Choice Home Warranty & Choice Home Warranty Lied to get me on and caught them in the lie! Plus they never covered my claim & had to get refund Prorated!!! Edison New Jersey

A/C unit stopped cooling August 4th 2014.We purchased a home warranty with Choice Home Warranty.Assigned technician to come to house with claim #52136606.A day passed before they found out he was out of town.So the next day they assigned Home Air Solutions on the 5th.He came out on the 6th to collect a service fee of $45 and fix the problem, which he listed as a broken contact and then he wrote us up as having a dirty unit and a dirty filter.Additionally,he cut holes in the Plenum,allowing dirt and attic air to the coils and he broke retaining clips to the A/C filter.We submitted pictures to Choice of what he broke and of the clean filters that he stated as dirty.That night the A/C cooled to 80 degrees!Obviously still broken!Again I called Choice and they assigned yet another guy to come to the house from Parish Refrigeration on the 7th.He never showed or answered his phone.Finally on August 11th they assigned the claim to Fenivs A/C and they showed up on the 12th for the fix.Thats No A/C in the middle of August with a 4 month old, 4 other children and an elderly woman with NO attempt to assist/compensate us by putting us in a hotel OR getting someone out to our home ASAP.The technician form Fenivus stated unit was low on freon and did a leak detection test, that Choice wouldn’t pay for.So I had to pay him to get the problem diagnosed.He also found that the 1st guy that came out didn’t replace/repair anything and that the unit was 2.5# low on freon and that there was major leaks at the coils and by the unit outside.He submitted the claim and didn’t see any reason why they wouldn’t cover the repair as it is in bad shape and the unit is 22 years old.He filled it with freon to help us get by till Choice authorizes a repair.We bought the house February 2013 and Choice response was we have no record of cleaning the unit in the past 3 years so they are saying that it was improper care that caused the coils to leak and it isn’t covered.

Desired Settlement: Repair

Unit repaired or replaced to operation standards. They know that they are responsible for the repair but are trying to weasel out of it because they said that they would give me $550 toward the repair! (The cost quoted on total repair is $1300). Well are they responsible or aren’t they? Point of the matter is I paid good money for a warranty on the home and they are only putting up just enough to get by without causing problems which is wrong... Summing it up, my family had to endure 87+ degree temperatures for 8 DAYS. Parts of our AC were broken / compromised, had to pay additional out of pocket just to diagnose problem- then were rejected from coverage (kind of). Unacceptable! Please help us get our unit repaired by the warranty we purchased.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

XXXX
Our mission at Choice Home Warranty is to provide property owners with peace of mind by offering a high quality, easy and affordable way to protect their most valuable asset.  We are committed to providing a positive customer experience and we take all feedback very seriously.  Choice Home Warranty provides home warranty service coverage on the systems and appliances listed as ‘INCLUDED’ under the terms of the User Agreement sent to you at purchase.  It may also be found on our web site at http://www.choicehomewarranty.com/user_agreement.php.  
We are very sorry for the frustration with this claim, we do see that we had offered you a good will gesture that you had declined.  Unfortunately, this claim is a non covered claim due to the fact that the tech stated "WHEN COILS ARE NOT CLEANED (CHEMICALLY) DIRT AND DEBRIS AND WATER COMBINE AND FORM A CHEMICAL REACTION , WHICH DETERIORATES THE COMPOSITION OF THE COPPER TUBES OF THE COIL / THIS WILL LEAD TO RUST AND CORROSION AND THE COPPER WILL BE EATEN AWAY LEAVING SMALL PIN HOLES ALLOWING FREON TO ESCAPE."  This is a lack of maintenance and CHW per our contract does not cover such.  
Please see Section F LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY 12. We are not liable for normal or routine maintenance. We will not pay for repairs or failures that result from the Contract holder’s failure to perform normal or routine maintenance. For example, You are responsible for providing maintenance and cleaning pursuant to manufacturers’ specifications, such as periodic cleaning of heating and air conditioning systems, evaporator coils and condenser coils, as well as periodic filter replacement.
We have attached pictures for you to review that were sent to us.  Again, we are very sorry but this is a non covered claim.
Best regards,
CHW

