Howdy all,

First time homeowner and we are having issues with our downstairs heating. I climbed up to the crawl space that houses the furnace unit and smelled gas. I shut off the line to the furnace and am about to call into American Home Shield for the home warranty.

Before I do so, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a company that is within AHS approval?

First time doing this and I've heard the horror stories so I am just trying to do the best I can to minimize headache upfront.

We live in Plano.

Welcome to home ownership!!!

I can't speak to who would be in their network but yes those home warranty companies are pains to deal with, allegedly have class action lawsuits against them, etc.

I had a furnace issue as well after moving in, and they required me to have my furnace and coil basically taken apart and fully cleaned out at my expense before they would pay for the fix (new blower motor, I think). The service was more expensive than the fix I think.

Hope it goes smoothly for you; might want to read the policy if you can.

Sirius Plumbing and HVAC. Call them, make an appointment and tell them you have AHS. They will take care of getting the work order for you.

http://siriuspac.com/

We used A-US Air Cond Of Texas earlier this week to fix a problem that another company couldn't figure out. Their tech was professional, too.

We asked AHS to send us another company because the tech of the first, Bella Heat and Air, was rude and finally pissed my wife off so badly she wouldn't have him in the house again.

Before I told AHS to take a hike, I had a water heater that failed to produce warm water.

I called AHS and reported the problem. The person who answered the phone (who hopefully will pass the GED someday) dispatched the plumbing company that is under contract with them my area.

One other thing, their offices are in inner city Memphis, if you catch my drift.

The repairman spent four days trying to fix the problem. That is four days of boiling water to bathe and wash dishes in a nearly brand new house.

AHS operator refused to let me speak to a supervisor. Plumbing company finally sent a someone who knew what he was doing. (apparently after several parts were installed the repairman fail to click a switch).
I called the plumbing company myself by passing AHS.

I was minutes away from calling Home Depot and having a new water heater installed.

I cancelled AHS and then the suits (the ones who had passed the GED) began calling to regain my business. They all said what happened to me could not happen.

Told them to pound sound anyway.

My advice is do not purchase a home warranty. Save your money and if in the rare chance something happens, call your own repair company and pay for it with the savings from not giving money to home warranty companies.

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My advice is do not purchase a home warranty. Save your money and if in the rare chance something happens, call your own repair company and pay for it with the savings from not giving money to home warranty companies.

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I closed on a home yesterday and the sellers gave us a year contract with AHS. We'll see how it goes and hopefully we don't need it but if it were a penny more than free I would have declined it.

Spaceship said:

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I closed on a home yesterday and the sellers gave us a year contract with AHS. We'll see how it goes and hopefully we don't need it but if it were a penny more than free I would have declined it.

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Yeah I mean the entire concept here is you don't go and try and sue prior ownership for a applicance issue. Does anyone ever really pay out of pocket past the first year?

Do home warranty companies let you pick from their approved vendor list? Every home warranty company I've used assigns the company for you.

PlanoAg98 said:

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Do home warranty companies let you pick from their approved vendor list? Every home warranty company I've used assigns the company for you.

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No. They make you call them first, and they send their vendor out. I work for a title company and see this all the time. AHS was terrible for my own personal home. They try to get out of everything. I will say go through your realtor and get them involved. The Home Warranty Reps dont't want to make the realtors mad, so they are more likely to help and fix the problem if they are involved.

fun fact about home warranty companies and plumbing leaks -- they only pay for the cost to actually fix the leak, not the cost to find it or the cost to repair the damage done to get to the leak. we had a hot water leak in our slab. i ended up getting the plumber to fix it without digging into the slab, so the cost to fix was way less than it could have been. Roughly $900 total bill, home warranty covered $60, which was the material cost and labor to replace the leaking fitting.

Disco Stu said:

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Sirius Plumbing and HVAC. Call them, make an appointment and tell them you have AHS. They will take care of getting the work order for you.

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I got their name on TexAgs a few years ago and have been very happy with them. We had an AHS warranty for a few years (three AC units 20+ years old...) and used them numerous times for HVAC and plumbing.

