP!
We had this plan when our AC went out. Per the agents the only part of the repairs were covered. Our home was built in 2001 and the state has changed the effiency law. Our waranty did cover a new coils for the ac, but they did not fit the existing plemn box in the atic. This left me paying 900.00 of the 1400.00 repair. I would have done much better by putting my money in the bank.
First service,wash machine broke it took a week for service person to come to house to “trouble shoot” why not working, then they had to wait for Home Protect to authorize fixing it- altogether 10 days to fix it with mounds of clothing to wash. We also had fridge problems they don’t cover ice machines!That wasn’t the problem but it did take the same 10 day wait to get problem fix. Just recently our 16 year old fridge went out so I wanted to use the buyline service suppose to be up to 30% discount off appliances with a 2 day turn around time with price quote. Well, it took 15 Days! Plus it was less than a 10% discount which was lower than what I got in the store sale! Plus I missed the big sale at the store to save even more $$$! They only give quotes on GE, Whirlpool, Kenmore, Kitchenaid, & Hotpoint refridgerators! If you get this protection- you’re crazy! Do business with another company and save yourself the headaches we’ve expirenced! There are to many horror stories and I’m canceling ASAP.
RUN!! RUN!!! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM TOTAL PROTECT/CROSSCOUNTRY!!
Cheryl Howell the claims supervisor said, after being asked why they even offer coverage when they have an excuse for everything that could possibly happen in a lifetime and then some. “Well, if you want to pay for it, we’ll give it to you”.
R U N ! ! !
As Deanna from KY stated, We too were thinking of purchasing the TotalProtect plan, but I wanted to check for any reviews first. THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU for your details and honesty. I told my husband, when people post their phone numbers, ID#, product numbers and email addresses, this must be pretty bad!
We received this offer in the mail from the bank we have our mortgage with. I am going to copy this blog and give it to them with some of your stories hilighted and explain that I would expect a reputable bank, such as they are, to do some research (as we did) before they offer something as unstable as this to their members. I presume they may receive a kick-back of some sort to allow this company to use their name on TotalProtects offer.
Thanks again for all the reviews, both positive and negative.
My 88 year old Grandma received the TotalProtect flyer in the mail last week. She trusted it because it showed her bank, Associated Bank, insignia at the top. She asked me to review this to see if it is as good as it sounds. She owns a smaller older home, with potentially some expensive repairs.
The first thing I noticed is that the brochure kept referring to the “Terms and Conditions and Limitations in the Service Agreement”. This was not included, so I called the 800 number. After speaking with two people, I was told that they do not give out the service agreement ahead of time, but that once you enroll, you 30 days to review and cancel. He said we have been in business 34 years, so that speaks for itself.
First, I feel it is wrong that you have to enroll in order to see the terms and conditions. If not illegal, it is at least unethical.
Second, what is Associated Bank doing with their name and insignia associated with this? They must be getting paid to give up their own customers to the company. My Grandma thought her local bank was offerring this….
After reading these reviews, I feel confident in suggesting that Grandma W. not take this coverage.
They gave me a wrong number at 1-800-331-7431 to call for their Approval Dept to approve my claim. After trying over 200 times and only gets busy signal. Later I called to confirm the number and was told that it was the correct number on 2 other occasions. Now my claim has been denied because I did not reach the Approval Dept in time and I am out $430 for the repair. Later, after 3 weeks I found out that the correct number was 1 digit off (1-800-331-7421). I feel like I got scammed by TotalProtect & I have no way to prove it. I am now a very upset TotalProtect customer!
This company is a nightmare. I live in Houston Texas and my air conditioner has been out for 9 days and it won’t be fixed for another 5 days. The temperature here was 100 degrees yesterday. I have tried everything I can to get them to expedite my claim. I would never ever use this company. It has been very expensive. You do not save any money with this plan.
I would like to initiate a class action lawsuit.
Please contact me at raleighflyer@hotmail.com
See the comments here:
http://keithelder.net/blog/archive/2006/06/24/total-protect-home-warranty-good-or-bad.aspx
This company is a fraud. The information says something is covered and then, voila, it’s not. Their reps seem totally immune to customer complaints – because they get them all day long. I suppose screwing a customer then letting them vent is a good business model. They are the worst of the worst.
3 instances of usage, 1. water heater replaced in timely manner. 2. blocked toilet turned into entire house backed up with 3 visits from very inept plumbers, finally fixed on the 4th try, then 10 months later, get threatened with leins because warranty co. never paid, so said plumber…same plumber company owner told me they don’t do anything unless have approval… 3. ceiling fan stopped working, waited over 2 weeks to get looked at after refusing access to the aforementioned inept plumbers(yes this is an electical issue?!?!), then not covered.
If you noticed, I rated this company and their service company all ones. The reason for all ones? Because I could not go any lower. Stay away from This company, Cross Country admins this company. I am not afraid to tell you like it is, I have cancelled my policy with Total Protect. it is a total waste of time and money. My contract no. was, 60707972 which I was misled by CountryWide home loans that this was a company associated with them. It is not, I am sure they get their cut but this company is a rip off. My air conditioning went out on the 24th of July 08. It was such a hassle and they delay it as long as possible, they sent a repair company that works out of the back of a house in the country even though there are many real close to me. They order the wrong parts for your unit and then want to charge you to make the jury rigging to make it work. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how the service company can hold up the parts for ransom, 500.00, until you pay, After two weeks in temps close to 100 degrees, I have had enough, I am not going to be robbed by Total Protect’s service company “Aire Service of Tennessee”, even though Total Protect told me they are reviewing that company for over charging them, What the hell, if they over charge Total Protect, don t you think they will over charge the customer, the Aire Service company also informed me that they do not work for me and don t care what I want, they work for the warranty company and do what they say. That the money they wanted to charge me was their bread and butter. This home warranty company is just plain crap, CountryWide home loans should be ashamed to stick their customers with this very bad company. At the time I wrote this there are 193 other complaints on here about Total Protect. I have contacted the BBB, the State Attorney General office about how shady Total Protect is and how they delay everything hoping you will go away. I give a class for motorhome owners on the care of their vehicle 4 times a year. You can bet your sweet butt that I will be telling everyone there to stay away from Total Protect aka: Cross Country warranty serices. My advise to anyone who has a Total Protect warranty is to drop it now and put your money in the bank, you will come out way ahead. The same goes for Cross Country warranties and CountryWide home loans. These companies are only out to steel your money with those bull crap warranties and the people who works for them are misinformed, lying, uneducated, and do not give a crap about you or your problem. I got my AC repaired today for 65.00 and it is cooling great. I just wasted the 60 dollar deductible I had to pay the rip off service company. Hopefully Total Protect will go under soon and the people go to jail. Cannot go any lower in life than to work for that company. Scum is all they are. Scammers are what they are for tricking you into signing up for this warranty that they have no intention of honoring. they will stand on their heads to keep from repairing your problem. Yes, I just lost the monthly fees I had been paying for some time bt I will never do so again. May Total Protect and any company associated with it rot in hell.
we will be happy to join in any class action suit against the rip off company of Total Protect, Cross country warranties, and CountryWide home loans. Let us know if you want to start a class action against those companies. its time we shut em down
Damn I wish I had read this before I paid for the warranty & by writing this I pray someone will not get ripped off like I just did. My dishwasher started leaking, they sent the service company out to look at the unit, the man was hear 2 minutes said the clip for the heating element melted off & allowed the element to melt into the tub. They said the warranty would not cover the unit I still had to pay the dedudctable however the chrage for the (service company) was less than the deductable. To make it short & sweet they will not repair the dishwasher.I talked to a low life supervisor named Altina (the lady is a pc, of work) You can write to Sandi Finn at po box 551540 FtLauderdale FL 33355 but it will do no good what so ever. The service company in Cincinnati is Day’s they are someone to stay away from also. This is a huge scam dont get taken- Countrywide morgage has been in the news laughing at people loosing thier homes- dont use them or any service provided by them—
please go to this site to complain
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
I am in Day 6 of trying to get someone to process my claim. They claim they didnt recieve the A/C repairmans report. BULLSHI! I personally watched them fax it. I have emailed & faxed it myself. So far all I have gotten from them is apologizies & fake sympathy. Run if you get a “offer” from them & complain to your Bank or Mortgage Company if they refer you.
I too wish I would have read tihs before trusting my mortgage company would have researched before sending out information with thier name on it. this company is a rip off. I have a/c problems and each time I call customer service I get a different answer. 24-48 hours was the longest I would have to wait to get my a/c unit fix. I am still waiting day 5.
I am willing to get into an action law suit. How do get get started?
I too have had 3 very bad experiences with Total Protect. The first experience was July 2006, it took Total Protect and 3 service companies 11 days to fix my A/C in record heat. I live in Atlanta, Ga. where there are many reputatable companies from which to choose. However, it has been my experience that none of them do business with Total Protect.
During July 2006, Total Protect gave me the number of one company that never called me back. The second company did not service my area and the third company took 11 days to come and repair my A/C. During this time (because of my complaints) I got permission from Total Protect to call someone of my choice. I chose Sears. Sears stated that they could come that day, however, I would have to pay them and then recoupe my money from Total Protect. I wrestled with the idea. I had Total Protect service for a year prior to filing a claim; to me I had already paid enough. I called, faxed and wrote letters until I was blue in the face. I even emailed the local news station to do a consumer alert. I wanted everyone to know. Eventually it was fixed. But the toll on me living in of my home for days,with a pet, where the thermostat displayed 101 degrees during the day, was a nightmare. During one of my many calls to Total Protect after days of suffering in heat, the male customer service rep told me, “sir, you want to have your unit fixed today, and that’s just not going to happen.”
