Advise on home warranty companies; no where else to turn.... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

MBeige · #16 10-01-2017, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

I am an HVAC contractor... I own my company, and I get a LOT of customers from home warranty rip off sequences...

See... hwc's pay the techs diddly... a job I would charge 3000 for, they allocate 600... so, the techs are motivated to "find" problems that aren't covered so they can make money.

My advice with someone that has the warranty... get the quote, then call your own tech to verify and quote repairs... get a check from the hwc, and use it like a coupon towards a real repair...

Certain things the hwc do well... water heaters (those are EXPENSIVE to replace nowadays!) but if you have an older ac... nope...

Good advice. The HWC did try to fix the AC ($60), but the original unit (1981) from our house combined with the inefficient original (single pane, barely sealing) windows was struggling to cope with southern California summer heat.

With new double pane windows replacing the originals, we had the AC replaced (new condenser, furnace/HVAC unit, refrigerant lines, etc.)... our bill is still lower with these new items when we ran the AC almost all-day compared to when we had the old unit blowing only "as needed" as inefficient as it was.

Larry Delor · #17 10-01-2017, 11:08 PM

I had agreed one Saturday morning, after being awakened by the phone, to a free 3 or 6 month trial. I figured...ok, 3 or 6 months free...why not?
I forgot about it.. and once I saw it appear on my statement, I thought I ought to cancel it, but never got around to it. Several years (yes, years) I finally think that I ought to get serious about canceling when I discover that the floor around my water heater seemed wet. Yep...water heater "only" lasted 20 years (replaced elements once).
Called them up...they sent a guy out (paid visit charge)...he confirmed heater was bad.
I asked the guy if I can move the location of the heater, provided I move the plumbing, and he said it was fine by him.
In the end, I got a larger heater (40gal), because the old one was a 30gal low boy, and actually more money. The heater also found itself relocated in the garage, instead of the guest bathroom. They did get me for a pressure tank - which I thought was stupid and ridiculous, since there was a large pressure tank 30 feet away by my well pump.

Doing rough math, I basically pre-paid for the heater, with monthly installments to the warranty company. The first plumber they were going to send was 90 mins away, and wasn't going to make the trip...I asked his opinion of the warranty company, and he said they were one of the better ones. The plumber from 30 mins away seemed to be in agreement.

Other than that, I still don't fully trust them.