RWS of America
Reviews and Complaints

It may be too soon to really rate them, but so far I'd give 1 star. We got this warranty as a gift when we bought our new house. Soon after buying it we realized that the shower was leaking into the bedroom behind the bathroom. I called the company and was told we could call our own contractor and to keep them informed. We did. Then I was told they'd only pay for the "plumbing" fixtures that failed. Now that I have that breakdown sent to them, I'm waiting to hear back.We knew the furnace was old when we bought the house. It worked fine for 2.5 months then started to bake very loud banging noises when it ran. We didn't know if it was dangerous so we called to have someone look at it. It wasn't dangerous, but needed to be replaced. I filed a claim and got a call back. (Apparently I should have called them even before I found out if it was dangerous.) Anyway, I supplied them with the documentation from the furnace replacement that they asked for and for weeks now, I've not heard a word. They will not cover the cost of the furnace - only the part that was broke. Which may be very typical, I don't know. IF I ever hear back from the company and am reimbursed for the bathroom and the furnace issues, I may change my rating. Time will tell. Our realtor (who gave us the home warranty) has asked if I'd recommend this company as she gives one to most of her clients. I told her that I couldn't answer that until my 2 claims are completed.

I bought an extended policy when I purchased a home in September . My water heater began leaking shortly before Christmas 2021, and in the time it took to contact this warranty company, get an approved contractor to my house, an estimate prepared and approved, the water heater burst before the contractor could repair the water heater. Their customer service representative even said they didn't have the contractor's estimate even though he had sent it to them and my property manager had to send it for him. I paid someone out of pocket to fix it in a day, and the buy back was significantly below the estimate their contractor provided as well as what I paid the plumber that actually fixed it. Furthermore, the buy back has been sitting for review for nearly a month, and when I first spoke with their customer service they said it should only take a couple days for approval and that they'd call me back that day. They never did. When I followed up several more times, I got the same story that they'd follow up with the reviewer and call me back quickly. They never did. When I called nearly a month after the claim was submitted for review, now the customer service representative is saying the review takes about a month or even more because of staffing. For all that I added on to this policy to protect my investment, this company has slow rolled their response as much as possible resulting in higher costs for me which purchasing the warranty was supposed to avoid.

RWS will say anything to sell you the home warranty - but then after you purchase the warranty, you're all but forgotten. I began having trouble with my HVAC system last September. RWS sent a contractor who mis-diagnosed the problem. Then when the problem persisted, RWS couldn't find another contractor to do the work (because they pay such low amounts for services that no one will work with them) - - - so they told me to go ahead and engage my own contractor. The whole system needed to be replaced due to age and a leak in the coil. I paid $5,572.00 out of pocket for the system and submitted it for reimbursement from RWS. They delayed for multiple months asking for new and different information each time; even though I submitted EVERYTHING they initially requested with 2 weeks of incurring the cost. Their original reply to my submission was "we have received everything needed for review and have submitted it to our review team". After 6 months of follow-up - - - they stopped responding to inquiries as to the status of my claim altogether. I engaged my state's Attorney General to assist - and magically, RWS mailed out a check shortly thereafter. However, their check was for 1/5th of the cost. In talking with the *** office, they recommended that I just take the money and count it as a *** learned". I am still pushing the s office to disallow RWS to sell contracts in my state to protect my fellow citizens. I would STRONGLY recommend that NO ONE purchase a contract from this deceitful company.

I hired Aardvark Inspectors to perform my inspection on my home, as referred by my realtor. We were out of state buyers and our realtor was present at the inspection. Aardvark, as part of their inspection, offer the warranty suite from Residential Warranty Services. Aardvark did not perform the inspection to satisfaction and in fact once mold was present all over the basement and we had it tested, which was confirmed. Mold remediation companies who quoted us for the mold asked if our inspector had indicated the basement had flooded and they did not. The evidence was clearly everywhere and Aardvark did not mention anything in regards to the basement flooding or any potential signs of water damage or mold. This was an egregious mistake. In addition, we have a shower that leaks into the basement and our basement is leaking when it rains which basement companies who visited said the staining showed repeated leaks and our inspector should have called these out. Nothing was. My point is that I've submitted claims to this warranty company and once you submit the evidence and quotes, they go silent. No one will respond. My assumption is that they are working with Aardvark to actually not pay any claims out. I would never recommend anyone use this warranty company. What a scam. We just moved into our home on Nov. 17th, 2021 and we are within the window of time for each and every type of warranty they "so called" offered. So disappointed that *** runs a company like this. Does he even care that his company is cheating people?

Our boiler suddenly stopped working on a late and cold Sunday evening---RWS was closed and so we contacted our local repair company that came out 9 hours later. At this point my house was in the low 50's. The pump to my boiler part *** pump failed and needed to be replaced--this is not something that you repair or rebuilt and even more so when you are freezing and making sure you don't freeze your pipes. The replacement part was $302 and you can literally *** "*** Pump" which is what reflects on the invoice and see that it is priced $277 plus tax and some charge for shipping. My point, the $302 is reasonable and a great saving to RWS and myself that they saved us the expense of install and indicated the service call/fee indicates N/A. I order my oil from this company and do regular business with them and therefore as a courtesy they did not charge me labor. I sat in a holding queue today for 27 minutes to try and explain this ***, only to be connected with a gal that sounded like she being held hostage by her employer and she told they do not "replace" they only repair. I guess it does not matter that they repaired my boiler by replacing the pump--they asked that I get my repair company to write a letter on their letter head stating why the pump failed? Lots of deflection in paying for a warranty claim that after my deductible will cost them $200. At this point, my time is more valuable than the $200 they are fighting and I am sure they have paid their less than professional staff more to avoid paying this than doing the right thing. I am now asking for a full refund of the warranty that I paid.

