HMS Home Waranty

Rip-​off! Don’t use these guys. You get little to no benefit and your $ 100 deductible pays for their choice of contractor to come out and evaluate. If they determine the problem is structural, nothing is covered! Wishing we had never let seller switch to them for home warranty. The seller paid $ 489 while HMS records are that the premium only cost $ 429…$ 60 went who knows where, maybe a commission to the agent that advised the seller to buy from HMS? Would be nice if Virginia had an Insurance watchdog!

I have had HMS home warranty for two years. The first year, service was free because it came with my newly purchased house. The second year, I didn’t know any better. I have filed multiple claims with them over the years, for the plumbing, for the AC, for various appliances. They charge high premiums and use bottom of the barrel contractors. The contractor that serviced my AC did not even speak English well. Their online claims system routinely mistakens me for someone else. They will nickel and dime you at every opportunity. Their coverage is so poor that you will end up paying for half of the repair cost anyway. I am extremely dissatisfied and will be looking for a new company when my contract ends.

Worthless. Their dishwasher repairman didn’t properly connect the hoses and my floor was flooded leaking through to the family room/​basement. I purchased the premier plan from Weichert when I purchased my house which should reimburse $ 1000 for repairs. One month after moving in, I had to tear out over 30 sq ft of ceiling to dry out. The repairs cost $ 1,200. HMS Home Warranty keeps refusing to pay – saying I don’t itemize well enough. Feels to me like a ploy to avoid paying up.
Tried calling again today. Was told that there were no supervisors available and they wouldn’t take a phone message.

I purchased this warranty when I bought my home about a year ago. The most important warning is that there is an exclusion for every problem I ran into, the most noteworthy being «pre-​existing condition.» Isn’t that the reason to buy a warranty, to cover unforeseeable failures? The home I bought was in good condition, but I was concerned that I might have some appliances that would need to be replaced. I filed three claims, all for different problems with the heating/​AC. Every time they sent someone to the house, it was some «fly-​by-​night» independent contractor who was moonlighting from his day job. There was often no way to check contractor reviews because they had no internet presence. There was always a $ 100 deductible, nothing was ever covered by HMS because of the hidden exclusions. Once I even got an estimate for problems that did not exist (motherboard and motor). The only reason I know that is because I threw in the towel on HMS and hired a well-​known HVAC company during the warranty period, and that serviceman told me that there was nothing wrong with either the motherboard or the motor — it was just a loose wire. No matter, it wouldn’t have been covered. The only good thing I can say about HMS was that customer service was prompt and efficient.

My AC is out. I called HMS on 30 July 15, and one of their approved contractors, Eastern LLC, came out on 3 Aug 15. Eastern spent 15 minutes in and out of my home and immediately tried to upsell me for a new furnace and water heater. The Eastern technicians looked unprofessional in dirty t-​shits and clothes and no protective covers on the nasty work boots. Frankly, they were disheveled and stunk and I could not understand what they were saying. Eastern submitted the repair order to HMS the same day (30 July) as to the repair of my AC unit. I called HMS for updates on 6, 10, 11, & 12 Aug for updates. Finally, on 12 Aug I was told that the claim was with an approver on 11 Aug. I called again on 13 Aug requesting to speak to a manager and was put on hold, then was told all mangers were busy, but one would call me. No Call that day. I called again on 14 Aug to speak to a manager. The customer service «gatekeepers» could not connect me with a manager, but informed me that my claim was approved and presented me with two options: 1) Take the $ 969 claim limit and find my own service provider or pay an additional $ 1700 to Eastern LLC for uncovered expenses to repair my unit. HMS informed me that I could call Eastern for an explanation of the charges, so I called. Again, I was unable to communicate with the Eastern Technician and he was unable to explain what was going to be accomplished in my basement and out of doors. Again, I called HMS at 1pm on 14 Aug requesting a Manager and was informed that they are all busy and one would call return my call. 2:39pm and no call. To say that I feel dismissed and played in dealings with the Customer Service «gatekeepers» would be an understatement. I called again the morning of 17 Aug 15 to ask why a manager did not see fit to call and was informed that they are busy, but my status showed that I was elevated to «highly important» and a manager would call. No manager ever called. Weeks with no AC, unresponsive HMS Management, and their hiring unprofessional unkempt service providers is abysmal. I fired the Eastern Tech Company, and chose to use the reimbursement $ 969 option and called another company to perform the repairs. I am actively researching another home warranty provider and upon expiration of the HMS warranty, I will be looking to replace HMS. I cannot see paying HMS to be unresponsive. I am writing a letter to my Realtor Office to inform them of my experience. What they do with that information is their business, but I hope they would think twice about recommending HMS. The American Consumer should not tolerate the behavior of HMS, and I am certain that this is NOT how a company garners a loyal consumer following. Noting how HMS treated my claim, I am not certain that HMS even cares about consumer loyalty.

