CenterPoint Energy review: home service plus is a worthless 23

I agree. I have had HSP coverage for over 6 years and called them 4 times. Once for a washer where they said the bearings are out and wouldn't repair it. Once for a Water heater that they could not repair and had to buy a new one. It was the weekend and wanted to get it fixed and they are supposed to offer a good discount on a replacement. The price was ridiculous! Now my dryer won't heat. Called them and it is going to take 4 days (four) to send out a technician! Where does the fact that I am paying $20 a month for a warranty service come in? What is a reasonable time frame for response? I don't expect them to come out today, maybe not tomorrow, but 4 days? I asked them to escalate it. He called Dispatch but then said 4 days out was the earliest. Asked for a Manager, "No one on the floor that can help, but I will register your compliant and a Supervisor will call back in 24 - 48 hours." - Thank you so much. DO NOT USE Home Service Plus. What a rip-off.

I agree HSP is a total waste of money. My AC went out and they could not get here to even look at it for 6 days. My contract says 72 hours for repair plus. You can not cancel within the year so you are out of a lot of money. DO NOT GET HSP
Minneapolis, MN

Hi every one,
I have had service plus for last 10 years as I have a rental property. Last week one of my central air units stopped cooling so I called them. The said the they will have some out to look at in two days. The technician came and told me that it needed some parts and they will have to check into it as the parts might not be available for my unit. One day latter he called me tell me the obvious that indeed the parts were not available and I will need a new unit approximately $[protected] installed and a sales person will contact me. As you can imagine the stress that one goes through when you are handed a $5000 bill. The sales person told me that he will come in 2 days to give an exact estimate.

I had a bad gut feeling about the whole thing how that part were not available and the sales pitch, it was almost that the technician had no intentions of fixing the unit and was more keen on selling me a new one. So while waiting for the sales person to come I started calling around to get a second opinion on price of a new AC and or repair. I found three companies on Craigs List only one
was available to come and look at the AC and give me an estimate right away.

This guy said he wont even charge me anything for service call ($75 charged by most companies that I called). He said if he cant fix it than no charge and will also give a good price on a new uint.

He came on time and opened the unit checked for the parts that I was told to by service plus people that I needed and were not available. After checking for 15 minutes he said that parts were working fine the AC was low on freeon and unit needed to be washed and cleaned which he did. It was like God had sent me an angle, the AC started working perfectly again.

He told me that service plus people had lied to me and were just in it to sell me a new unit they had no intentions of ever fixing it. I filling an official complaint today and will also call the local TV station to find out what can be done. This thing has happened to me before on washer and water softener and at that time I took their word for it thinking that it is reputable company. But 3 times in 3 years, the same answer I need to buy something. To me this fraud they are taking advantage of innocent people who don't know any better. I payed into this scam for 10 years to buy peace of mind but no more. I am cancelling my 4 service plans with them today. Dont buy this plan it is worthless...its is a scam..

Thanks for reading and I am just trying to protect people from what happened to me.

I just had HSP plus out and have been paying for 4 years. My washing machine needed repair ( it is only 3 years old - front loader). I was told my appt was from 1pm-5pm. I left work picked up my young child from daycare and was at my home by 12:45pm. At 1:10pm I called HSP to verify that they were on there way and was told my time was from noon until 8pm and that the tech was here at 12:56pm. I stated that was impossible d/t I was home at 12:45pm and nobody has phoned or came to the door. I next explained that my appt time was from 1pm until 5pm. I was than told that they must have received an emergency phone call and went to another location. I asked than why did they say that they were at my home - I did not ever receive a phone call (they say a call will be placed, no note on the door that I missed them either). I was so upset that I phoned again and was told that the tech was on his way as we speak and will be calling me shorly. The phone rang and it was the tech stating that it would be several hours until he was here d/t an emergency. Needless to say, the tech came out (several hours later and I could have worked my full shift) and nothing was repaired, they need to order parts and once I receive them I need to reschedule. I asked if the rescheduled time can be at my convenience and was told it depends on the techs availability - really another day of missed work, I am positive that I make more than they do and am a single mom with a mortgage and child care costs. This is a joke and I can not even be sure that they can fix the problem after ordering the supposed problem part. I agree that this a rip off... MPLS MN...

The HSP technician who came to my home to do a fireplace tune up was worthless.
He looked at my gas fireplace and asked me "what's wrong with it?" I told him I wanted
to make sure it was in proper working order for the season. "Well, if it worked last year
it should be fine now." Really? I asked him if he could at least clean the glass screen
attached to the fireplace? His response; "You can clean it with window cleaner"
I cancelled my contract with them after he left. HSP is a total waste of money.

Add me to the list of frustrated people with Home Service Plus. My air went out and my appointment was 10 days away. Just called them to tell them to cancel the plan and not charge this month as I had some else come to fix it already. They wouldn't so I am making them come out and check it even though it's fixed. I will not pay them if they don't do anything so they will have to waste everyone's time and money. Too bad they only care about the money each month, not being of service to their customers. I think of the money I've paid them over the years and I'm angry. DON"T USE THEM unless you like have broken appliances waiting to get fixed.