R*** is the most apathetic, disorganized, and inefficient service based company I have ever dealt with. Our water heater broke 7 days ago. We promptly filed a claim, however we are still waiting for R to approve the *** approved in network contractor work estimate. My husband and I initially got a work estimate from a contractor outside of R's network (since the R approved contractor was unable to inspect our water heater right away). R thought the work estimate was too high so we proactively had their R approved in network contractor come out to provide a second estimate and then immediately provided the second work estimate to R for approval review. Every time we try to contact R to learn about the status of our claim we have to wait at least 3 - 6 hours for a live customer service agent. This is absolutely absurd. When I finally get a customer service agent on the phone they are confused and continue to tell me R is working on the approval but provide no reason why. When I ask why approval is taking so long, the agent tells me she simply doesn't know. While the agent's honesty is appreciated, she could not help me when I asked what I could do to help speed the process up. She said she would email the work estimate to R "Contract Relations and Fulfillment" and I would need to wait to get a call back from R with next steps. She could not provide an approval ETA and told me that HVAC and water heater claims take time. My family having to go without hot water for 7 days (and counting) due to a company's incompetence and apathy is simply unacceptable. I would not recommend this company to anyone in existence. Please look elsewhere for your home warranty needs.

This company seems to be such a scam, unfortunately. We purchased the 18 month premium warranty option on our house that is only 2 years old. Within 6 months one of the burners on the stove went out. Thinking it would be a simple fix we contacted the warranty company to file a claim and just never heard back. I had to call 4 times to get an update and finally was told that I should research for a contractor myself and discuss the problem and set up a time. (What are they for if I have to do all the work?) finally a contractor came, I paid the $100 fee, diagnosed the problem and reported back. Only to find out the stove doesnt make the product anymore so RWS said they would mail me a $200 check to use towards a new stove.(?) That was 2/3 months ago and I have yet to receive a check. More recently, a month ago, our washer completely damaged and leaked during a normal wash. I called to report as there was water all over our floor and the washer was broken in so many places it was unfixable. I expressed urgent concern as needing help from RWS. A week went by after 3 phone calls was told they havent found a contractor and to stop calling because they will reach out when one is found. 17 days later they reached out. What was I supposed to do? Leave piles of water and a completely broken washer for 3.5 weeks in my house? No I had to go buy a brand new washer and also pay someone to come remove it and install my new one without any responses from RWS. This company is NOT worth the hassle and stress. I highly recommend reaching out directly to the appliance brands with complaints and dont bother buying a warranty with this company. Contacting the actual brand has assisted me more in both cases than the warranty I paid $800 for.

I would leave 0 stars if I could. We purchased a *** came with a home warranty through RWS from the sellers. At first we thought- this is great! It brought confidence in the sale, for the first year of homeownership at least. Boy were we wrong! We filed our first claim in February, for a water softener that had failed. We chose to pay out of pocket for the repair to speed the process up. We had just purchased new appliances, and didnt want unsoftened well water to go through them. We did confirm with RWS that this was fine, and they would still continue to process for our reimbursement, they agreed. I am writing this in August with no resolution yet! I continue to call and email with no response. When you call you are on hold FOREVER- then you can chose to request a call back which you never get, or wait on hold to get hung up on? I dont understand? We have additionally filed another claim for our HVAC - which was inspected prior to purchase- again we paid out of pocket to have the repair done ASAP. We didnt want to go this route originally, due to how this company proved its worth in the first scenario. However it was mid June and over 80 degrees in our home. I have 3 children under the age of 7- I felt we had no choice- we were suffering in the heat. We requested them send out a technician- they never showed up in 5 days. We couldnt take it any longer and called someone local! I made sure to read the fine print, and confirm the hourly rate of our local technician vs. what they reimbursed.. So now we have 2 claims with no resolution. Im sure this is what they sold the sellers on.. If you are a seller and looking into reputable warranty companies to provide to your buyers- or even just looking at options for home warranty for yourselves- BEWARE! 10/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND RESIDENTIAL WARRANTY SERVICES!

When we purchased our home, the seller provided us with a home warranty from RWS. About 3 months in, I noticed water along the wall between our living room and kitchen. I checked for leakage from the sink which was on the other side of the wall and found no water. I decided that the water was from the dishwasher and called RWS to see what the next step that I should take. I called on Wednesday morning and did not receive a return call until Saturday afternoon after 4-5 calls with no answer even though I was told that a supervisor would be in touch with me. The person I talked to told me that it was ok to contact an appliance repair man that I knew. It was a person that had been in the appliance business for over 30 years. He came out and pulled the dishwasher and told me that the model was original to the house and that the pump and seal were worn out and could not be fixed. He wrote up an estimate on what it would take to replace the parts and I sent that to RWS. Then after a few days (about 10 days had passed by this time) I received an email from RWS asking me to have the repairman write another estimate with more information about why the motor failed. They also asked for a full copy of the home inspection report. I had included the portions of the report that pertained to the kitchen, plumbing and dishwasher, but did not include pages about the roof, electrical or other parts of the inspection that did not apply to the dishwasher. I thought this was reasonable and that their request was just an attempt to deny or delay any action on their part. That communication was on Nov. 19th, 2020 and have had no further response or communication with RWS. The actions of RWS to me are unprofessional, not in compliance with their contract agreement, and simply a ploy to not pay the claim. I advise anyone looking for a home warranty to avoid RWS.

Very disappointed in this company and service! We purchased our home in July , and our realtor bought us the 18 month extended warranty as a welcome gift. We added the next 6 months to have 2 full years we did this because we knew our 2 *** units were original. Prior to purchasing this, our realtor called multiple times to ask if they would be covered if something happened. They said said absolutely they cover it up to $10,000, never once mentioned that if they deem the issues pre-existing it would only be a flat $1000 per unit, they didnt mention they they would try to buy us out either. Fast forward and our one AC unit went out. I called and they sent a contractor out, nice guy, but only looked at the outside units, never went in attic or under the house for the units. He wrote up the report and they called us telling us they were offering $600 for one unit and $200 for the other and they would buying us, nothing us covered anything else. I told them absolutely not l, and I would not accept. They then decided they wanted a second opinion because the first guy over estimated the amount of Freon needed, I told them fine. The second guy comes out, he was great! He looked everywhere and found all kinds of issues, rusted coils, condensation, mold (organic growth) in both sets of duck work. They are now saying these are all pre-existing and they want to give us $1000 total for both units and they will not cover anything else, two new units would cost us around $10,000 and up. $1000 does not began to touch that. I have called to ask about the furnace now as well, as that it is original too and we know its going bad, Im waiting a call back to see what they will do with this issue as well. Its a lot cheaper to replace the *** and the furnace at the same time. We are probably contacting a lawyer over all this, as we feel we have been duped. Every time we call, Im hold for hours, or hours before a call back. This place is such a FRAUD!

