Choice Home Warranty CHOICE CHW Made up obviously false reasons to deny my claim. extremely poor customer service. could not get ahold of them after filing. New Jersey

My air conditioner stopped cooling my house 7/20.  I called Choice to file a claim for repair 7/23/2018 as temperatures here in Texas were in the 100's..  A technician was scheduled to come out the next day.  I was given the company's name, so I googled them to see their ratings and check for any customer service reviews.  I saw that the technician (Beau from GeauxPro air) had lots of negative reviews.  Sure enough, the day that he was scheduled to arrive between 11am and 3 pm, he failed to show up. 

At 3:20pm we called him to figure out what's going on.  He was upset because we interrupted him while he was "eating his lunch."  he finally showed up at the house around 3:45 pm.  He walks in, sets the downstairs thermostat to 60 and goes to check the outside unit.  after about 2 minutes of being onsite he says "you have a refrigerant leak somewhere.  you just need a new hvac system" and leaves. 

Mind you he never checked refrigerant pressure or even went upstairs to check the attic unit.  The next day, CHOICE denies the claim, saying that in order to diagnose the problem, a "leak search" is needed and that is not covered under the home warranty contract.  After emailing back and forth with the case manager, I said that I'd pay for the leak test.  She said that's fine.  just send me the invoice, and pictures of the coils and plates.

The technician (ARS Rescue) took the pictures required and we sent everything to the case manager. several more days pass with no communication from CHOICE.  I posted a few comments asking for status updates and on 7/29 the case manager acknowledges that she received the documents that I submitted and the claim is being reviewed.  She said that she would reach out to me once a determination has been made. Their site says appeal can take up to 5 days.

Another week passes and no communication from CHOICE.  I attempted to contact them by phone many times, unsuccessfully.  During one attempt, I waited on hold for 94 minutes before I finally hung up.  I called back and followed the prompts to place a new claim and surprisingly I didn't have to wait before I was able to speak to a representative.  Of course he couldn't answer my questions, but he gave me the phone number for the claims department.  Needless to say, nobody picked up.

After posting a complaint about the service, I received an email from what I assume is the corporate office offering to cover the cost of my leak test as a gesture of good faith.  That sounded like I might get someone involved to help move this thing along.

Note:  we've had 100 degree temperatures throughout this experience.  After I developed a heat rash, I moved my family into a hotel until this could get resolved.

With no additional communication, I reached out to CHOICE once again to figure out what's happening with my claim.

This morning (8/16/2018)  I receive a message denying my claim.  here's the text of their denial

"It has determined the cause of failure of your system is with the evaporator coil, which is leaking refrigerant and must be replaced. Evaporator coils that leak have been exposed to corrosion or acidic materials that have infiltrated the air stream and air flow throughout the house and have damaged the integrity of the coil. The acidic agents cause sections of the coil to become corroded and/or rusted which are weakened and develop tiny pinhole or microscopic leak.

Please refer to your terms and conditions section F number 1 ; CHW is not responsible for malfunction or improper operation due to rust or corrosion of all systems and appliances."

The coil is only 3 years old.  As is evidenced by the pictures that I sent to them it still looks shiny and new.  No corrosion or rust ANYWHERE!  Also, I have not received the reimbursement for the leak test that they offered.

So for those of you considering purchasing a policy from CHW, look elsewhere.  Everything is great when they're taking your money, but when you really need them, they will leave your family hot and bothered in 107 degree weather in Texas for 3 weeks straight and make up bs to deny your repair claim.