Colonial Home Warranty SCAM- If we can't fix it and it needs to be replaced, you pay, we dont! Wilmington, Delaware

Colonial Home Warranty 08/20/2012. It's a Scam! These guys are not competition to AHS, Hi Tech, and many other home warranty providers. They offer a plan that is subject to plenty of abnormal terms and conditions. I paid $870 for a 3 year plan which seemed to be a great deal compared to what I was paying previously and started the membership in March2012.

I called them for the 1st time on 08/20/2012 around 7:00am, when I discovered that my water heater was leaking really bad. They contacted 2 out the 4 plumbing companies they have commitment too within the hour only to get a rejection response from both by stating they couldn't take the claim. Their policy commits to having the claim assigned within 48hours but no guarrantee on when they will get a contractor out to the house to fix the issue regardless if it's an emergency.  Did Colonial call me to keep me updated? NO! I had to call them and wait on hold repeatedly to check on the status.

After 10am I finally started calling plumbers myself and thank God Roto-Rooter were there by 1pm. Colonial advised me that if I went outside the companies that they partner with, we would have to apply to get reimbursed subject to approval and they would only reimburse per their quota on what the job is worth. The plumber tells me that the water heater is shot and needs to be replaced $1025 plus $300 for new drain pan and drain pipe.

So I called Colonial back and let them know what needs to be done and Colonial told me that they would get back to me in a couple of hours and let me know if the job is approved for reimbursement, so I demanded to speak with manager and the manager  suprisingly told me the warranty doesn't cover the replacement of the water heater tank nor the drain pan. Huh? I would have waited a couple of hours to get that answer while my house is flooding and we have no hot water, and certainly the plumber wasn't going to wait around to get approval?

 I do not know a legitimate warranty company that does not stand by trying to fix the issue and if it can't be fixed, then replace it. I have since cancelled my warranty which I lose 5 months of cost $125.00 for the un-used service and a $50 cancellation fee. The manager David offered my wife $150 to stay with Colonial. Hey David, NOT A CHANCE!!