I've been a service plus customer for over 40 years and satisfied until today when I was informed that they're too busy to come out and fix my oven that was working before a repairman came out to check the control board. That part is unavailable but my oven was usable. Now I'm expected to wait 10 days before a repairman will be here to see what the last repairman might have done to my appliance! This is unacceptable service from a once reliable company.

Called HSP today and waited 35 min for someone to answer. The fan in the furnace went out so we had no A/C. They said that they could have someone out in a week. I called another contractor and they said that they could be out tomorrow am. I call HSP back and waited 25 min for an answer. While I was waiting I went online and scheduled an appointment for 1pm to 9pm today. When the HSP rep came on the line I asked why I was told no service for a week but I could go online and get service today. She told me that there was no guarantee that someone would be out today even though I had an email confirmation. I cancelled my plan and the rep told me that they would have to charge me $190 for service performed 4 months ago. Pass the word. DO NOt use this service

We cancelled Service Plus over a year ago and haven't looked back. We had been long time customers and did get a lot of use out of it when our dryer or oven broke. That was when they actually tried to fix things and had the parts on hand, or checked with another tech to see if they had the part. Then it started happening where they would make you schedule a four hour window only to come out and tell you they have to order the part, and then you call them to set up another appointment to have it installed. Then the whole "We'll help you buy a new appliance" plan. Our fridge had trouble and my wife stayed home from work so the tech could come out. The guy told her the fridge is old and on its way out. The compressor is shot and we need a new one. When she told me this, I asked him what the old guy did when he diagnosed it and she said he had me take everything out of the freezer and checked something in there, and then I put everything back. I wondered how he might have diagnosed the compressor being shot when he didn't even look in back.
I made sure the vents were clear and cleaned out the back and the fridge seemed to be fine. That was over a year ago, and we are still using the same fridge with no problems.
Before we cancelled, they sent us an ad about their "We'll help you replace your appliance" plan. That's when I figured they were just pushing customers to replace appliances rather than having them fixed. We cancelled, and of course, the next bill still showed the charge, so we called again, and the next bill STILL showed the charge, we finally cancelled a third time and they finally took it off the bill. They should be investigated.

Used to be a great service. Washing machine had broken hinge. Three different techs came out, all with different stories. One even said he fixed it. By the time the third guy came out the leak had rusted out the door and ruined the ceiling below! Told me it was not woth fixing because bearings were soon to go. I bought new machine myself! Then asked them to come fix gas fireplace. The guy left with the pilot lit but never had a flame in unit. Evertime we tried to light it the flame would come on and then go out. We made sure flue was clear ourselves. Thermostat was changed and it still did not work. It has been 6 weeks and we are without use of the room. They say they are coming tomorrow, sometime within a 4 hour window. Keeping my fingers crossed! We will see!

I called them for my A/C that wasnt working, after 13 days, they came out and told me that the part I needed wasnt covered (same story they told me with my furnace this winter) and would need to buy a new one. They are the biggest waste of money! I have paid them 8000$ total in the years I have had them (just the monthly fee added up)(and another 5500$ for a new furnace), and they have never fixed anything! they always say the appliance needs to be replaced. Whats the point of paying for a service to repair stuff when they never repair anything?!? SO frustrating! Canceling my plan asap!

I've had 1 good and 1 bad experience with HSP - When my Furnace had a problem 2 years ago, they came fairly quickly, got the parts ordered, and repaired it, no fuss, no problem. Now my AC isn't working, so I called them, and the first available appointment is 10 days out?!?! So I'm supposed to have a non-functional AC for 10 days? I called another company today, that is open on sundays and will come out for their normal rate and look at it, with some luck they can fix it. If it needs major repairs I'll let HSP do it then cancel, otherwise as soon as its working, I'm finding an alternative to HSP.

CenterPoint HSP is the worst company ever. Had a service call for the furnace not working last winter said they would be out 1st thing in the AM the following day. Never showed up or called. I called this last week for dryer repair they set up an appointment for 5 days later for 8-12. Checked the status online & it said canceled. I called & they 1st said he called & we canceled then she said he was here & we didn't answer the door. Nobody called or came to the home. I pay over $300 a year and this is scam I get. I'm not sure how they can continue to get away with this crap.

