American Home Shield

[johnsmith]

Does anyone have this insurance? Buddy at work was telling me about it and I guess it covers your major appliances at home. So like if your fridge breaks, your washer/dryer, your AC goes down, you just pay the deductible and get it fixed....

If you have it, is it worth it? Any past experiences about it? I'm building a new home and I'm thinking about getting it....especially since it was a thousand degrees already yesterday and I'm worried about fixing AC units already.

[InRareForm]

sounds like a bad bet long term wise.

[johnsmith]

sounds like a bad bet long term wise.

That's what I thought, but he said the monthly cost is hardly anything, and when you think about it, when the hot water heater or AC does go out, that shit costs at least $500 every fucking time.

[InRareForm]

What's the deductible? It varies on each item right?

[johnsmith]

What's the deductible? It varies on each item right?

Looks like it...I was on the website just now and it actually looks pretty kick ass. You can build your own plan to just cover the items you want....looks like you have to pay for the service call but nit the repairs or replacement costs (which is obviously the bulk)....

I've spent literally 10 minutes looking into this so far, so I could be wrong, but I don't think this would be a bad deal....having said that, I'd like to hear from people that have actually used the product since insurance companies have the tendancy to fuck you no matter what.

[InRareForm]

If you are getting new stuff for your home anyway, why would you want to pay insurance for something that might be able to be fixed via the appliances warranties?

[johnsmith]

If you are getting new stuff for your home anyway, why would you want to pay insurance for something that might be able to be fixed via the appliances warranties?

That's a solid point....being that I'm about to drop a bunch of money, I'm currently in, " holy fuck, I hope no surprises pop up anytime soon" mode, so I'm a little overly cautious right now.

Lol...swear to you, I had never thought of it that way....still though, I think this thing looks pretty good, just maybe not right now,

[johnsmith]

I'm still curious about. I wonder if it pays itself off. Having fixed both. Hot water heater and an AC in the past 12 months, I don't see how it wouldn't.

[DPG21920]

Good deal.

[johnsmith]

Good deal.

So you have it?

[DPG21920]

No. Parents do and I know it pretty well. If most of your major appliances have warranty, you don't really need it at that time. As soon as the warranties expire, I would get it. It's not about "coming out ahead" it's about can you self insure those big losses. It's not that expensive IMO on a monthly basis and the second you have to replace one major thing (especially AC unit) you broken even, even after years of paying the yearly amount and not using it.

[johnsmith]

No. Parents do and I know it pretty well. If most of your major appliances have warranty, you don't really need it at that time. As soon as the warranties expire, I would get it. It's not about "coming out ahead" it's about can you self insure those big losses. It's not that expensive IMO on a monthly basis and the second you have to replace one major thing (especially AC unit) you broken even, even after years of paying the yearly amount and not using it.

Yeah, I don't see how it wouldn't be a good investment. But Inrareform is right, no need for me to get it now. Do you know if the customer service was worth a shit for your folks though? I hate dealing with companies that suck in that regard....I'm looking at you Time Warner.

See, this site is useful because now another poster pointed out something (embarrassingly obvious) and I will save myself a few bucks for a while.

[DPG21920]

My dad just had his AC replaced and it seemed to go pretty damn smoothly. I am sure, like anything, there might be some hiccups, but that usually stems from a lack of knowledge on what you are actually buying.

[johnsmith]

My dad just had his AC replaced and it seemed to go pretty damn smoothly. I am sure, like anything, there might be some hiccups, but that usually stems from a lack of knowledge on what you are actually buying.

I'm going to buy this insurance.....however, I'm going to wait a couple years. I have. Place I rent out in Cibolo as well. I think I'm going to buy it for that place right now. That house is 10 years old and that was the place I just had to dump a bunch of money into.

[johnsmith]

Thanks you guys....Inrareform for knocking some sense into me and dpg for the example.

[Drachen]

Does anyone have this insurance? Buddy at work was telling me about it and I guess it covers your major appliances at home. So like if your fridge breaks, your washer/dryer, your AC goes down, you just pay the deductible and get it fixed....

If you have it, is it worth it? Any past experiences about it? I'm building a new home and I'm thinking about getting it....especially since it was a thousand degrees already yesterday and I'm worried about fixing AC units already.

I had it and liked it. I think it came out to 35 bucks a month. I have a buddy who used it to replace his AC, 6k that he didn't have to spend.

[johnsmith]

I had it and liked it. I think it came out to 35 bucks a month. I have a buddy who used it to replace his AC, 6k that he didn't have to spend.

See, 35 a month sorta sucks, but when it saves you 6k on that faithful day, I feel like it would be completely worth it.

[Rogue]

insurance companies will always find a way to not honor their promises when shit actually happens, they will just Jew the shit out of you and they ain't worth your trust. it's like you can never expect to make a profit by storing your money in a bank, they always add some clauses in the lopsided deal to screw you up and they're sure you can't recognize the loopholes unless your a pro in this area, but if you are a pro you would never bother to buy it.

[CubanMustGo]

We purchased an AHS warranty when we were selling out house in P'ville a while back (it's also something you buy for a year and offer it when selling to entice buyers), sure enough during the sale period the AC crapped out and AHS took care of the repair without any problem.

[Das Texan]

Its a shitty deal by and large.

You cant use whatever company you want for the repairs and they will always try to put band aids on things when they obviously need to be replaced. You have to go through hoops to actually get them to replace something that crapped out.

The better thing is generally to take that money and put it in your own fund to cover costs of any potential repairs.

[CosmicCowboy]

When I bought the house for my daughter I got the sellers to pay for a one year warranty with them. I think it was like $450...It's paid off big time. They have already replaced the garbage disposal and the water heater. It was pretty painless. Deductible was $60. You call the 800 number and they contact their contract service guys to come out and check it out. It was a little slower than using my own plumber but instead of fixing the heater they were eager to replace it with a new one...guess they get paid more by the warranty company.

[Spur|n|Austin]

My parents have used AHS for many years and it has been great for them, they have had their washer/dryer/fridge all serviced when they crapped out. I'm still renting, but when I buy a home, we will definitely go with them.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

If you live in a modest home then yes they are a good buy. They will get your appliances serviced and/or replaced as needed.

The issue is if a replacement is needed then what the replacement will be. For example, they will replace a $4k American Standard condenser with a $1500 janitrol. Your replacement will be the cheapest possible replacement.

[johnsmith]

If you live in a modest home then yes they are a good buy. They will get your appliances serviced and/or replaced as needed.

The issue is if a replacement is needed then what the replacement will be. For example, they will replace a $4k American Standard condenser with a $1500 janitrol. Your replacement will be the cheapest possible replacement.

That's probably a good point too.

[CosmicCowboy]

They replaced my daughters hot water heater with essentially the same heater.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

They replaced my daughters hot water heater with essentially the same heater.

Sure and I am guessing that it was one of the standard tank, burner, thermostat jobs. Had she had one of the tankless water heaters she still would have gotten the same tank and spank replacement.

As someone who has argued with AHS over purchase and work orders time and again, I am very familiar with their approach. You may very well know that a compressor needs to be replaced bu they will insist you have them jump the thing back to life one more time. The policy declaration only lasts 12 months after all.

They will repair your shit but as in most things you get what you pay for and they are very concerned about controlling costs. They aren't going to spend $2 when they could spend $1. I have seen customers freak the fuck out over the buyout they were offered over the warranty of a $3k stove.

If you have a modest home they are great. If you have nice stuff stay away from them like the plague unless you want your Cadillac replaced by a Kia.