Monday, November 28, 2016

Are Home Warranties Worth It?

When somebody buys a home the seller of that home will usually include a 1 year Home Warranty from places such as America Home Shield or Old Republic. These companies sell policies that help the new homeowner during the first year of owning a home. Policies typically will protect your major appliances from harm for the first year. There is usually a $50 deductible for calling to have service and a limit to how many times or total amount you can spend. You cant call them everyday to fix something and they dont just automatically replace anything that's broken. Here is a little list of things to expect when dealing with the warranty companies.

1)Dont expect the companies to be sympathetic. They are insurance carriers. Their job is to spend as little money as posssible. Dont be surprised when they are not as enthusiastic as you are about your problem. The goal for them is to make sure it is the smallest repair as possible. The companies that work for these places are usually, and remember I said usually, the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Air Conditioning & Heating companies. They will typically not be guys who are wearing uniforms or driving in vehicles wrapped with company logos. That's not because they are bad, it's just because once a company is growing and successful it no longer has a need for working for the insurance companies who pay so little and who are so strict about what they allow the techs to do. If it is Summer time then it is STANDARD to wait 3 days for one of their authorized companies to come out. If you live in Texas like I do, then you are just not going to wait. Insurance companies love that. They are excited to save money, so when you say you are calling somebody else and just paying for the repair out of pocket its a bonus to them. That's one less claim they dont have to pay. And dont think for a second that the company that you end up calling for same day service is going to be sympatheitc either. From their standpoint they got to your house in under 2 hours, so its obvious you are going to pay more for their services.  When you tell them you have a home warranty they are going to say "Well Ma'am, just so you know, we dont work for them or with them., Im sorry they couldn't be here to save you money but we are a normal price company so our prices are going to be    more in line with that." At that point you need to understand that's not unfair, its just the reality for that service company.

2) When the insurance company's Air Conditioning & Heating repairman  finally shows up he will have a certain protocol he will have to follow. You are not the boss in this situation and all the "customer is always right" stuff.  This contractor works for the insurance company, not you. He is there to make sure it is just fixed and fixed only. IF he upsets you some service such as a coil clean etc then it is more money in their pocket. Dont be surprised when the customer service is lacking here. When you hire your own Air Conditioning & Heating Contractor you get to decide how things go and not the other way around

3) New equipment is the last resort. You may think "Well who cares as long as im not paying for it." The actual thing that's happening is that they are delaying THEM paying for a new unit. Somebody is definately paying, its just not going to be the insurance company. This leaves you with a bubble gum repair and a very inefficient system costing you lots of money each month in electricity. The insurance company knows that 80% of people do not renew the contract after 1 year and so they just need to get through that year. Then, you become the person paying for the replacement when it is now mandatory and broken beyond repair.

4) Before you even try, NO you cannot join them while you have a currently broken piece of equipment. They are smart to this tactic and so they have a 90 day waiting period. They figure if you we're willing to pay 3 months of premiums and wait for 90 days while the appliance was broken then you are just the one they want to be working with.

I hope this was helpful. If you find you really need a company to come out and give you the same discounted providing that you would get with the Insurance companies guy then call 682-214-HVAC(4822). You can also visit www.TexasDiscountAir.com

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