Complain about a product or service

American Home Shield - Plumbing

American Home Shield •Plumbing •Air Conditioning •Heat •Appliances •Water Heaters •Electrical Problems

Shari of Richardson, TX (1/18/06)
I had TWO plumbing problems. The first plumber said he pulled vines out and cleared the pipes (even though we never saw any vines). He didn't have a work order to check the running toilet so he said that required another service call, with another $45 fee.

I scheduled a second repair for the still running toilet and a broken garage door opener (a repeat from a few months ago). The running toilet was "fixed" but then the sewer started leaking again - bubbling up again in the back yard. Of course, the plumber didn't want to talk about that problem because he was just scheduled to fix the running toilet!

AHS said a second opinion from another plumbing company could be obtained for the sewer line problem (another $45). The city had already come to our house, cleaned out the pipes through the sewer box and said there was no blockage.

Damages: We finally paid Drain Doctor to take care of our plumbing problems.

Donna of Hawthorne, NV (1/10/06)
STILL waiting for a plumber.

I have been told they are having trouble locating a plumber for my area. They are doing their best. Right! They referred me to the contract "limitations" (F paragraph 6) stating they are not liable for TIMELY SERVICE. What a rip-off.

We are canceling and will try to get a refund on what is left of our contract. Damages: NOTHING WAS DONE. We will have to get a plumber on our own if we ever want the problem fixed.

Dana of Aurora, IL (12/5/05)
We purchased a home in 8/05 with a home warranty. AHS stated they worked with carefully screened service providers and would work with you until you were satisfied. What a complete JOKE!

We called AHS to repair a leaky toilet. 8 business hours (not the 4 promised in their contract) a plumber called. Our appointment was set for 8:00 a.m. The service guy finally arrived at 11:30 a.m., looked at the toilet, and claimed there was no wax ring used in the installation.

He said it would cost $250, and an hour and a half to repair the problem and that insurance would not pay for it. I refused the repairs and refused to pay the service charge. After a trip to the hardware store, I found out how easy it is to install a wax ring. They set me up with the $2 part, and instructions. I then went home, removed the toilet, and discovered a large wax ring underneath!!!! I called AHS back, accusing them of either incompetence or fraud, and they said they would contact the plumber.

I was told that they talked to the plumber who "stands by his diagnosis that there was no wax ring" and that they have to go by what the plumber says, not by what the customer says!

Tony of Paso Robles, CA (11/2/05)
We purchased a five year old home about four months ago and were happy to learn that we had a home warranty as part of the purchase. When the kitchen faucet started to leak we called American Home Shield to make sure it was covered. It was, and all we needed to pay was a $45 fee to have the plumber come out to fix it.

The plumber said we needed a new faucet. The plumber and my wife both spoke with American Home Shield to make sure they understood what was covered. They were both told that a "standard" faucet was covered for parts and installation.

We wanted to upgrade the faucet and both the plumber and my wife were told if we purchased our own faucet we would be reimbursed up to $180. We found a faucet for $171. The plumber submitted the paperwork for $171 and within two weeks I received a call from American Home Shield confirming the $171 payment.

To my dissatisfaction we were only refunded $120 with no explanation.

Marla of Calabasas, CA (10/23/05)
I have had to place numerous claims with American Home Shield and after three months NOTHING is working. I have spoken to service personnel who are clearly afraid of AHS as they seem to give their "service providers" with an incentive not to perform repairs. One "brave" plumber said the toilets need to be replaced and that AHS doesn't want to incur those expenses so they are happy to keep sending plumbers out.

AHS uses a dishwasher repair service that has been unable to secure the parts required in over one month. I have contacted other suppliers who have the parts on hand but under my policy I am only allowed to deal with "authorized" service centers that fail to provide service.

AHS sent out a pool service company who falsely claimed that my pool was not maintained properly. My insistence on a second opinion netted a very different opinion and now AHS is simply causing delays in the repairs required, as it has been over two weeks.

Today, my kitchen sink backed up and, as I have no operative dishwasher, dirty dishes are piling up and so is my frustration.

Tom of Austin, TX (10/18/05)
As part of my home purchase I got a warranty from American Home Shield (AHS). When I developed a water leak in my attic I placed a service call with AHS. Things went well as far as getting the leak repaired. The leak was accessible through my attic ladder but some how, while the plumber was here fixing the leak, a hole was created in my ceiling (looks like a foot came through). The plumber reports the hole was there from the water.

I contacted AHS to get the water damage/now hole in the ceiling repaired. They informed me that the only way the hole would be covered was if a hole was needed/made to fix the leak.

Damages: I had a damaged ceiling from water. I now have a hole, that was not there before, in my damaged ceiling from a fairly minor water leak.

Kay of Chatsworth, CA (10/17/05)
I reported a plumbing problem to American Home Shield. We waited four days for a plumber to come to the house to fix a clogged toilet that had been flagged as an "emergency". He spent about five minutes trying to fix the clog, then left saying "Call AHS back. I can't fix it". Apparently he never informed AHS that he had been out, or submitted whatever info they needed in terms of an assessment. He never identified himself, gave us any paperwork, just walked in, tried a "snake" and walked out. That was it.

I called AHS to find out when they would send someone else out and was told by Supervisor "Jason" (initials JMC) that they would not send another plumber until the first plumber called in. I asked if there was a policy in place if the plumber NEVER called back, but he only kept repeating "It is our policy not to send another order."

Needless to say, the day went by and the plumber never called -- so our toilet is still clogged. I am absolutely appalled at the treatment I received from this company.