The second experience was with the gas stove/oven. Again, the first person whose number I was given did not service my area. I live in Clayton county. Twenty minutes south of downtown Atlanta. The second number I was given, the people did not return my call. The third service company, it took the guy two days to fix it. All together, it took about 7 days to get the oven repaired. Because I had to get the first number, call the company and then wait for them to call me back, only to be told, “we don’t service your areaa.” I then have to call back to Total Protect, get the second number, call the service company, give them ample time to call me back. They did not. Call Total Protect again, and get the third service person. Then play phone tag with him and set up available times that fit both our schedules. A huge headache.
I am having my third experience this weekend. I called for service on my 4 year old dryer on Friday morning, August 8th. The repair man actually called me back and came to my house on Friday afternoon around 6 p.m. He pulled the dryer from the wall, recognized (or so he says) what piece needed to be repaired. He then waited for an hour trying to get through to Total Protect for authorization to fix it. After waiting, I was told that he did not have all of the pieces that it takes to repair my dryer and that he would be back on Saturday afternoon, at 1 p.m. I paid him the $60 deductible expecting his return. I gave him all of my contact numbers and made sure that someone was at my home when I had to run errands. He never called. I placed two calls to the service man, one call yesterday afternoon and one call this morning (Sunday, August 10th) Both calls ring and then go to voice mail.
Prior to calling Total Protect, I felt so uneasy. I just knew that this was not going to go smoothly. It has not in the past, and they did not dissappoint; it has not gone smoothly thus far either. Total Protect is an awful company and it appears that they do business with inept contractors. After I get my dryer fixed I am canceling my policy. I will then write to Bank of America and the Atty. General’s Office of GA. I will next file a claim on BBB. Then I am going to contact my attorney. Not sure what they can do, but I am going to try. I am angry because I should not feel sick to the stomach prior to making a phone call for a service that I pay for, and then consistently receive not only bad service, but no service. KH
Customer Service is none existent. They do not even hear you, they just read from a sheet. A/C company was good but my experience is that this is hit or miss.
This was recommend to me by my bank. Figure ok give them a try. They started taking my money then when I needed a dishwasher fixed they said I wasn’t covered by my policy although the card I sent in clearly states dishwasher. I called up the customer service people and they said someone would get back to me. That was three days ago. Don’t waste you money or time with them.
EVERY request was a hassle. EVERY request generated an initial denial of service. I had to “fight” for service EVERY time. Finally gave up on them subsequent to being told that it was MY fault when my microwave “crashed.”
Total Protect just completed my first claim to repair my AC. Customer service was excellent and the repair techs responded promptly. In my case, in addition to the $60 deductible, I also paid $250 for license and disposal fee for the part replaced. However, without this warranty plan, I am sure the out-of-pocket expense would have been so much more—a plan well-worth having. ML, Austin, TX
my washing machine repair is taking forever to be repaired over six weeks or more
I got this home warrenty back in February of 2008. I had to place a claim with the company in July of 2008. It the service company a few days to even return my phone call, oh yeah they didn’t I just kept calling them until they finally answered the phone. My problem was with my Central A/C Unit, it wasn’t working properly. There was barely any air blowing up through my vents. The company came out and “inspected” my system and told my husband that it was running at it’s peak compacity. I came home from work that day and had the same problem. They didn’t fix anything. I called Total Protect back and explained the problem. It took them 2 weeks to get someone else to come out and look at it and that was me calling about every 2 days to get progress. The technician finally came back out to my house. They inspected my system and found that my condenser coils had holes in them. The tech told my husband that Total Protect would call us in a few days and let us know what they are going to do. It took me 3 weeks to get any answers. I called everyday and left messages, always being told that someone would return my phone call. I told them that I needed an answer as quickly as possible because I would be leaving within 3 days for the Air Force and wouldn’t return for 6 months. I didn’t want my husband to have to deal with it. They finally made the decision NOT TO COVER ANYTHING. Total Protect and the “Service Company” decided that between February and July of 2008 there was no way the holes could have happened in my condenser. WOW! This experience suprised me because the first technician that came out told me my system was working at it’s peak compacity and now all of a sudden it’s broke and there’s no way it could have happened since I got the Total Protect warrenty. THIS COMPANY IS A BUNCH OF THIEVES!!!!!!!!! It took my several months to decide on a company and this is why. Don’t put yourself through the same thing, go with a well known company.
a scam. take your chances without them. will always blame it on LACK of maintanance. I had my AC unit serviced one month before it went bad by a cert ac company. and they still claimed that the unit failed due to lack of “service”. Good luck getting anything but a hard time from this comapany.
This company is the biggest scam I have ever seen. They do not replace your appliance, and they have a lot of “hidden costs” that you are responsible for. In addition, they offered a “buy out” for a fraction of the cost to replace our air condition unit, but won’t even pay the buy out they offered until we pay out of our own pocket for the services and then submit the bills to them for review.
If you are smarter than we were, research this company before your purchase a policy from Total Protec. In addition, shame on the mortgage companies who offer this services through their mortgage programs.
bad customer service. they refuse to provide any documentation even though I’m a customer. they wont help me with anything because they don’t have any repair companies that will accept the warranty in my area(SW Missouri). They have a horrible reputation among service companies.I can’t even cancel.
I am so disappointed with this plan. I wish I read the reviews before purchasing. They will give me $104 to replace a cooktop that costs $1100. This company is preying on consumers who do not do their homework. It really is a scam. I still have faith that there are honest companies out there.
I have been waiting for over two weeks to get my air conditioner fixed. No one will show any sense of urgency. I live in Memphis and no air conditioning is unacceptable.
The ONLY reason I gave these a@@hole$ a 1 rating is because I cant give them a LOWER rating….. -0 is more like what I want to give them……..
THIS COMPANY IS A TOTAL RIP OFF….AND A SCAM…..RUN BY A BUNCH OF SHYSTERS……
I have been waiting SIX days …..SIX DAYS…to have my central air condiitioning repaired and these SCAM ARTISTS are telling me it will be another 5 or 6 days before they can get the parts….get the PARTS?????? I thought thats why they contracted with a service company…TO GET THE PARTS…and repair the AC…..this is crazy. I have tried being nice….I have tried being patient…..I have tried being understanding…..and all I get is THE RUNAROUND…..TIME AND TIME AGAIN. The person who answers the phone sounds as if they are reading from a script so I know that pretty much everyone gets the same spiel.
There should be some way to get back at these jerks other than just cancelling the contract…..which will do no damage to them because they will just sign up some other poor unsuspecting soul.
AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE. THEY PROMISE YOU EVERYTHING AND DO NOTHING.
I might add that the service company has been pretty good about all this…..but they can do NOTHING until TP decides to get off their a$$ and do something….which it seems will take another SIX DAYS………..
IF YOU ARE THINKING OF SIGNING UP WITH THIS BUNCH….YOU WOULD BE JUST AS WELL TO THROW YOUR MONEY IN THE TOILET….BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE IT GOES WHEN YOU GIVE IT TO THEM……..TO SAY THAT I AM DISSSATISFIED IS A GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT.
Wow, I had no idea so many folks have had trouble with this company.
While the repair/replacement service has been OK for me, The customer service has been “really messy” to say the least. I’ve been with them since they took over from Pepco Energy Service (which I loved) about 4 years ago. Since then, I may get a bill or I might not. Whenever I did , I’d pay them and pay on time. On at least four occasions, they have contacted me claiming they’ve done an “audit” on my acoount amd see where I missed a payment 12, 15, 18 months ago. The first time it happened I was not keeping adequate records so I couldn’t dispute it. However the last 3 times it happened, I could prove my point. To appease me, they would say something like, “well you don’t have to worry about anything, we don’t report to the credit bureau”. That wasn’t the point. In my 35 years of paying bills, I’ve NEVER had a company harass me for payments, let alone payments I don’t owe. I’m looking for a new Home Warranty Service. They stink!
We had trouble with our AC overflow and called Total Protect, they told us to call Economy Heat & Air. What a mistake!!!! Not only did the company take many days to service the call, Total Protect refused to pay the bill and now we are faced with a bill from an incompetent company who is threatening us with collection, and they never fixed the problem. We had to call another company to come and fix the problem and now it is fixed. I cancelled my contract with Total Protect.
Terrible company. The home warranty is a scam. Our A/C broke on a Wed. HMS could not get the service repair company here until Fri. The service repair company called in the part we needed ordered on Fri. and now it is Sun. two weeks later and the part is still not in. HMS says they ordered the part but the service repair company says they are a terrible company and most people wait up to 3 weeks before HMS orders parts, gets things fixed, etc. The supervisors at HMS are not responsive. The lady I spoke with sucked her teeth and gave me tons of attitude when I tried to get her to help. My husband and I could not get any of the supervisors to return our calls. I would like to talk with Sandy Finn (CEO of the company apparently) but we cannot find access to her anywhere. I think she needs to know she runs a horrible company!!!
This company is a total rip off, stay away from them, they all should be in jail doing life.
