Complaint Review: First American Home Buyers Protection

Sabrina,
you say your a customer service rep there at First American? Is brainwashing part of your training there or what?
I had a long conversation with a lady there yesterday who was in charge of customers with complaints and are upset with their "service"
if you can actually call it that.
she explained that we have it all wrong.

When you call their 800 number with a problem, they have 48 hours to get someone out, and then it is not for repair but for and "evaluation" of the situation. that technician must then submit a report to First American and cannot do anything without their approval first, then it goes thru several employees there, before it is determined IF they are going to pay for the repair/replacement etc. this process can take from 10 to 14 days, but , listen to this, in EXTREME emergency cases, say your A/C goes out in 100 degree weather, or your plumbing is bad, their company policy is still to take 48 hours to send someone out but it only takes 5 to 7 days for them to make a decision as to whether it is covered or not.

By that time what do you do?
so, they are not doing anything wrong, we just dont seem to understand. their contract has more Clauses in it than New York City in December!

Sabrina,
you say your a customer service rep there at First American? Is brainwashing part of your training there or what?
I had a long conversation with a lady there yesterday who was in charge of customers with complaints and are upset with their "service"
if you can actually call it that.
she explained that we have it all wrong.

When you call their 800 number with a problem, they have 48 hours to get someone out, and then it is not for repair but for and "evaluation" of the situation. that technician must then submit a report to First American and cannot do anything without their approval first, then it goes thru several employees there, before it is determined IF they are going to pay for the repair/replacement etc. this process can take from 10 to 14 days, but , listen to this, in EXTREME emergency cases, say your A/C goes out in 100 degree weather, or your plumbing is bad, their company policy is still to take 48 hours to send someone out but it only takes 5 to 7 days for them to make a decision as to whether it is covered or not.

By that time what do you do?
so, they are not doing anything wrong, we just dont seem to understand. their contract has more Clauses in it than New York City in December!

Sabrina,
you say your a customer service rep there at First American? Is brainwashing part of your training there or what?
I had a long conversation with a lady there yesterday who was in charge of customers with complaints and are upset with their "service"
if you can actually call it that.
she explained that we have it all wrong.

When you call their 800 number with a problem, they have 48 hours to get someone out, and then it is not for repair but for and "evaluation" of the situation. that technician must then submit a report to First American and cannot do anything without their approval first, then it goes thru several employees there, before it is determined IF they are going to pay for the repair/replacement etc. this process can take from 10 to 14 days, but , listen to this, in EXTREME emergency cases, say your A/C goes out in 100 degree weather, or your plumbing is bad, their company policy is still to take 48 hours to send someone out but it only takes 5 to 7 days for them to make a decision as to whether it is covered or not.

By that time what do you do?
so, they are not doing anything wrong, we just dont seem to understand. their contract has more Clauses in it than New York City in December!

Sabrina,
you say your a customer service rep there at First American? Is brainwashing part of your training there or what?
I had a long conversation with a lady there yesterday who was in charge of customers with complaints and are upset with their "service"
if you can actually call it that.
she explained that we have it all wrong.

When you call their 800 number with a problem, they have 48 hours to get someone out, and then it is not for repair but for and "evaluation" of the situation. that technician must then submit a report to First American and cannot do anything without their approval first, then it goes thru several employees there, before it is determined IF they are going to pay for the repair/replacement etc. this process can take from 10 to 14 days, but , listen to this, in EXTREME emergency cases, say your A/C goes out in 100 degree weather, or your plumbing is bad, their company policy is still to take 48 hours to send someone out but it only takes 5 to 7 days for them to make a decision as to whether it is covered or not.

By that time what do you do?
so, they are not doing anything wrong, we just dont seem to understand. their contract has more Clauses in it than New York City in December!

To the person that said a warranty means you give up consumer rights to save money...I have heard some ridiculous statements before but this has to qualify for the top ten. No one should ever be giving up their consumer rights...consumer protection laws should never be able to be signed away, any more than you can make a contract for any other illegal activity. For corporations to think they are above the law is arrogant and corrupt.

Many home warranty policies sold with NEW construction are never seen by the home owner until after closing...that's the way the builder and warranty company do it. The home owner therefore has no way of knowing what the warranty the builder is providing is like, but most are misled into believing the seperate warranty is a benefit. In most cases it merely lets the builder off the hook because, again, it takes away consumer rights, and it allows the builder and warranty co to pass the buck endlessly. This does not save the home owner anything. It can start getting expensive at this point.

