Residential MD Bait and Switch Home Warranty Fort Lauderdale Florida

Look at the piles of negative reviews online before you "sign" with Residential MD!

My hot water heater (on the second floor) started leaking at about 11:30am yesterday. I heard dripping in the ceiling and tracked it down to the hot water heater. I could not find the shut-off to it, so I immediately called Residential MD. That's when the run-around started. At least eight calls, spanning the rest of the business day amounted to Residential MD "assigning" my case to three different plumbers, none of which could come out during the weekend. Ultimately one of them could come out the next day (today).

Meanwhile I was able to find the shut-off and turn off the water, but not before significant drywall damage was done in the ceiling. Most maddening was Residential MD's "assignment" of my case (with leaking water) without actually talking directly to a particular plumber. Each time I would call Residential MD back and say, "I just got a call from ___________, and they can't come out for two days," or, "... mid next week." And then (with hours passing) Residential MD would again "assign" my case to a new plumber, who also couldn't come out.

So, with water leaking, Residential MD could not find me a plumber nor treat the case as an emergency.

It gets much worse!

Finally, one of the reps at Residential MD told me, "Somebody should have told you that in an emergency case like this, you can just hire your own plumber, whoever you can get, and we'll reimburse for the emergency service call." I said, "Yes, somebody should have told me that many hours ago! Meanwhile, damage has been done, and I wouldn't be waiting for days with no water in my house!"

At that moment the call came in on the other line that the (presently here) plumber could come today. By that time, with the water shut-off, I took what I could get. But HOURS earlier I could have lined up my own plumber, that would not have been one in Residential MD's "list." One of the reps at Residential MD told me that "in your area" (the greater Denver area) they had only three plumbers on their list. So, yeah, of course those were all booked up.

So, today the plumber arrived and said, "Yes, we'll have to replace the whole hot water heater. I'll have to order one."

I said, "How long will that take?"

She said, "Typically 3 to 4 days, but it can go as much as 8 days."

I said, "3 to 8 DAYS? That is unacceptable! Let me call Residential MD."

So, I called Residential MD back and said, "Look, there are hot water heaters sitting on the shelf right now, about 1 1/2 miles away, two different major vendors. Why should I have no water in my house for 3 to 8 days?"

This rep said, "Somebody should have told you about our reimbursement option. We can authorize you to go buy a hot water heater yourself, have the plumber install it, and we'll reimburse you for a 'standard replacement.'"

With the plumber listening, I followed up with a litany of questions, such as:

"What is a 'standard replacement?'"

The rep answered: "Well, we'll only reimburse for a 'like kind' replacement. So, you can't buy a 50 or 60 gallon tank to replace your 40 gallon. You can't get a 15 year warranty model, if you have a 6 year warranty model. We will only reimburse up to the amount of replacing the kind of hot water heater you now have."

I asked, "Well, the off-the-shelf unit will probably cost more than what you'd order. But that's the point to it being an 'emergency,' right?"

She laughed and said, "As long as it's a 'like kind' replacement, we'll reimburse you."

So, I went to Home Depot and spent $481.73 (which was the plumber's price, btw) on an absolutely like-kind hot water heater. The plumber picked it up and is installing it as I write this.

I no more than got home when Residential MD called me to tell me the total amount they were authorizing for the replacement, including labor: A little over $680, less my $85 deductible, bringing their total "reimbursement," including labor to about $590.

The plumber tells me that I'm going to own $490 for their labor, and I've already paid $481.73 for the hot water heater.

So, I asked the Residential MD rep how there can be an almost $400 disparity, and she said, "Well, we will only reimburse for your purchase up to what we would have paid had we ordered it, which is $390 for our 'builder grade' hot water heater."

I said, "Wait, this is not how it was explained to me! And you are comfortable to tell a customer, 'Hey, yeah, you don't have water in your house, but, you know, whatever. We'll 'emergency' order you a new hot water heater, and when it comes in after a few days, we'll get somebody to install it.'? I think that's outrageous! This isn't a third-world country, and we're not going to be without water for days to as much as a week! And your rep TOLD me, with the plumber listening, 'Buy a 'like kind' replacement, and we'll reimburse you. That is what I did, and I barely do it and you're already changing the rules."

The rep responded, "Well, you were informed incorrectly, or you didn't correctly understand. We can get that hot water heater for $390, and that's what we'll reimburse. Regarding labor, we have been quoted by other plumbers for 2 1/2 hours of labor. And there's some misc. parts. So, that's how we come up with the amount we'll reimburse."

I said, "But these plumbers that are quoting you haven't even been out to my house! They don't know anything about the job. How can they quote anything with accuracy? The plumber who is HERE knows the whole story, and I have to pay the ACTUAL price the job costs. This is not some on-paper theory about costs. This is what it costs, and this is one of your APPROVED plumber from YOUR LIST that is out here doing the work! So, you should be covering THEIR actual costs, less my deductible."

The rep said, "I'm sorry, but I'm telling you what we will reimburse."

So, I then changed to the drywall damage. I explained the whole run-around I got for hours, while Residential MD "assigned" my case to effectively non-existent plumbers, and while water was leaking.

Long and short, the rep said, "That damage is what we call 'consequential damage' and is not covered by your warranty. We're sorry for the damage and for the delays in getting a plumber out to you. But we don't cover any such damages."

So, in the end, NOBODY at Residential MD took this matter seriously. Every rep I spoke to had a different story. One of the reps explained their reimbursement policy entirely in error. And the net effect of the whole mess is that Residential MD is going to "reimburse" me for barely over half of the actual costs of the job!

And regarding the drywall damage, their line is: Tough luck, buddy.

So, before you buy a policy from Residential MD, take warning! You can be having a flat-out emergency, and their "response" will be hours and hours and hours of run-around, incorrect information, and a pathetic "reimbursement" for your efforts to resolve the emergency yourself (because nobody at Residential MD can be bothered to treat it like an actual emergency." And anything they can call "consequential damages" will be entirely on you to handle.

So, given what I've paid in premiums, coupled with this incident (I don't even know yet what the drywall is going to cost!), being "insured" with Residential MD has been a significant net-loss to me! I would have been far better off to just put the premium each month into a dedicated savings account and not have their "coverage" at all! That is exactly what I now plan to do. If you have the discipline to do likewise, I highly recommend that you "self warranty" rather than pay Residential MD for nothing but hassles, run-around, and incorrect information.