Home Warranty American Home Sheild

I purchased a home 4 years ago and my real estate agent suggested a home warranty instead of a home inspection. The cost was the same, but I would have protection for 1 year. Sounded good to me.

The heater in the home was very old. Within the first 9 months, it spewed soot and smoke 3 times. I did not call my warranty co. the first two times. I was scared of the smoke and called ANYONE who could come right away. I had the heater cleaned and serviced twice and also had the chimney cleaned. The third time I had the presence of mind to call AHS.

I had to leave a message and they would get back to me. They did. It cost me $50 to have someone come out. The first thing he said upon looking at my heater was, " If I were you, I would start saving for another heater." When I asked him how old he thought the heater was, he said, " How old is the house?" I told him what I had done as far as cleaning everything and he went out to his truck. He spent the better part of an hour on the phone in his truck and came back in to tell me that the heater just needed to be cleaned and AHS would charge me $350.00 for the cleaning, as cleaning is not included in the warranty. This charge was in addition to the $50.00 charge to come out. $400.00 to clean a heater? I had already paid to have the heater cleaned twice and paid to have the chimney cleaned once and still had not paid that much! I said "No thanks."

When he left, I called AHS and the woman I spoke to said she did not know enough about heaters to argue with me. I then asked to speak with someone who did. She said no one was available to speak to.

I contacted my real estate agent and told him what had happened. He said that I should at least be reimbursed for the AHS service. I was not.

I ended up having to pay for a new heater myself.

Please be wary of AHS.

Elaine S Bowen