On March 12, 2011 we had a smart meter installed on our home AGAINST us not wanting it, we told the man we did not want them because we had prior knowledge of the smart meters from the problems we read about in California, he said we had no choice. Since then, we have had to move out of our master bedroom (the meter is on the outside wall) we cannot sleep in there any more because of the RF Radiation being emitted throughout our home. We have moved across the house to a spare bedroom and now encountering interruption of sleep there because our next door neighbors meter faces the bedroom we moved to. We have constant headaches and I have had very bad problems with my right eye. We have contacted a myriad of state and local senators and represenatives with no responses and the very few that did passed it off to another department or simply put just did not care. We are now about to put our home up for sale because we cannot live this way - its an outrage, its evil for them to force this on people knowing full well the impact it would have on their health. We have read and researched numerous studies showing the smart meters are on a higher level of danger than a cell phone, they will try to convince you otherwise - If you know of any group of citizens in the houston, texas area fighting this issue, we would like to know and join them. This is an outrage on so many different levels - saving money here like they always promote, its always all about money and they dont care about the people, Im sick and fed up with this sabatoge of smart meters on peoples homes. If that was not good enough, in 2012 you will have to have all your appliances changed out that will have small rf meters on them to communicate with the smart meter - so get ready people, this is just the begining -

Signed
Outraged Victims

I have had several poor to our right rip offs from hsp Centerpoint . I had paid for annual a/c tune up and furnace tune up.
About 2 wks ago they sent some contracted tech very young who was to do both the winter and summer seasonal work. He was in and out of my house in 1/2 hour and said it was all fine. I called to complain and was connected with quality assurance supervisor, bob here in Minneapolis. He came out with another tech he was training. They reviewed everything the guy was supposed to do. They ended up discovering a cracked heat exchanger causing increased levels of carbon monoxide and red tagged the furnace shutting it down. They found leak in a/c. The other guy had done nothing and put me at risk . I just needed main drain cleaned which is part of my plan and again they sent someone who first challenged me on it needing to be done though I had water coming up in basement then said he could not do complete 100 ft clean due to something about my steps in front though another tech in 2013 did complete clean and he was from Centerpoint. I have three more calls into quality assurance. I'm am gradually dropping the services I can. I am waiting on replacement money for the furnace which requires me to keep it on the repair plan though I will not use them again for that. They require you to keep repair plan one year if they replace something . I will be using the warranty coverage from standard which unlike Centerpoint covers every part for 11 years!

I had Hsp for many years. I use them few times to check up. This year my boiler was broken and called hsp hoping to fix it. Hsp told that I need new boiler that cost around $6 to 7 thousand dollars. one point I was ready to get new one from them. As I been checking around and found a technician who can fix it without needing to get new one. that cost $2000. After that I called hsp about it. I hoping to get paid for what I paid to fix it. which they should fix it at first place.
Now on I want be paying hsp and inform people too. anyone reading this don't buy hsp plan. it worthless and taking your money wont give you the service.
thanks

Also a disgruntled customer. They try to upsell their services; change appointments by email within the appointment window--pushing them back a week or more; don't come out for days; won't order parts in advance, so a whole series of appointments (often, each with a long wait) is necessary; and, in the end, aren't worth the monthly cost. I would like to have years' worth of money thrown down the drain of Home Service Plus refunded. In the future, I will just set aside money for repairs when they are needed and use knowledgable contractors who do the work (and get the money) themselves. If anyone knows about a class-action lawsuit or other action against them, I would join.

Well...we'll see if I'll be added to the disgruntled or pleased column. Initially, I had to get my washer repaired, which was under the HSP repair plan. The tech arrived and advised he would not be able to repair it and that it would need to be replaced. Tech remarked it was unfortunate I did not have the replacement plan. I had to purchase a new washer and immediately put the replacement plan on all of my appliances, furnace, air conditioner etc. I have since been requesting literally months of service calls regarding my dishwasher. Guess what...they can't repair it...stating it makes these noises because it's old...but, they do not offer to replace it. So, they're unable to fix it but they're not repairing it either. I have an upcoming appointment, the 4th one, we'll see if they can correct the issue this time. I would think it would have been cheaper to agree to a replacement rather then send a tech out 4 times. I know that if there is no resolution this time, I'll be contacting their customer service to request a refund of the many years I've been paying in to the repair and replacement plan.

The pilot on my water heater went out and I could not get it to restart on my own. I called HSP and they will send a technician out in 12 days because that is the earliest appointment they have. They did not even have a supervisor available to discuss the issue with. I might get a call in the next 2 days. I have made good use of HSP when my furnace or clothes dryer has needed repairs. I had the full coverage plan and was paying a good chunk of money each month. I would suggest that you reduce the coverage you are paying for to the absolute minimum and save the money for repairs on the things that do not normally have problems. Why give money to this company if they cannot provide service in a timely manner?

Home service plus is definitely a scam. I signed up so they could service my water heater and when the tech showed up he said that he could not touch or repair anything water related on the WATER heater. I was absolutely floored that they had the audacity to think that would make sense. Definitely recommend staying away from this awful company and their terrible customer service. Work with a local company instead!

My furnace went out this week in sub zero temperatures. It took Home Service Plus 2 solid days to get out and fix it. My house was 46 degrees for 2 days! Day after it got fixed I of course had a pipe burst in my basement. Thousands of dollars of damage. Massive headache and expense. Wish so much I didn't trust them to help me when they left me hanging like that!