This firm claims that they help homeowners with the unknowns of buying a house. My experience with them has been awful! They denied our claim for our HVAC. When we called to understand why, at first try could not even get to a manager and the person we dealt with was absolutely rude. I called a second time and was also denied getting to a manager until I blew up at the customer service rep. The manager proved to be as useless as everyone else. Then I asked to cancel the the warranty and get a refund and was transferred 3 times before I was allowed to cancel the policy. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME … YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE IS NOT WORTH IT!

The second and third calls are not good. Their phone system kept asking me to do the survey even I pressed no survey. The wait was long. The technicians which they assigned to me are not be able to fix my HVAC problem so I have to spend my summer with no AC. This is the 4^th time that I call them, hope they are improving.

Liars and crooks!!! They only hire bottom of the barrel contractors and do everything in their power to either not fix your issue or fix it at the lowest price possible. IF YOU HAVE OPTIONS, DO NOT GO WITH THIS HOME WARRANTY COMPANY. My HVAC has been inspected by this company’s so-​called professionals at least 5 times. They’ve now decided my issue is not covered, although they aren’t sure what the exact issue is. TOTAL IDIOTS!!! Basically, you will have to hire a professional and pay for major repairs yourself. HMS is a total rip off. The only thing they’re good at is collecting deductibles.

I have tried to work this out with HMS further to no avail. The sales person who called me was very argumentative, refused to let me speak to the claims department or the VP of claims. I still have no idea why they denied our claim as he refused to tell me.
The sellers of the home had the units serviced prior to my buyer taking possession of the home. We have receipts to prove it. The units were in working condition. HMS’s people went in and denied the claim (of course they did because they are HMS’s people, AND that’s how they get around paying for anything). They collect the $ 415 for the policy and that’s how they make their money… by DENYING CLAIMS.
DO NOT BUY POLICIES THROUGH HMS.

I’ve worked with home warranties before. It’s always a little bit of a hassle to get something fixed, but this is the first time that I’ve felt like the company is giving me the run-​around. They sent a completely incompetent (or maybe they were dishonest, I don’t know) technician to my new house to evaluate an AC issue. He found that a key piece of the AC was installed incorrectly.
After a check with the company who held a service contract on the system and an independent evaluation, I’ve learned that the system hasn’t been modified since installation in 2001 (validated through service records) and the independent evaluation validated that the issue is just normal wear and tear. So, of course, now HMS will take 4 – 6 weeks to review the information to determine whether they’ll send a second company out to validate our claim.
After talking with them and representatives from the company they sent out, I am just completely disgusted. It’s frustrating that they partner with companies who apparently staff people who are evidently unqualified to do their job and it’s unacceptable that our house will be without AC for 406 additional weeks while they decide whether or not to correct their own mistake. All of my dealings with HMS have actually got me wondering now whether it’s part of their business model to avoid paying claims by sending out incompetent companies or, even worse, if they give some kind of bonus to companies to help them avoid paying out claims. I would hope that’s not the case, but they have been so shifty throughout my dealings with them that I wouldn’t put it past them.
I am canceling my policy and I strongly recommend that anyone looking for a home warranty skip over HMS. This warranty has been a complete waste of money and time.

