[Atamasco]

Our house in Fenney is 3 years old, and I am starting to think about whether I should think about protecting appliances and sysems in the house. Has anyone had any experience with companies such as Choice Home Warranty, Select Home Warranty, Complete Care Home Warranty, etc.?

[retiredguy123]

Save your money and don't buy a home warranty. They will provide lousy service from substandard repair companies. A lot of times, an appliance needs to be replaced, not repaired, but if you have a home warranty, you won't have a choice. Also, you will sometimes need to wait several days to get a repair that you need immediately, like your HVAC in August.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Save your money and don't buy a home warranty. They will provide lousy service from substandard repair companies. A lot of times, an appliance needs to be replaced, not repaired, but if you have a home warranty, you won't have a choice. Also, you will sometimes need to wait several days to get a repair that you need immediately, like your HVAC in August.

Agreed
Not to mention look at cost of repairs with almost new appliances over say a ten year period. We have always been way ahead by self insuring.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Save your money and don't buy a home warranty. They will provide lousy service from substandard repair companies. A lot of times, an appliance needs to be replaced, not repaired, but if you have a home warranty, you won't have a choice. Also, you will sometimes need to wait several days to get a repair that you need immediately, like your HVAC in August.

When we first moved in we experienced EXACTLY THAT. We bought an AHS warranty just until we let things "wring out" for a couple months since it was a 9yr old pre-owned home. Had a A/C issue in Sept 2017 and had to wait 3 days for repairman because he had to come from 200 miles away as he was the only company that would deal with AHS. He replaced the compressor FAN (which I told him was NOT the problem) and it failed again. I called them back and they sent the same guy out 3 days later (who on a "recall" does NOT get paid) and he wasn't happy. He replaced the drain FLOAT (which I told him again was NOT the problem). A/C failed again, he refused to come back so I cancelled the policy and spent $12 on a capacitor and a relay and fixed it myself.

Moral of the story ... always keep a capacitor and relay "in stock" for a quick DIY repair or hire a local guy who will charge an understandable arm and a leg to do it for you on the same day if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.

[Babubhat]

Used American home warranty and they were terrible. Whenever a service person would show up they would do nothing but complain. Days of waiting to get them to show up

[villagetinker]

I agree with all of the above comments, self insure this way YOU are in control, YOU get to pick a suitable repair/replace company, etc.

[banjobob]

We use Choice Home Warranty fast response ,good service , follow up to verify satisfaction .You can negotiate the price.

[GOLFER54]

352-307-5100. BROWARD.
I have used this local company for 11 years in my first home and now going on 5 years in my second home to protect my appliances; stove, refrigerator,washer, dryer,hot water heater,A/C unit, garbage disposal, dish washer, etc.
If something goes wrong with above mentioned, they come to fix it quickly and if they can’t they will give you full replacement.
If appliances are over ten years they will not insure them. Since yours are only 3 years you have nothing to worry about.
They offer 3 different plans, FROM approximately $350- $550 yearly, I have always used the maximum plan, and have gotten my money’s worth over the years; and I have used them over the years multiple times and they have either fixed my problem or replaced an item, no hassle whatsoever. Good Luck !

[Irises]

We like Browards and they have been worth the money.

[Jim1945]

We did not renew Broward after one year because they wanted to replace a bronze finish plumbing part with a chrome finished part even though all of the plumbing fixtures in the house were bronze finish. They wanted to charge over $50 to order the matching handle on a commode.

[Catalina36]

Ok, first off how old are your appliances?? Appliances now a days if your lucky last 10 years. When a 10 year old appliance starts giving you a problem, unless its a cheap quick fix you can do yourself get rid of it and buy new. Most likely that new appliance will also save you money in your electric bill because it will be designed to use less energy. Second, save the annual money you might spend on those costly whole house warranties and put it towards buying a new appliance when needed.

[Seamus6]

Originally Posted by EdFNJ

When we first moved in we experienced EXACTLY THAT. We bought an AHS warranty just until we let things "wring out" for a couple months since it was a 9yr old pre-owned home. Had a A/C issue in Sept 2017 and had to wait 3 days for repairman because he had to come from 200 miles away as he was the only company that would deal with AHS. He replaced the compressor FAN (which I told him was NOT the problem) and it failed again. I called them back and they sent the same guy out 3 days later (who on a "recall" does NOT get paid) and he wasn't happy. He replaced the drain FLOAT (which I told him again was NOT the problem). A/C failed again, he refused to come back so I cancelled the policy and spent $12 on a capacitor and a relay and fixed it myself.

Moral of the story ... always keep a capacitor and relay "in stock" for a quick DIY repair or hire a local guy who will charge an understandable arm and a leg to do it for you on the same day if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.

Wow. It's a shame you all have had such bad experiences. We have a policy on our house in Maryland with our local utility (well actually a spin-off from the utility) but the same company that sells us the policy has their own technicians and dispatches them. I guess that is the main difference. And they always give priority service to those with the service contracts which is the ONLY reason I use them. We generally get a tech out by the next day. We have an extra policy on our generator which didn't kick in one night during a tropical storm so we had no AC in August (luckily it was about 10:00pm so wasn't scorching yet) We called their emergency number and got a call back from a tech 10 minutes later who was on call and working at another call and said he would be there in 2 hours. An hour later the power came back on and I called him and said I would I schedule a daytime appointment to have it looked at since the storm had passed as well.

Financially, most people will do better to self-insure in the long run. That's how the companies make money; they charge on average more than it takes to fix the appliances and they make money over their entire customer base. We had a chronic problem with our 18-19 year old A/C unit and had guys out there a few times either same day or next day until we replaced it. They also replaced our glass stove top free when we accidentally damaged it and the damage wasn't even covered by the policy. We have probably come close to breaking even financially but the priority service would keep us paying for the policy even if we virtually never used it. I NEED my A/C!

It sounds like I'll be disappointed when I get down there....sigh

[wsachs]

Been using them since 2014 on two different houses. Quick response and quality repairs. My appliances are over 10 years old and they will fix them until they can't get parts. They are a LOCAL company and have been very pleased with cost/service. Even have emergency people working the weekends.

[rherb55]

Originally Posted by Atamasco

Our house in Fenney is 3 years old, and I am starting to think about whether I should think about protecting appliances and sysems in the house. Has anyone had any experience with companies such as Choice Home Warranty, Select Home Warranty, Complete Care Home Warranty, etc.?

Go with Boward… We’ve have had them for the past 7yrs. Have had to call them on different things and they fixed what ever the problem was….. They also do Maintenance on our Air Condition. They come twice a yr. ( $149 ) Well worth having your appliances covered.

[lkagele]

Originally Posted by Atamasco

Our house in Fenney is 3 years old, and I am starting to think about whether I should think about protecting appliances and sysems in the house. Has anyone had any experience with companies such as Choice Home Warranty, Select Home Warranty, Complete Care Home Warranty, etc.?

Had Choice Home Warranty for 6 years. Cost they paid for covered repairs was probably higher than the premium charged. But they were a pain in the a$$ to deal with. The repair technicians were less than sub-standard. The last claim, we went three weeks without a refrigerator hearing one excuse after another why the tech couldn't finish the repairs. Finally fired them and insisted Choice send a qualified tech out. They did the same day and that guy fixed the frig in 15 minutes. Avoid Choice at all cost.