Total Protect,Cross Country, is the worse. I can’t stress it enough, to please stay away from this deceitful company. I have been getting the run around for 4 weeks. They still have not settled my claim. I am sure that they are hoping that I just go away,but I am going to hang on to their Butts like a tenacious bull dog.
ADDENDUM TO MY COMMENTS ABOVE.
This bunch of clowns had the NERVE to send me a Customer Service Survey……….HAH!….I am sure it will go in the shredder as soon as it comes out of the envelope.
They had a totally inept bunch of ‘technicians’ come out and replace my Trane heat pump with an off brand piece of junk (A Payne heat pump, which, by the way, is the lowest rated equipment according to everything I have seen on the internet and in conversations with actual heating/AC professionals)) that STILL DOES NOT WORK and I am STILL waiting for them to fix it.This has been going on since September 3rd……….
I am thinking I am going to have to have a professional HVAC company come and straighten out the mess that they have created.
Please read and HEED my comments above.
THIS COMPANY IS A TOTAL SHAM, SCAM, FRAUD AND RIPOFF.
ADDENDUM TO MY ADDENDUM:
FINALLY………..after twenty days …..my system is blowing warm air when it should and cold air when it should…….but the point is ….it should not have taken this long to get this done……a couple of days maybe…..but TWENTY????
I have upgraded my opinion of the service company due to the fact that THEY have no control over what the warranty company does or the replacement equipment they are sent by this bunch of shysters……..they only install it………but in my book they dont get any points for doing business with Total Protect ……
I have had just three experiences with TP. The first experience was somewhat ok. My washer went out and they sent out a technician right away, he was there the next day. He replaced the parts with no problem. The problem wasn’t with TP, but rather the technician. He was so rude and cocky, it almost made me cancel the service then. If these were the type of people TP was associated with, I didn’t want to have anything to do with them.
The second experience was with my fuse box. I needed to have the entire box replaced. The electrician came out and told me that there was no way that TP was going to replace the entire box. He stated that the most he could do was add another switch to the box and it would take a couple of days to get the part. It took about 3 days and they guy came back, completely unprepared to install the new switch. He had to borrow some of my tools in order to complete the job. Not to mentioned the claim for that little switch was $357.00, but when I questioned how much he would charge me directly to replace the entire box, he quoted me $650.00. Doesn’t add up!
The last and final straw was when the infuser on my furnace when out, in the dead of a Chicago winter. They sent out a technician the same day. The guy looked at the furnace and stated that there was no way that they were going to repair this because the furnace hadn’t been properly maintenanced. Not knowing that I have an annual cleaning of both my furnance and compressor. He told me that he could replace it on his own without going through TP for roughly $450. I laughed and decided to go to my local appliance parts supply store and bought the infuser for $89.00 and had one of their trusty employees install it for $60.00. The only thing that sucked was having to still pay $60 to have these TP guys come out and tell me they can’t do anything.
Total Protect hasn’t protected anything in my home, except for a washer that needed to be replaced on my washing machine. A 70¢ washer cost me $60, time with a rude repairman and wasted most of my Saturday. I have three months left on my contract. I tried to cancel, but they told me that I would have to pay the difference on that $357 claim for the switch…not including the $60 that I already gave them…So I am going to attempt to get my electrical box replaced since I still have three months left on the contract. Maybe I’ll actually get something out of it. But come hell or high water, I am DONE with TP come January 1st.
When you are ready for that class action suit, sign me up!
Why so many complaints?. You get what you pay for. Sure they are not speedy and you often have to get a 2nd person out, but it is still cheeper in most cases when you need a plumber or electrician. Appliance repairs not the best and replacement cost not great either. But for 350 bucks a month still not a bad deal. Every year I try and decide if I should renew or now and for ten years I do. The plumber/electrician coverage alone and fixing the washer/dryer when it stops working is good enough for me.
Needed an evaporator coil replaced. Have been trying to get replaced since June 4, 2008. It is now Oct. 1 and no air conditioner. Have paid upfront fee of 750.00. Reeves Heating & Air Conditioners were the culprits to install. They are the worst heating & air conditions I have encountered. Beware of them if you live in Memphis, TN. I have never been so disgusted with a company. (Both Reeves & Total Protect) Please, please, bypass these companies. And they want me to renew. Hell no.
They were supposed to fix the oven and we havent been able to eat a home cooked meal for a month and a half. We are thinking of taking this to court. They have messed with our ceiling fans and our light and even took a piece with them. Do not use this company. Direct quotes from them: We cant please everyone. Wal mart gets complaints and they are a good company.
True but they do want to please everyone and when they get complaints they try to fix it.
Also they said that we never paid any bills when that was coming out of our mortgage company so why or how would we know when no one said anything before this. We have had this for 2 years and have renewed it once. I dont understand this company. Do not use this company!!!!
3 out of 3 and no real problems to speak of. 1st call – guy showed up early, a/c repaired. 2nd call – hot water heater elements were replaced, took about 3 days for him to come out but it was over the weekend so was understandable. 3rd call – a/c repaired, no problems.
Granted, I haven’t had to deal with any high dollar repairs or appliance replacements yet, and this seems to be what is generating the most complaints on here. However, my turn may come in a couple of weeks when I call them to replace the broken glass top on my Kenmore range.
BTW… I’m an insurance agent so I DO read the fine print in these types of contracts. In fact, I go over it before each service call and recommend everyone else do the same. It seems a lot of complaints are generated by thinking that the coverage has no limits, but every insurance policy has limits and exclusions and it’s those things that we need to pay attention to, even more so than what IS covered.
As other people have said, TotalProtect is a rip of. My AC went out at the end of August so I called and placed a claim on their automated system. After the temperature reached 95 degrees that day, I decided to call a local repair man to at least diagnose the problem since TotalProtect had never called me back. I was very concerned because at that time my husbands 92 year old grandfather was staying with us and my 2 year son was due to come home from daycare soon. My local repair man did diagnose the problem and then I had to call TotalProtect back because they still had not notified me. To make a long story short, I did everything they asked me to do and then after a 1 & 1/2 months, they still denied the claim.. I was never contacted by them, all contact was done by me. The only time someone from their company called was after 1 1/2 months to tell me the claim had been denied. We did get to speak with a so called manager, but all he said was we did not follow the appropriate course of getting approval, so the claim was denied. But my question is how did we not follow the appropriate course when I did everything they had told me to do. Please don’t give them any of your money.. It seems cheap, but it is only a very big hassle and they have very poor customer service.
Please take it for me. I am one of the contractors that Total Protect/ Cross Country has go out to fix appliances in the area of houston and galveston. This company turns down or denies repair claims on more than 70 percent of our calls. This morning I sat down to do authos and and out of 13 calls only 1 was approved for repair. the others they found reasons to deny for one reason or another. If you are considering choosing this company please rethink this and go with either american home shield or first american. If neither of these are satisfactory then you might try home warraty of america or old republic.
HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE…and it’s not over yet. Our dishwasher quit working over 2 weeks ago. I called Total Protect to file a claim. I was given a work order number and a phone number to call for a repair company. I called the number and set up an appt. for the same evening. Ok so far. The repairman showed up and, after a few minutes with his meter, said that the control board was bad and he would have to order a replacement. This was on a Wednesday and he said that he would have it by Friday and call to schedule a return visit. Monday comes around and I haven’t heard from the guy. I call him and he says he doesn’t know if the part is in and he will have to call his secretary. He, of course, doesn’t call me back and I have to call him the next day. He doesn’t remember who I am and needs all of my information again. He finally shows up on Thursday (more than a week has passed!) with the control board. He installs it and the dishwasher does not work. He says the new board is also bad. BTW, he is always on the opposite side of Houston when he calls and he never gets to my house until 7 PM or later. We are on the phone with Total Protect every day complaining about the service. (Turns out, this guy is their ONLY appliance service person in HOUSTON! I know this because I asked for another company to contact and they did not have another one. Anyway, Total Protect ordered another control board and I had to wait 4 more days because they had it delivered to my house. Of course, then I had to contact the service guy again after I received that part and it took him another couple of days to schedule with me. He came again in the evening around 6 PM and installed the new board and the dish washer still did not work. He called Total Protect in my presence and admitted to him that he had gotten the previous board check and it was not the problem. Seems that it must be the front panel touch pad. So now we are in our 3rd week and now waiting from a call from GE to deliver a new dish washer (low end model). Would anyone disagree that this is an incredible situation? They get their premium every month like clockwork through our mortgage company (Country Wide). Recently, Total Protect customer service has tried hard to resolve the situation. The problems we have had and time I have wasted coordinating all of this and the amount of time that has past without the use of the dish washer is totally unacceptable.
THANKS for all the input. Okay, I thought I read the fine print before purchasing but after reading so many horror stories, I feel as though this first year’s prem. has truly been a waste. I need to file my first claim and I’m really afraid that I’ll be echoing much displeasure. I hope all is well and I won’t need to return with much DRAMA, but I will!!!
In June 2008 the air conditioning system in my house stopped working. I placed claim to TotalProtect. After the system was evaluated I was told that I would receive the decision about the repairing within 48 hours. Unfortunately I needed to call daily for the next 10 days to get any feedback. Needless to say that it was summer time and my family lived without air conditioning.
