Choice Home Warranty
Reviews and Complaints

From: Mendoza, Nelson
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2021 2:14 PM
To: twilson@choicehomewarranty.com; chwcares@choicehomewarranty.com; confirm@choicehomewarranty.com
Cc: Gloria Latter ; Brown, Debora
Subject: CP21000462 GLORIA LATTER VS CHOICE HOME WARRANTY

Greetings,

Please find the captioned complaint filed with our agency against your business. Please review the provided documents and issue the required written response within the 10-day allotted time frame. Please refer to case number CP21000462 when you call or email me regarding this matter. Currently our office is working remotely and the best number to call me is [protected] to discuss this case.

Complaint Case Synopsis:

Consumer alleged that on or about August 6, 2020, she purchased a Choice Home Warranty (Policy # 885273678) from your business. Consumer claimed that on or about May 1, 2021, consumer's A/C stopped working. Consumer alleged that a subcontracted repair technician from your business inspected consumer's A/C unit and determined that A/C damage was a result of clogged or restricted coils, not related to "wear and tear", and the unit could not be repaired. Consumer claimed that your business refused to replace consumer's damaged A/C unit via consumer's Home Choice Warranty. Consumer claimed she paid $8, 000.00 to another A/C company to replace the damaged A/C unit.

Consumer claimed she paid a total of $8, 545.00 to replace the damaged A/C unit. Consumer expressed willingness to reach an amicable agreement with your business to avoid further court litigation procedures, Therefore, consumer is willing to accept a refund payment from your business in the amount of $8, 000.00. Consumer agreed not to request a refund payment for the $65.00 service required fee and the $480.00 Home Warranty Fee. Please provide your proposal as soon as possible.

Our agency is required/mandated to investigate any consumer claims pursuant to HC Consumer Protection Ordinance 06-22 to promote honest and fair business practices.

Our jurisdiction in civil matters is to work, as an unbiased mediator, to reach an amicable resolution agreement between consumer and the business. We are not attorneys and do not seek damages. I look forward to working with both interested parties to resolve this dispute as soon as possible. I'm confident we can reach a resolution agreement through our mediation efforts. I hope you have an excellent day.

Sincerely,

Nelson Mendoza
Consumer Protection Investigator
Department of Consumer and Veterans Services
_

P: [protected]
F: [protected]
E: [protected]@HCFLgov.net
W: HCFLgov.net/Consumer

Let us know how we are doing: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HC-CVS

The dishwasher is old. Your repairman Ben's Appliance said it had to be replaced DUE TO NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR SEAL leaking no longer do they make parts. It is not due to rust or corrosion. You waited me out on my a/c claim while my house was 110 degrees so I paid for new A.C You waited me out on the thermostat replacement for same reason, but you can't wait me out on this one. You owe me a replacement and I intend to use every method known to man to make you hobor your advertised warranties Also you gave me a link to make an appointment with my claims manager and it goes to no page found. My constant messages left for Tia Wilson have not received fruition. Call me [protected]

I contacted Choice Home Warranty on 6/15/21 regarding the hot water heater not coming on. A company was assigned to come out and assess the damages 6/16/21 On 6/18/21 the authorization was approved to replace the water heater. The company that was elected by Choice advised me that they would not be able to replace the water heater until Tuesday 6/22/21 which would have been 4 additional days. During this entire time my family and I were without hot water making it difficult to take showers without freezing and we also have small children We decided to get another company that could do the same work for the same price which was done on Friday 6/18/21. We had to pay for the services out of pocket expecting to seek reimbursement from Choice Home Warranty for a necessary repair that could not wait an additional four days. Documents have been furnished to Choice Home Warranty which is refusing to reimburse it's customer stating the repair was not authorized when in fact it was. This is outrageous.

We submitted a claim to Choice Home Warranty on 4/22/21 and this was assigned to Bass Heating and Cooling. Choice claimed that the cause of failure of the system was with the evaporator coil, claiming it was leaking refrigerant and had to be replaced. Choice told us that the leak had been exposed to corrosion or acidic materials that have infiltrated the air stream and air flow throughout the house and damaged the integrity of the coil. Then Choice referred us to terms and conditions of our contract: Section F number 1; we are not responsible for malfunction or improper operation due to rust or corrosion of all systems and appliances. Choice refused to send anyone else out to repair our system and refused to pay for anything. We called Mr. Bass and he told us that he did NOT report any corrosion.
We called Kim Foreman/Heating and Air, who is a accredited agent with Goodman (our AC Unit is a Goodman and must be repaired by a Goodman approved company.) Mr. Bass was not an accredited agent. It was determined that a small part on the outside of the unit was allowing the refrigerant to leak out. This was replaced and refrigerant was added; the unit has run excellently ever since (today's date is 6/23/21) The inside coil was examined and it was determined there is NO CORROSION or leaks. Kim Foreman will send a letter from the company to verify that the Choice Home Warranty was trying to cheat us out of the repair services that our contract should cover. I will get a statement from Kim Foreman if necessary. Choice Home Warranty should pay the cost of repairing our AC according to our contract.

