Home Warranty plans

[bigdnlaca]

Only get a home warranty plan if you don't have a reliable handyman that fixes your house. I had AHS and they refused to cover my broken A/C when I moved into my home because the previous owners didn't try to fix it.

AHS did cover all the other minor repairs, but I feel that when I pay $75 for the call, it would have been cheaper if I found a handyman that you can trust.

 

[cml750]

I had American Home Shield for the longest. I just recently cancelled them.

Pros:. They can offset some of the larger repair costs you can have with owning a home. I had my electrical panel replaced for little to nothing. I've had my A/C unit repaired more times than I could count. The work is guaranteed and the repair is under warranty.

Cons: It takes forever to actually get serviced. If you have an emergent situation like a major leak, don't expect instant help. Their policy is such that you allow 24 hours to get serviced. Damn the fact that your ceiling maybe caving in (That's happened). The cost of the service call has risen so much that it's cheaper to call a handyman. I paid $60 for a $5 part on my washing machine to be replaced. Service calls are now $75 on top of the monthly fee you pay.

Same experience WG. Unless the repair is bad enough to get brand new unit like a new A/C, dishwasher, oven, etc.. it is not worth it to just get a repair.

 

[cml750]

If you are buying a house, insist the sellers pay for a home warranty and keep it for the first two - three years. If anything major goes out in the first few years you come out ahead. If you keep it a long time you lose.

 

[AzorAhai]

for me it depends. on a $300-$500 purchase where the warranty is 10% or more - no. not worth it.

for a $2k television yes. i'll fork over the $200 - $300 for the warranty.

That saved my butt on a TV I bought years ago. 63 inch DLP that was around 3k at the time. I got the warranty on it for 4 years for $250 because I knew about the bulbs. Well the bulb went out twice which nearly paid for itself. There was a chip that went out on it though. A completely dead TV without it. Without the warranty the part was nearly 500 and watching the guy do it, theres no way I could have done it. Apparently whatever chip it was was patented and to get a new one he had to take the old one with him. Anywho, all in all I think I ended up with over $1000 worth of parts/labor with that warranty.

 

[iceberg]

That saved my butt on a TV I bought years ago. 63 inch DLP that was around 3k at the time. I got the warranty on it for 4 years for $250 because I knew about the bulbs. Well the bulb went out twice which nearly paid for itself. There was a chip that went out on it though. A completely dead TV without it. Without the warranty the part was nearly 500 and watching the guy do it, theres no way I could have done it. Apparently whatever chip it was was patented and to get a new one he had to take the old one with him. Anywho, all in all I think I ended up with over $1000 worth of parts/labor with that warranty.

I had a brand new 55" plasma...maybe 50...screen replaced in home for $300. I was happy.