Problem: We experienced a plumbing leak with our shower coming from the pipe/valve which caused water to leak to the ceiling of our first floor. Water damage from the ceiling worsened so we first called *** hotline on 5/14/22 to submit an urgent claim (step 1 of the service contract). We were told to call our own contractor to identify 1. Cause of malfunction; 2. What components need repair or replacement and why; 3. Estimate including itemized parts list and total # of hours the job would take. We got a plumber out and I submitted the quote to *** on 5/20/22 with the cause: second floor bathroom rough in valve needed replaced. Leak caused by normal wear and tear. The invoice provided to *** included cost of equipment as well as hours it took to repair (repaired at time of visit due to urgency of leak). *** then told me to provide our initial inspection report on our home which was sent 5/20. Weeks went by with no response by phone or email, we sent emails on 5/26 and 6/1 and 6/9 with no response from ***. We finally called the *** hotline again on 6/15, only to be told by *** that they still needed the cost of each valve, labor hours to replace THE VALVES ONLY, and cost of labor hours to remove drywall. They never contacted us about this, instead we had to reach out on our own several times to receive any type of response.In summary, ***s contract summary says they cover mechanical malfunctions and have the broadest coverage available. Unfortunately, they rip consumers off by charging steep premiums, only to 1. Deny your claim (we have had 1 claim previously denied), or 2. Agree to reimburse for stock price of the failed part (which you cant get a price on if the failed piece is several years old or no longer made), and reimburse ONLY for the hours worked to repair the single failing device (they exclude hours worked to resolve the entire plumbing issue). When we asked the *** about this on the phone, he basically acknow

This is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. We purchased a home warranty with our new home purchase. It was supposed to add some piece of mind incase anything went wrong. We knew the furnace was older and probably only had a few more years left in it. We had bad luck and our furnace went out after our first month. We called to start a claim and were assigned an *** company, after 4 days of no heat and no contact, I looked up the company that was assigned and called them directly. They said they wouldn't deal with the home warranty company directly. I called *** to inform them and was told they could assign another one but I'd have to wait at least another 72 hours before they might contact me or I could try and find another company on my own. I called around and nobody wanted to deal with the home warranty company directly. I went back to the original company assigned and was going to try and work it out on my own. I submitted the required documents and waited for a decision. Called to get and update and was told they had everything they needed and it was pending a review. Two weeks go by and no updated, call and told its still pending a review. Two more weeks and still no update, call and told same thing. Two more weeks, no updated. Call and told they need to have the receipt for the work done, they had never received one, why wasn't I told this the first two times. It's now been almost two months. Get a copy of receipt and submit it. Two more weeks and still nothing, call and told it would get escalated. Finally get a call saying they had some questions. We weren't moved into the house yet at the time of the furnace failure. We hadn't had time to schedule a service call to do some preventative maintenance. Since we didn't get that done then we were told that the company would not cover the cost of the repair. Long story short, they didn't provide any service and weren't there to help their customer out. If zero stars were allowed that's what they would get."

The amount of disgust I have for this company cannot be explained in words. I first contacted them in January , 5 months into an 18 month warranty. It was an electrical issue that ended up being $275. The ending isn't important but the journey and what I learned is important. For 6 months this company went round and round with me about trying to find a contractor. They couldn't find anyone. Which I found surprising since I live in a 4.5 million person metropolitan area. About two months in they tell me...just find your own contractor, we will pay you back. Since I paid for the service I insisted they find the contractor. Another two months go by, they can not find anyone. Finally I say fine. After I inform them of this, they proceed to give me a ten point requirement for the contractor to fill out in order for me to be reimbursed. I was already suspicious but now I am thoroughly convinced of this deceit. I contacted 7 contractors in my immediate area and 3 more more than 25 miles away. When I explained my situation they each said..."RWS? oh, you are the one they keep calling about in (city)" I responded inquisitively. They each said they would come do the work and fill out my form but they will NOT work with RWS because the company has a long history of not paying contractors. And this is the crux of the issue with RWS. They are so bad at fulfilling warranties that contractors will not work with them. The contractor I ended up going with filled out the form/list of conditions RWS provided me and said: good luck getting paid. Hopefully since it is less than $500 you wont run into problems. But trust us, they are no good. Ultimately, I got my 165 back minus the 99 service fee (275). But that was after I was told...well, we will see if this information is good enough to reimburse you. Then after they approve your claim, you have to wait another 30 days to get your check. And my above about the 5+ months of getting the run around is a whitewash at best. They care nothing about you the customer. Honestly, I generally try not to give to much grief to customer service reps because they are just doing their job. But these reps are in on the gig. It is a full blown attempt to screw you. Almost brazenly. Do not spend the 500-600 for a warranty from these folks. It is not worth the months of headache. It took me threatening legal action before I got any action from them. Then I had to add the pandemic into my hardship to even get them to work, just a little. I am a multiple time homeowner and doing work with contractors for over 20 years. This is the worst, by far, of any home related company I have ever dealt with. Please do not make the mistake I did.

