We didn’t know homes had warranties, but according to Brad, they do, and they rock. Brad’s house came with a warranty provided by Home Warranty of America. He has used them three times, “and they’ve blown me away each time.” Brad’s heater “decided that heating just wasn’t its bag anymore.” A serviceman examined the heater and warned it would soon break. When it did finally quit, the serviceman wasn’t available, so Brad called Home Warranty of America.

[The] lady I spoke to not only sympathized with my plight, but actually had me hold on the phone while she looked up and called another service company to verify they could take care of me right away. Not 10 minutes after I got off the phone with HWA, I received a callback from the A/C service company, and they were at my house within the hour.

We might not caution against warranties if they all provided this level of exemplary service.

Brad’s email, after the jump…

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I’ve always been a natural skeptic of any sort of warranty service, thinking that the only way these companies can make money is to take it up front and do their best to avoid approving as many claims as possible, and in general to be as unhelpful as they can be without getting sued. So the idea of a home warranty, where the product covered isn’t even something the warrantor made, sold, or has any control of, gave me a real case of the shudders.

But, the house my wife and I purchased this spring came with a home warranty as an incentive from the seller, and so I took it and hoped we just wouldn’t need it. So far, we’ve had to use them three times, and they’ve blown me away each time. When I call, I’ve always gotten to a real, live rep within minutes, and always someone who not only can speak beautiful English, but who actually sounds happy to be talking to me, and eager to solve my problems to my satisfaction.

Today, though, really took the cake. I had recently called in reference to the heater in our house, which one day decided that heating just wasn’t its bag anymore. However, before the serviceman arrived, our heater decided to give it one more good college try, and kept going for a few more weeks, so the serviceman told us just to call back if there were any more problems. Today was that day. However, when I called him today, he was shorthanded and dealing with broken down vehicles, and therefore unable to help us out for at least another day or two. Since it is so cold here at the moment (well, at least cold for us Texans), I reckoned my wife would turn into a wifesicle if we had to make it through another night sans heat, and so put in another call to Home Warranty of America. From bitter experience with so many customer service reps in so many companies, I expected to be told there was nothing they could do, and that their current guy would get to me when he could. However, the lady I spoke to not only sympathized with my plight, but actually had me hold on the phone while she looked up and called another service company to verify they could take care of me right away. Not 10 minutes after I got off the phone with HWA, I received a callback from the A/C service company, and they were at my house within the hour. Due to their parts stores being closed today, we still have to wait until first thing tomorrow to finish the job, but I was honestly blown away by the lengths that everyone involved went to in order to take care of little old John Q. Consumer in this situation, especially when they’ve already spent more on us from other repairs than the warranty purchase made them in the first place.

There are so many stories out there of companies not living up to the barest of expectations, or completely beating customers down like red-headed stepchildren, that I feel compelled to share when someone goes above and beyond for their customers. So, in that regard, kudos to Home Warranty of America, and Waco Systems (the A/C company) as well, for their over-the-top friendly, helpful service to two very chilly customers. Hats off!!!

— CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
(Photo: Spatial Mongrel)

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