Texas - 3/03 (AHS-15).  I accidentally stumbled on your site when searching for the Texas Home Warranty - a division of American Home Shield of Texas, Inc - web site.  I was going to write a complaint e-mail to that company regarding their failure in pressing the contracted service company to repair my dishwasher and microwave. But then I read your story with fascination and disbelief. I lost $35 and two months of time trying to get hold of the repairman (if he can be called a repairman at all). The seller paid for the one year warranty. Now I am determined to take my husband's advice:  It's not worth paying $600 annually for nothing.  Most appliances in the house cost less than $600 and it's unlikely any one of them will break down soon. Asking home warranty companies to pay for any repair or replacement is harder than landing on the moon.  Chances are, the expensive stuff in your house are not covered under the home warranty policy.  So why should I pay $600 every year for nothing.  Correction! Why should I pay $600 just to get yelled at, laughed at? I was going to write my encounter with Texas Home Warranty and its contractor C.P.R. (phone number 972-285-1527) in Garland, Texas. But it turned into a long story, and I am sure you have had enough this kind of stories: Technicians came, looked at the problems, and said they would come back to fix the problem when parts arrive. They never came back.  Called them numerous times; they never returned the calls. Contacted the home warranty company, and they either say you have to deal with the service company directly or just sit tight, they will contact you eventually. You naively waited.  When you finally couldn't wait longer and called, they declare it's passed the 30 days warranty period. You have to pay another $35 for someone else to come out to take a look at your problem. What do you do?  No, thanks. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.  I will never purchase another so called home warranty policy again. With the money saved, I can either choose some reliable technician to come out fix the problem or simply purchase a brand new one.

Texas - 2/03 (AHS-14).  I too have a complaint and may be interested in trying to organize a class action suit against AHS. In brief, here's what happened.

• AHS brochure, "Yet no matter how difficult or costly it is for us to fix your covered equipment, you simply pay the reasonable trade service call fee (noted in step 3 on the back of your home warranty)."
   
• AHS home warranty document, Step 3, "Upon arrival at your home, your repair professional will require the $35 trade service call fee (or the actual cost of service, if less) by check or money order payable to the contractor/company. Additional charges apply to some repairs."

The two statements contradict. A repairman was sent out to fix a leaking water heater.  After inspection, he determined the water heater needed to be replaced.  He contacted AHS authorizations desk. After talking to Authorizations he handed the phone to me to talk with "Joe," the Authorizations guy.  Joe told me they were authorizing the replacement and that I would be responsible for a $65 permit fee, $125 platform cost, and $45 disposal fee.  While still on the phone with Joe, I asked the technician about these fees. He told me everyone pays for permit and disposal fees, but he didn't need a platform. I relayed this to Joe who was adamant that I owed a platform charge of $125 as well as the other fees.  I asked him to show me in my contract where I am responsible for the fees.

To shorten the story, the disposal and platform fees I resolved. Joe used section F. 4. of the contract to verify my responsibility to pay the permit fee:  "...AHS is not liable and will not contract for service when permits cannot be obtained."  Unless I paid the fees, Joe would rescind his authorization for the work.  I do not believe this section indicates that permit fees would be paid by customers. The next day I spoke with "Marcy" in their legal office who read that section as well as the rest of the contract.  She told me that she could find no section indicating that customers pay permit fees and has agreed to refund the $65 I paid the technician.

Now here's my issue, how many people have paid permit fees that shouldn't have?  Telling customers they must pay permit fees evidently became standard practice.  Shouldn't AHS refund permit fees to everyone who were told they had to pay them? I cannot sue evidently because since they agreed to refund me, I have not been damaged.  But couldn't AHS be compelled to refund permit fees to everyone who paid them incorrectly, and if they refuse, wouldn't that constitute damage and provide the basis for a class actions suit?  I have had AHS for about 6 years. I am cancelling them shortly.  I am going to take them up on their guarantee  first:  "What's more, we stand behind every job we do with our unique money-back guarantee:  If for any reason you are not satisfied with our service, American Home Shield will work with you until you are satisfied or we'll refund the amount of the trade service call fee."

? - 2/03 (AHS-13).  I have had problems with AHS not honoring their warranty. I had a leak in the p-trap.  It took six days to fix, which damaged my new kitchen ceiling.  Of course, they would not fix the ceiling even though but because of their delay I would not have the damage.  According to the “Executive Office,” I should not have used the shower. AHS in advertising offers “peace of mind” along with other empty promises. The customer service is rude; they have no compassion, and I would like to see them not take a shower for six days. I reported two leaks that day. The repairman said he could not take care of the second one but showed up three days later to collect another $50, which took another six days to fix; and now my tub does not hold water because they could not repair it with compatible parts. Had I called a plumber on my own that day, I would have saved more money on an emergency call than owning this “peace of mind” warranty.

Virginia - 12/02 (AHS-12). I have never been so disgusted with anyone like I am with American Home Shield. To know there are companies out there scamming consumers and getting away with it is disgusting. Knowing that I am not the only one in the midst of an AHS home warranty nightmare doesn’t surprise me.

Georgia - 8/02 (AHS-11).  I have paid for 12 years of AHS coverage. They finally refused to cover the a/c after all these years, without telling me, until, of course it didn't work and I called for service. I am asking them by certified mail for the name and address of their registered agents in NY and GA so that I can file a complaint in small claims court.

Alabama - 7/02 (AHS-10).  Like the person in complaint AHS-2, we’re having an awful time with repair of our heat pump. We have a geothermal system, which AHS told me would be covered. The system uses a pressure tank to regulate water. In the contract under the heating system section, it says, “covered: all components and parts necessary for the operation of the system (including heat pumps),” and then goes on to list baseboards, etc., but does not mention (exclude) pressure tanks, which are necessary for the system to operate.

The pressure tank went out.  They denied coverage, because pressure tanks are excluded under a different section for wells. VERY misleading, since this pressure tank has nothing to do with the operation of the well. They said that didn’t matter, for the tank held water. What?

In trying to clarify this, I was referred to the contractor department.  The woman wouldn’t let me finish a sentence. She was just nasty.  I called the customer relations department, and the woman was as rude, but still insisted pressure tanks weren’t included, whether they have anything to do with the well or not. OK, why doesn’t the contract just say that then? Why is it only under the well section?

An overall complaint, too, is the “quality” of repair personnel they insist on sending out.  Without going into a long list, the guy they sent out on this repair pressed the pressure release valve on the tank, said “you need to replace this,” and charged me $35. There is only one person in town we know of who works on geothermal systems, and they won’t let us use him.  Most of the people they send just shake their heads when looking at this unit, then tell us they can replace it with a conventional heat pump when we’re ready. This last guy charged us $35, then gave me his card to replace it with a conventional unit. The reason they give:  no one in the area is familiar with geothermal systems.  As you can tell, I won’t be renewing my contract with AHS.  So far, they haven’t sent out one person who has actually fixed anything.