My initial letter to American Home Shield (AHS) explains the situation:
To Whom It Concerns:
After much discussion, my wife and I decided that we have no intention of paying the enclosed invoice, 76451262 12/05.
We firmly believe that payments should only be made when a service provider actually provides a service. Simply arriving at a potential customer's home is not a service. Moreover, what Burke Plumbing & Heating Inc.'s representative did was actually a disservice to us. (We considered billing and or suing you and Burke but decided the sums involved were too trivial to pursue.)
The representative appeared to me a shyster, a con man if you will, somebody out to make a fast buck (actually hundreds of them) rather than to aid new homeowners in need. The plumber that I replaced him with, who fixed the problem for a small fraction of what Burke wanted to charge us merely to begin assessing possible problems, said that the Burke rep. Was either dishonest or incompetent. Either way, he did nothing but waste our time and try our patience.
I'd be happy to talk this matter over with a representative of American Home Shield at my home number but have little more to say other than we did not purchase the policy (the seller did) and value it little.
Sincerely...
AHS responded with a form letter stating that the invoice was still due because somebody they sent arrived at my house. I scrawled on it that I'd see them in court. Predictably, they simply billed me again. So I called their customer service number and with considerable difficulty managed to extract from the CSR the fact that I needed to submit the invoice from the plumber who actually did the job. Like that matters!
Given the CSR's attitude, lack of skill, and AHS's refusal to apologize or investigate Burke my hypothesis that AHS is running a giant scam is strengthened. The large number of similar complaints on this website is more proof as is there own website, which inter alia reveals the cloven hoof of their business plan, to sell to home sellers as a marketing device. For more on the FUBAR economics of the home warranty industry, please see my blog at (ROR REDACTED LINK FOR SECURITY PURPOSES)
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