Attached Files/Documents

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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Complaint: 10177229
I am rejecting this response because:
These findings are from an independent inspector located inside of your organization.  Both the tech that you sent out and another independent tech that I paid for to come out and evaluate the situation both stated that the problem is in fact due to age of unit (which is 22 years old) and NOT failure to maintain.  Furthermore, I never rejected your “good faith jester” I am simply waiting for you’ll to replace the broken unit because I now have 2 techs stating that age of unit is what is causing leaks. I do not understand how 2 other technicians are saying it’s due to age, while the one who made the decision of “lack of maintenance” hasn't even come to the house to inspect the unit.  I would like to see a picture of another 22 year old unit that has no rust or pitting on it in South Louisiana.  If you would like a 3rd opinion to say that its the age of unit I am sure I can come out of pocket and get that done too but you'll are going to have to repay me for all these inspection fees! 
Regards,
xxxx

Friday, August 22, 2014

Dear xxxx
We apologize for the frustration this claim has caused you.  The information we received from the technician, including pictures of your unit, show rust where the unit is leaking Freon. If the unit was properly maintained, the rust and corrosion could have been avoided.  CHW requested that the consumer submit records to ensure that the unit was maintained properly; to date however; we have not received anything from the consumer.  Unfortunately, CHW does not cover failures to due Rust and corrosion or lack of maintenance.  
Please see Section F. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
1.The following are not included during the contract term; (i) malfunction or improper operation due to rust or corrosion of all systems and appliances, (ii) collapsed ductwork, (iii) known or unknown pre-existing conditions.
4. We are not responsible for the repair of any cosmetic defects or performance of routine maintenance.
8. We are not liable for repair of conditions caused by chemical or sedimentary build up, rust or corrosion, mildew, mold, misuse or abuse, failure to clean or maintain as specified by the equipment manufacturer, missing parts, structural changes, fire, freezing, electrical failure or surge, water damage, lightening, mud, earthquake, soil movement, soil settlement, settling of home, storms, accidents, pest damage, acts of God, or failure due to excessive or inadequate water pressure.
12. We are not liable for normal or routine maintenance. We will not pay for repairs or failures that result from the Contract holder’s failure to perform normal or routine maintenance. For example, You are responsible for providing maintenance and cleaning pursuant to manufacturers’ specifications, such as periodic cleaning of heating and air conditioning systems, evaporator coils and condenser coils, as well as periodic filter replacement.
Also please See Section D. COVERAGE:
4. AIR CONDITIONING/COOLER:
EXCLUDED: Gas air conditioning systems - Condenser casings - Registers and Grills - Filters - Electronic air cleaners - Window units - Non-ducted wall units - Water towers - Humidifiers - Improperly sized units - Chillers - All exterior condensing, cooling and pump pads – Roof mounts, jacks, stands or supports - Condensate pumps – Commercial grade equipment - Cost for crane rentals - Air conditioning with mismatched condensing unit and evaporative coil per manufacturer specifications – Improper use of metering devices - Thermal expansion valves - Refrigerant conversion - Leak detections – Water leaks - Drain line stoppages – Maintenance - Noise. No more than two systems covered unless purchased separately at time of enrollment. We are not responsible for the costs associated with matching dimensions, brand or color made. We will not pay for any modifications necessitated by the repair of existing equipment or the installation of new equipment.
The details of your situation are not representative of the normal CHW customer experience.  Please accept our apology for any trouble or inconvenience this has caused.  We appreciate the feedback as it gives us the opportunity to improve our services.
Best regards,
CHW

Best part is I called to get a refund for the 5 year policy I purchased from them and they will only give me ~$200 of the $2200 I paid for a 5 year policy....  

I have the pictures of the unit and it looks like every unit in south louisiana for the past 22 years.  I also have the techs report stating that it is due to age and not lack of maintanace. 

These people are BAD stay away!! 

Additionally, this is the 2nd time they did this to me. The 1st was for my water heaters. They were calling them "low boys" and wouldnt fix them.  I had to record their sales guy saying that they would cover them and play the recoriding back to the manager of the claims department just to get them fixed.

END