Finally I was told on the pone that my claim was denied because “my house was under reconstruction”. My house was not under any reconstruction or repairing. I asked to send me a formal statement with explanation for denying my claim. I was promised to receive it within a week but id did not happened. I called second time and again was told that I would receive the statement explaining the reason for denying my claim. I have not received it yet. I needed to pay 5800 dollars to repair air conditioning out of pocket.
I believe that the company failed to respond to my claim in timely manner, which caused my family additional inconvenience. I am still waiting for an explanation and I expect TotalProtect to cover my expenses as per insurance agreement.
I would give this company a 0 if possible. They also promise everything and deliver nothing. At first they kept telling us that they did not receive any paperwork from the service technician after diagnosing the initial problem. This occurred several times. Then the service tech was at my house after the first 8 days of waiting for my 2 year old maytag dryer to be fixed. Of course the USED parts that they brought to fix it did not work either. I then called total protect and asked them what to do since the tech was not able to diagnosis the problem. After being on the phone for several minutes the rep had the nerve to tell me again that they had not received anything from the service tech that they SENT(referred) to my house. I then put them both on the spot and made then talk to each other while myself and my husband listened to them make up more excuses.The dryer needs to be replaced but who knows what excuse they will come up with next. Guess they will continue to rip off people until someone gets mad enough and really takes then down. I am sorely disappointed with country wide home mortage for giving them my name and address. I will cancel this useless policy ASAP and just put the extra money into a savings account for emergencies. I am interested in taking this group down..M Perkins
Thank you SO much for the warnings. I received the offer from Washington Mutual on Friday, November 8, 2008 and phoned (who I thought was Washington Mutual) to ask a few questions. Instead I reached Total Protect and spoke with someone with a major attitude. What rude treatment I was given and I was only asking about their policy. The young man who answered the phone was ready to sign me up but I told him I needed more time to think this over.
It seemed too good to be true and apparently the flyer is full of lies. After researching “Total Protect” on the Internet, I will never sign up.
I complained this morning to Washington Mutual that it appeared that this was “WaMu Insurance Services” as it states on the front of the brochure and that was very misleading. The representative from WaMu was very nice and understanding and said she would forward my comments to her supervisor.
Meanwhile I cannot believe these mortgage companies do not check out he Better Business Bureau before the recommend these companies.
Thank you, thank you all so much, were it not been for your posts about this company I would have signed up and gone through all of the grief that you have done.
Meanwhile, keep reporting them, surely the government can shut them down. Deceptive advertising? Nope, just plain LIES.
Jennifer Northern Virginia
On 9/25 I called Total Protect to register a claim against our dishwasher (Claim # 5906179). The dishes were not being cleaned thoroughly and were being left covered in film. Total Protect created the claim and referred me to Cassel Appliances. I made an appointment with Cassel the next day.
Cassel charged a $60 Service Fee as discussed and noted that there was a lot of soap residue in the dishwasher. The technician suggested we run vinegar through a few cycles to see if that resolved the issue. If not the parts would need to be removed and cleaned.
The vinegar did not work so I removed the parts as instructed and cleaned them as best I could. On 9/30 the technician came out again to make sure I had cleaned them appropriately and reassembled the dishwasher.
While the dishwasher performed better, but the dishes were still not getting clean. My wife and I went away on vacation for the following two weeks. When we returned my wife mentioned that the dishes were still not getting clean and that I call the technician out again.
On 11/3 I called Total Protect who reopened the claim. I attempted to have Cassel come back out, but they said they could not without a work order. I contacted Total Protect again who said they would send a work order. The only mention I received of an additional fee was that if the issue was NOT related to the original. I assured the agent, Mika, that this was completely related to the first order – as it was the exact same condition.
On 11/5 Cassel came back out and spent about X minutes at the house. They explained that the parts instead of being cleaned will probably need to be replaced. The technician then attempted to collect a $55 service fee. My wife was surprised as I told her that there would be no fee. She attempted to contact me but I was at work and unavailable. The technician would not leave without payment so she wrote him a check. When I found out this, I was upset and contacted the technician who said they were only following Total Protects instructions
On 11/6, I contacted Total Protect who for the first time tells me that they were denying the original claim and that the technician coming out the second time constituted a brand new claim and requires a deposit. I would now like to make two important points:
1. My issue appears to be a common defect with Maytag / Jenn-aire products and relates to normal usage of the machine. The fix involves the replacement of wear parts. See appendix for details. 2. No notice at all was given to me that my original claim was rejected until after I questioned the second service fee that was inappropriately taken from my wife. It is obvious that Total Protect is simply attempting to avoid paying its contractor by claiming that this is a completely brand new and unrelated claim.
On 11/7 a rather arrogant manager called my back to attempt to convince me that this was all quite normal. Total Protect does not cover items it considers maintenance issues (even though with a little research I was able to find information documenting that this issue is part related),and two that Total Protect considered the second call a completely new and unrelated service event. He was unable to explain why all the sudden the original claim was denied or why I had not been notified by mail or over the phone during my numerous phone calls with Total Protect.
It was obvious I was dealing with a non-reputable company and upon doing some research (see appendix), I am not alone.
I reported my heat pump/air handler not working correctly Oct. 1st and three service companies later as of November 14, 2008 I still have not gotten any heat or air. No one will return my phone calls. I called my mortgage co. who recommended them to get behind them, but they have been no help. I have never used bad word ,but I have raised my voice when I catch them in lies, now no supervisor will speak to me nor the Pres. Miguel Marino whom told me he would follow up on it and call me back which he has not. It has been over 6 weeks now and I am very tired of a cold house. I also just yesterday filed a complaint with the better Business Bureau.
I’m a customer of Total Protect. I been a customer for about 2 years. One month ago, I call for service for my refridgerator and dryer. My fridge was fix, but I had to do a recall. The second repairman got my ice maker to stop leaking. My dryer had to get approve for 500.00 worth of repairs. A couple of days they agree to give me a voucher for 300.00 or replace my dryer. I decided to get the replacement from Sears with free deliver and set up. Plus, they took the old dryer too. For 60.00 I got a new dryer and my ice maker fix. Just wanted to give Total Protect a shout out!
I got the Countrywide trial offer in the mail yesterday, and I am glad I looked it up before sending it back in. I have read 3 other review sites, and all of them say they same thing about TotalProtect, it is a big ripoff. Of course on all of the reviews there are the “ringers” that give them a rave review. One even went on to say he had filed 10 claims and NEVER had a problem.
I will not be sending the trial offer back to them.
I have had this service for eight years. Over that time, they have replaced all of my (non-system) appliances including a 50 gal. water heater, except my range and (nine year old) washing machine. This year, they offered to repair my 20 year old range or reimburse me $300 (not replacement value since they can repair it) and I have no complaint with that. Additionally, they have made numerous repairs to plumbing, electrical, and furnace systems. Again, no complaints.
Many of the complaints I read below are with the local contractors so, maybe due to my location (Maryland), I’ve had good to terrific experiences with the repair people. Also, many of the complaints seem to relate to mis-communication and/or mis-understanding regarding the service agreement and its and limitations. I do consider the fact that, when my applicance/system breaks down, I have to get it repaired whether or not I have this service — how much cost and stress is involved in hiring a plumber or electrician or whatever? If I were to locate and hire a repair person to come to my house, the minimum cost would be around my deductible. So, even if TP totally rejected my claim (and this has never happened to me), I’d still be “even” financially to get the problem diagnosed. It’s not as if I could make the repairs myself! Also, I don’t understand why people have trouble with “call backs..”; the 800 number I have for them (again, for 8 years) is 24/7 and it always gets answered with minimal waiting.
TOTAL PROTECT is an TOTAL RIP-OFF. My heating system went out and TOTAL PROTECT promised me that they would fix my heater or replace it with a new one.On 11/21/08 I made a service call,my heater wasn’t working,after 5 phone calls to TOTAL PROTECT and speaking w/ an supervisor,5 days later a service company called me to set up an appointment to inspect my unit,but it would not be until 3 days later.Keep in mind i have no heat its 20 degrees at night in philadelphia and I have a 5 month old daughter in the house.TOTAL RIP-OFF is aware of all of this.Once the technician arrives 1 full week after my initial phone call and 2 hours late after my scheduled appointment,the tech said my heater needs to be replaced,but he has no idea when he can come back to replace it!I immediately called TOTAL NIGHTMARE to let them know what the tech discovered and when could they have someone back out to repair it,I even faxed over the work order so it would not be any further delays. After a total of 12 phone calls, and speaking w/3 supervisors,I get a phone call MONDAY DEC.1ST,2008 stating that they would not cover my furnace because it was an pre-existing problem(what a good excuse)right. They simply stated they would not cover my furnace after they stated in my service contract that they would and the supervisor (T.PERKINS ) could not explain to me how they could determine my furnace not working being an pre-existing problem or could read to me in their contract about not repairing something they consider a pre-existing problem!Its about 20-35 degrees here in philly,I have no heat in a house w/5 month old daughter! Please if anyone wants to file a class action lawsuit i am more than willing to participate! I DO NOT WANT ANOTHER SINGLE PERSON GO THROUGH THE TROUBLE I HAVE W/THIS COMPANY…SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS!!! IMMEDIATELY!
On going hvac drama, seems similar to all the other complaints. A complete run around. Over three weeks to “order” a part. where is it coming from??? Part comes in and then TP says they need to send repair company back out to get the part number to order a different part???? Why weren’t they ordered together, now I am sure it will be another three weeks without heat!! There is never a manager or supervisor around and weird but they never know the manager’s name either.. We have called them almost daily and documented everything, this complaint will not end with this rating..
