American Home Shield - unable to get dishwasher fixed within 5 months - told not getting dishwasher replaced, as it should be, per the terms of the warranty

# 6 for August 23, 2003

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 22, 2003:

From:

RE: American Home Shield - unable to get dishwasher fixed within 5 months - told not getting dishwasher replaced, as it should be, per the terms of the warranty In February 2001 I purchased a home warrantee from American Home Shield through my mortgage company. The monthly payment of $38.16 is billed on my mortgage statement under "optional products" and is paid by check together with my mortgage payment to Citimortgage , Inc. All my payments up to date were made in full in a timely manner.

In the beginning of March 2003 I placed an order to have my dishwasher repaired. On the 18th of March, a repairman from Tri County Appliance Service came for a service. He examined the dishwasher and said that it will take a few days to have the parts ordered. The repairman came back a month later, on April 18, replaced some parts and stated that one part is missing, so he cannot complete the work.

Again, it supposed to be a few days for the part to arrive, but he disappeared for two moths. I made about a dozen of calls to AHS, which finally resulted in the repairman coming back on July 24, 2003. This time he announced that he has the wrong part and the dishwasher cannot be fixed at this time. Again, the right part will be ordered and it will take a few days. The same day I called the AHS and spoke to Jo Ann. She did not get back to me, so I called again and spoke to Alicia.

I never heard from her or anyone else at AHS. I also sent an email to the AHS customer service requesting immediate resolution of this issue. No one ever responded. On August 8, I called the AHS and spoke to Theresa. I told her that, according to the terms of my contract, the appliance should be replaced, since it could not be repaired for the last five months. She said she will discuss it with the supervisor and call me back. Since I did not hear from her, I called again on August 19 and spoke to Melinda.

She told me the record shows that the service order was completed and the matter was closed. After lengthy explanation on my part, she finally agreed to check it out, but she said that the dishwasher will not be replaced and I have to wait for the part.

Desired Settlement: Replacement

Settlement Explanation:

For almost half a year the AHS was not able to repair an appliance covered be the warrantee. I believe it is more than enough time to fix it, if it is fixable. My contract with AHS states, that the appliance will be replaced, if it cannot be repaired. At this time the only reasonable solution is to replace the dishwasher immediately. Every contract has to be fulfilled within reasonable period of time, it also has an implied covenant of good faith. The AHS seems to miss both of them.