Yes I had similar experience with HMS over the summer regarding my A/C.
Their first contractor told me I had an undersized unit, a pre-existing
condition that is clearly not covered. I argued with HMS tooth & nail &
they finally agreed to send a different contractor for a second opinion.
Second contractor found that the compressor failed within 5 minutes of
arriving at my house. They tried to stick me with an offbrand unit so I
instead requested a "Net Claim Credit". I got a check from HMS a week later
for $750. It cost me ~ $1200 out of pocket to have a 3-ton 10 seer unit
installed by my certified Lennox guy. I would never suggest to anyone that
the $375 HMS warranty is a good idea unless the seller is paying for it at
the closing table. Just makes me wonder if the other home warranty
companies act the same way about paying claims...


"TURTLE" wrote in message
...

"Taylor Weaver" wrote in message
...
TURTLE wrote:

"Taylor Weaver" wrote in message
...
Our house is covered under a home warranty (HMS / Homesure, a
subsidiary
of Cross Country Group). I figured I would never have to use it, but
we
found a problem with our furnace--the heat exchanger has failed. The
warranty people sent a technician to look at the problem, and he
found
that the furnace needs to be replaced. The home warranty people have
agreed to replace the furnace which I am very pleased about. However
they have come up with a laundry list of things which "aren't
covered"
according to them regarding the installation, such as wiring the
furnace
and connecting it to the duct work. These items are listed in the
contract as being covered, but they are claiming that any wiring is a
"modification" and an upgrade. They told us that our wiring is not
to
code, despite the fact that the technician never looked at the
wiring,
the technician is a plumber and NOT a licensed electrician (checked
the
state licenses), an electrician told us that nothing is wrong with
it,
and the warranty company couldn't give any reason why it would need
an
"upgrade" other than mumbling something about connections. Duct
connections are a similar story. The contract even says it includes
separate trades (e.g. electrician/plumber/etc) when needed for a
replacement, less the deductible.

They eventually presented the option of either replacing with a basic
furnace or a cash credit to have it done ourselves. Ok, so far so
good!!! If we choose the replacement, they will pay their hired
company to do the work (less everything they consider "not covered"
which appears to be most of the installation except dropping it off).
The hired company is not a dealer of the value furnace manufacturer
and
is not interested in sizing it properly. The cash option is great,
although it is also based on a minimum installation, $1000 total.

The warranty company has been extremely hard to deal with (never call
back when they say they will, virtually impossible to speak to a
supervisor, don't provide anything regarding the claim or their
denials
in writing, and I'm not even sure if they would uphold the cash
credit
if we sent them an invoice copy at their request). I'm concerned
because they appear to be avoiding the wording in their own contract
regarding what is covered. Does anyone have any suggestions of how
to
deal with a company like this or getting them to uphold their own
contract?

Meanwhile I don't want to operate a furnace with a bad heat
exchanger,
so I want to get this replaced ASAP and they seem interested in
dragging
everything out as long as possible.


This is Turtle.

Well Home warrenty company are in business to make money and your
satisfication
is of no interest to them. What every they tell you , you just take it
with a
grain of salt and move on.

Your not going to win anything unless you take them to court and that
become
very expencive for you will have to pay your lawyer fees and court cost
and
most
of the time that cost more than the job was to be done.

You can do as you want but if it was me, i would get the $1,000.00 from
them
[
RIGHT NOW ] and cash the check and make sure the check cleared their
bank and
then call a respectiable hvac contractor out there and have it done
right and
pay the difference. I would also ask for a refund of any balance left
on the
yearly fee to be returned to you. You can't win dealing with
professional
crooks
in these type deals. You should be tickled to death to get a offer of
$1,000.00
out of them for most of the time they don't want to pay anything. You
better
get
the $1K while the getting is good or while they are still offering it.

I hear you loud and clear Turtle. Part of me is upset with them for
being
weasels
because they claimed my wiring was "not up to code" even though they
couldn't
dream
up a creative reason why it might not be. (Actually the
wiring/burners/controls
had been replaced about 2 years ago--before I purchased the house).
Ditto for
the
ductwork, which they claim isn't covered b/c there is nothing wrong with
the
ductwork, even though it is listed in the contract since the furnace
needs
replacing.

The part of me says I should get the check (they won't even issue that
until
I
provide my contractor's bill copy to them) ASAP before they go bankrupt.
Of
course
I would lose my chance to prove my case.



I don't know of any respectiable home warranty company that are
interested in
doing what the contract says. American Home Shield is the biggest crook
of
all
of them.

Yes, I'm a HVAC contractor and get to see people get Zipped all the
time by
these crooks.

You better get what you can before they change their mine about the $1K
because
your not going to win dealing with these crooks.

If you want to discuss it by e-mail my address here is good to send it
to me.
And No i don't want to do the job , but only discuss it.

Thanks, Turtle. I do plan to get a reputable HVAC contractor to do the
job
right,
not their plumber. The furnace they wanted to install is a Payne
(econo-Carrier).


This is Turtle.

A bought Lesson like this will save you a bunch of money in the future
when
dealing with companys like this.

TURTLE