I have received a solicitation through Greentree for several months from Total Protect. 37.95 per month. After reading the comments here I see why they didn’t list a web address. I’ll go with my first gut feeling and bank the $38 bucks a month for emergency repairs! Thanks to all of you for taking the time to post your comments!
ALWAYS GETTING THE RUN AROUND. THEY DON’T WANT TO FIX ANYTHING. ALL THE REPS I HAVE TALKED TO ARE RUDE AND DOWN GRADING. THE COMPANIES THEY USE TO FIX THINGS ARE NOT REPUTABLE
In my humble opinion this company doesn’t even deserve the lowest rating here. I wish I saw this site earlier. I called Total Protect this morning early, on hold for 45 minutes. My furnace motor was clearly on it’s last leg, making a ton of noise running constantly. By the time I told the TP rep what was wrong, I got off the phone at 10:40 am. She said they (Total Protect) would call me back within 2-4 hours with a service person all lined up. At 2:40 pm my furnace noise was getting worse, I called them because they hadn’t called me back as they promised. New person on the phone after I waited awhile. This person said they had absolutely no one in my area that could fix it, even though I live right next to a city of 70,000 people! Their closest service personnell were 3 hrs away! She said they would “do me a favor” and I could go out and find my own service technician. Now I’m doing their job for them!!! What the hell am I paying them for I wondered??? This lady was very nice though, and she told me to have the problem diagnosed, call them back and they’d give the ok, long as I used a liscensed, insured repairman. By now it’s 3:30, It’s 16 degree’s outside, my furnace isn’t keeping up well at all, making more noise than ever, getting hotter, and I had to start calling and calling late in the day to find someone! Finally found a nice repairman who was swamped with service but he came out to look. He came and went, told me what the problem was and said he’d order the parts and would have them by tomorrow. He gave me a ballpark price. I just called Total Protect, a whole new person again, his story changed again! Now this guy tells me even though it is after hours and my repairman couldn’t get part prices even if he wanted to, this Total protect guy says he needs a written estimate faxed to him for his consideration in approving this. OK, no mention was made of this earlier, I was simply told to call them back, give them an idea what was wrong, and they’d ok it and I’d be on my way. Repairman is gone, I was lucky enough that he agreed to stop at all, late in the day on the day before Chrstmas Eve, I just shut down my furnace because I didn’t want the motor to start a fire because it is rattling so bad and getting so hot. Supposed to get down to 0 degree’s tonight. My family and i were supposed to be out of town the next couple days visiting relatives for Christmas. Because of Total Protects total lack of giving a crap about it’s customers, I’m on my way out now to find a generator and a portable heater in the hopes the pipes don’t freeze this evening. ANYONE THINKING OF PAYING TOTAL PROTECT BEWARE, THIS COMPANY IS CLEARLY GIVING FOLKS THE RUNAROUND. Much like Total protect does I should now install a disclaimer, “this is just my humble opinion”. I am not unrealistic, I don’t expect them to do it all for nothing, I even offered to have it fixed, I’ll pay the bill, send them a copy, whatever they think was a fair, reasonable fee to cover whatever it is they cover they could reimburse me for later. I was told no, that’s not possible, before anything is done, they need it all in writing faxed to them “for their consideration”. Tomorrow I will report them to the Better Business Bureau, my States attorney and my bank who originally sent me their ad to begin with. TOTAL PROTECT IS A HUGE SCAM IN MY OPINION. You folks that were helped by them, buyer beware, next time you may not be so lucky. Our contract cost is $455.40 per year with a $60 deductible, I would have been much better off taking that money and setting it aside and taking care of the problems myself instead of waiting for this piece of crap company. Course, that is just my humble opinion. They won’t get another penny of my money.
This sparked interst for me since Associated Bank included the info on TotalProtect with my monthly statement on more than one occasion. However, I find it strange(suspicious)that in this day and age TotalProtect does not list a website to view thier contract terms, conditions, and limitations or to communicate with customer service via written mechanism. Also the negative reviews don’t help it. Thank you.
Update: finally got my furnace fixed by a new company that TP decided to send out for a second opinion?? One month without heat and we need a second opinion now? The new service company had the problem diagnosed, part ordered and problem fixed in 24 hours. Guess What, the part is not covered by TP! The customer service rep. did the right thing and covered the part, only four weeks without heat while we waited for them and their excuses. In the end the customer service rep became very nice and even followed up with us a day or two after the problem was fixed. If they were only like that from day one…
I placed a service call on DEC 11. Followed up 2 days later. Given lame excuse that nobody faxed the work order to the repair company. Repair person came out and collected $60.00 just to look at my wash machine. Said he could not fix it and took pics of the broken drum (euro style machine) said someone would contact me. I have made 4 follow up calls and still have not heard from anyone now Jan 2nd. Called again, same lame story that repair company had not faxed the claim to them. Also was told while on the line they could not find the parts. So, what now? this company is the worst. Very appolagetic though.
I wish I would have seen this website before I signed up for Total Protect! My dishwasher was reported on Dec. 12 and it is now Jan 6 and still not repaired. My mortgage company PHH recommended them HA! I have read these other customers reveiws and much of the same is happening with us.Oh we requested the service order from the company but haven’t received it, a different rep every time we call, we ask for a supervisor but noone knows this supervisor exists when we call and ask for him, we will call you back and no call back…. I too will be contacting BBB!Do not use this company you will regret it.
It has been almost 4 weeks and they still have not fixed my washing machine. They sent an incompetent repairman from a tiny service company and took forever to order parts, which ended up being not correct. When we complained, Total Protect TOLD the service company, so they became rude and hostile. Very unprofessional. Now they are offering us $200 to go away, but does $200 buy a new machine as they promise in the contract?? Of course not. STAY AWAY!!!
I don’t know if the problem is the warranty company or the service techs. I can’t tell if the service techs are trying to milk the warranty company ( but if they are, the warranty company is telling me that the servicing tech company’s work is warranted for 180 days ) After I pitched a holy fit when needing to call them back for the third visit I was not charged the copay again. I’ve been charged the copay twice. Total Protect was telling me if the tech found it was a new problem not related to the first that I would have to pay the copay. I told Total Protect that WHATEVER the problem was, that maybe the heat strips aren’t working, but if that is the case, even though that is a different problem to the freezing up of the compressor the bottom line is just the same as it was the first time I called…my house is cold! I shouldn’t have to have them out over and over nickeling and dimeing us to death to get my heater fixed. First request for my heating system 12/8/08…today is the fifth time the servicing company has been out. The original complaint is that my house was cold, air to air heat pump froze up, ice on the compressor. The tech replaced the fan motor. Second call out I explained that the heater was not heating my home adequately when the temp drops below 40, and that also on Christmas day when I had had to run the AC the temp had reached 80, but that my son had found the fan was not turning on the compressor until he touched one of the wires that was left sticking out of the grating. They replaced freon and I was charged a second time for the copay the tech reported everything else appeared okay. The third trip out for the heater not working adequately they replaced the thermostat with a fancy digital one and Total Protect told me if my heating did not work adequately after that they would have to assume my heater is just too old and that they only cover for mechanical failure. When I inquired what they call it when the unit will not heat my home they told me if it is working, but not efficiently enough they would not cover it…only mechanical failure is covered. As soon as the outside temperature swung below 40 again my temperature in my house dropped to 57 degrees. I had the thermostat set at 66 that night. Then they sent another tech who said it was the freeze board control. They ordered another one, the outside low was around 54 thru those days, so I was fine until they could get it in and install it a few days later. However, the evening the new circuit board was installed the outside temperature dropped to 34. My house dropped to 57. I notified the tech company. He advised me to contact Total Protect again. I did. Today Total Protect informed me the original complaint has been closed. They have issued another claim number. The tech today said my heat strips are not working. He does not know when the heat strips will be in. Tonite the low is predicted to be 28. It is January 15th. Tomorrow the high will only be about 45.