I have made 2 claims within the first week of moving into our home. The first claim was related to heat pump problems. I was told that RWS had no contractors available in our area and that we needed to find our own contractor for repair. The second claim, our master bathroom toilet flapper disintegrated causing the toilet to overflow and run into our master bedroom. We were again told to find our own contractor because they didn't have anyone available in our area. After a 2 week wait, we were told that the deductible didn't exceed the total amount that the plumber charged us and the charge from Serve Pro for water mitigation was not covered under the warranty. A lot of customers regardless of any home warranty company they choose, may not know that usually water damage to carpet is something not covered under the home warranty because it is considered an insurable event through your homeowner's insurance. I learned this the hard way unfortunately. This is the first home warranty I have ever purchased so I did not know that. Going back to the first claim, the problem with the heat pump was that the outside unit had a bad defrost control board. After searching the internet, I found the correct replacement part at a cost of $125.00. Being generous at 8% markup that a HVAC contractor would charge me for the price of the part plus an hour minimum labor charge I would have had to pay a total of $325 ($225+$100 labor). Again, this is a very generous estimate. Most contractors would have charged more. That would have me paying out of pocket $325 and waiting for reimbursement from RWS. I will add, I am HVAC certified but lack a business license. I worked in the HVAC field for 10 years before changing careers. I would not suggest anyone who doesn't have the experience to repair their own HVAC equipment. I did, however, and saved at least $200 by doing so. Now the second claim. I could have easily drove 15 miles down the road to our local Home Depot or Lowe's and bought a $20 dollar toilet repair kit and fixed our leaking toilet. Instead, I paid a plumber $120 to replace a $5 because I was told by RWS to find our own contractor to do the work. Remember, you have to have a certified and licensed contractor for any repairs to be covered. So, of course you can't do it yourself and get reimbursed by any of the home warranty companies. After filing 2 different claims with the same response of "You need to find your own contractor" My wife and I decided that this particular Home Warranty Company was not for us. We requested on March 6 to cancel the policy and refund our money back to us so that we can find a different company that actually has contractors who service our area. Today is March 15th, and after 3 different attempts to cancel our policy, we have been told over and over again that they will have to have a supervisor call us back to discuss cancellation. I called again this morning and it sounded like the lady just put me on hold 3 different times to pretend like she was trying to get a hold of someone. Her response was that either no one was in office or they were busy talking to a different customer. I was unable to leave a voicemail. I was pretty much told "Maybe after the 3rd time calling, they'll go ahead and process your cancellation." Apparently they do notate how many times you actually call in. I would leave no stars if possible. My experience with this company is that bad. Also, being that I have worked in the HVAC field in the past, I have dealt with home warranty companies before at least in the HVAC field. I find it hard to believe that out of at least 20 different HVAC companies that are local to my area, there were none available at that time to do the repairs. I would assume the same for plumbing. Either way, Ill be choosing a different Home Warranty Company that actually services my area.

21 June Dear complaintsboard.com,I am writing to tell you about a problematic company that we have been struggling with for over a year. I believe that this company is deceitful and has no intentions of ever carrying out the the service that they promise. I am hopeful that you can spread the word about their behavior so that others will not unwittingly fall victim to their false narrative.The subject company is Residential Warranty Services, Inc (hereafter referred to as ***). We selected *** when we bought an older home and wanted some protection in case some of the appliances or the *** system failed soon after we moved in. The company was recommended by the person who did our home inspection. He told us that because he inspected our home, this warranty company would provide us 18 months of warranty coverage for the normal one year price. Unfortunately, we got to test *** soon after moving in because it turned out that the dishwasher control panel was constructed of membrane switches that were completely worn through at the locations of the often used buttons (including ***). At first, we could reach through the open membrane and press a switch and the dishwasher would start, but after a few runs the button stopped working. We called *** to see how to proceed. They told us to get an estimate for the repair. We called a service provider and sent the estimate to ***. What happened next can be summarized as a frustrating process of delay tactics and diversions. The delay tactics included long wait times each time we called -- usually greater than one and a half hours. They also provide an option where you can leave your phone number and they will call you back, however they only seemed to return calls about 20% of the time. After several promises that they were going to print a check, but they only print checks on one certain day of the month, our check failed to arrive for a few cycles. Even worse, each time we called to find out why we didn't receive a check we were told that it was being reviewed again and the amount lowered. Approximately five months later, we received a check that only amounted to about $45 above the cost of the service call that we had to pay for. Certainly not worth the many hours of frustration and arguing with them over those months. But our luck turned worse still when we had a cold snap and our heat pump was running long and hard to keep us warm. Near the end of the cold snap, I noticed that the heat pump was no longer providing heat and discovered that it was continually tripping the circuit breaker. Again we called *** to find out how they wanted us to proceed. They told us again to get an estimate and send it in. Immediately the delay tactics resumed -- they wanted the wording on the estimate changed, they needed more details, etc. We decided that they were going to drag this on for another five months so we had the heat pump replaced at our expense. We have been enduring the hour and a half wait times on the phone and many unpleasant interactions with various people for over four months at this point and there is no resolution in sight. They raise the case to a "supervisor" who simply tells us that they don't cover weather events and we should pursue compensation from our home insurance provider. Yes, they tell us that they can't cover our heat pump failing because the weather turned cold. That is just one of the various stories they have given us. The last "supervisor" we spoke with told us that he was "ready to make a deal" and he would call us back in the next couple of days -- as if we were part of a game show! That was two weeks ago. I am no longer willing to speak with these deceitful people and suffer through any more of their ridiculous scams. If this company must play these games and deny valid claims in order to stay in business, then they should be put out of business.Please use your platform to pass my story along so that others will not fall victim to these scam artists.Sincerely

Called to get and appliance repaired at my home, (icemaker not working) called Residential Warranty Services, Inc. which I had a plan coverage on my new home purchased for me by a friend. I filled out all proper paper work and the warranty company set me up with a local appliance repair (North-Star Appliance Repair, North Palm Beach, Florida) to come out Oct. 28, 2020. I had to pay service call fee of $99.00 which I knew about already. Paid on credit card and appliance company responded for repair. They concluded I would need a new ice maker and their office would advise residential warranty services of this to get approval for repair which they did one or two days after they came to my house. I was never contacted by either residential Warranty Services of what was going on. Almost two weeks later I called to find out what was going on ,and the repair place advised that they haven't even ordered the part because residential war. services, has not even approved it yet. Well to make a long story short I called the warranty service over 40 times throughout several weeks to get a straight story and find out when the repair was going to happen. I also spoke with the appliance repair company who told me different stories and had proof of lies from Residential warranty service, especially from Manager "Matt Starost" from Residential warranty services who I spoke with many times before. I had to pay an additional $60.00 to North-Star appliance repair before they would even order the part. I was so fed up by this time with no ice maker I just paid the extra $60.00 and told them I would deal with the warranty company. Was about two months to get this repair completed. They finally came and installed the ice maker and I was told by Matt that I would be reimbursed the $60.00 I should not of had to pay. Well over 30 days have passed and still I have not received my $60.00 refund. Matt has not returned any of my calls and his employee's I spoke with left him emails and message to call me. Very disappointed in this company's handling of my claim. I also want my $60.00 back from Residential Warranty services. The sad part is, what if this was my AC unit or hot what heater. This is terrible service and communication with this company and I gave them numerous opportunities to make it right and received no response. My policy number with Residential Warranty Services, Inc. is #***, and claim # on repair is ***. Thank You

