I have finally come to the hard reality that home warranty companies are a total ripoff. This is the second one I have dealt with and it is the worst I have dealt with. Not only is it almost impossible to place a service request, but then it is virtually impossible to speak to anyone that has any authority.
I placed a call to Nationwide 2 weeks ago - it took 3 days before someone contacted me. The contractor eventually arrived and spent sometime diagnosing the problem with my airconditioner. He eventually left after saying that he would have to get authorization from Nationwide to replace a part. Well Nationwide did not return his calls, consequently I tried to contact Nationwide on his behalf. I battled for 3 days (everything seems to work in 3's) to get hold of them. I eventually managed to contact them and spoke to the Claims Supervisor. He turned down my claim saying that if an item is under warranty then they would not touch it!
This is very odd as the warranty on my aircon unit was for parts only and not labor. The home warranty company does not cover labor! When questioning this state of affairs I was informed that none of the home warranty companies will repair an appliance if it was under warranty, even if the part was actually replaced by the warranty company. Now this item was originally replaced by a home warranty company, and on informing this claims supervisor of this, he became abusive and accused me of trying be be a crook - This was after he had been extremely sarcastic to me telling me I was stupid. I informed him that I was been totally honest and said that I was only expecting the home warranty company to pay the labor. At this point he swore at me and called me a (something!) thief. At this point I informed him that his conversation was being recorded at which he made another rude comment and hung up.
To say that I was extremely upset after this experience is an understatement. Unfortunately there appears to be no one to speak to at this company to make a formal complaint against this guy. I related this experience to the contractor that Nationwide sent out to me and he was not surprised at all - he has had similar dealings with the same claims supervisor.
This is the 2nd Home Warranty company I have dealt with - the other being the largest operator in this business. I feel that it is my duty to warn homeowners when thinking about getting a home warranty as they are pretty much worthless and should be considered a ripoff.
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