In August 2009, I called First American Home Warranty regarding my air conditioner, which had gone out. That is when this nightmare began.

Every time you call First American Home Warranty, you are on hold for awhile and you listen to how First American "screens their vendors", selects only the vendors that meet their "Strict" requirements, how the "vendors are put on probation", and how First Am "calls the homeowner to ensure that the homeowner is satisfied with the vendor they send". Unfortunately for me, I actually believed all this. But nothing could be further from the truth.

First American sent a company named "Authorized Service Center" to my home. "Authorized Service Center" said the air conditioner needed replacing and told me that First American would authorize around $800 toward the cost. I needed a new Central heat/air, so since I knew FirstAm only did business with vendors who were "screened, on probation and approved by homeowners", I paid "Authorized Service Center" over $5, 000 to replace my central air/heat. The new a/c stopped working after a week or so. We called “Authorized Service Center”, they came out to fix it, it would work for an hour or two, go out again, we'd call again, etc., for a total of 6 times they came out to my home. "Authorized Service Center" let us swelter for an entire weekend and several days and evenings and were not at all concerned that I had paid them $5200 and had no a/c. I simply had to wait my turn. During all this, I also placed several calls to First American appealing to them for their help with this but each time, I was told there was nothing they would do. They did not care that their "approved" vendor was giving me a royal rip off. It was finally fixed in the 3rd week of September.

Unfortunately, the nightmare has reoccurred. Now that it's getting cold in Texas, I turn on my supposedly brand new heater, and we have no heat. I call FirstAm and they want to send this "Authorized Service Center" out AGAIN! And they want me to pay another $60 to the company that could care less that I had no a/c after they received $5000+ of my hard-earned money and had to come out 6 times to finally get the a/c working. To the company that should have installed it correctly back in August/September.

It goes without saying...I do not want to do business with "Authorized Service Center". I am not now nor have I ever been satisfied with anything they have done. In August, when I asked to speak to the owner, I was told he was not there on more than one occasion. I cannot understand why First American is doing business with a company like this. I am filing separate complaints on "Authorized Service Center". Is it that hard to get vendors for home warranty?

I told First American Home Warranty that I do not want "Authorized Service Center" to come back out to my home. First Am Home Warranty tells me that since I have not "filed a formal complaint" against that company, that is who they are sending. I guess many many phone calls to them informing them of the fact that I have paid $5200 for no air conditioning and asking for their help with their vendor does not count as a formal complaint? (Each time I called I had to suffer through that recording that says how much they CARE about their customers.) So I asked to speak to a supervisor and I spoke to Kathy Cotton in Van Nuys, California. I explained the situation and told her I have complained about this "company" numerous times back in August and September and asked her "What does it take to "file a formal complaint" against a company you have already complained about numerous times? I was not informed by anyone at FirstAm to do that or that I even could do that. She said that she would send another company and that I would need to pay $60 for the service call. This is what I object to. I do not feel I should have to pay for something that should have been done correctly back in August by a vendor sent to my home by First American.

So now I take it to the corporate level. I just finished speaking with someone named Nahun in Dan Langston's office. A more cold and unfeeling and unbudging person I have never spoken with. He was even worse than the others. An expert on telling you how wrong you are. Very adept at not feeling any of your pain. Good job Nahun! You're just another in a long line of First Am's that don't give a flying leap about your customers.

Does it surprise anyone that Dan Langston does not call? Even if he did, he's probably just as unsympathetic.

FirstAm, their "vendor screening/probation program" is bunk and at least one of their vendors is unscrupulous. Is American Home Shield any better? I see now that First American has loads of consumer complaints about it. How do companies like this stay in business? I will be contacting the local news stations about this as well.

As far as this awful company "Authorized Service Center", a street address for them cannot be located, but I believe they are in Garland. I live in Fort Worth. It would seem that if FirstAm had this huge network of vendors, a company a little closer could be found!

I am sooooo done with FirstAm. Everyone in the org is cold and unfeeling -- not one ounce of human compassion anywhere in the company. I would hate to work at a company whose corporate culture is to be cold and unfeeling towards their customers and tells their customers if you don't like it, cancel your contract. Which is what I have done. Pitiful. Just pitiful.

I, like many others, am experiencing difficulty in reaching a resolution on a claim. The warranty is specific, yet the company claims that there is no coverage for the problem.

If you are experiencing problems with this company, I would like to hear from you, together with the facts.

Please email [email protected].

I may need to seek legal counsel, and armed with a full picture of other unresolved claims, we all may obtain satisfaction.

Thank you

Called for service on a 17 year old dishwasher which did run but did not wash. In essence I had to rewash everything. It was a water guzzler to begin with. After the technician left I called them and advised them that I wanted to opt for the Cash Out (as stated in contract) instead of having it repaired. I was told that would not be a problem. This was on 5/25/09 that the call was put in - today I called them back since no one has bothered to contact me and was told that I would not be getting anything because the machine runs. I guess First American is not into WATER CONSERVATION - only THEIR CONSERVATION. So basically I paid a technician $55 for nothing. A complaint has been filed with the BBB.

