<p>A little background-when I bought my home 9 years ago, the sellers offered a year of home warranty protection. It covers pretty much everything inside of the home. I have renewed it every year. Here is an example of what I have had to deal with:</p>
<p>GOOD:
replaced blower motor on furnace
replace heating element in oven
repaired leaking pipe in basement
replaced fan on AC unit</p>
<p>BAD:
I had to replace DW on my own due to contractor they sent refusing to say it needed replaced although he had tried to repair it 4 times.
I had to pay $300 in excess fees I was not aware of when hot water tank needed replaced
The last plumber they sent out was rude, arrogant, and the owner of his company</p>
<p>Keep in mind this was all over a 9 year period. I have been keeping up the the warranty in case the heating/cooling goes out since it is original from 1986.</p>
<p>The reason for my post is I am wondering if I should continue with this company or the warranty at all. Just as I was getting ready to write the $518 check to renew it for another year, I happened to notice they once again have raised the amount I pay when the contractor comes out to $75. It was prevously $60 and was $45-$50 when I started with them. Not to mention the amount I have to pay to renew it has gone up every year.</p>
<p>Hmmmm…?? Does anyone else renew with their home warranty company year after year?</p>
<p>We always have it written into a purchase agreement (like you did 9 years ago) but let it expire after the year. We just don’t want any big surprises. Personally, I’ve found the service companies that work with the home warranty companies don’t always have the best technicians. I suspected a slab leak in a new house and the plumber sent by the HW company did a quick faucet pressure check and declared it fine. The next month we went on vacation and came home to an inch of hot water filling the entire downstairs. The soggy silver lining is that HO insurance covered replacing everything we planned on replacing anyway eventually. We sued the plumber for our insurance deductible but lost as the pro-tem judge ruled that the incompetent technician wasn’t willfully negligent. Or something like that. YMMV</p>
<p>I’m hoping you aren’t going to tell me that your warranty company is First American. I am under warranty with them, and they have been out 3 times to deal with my dishwasher. They will, for a second time, replace the control panel since it won’t turn off when the cycle is completed. I sure hope I won’t have a fight on MY hands, like you did.</p>
<p>As for the DW, I was on the phone with AHS and they were telling me all the contractor had to do was say it needed replaced and the contractor was right in my home telling me-“No, they won’t do that”. I happened to come in to an extra $250 around that time so dealt with the DW myself.</p>
<p>I had a plumber come out recently for something that wouldn’t have been covered and they charge approx. $75/hr. So I am thinking why pay $75 service each time now if that is about what I will pay for something that will only take an hour to fix (hopefully). I know there are parts involved as well, but I am just thinking of dropping the whole thing. I will hope and pray any further repairs are few and far between.</p>
<p>My current warranty expires next week and I do have one thing that needs a plumbers attention. I will see who they want to send out. If it is the jerk with his own business that was so rude, I will just have the guy I found on my own come out and pay for it myself.</p>
<p>I would personally not renew the warranty company. I would rather pick my own repair service and deal with things as they come up. I guess one thing to consider is if you could replace the furnace if it happen to die. How old is your stuff?</p>
<p>We had a home warranty (with AHS) when we bought our new house a couple of years ago. We had nothing but trouble with them. The service people they sent were incompetent at best. Needless to say, we let it expire when the year was up.</p>
<p>They are fine for small stuff… but when we had A/C issues, FORGET IT. Terrible… and some of the contractors they sent out were sketchy AT BEST. Ended up cashing out on the A/C (to basically get back what we paid for the warranty) and getting it fixed ourselves. Friend who also had A/C issues was told they couldn’t get a part for 4 weeks and their solution was for her to go to Walmart and buy fans… we live in HOUSTON and it was AUGUST. Hello??? American Home Shield… WORTHLESS.</p>