Complaint Regarding Old Republic Home Warrant Plan Number 19-435-378, Work Order Number 4954-4953, Initial Service Date: November 7 issue is ongoing to current. Hot water heater needs to be replaced, OHRP is refusing to do so after I questioned a quote that got more than doubled in price due to additional work needed for meeting code, yet when I asked what code, that was when the problems started.
Last month I had a service call to get someone to look at the hot water heater and OHRP sent a technician who advised it needed to be replaced and that there would be a total charge of about $150.00 for the service call fee and items that were not covered.
There was a lot of back and forth on timing, scheduling, etc and the technician finally got to the house this past Friday and advised that the actual charge was going to be $390.00 due to some items that needed to be brought up to code. I asked for a breakdown itemization of these charges, which were emailed to me and I asked which codes it was that needed to be brought into compliance. At this point, the technician contacted OHRP and pretty much washed his hands of this entire thing and said to get another technician. OHRP called me after this and I pretty much got admonished for questioning the contractor and told that I really needed to take the cash payout option that was being offered and get this done on my own. I explained that this was not really practical, as I live in Washington, DC and the house is in San Antonio, Texas.
At this point I was told that another service technician would be assigned. Today, the second technician went to the house and came back with the ruling that the hot water heater was functioning properly and did not need to be replaced. I spoke with OHRP at this point and advised that the hot water is lukewarm at best, and runs out rather quickly, as the water heater is not heating the water as it should and does need to be replaced. I was told that OHRP would try to find another technician to take a look at this matter.
This leaves me having to coordinate a third service call with my property manager and tenants, and my tenants still not having hot water. Not a good scenario. The original technician's action of more than doubling of the original price and then not wanting the job when he was asked what exactly was out of code and needed to be brought up to compliance speaks volumes for itself.
I do not understand how the water heater was deemed to need replacing, and if I had blindly paid the $390.00 it would have been on Friday, but since I have questioned this, and declined taking the cash payout, now Monday comes and it is determined that the water heater is functioning properly... Yet, that is not the case.
I was told yesterday that a supervisor from OHRP would be contacting me, but that never happened. I finally got through to a supervisor late yesterday and was basically told that OHRP was going with what the second technician had said in that the water heater did not need to be replaced, but because I was contesting this they were going to send someone out.
I do not know when this will occur, and OHRP would not give me a time frame. The assessment by the first technician that the water heater did need to be replaced is apparently something that is now not acknowledged by OHRP.
I find it very concerning that if I had paid the inflated price that was more than double the original estimate or taken the cash payout that I was pressured to do, then this matter would have been resolved but since I did not, now I am going to be made to suffer, and my tenants are not going to have hot water in December.
Deceptive business practice and fraudulent in what has happened here in my opinion. I will certainly be looking for another home warranty company. I have also emailed the person who was listed as the Regional VP for Texas (Terry Toole) for OHRP regarding this matter, but did not get a reply.
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