My water heater failed. I promptly informed Choice Home Warranty of my problem. water all over the house. They have a contact obligation to begin to find someone to solve the problem with 4 hours. And to have a service person at least contact me within 4 days max, if weekend days are included. They failed to do either. I asked them several times for the name of a local business that took their calls. They did not supply me with a name. After 5 days of absolutely no action on their part, and with a lot of communication between them and my self, nothing had been done. I then found a service person to change out a new water heater bought by myself. I have asked them to reimburse me the cost, a total of $746.23. They have consistently replied that I didn't get permission before getting my own contractor. Since they did not supply me any name of any company, I felt my only option was to get someone on my own. All efforts to reach any kind of agreement has been futile.

A Technician was sent to our home to fix our AC. He called Choice and they denied the claim. I decided to accept the service and the cost was $500. We told the Technician that we would pay to have the work completed. He then said he didn't take credit cards so we couldn't get the work done and had to pay a $85.00 service charge but the work didn't get done because we were not aware that the company didn't accept credit cards. I called Choice customer service to share this concern. They said the Technician can accept whatever payments they want. I do get that BUT Choice should share this with customers and state this when a claim is made. I have never had a Technician from Choice who didn't take credit cards. I gave away $85.00 and I still have the problem and I have to get another Technician to come out and fix the problem.
I was on the phone for almost 30 minutes with someone with a strong accent whic was hard to understand. I asked for a number to call someone in authority but he wouldn't share the number and kept putting me on hold while he spoke to a supervisor who said they will call me back in 24 hours. Hopefully, they follow through. Very disappointing to wait for 2 days in the midst of the summer heat for a Technician to arrive and then not get the problem resolved.

We filed a claim because our refrigerator suddenly stopped working properly.

First, we got a runaround and then we were finally assigned 2 representatives to discuss our claim.

They first gave us a time they would call for the Eastern time zone which is fine because that's where we live. So we sat and waited. No call.

Then while we were deciding what to do, we got a follow-up email indicating that the call would occur during the same time frame but in the Central time zone. So, we waited again for this scheduled phone call.

And nothing.

This is our first experience with this company and we are VERY disappointed with the service. Very.

If they don't want to cover our valid claim, just tell us.

Based on this experience, I would NOT recommend Choice Home Warranty.

I hold a policy with Choice Home Warranty. My first claim with them is for a faulty hot water heater. I placed the claim and was assigned a plumbing company: True Heart Plumbing came out. They told me the H/W tank was indeed about to fail due to age and rust in the bottom of the tank. They shared they would insist the unit be replaced along with all the adjacent piping due to obvious age related failure.
I received an email from Choice Home Warranty stating they were denying the claim because it had a faulty expansion tank; which was not covered.
I was able to file a quick dispute claim. This phone conversation took place several days later. As is expected the claims adjusted was prepared to continue denying the claim. Completely ridiculous notion that the hot water tank itself was not covered-only other parts connected to it. I explained the ONLY reason hot water tanks fail is due to age and use of the tank itself; rarely, if ever to other parts connected to it fail. I told him Choice Home Warranty should REMOVE all coverage on hot water tanks because they are deceiving the consumer when they know the tank itself is not covered. Stay away from this company. Their MO is clear: Deny all claims as a default strategy. Then push back on all dispute claims as well. They should be class action law sued or at the very least have the US Government file fraud claims against them until they are pushed out of existence.

I went to compare services and was actually impressed with their prices. But, in 24 hours, i received 4 calls from them to pressure me into buying. I told them on the first call that I would buy, but wanted a little time. But no, they had to keep calling and calling. I warned them that I would not buy if they called me again, but they did. Steer clear away from this high-pressure gimmick. If they wont listen to you when they want you to buy, do you actually think they will listen when you already bought and need something done? To heck with them!

I had a serious emergency over Memorial Day Weekend. My house was being seriously flooded by a sudden malfunction of my Evaporative Cooler on the roof. I had to contact someone immediately to come over. I could not waste time contacting Choice Home Warranty since it takes forever to even get any response back. A company came over very quickly in spite of being a Holiday. The Mitigator assessed the damage and contacted someone to take down the Evaporative Cooler before it does more damage. I did think my Home Insurance would cover all of it. It did not cover the Cooler. They recommended to contact my Home Warranty which I did. All I was told by a supervisor that they do not cover Emergencies! Then later I was told by another dept that they would only cover up to $1500 if I had of called them. I could not call because of the Emergency situation! I was very upset and wanted to contact an Attorney to file charges. I did contact another dept to cancel the renewal of my policy with Choice Home Warranty. Now I have to wait 30 days to get my refund back! Even if I was at least awarded back the $1500.00 towards the $7000.00 I had to pay out of my pocket, I would have let it go. Before I file a lawsuit over this, I want to see if you will do anything about this to reinstate the renewal. Thank You...Anthony Calcagno

Over the years we've used several different warranty companies to cover our rental properties. Choice Home Warranty is, by far, the worst. They deny more claims than they approve. Read the "fine print" and you'll see they have an "out" for just about every situation. When I bought the warranties that are active with them now I asked specifically if our older central hear & air units would be covered. They said "Yes, of course"!
When we recently had a unit go out they denied the claims and won't even pay their maximum of $1500 toward our new unit. This is only one example of the claims we've filed over the past 4 years which were also denied. Don't make the same mistake we made. Choose another home warranty company.

