The story: Our ejector pump broke (ejector pump is similar to a sump pump, but pumps out wastewater to the city sewer instead of storm water to the yard) in our new house. I called HWA. I was told I'd get a call from a plumber at 9am the next day. I didn't. I called again at 11am. I was told the plumber would call that afternoon. I called him. He didn't know what I was talking about, b/c he was closed on Sunday. He only comes out for emergencies on Sundays, and this was not classified an emergency. (What if it rained and our basement flooded? Not sure.)
The plumber did come out Monday morning. He notices it's an "ejector pump" (by function, not by pump, the installed pump is a sump pump). He calls HWA. They say it's not covered (nice home warranty, it doesn't cover the basic elements of the house). Problem is, we had to pay the plumber $100 before he would set foot in the house.
I call HWA to discuss. They say they'll listen to the first call I made, and if I said "sump pump", they are not at fault. A manager will listen to the call and the cust. Service rep. Will call me back. I request that the person who listens to the call be the one who calls me back. They reluctantly agree. They say it will be 24-48 hours.
Six days later I get the call back. After talking to the manager, it is explained to me that HWA's policy is to make NO attempt to clarify the problem over the phone, even if it is easily discernible between a problem that is covered and one that is not covered. The reason is because some people don't know how to tell the difference between pumps. I suggest that asking the question is easy, and a warning that if the pump is not a "sump" pump, informing the caller that they may be paying $100 for no reason would be appreciated. HWA makes no admittance and stands by their policy.
I said I understand your policy and I disagree with it and I would like to cancel my policy. They offered a prorated refund with a $30 cancellation fee.
Overall poor handling of a request. A simple question would have saved us the $100 payment. It's just bad business.
0 comments