Al of Pikesville MD writes (5/8/03):
AHS denied a claim for leaky pipes saying they do not cover sinks. I would replace the sinks myself, but the pipes are leaking in the basement. The Attorney General's Office is willing to mediate, but AHS does not respond.

Joyce of Winfield IL (5/3/03):
My husband and I just purchased our first home in 2001. After 3 months of living in our new place something happened to our bathtub. We called AHS and they sent someone out. The person that they sent out was incompetent and had no clue as to what to do. They gave us some sort of "trite" answer took our money and left. We've been annoyed ever since.

In June 2002 we had a problem with our toilet overflowing. We called AHS and they dispatched a couple of foolish men who thought it more appropriate to speak to our neighbors about our problem rather than deal with the task at hand. Once again, after taking our money they did a little bit of work and said that we shouldn't experience the problem again. September 2002 the same problem happened again and AHS dispatched yet another two bumbling idiots who came out and look at the problem in disbelief and said that they would take care of it and we shouldn't have any more problems. Of course we did have more problems!

So here we are May 2003 and the problem has come up again and we called AHS only for them to be extremely rude to us and state "your contract doesn't cover that kind of work". We asked why had our contract covered it in the past but not now and they responded with "the contractors didn't tell us" we asked "tell you what?" The incompetent operator couldn't answer the question and wrote a message in our file that all request for work on plumbing is not covered in contract.

I hung up and called another AHS representative and they weren't helpful at all. I threatened to cancel my contract and before I could get my entire sentence out they proceeded to tell me the steps I needed to take to cancel the contract.

The damage to my plumbing was so bad that my husband and I just called Roto Rooter who came out, immediately took care of our needs and charged us $3500 bucks! At least it's fixed.

Brian of Houston (6/17/02):
We have purchased home appliance protection policies on our residence and prior residence (now a rental unit). The company has repeatedly refused coverage for repair or replacement of supposedly covered items under a variety of excuses based on the report of technicians hired by the company to make repairs/replacement. There always seems to be some new exclusion which the company finds to deny each claim -- too many to list here comprehensively.

Pat of Phoenix (4/17/02):
My wife and I bought a home on 3-21-02. A home warranty was included. On 3-30-02 we awoke to a pipe leaking in our kitchen causing damage to the drywall, insulation, upper cabinets and countertop. We called the American Home Shield (AHS) who advised they would call Power Plumbing to inspect and repair.

After three hours, we called Power Plumbing who advised they had not heard from AHS and couldn't come out until 4-1-02 anyway. We called AHS back and were advised that their policy was not to notify Power Plumbing until 4-1-02. I explained that we were trying to catch the water in buckets but some water was running along the pipe and causing damage behind our cabinets. In other words, the situation needed immediate attention or the damages would drastically increase. (It should also be noted that AHS covers only the access to the plumbing and the repairs to the plumbing.) In spite of this, AHS still refused to call a plumber until Monday.

I asked the operator at AHS if they would pay for the damage to drywall and cabinet damage due to the two day delay in getting Power Plumbing out to fix the leak. We were advised they would not.

We were left with two options, the five people in our family could shut off the water to the home (making it uninhabital) and stay at a hotel, or call a plumber ourselves. We called WJ Maloney Plumbing (licensed, bonded, and insured) who came out and effecuated repairs. We saved the piece of pipe that was leaking, took photos, and had the plumber write up a detailed description of what he saw and did.

On Monday, Power Plumbing came out. "Sal" examined the opening in our ceiling and wall, examined the pieces of pipe, and the invoice. Sal confirmed that repairs were proper and the charges were reasonable and customary. The invoice was $357.74. We called AHS while Power Plumbing was there and advised of their evaluation. AHS asked us to send in a letter requesting reimbursment along with a copy of the invoice from WJ Maloney. We did this on April 3, 2002.

AHS sent us their final decision on April 10, 2002 refsuing to reimburse because their contract states, "American Home Shield will not reimburse for service performed without its prior approval." Stated differently, the work performed to our plumbing is not in question, neither are the charges. AHS is hanging their hat on a condition in their contract which had no detrimental effect on their handling of this claim. Their own plumber confirms this.

This position, in effect, negates any benefits under the contract which may otherwise be available to their customers when losses requiring immediate attention occur during weekends, holidays, or nights. The American Home "Shield" is activated less than 50% of the time.

Esteban of Buena Park CA (1/6/02):
I'm very disappointed in AHS. I had a water stoppage for 2 days and AHS has not been able to contact anyone over the weekend. I understand that weekends are extremely busy, however, I can get this issue fixed within 24 hrs if I didn't have insurance. I am not sure why in the world I picked this insurance? They can shove their $35.00 co-pay. With $40.00, I can go to Home Depot and buy me a 25 feet long SNAKE and fix it myself. Professional Service? It's a joke! It takes 45 min. to 2 hours to get a hold of customer service.

Ashley of Memphis (3/12/03):
I bought a house in August 2002, and I paid for AHS in the closing costs of the house. The first thing that went wrong was our disposal in the kitchen didn't work. So we got someone out to fix it through AHS, and of course they finagled their way out, saying that the disposal was rigged with sealant, and they wouldn't cover it. $45 out the door for absolutely nothing. Now, this week, my bathroom toilet completely overflowed, and water started coming out of the bath tub, there was stoppage somewhere in the pipes. We called AHS and they got someone out this morning, and sure enough, they wouldn't cover the cost because there was "no cleanup pipe", so there was another $45 out the window. AHS finds all kind of loop-holes to NOT cover things that go wrong in homes.

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