When I couldn't hear this young man on a call, he said to me, "I'm talking as loud as I can, I'm practically yelling! Can you hear me NOW? We're in a call center and I just can't talk any louder." So I said, "Well, that's not my fault is it?" And he said, 'What? Lady, it's nobody's fault. I'm just telling you it's a call center." And I said, "Well, you sound terribly annoyed that I'm asking you to speak up. " He said, "Nobody's annoyed, lady!", quite rudely, and then put me on hold without another word.

This is really unprofessional, pure and simple. I really couldn't hear him at all, too much background noise. And I'm NOT hard of hearing. His attitude was awful for a customer service representative. You need to provide more soundproofing for these calls, and obviously more training in manners. It's hard to resolve an issue when you can't hear anything somebody says. I'm not going to continue to deal with a company where people are rude to me, particularly when I never got a response to my claim in the first place. It's been two days since I placed the claim. Unbelievable!

I'm a contractor hired by choice and I have explained that I am not able to operate for 30 days without payment and was told for 3 weeks I was going to get computation by credit card and 3 weeks later was told that I'm not going to be paid for 45 days. I have been nothing but lied to and the story is always changing and I am going to have to close my business and return the customer parts.

I have had this service for almost a year and have had to use it twice. Each time i have called the service provider has failed. The first time the individual did not help and had to send someone else out for a leak in my ceiling. The problem was coming from the roof. I guy came out and fixed the roof however did not check the attic for any moisture not did they repair the ceiling. Moisture can eventually cause mildew which is not healthy for my family. The next time my AC unit froze. I placed the claim on Sunday night. Instead of calling they set the appointment for Wednesday (today) 3-8. At 8 pm there is no call or show. I get a call from the service provider at 824 pm asking to come over by now it's getting dark and unsafe. Then he telling me to call the office the next day to rescehdule. At this point i believe that the service that this company provides is horrible and do not take the customers into consideration.

I submitted one claim on my dishwasher on May 7, 2021, the dispatch system is pretty fast that a technician was assigned in just few minutes. The actual appointment was scheduled several days later, but the technician called me to come on the same day. I was amazed by this quick response until i experienced the following: four times visit from the first technician, with parts replaced, the issue still persist. after a month, choice determined to assign a second technician for my dishwasher, my dishwasher had stopped working for a month, after choice received the diagnosis from the second technician, i was notified, "Great News! We have received the diagnosis on your claim. We have determined, the best long-term solution is to replace your Dishwasher.". I feel relived at this moment until I click on the start replacement process, which tells me I am offered with $357 eGift Card from Lowes.

So here are what i learned: When they say "ASAP", they meant it could take more than a month to have your issues fixed, maybe still not fixed. When they say "do anything they can", they meant do anything they can to slow down the process. When they say "replace it", they meant you have to replace it on your own, you may receive subsides from them, but the amount is very little for you to make the purchase.
...

All the lessons I learned above, I had saw people like me had reported on youtube, I wish i had done enough research before paying them the warranty.

On 6/2/2021 a plumber came to see what the problem was with the water softener. He said was the electrical outlet were the the water softener was connected. He pushed the restart bottom (GFI) and still no electricity, so I used another outlet with an extension cord so he could check on water softener. He could check the problem with the water softener at that point, but he did not, instead he decide to place an electrical work order. when not need for electrician to come.
My neighbor who is certified electrician came to my rescue and check the outlet and surprised me no problem at all with the GFI or the outlet. So looks like the water softener technician did not press the GFI hard enough in the first place.
Then I called Choice home warranty again asking again for water softener technician and they insist to send an electrician, took me several calls to convince them no electrical issues because I plug a lamp and it worked.
Since then still waiting for water softener technician. I have to mention I paid $65 to Water softener technician, and because the issue still, no need to pay again. The CASE # is: [protected].

They deny claims and they should cover them. I have been denied of fixing a garage door and denied of fixing hot water heater. $800 for one and almost $600 for the other.

https://www.choicehomewarranty.com/whats-covered/?kid=kwd-26863270056:loc-190&ekword=home%20warranty%20choice&nurl=yes&network=o&cpid=70742409&agid=522415939&crid=76759806308412&mtyp=e&device=c&loc=105058&msclkid=fca05a86cb5113fc52cc3a38ef605289

I want to take legal action there is a whole group on facebook that would jump in that have been denied claims