Purchased an 18 month policy with additional plumbing coverage. I submitted a claim in the fall of 2019, claiming a plumbing issue in one of our bathrooms. The representative opened the claim and advised to look for our plumber, once the plumber identifies the issue, they should write up the quote. It took me a couple of months to find a good plumber. I called RWS again for reassurance that I was following the right protocol, the representative reviewed my policy and the exact coverage I had. I explained the issue with the plumbing or what I suspected was the issue, the representative assured me this was an "easy" claim and that I shouldn't have any trouble, that once the job was complete to go ahead and submit a copy of the invoice. No direction was given as to what to include in the invoice. After we opened up walls we discovered the problem with a corroded cast-iron pipe in the bathroom, I hired the plumber in February and submitted the invoice to RWS. After RWS reviewed the invoice they said the invoice was missing the detail of the job, reason of the cracked pipe, material used and total labor hours it took to get the job done. I went back to the plumber and asked him to revise and include the 3 items RWS requested. I resubmitted the invoice and after speaking with an RWS representative they said I was STILL missing information, information that was never discussed in prior phone calls or emails, they were looking for the brand of the cement used and the quantity of the material to which was already included in the invoice. I was not given clear instructions and all this was a new request, the representative then said she will submit my claim but to be aware the adjuster might have additional questions, agreed. My policy was expiring in March and a couple of weeks before the expiration, I received multiple calls from a sales person to renew my policy. We spoke about 3 different times as I was still deciding if I should renew my policy. During the last phone call, the sales person told me that if I renew the policy with him, he had "ways" to get them to approve my pending claim with RWS. He said I had much better chances of getting my claim approved if I renewed. I was appalled. The approval of a claim should not be leveraged upon the renewal of a policy, the claim was submitted within the timeframe of the current contract. I have yet to hear back from RWS. I have not received a status of my claim, nothing. With this sour experience, of course I did not renew my policy. I was left with the expenses of the repair work.

I paid $590 for a home warranty with Residential Warranty Services when we purchased our new home at the end of May , because they were recommended by our home inspector. I put in our first claim on 6/29 and as of today (10/5), it still has not been resolved. I have received a few voicemails regarding this claim, but when I try to call back I can never reach anyone. Once I sat on hold for 17 minutes and no one ever picked up, nor any answering service offered. I received emails about this telling me that they were trying to find someone in my area and that I could use my own contractor. In the emails it would tell me the email would be my primary method of communication regarding my claim, but when I reply to the email I do not get a response. I wanted to know if I could perform the repairs before hearing back from RWS because it involved a significant leak under my kitchen sink, but nobody responded. I finally got a response and they told me I could choose my own contractor but would not answer my question about if I could get the repair done. I put in a second claim on 7/19 that has also not been resolved. They did not even call me about my claim until approximately 8/22, over a month later. I responded to the email chain with a quote from my water softener company and have never received a response. I requested on 8/6 to have my warranty cancelled and be refunded, and they said they were "sending me to that dept. and they would call me back". To this date (10/5) I have never been contacted regarding my desire to cancel. I also submitted a claim request asking to cancel and have never been contacted regarding that. Right now I am on the phone in "the call queue" waiting for someone to speak with me to cancel my policy. It has been over 25 minutes. This is the poorest excuse for customer service that I have ever dealt with. I purchased this policy when I was facing being furloughed due to COVID-19. I didn't have an extra $590 laying around but I spent the money so that I would have security should something break in our new home. Instead, I feel that I have been cheated out of money I could not afford to spare. update. I was called back by a representative and told that I could not cancel my policy without closing the claims I have open. I told her (she was very nice) that I had been trying to resolve these claims for months and that I wanted them cancelled and was not interested in going further with the company, and that all I wanted was a refund and cancellation of policy. Of course all the managers are very busy and unable to speak with me.

We purchased the 2 year warranty for our home purchase when we closed on Dec 11, 2019. On December 4 our pipe under the sink in our bathroom broke so I called to make a claim. After sitting on hold for an hour and a half, I just submitted the claim online. We never received a phone call so I called again after waiting on hold for almost two hours, I opted for the phone call back. When they called back two hours later, they did not leave a message. I again called and requested a call back. Two hours later, I was able to take the call and got the "yeah, it takes a while for the claim to be processed" line. But since I was on the phone, I asked if I could just get the name of an "approved" plumber to come and take a look. I got "Joe's Plumbing" in a nearby town. The next day, I called Joe's Plumbing to see if the work order had been submitted from RWS and he said it had not but that he would come out and take a look and make sure RWS gets the information to him. Joe came out on December 9, took my $75 Service call fee check and said he would need some parts and would be back by Friday December 11. He also stated that it looked like it was two claims - one for the broken pipe and one for the clogged pipes behind the broken one. We said OK, when he came back out with the parts to fix the broken pipe, we would pay him the additional $75 service call fee for the clogged pipes. Joe never showed back up. We called and left a message for him on December 18 and he never called back. Since the next week was Christmas, we let it go and tried calling him on December 28. He actually answered his phone and said he had lost our address and phone numbers. Which is weird because if RWS had actually submitted the work order, wouldn't my contact information be on there? In any case, Joe said he would be back on Wednesday December 30. Surprise surprise, he never showed. We called again on January 4 and January 7 and left voicemails. He never called back nor came to fix the pipes. I called RWS on January 01/12 to see if they could help since this was one of their "approved" vendors. Again, I had to wait 3 hours for a call back. While on the phone with the RWS representative, she tried calling Joe and he didn't answer her call. She got back on the line with me and said she was forwarding my issue to the "vendor relations department" (or something similar). Here it is 01/22 and neither RWS nor their recommended vendor has held up their end of the contract. The vendor relations department has not called me back. Joe has not fixed the problem. If it weren't for RWS, I would have never used this crook to "fix" an RWS covered part. I would have used a reputable plumber. I will also be filing a complaint with the plumbing company.