Spaceship said:

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I closed on a home yesterday and the sellers gave us a year contract with AHS. We'll see how it goes and hopefully we don't need it but if it were a penny more than free I would have declined it.

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This was exactly our situation, a free one-year home warranty from the sellers.

My take is this....1) yes Home warranty's are a scam 8/10. 2) I live in DFW so I know they will have to have several contractors 3) I stalked the hell out of the company I finally chose and found an AHS one that was 4.3/5 stars.

If you know up front its going to be a headache, maybe you can at least find a company that works with them that will help minimize it.

I also rationalize it like this, our house is 28 years old. The HVAC is getting near the end of it's life and will eventually have to be replaced. If I have AHS until the AC breaks, it will be worth it. I've limited my out of pocket exposure (within reason) and assuming I get to choose the company to come out, it should be ok. Now like I said, I know it will be a headache but as long as one is aware of that, it shouldn't be too bad. I may change my tune though eventually, who knows.

PlanoAg98 said:

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Do home warranty companies let you pick from their approved vendor list? Every home warranty company I've used assigns the company for you.

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Yes, I went online to AHS, requested a service. Had a list of 5 or so companies to choose from. I chose the one with the best rating.

The guy came out today, diagnosed the problem with my furnace, replace the parts and had it back up in running within an hour. Asked him what this would cost without the Home Warranty and he said $150 before taxes. I paid $75 upfront, so I'm still net positive with minimal headache.

We will see what happens next time.

gvine07 said:

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Disco Stu said:

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Sirius Plumbing and HVAC. Call them, make an appointment and tell them you have AHS. They will take care of getting the work order for you.

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I got their name on TexAgs a few years ago and have been very happy with them. We had an AHS warranty for a few years (three AC units 20+ years old...) and used them numerous times for HVAC and plumbing.

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Thanks for these tips y'all. I will keep this noted for future reference!

Not to argue, but theres not a furnace repair that could be made in under an hour that would cost $4150. I'm not sure theres any repair that would cost that as you could replace the who thing for that much. Maybe $41.50.

East Dallas Ag said:

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Not to argue, but theres not a furnace repair that could be made in under an hour that would cost $4150. I'm not sure theres any repair that would cost that as you could replace the who thing for that much. Maybe $41.50.

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That was the home warranty price. If you hired the contractor directly it was $41.

East Dallas Ag said:

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Not to argue, but theres not a furnace repair that could be made in under an hour that would cost $4150. I'm not sure theres any repair that would cost that as you could replace the who thing for that much. Maybe $41.50.

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You are right on the money there, meant to say $150 (since shift+4 = "$" )

snowmnag970 said:

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Spaceship said:

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I closed on a home yesterday and the sellers gave us a year contract with AHS. We'll see how it goes and hopefully we don't need it but if it were a penny more than free I would have declined it.

---

This was exactly our situation, a free one-year home warranty from the sellers.

My take is this....1) yes Home warranty's are a scam 8/10. 2) I live in DFW so I know they will have to have several contractors 3) I stalked the hell out of the company I finally chose and found an AHS one that was 4.3/5 stars.

If you know up front its going to be a headache, maybe you can at least find a company that works with them that will help minimize it.

I also rationalize it like this, our house is 28 years old. The HVAC is getting near the end of it's life and will eventually have to be replaced. If I have AHS until the AC breaks, it will be worth it. I've limited my out of pocket exposure (within reason) and assuming I get to choose the company to come out, it should be ok. Now like I said, I know it will be a headache but as long as one is aware of that, it shouldn't be too bad. I may change my tune though eventually, who knows.

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This is true in theory, however, I have unfortunately proved this wrong. AHS will do everything in their power not to replace it. We had a 30 year old AC unit running our electric bills at $500 a month for a 1700 sqft house. We called on several occasions and they would only pay to replace parts. We ended up dropping them, replacing the unit, and never looking back.

I wish you much better luck than we had.