Home warranties – similar to auto warranties you buy on a used car – may not be worth the money you spend on them, according to many consumer complaints
Worse, you could end up with sub-standard firms working on critical systems in your home – electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning.
Angie’s List says home warranty service companies have been rated No. 1 “worst graded” category by Angie’s List members for six year. In 2010, 54 percent of the reviews on these types of businesses received a D or F grade. Members misunderstanding or disagreeing with what their warranties cover and the quality of repair work are cited in the majority of complaints.”
Angie’s List says that many top tradesmen refuse to work for Home Warranty firms because they pay so little, so mostly new firms or firms with checkered backgrounds end up being on the list of tradesmen home owners are authorized to use.
Plus – again as with auto warranties – home owners must pay a $50 to $75 fee for every issue.
“In order to minimize misunderstandings, experts stress the importance of reviewing and understanding a service contract before purchasing a home warranty,” Angie’s List says.
“Like anything else, make sure you shop around,” says Tim Meenan, executive director of the Service Contract Industry Council, a national trade association that supports home warranties and advocates the regulation of the industry. “Read what’s covered and the exclusions. If you read those two sections, you’ll have a good idea if it’s a policy you want to buy.”
I have had horrible experiences with Choice Home Warranty- they had me chase them for 9 months to get payment then said my case was closed and refused to reimburse me. They had me fill out a form and I got authorization in February and after 10 calls, emails and faxes of all documents (about 3 hours all told with getting shuttled around to various departments), I was told the case was closed and they were not going to reimburse me a penny.
First American is my current company and they are amazing- completely changed my mind about home warranty companies- night and day… from the worst company with the worst customer service and ethics to one that stands behind its word!
Had a similar experience with Choice Home Warranty. After reviewing their policy within the 30 day cancellation period i realized that their coverage was full of holes and decided to cancel. They have a %50 cancellation fee which I excepted as a lesson learned, but they sold me a multi-year contract and charged me $50 for each year. I ended up paying $250 to get out of the deal. Stay away from this company, bad policy all around.
I had a horrible experience with Choice Home Warranty! They dispursed a technician out to repair my refrigerator that rendered the refrigerator unrepairable. They dispursed another technician out from a different company that would not even touch the refrigerator after the first repair guy broke it. I contact CHW and they offered me $150 for a side by side stainless steel refrigerator that was less than 3 years old. After contacting them on several occasions I was told that I could file a civil suit against the repairman. At this point I knew I wasn’t dealing with a good faith company. After much research I discovered that they have been sued by several states for the services provided to the citizen within that state. These people must be stopped.