My home inspection back in Apil came with an 18-month policy for about $500 to cover our new home. We took the offer because we really trusted our home inspector. When we moved in, we had an electrical receptacle issue, and I opened a claim. I heard nothing from the company for over a month. It was not until I called to find out they had a contractor accept the job but never called me (do they not follow up on this stuff with contractors?). I was told that I could find my own contractor and submit the invoice to them (wait, wasn't I paying them to get me a contractor - what is the point of having a home warranty if I have to call around and get one myself). I called around and got someone out who ended up fixing the problem for less than the deductible that I was still going to have to pay to the company even though I did all the work, so I canceled the claim. A few months later, our HVAC system went out, and I immediately called this time to open a claim by phone since it was still warm in September. I was told I would hear something back in 48 hours. A week went by, and I had to call to find out what was going on AGAIN. The same resolution came up...find a contractor because the contract that accepted it didn't call me, and they had no one in my town. Keep in mind I live in a pretty populated area. We are not in the middle of nowhere. So again, I call around and find someone who came out the same day. I got all of the required paperwork, and I even called back once I had the diagnosis (it was a bad coil, and the system was so old it couldn't be replaced). I talked over the rep's options, and he said if I get an estimate, they will cover the estimate, and I could do the replacement. So I sent them over 3 estimates for the work, and I waited. 3 weeks later, I called since I had not heard anything to find out that my claim had been approved but for 1/3rd of what was submitted. Only to find out they only cover the part (even though the part couldn't be added to an older system), and THEY decided the rate of pay for the hours worked. My problem is they had a representative who told me something different and then another that told me well that it's right in the contract. Well, sure, you can hide behind the contract now that someone is presented with an amount less than 1/3rd of what they led me to believe. The other problem I have is that they reserve the right to determine the rate of what they will pay for labor when I had to do all of the work. If they had gotten me the contractor, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But this, I completely think, is shady and underhanded. This company has been impossible to deal with. Here I sit 2 weeks after my last conversation, and I STILL Have not gotten the fraction of a payout I was told I was getting.

I live in Florida and recently purchased a new home. I had the house inspected by a Florida licensed home inspection company.. As part of the inspection fee, a ninety day Home Warranty protection coverage was provided. Shortly after taking possession of the new house, the solar pool heater was found to not be working properly due to leaking solar panels. I called the home warranty company and spoke with a gentleman named John. I explained the problem to him, and said the solar heating system would be covered, but I needed to send him some supporting documents from a solar heating company. John also told me that even though the repairs would cost more than $5000.00 the warranty would only pay $500. I emailed the requested document to John. However a different gentleman named Jimmy began to communicate with me via email and he denied the claim for reasons still unknown to me by using verbiage from the contract that does not apply to my situation. For example, the contract says under covered items "Pool/Spa: Pumps, motor, and heaters". Coverage is not determined by the specific heat source the pool heater relies on, such as electric, propane, natural gas or solar, it juts says "heaters". At the time of the inspection the solar pool heater was determined to be "in satisfactory condition" by the licensed inspector. The answer I received from Jimmy, in which he leaves out some important words from the contract was "Under pool and spa, it states pump and heater and then states it only covers the specific items listed and excludes all others. Solar panels are not listed so they are outside the terms of coverage. If the pool heater itself had failed then we could cover the repair for it up to the max coverage of the policy $500. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact us." So, Jimmy says that "If the pool heater itself had failed then we could cover the repair" But what is a solar pool heater without the solar panels? That would not be a heater, but heaters are covered. What good is an air conditioner without a condenser? What Jimmy cleverly left out of his denial is "This contract only covers those items that were confirmed to be in good working order at time of inspection" By leaving out this language, Jimmy wants us to believe that solar panels are not covered. However, the solar panels were "confirmed to be a good working order at the time of the inspection" and therefore this clever omission of fact does not hold water. (no pun intended) Since being denied, I have sent Jimmy another email explaining how pool heaters work which he has not answered. Also, I have spoken with Tyler regarding the problem. Tyler did not want to hear what I had to say, so he told me he would have Jimmy call me. That was a week ago, and still no call.

My wife and I purchased a home in August . Residential Warranty Service was associated with or recommend by the home inspector we used. We purchased the home warranty for a period of 18 months with a $75 deductible. The cost was $630. Shortly after moving into the home the ladder to access the attic broke the first time I attempted to climb it. I did not report this but took the ladder out and have not had it replaced as of this date. In late November we found there was a problem with our pressure tank as we are on a well. We did contact RWS but have not yet had the problem corrected, or filed claim for that with RWS. We have been adding air every 3 or 4 months but the tank obviously has a bladder leak and will need replaced. On July 4th we discovered water damaged ceiling tile in our basement and wet carpet. The reason for this was found to be a pinhole leak in a part of the copper water line. I waited until the morning of July 6th to contact RWS. I was unable to speak with anyone, or to get any information about when my call may be answered. They did recommend filing a claim online which I did. I have the claim number and received an online message stating a rep would contact me shortly. I made other attempts to call, sent email and finally on 7-12 filled out a request for information form in an attempt to get a reply. This was all unsuccessful, so on [protected] I drafted and mailed a certified letter asking that them to refund $1230 and I would not pursue any legal remedy for any further damages. I had absolutely no response from them until they received the certified letter on [protected]. I received a voice mail at 1:07 p.m. stating that if I would return the call we could discuss my plumbing issues. At 2:14 I received another voice mail from another male caller informing me that if the policy was canceled I would receive $47 and he did not understand how I arrived at the $1230 request. In my opinion much of the copper tubing needs replaced as it has coloration indicating potential for near future leaks. I am not sure of the cost to do this but am confident the current issues I have mentioned could easily exceed $2500 and I would still have more than 6 months of warranty left. Since I was unable to get a reply from RWS for 11 days I consider the warranty to be null and void. The offer to take $1230 and consider it all closed seems to be very fair. I purchased the warranty in good faith but it has proven to be invalid. I am not interested in having any further dealings with this company. I want my requested refund! I have no desire to discuss anything with anyone there. It is evident by the reviews I am not the only person that has been unable to have warranty service. I can assure you if they are unwilling to refund after Complaintsboard.com contacts them it will not be the end of this issue. I will take further action.

