American Home Shield - AHS
Definitely NOT worth the money - better off without them

Background: This was a warranty on a purchase of a home in August.

Here is my experience (vain attempt at getting service):

1. I called the company on 11/11/08 because my spa heater was not working. The light was on, but the water was cold. I was told API would call me in a day or two to schedule an appointment. I said "do I need to call them?" The answer was essentially, "No, they'll call you".

2. A week later, on 11/17 or 11/18, I called them AGAIN. The "service company" had not made an appointment call. AHS said they would re-send the request (I'm thinking probably for the first time). 2 days later, API calls and schedules an appointment for 11/21, between 2 and 4pm.

3. Finally, Friday arrives and I am hoping I will finally be able to use my spa. I make special arrangements to get off work early so I can be home between 2-4pm to meet the service technician.

4. At 4:15pm, I call AHS and ask why the technician has not arrived. After being on hold for 15 minutes (on my cell phone), I was told the technician was "on his way" (4:30pm). At 4:45pm, the technician arrives. He pokes around and finds the previous owner of the house had disconnected the heater because it was broken.

5. The technician calls AHS and talks to 3 different customer service reps for AHS attempting to get the claim paid.in every case, AHS customer service denied coverage saying it was "pre-existing". I will point out that the home inspector has passed the spa because the heater light was "ON" (but not heating the spa).in August, in Phoenix, you can't tell whether or not the spa is being heated. It's going to be over 100 degrees. Chalk one up for customer service training.

6. We purchased home warranty insurance to cover defects in the used home — that's why you purchase it. However, AHS denied the claim and told me I could pay RETAIL price of $350 to get the spa fixed, and of course the $60 service fee that had to be paid no matter what. Of course, if I wanted to pay RETAIL price, I could of had it fixed in 2 days, not 2 weeks.

7. When I complained to customer service about the lack of coverage, all that was said was "you have great coverage", over and over again, no matter what I said. I don't think its great coverage. It seemed to me that it was POLICY to find and deny for "pre-existing" conditions. But hey, "I have GREAT coverage!".

Hmmmph! I don't think so.

I HIGHLY recommend that you avoid this company and simply SELF-INSURE. That is what you will be doing anyway if you buy their service. It is my opinion that you should absolutely avoid this company.

Company: American Home Shield - AHS
Country: USA
State: Iowa
City: Carroll
Address: PO Box 849

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