My problem began a year ago November. I called to report a problem with my heater. It took a lot of red tape to finally get what I thought was a reputable company. Meanwhile, I had to buy space heaters for every room in the house. At the time of my initial service call, I was limited to choose from one of only two contracted a/c and heater service companies sponsored by First American Home Warranty. The first company would make appointments and not keep them and was rude on the phone, so eventually I had had enough and refused to work with them. First American Home Warranty then sent me the only other option, Desired Temperatures. What a nightmare!
january, I took vacation time and was stood up for two appointments with the elderly man who was the technician (who told me that he was the only technician). He asked me to be patient with him, “I am slow, but I know what I am doing Ma’am. I do good work.” The third appointment, I didn’t take time off work, so wasn’t at home when he got there. Desired Temperatures came out and assessed the problem and gave the same advice, the indoor Trane air handler needed to be replaced (the out-door unit was still okay). They came, after several weeks of waiting, with a Payne unit. I was irate! It looked like a toy. It was visibly smaller and easy to carry. The delivery guys carrying the unit in were trying to explain to me that it was capable of handling my two-level, three bed-room home. The contract states “equal or better appliance”. The Payne was neither. It appeared to me like a problem waiting to give birth. Not in my home! I sent it back. After a long conversation on the phone, I let them know. First of all, a Trane cannot be matched with anything but a Trane or it will not opperate efficiently. The unit outside was a large, heavy-duty Trane, not a Payne. I sincerely thought I was being punked. After that, getting the job completed seemed to have gone downhill. After another very long wait – weeks that seemed like months. The elderly technician, (calls himself Bob) said that he would do the work for less than the other company $2900. I had to pay approximately $965 cash in non-covered costs; permit fee, new support structure, sheet rock, Freon disposal, etc. No exceptions. I called AHW back since they sent these clowns to me and they were ‘hands off’. “Ma’am that’s their policy.” So, I paid it. We made an appointment for him to come, so I went to work, stand by. He did that I’ll-get-there-sometime-that-day type of thing again and didn’t show. The next appointment about two weeks later, he called late afternoon, he said that he wasn't coming because it was too wet outside. About a week later, he showed up without calling (while it was raining). My son (18) was at home, so when he called me, I told him to let the man in. I was desperate and we were cold. He did some work and left. He left a mess. Insulation and trash were everywhere upstairs. Mud on the carpet. I figured he did that because the boys’ rooms were a mess. i was upset, but I guess he felt justified, so I had the boys clean his mess and their rooms. I looked at his work. It was incomplete, otherwise it looked fine to me, but I didn’t know what I was looking for. I called him and he seemed to know who I was (caller ID I guess), before I said anything. He said he'd be back tomorrow to finish. He didn’t show. And didn’t show and didn’t show. Eventually, one day he showed up like before. No appointment. He went upstairs and in the attic – back and forth. I called my son several times to check on things. Then like he came, he left. Bob called me and said someone had been upstairs messing with the duct work and that the warranty didn’t cover that. “I’ll fix it though when I come back. It got too hot up there today.” And I noticed someone made a hole in the sheetrock in the ceiling. I told him yes. That i did it when I went up there to see how bad everything was and fell, but I didn’t touch the duct work. As a matter of fact, I fell soon as I got up there, I told him. Bob made an appointment in May to work on the duct. When he went to my house, I was at work and Junior didn’t wake up to answer the door. Bob was highly upset. I apologized and explained to him that it wasn’t on purpose and that my son was asleep. That was sometime in the spring. I hadn’t heard from Bob since. I called so many times I can’t recall. I even called the home warranty company, so they could schedule an appointment. Their advice is to call Desired Temperatures and make an appointment. I always talk to a supervisor, because the reps get rude after they realize I am not easily pacified. The supervisors I talk to (I always have to go through the whole story again) advise me that Bob penned notes on my account that I am difficult to work with and that I refuse to make myself available for him to come and complete the work. I tried to explain that Bob is the one who is difficult. He doesn’t answer his cell phone. My family dealt with the hot Texas heat with window a/c units. They can be quite expensive to use. Well, it’s getting cold again. I finally gave in and called another a/c and heating company. The Better Business Bureau referred a reputable company. They were very helpful and courteous. I had the technicians give me an estimate to complete the work. I informed them that I had paid $2900 for a new unit and that the work was left incomplete. They looked at everything outside, in the attic and in the second floor unit closet. He wrote me an estimate for $1500. “Ma’am you were ripped off.” I would’ve replaced both of your units – inside and out for $2900, no hidden/non-covered costs. Then he got a flash light and showed me how the unit was not properly insulated in the dark places behind the new unit. There wasn’t a drip pan. The date on the unit reflected that it sat in someone’s warehouse for at least a year. It was dated 2007. The wires were not connected at all and the piece atop the unit was missing. In the attic, (I didn’t go up there for obvious reasons) he said it was a mess and duct work was literally pulled out. It wasn’t that way when I went up there. The new technician apologized for the last guy, Bob. Then, he told me to call and give Bob a chance to make things right. “I wouldn’t pay another cent to get this work completed. You’ve already paid too much!”
So I called Bob in September and again in November, I called with call block and he answered. He pretended to be someone else each time and said that he would give the technician the message. It is clear to me that he doesn’t plan on completing the work.
Please advise.

First American Home Warranty let my family sit in a dark and potentially dangerous house for nearly two weeks while they sat on their hands doing nothing but making up excuses. After two weeks and two visits by their technician they have denied the claim.

Both electricians said the riser (metal pipe) had broke free from our meter box and allowed rain in. The rain shorted the line out and a new meter box was necessary.

First American Home Warranty says it is not normal wear and tear and denied the claim.

After two weeks of jerking us around they leave us holding the bag while they re-define the English language. Normal wear and tear? Why wouldn’t it be normal wear and tear? It’s a thin box of pot metal that’s been exposed to the elements for years. That box is certainly over twenty years old. What’s normal? Should it last a thirty years? Fifty? Perhaps a century?