This is a scam
Now this has to be a JOKE. When my air conditioner went down in July with the temps reaching in the high 90′s in Murfreesboro, TN., I made the terrible mistake of calling TP who I had been paying each month through CountryWide who got me screwed by this scam. They gave me one number of a company over 100 miles away, and when I could not even find them on the map, I called back again and was given a company closer. One who worked out of his garage behind his house. The service person came out to my house, it was a male dressed in female clothing with make up and finger nails painted, checked out my unit and said I needed a new unit and he would call the information into TP the next morning. Without going into the horrorable experience in very hot weather without AC and being in bad health to boot, let’s just say that after being treated so rude by TP reps and so called managers, the cross dresser who they sent out to inspect my unit was sure to collect the 60.00 dollars from me, after much yelling and cussing, finally they were suppose to send a new unit to the company they made me call. Up to this time only took three weeks to get this far with the temps now over 100 degrees. Then the cross dresser company told me that I would have to pay 650.00 to get the new unit ( a very cheap one) installed, 100.00 to recover the freeon, 150.00 for disposal of old unit, then 250.00 to revamp my duct work for the coil since it was different than the one I had. I called the company of my old unit and found that they had a coil to fit the new unit that was the same as the one I had. When I called TP, that was like talking to a stone wall, it was either pay the cross dresser or take 200.00 for a settlement if I would pay a company and then fax them the repair sheet. I told them I was certified in AC and could remove the unit and recover the freeon. They siad that was the cross dresser company’s bread and butter so they would not allow me to do it. I told them my brother was a certified HAVC tech and would install the new unit labor free if they would send me the unit or tell the cross dresser company to give me that unit they had. Once again it was turned down as they could not do it. They would of saved money on labor. Total Protect is a total scam. I got my brother to look at the unit. Guess what?? It took 49.00 to repair my unit, needed a new fan motor on the condensor. Installed that in less than an hour, it is now Jan of 2009 and it has been working great. Oh yes, we did have to put it back together from the cross dresser taking it apart to see what was wrong with it. I did not call my brother first as I had the warranty that I had been paying on for a long time. TP took over my warranty company the previous year. Now for the JOKE, I recently received a letter, almost like a bill from TP. It says, that they appreciate my interest int he TOTAL PROTECT home service plan, HOWEVER, their records show that I am behind on my monthy premium of 123.69 scheduled to be made along with my Countrywide mortgage payment and I am more than 30 days delinquent. What is the JOKE you say, well, I told TP to stick it back in August of 2008, and cancelled it with them and Countrywide. Now I get this letter telling me to pay up.. Gotta laugh on that one. TOTAL PROTECT is a total SCAM company. I talked to a couple of service companies here in town where we have many such companies, They said that TP is one of the worse companies out there, that out of 100 claims they will turn down or delay or give such poor service to the people that they go else where, they will turn down 95 out of 100. Turn down 95 out of 100. I would love to see TP to try to collect any money out of me. Anyone associated with TP needs to be in jail. If anyone ever wants to start a class action suit against TP, I want to be a part of that. I personally think that Countrywide mortgage company should be held responsible for TP as it was they who sent me the information on that scam company and told me it was a good investment. I am using the letter they sent me to file with the BBB. Maybe this can protect someone else from being screwed by TP. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME WITH TOTAL PROTECT< BAD COMPANY. Cancelled Contract No. 60707972, JGP, Murfreesboro, TN. 37128-4728.
I just want to thank all the reviewers for their candid opinions of this company. I had just put out for the mail an inquiry of their services, I quickly grabbed the letter and threw it in the garbage to avoid dealing with them !!! Thank you all very much !!!
Ruuuuuuuuunn!!! Don’t use this company!! Rip off! They defend their technicians, even when they are wrong!!
Thanks to all who took the time to share their experience, I believe you have saved me money and frustration. Makes me doubt the integrity of my bank that appears to promote this company.
It’s very shakey for a company to have so many names. It is also shakey when so many retailers don’t trust their vouchers. We have had this service under the name Total Protect since 2005. We have used it 3 times. The first 2 times went well, repair/replacement finished clean and timely. These were small things, though (a ceiling fan and a small appliance)and really are not expected to take much time. The last one, in summer 2008, concerned a broken major appliance, and they did everything they could not to replace it as required by the contract. We argued with them for over 2 weeks until we finally got a substandard replacement delivered. They wanted us to purchace the replacement the appliance, pay for it out of pocket, send them the documentation, and trust them to send us a reimbursement check. We opted to have something in hand rather than trust them for a check that we doubted would ever come.
I wish I had gone to this site before enrolling in this plan over two years ago. Their handling of my cracked glass cooktop was infuriating at the least. I called for service on this matter and was told they wouldn’t cover it. So, I called their membership department to cancel my “coverage”. They referred me to a supervisor who told me over the phone that once the technician inspected the problem, they would give me a new top of their choice, and if I didn’t like it they would issue a credit I could use toward the top of my choice. I told him I was not throwing good money after bad by spending $60 on a service call if it was going to be denied. He repeated his offer. He NEVER said openly and honestly that there was the possibility of denial. Had he said this I would have proceeded with cancellation at that time, and he knew it. The technician came out and phoned in a report that I had dropped a pot on the glass, which was NOT the case (nothing was ever dropped on it, and it’s 10 years old). They denied my claim. I called the supervisor and told him this. He put a complete new spin on what he had said to me in the original conversation. Unbelievable. So, I terminated my coverage, which is paid automatically along with my mortgage payment (originally WAMU-surprise, surprise) but one month later Total Protect still has not communicated this cancellation to the bank, after saying it would be done immediately. DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! We would all be better off putting $36.95 per month into our own special fund to help pay for home repairs should they arise.
Total Protect sucks. They want your money but don’t want to cover any service. When we called to report that our shower was backing up, they stated that they would send someone out – not that it backups weren’t covered or that if it was the plumbing that wasn’t covered either, no, they send out a service man and informed him after he got here and called them to tell them exactly what we said when we called. All this means is that now we have a service person at our home and Total Protect doesn’t cover the service. Therefore, we had to pay $165 out of our pockets while Total “UN” protect, paid NOTHING!!!! Great concept for the company – fool people into thinking that they are paying for coverage when in reality they are paying for them to stick them with the bills. We could have fixed the issue ourselves without having someone come out if they had just stated it wasn’t covered from the beginning. Also customer service was past awful. I’d hoped it was covered, but apparently not since I haven’t heard anything from them – or my best guess is that “They don’t Care”.
Very slick operation. Contract lists items as covered in one section then lists same items (only different language) as uncovered in the next section. Example: “tub valves” are covered, but “pressure regulation devices” are not. What does a valve do if it does not regulate water pressure? The clever language of the policy enables them to get out of any claim. Absolute, complete, and utter rip-off. Embarrassed that I fell for it.
Thank heavens for this website. Thanks to all who shared their experiences. I am running the other direction. Obviously my mortgage company didn’t do their homework. Thanks again.
Twice I called them for AC problems in the 6 year time I had my house in Columbia and both times it was for the AC not working, once for the unit upstairs in the crawlspace and the other for the downstairs outdoor unit. Both times they sent professional, well trained technicians. The first time they actually changed the upstairs unit, the second time they replaced the fan motor in the downstairs unit. I would recommend them to anyone.
I’ve read all the negative comments and I’m amazed that Total Protect came through for me. I’ve had Total Protect home warranty for approximately 9 months, it also came with my mortgage payment. I considered the options and decided to go ahead and purchase the warranty because the heat pump on my house is 15 years old and will probably need repairs or replacement soon.
Well it happened. My heat pump compresser and reverse sensing valve went out. Repair man said $1500 for repairs. Repair company called Total Protect to find out what they wanted to do. After 48 hours Mike from Total Protect called and told me they were going to replace the unit. It took approximately 4 days for the unit to be shipped and installed.
Total for cost for the new unit would have been approximately $4,000. My out of pocket expenses were just under $500.
I am really pleased with the service from Total Protect and their contracted repair service company.
I think you all just saved me alot of hassle. I’m a very cautious buyer and research everything. I normally throw these offers away, but as another post referenced, since it was associated with our mortgage company it actually looked like a fairly attractive home protection agreement. As I read these customer accounts, I slowly–page by page–ripped up the offer from TotalProtect into tiny little pieces. It is now in the garbage…where this company obviously belongs. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you to all who submitted your reviews. I also got a solicitation from my mortgage company (Citibank). After reading the above reviews, we are going to pass! Thanks again…..
I’ve been with Total Protect for about two years now, so far no complaints. They have repaired my $1100.00 fridge twice, no problem. My stove has a digital panel that was replaced, no problem. Also my garbage disposal was replaced with a new one, about 2 months ago. The only negative thing that I can think of is that I had to wait about two weeks the second time they had to repair my fridge to find the part (the compressor).
I am very happy with Total Protect so far, I’ll post if anything changes.
I too thank everyone for all your reviews and also got their name from my mortage company, Suntrust, and I too will pass. I finally decided to call them today to try to find out what services they offered. The guy gave me a brief run-down, but then I asked him if he could send me something in the mail so I could read the specific details. He told me in order for him to send something out, I had to first become a member and if I didn’t like it, I could cancel after 30 days. I told him I wasn’t comfortable having to joined before I knew what I was joining or at least found out some more information about them. I told him I had never heard of having to become a member in order to just get some more information, so, finally, he told me to go to their website to get information. I must say, I didn’t even like the way this guy sounded over the phone, and have never heard of a company trying to get new business that won’t send anything out about their company through the mail. That was the very first thing that sounded the alarm for me. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me about the website until I told him I was uncomfortable doing business with a company that won’t even send any information about themselves, and was getting ready to hang up. I’ve read enough and their are far more bad comments than good, and that sales it for me. However, I wonder why do mortage companies push this company. Don’t they have an obligation to first check out a company before they recommend it to the homeowners?
Very poor customer service. Companies they send out do not fix the problem – they keep you spinning in circles when trying to repair the problem. Do not recommend this company.
I am really disappointed in Total Protect. I had a leaking faucet. I knew I would have to pay a service call, but what was shocking was that the “O” ring that was the cause of the leak was NOT COVERED IN THE WARRANTY! I believe I could have had it fixed three times by a reputable plumber for what I ended up paying.
I just renewed my Total Protect plan for another year today. I was going to do it online so googled the name and found your list.
Our house is 50 years old and we are not great with the home repairs. In the last year, Total Protect fixed our central heat/air twice and replaced a defective burner on my stove and replaced the baking heating element that I had destroyed with an overflowing dish in the oven. All the repairs happened within 2 days of call and we were thrilled to just be paying the deductible.
