American Home Shield [AHS]

We have had AHS for about 4 years. There is no doubt that the cost of our repairs over the years absent AHS wouldhave been well in excess of the premium. That said, this company's service is so poor it is hard to beleive that AHS has remained in business. I don't believe that one item serviced by AHS contractors during this time has EVER been repiared on the first trip. Invariably they need to be called back to fix something that has been installed incorrectly.

For example, the circulator on my gas boiler broke and neeeded to be replaced. The repair person put the circulator on backwards which caused the heater to heat to a highly dangerous temp. He also incorrectly installed the piping.

Out hot water heater #1 was replaced a bit ago. The repair person insisted the hot water heater #1 had been incorrectly piped so he changed the piping and charged us as being outside the contract. The "change" in piping" we now have discovered, when our hot water heaater #2 just broke precluded #1from being used, contrary to the way it had previously been set up i.e., if one broke the other would still work. As a result we have been without hot water for 4 days and it will be at least 5 days before the #2 is replaced and we again have hot water.

Why 5 days you ask? Well we called Wed afternoon as soon as it was dicovered there was a leak in #2. We were assigned a contractor promptly called but could not come until Friday. Although we complained, AHS told us it was not an emergency and therefore service within 48 hours was consistent with the contract. i asked for another contractor who might have been able to come on Thursday and were told we could not do that because one had already been assigned.

What they didn't tell us or disgracefully were unaaware of was that by the time the repairmean confirmed that the #2 had to be repolaced it was late Friday afternoon and he could not get a new hot water heater that late in the day. THEN he told us that after Memorial Day the AHS suppliers are closed on Sat so Monday would be the earliest.

To add insult to injury the repairman told us that hot water heater #1 that had been previously installed by another AHS contractor was incorrectly installed and the flue pipe was not cut to size and there was a large opening that was permitting combustion gases that were suppose to be vented through the flue to escape into the house!

Guess what? AHS called on Saturday to tell me I had to pay for the repair that their contractor screwed up on hot water heater #1! $410.

I told them I will pay the new contractor installing hot water heater #2 (they urger me to call contracotr #1 but I asked the AHS person to ttake off her AHS name poalte and tell me if she would call the same company to do repairs that couldn't even correctly install hot water heater #1)since AHS refuses to go after contractor #1 and then I will sue AHS and contractor #1 in Municipal Court for the money, loss of time we have had to stay home from work, fraud andmisrepresentation and puntive damges. Under PA law, AHS being a coporation, must be represeted by an atty (I am an atty) and so they will be required to pay an atty to defend them.

By the way, each time we called AHS realted to hot water heater #2 we were on hold for no less than 25 minutes.

While there is no question that I have saved money with the policy, you have to be prepared for mulitple vists and never never expect that the repair will be corectly done on the first visit. The contractors they use are obviuously poor andin need of work and are unable to generate enough business on their own.

AHS has the worst service I have ever experienced from any company.