I bought a home warranty through HMS after purchasing my condo because the HVAC system was past its life expectancy as well as the hot water heater and the combo washer/​dryer unit. I thought, if all these go at once I’ll be screwed. My first experience with HMS was with the W/​D machines (it’s a unique brand, Splendide, and one of those all in one units so not every knows how to work with them). The machine is about 14 years old and they really had no interest in replacing the machine. It simply was stuck in the middle of a cycle and wouldn’t advance forward. It also won’t wash in anything but regular — so no washing in delicate or perm press. They fixed the problem with it advancing forward through the regular cycle but threw up their hands and called it «fixed» even though I can’t use the other cycles.
Then later this year, I realized my heat wasn’t working and it was January. The first tech came out (from PJ Appliance, simply awful guy) and he spent less than 5 minutes looking at my system (all electric) and said it was PEPCO cutting power to my unit and there was nothing wrong with my system. He didn’t even go to the roof to check the condenser. I had PEPCO out, they spent 45 minutes going through every test they could think of and said something was wrong with the condenser on the roof because the elements didn’t have any power. So, I called HMS back and they said call PJ back and have them come back out. PJ REFUSED to come back out and he REFUSED to admit he was wrong. I called HMS, told them he was rude, condescending and refused to come back out. They said, ok well call X company (I can no longer remember the name). I called this company for 3 days, left VMs, they never answered their phone and they never called me back. I called HMS and said I was going to use my own guy since their techs were so rude and unreliable. I called a guy my neighbor used (Budget Heating and Air, Brian Meredith — totally great) who came in $ 2k under all the other quotes he got. Brian was out to my house the same evening and said yes, the condenser is shot and the system needs replaced. He was scheduled to do the replacement three days later. I called HMS and told them this. The morning of my install they called and said, hold up hold up, our guy is ready to come out and check things out. I said it was too late, I had someone scheduled and they were already working onsite. I reminded them they were informed of this and they had received all the paperwork from my guy outlining what was wrong and what the costs would be. AFTER my install, they said they would only cover $ 1300 of my $ 4100 bill.
I will never use this company again. I will in fact never use a home warranty again. Save your money, put it away in a savings account and use that to cover costs for when something goes wrong. Their techs have always done shoddy work, when they decide to show up, and you are much better going out and researching companies and getting quotes yourself.

Like others, I’ve had the not so joyous experiences with hms. My washing machine started giving me error code, and then subsequently, it just wouldn’t work. I called hms on 21 February 2015. It took seven visits from technicians and to finally get it right. My washer was finally fixed on April 3, 2015 and has been working fine since. HMS’s process of getting things done is slow and they show little to no concern for the customer. Even though I’ve exclaimed to numerous reps that I have a small child at home and am in need of my washing machine, scheduling to get someone out was always about convenience of the service provider. Between the hours I spent taking off work, and the amount of money hms spent on parts/​man hours to fix my machine, I probably could’ve bought 3 of my washing machines, but they were content to continue to waste my time.
I also had a plumbing issue (clogged toilet beyond what a plunger could take care of) that I approached hms about. They got me an appt with a plumber 72 hours later. The plumber didn’t show up because they decided not to work that day (weather), but never called to inform me. They then called the next day and tried to have me sit and wait in a 4 hour window. I declined. I then called a plumber friend that I know and he was at my house in two hours to take care of the problem.
I also had my garage door arm snap off my door. Not covered by the warranty.
Do not waste your time with HMS Home Warranty! A warranty sounds all good until you call them and find out things aren’t covered/​their service providers take their time getting to you to fix the problem.

If I could give this company negative stars I would. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND YOUR TIME. Their policy is to hide behind voice mail and never return calls. I have a claim now in its 14^th month. When they finally agreed to replace the defective appliance (an exhaust fan) they sent out an incompatible product and a service provider who could not install it. Of course, daily calls to HMS have gone unanswered. I wrote the president of this company with no response. I have left more than 40 voice mails to supervisors in the Office of the President. Their procedure is to make you go away with total frustration. After 14 months, I gave up and will hire an outside firm to fix the appliance. This means I paid for insurance and received no service and no warranty. In my book, this is the same as fraud. There are many reputable firms out there. This is obviously not one.