7/1/09
Mom and I signed up together for Choice home warranty service, seemed like a good idea beings mom's handy man, (husband) had recently passed away.
the sales representative assured us that it did not matter the age of the home or the appliances, and after 30 days of sign up, everything would be covered No Questions asked!!! He made it clear that unlike the other companies Choice will honor all repairs or replacements.

3 months after signing up moms central air conditioner Went out, she lives in a mobile home and the temperature gauge was reading over 100 degrees, mom is a 3 time cancer survivor and had just lost the love of her life, and she did not need to hear that Choice would not honor their agreement and cover her A/C unit.

I wrote them a letter, hoping to get some remedy and resolve, they never did reply to my letter.

Mom ended up buying a new A/C unit. Because the loop hole they use is written in the contract, if the appliance has not had yearly professional maintenance check ups then they do not have to repair or replace.

Tell me who has all their appliances professionally checked every year? That is a ridiculous expectation. Well, we have learned The hard way to look for this loop hole in any other Home Warranty service company we might consider.

My company has been doing business with Home Warranty's for over 30 years. We recently signed on with Choice Home Warranty and while the majority of Home Warranty's are honest, I can tell you that Choice is not. Each and every time we call for approval we get the same run around by the same authorizer ( which sounds like some high school kid working out of his bedroom ) and each time he stumbles across various reasons not to cover the claim. This not only makes the customer mad but makes the contractor on the job look like a crook too. My last attempt to have a claim approved was answered by the same BS. I responded to the authorizer ( while in front of the customer, which I shouldn't have ) like a father scolding his 15 year old child. And guess what, I got the approval. We have since refused to work with Choice anymore. I highly recommend a Home Warranty. But not Choice. There are 3 Home Warranty's that I would recommend in this order ... The Warranty Group ( TWG ), 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty, and HMS. We've worked with many Home Warranty's and have found these 3 to be the most honest and to have a good contractor relationship. So, Stay away from Choice Home Rip-off. I truly expect to see them on Dateline or 20-20 or some news show soon.

I started the contract with Choice Home Warranty (choicehomewarranty.com ) on 10/27/2008 covering HVAC and making onetime payment of $344 for the contract lasting one year. On 12/02/2008 2 units (furnaces) stopped working. I contacted Choice with repair request. The technician was sent on 12/03/2008 to do the diagnosis - control boards needed to be replaced. Choice refused a repair without additional documentation. The following documents were submitted:

- home inspection report done upon purchasing the property
- diagnosis/checkup of the HVAC systems done on 07/27/2007
- repair and checkup of the HVAC systems done on 06/26/2008

After many phone calls and 14 days with no heat, the customer representative from Choice: Ron Stillwater stated that the repair could not be cover because:

- it is odd that two of the systems fail in the same time
- there is no date on the document from 6/26/2008 - even though it is printed
- there is no signatures on the receipt from 06/26/2008 - even though is states on the receipt that it is a electronic invoice and the authenticity can be proven by contacting the company that did the repair/checkup service on 6/26/2008. Ron Stillwater stated that no company will be contacted.
- there are many inconsistencies in provided documentation - with no additional comments provided.

I need to add that dealing with this guy (company) was the worst customer service experience. Imagine rep. screaming, inventing stories that do not add - the management needs to review your files - and than 5 sec. later - it just popped up on my screen that your claim was denied. I asked for the manager many times but never no one was available. He was accusing me of taking long time sending the documentation where in fact they (or he) were not replying to my faxes, emails and phone calls. The faxes were being lost and I had to resend the documentation. I felt like it was really immature, irresponsible, unprofessional, sneaky thief one person shop.

STAY AWAY FROM CHOICEHOMEWARRANTY.COM

Simply put, this company will not honor your contract. The company looks for reasons to deny your claim, and will not honor your contract even if the contractor says that the failure was due to normal wear and tear (which is specifically covered under the contract).

One of my claims was denied, not because the part wasn't covered, but because "something didn't seem right in the diagnosis."

Another claim was denied because the "part wasn't covered", eventhough they told both me and repair technician that is was covered, prior to him doing the work.

Another claim was denied because the "part wasn't covered", eventhough I purchased supplemental optional coverage the specifically provided coverage for the part.

Another claim was denied because there were some slight mineral deposits on the fixture. It did not matter that the technician told the representative that it was not the cause of failure and that is was not present at the part that failed. When I spoke with the representative, Ron, he accused the technician of lying when he said that the part failed from normal wear and tear. (He made this statement about a company that Choice recommended).

To make matter worse, this company could not find a contractor to work for them, so I had to pay out of pocket for all of these expenses, with promises of reimbursement from them.

Bottom Line - THIS COMPANY WILL NOT HONOR YOUR CLAIMS and THEY WILL NOT REIMBURSE YOU EVEN IF THEY SAY THEY WILL.

Please head my warning!!! I am consulting with an attorney to determine recourse. I have a recorded conversation with Ron from this last round where he asserted that the contractor was lying.

My refrigerator broke down one month into the contract and Choice Home Warranty (CHW) assigned me a service company in my area. I called them out and they determined that the freezer coils and compressor needed to be replaced due to normal wear & tear (restriction in the line due most likely to the presence of air in the line).

The service company lady who turned the report in to CHW at first told me that it looked like I would be getting a new refrigerator but that didn't happen. Instead, after a few days went by, CHW called to tell me that the refrigerator coils were dirty per the report they received and so the repair was not covered due to paragraph 9.1.2 of the contract which spells out the exceptions for refrigerator repair coverage.

I first spoke with the lady at the repair company who then called CHW to find out what was going on. She called me back and told me they changed their mind about covering the repair for some unkown reason. I spoke with a manager at CHW that got me nowhere and also had a three-way conversation with him and the service company lady that also got me nowhere. The service company lady said that she deals with 11 home warranty companies and that they all record her phone reports to them and suggested that CHW see if they have a recording of her phone report to them. I checked back with CHW's service manager who was not able to find any report recording, and that my repair was not covered. The end.