Filed claim online 12/14 at 5:37pm for plumbing issues. Was sent confirmation email stating the request was successful and a representative would call me back very shortly. I was issued a reference ID of 2384495. On 12/15, After not being contacted yet for over 24 hours, I made attempt to contact company by phone. After sitting on hold for 55 min, I selected to be called back when an agent was available. (The 55 minute hold ended at 6:02pm as provided by screen shot. I was then contacted by an agent that night at 9:31pm. The agent said they were backed up. We discussed the issue of the claim. He asked if I wanted them to provide a contractor or for me to use my own and be reimbursed. I advised I wanted them to find a contractor as I had read all of the Complaintsboard.com horror complaints of many customers fighting for reimbursement. He tried to pressure me to use my own stating it could take up to 48 hours before their vendor could advise whether or not they would accept the job. I continued with using their vendor as I did not want to deal with reimbursement. The agent went as far as stating the process for reimbursement was easy, but most homeowners fail to get the reason for failure of parts that created the claim and that he did not understand because it was something simple for them to provide. My thought was that homeowners would not know this and possibly not even the vendor as parts often fail without any trace as to why. But, I was not arguing and stuck with my decision to have them provide vendor. I let agent know that due to the issue, our kids were being burned by hot water in the shower. He told me to turn down the temperature of my water heater, which at that time, I let the agent know that the temperature has always and is still set to normal. This is again part of why I filed claim as this reiterates there is an issue in the plumbing. I asked the agent what my options were for cancelling the plan. He said he did not know, I would have to speak with someone else, but they would definitely charge me a cancellation fee. It sounded as if I was in for a ride here by the way the agent was talking. On 12/16, at approx. 9:45am, I again contacted the warranty company to now explore my options of cancellation. I was told it had to go to one of two managers and they would then determine a refund amount. I asked if this would be discussed with me prior to just cancelling and refunding what they felt like. The agent stated she would put the request in for them to contact me and verified my number for the best contact. At this time, I have still not heard anything on vendor for the claim filed on Monday. On 12/18, received call from RWS at 6:37pm asking if any vendor had reached out to me for service. I advised them that I had not been contacted. They said they would reach out to them again. They did not provide any name to vendor so I could try to contact. This has been the last contact as when I try to call, I am left on hold for over an hour and they have not reached back out to me. So, at this point, they fail to contact to correct the issue I reported as well as discuss a refund to this policy so that I can obtain one through a legitimate company.

I filed a home warranty claim on 5/20 for my air conditioner under my policy online. After four days, no contact was made by the company or any AC service provider. My contract indicates that a service provider would be assigned by Residential with a $75 deductible. Seven days post-claim, I found a service provider's name online, selected by Residential, and contacted them. They informed me payment was required upfront, not just the deductible. Multiple calls to Residential Warranty went unanswered, with no alternative contact methods available. I expressed my concerns via the claim section online. Days later, I was told to choose any service provider and to email the invoice for reimbursement. On 5/28, Ken Air assessed my unit, finding an irreparable leak in the evaporator coil, and I paid them $285. I emailed the invoice to Residential. They responded that only repairs were covered and requested a repair estimate. Another company, on 5/29, also deemed it irreparable, quoting $4,000 for replacement and provided a $762 repair estimate, which I submitted to Residential. After extensive correspondence and revised estimates in June, an adjuster confirmed receipt and said it would be processed minus the deductible. In July, after numerous calls, I was told the claim was submitted for payment. No further contact was made. On July 20, Residential requested a parts and labor breakdown, despite the unit already being replaced and the repair estimate being detailed. As of August 3, I've received no calls, emails, or payments. I am owed $972 after deductibles and service fees. With over 24 years as a Claims Manager, I find Residential's practices to be in bad faith. I've spent $4,285 on replacement and diagnostics, provided all necessary documentation, and yet they delay. They've even asked for another repair invoice from the AC company that replaced the unit. Residential seems to avoid paying legitimate claims, and I need help to recover my due payment and to investigate their claim handling.