I first heard of Cross Country Home Service via my mortgage company, CitiMortage. Since they recommended them, I thought that they would provide good service. I requested more information from them, but never received an answer. Approximately 6 weeks later, my dishwasher started leaking. I called Cross County for more information again on their plan. That was when I discovered that they had enrolled me in the plan when I had only requested information on the plan. I then requested service on my Dishwasher. They sent Sears out to repair it. Sears said that I’d have have to pay $115 for repairs since not all repair items are covered. I called Cross Country and talked to several people as the information that I had received from the mortgage company was that they would pay for total repair or replacement for $60.00 plus my monthly co-pay. I have now been informed that they are NOW going to send me a copy of the agreement. I am not happy with them nor with my mortgage service. I’ll never trust another add that CitiMortgage sends me. Sears provided VERY fast service!
After paying premiums for many months, my water heater broke. TotalProtect would not cover replacement cost as they stated it had not been a “mechanical failure”, which they declined to define. I immediately cancelled my policy with them.
YIKES, Your reviews just saved me from sending Total Protect $42.95 a month!!! First Tennessee/First Horizon Home Loans sent me a brochure in the mail encouraging me to sign up with Total Protect. I was sending them my enrollment card tomorrow morning and just decided to do a quick Google search tonight. THANK YOU all for taking the time to save me from making that mistake!
It doesnt get worse than this! Slowwww and they sent me an all around handy man that didnt get anything right several times. When he replaced an AC, it took the next AC guy i personally paid for to get the job right.( 3 weeks no AC in florida) Then they send the same guy for a water heater months down the road and he could not figure out the problem, said everything was fine though hot water lasted 5 minutes. Wasted the 60 deductable considering he demanded that money upfront then next company they sent also wanted deductable though they were able to figure the problem. USE ANYONE ELSE, THIS IS NO BARGAIN AND ITS ALWAYS STRESSFUL! BY THE WAY THEY REPLACED MY NAME BRAND AC COMPRESSOR WITH SOME CHEAP OFF BRAND. READ THE STORIES ABOVE, I WENT THRU THE SAME NIGHTMARE AS OTHERS, BUYER BEWARE!
This is a fraud company, TOTAL PROTECT is another way of ripping you off. And I wonder why mortgage companies and banks are pushing this thief organization to their customers. they all should be included in the lawsuit and i truely belief that we should get one going because thats the only way this kind of pratice will stop.
Horrible company. We waited three weeks, in winter, to get our HVAC fixed. The first contractor Total Protect recommnded did not show, then we were told we would have to pay out-of-pocket for the second contractor. Unfortunately the second contractor charged more than the first and Total Protect would not reimburse the difference. The second contractor told us that if Total Protect could get the parts cheaper- then let them. I will NEVER use HMS Total Protect again.
This company is a joke! I also had a problem with my heating unit and used the company that was assigned to our claim. This clown came out on a Monday, diagnosed the problem, took my $60.00 check (which he cashed immediately) and told me he would be back Wednesday. Wednesday comes, no call no show. I call them and was told they would be out Friday. I then called Total Protect and was told that the company had just turned in the claim for the parts Wednesday morning and that they could not get the authorization to them until Friday because it takes 48 hrs. Well Friday comes and goes once again no call, no show. To make a long story short this went on another full week until the woman at the first company got rude with me and told me I was a liar, that she had turned in the claim for the parts on Monday, not Wednesday and that she had called everyday to tell me she wasn’t coming. Like I’m so stupid that I don’t know if someone called me! I then called Total Protect, told them what was said by this RUDE WITCH and they told me they would send out another company but that I had to pay upfront and they would reimburse me. Well this second clown they told to come out did the same thing as the first company. He didn’t show up or call for a whole week and then when he did finally return my calls and show up he acted like he was doing me a favor. He told me this job got dropped in his lap and that I was lucky he didn’t charge me to pick up the parts and for another service call. He charged me $30.00 more than the first company and when I told Jason (a useless supervisor) at Total Protect he told me he could only reimburse the first company’s amount. I told him that Total Protect is the company who told me to go with this ass and now they are only going to pay me back what the first company had charged. What a joke! TOTAL PROTECT IS A TOTAL WASTE OF YOUR TIME AND MONEY. THE COMPANY’S THEY ASSIGN TO YOU THINK THAT THEY ARE DOING YOU A FAVOR BY EVEN SHOWING UP. THEY ARE FLY BY NIGHT COMPANY’S WHO DO WHATEVER THEY WANT BECAUSE THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES. TOTAL PROTECT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. ALL THEY DO IS TELL YOU WHAT THEY THINK YOU WANT TO HEAR TO GET YOU OFF OF THE PHONE. I AM WAITING FOR JASON THE SUPERVISOR’S BOSS TO CALL ME BACK – I’M SURE THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!! DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!
Just canceled my Total Protect warranty service. This is my 4th claim (Hot Water Heater) and it has been treated like all others. Nothing is covered due to some jargon in the contract that requires me to be a Plumber, AC/Heating or Electrical master in order to understand it. I am left feeling that this is my fault, I should have read the contract closer right? But even if I had, I would not have understood what I was looking at. Long story short, this particular Home Warranty company is not worth the $37 a month that I have been paying for over 2 1/2 years.
OK so when I received the offer in the mail from my bank, Washington Mutual, I thought it to be a good idea, after all would your bank steer you wrong?? That was early last year before all the ecomomic mess reared its ugly head… I filled out the information thinking I would get a policy or more info and a time frame of when payments would start coming out of my account. Well of course did not receive any of this and now that I have read the reviews (which I wish I had done before)I will not waste any more money on them. Thank all of you for voicing your opinions and I hope any legal action will be successful, although I don’t have much faith that anything will happen to them. Good Luck!
I have had Total Protect for years and have used it four or five times and they always pay however it is a pain to use and I almost always have to argue with the customer service reps to get anything does. The biggest issue is that it takes so long to get anyone out to do the repairs, I have had no problems with the repairs themselves and they have paid but I always have to ask for a manager. The most recent time that I used this Company I had to threaten them and finally got to a manager who has been wonderful and has followed up with me on numerous occasions to make sure that I got what I needed. They need to put her on the front line to train the rest of their customer service reps on the importance of good customer service and also the importance of honesty. She is the only reason that I did not cancel after my last claim.
Thanks for all of your comments, I only got conned out of 3 or 4 months of premiums. $160.00 lesson on checking reviews, etc.
However; I was under the impression that Countrywide Mortgage was providing my warranty, come to find out, these clowns were running the show.
I have to rate them a 5, since customer service was cordial and canceled my account immediately. If they haggle you regarding cancellation, explain to them, that you have lots of friends that work in the mechanical field and your friends will replace your unit’(s) for free.
KR / Alabama
This is one of the worst.Run don’t walk away from this fly by night scam company.After 3 days and I don’t know how many calls I was finally able to talk with a repairman that was on their call list.Long story short,I had to end up paying for everthing. They would not O K the repair because the tech would not give them an itemized bill over the phone. I don’t know many techs who carry a price list with them. This was a company that they said they recognized and was on their list.I have been a customer of their’s for 3 years and this was my first encounter . They seem to promise one thing and do another.When I first talked to the sales rep.and took out the policy,and the action that was taken when I tried to make a claim,it was not as promised. I will be calling the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General’s Office of South Carolina and inform them about this organization. I say again, stay away.
Purchased a home warranty under Total Protect. Apparently, they have several names. I now know why. They advertise “repair or replace”. My furnace air handler burned out and posed a fire hazard. The tech advised it be replaced. Total protect agreed. I was offerd a model number PF1MNC03600 or a cash buy out of 1077.00. I researched the furnace and agreed to the replacment. The funace was ordered and shipped. When it was received it was model number I was told it would be it was pf1mnc037t00 not what I agreed upon. Plus the air handler was not the right size to fit into the space provided. I contacted total protect about the problem, I was told by total protect that the service tech did not specify any height limitations and they were not responsible for making the furnace “fit” I have spoken to christine 1800-327-9787 x4136 she said they no longer carried the PF1MNC03600 and was upgraded to the pf1mnc037t00 but it still will not fit. They will certainly send a check for $1077.00. That is what they hope we will do. The new air handler will be $2600.00 installed. Total protect worked great for a few claims I filed. No problems with the little stuff but when it comes to the large items to replace Deny, Deny, Deny. 2 things, Why the bait and switch with the units and the “replacement they offered I cannot use. Its like putting a chevy engine in a honda. It just does not work.
I have just placed my first claim A/C unit. I am very concerned after reading the comments. I will however rewrite this review after my unit is fixed or replaced. The repair man was here today and said my unit needs to be replaced and so does the furnace and a/c unit because it’s 20 yrs old and the new heat pump will not match the others. So far the Customer service people were nice and even called me back for a follow up. Today will tell the story when the repair company sends in the report. And, by the way, I called the repair people this morning. So that was timely.
This company sucks – it has been five weeks and my hot water heater is lost – they are so bad the installer got the hot water heater but won’t call them back or me to install. So the installer they used got a free hot water heater on my nickle while I am left with cold water.
