I have mine through AIG. It went into effect on Jan 1st and a week later, my hot water heater started leaking at 2 in the morning. Turned off the water and called them first thing in the morning and they had a contractor out in less than an hour. The cool thing was that when the contractor asked the warranty person if they wanted to pay for a new one or just fix the old one, the warranty person said "he has 2 small children, we better just replace it." I had just casually mentioned it to the rep on the phone. The contractor said that was par for the course and AIG was his favorite warranty company to work for. Whole thing cost me $100.
The achilles heel I've found is not knowing whether they'll cover. On 2 occasions, I've had a problem that was debatable whether they'd cover so I called to ask. They told me they wouldn't know until they sent out a guy to look at it. But, there's a dispatch fee for them if it's something they don't cover. So it's a gamble -- do you use them and pay either 0 or full price plus dispatch fee, or do you get a little guy who is guaranteed to cost something but will be less than full price and no dispatch fee.
Got a lil home warranty situation and wondering if anyone else has had this experience or has a recommendation. Dishwasher is a mess. Got home warranty companty to send someone out to look at it. (Long story short, took over 2 months to get a repair person to look at it and tell home warranty company it needs to be replaced. Lots of missed appointments by Sears, no phone calls to let me know they were showing up, etc). So First American-the home warranty company sends us an appliance replacement offer. A link to the page of a new GE dishwasher for $430 (not sure how they arrived at that price), and on that page, the dishwasher apparently comes in 3 colors- white, black and stainless steel. Called the home warranty company and they say it's a take it or leave it offer. Take the dishwasher replacement(and the color type they choose, in this case, white), or get a check for the price of it and get the dishwasher bought and installed ourselves. My problem is, I would like a black or stainless steel dishwasher. They tell me nope, it can only be in white. I argue with them that it costs them nothing to give me one of the other two colors as the price is the same. They stated to me that it says in the contract that they don't have to match. I told them it had nothing to do with matching as none of those three colors really matches our kitchen but I would prefer the black or stainless steel. So basically I'm preparing to write a letter of complaint or call up some executives at their main office and see if that gets anywhere. Anyone ever had a similar experience and/or have any recommendations? Thx.
Try to escalate the issue (if it's a big enough company, you'll eventually get to someone who will actually help), even check on social media and complain on their page via social media or even reviews too etc. I know when I had home warranty I got a black replacement stove/oven in place of white... And it wasn't through check etc. The other option is to find a comparable model to what you have now and show that it costs this much to replace etc (so you get the number higher). I also recommend if you do go last route you just install it yourself (not sure on your experience with this stuff, but it's easy and can save you money towards more expensive washer, if they're charging install etc). But having all the information on price up front you should be able to negotiate. Don't settle I got a new oven installed and even sold the old one (they let me keep old one, it sort of worked but was having issues on certain settings), I am really not sure why they let me keep it... Haha, made an extra $100..
Lastly with this " take it or leave it..." Keep sending techs out, they can't prove it works/doesn't... Haha, you should see this **** I had Sears doing.. Not home warranty related, but there was known defect with their Kenmore line of washers... Managed to get $900 towards new one, this was of course after I had them ship parts out repeatedly that were broken... The parts legitimately were broken but I know it was costing them a lot of money and it was easier to make me go away (they kept shipping these tub assemblies that were huge and all were broken because of shipping) ... But you get the point, squeaky wheel.... I also used a line during escalating... Tech told me "no one else here to speak with", I told them "ohhhhhhh I didn't realize I was speaking to Mr. Roebuck!!", lol it took a few calls but you get the point. Also always argue friendly, gets you further than yelling... well normally
Obviously ssuming you currently don't have a white dishwasher, I'd try to escalate it. However, if $430 seems remotely in the ballpark of what you think replacement value is, then I'd be very tempted to just take the money and get exactly the brand/model/color you want.
American Home Shield won't cover anything wrong at our house and the contractors they send have no showed 2 out of 3 times. Then they cancel your ticket because nothing has been done on it. I have heard similar stories about others too though. My gf took off of work to be at the house for the contractors and they said they went to the house and called. No missed calls and no one came to the door.
I've heard from friends that have had AHS nothing but complaints. I've recently purchased my 3rd house with Old Republic. After the 1st week in here, the control panel on the pool heater went bad. Called OR, they had someone out the next day and it was replaced. That part alone cost more than my year subscription. Plus the tech walked me through some of the basics because I've never owned a pool before. ferrari77...I'd escalate the problem. Threaten to cancel. If there's no cost difference, then their choice of white despite your wishes is just someone being a dick for the sake of being a dick.
Same thing happened to me. First American and the contractor they called(Sears). I took time off work to be at the house for them and the *#&$ said they came to the house and called. No missed calls and no one came to my door. I was beyond livid at that! Got them to send any other contractor not named Sears and they(First American) knew better than to charge me the service call fee for that. (This was after about 4 or 5 missed appointments by Sears).
