So when I bought my condo the seller gave me a home warranty for a year as a ‘gift.’ I totally forgot about it until I got a call earlier this fall from American Home Shield (AHS) reminding me to check my heaters to make sure they worked before it got cold. I wish I would have remembered that I had a warranty this summer when my living room air conditioner wouldn’t get cold. I can’t remember if it was before or after this call that I learned that my hallway baseboard heater wouldn’t work. When Mom and Heidi were down to do my planting Mom and I reviewed my warranty and thought it was a pretty good deal to only pay $60 for each different discipline technician that came to my place. So Mom suggested I call and have a HVAC person come out and look at my air conditioner and heater. So I made my request online and they sent me a confirmation of two different contractors coming out, making me pay $120. So I called AHS and asked why one firm HVAC firm can’t look at both my heater and AC. The lady explained to me that one was an AC company and the other was an electrician but said she would wave the fee of my electrician. So that was fine with me and we scheduled a time one morning when they would both be there by 10am. So the morning came and the electrician came out and told me my heater needed to be replaced. Ok, just what I thought but now I can get it replaced for free. And then the AC guy came and took a step in the door and said “We don’t cover window units.” I told him my AC was a wall unit, it’s obviously in the wall. And he said, “but it’s a window unit.” And I said “But it’s in my wall.” So he called up AHS and told them that it was a window unit, etc, and then told me that AHS was going to be calling me. So AHS called me just then and then AHS and I had the same conversation that the AC guy and I just had. But it was fine; they waved his ‘service’ fee. So I ended up not having to pay either guy.
Before bed then that night I turned on my bedroom heater and it wouldn’t come on when I just used it the night before so I’m not sure if the electrician did something or it was just a coincidence.
So this all happened on Tuesday and I hadn’t heard from AHS by Friday about what the next steps were so I called them and ask. She told me that the electrician reported that there was no failure in my heater. So I told her that he told me it needed to be replaced and asked what we needed to do to make this happen. So she put in a recall to the electrician company and told me that they would have to send someone else out, again. She also suggested that I call the electrical company as well. So once I got off the phone with her I called the electrical company and told them about the situation and they told me that they would send a ‘senior’ technician out this time. Like that makes a difference to me. I explained to her that it wasn’t fair that I had to take more time off work for their error. So she scheduled me for the following Monday morning which I told her I couldn’t do because the appointment window was from 9am – 1pm. But I was still in the office and lost reception. So once I got outside I called back and the next person I talked to said I was confirmed for Monday between 9am and 1pm, so I explained to her that I couldn’t do that time. And then she huffed about not knowing when the next time was that they could schedule me because they were busy. So she put me on hold while she looked at the schedule for 7 minutes before I hung up.
On Saturday then I got a computer message telling me that I was confirmed for Monday morning between 9am and 1pm so I ‘rejected’ that appointment time and was told that I would be called back within two hours to reschedule. Well Sunday then I got another message saying I was scheduled for Tuesday between 9am and 1pm.
So I called Monday morning and asked to be called a half an hour before the technician come so I could go home to meet them. On Tuesday I kept checking my phone and enver received a call. So at 1:15 I called and asked what happened and was told that the technician was on his way now. And I explained to her that I was supposed to be called 30 minutes before hand so I could get to my condo and she agreed that it wass noted. So as I walked to my car I got another call from the electrical company asking how long I was going to be and I told her 20-25 minutes. And she sighed and said she guessed she would have the electrician wait. And I told her that I was supposed to be given a 30 minute warning.
So I calmly drove home and the electrician followed me in to my place and said he got a nice nap while waiting for me. Great. So he actually fixed my heater and I asked him about my bedroom one not working and we thought that it might work then but it didn’t.
I was hoping to get a new heater, but it was just as well that they fixed my heater still without me paying anything. But I still need to get someone to look at my bedroom heater and am dreading that task but thought I could put it off for a whle.
So I was doing fine with my living room heater and hallway heater eventhough the hallway heater is hard to control. The dial must have been bent and there are no markings for settings but I guestimate. This was all working fine until a few days ago when that heater started to bang, not click, while I was sleeping so I had to turn it off.
So now it’s getting coler and I’m living with only one consistent baseboard heater.
I’m really dreading have to call AHS again to have them send another incompetent electrician out.
But then I thought about just replacing all my baseboard heaters with newer ones since I don’t have any money invested in the ones I have now. And I researched it online and new heaters with individual thermostats only cost about $60 each. That’s not bad for brand new ones. So I’m going to talk to Mom and see if she knows how to install them and will help me.
This causes me a lot of relief that I don’t have to deal with crappy heaters and home warranty company and electricians. So that’s my next plan.
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