Winifred, Lithonia Georgia- I usually pay my mortgage by telephone and was not aware until this month that Cross Country and my mortgage company, Citifinancial had been adding a 37.95 charge to my mortgage payment without my consent since October 2008. I knew there was an increase in my mortgage, but I assumed that the increased property taxes had been added. I called Citi and after explaining to me what the charge was for, they directed me to call Cross Country. The rep for Cross country informed me that I had signed up for the home warranty. I denied even knowing anything about the warranty, and was told that my money would be refunded only after an investigation determined that I, in fact, had not agreed to the warranty. I am livid with Citifinancial as this would never have happened without their consent!!! I need to know what agency I can call to large a complaint against Citi and Cross Country.
Total protect is a total rip-off. They hide all of the additional fees associated with claims. This was a total waste of my money and time. My AC broke on the hottest day so far this summer and they told me it was not an emergency. It took them almost two-weeks to settle my claim and it still isn’t right. In short do not waste your money they are a rip-off with no customer service skills. They do not care and will let you know that with their actions.
I am still waiting to hear back from Total Protect regarding my heat pump replacement. It’s been since the 19th of April, today is the 7th of May. I have called them every day except two days since the 19th. They keep telling me someone woill call me within 24 hrs. I’m still waiting. No one has ever called. I will rate the repair/replacement service as soon as I have it done.
This company is a total ripoff. They sell you on total protection on your appliances. When you try to make a claim they point the problem to some fine wording in thier contract. when you read contract all the most common reasons for an appliance to fail are excluded. Don’t fall for this crap. I’ve turned this over to a lawyer for a class action suite. Whatch the net I’ll have a web site on this company soon. By the way Total Protect is owned by Citimortgage.
STAY AWAY, this company blows. They would not cover an air conditioner replacement because there was some rust on it. It was 15 years old and in Galveston Texas, DUH a little rust???
Do not do business with this company.
A local technician finally came out (no appointments were availabe for two days) and diagnosed a leaking water heater that needed to be replaced. Eight days later, the repair was done, 8 days. The company claimed they were updating their systems and was having a problem getting a purchase authorized. Talked to customer rep after customer rep and finally realized they were talking from a script….verbatim, they all said the same thing about getting a purchase authorized. By the way, I was charged $75.00 for the visit, not $60.00. Here in Nevada, if your hot water heater does not have earthquake straps, the replacement of a heater requires the straps to be added to bring the work “up to code.” Those straps and the 4 screws cost $13.00 at Home Depot. My cost $95.00, of course it was not covered. Do some research at http://www.homewarrantyreviews.com/reviews. Could save you some time and money for home warranty products.
I WAS SITTING AT THE TABLE WHEN I SUDDENLY HEARD ALOUD POP FROM THE BASEMENT AND I LOST ELECTRIC SO I CALL TO PLACE ACLAIM AND THEY SENT A ELECTRICIAN OUT THEY TOLD ME THAT THAT THE BREAKER BOX BURN UP TOTAL PROTECTION DENY MY CLAIM I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS PRE-EXITING HOW COULD IT BEEN PRE-EXITING WHEN BEFORE I HAD ELECTRIC THIS COMPANY SHOULDNT BEEN IN BUSINESS THEY ARE RUDE PEOPLE I WISH I COULD RATE THEM BELOW 1 I WOULD RATE THEM -5.
I also have fallen into the same problem as most of you… My deal was that I had a pre-exsisting condition that no one could define. I have started up a website and am building a class action out of NYC. Please I encourage anyone who is willing to either visit my website. http://www.cchsclassaction.com and email me just a simple copy of your story and a claim # if you have it to keithemangene@hotmail.com I think if we all join together we can get claims reviewed by a impartial arbitrator for all those who were unable to fight CCHS. I can be reached at 860 302 5734 for any one who is willing to participate in this claim
This warranty is a complete rip of. Horrible customer service. I called in to complain about technician who wanted to charge me $176.00 on the top of $60 deductable for wasching machine repair and customer service rep cancelled my insurance. I was considered the cancellation myself and I asked the guy how much i will get back but he already cancelled the policy and told me that he can’t reinstated it back.When i was shoping for the home warranty insurance, the customer service rep told me that for $60 technician will diagnose and repaire but if appliance is too old they will replace it. When I bought the warranty the conversation is completely different.$60 you pay for diagnosis ONLY, no repair involved, so in this case with washing machine, I paid $60 for 3 minutes of diagnosis and have to pay additional $176 for labor(detail cost $6.25).Customer service reps are very quick to complete this nonsense with cancellation of your policy. Deal is over!
Do not use this company! They are con-artists and will take your money and not provide the services they claim!
RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My mortgage company, Countrywide, recommended Total Protect so I did not investigate and subscribed to Total Protect on their recommendation. I did not have to utilize their service for 3 years but felt a sense of security having it there if needed. WEELLLL, 2 times I have had to call, I have been able to tell them exactly what was happening both times, both times to be told the claim would be covered. The first was for a condenser line from the AC that had broken inside my wall. They came, replaced the line, made a 9″ square hole in the wall and took my $60 deductable. One week later I received a bill stating that the service was not covered so I am out the $60 deductable, $200 service fee and $150 to repair the wall because that damage was of course not covered either. The other claim was due to 3 valves under my kitchen sink that were leaking. Plumbing for Pennies was the company that was sent out to repair the problem…cause that was covered. The contractors who were held off in my home renovations due to the plumbing issue came back to finish their job and guess what??? They had replaced nothing!! Same valves, same problem. I am cancelling Total Protect and after investigation do not feel having a Home Warranty unless you live in Colorado is worth the expense.
First of all, some of these posts on here are scary, yes, but VERY true to my encounter with these people. My husband and I decided to get this warranty, mainly because countrywide had sent the brochure to our address, so I figured they must be a somewhat good company. Anyways, we got it right before he left for Iraq, just in case something was to go wrong and he was not here to be able to fix it himself. Low and behold my a/c unit went out about a month ago and right away, I contacted this company. Customer service was very helpful in taking my claim and reassured me that they would send a technician out to asses the problem. Almost FOUR DAYS later, the guy on their “list of authorized dealers” came out to inspect. He said I would need a whole new unit outside and also a new one that was in our attic. Mind you, I have a 3 year old son and don’t know many people in NC as we were just based here recently, so I had nowhere to go. Long story short now (minus the profanities) I placed my claim with them on the 15th of may, and here it is June 8th AND I STILL HAVE NO AIR CONDITIONING IN MY HOUSE!!!!!!! Next to having to contact the company every day for the whole month, every person I called and talked to would give me a different answer on what the status of my claim was, and then when it came time to ship the repair parts to the repair guy (3-5 day waiting period I mind you), the parts were not delivered for almost a week from when they told me it was in transit……Also every day cust. service people each told me a different DOA, some said 2-3 days some said 3-5 days and some said they had no idea where it was and why the repair man hadn’t recieved them yet. I, too was under the impression that I had a $60 deductible that I would be responsible for, however, there were ‘unforseen’ additions to the claim that were my expense. i had a reducting fee as well as a freeon replacement fee, mind you $160 is a lot better than paying out of my own pocket for 2 new units. The service providers, I had the least concern for, however the guy they sent to me, ran around the installation after he recieved my parts for a week. He set up an appointment with me last friday morning to come out and do the repairs, (I know FINALLY, right?!), however come 2 PM, I hadn’t heard from him, no phone call or anything! I broke down and called him around 2:30 PM, and his excuse was that he ‘just plum forgot all about it, he had gotten some calls recently and was taking care of them. YES, they called AFTER me, and were serviced first while my son and I are in a house that gets up to almost 96 degrees during the day. The guy then proceeded to tell me that he would not be able to make it out at all that Friday, and the earliest opening that he had was Monday morning, between 8-8:30 AM. It is now the monday of the appointment he set with me (the 2nd one don’t forget), and he did not show up until 2PM!! At this point I didn’t care, I just wanted to have him fix my ac, and be done with this entire nightmare. 4:15 rolls around and he LEAVES! No new parts, but he said most of the old parts were disconnected, and that he would come back tomorrow around 11 or 12 and get started again (it doesnt get dark here until 8:30 by the way) He wasn’t sure if he would even be done tomorrow evening, he said he might have to come back out on wed. to finish. I am in deep caca if he charges for each time he comes out to the house, if he does, then i will be screwed once again. I would comment on the level of workmanship offered by them, but nothing has been done yet. I thought having this warranty would put my mind at ease while my husband was deployed, but I think it has been more hassle than help. Next time, I will know that just because my bank or mortgage company provides me with pamphlets, I should still investigate before commiting. Please take this as a forwarning…if you trust this company with your service every month, know that when the time comes, you probably will have some kind of difficult experience with them. The only thing I can say that is remotley pro and not con, is that the repair man was very friendly, even though he isn’t the least bit concerned with timeliness…..I wish I would have found this before and not after the fact. I’m going to do some research on other companies and cancel this one for sure! I don’t recommend them AT ALL, and hope you don’t give them your business, they have already made quite a bit from all of the other disgruntled clients on here. I am usually a very understanding and patient person, but once I filed this claim, and a month later still no a/c, I can safely say that these people will not get my understanding or patience anymore!! Good Luck whatever decision you may make, but just know that this was my actual experience with them, and I am not embellishing anything I have written because I am angry. I just want to get the truth out there so someone does not have to go through anything like I have thus far. I will post again once I get the bill, as well as when the repair is finally completed. God Bless!
This company is a complete FRAUD!