Dear RSW. I am back AGAIN. I purchased my home inspection/warranty services plan when I purchased my house July . This is an 18month warranty with added Sewerguard protection. During the life of the policy, I have submitted four claims to you (a/c, icemaker and sewer). Each instance I have been required to pay for the repairs out of my own pocket as each time I have submitted a claim, I have been told by your CS people that "we have no contractors in your area". For the a/c, I paid out of pocket $241. That took 5 months to reimburse. For the icemaker I paid $291 and it took 5 months to be reimbursed. For the plumbng issue - this a two part claim. For the first part - I paid $1400 out of pocket. To the company's credit I was reimbursed within the 90 day frame. I submitted Claim ##***, Jan 3, 2021 (plumbing) at approximately 1:35pm through your online portal. Since that time, I have NOT SEEN NOR HEARD FROM A PLUMBER. I have submitted all the required documentation as per your policy. I have been attempting to contact someone by phone since this time *ANDright now, I am on hold...in fact I was on hold for 45minutes when someone answered the phone, then hung up. So I am NOW back in the que. I would like you to be aware that the first half of the plumbing claim (claim #***) was not only paid out of my own pocket, but I had to take a forbearance on my mortgage just to do so. I am a single mom, minority disabled veteran, so I don't think you fully realize what it meant to have to put my mortgage into forbearance just to get work done that should have been done by your company. While I understand that my two choices are to: 1) use a contractor from your network or 2) find my own. I will state unequivocally that I will wait until hell freezes over for you to send a contractor to my home. It is really not my problem that RWS is either unable or unwilling to find contractors in my area, but you are making an attempt to MAKE IT MY PROBLEM. Since filing the claim on December 3rd - and the few times I have actually been able to speak to a live person - the excuses have ranged from - not having the documentation to it has not been sent up the chain to we offered you a buyout (which is NOT TRUE) to we will contact @X#%^and Sons Plumbing and they should be calling you within 24hrs. The "listed contractor" that I keep being told will come passed away from Covid-19 a month ago...so here I am - still with sewage in my backyard and no plumber. I will NOT pay out of my pocket. I expect you to honor your contract just as I have honored mine by paying you in full for the year and filing my claim in the manner required. And what is most ridiculously incongruent about this situation is that I have received 3 emails and two phone calls from your sales representatives about my policy expiration date - all within the past 72hrs, yet I cannot get an any answer - honest or otherwise - about my claim. It has been past 30days since it was filed. And if I DO get a live person on the phone and I tell them that I have BEEN ON HOLD FOR 1HOUR AND 45 MINUTES - I am *alwaystold that RWS is in the process of hiring more employees to deal with the backlog. I've been hearing this lame excuse for over a year now and what this type of issues really means is that RWS is not a good company to work for. If you can't find folks to answer the phone in the middle of a pandemic when over 22 million people have lost jobs *andthe company can't seem to find contractors to work for them...this says that this is NOT A COMPANY TO DO BUSINESS WITH. In that vein, I have told my real estate agent about my experiences with RWS. I have told my veteran friends who are seeking to purchase a home about my experiences with RWS. And I have written to the VA about my experiences with RWS. Finally, my question is this: How on earth could RWS reasonably expect me to renew my policy when doing business with them is like pulling teeth with a string tied to a doorknob? Update February 1: I spoke with the plumbing company that did the original plumbing report and was told by Kevin on January on January 22nd that he would be reaching out to the company. I then called again on January 26th, again on January 29th and again this morning and am being told that the plumbing company has not responded. I have an email from the plumbing company stating that RWS had made NO CONTACT WITH THEM. My toilet has been broken since I initially filed the claim, December 3. This is a health hazard. Please advise.

Upon inspection and purchase of our current home in September , we were offered the option to receive a home warranty with RWS, Residential Warranty Services. My immediate reaction was to question, "do they really warranty and/or pay for anything should we have an issue?" As most home owners who purchase a home warranty, I may have continued to naively pay for this so called `peace-of-mind` service year over year. That is, until something broke, then I'd find out what I know now, a home warranty, including RWS is a scam. There is so much ambiguous language and loopholes in their policies, that it's highly unlikely a consumers claim would be considered or paid. Even if your claim falls within the guidelines of the policy, they still reserve the right [censored] and pay what they consider market rates. Fast forward to August where we sustained multiple weeks of 100 plus degree days, and in both our AC units; the compressors failed. We called RWS immediately upon discovering the failures. Knowing that we were likely not the only people suffering from this issue, it wasn't a surprise that the wait time to speak with a representative was just over 45 minutes. However, the interaction with the representative was far from customer focused. The rep was quite short and impatient with me, not providing much information at all as to what is needed and/or how things will progress during our claim. I was told we could choose our own contractor, or they could line up a contractor. Figuring I'd have less issues with our claim by using RWS's contractor, I chose that they line up a contractor. The rep then hurried to end the call by providing a name of a contractor that would supposedly contact me to schedule a visit for assessment and provide a quote. No information about the contractor was provided other than a name; no confirmation, no dates/times, should I call them or will they call me, nothing. We waited for a couple of days for someone to call, but nothing. So, I searched for and called the RWS contractor. The contractor had no record of an appointment for us, let alone receiving anything from RWS. So, I had them put something down for us, and immediately called RWS, again. After a 40 minute wait, this interaction was the one and only time I was connected with someone who was not only knowledgeable, but courteous and helpful. The rep informed me that I was not bound to use RWS's contractors, I could either repair the current units, or I could put the cost of repairs towards the replacement installation of new units, and RWS would reimburse the cost of repairs minus a deductible, as long as the repair quote included: 1) Initial part that failed and price of that part, 2) Cause of failure of that part (ex: age, wear & tear), 3) Hours and/or cost of labor (separated from part costs), and 4) Brand, Model & Serial # of unit (If necessary). Finding the right contractor for any work can be a daunting process in itself, but finding an HVAC contractor that doesn't immediately get put off by the mention of a home warranty service is a whole new layer of complexity. We contacted 15 HVAC companies/contractors, and the unanimous response from each of them was, "we don't deal with home warranty companies, they never pay," and "we do not separate labor and part cost in our quotes." It took me a while, but after pleading with one contractor, they agreed to provide me repair quotes ($4386 for the replacement of each compressor for a total of $8772) that fit RWS's reimbursement stipulations. I provided the quotes to RWS on September 22, and did not receive a reply until October 21 stating that they needed further details (i.e. cause of failure). Upon getting the contractor to update their quotes, I was able to reply to RWS on October 26, of which RWS replied on October 28, saying "We have all information we need and your claim has been sent to processing a representative will reach out once a determination has been made." We have yet to receive any correspondence from RWS; no email, no call since their last email. I've called a few times. Even though their automated answering services states an average 3 minute hold time, I've had no one answer after waiting for over 90 minutes, and have even opted to use their call back service option. No one has returned my calls. I've even left messages via their website, with no response. Interestingly enough, shortly before Christmas we received a check in the mail, dated 12/9, for $1224.99. Nothing else was provided; no explanation at all as to how they arrived at only paying roughly 13.95% of what was claimed. I could understand if RWS put out bids to multiple contractors and/or found some wholesale parts that they may have been able to come up with something a little bit lower, but this unrealistically low. There is no possible way a contractor would have repaired our AC units to a satisfactory condition at that price. This entire experience is a testament as to why one should not bother with a home warranty service.