The information contained in the following complaints against American Home Shield, a ServiceMaster subsidiary, are unverified.

Arkansas - 8/07. I purchased an AHS extended home warranty a few years  ago. I recently called them for  the first time because my A/C unit was not working properly.  Their repairman added freon and cleaned the coils. He told me the unit was almost shot, but don't worry AHS will replace it.  He told AHS my unit was 1.5 ton and too small for my home. The unit quit working again the next day.  AHS refused to  cover the unit under their policy because the repairman had told them it was inadequate. I phoned and spoke with several service representatives, all of whom repeated the same lame excuse. I called another repairman, who repaired the 2.0 ton unit the next morning and informed me the unit was a 2.0 ton and plenty adequate, and the AHS repairman had added too much freon which could have damaged my unit further.

California - 5/07. On January 25, 2007, my Maytag dryer stopped working.  Today is May 22, and my dryer has still not been fixed. Two contractors have been out, both have given up. One company told me I'm wasting my time with AHS - when the repairs are costly they don't cover the extensive diagnostic time/parts needed for the repairs.  I called the owner of the company; and he said AHS won't pay for their time, and he can't cover the time to check the wiring.  I contacted AHS. The operator was very nice until she pulled up my account info.  It must have been flagged because suddenly her tone changed. I asked to talk to a manager.  The first operator hung up on me.  The second operator told me "you just called 6 minutes ago - nothing has changed."  I don't know what to do.  Any suggestions?  I'm still waiting for a call from AHS.

? - 3/07. I thought it may be wise to ask you if you are aware of any one-stop shops for litigation information on AHS.  Specifically, I am interested in cases that attack the overbearing exclusions and requirements that customers must face when making a claim. For example, when an aging / corroded pipe under a floor must be fixed, the customer must remove carpet, cabinets or other flooring for what may be a little rubber patch job.  The customer is shocked to find out that the pipe is only going to be patched, not replaced. Now suppose that a month later that little rubber patch starts to show that it did not hold up.  The kitchen wrecking ball must happen again.  This is one of several situations that can occur where the customer must do a lot to get a disappointing remedy.  All this while AHS hides behind the wording of the exceptions, limitations and exclusions. I would appreciate any insight or leads you can give me.

? - 2/07. We have a contract with American Home Shield.  We have three bathrooms but only one downstairs and had a guest staying with us who could only climb stairs with great difficulty. When the only downstairs accessible toilet backed up and I was unable using a plunger to clear the blockage, we called AHS and explained the situation. They did not classify this as an “emergency,” suggesting our guest use a neighbor’s bathroom when needed.  Furthermore, their contracted plumber could not come out for a week. When the AHS plumber did arrive, they came with no equipment, not even a plunger and immediately told us without even looking at the toilet, that it was best to replace the plumbing in the entire house as the insurance would cover it!! We immediately refused and contacted AHS who were completely uninterested in this attempted fraud.  Having waited long enough, we contacted Roto Rooter, who promptly arrived and fixed the problem.  AHS then sent us a bill for the service call out.  We called and explained their plumber spent less than five minutes in our house and never even attempted to fix the problem and, therefore, this does not constitute a proper service call.  However, as far as they were concerned, showing up was sufficient justification to earn a service call fee, essentially rewarding incompetence and attempted fraud.

We spoke at great length to their customer service department then to a supervisor who were absolutely obstinate in their refusal to listen to logic.  We will be cancelling our contract with them as it is useless.

Southern California - 12/06.  In July 06, my air conditioner went out.  I called AHS, and they sent a guy out.  I live in a condo, so the unit is on the roof.  The man said the unit needed to be replaced and asked me questions on how to do it.  He wanted me to ask the neighbors how to get it on the roof, along with other questions.  I  told AHS that I didn't think he knew what he was doing, but they insisted that he was screened and had good qualifications.  It took 2 weeks, and finally  he had it installed.  That night it ran all night.  It shook the walls, and it would not turn off by the switch.  I had to turn off the breaker to make it stop.  I called the next day, and he returned to rewire it.  All  is fine until the first part of Nov. 06, when I need the heater.  I turned it on and nothing.  I called AHS and they sent out another company, which told me that the first man installed it wrong.  I still had to pay them $55.  I called AHS, they sent the first company out again.  Same man.  He then proceeds to tell me that he installed the wrong unit, that mine was supposed to have both a heat pump and a cold air pump.  What  happened was he took out my air and heat, and only gave me air!!!  I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I called 3 other companies and the  heater manufacturer itself and asked if this could have been an honest  mistake.  They couldn't believe it and said it was laughable.  So, AHS says the first man has to fix it; but here it is over one month later and still  no heater.  No one seems to want to help, and I don't know what to do.  I can't call anyone else to fix it, there is no heater to fix.  It's gone, he took it out.  I call AHS every other day, and they say they are sorry and will try to get to the bottom of it.  I have talked to customer service, supervisors, and everyone in between.  I guess my next step will be a lawyer.

Santa Rosa, California - 1/06. I am a former employee of American Home Shield and I was terminated from employment yesterday.  I believe the reason I was terminated has to do with age discrimination; I am 50 years old. I worked for one of their four call centers in Santa Rosa, CA. They have now terminated 90 employees, so it is obvoious that they are not doing well.  They terminated half of their work force.

Chatsworth, California - 10/05.  I am writing this because of the callous treatment I received from a “customer service supervisor” at American Home Shield. After four days of waiting for a plumber to even call us back, and then to come and fix a clogged toilet that had been flagged as an “emergency”--the plumber finally arrived.  He spent about five minutes trying to fix the clog, then left saying, “Call them back. I can’t fix it.” However, apparently he never informed them that he had been out, or submitted whatever info they need in terms of an assessment.  He never identified himself, gave us any paperwork, nothing—just walked in, tried a few times with a toilet snake, walked out. That was it.

After several hours of waiting, I called back and was told by Supervisor “Jason” (initials JMC) that they would not send another plumber until the first called him back. He refused to name an amount of time they would wait for the call, just said that they would absolutely not open another request unless they had a report from the first plumber. Needless to say, the day went by and he had never called—so our toilet is still clogged. No help, no assurance that it will be handled in a timely manner, if at all.

When I asked “Jason” if I could speak to anyone else, he said no. “There is no one at the company that you are allowed to talk to on the phone,” was his exact comment.  He would not transfer my call, would not answer my questions about if there was a policy in place if the plumber NEVER called back. He simply kept repeating, “It is our policy not to send another order.”  Over and over and over again.

As a mother of two small boys whose husband is hospitalized for a long-term critical illness, I simply can’t wait for days and days at home for American Home Shield to decide they feel like honoring their contract.  And the callous automaton with whom I spoke should NEVER have been made a supervisor.  I had spoken to a lovely woman earlier in the day who was eager to help… and then this.  I am absolutely appalled at the treatment I received from this company.

I am planning on sending this to the Better Business Bureau, and anyone else who will post it prominently.

AHS Complaint Pages:
1   2   3   4   5