Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I wish I had an insider's perspective. I don't know what it is about home warranty, but repair technicians and home warranty providers themselves exert extraordinary effort to try to deny your repair claims.
Sometimes (often?) home-warranty-dispatched repairmen will write false or fraudulent reports to make it easy to deny your claim.
Even on small easy repairs, they seem to always try to snake their way out of doing any repair work.
Usually you are given the option for a second opinion if you think the first repair guy flat out lied about the diagnosis.
Sometimes the second guy that comes out gives you a different diagnosis whose repair IS covered by your warranty policy. You win.
There must be some kind of incentive for repair companies to help deny as many claims as possible.
Home warranty services seem to attract the worst repair companies.
If you have a missing button cap on your appliance (a cosmetic issue which does not affect the function of the appliance), home warranty provider will try to use that as a reason to deny your entire claim.
It must be more profitable for repairmen to collect the service fee and do as little as possible.
I always prepare for a fight whenever I have to call the home warranty provider. I have gotten a second opinion on a repair in the distant past, and they ended up repairing it.
I've used home warranties for repairs on several occasions. Never experienced any problems whatsoever except having to pay to replace an a/c condenser when we unwisely decided to not renew the warranty.
The only time I had a real issue was this past year with our pool pump. It took 5 months for it to finally get fixed. After the first month I requested a new company to come and diagnose the problem because the first company kept blaming me for the pump's failure.
After it kept breaking with the second company I called and asked if I could have an independent company and diagnose it because it was getting ridiculous and could end up costing us more money. They denied the request. I decided it was best to pay out of pocket before it turned into thousands of dollars in repairs.
I have used a warranty service and paid my own now for a few years. As a renter, I've seen them replace an entire AC system, water heater and dishwasher. As an owner, they just fixed my dryer. I've never had issues and repairs were done within days if not same day.
Only hiccup was with replacing the AC, it cost the landlord a few hundred more than the initial service call for replacing ducts as they weren't covered. (Torn ductwork in attic)
The easiest thing to do is read the warranty so you know what it does and does not cover so you are not surprised when the techs come out and tell you the repair is not covered.
The problem you are having sounds more like unscrupulous repairmen and not a warranty problem. I got one of those guys once, and all I had to do from then on was ask the warranty person on the phone to read me the list of eligible repair companies in my area and choose one that I had heard of that had a good reputation.
From then on I called them first and they wrote up the repair through the warranty company.
The easiest thing to do is read the warranty so you know what it does and does not cover so you are not surprised when the techs come out and tell you the repair is not covered.
The problem you are having sounds more like unscrupulous repairmen and not a warranty problem. I got one of those guys once, and all I had to do from then on was ask the warranty person on the phone to read me the list of eligible repair companies in my area and choose one that I had heard of that had a good reputation.
From then on I called them first and they wrote up the repair through the warranty company.
I wish my warranty operated like that.
I use American Home Shield, and they've gotten so shady over the past decade. I fully understand what is covered and what isn't.
They refuse to give customers a list of contractors now.
Long ago, they did have a list to choose from. Now they say they don't have access to a list; it's all "computer generated," single-blind. But I call BS.
Back when they used to allow customers to choose contractors, all the reputable contractors were getting the jobs (costing AHS more money because they were repairing things honestly). Now they force customers to take the worst contractors and refuse to allow reputable contractors to fix your bigger repair problems.
I use American Home Shield, and they've gotten so shady over the past decade. I fully understand what is covered and what isn't.
They refuse to give customers a list of contractors now.
Long ago, they did have a list to choose from. Now they say they don't have access to a list; it's all "computer generated," single-blind. But I call BS.
Back when they used to allow customers to choose contractors, all the reputable contractors were getting the jobs (costing AHS more money because they were repairing things honestly). Now they force customers to take the worst contractors and refuse to allow reputable contractors to fix your bigger repair problems.
We have American Home Shield, and that has not been my experience at all.
Keep calling back until you get a person on the phone who will read you the list of approved contractors. I did it. You can too.
I sued a home warranty company for denying three claims in a row when they should have been covered. We won. We settled out of court. It was funny when their first, second, and even third offer came through with the stipulation that I wasn't allowed to tell anyone what happened, since I'm a Realtor with a lot of contacts, and I told them to shove it and that I had a highly read blog with a lot of followers, and you bet I was going to share with everyone how scrupulous they were and that I would never agree to an offer with that stipulation.
They finally gave in and cut a check. That was in 2007 and they've since gone out of business, because you can't keep a business running when you treat customers that way and word spreads fast!
I sued a home warranty company for denying three claims in a row when they should have been covered. We won. We settled out of court. It was funny when their first, second, and even third offer came through with the stipulation that I wasn't allowed to tell anyone what happened, since I'm a Realtor with a lot of contacts, and I told them to shove it and that I had a highly read blog with a lot of followers, and you bet I was going to share with everyone how scrupulous they were and that I would never agree to an offer with that stipulation.
They finally gave in and cut a check. That was in 2007 and they've since gone out of business, because you can't keep a business running when you treat customers that way and word spreads fast!
I've read about several successful small claims lawsuits against home warranty companies, and I am prepared to do the same.
It's funny how they always settle out of court, as if they have something to hide and don't want the judicial system to scrutinize their business.
It seems like an easy way to cash in, especially when you are planning to cancel the contract anyway.
When you sue them, they usually send you a contract cancellation notice shortly after you sign the nondisclosure agreement.
I understand home warranty companies have to make a profit, but encouraging contractors to make false diagnoses on big ticket items just so they don't have to honor the terms of the contract is wrong.
The toilet isn't really a big ticket item, but once I had a 50 year old toilet clog up due to poor design. Plumber snaked it and there were some hard water deposits along the toilet basin somewhere, but not enough to clog the toilet. AHS denied toilet replacement because hard water deposits are "chemical deposits". We have hard water, what do you expect? Also, the chemical deposit exclusion only applies to "fresh water lines". Is the basin of a toilet considered a fresh water line?
This is just a good example of the BS they pull. If the plumber were not dealing with AHS, he would have been more than happy to recommend replacing the toilet.
Anyway, I'm pretty handy, so I replaced the toilet myself when our water department had a rebate.
I read that each contractor has an allowance, and if they exceed the allowance (by doing things honestly, not by overcharging), the home warranty companies will demote them to "ZZZ" status, as opposed to "preferred" "AAA".
When they are demoted, they no longer get repair referrals, only the rare emergencies.
How does a contractor maintain "preferred" status? By making up BS diagnoses on big ticket items and keeping within their allowance.
Last edited by oh come on!; 07-03-2015 at 03:03 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.