On approximately 10/21, I requested service for water leaking through my living room wall. At the time, I wasnt aware of the numerous complaints made against AHS from consumers. The leak was coming from where my air conditioner and water heater are co-located. I submitted a work request and American Home Shield sent out a contractor. At the time, I wasnt aware that the contractor they had hired to come out for the repair appears to be listed as having an unsatisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau and on July 10 this company's membership in the Better Business Bureau was revoked by the Better Business Bureau's Board of Directors.
When the plumber came out, I showed him the leak and told him it could be either from the water heater or condensation from the air conditioner. The plumber proceeded to look for the leak. After he punched holes in two walls, he looked again at the air conditioner and surmised that the leak was actually condensation coming from the air conditioner. The plumber was very polite and honest with me and apologized and said that if he had checked something else first he wouldnt have punched holes in the walls. The plumber said it was one of those days for him and I was very understanding of the situation.
The plumber and I were both under the impression that AHS would cover the repair of the wall. I contacted AHS and made request to repair the wall. When the contractor came out to repair the wall, I learned that AHS would only cover part of the damage. The contractor would only do basic patches with tape and I paid the contractor $20.00 extra just to put on some extra putty to prepare the wall for retexturing. Since that time, I had to have that basic work REDONE by another contractor because the basic work was not adequate.
At the beginning of this situation, I contacted AHS Customer Service who initially refused to listen to my concerns. I was very polite and professional but the person I spoke with was patronizing and informed me I was on my own with the situation. I had made several more phone-calls asking for assistance with the situation and the Customer Service personnel continued to refuse assistance to me. Each time I called, I spoke to a different person and each person was unaware of the situation, even though each person said the matter would be looked into and someone would get back to me to act as a liaison. During that time frame, no one ever returned my call.
I tried to contact a supervisor regarding this whole mess but was told by one person that she was the highest level I could speak with and if I didnt like it, to take AHS to court. After several phone-calls and much frustration, I took a more direct approach and finally got through to the corporate office. The person I spoke to seemed completely unaware of the multiple conversations that had transpired prior to our conversation. She agreed to be a liaison between the contractor and myself. However, at that point it was already too late as I had already had communication with the contractor. AHS refused to honor their agreement every step of the way and would not offer any service until it was too late, and I had to really push just to get that far. I requested a refund on the service fee in November which was never processed until long after, when I eventually filed a Better Business Bureau complaint.
Since this all began, I had to have that basic wall-repair that AHS contractor REDONE by another contractor because the repairs that were initially done by AHS contractor was not completed adequately and had to be redone prior to retexturing. What should have been a minor situation has snow balled into one big mess due to AHS shady business workings and refusal to assist when needed.
"If for any reason you are not totally satisfied with our service, American Home Shield will continue working with you until you are satisfied or American Home Shield will refund the amount of the trade service call fee." This NEVER happened. I received no assistance and no follow up. Customer service told me I could not discuss this issue with anyone else and I was told that the only recourse is to go to court. I welcome that feedback and will strongly consider that option given to me. AHS has failed to live up to the guarantee. The staffs abrasive attitude and steadfast refusal to provide assistance as liaison with contractor or otherwise assist, has forced me to escalate this simple matter to higher levels. Some research has shown me that the BBB and other watchdog agencies have already received numerous complaints nearly identical to my situation. I only hope that this trend can be resolved before others suffer the pains and misfortune I have suffered at the hands of AHS customer service.
This situation was not resolved. I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint as Customer Service Issues. Marcy Codys response failed to address any of these concerns. She didnt mention why AHS refused to act as a liaison between myself and the contractor until after numerous phone-calls were made and AHS was pressed to do so. She didnt respond as to why AHS would not return phone calls or even look in to the matter. She certainly had no answer as to AHS Customer Services terse manner of speaking and rude behavior, which certainly initiated my frustration. Actually I dont blame Ms. Cody for attempting to navigate around these problems that AHS has with Customer Service; the same customer service concerns that I had stated are easily found in numerous other complaints made against AHS.
Ms Cody did acknowledge that they dispatched the named contractor; however, she failed to respond as to why AHS dispatched a contractor that is listed as having an unsatisfactory record with the BBB and had its membership in the BBB revoked. Ms. Cody acknowledged how a 2nd contractor repaired the wall to rough finish. However, she failed to respond as to how I had to have a different contractor redo that work to rough finish (again) prior to repairing. Ms. Cody acknowledged that the Executive Relations Department did waive the $55.00 trade service call. She failed to mention that I had requested this in OCT-NOV and the refund on the service fee had not been received until after I filed this complaint.
Despite AHS lack of assistance, I was able to negotiate with the original contractor regarding the repair of my wall. However, I am still $20 out of pocket. Much of this could have been worked through had AHS behaved more appropriate and professional when dealing with my concerns. Due to this mess, I contacted AHS and asked to cancel my policy and refund me the remaining pro-rated amount for time remaining on policy. They did cancel my policy, but charged me the same amount that they owed me on the refund so what I got was a terminated home warrany with no money back. Then, AHS continued to call me almost daily to ask me to renew my policy.
Steve
San Antonio, Texas
U.S.A.
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