Our water heater failed on October 4, and leaked all over our garage. We immediately called First American Home Buyers Protection Corp and filed a claim. First American said they would call a contractor right away and have them contact us to arrange to come out and assess the problem.
2 days later - Hadn't heard from contractor or First American so we called First American to find out what was going on. They said they had notified the contractor about our claim. They gave us the phone number for the contractor. We called the contractor and they had not received our claim yet. Called First American back and they said they'd get our information to the contractor right away.
2 days later - Contractor finally comes out to assess the problem. They said we needed a replacement water heater (duh!) so they would send their report to First American.
We haggled back and forth with the contractor and First American for days. First American advised us that we would have to pay for a large portion of the replacement, $250 minimum (which was not listed in the service contract). They also stated it would take 7-10 days just to order a water heater (basic 50 gallon water heater) and then the contractor would make an appointment to install it. We had no choice but to install it ourselves as we could not live like this.
We opted for the cash out, and on 10-13-08 "Parvis" at First American said he would rush it through to their accounting dept. And a check would be mailed within days. He stated he would call back.
On 10-24-08 I called again because Parvis never called back and we didn't receive a check. I spoke with "Alyssa". She apologized for the inconvenience, said she would rush the check for approval to a supervisor and accounting, and mail the check on Monday October 27th. She would also call same day to follow up. She even gave me her "direct" line in case there was an issue.
No call, no check and it's now October 29th. I called First American and spoke with Nicole. She stated that nothing had been done since my last call.
I asked for a supervisor and "Kathy" answered. I explained the situation again. She could only say the same thing; "I will approve the check and send it to accounting". They should be able to get the check out in 7-10 days (no guarantees). I asked why "Alyssa" told me on October 27th that she could have the check mailed 3 days later. Kathy stated that this was not policy.
We have no reason to believe that this is going to be handled by the Van Nuys office. I am now called the Ventura County rep. To seek assistance.
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