Complaint Review: American Home Shield

On May 29, 2003, my A/C unit stopped working. AHS sent out a A/C Technician to respond to the service request. A part was ordered and I was told the unit was working properly. There had been at least two prior service calls on this A/C unit since 2000.

On September 1, 2001 at 3:00am, the A/C unit caught fire and sent smoke throughout the ventilation system of my home, setting off the fire alarm.

AHS sent out another technician on September 2, 2003, to respond to this new service request.

The technician said that the A/C unit had locked up and caught fire due to a buildup of dirt. The technician said the A/C unit was +30 years old, and that the buildup of dirt could not have just happened over the last 3 months (since the last service), but rather over many years.

He said the previous technician could not have replaced a part on the A/C unit and not have seen the dirt. I asked him if the system was repairable. He said there was no question that the unit should be replaced.

After speaking with the technician, I contacted the Customer Service Department of AHS.

I discussed my concern that the A/C unit would again be patched up, as the last patch by their A/C professional on May 29, 2003 could have resulted in the destruction of my home, or my death due to smoke inhalation.

The customer service representative said AHS does not replace A/C units. I was then asked if I had been having the A/C unit cleaned every year. I told her that I change my air filter once a month, but did not know I had to have it cleaned each year.

The AHS representative said having the A/C unit cleaned each year is just common knowledge, and that AHS would probably be denying any claim on my A/C unit as per section F of the Limitations of Liability of the AHS policy.

AHS called me after receiving the report from the A/C Technician. They said they were indeed denying my claim due to my lack of cleaning the A/C unit. I said I wanted to dispute their denial of my claim.

The AHS representative told me that I could not dispute the outcome of the claim, only the diagnosis. AHS would be happy to send out another A/C technician and charge me $35 service fee, but if the second A/C technician says the failure was due to dirt buildup AHS would again not cover the claim. I reiterated that I was not disputing the diagnosis, but rather the outcome.

I have been under the impression that I have been doing all that is required of me in section F of the Limits of Liability of the AHS policy by changing my air filter every month.

Section F of the Limits of Liability of the AHS policy states that I must clean and maintain my equipment. It is a blanket statement that does not differentiate between various types of equipment (Washers, Dryers, Disposals or A/C units), nor does it in any way define what this cleaning and maintaining consists of for each item. I have always changed my air filter once a month and have thought that was all I had to do.

Apparently having an A/C unit cleaned each year is not just common knowledge, as stated by the AHS Customer Service Representative. On none of the prior service calls did any of the A/C professionals sent to my home by AHS, nor have any AHS Customer Service Representatives ever ask if I was having the A/C unit cleaned each year. They did not discuss cleaning in any way, or note that there was years of dirt built up on the +30 year old unit. It was only after the A/C unit had become irreparable did AHS ever advise that dirt buildup negated my policy. Until that point AHS had been happy to simply replace parts on my A/C unit and collect my annual renewal fee of $414 every year for the last eleven years.

If AHS's own A/C professionals had been on my roof, working on my A/C unit and did not know that the A/C unit required cleaning, how would I be expected to know? I am not a A/C professional.

After the breakdown of my A/C unit, the record-breaking temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona had been well over 105 F.

As a result of having been abandoned by AHS in extreme weather conditions, I was forced to purchase a new unit at a cost of $2,880. The cost of this A/C unit was extremely prudent, as I received bids in excess of $4,200 for a replacement unit comparable to the one AHS had refused to cover.

Charles
Phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.

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