American Home Shield AHS Unscrupulous, deceptive, dishonest home warranty company corporate HDQTRS in Memphis, Tennessee

OMG Carroll! Same here.  I recently filed  complaints with the BBB of the Mid-South, The FTC and The Consumer Protection Dept. in TN. in regards to The despicable way American Home Shield does business.  Unfortunately, they take a couple of weeks to respond generally.  My next step is to seek out an attorney.  It's unbelievable that they are still getting away with this type of business practice.  There are 100s, maybe thousands of complaints between this site, The BBB and complaints.com!  Anybody interested in a class action law suit?

On 8/16 our AC died, supposedly covered under our home warranty.  On 8/20 their contractor arrived.  Paid him the mandatory $95 for the service fee.  He said he would have to order the part (blower motor), because of the type of furnace it was.  On 8/26 he reported back to AHS that although he located the part, he was unable to order it as the manufacturer in Canada only sells directly to retailers.  At that point, he told me that the "ball was back in AHS' court.  On 8/31 I spoke to supervisor Danielle Hart who told me that they had 48 hours to begin a parts search. Why not get started right away as we'd already lost a week in 90-100 degree temps.?   Is that the practice of a legitimate business, I ask? 

Why wait a random 48 hours?  This was surely an indication of what I was guessing I was going to be up against.  Boy was I right!

That 48 hours gave them in effect, Fri. through Mon. in which to continue to do nothing to locate the blower motor.  On Tues. I'm thinking that maybe they are starting to search for the part.  Danielle (supervisor), tells me on 8/31 that they have 5-7 days (of course not including weekends or Labor Day), to find the part and that if they can't locate one, they will have to get an authorization to replace the furnace.  Now I'm told she cannot give me any specific time frame on just how long this will take.  Not just the replacement of the furnace, but even just the authorization process. 

Can anyone out there believe this??  There are so many complaints out there and they are just allowed to continue to do business in this fashion.  It's a total scam and yet it continues!  Anyway, today is day 8  Fri. afternoon and I have left 3 messages already for Danielle; to no avail.  Being Fri., I'm guessing that they will avoid me at all costs in order to delay any possible action on their part for yet another few days. 

Being without AC for weeks with some of the temps. rising up to 90-100 degrees is bad enough but with fall approaching quickly in the NE, what are we supposed to do without a furnace?  I have asked them this question on more than one occasion and the only answer I get is "we understand your frustration".  I don't believe for one minute that would be the case.  They could care less as to what condition they leave their customers in.  I conclude this not just from my own hideous experience, but from all of the other postings I have read in the last few days.  Their advertising is completely misleading.

For example, the contract booklet depicts a completely different scenario.  There is a cartoon illustration of a client's dishwasher going awry.  They call AHS who notifies their contractor of the problem.  Contractor sets up appointment, arrives, diagnoses or repairs the problem, you pay the contractor the $95 service fee and all is taken care of.  The customer lives happily ever after and is more than anxious to renew their contract.  Only that isn't how it works.  Perhaps it does occasionally, if no major part needs ordering and it is easily accessible, or maybe it's a basic repair.  But if there are major parts needed or maybe a replacement appliance, it seems that it regularly gets real ugly.

This is not merely a conclusion from my extremely negative experience, but again from everything I've read.  They lead you in endless circles that lead nowhere.  On Wed. 9/8/10,  Danielle told me that they are not responsible for any delays in getting parts, as per my contract.  That may be true, but then why did she tell me that they had 5-7 days to locate a part?  How long should this be allowed to continue?  I have read too, that it seems to be somewhat of the norm for incorrect parts to arrive when they do order parts, only to delay the process even longer. I've also read that they replace appliances with less than adequate new ones, i.e., not equal to what they are  replacing, as cheaply as possible below par.  Dealing with American Home Shield is frustrating, aggravating and physically sickening.  I can only conclude that this is without a doubt a DESPICABLE and unscrupulous business to deal with!

PLEASE BEWARE!