HMS Home Warranty Company ripoff failure to act on claim then denying liability for damages Fairfax Virginia

On 13 August 2005 our air conditioner broke down, so I called HMS and filed a claim. They gave us a phone # for a company; I called 3 times over the next 24 hours but no-one even bothered to return our calls, so I asked HMS for another provider. They gave us an alternate. A repairman from Air Express came on Monday, diagnosed the trouble as a broken compressor and said the whole unit needed to be replaced.

I called HMS to inform them of this; they were puzzled as to why I called, saying Air Express needed to file the request, but told me if Air Express had a unit available they could use it. Otherwise, HMS had to order one. I heard nothing for two days, so I called Air Express. I was informed that the unit had to be ordered; HMS wouldn't authorize Air Express to use the one they had in the warehouse(!). It would probably be in on Friday.

When Friday arrived I called to see if they were coming that day, and they told me that it would be at least Monday. All this time the temperature in the house was between 85-90 degrees, and the humidity was causing doors to swell and floors to buckle. My husband was not satisfied with theAir Express' response, so he called HMS - only to be told that the unit hadn't even been ordered as "the purchase order wasn't recieved until today". The contractor had been attemtpting to put in the purchase request all week, but HMS would not accept it.

Now they're telling us that between putting in the order, waiting for shipment, delivery etc. it will be at least two more weeks before it's installed. We will thus be forced to buy a unit ourselves, which violates HMS policy and ends their liability; our only other option is to take a $540 "credit" and wait for them to install a unit whenever they feel like it, or pay another $275 to Air Express to install whatever compatible unit they have available. If we wait much longer damages to our home could amount to thousands of dollars, but HMS says they are not liable, since they are not required to respond in a timely manner.

I feel the contract they offer is only good for small repairs; when we needed the garbage disposal replaced and the washing maching fixed they were very quick to respond, so I thought they were reliable. Those were not big ticket items, however. The contract they offer is not worth the paper it's written on as far as I'm concerned, and we will definitely NOT renew our policy next year.

Janet
Lorton, Virginia
U.S.A.