Public Mediation

Jason A vs. Choice Home Warranty

Choice Home Warranty - Buyer Beware!

J. A. vs. Choice Home Warranty
2147 State Route 27 Fl 4, Edison, New Jersey, 08817-3365, United States
Amount Involved: Other terms
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
       (seeking public comment)
    • Claimant Seeks: 1 non-monetary items.
    • Claim #: 2936968
    • Amount Involved: N/A
    • Filed On: Mar 30, 2016
    • Posted On: Apr 10, 2016
    • Complaint(s):
      • Bad business practices
      • Problem with a service
      • Problem with a product
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Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (4) - View
Claimant says:
"I have a home with an older AC unit. It was built in 1994. That makes it approximately 22 years old. I’ve only been in the home for 5 years. I had a heating failure and the tech said the compressor is out. I buy air filters by the case and replace monthly except in spring and fall because I do not run the AC/Heat for a couple of months during that time of the year. I also have maintenance done on it to ensure it is in proper working order.

Last year, perhaps a little longer, I got CHW to consolidate my residence with a couple of rentals I have. They do not pre-inspect and have no idea what the initial condition of the 20 year old unit was (20 years old at that time). And thus no way of knowing if I didn’t maintenance it since getting the warranty with them or whether the unit was in bad shape before I got it and I have made it better. They accepted the contract of a 20 year old unit and have no way to know what has happened in the last year or two.

According to CHW, the claim against my covered component is denied due to maintenance issues. But they have no way of knowing. The maintenance guy is called out before the AC season (closer to June here) and before the Heat season (closer to October here). Thus, if some level of dirt, rust and corrosion has built up on the unit, it is over the season (does not mean not maintenance). This is Alabama. Humidity is high. Rust and corrosion do not take long especially on already aged AC units.

In addition, it is imperative that people know the equipment being covered. Their contract reads something similar to: All components on a water heater are covered except the follow. Then a fairly significant list of parts are listed along with tankless and geothermal and … and … and. If you do not know how a piece of equipment is made, you have no way of knowing if what they “do” cover is something to be concerned with or if they just excluded all the important parts and only have parts that never fail before replacement is necessary.
I find it unreasonable that the home owner must be very well informed on the internal workings of “covered equipment” to know how it is going to impact them.

I have had several home warranty companies. I had Old Republic previously and they treated me much better. Every claim I had filed with them was covered without fail. The only reason I shifted is because a property I purchased as a rental had CHW included. Old Republic contract was expiring and I consolidated to a single company. Great mistake. I strongly recommend against ever using Choice Home Warranty. It seems to me that their policy is deny all claims. Also, testimonials are cherry picked as I have sent comments to them that didn’t make their page.

Do not believe them. They offer “free month if you renew early” and other such incentives. However, I believe they can only do this because they rarely pay a claim. Anything can be denied for maintenance when no “proof” is required of them. The burden of proof is on the company when they claim no maintenance and there is no way that my 2 years or less of time with CHW has caused the “strain” they claim my “lack of maintenance” has caused.

Buyer Be Aware!"
...
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Additional Communication Between Claimant and Choice Home Warranty Hide
  • Apr 07, 2016, Claiming party added:

  • I have spoken to Choice after they contacted me with "we have information about your claim". The first person I spoke to was unsure why I called because I had "no open claims". I told her that Choice had contacted me and I explained briefly that I was in a dispute with Choice over them denying my claim. She put me on hold for a bit and came back. She said that even though the claim was being denied due to lack of maintenance, they would offer $280.00 to pay for the labor. I had to decline as accepting might be construed as "settling" if this has to go to court.

    I was placed on hold again and this time was for a very long time. When she finally returned, she said she was going to transfer me to a manager. After several minutes a "manager" comes on. She held her ground on the denial. She said "we cannot go against what the technician says as they are the professionals and we don't know these systems". To prove her point regarding it being a maintenance issue, she read the technicians report. In her reading, the technician did say "the unit needs maintenance", but nowhere did it say the failure was due to maintenance.

    Short aside. I don't know about you, but typically my maintenance service is done prior to the next season. Meaning that in the fall before needing the heat and late spring before needing the AC. This began in March. For the most part, the entire heating season has passed and yes, the unit is due for maintenance. Needing maintenance is not the same as failure due to maintenance. This is their plan to avoid claims. If the word maintenance is used in the technicians report, then the claim will be denied.

    The “manager” said I could get a second opinion and they would take that into account. I told her I was going to speak to her technician as well because what she had read had differed some from what my conversation with the technician was. He never told me it failed due to maintenance. I am scheduling a second opinion tech as well. However, I was clear she was not going to budge from her position.

    Another short aside. During our conversation, I also learned that the people that authorize payments are different than the managers. The entire structure is layered so that the right hand doesn’t know or have control over the left and there for a manager can say “get a second opinion and we will consider it”, but the authorizing department doesn’t know about that and will have no reason to change their position. This company is really a scam.

    Anyhow, I called the technician who did the initial review. I was very clear about my purpose. He spoke to me and we talked a lot. But in the end, he said to me “no, it did not fail due to lack of maintenance, but I did take pictures and it does need maintenance.” I agreed that service was due as the AC season will be starting soon.

    I have 2 rentals that use Choice as well. They have denied every claim I have ever made with them. Admittedly 2 were for non-covered parts, but that is an entirely different conversation. With all of the technicians I have spoken to, the thing obvious and reoccurring thing is they are cautious about talking to me (the client). I’ve also spoken to technicians that are not affiliated with Choice, well, because I am denied coverage and have to find someone to do the work. Every non-affiliate says Choice is awful. One person who had been affiliated said that he had a customer who had maintenance records and their unit was in great shape and they denied the claim due to maintenance. He stopped being affiliated with Choice after that. Anyhow, what I gathered from every technician I have spoken to is that they don’t want to talk to me. The reason is that Choice might not send them customers if they do. Choice uses its ability to send customers to an affiliated company as leverage so the technicians won’t say too much to the customer. This is very telling regarding how they do business. They pressure their techs, they deny claims and have a structure such that ones who offer things like second opinion options are not in a position to approve a claim and approvers never talk to the customer.

    One other piece of information that will end up important in this. Choice has in their policy that if an AC unit is below a small SEER value, I don’t fully remember and would have to get out my warranty booklet, but I think it’s 6 SEER, they will replace the unit with a 17 SEER or higher. My 22 year old unit, according to the technician I spoke to about replacing my AC said mine is running at about 3 SEER. Yet when Choice offered to pay labor, it was to replace the compressor, not the unit. They don’t even follow their own guidelines.

    Choice Home Warranty is a scam company. Avoid at all costs.

What Claimant Wants Hide
Non-Cash
What By When How Much
1. Replace: Replace the HVAC unit as a proper cost analysis on a 22 year old unit would suggest. Apr 20, 2016 N/A
Cash
1. Other – Copy claim to regulators Apr 20, 2016 $14.99
2. Other – Pay for claim posting cost Apr 20, 2016 $7.99
3. Other – Physical delivery charges Apr 20, 2016 $2.99
Cash total : $25.97
Non-cash: 1 items
  • 0
Do you agree with the claimant’s demands?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)

Respondent's Counteroffer

There has been no response to this claim from Choice Home Warranty. This claim will remain posted until resolved
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