I have had a home warranty package through First American since the purchase of my home, approximately 3 years ago.
Fortunately, there have only been a few occasions that I have had to use them for minimal repairs, "UP" until the winter of 2003 on into 2004.
The gas furnace started having problems. It took '4' trips from a company by the name of Platinum Air Conditioning and Heating before First American finally decided they may need to send out Pro Tech Mechanical to try and get the problem resolved. This tech decided I needed to climb in my attic first thing in the morning just prior to the time the programmable thermostat was to 'kick' on the furnace, so that I could watch the 'flame'.
He said this would help him determine whether it needed a 'flame sensor' or not. I had to count how many times it came on, went out and how long it stayed on and how long it stayed out.
Two more trips later, 2 programmable thermostats later, one flame sensor later, and a whole lot of electrical tape later, my furnace worked again, some of the time!
THEN, summer hits!
The air conditioner and dishwasher decide to go out at just about the same time. So, I make the service call to First American, on a Sunday night. Two weeks later, it is still between 85-89 degrees in my house and my dishwasher has yet to be fixed. The first tech from Streamliner comes out and says that the unit needs condemned, that it is 'shot'.
He places the call to First American who demands a 2nd opinion. The tech from Premier Air Conditioning & Plumbing comes out and says it just needs a circuit board. He places the call to First American and they say replace it. Next problem? It's on back order and they didn't know when it might be in.
I then placed another call of many to First American to try and get an intelligent answer as to why they believe the 2nd tech over the first tech, as at this point I was sick and tired of bandaids being put over the problems. After all, I thought all air conditioning techs went to the same school! And these are the people 'they' chose to send out. No one could give me an answer and I felt I was treated very, very rudely by every rep that I talked to. It was obvious that they were looking for the cheapest way out. A rep by the name of Christina even said it was 'more cost effective'. I had one rep to just laugh at the situation.
Not until I decided to go by the realty office who recommended First American Home Warranty when I bought my house, that I finally got some action and a first return call. On their recommendation, I called the Regional Manager for First American for this area who took it from there.
However, it is now 4 weeks later and my dishwasher is still broken, tech from First Choice comes out, has to order part. Part comes in, AFTER "I" call, schedule the appointment, with a 4 hour window, tech calls, my daughter didn't get to the phone so he leaves the area (even though the appointment is set). I call, reschedule, take half day off for the 4 hour window again, no show. "I" call, they decided to reschedule for a week later, without notifying me.
I have another call into the Regional Manager. I can't speak for the other home warranties of the world, but I do know first hand, that First American is one of the most unprofessional businesses I have ever had to deal with. And I will not be renewing.
I am reporting them to the BBB as well as the Attorney Generals Consumer Service Division and still contemplating on contacting the local television stations.
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