Please help-first time Home buyer (York: real estate, how much, buying)

[nytopitts]

Hello,
Has anyone ever heard or had experience with
American Home Shield Warranties.Are they good?What are their
fees like?Are there other companies like them? Thank you!

[PeterRabbit]

Here's a link to user reviews. I didn't see anyone who was happy with them anywhere in the country.
Should I Purchase a Homeowners' Warranty? - Epinions.com

[nytopitts]

Thank you so much!Are there any other companies?Does Home Depot
have any services similar?Thanks again!

[jfer]

I am usually anti-warranty but I have heard some good things about AHS home warranties. I have heard bad things though too. I would ask the sellers to pay for this. I would probably not pay for it on my own. And be aware that realtors do make a commission on the warranty. They will highly recommend it for this reason.

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by nytopitts

Hello,
Has anyone ever heard or had experience with
American Home Shield Warranties.Are they good?What are their
fees like?Are there other companies like them? Thank you!

I have.

The previous owner of my home included an AHS warranty as part of the purchase price. A few weeks after we moved in, our dishwasher started leaking. AHS sent out a repair guy within a few days. He declared the dishwasher not worth fixing. We were able to pick out a new dishwasher from any store we wanted, which turned out to be a much nicer dishwasher than the one we had before. Additionally because of the shape of our kitchen we had to have an unusual size dishwasher installed, which was more expensive than a normal dishwasher, and which they happily covered also. AHS paid for the whole thing and delivered it to a our doorstep within a week, along with the appliance guy to install it. The whole job + appliance cost several hundred dollars more than the amount spent on the AHS warranty for the year, and all we had to do was talk on the phone a few times, pay a $55 deductible, and pick out an appliance online.

Because of that experience, we decided to renew for a second year. Just last week, we encountered another plumbing problem under the kitchen sink. AHS sent out a plumber within two days and the problem was fixed for a $55 deductible. The plumber wrote on his invoice that his normal rate was $175 an hour. So already about 1/4 of the price of the warranty has been covered already this year.

So, in other words they've worked fine for us so far. Keep in mind that people who have bad experiences are the most likely to make the effort to discuss their experiences online. People like me who have normal or basically good experiences aren't necessarily going to go to online review sites to give their opinions in detail. So you should take any collection of reviews you get online with a grain of salt, and understand that you may be reading the opinions of a biased sample. On the other hand, it's possible that my experience is unusual, so doing research about the subject is always a good idea.

Good luck!

[nytopitts]

Thank you so much subdivisions for sharing your experience.You are always so helpful! I got some great advise and I want to thank you all.
I did not know that real estate agents get commissions on this product.I will be moving from New York which is a first,plus buying a home,which is also
a first,so the whole thing is a little scary for me.Again,thank you so much!

[right-here-i-say]

I've had AHS for 3 years now.

Year 1. They came out about 4 times. I had to pay the $55 for 2 of those.
Year 2. They came out once. My dishwasher was broke. To fix it would cost $240. They offered me $240 towards a dishwasher, I accepted.
Year 3. Nothing so far.

As you can see from the above, it isn't worth it for me.

#2 basically shows their strategy. If your a/c breaks, they will somehow be able to get it working again. Any possibilities of getting a total replacement are almost null. They will give you the money it costs to fix towards a new one. Hopefully this will cover the $400 it costs to warranty.

I may not do it again next year.

[Eagle Scout]

Originally Posted by nytopitts

Thank you so much subdivisions for sharing your experience.You are always so helpful! I got some great advise and I want to thank you all.
I did not know that real estate agents get commissions on this product.I will be moving from New York which is a first,plus buying a home,which is also
a first,so the whole thing is a little scary for me.Again,thank you so much!

Real Estate Agents do not get a commission from AHS warranties.

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by right-here-i-say

#2 basically shows their strategy. If your a/c breaks, they will somehow be able to get it working again. Any possibilities of getting a total replacement are almost null. They will give you the money it costs to fix towards a new one. Hopefully this will cover the $400 it costs to warranty.

This was not our experience at all. There wasn't any arguing about whether something could be fixed or how much it would cost if it could be fixed. They just accepted the word of the repair guy that it was not worth fixing and bought us a completely new dishwasher (cost = well over $500 for the appliance alone). They never offered us any cash value, but instead told us to pick out the dishwasher we wanted and then had it sent it to us.

Given the disparity in our experiences, I would guess that their strategy re: offering cash towards fixing it vs. total replacement depends on the situation. Maybe your dishwasher was in better shape than ours to begin with, so they thought you could salvage the appliance with a repair job.

On Edit: We once had a really bad experience with a TV warranty (Best Buy) that matches the strategy like you described in #2 - Best Buy didn't want to replace the TV and gave us the run-around with various repair people for 3 months. They only coughed up a replacement item after we threatened to sue (and even then harassed my husband at the store when he went to pick up the new TV). My experience with AHS was nothing like my Best Buy experience at all, and I never got the impression from AHS that they were trying to avoid replacing the dishwasher like Best Buy wanted to do with our TV. For what it's worth...

[jfer]

It is incorrect to state that realtors do not get a commission. Mine does and the material I have from her discloses this to me. So, perhaps you don't but some most certainly do.