Arbitration records are not public and those complaints are hidden. Home owners often silenced with a gag order so they can't talk about it. Again, a contract that takes away a right--freedom of speech. They are not supposed to be forced into arbitration if they have an FHA (HUD) loan, but warranty companies and builders do not honor the FHA regulations unless the home owner finds out and finds someone at FHA (HUD) to enforce it. The builder's associations and warranty companies are courting HUD to try and get them to do away with the regulation.

In the book "Your New House" by Alan and Denise Fields, it tells that at least 86% of claims are denied by warranty companies. The rest mostly go to arbitration where they're denied or given inadequate settlements, you can't appeal, and the incident is burried, so other consumers won't find out.

Arbitration is not cheap, either. The following two sites at one time had a comparison of the cost of handling your case in arbitration or in court, and court was cheaper: www.hobb.org and www.txbr.org If it's not on there now, contact the organizations and ask for it. Giving up our consumer rights as a trade for money saved??? What a joke. At least we know our adversaries in this battle aren't bright enough to come up with anything defensible.

I'd just like to throw out my two cents as a Customer Service rep with First American. We do get a lot of people that are unhappy with our service for one reason or another as well as many satisfied customers. Of course the satisfied ones don't call in because they have nothing to call back about, but I do speak to a lot of unsatisfied people.



I think these issues could be cleared up before you ever need to call in if you read the contract. The First American contract is VERY simple. It's consice and explained on a front and back pamphlet. If it's not listed on the contract then it's not covered. Also it does explaine that First American reserves the right to send out a 2nd opinion. It sounds like this is what happened in your case.



A 2nd opinion has several reasons and it's not just to get the "cheapest" person to do the job, but to make sure this is going to fix your problem! Do you want to have someone tear up your floor (whether or not it costs you a penny and just costs First American) to find out that you still have the leak and this wasn't the source. A 2nd opinion could catch that mistake before we waste your time and ours to impliment a fix that won't help.



Now I'm not clear on the problem with you renting out the property. Many people rent out their properties and these are still covered, so I'd have to get more information on your particular claim to address that.



As for a rep hanging up on you this is COMPLETELY against policy. We could get FIRED for hanging up on someone. I think there may be more to this. This report was rather lacking in details so is hard to rebut with useful information.



I can say that if you look at your contract it will tell you everything you need to know. However some people just glance over it and don't really read it. People will call in and we'll tell them it's not covered and they get very upset and demand to know where in the contract this is stated and when we point it out to them you just get a quiet "oh."



Certainly there are a lot of restrictions on the contract. We wouldn't be in business otherwise. However the contract can be very usefull in saving you money in the long run. We have people that pay a couple hundred dollars on a contract and get a coupld THOUSAND dollars worth of repairs in exchange. Of course some buy the contract and never use it and that's how the company makes money, but that's fine, how else would they stay in business?



You just have to understand that you are trading some of your rights as a consumer for the money you are saving. That means that you DO have to follow First American's proceedures and allow a 2nd opinion and pay attention to what is covered and what is not. If you are buying this contract to get fast service and for convienince then you are buying it for the wrong reason. If money is not an issue you can have a company out in 30 minutes and pay through the roof. The point of a warranty is to save money. If you pay attention to what is covered you could save quite a bit.

This email is a rebuttal to RipOff #8189.

It was sent by CS at cschnackel@fourteen.net.



First American Home Buyers Protection poor unprofessional customer serivce (#8189)



They filed the following to the above Rip-Off Report:



Their email: cschnackel@fourteen.net

Their name: CS



Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion



Rebuttal:

I'm not familiar with the warranty company you have, nor with the rules of their contract/service, but many home warranty companies are, according to attorneys we've talked to, "illusory" and "deceptive."



Not only are theremany exclusions, but some policies are worded so that it does take a lawyer to understand them. Furthermore, most either demand, or try to demand, that homeowners submit to binding arbitration with an arbitrator THEY hand pick.



Arbitration is sorely misused. There are high costs,

(undisclosed usually), you may still need a lawyer, it is not always neutral, and you may be signing away not only your right to sue or appeal but also to talk about your case.



Also, arbitration is not public like a lawsuit, so the public will not be able to find out about complaints that are settled by arbitration. Your warranty company will probably tell you

you must arbitrate if you pursue your complaint. Getting anything out of them is a huge battle. The lawyers are right, they are illusory and deceptive.