HMS Home Warranty is a Scam
Bought a new home. Inspector told us the boiler reached it lifetime but was still working. We decided to get a home warranty to cover us if the boiler were to give up within the first year. We acquired the house and everything was fine, for a week. After that, we started smelling fumes from the boiler room. The carbon monoxide detector went off. We called Orange & Rockland utilities, they verified it was not a gas leak. We then called HMS got a claim # and had "Mr. Plumber" look at it today. He said we needed to replace the boiler asap since it is dangerous. He then called it in to HMS. They said that it was a pre-existing issue and they will not cover any of it. We are now doing the replacement with our own plumber at our own expense. HMS, in my opinion, made us feel secure when they in fact didn't provide the service they were selling. It is very convenient to say it was a pre-existing issue because then they don't have to pay anything. I am canceling my service with them and hoping they refund my money. I would like for you to do something about this company. They should be required to do inspections before placing a warranty on homes. Otherwise they can get out of everything. I wish I would have known this earlier. I called them today to see if they got my cancellation request. They did. I asked them how much it was going to be and they told me a number that was almost 50 dollars less then I calculated. They charged a $25 cancellation fee, a 10% misc fee of the total purchase and the prorated amount for the days I used it. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and will definitely tag this cancellation garbage when they get back to me. BOTTOM LINE: Don't use HMS Home Warranties
Published January 8, 2008 by:
Ronnie
Ronnie Schwartz is the CTO and founder of RustyBrick, an agile web development firm that creates effective web applications and focuses on finding the right balance between time to production and software quality to get clients in front of their customers quickly and effectively. Ronnie brings over ten years of innovative design, programming and web management expertise to the table.
This article is under General Business
There are 16 comments for this post
Stay in touch with RustyBrick
Tel. 845-369-6869
Designing your dreams
Do you want more information on Web page design including; tips, usability or pricing? Please call contact us toll free at 877-GO-RUSTY or email us.
3 OLDER COMMENTS
posted by Jared on: Jul 29, 2009 04:28am
I agree with the forementioned comment. HMS is the worst company I have dealt in my entire lifetime. A long story short. Called them and they sent out a company 5 days later. They showed up look at my AC and said HMS would not pay them what it would cost to fix the unit. Totally unprofessional and idiotic. Second company came out and spent 15 min looking at the unit and took my $100 bucks. AC stopped working two days later. The technition made a comment about what he thought my financial status was because of where I lived. I canceled check because he did not do what the job required. He called back and threatened to call the sheriff. Third company finally fixed the AC unit but HMS would not cover because they claimed it was an existing condition. Cost me $1100 to get fixed. Called HMS many times and they were very uncooperative and very unhelpful. Spoke to several supervisor and same result. Do not use at all! Not worth the paper written on. Total scam.
posted by I completely understand!!!!! on: Jun 5, 2009 08:48pm
My husband and I purchased a home in Feb. 09 and a home warranty was included in our purchase price. We also added a pool warranty with this purchase. This warranty purchase was set up through the re-location company and the previous owners' real esate agent. On June 2, 2009, we opened our pool. At this time the pool was not working properly due to wear and tear. We contacted our warranty company to find out if the broken pump was covered. We were told yes. They then sent a technician to check out the pool pump and such. He was at our house for maybe a total of 15 minutes and charged us a $100 deductible at that time. He told us that the pump and valves did need to be replaced and he would make that aware to the warranty company. We then were contacted by the warranty company and were told that it will not be covered due to "Lack of Maintenance" on the pool. We moved here only 4 months ago and were told the pool worked fine when we purchased the home. We have tried arguing the issue but have not reached any solution. The technician that was at our home will not return our phone calls, and we believe that he has called our number once and hung up on us on the evening of June 5, 2009. We have spoke with a number of customer service representatives with HMS Home Warranty. During those phone calls, we were told the pre-existing conditions were not covered. On the other hand, we were also told that a warranty could not be purchased if the pool was not in good working condition. I think that condradicts what they said before. How could we possibly have a pre-existing condition if the approval of a pool warranty was made in Feb. 2009? On top of all of this, we have contacted the previous pool company that maintained the pool in the last year and located their office to gather proof of maintenance. We sent this documentation to the warranty company. We also have documentation of a pool inspection that was done on September 23, 2008. This inspection shows that the pool was in working condtion and no remarks were made on the pump or valves. This is proof that there were not pre-existing conditions at the time of purchase. We have faxed all of this information to the HMS Warranty Company. We have not yet heard any positive feedback from the company. We were told that we would have an answer as soon as possible. I believe that representative that we are working with kept giving us a round about answer. I feel they have also been very rude when we call and do not hear us out. I feel we are often interrupted when speaking to this customer representative. I feel that we have went above and beyond what a customer should do when making a warranty claim. I'm not quite sure what else we should do to address this issue. I feel that we are being scammed. No one will give us a direct answer and we have tried numerous times to be helpful and make a connection with the warranty company on this claim. We were also told the the $100 will probably not be refunded to us if the the claim is not approved. I do not feel that makes any sense. What is a home warranty company for? What do they cover? I feel like our purchase was a waste of money and that any time we have a claim, they will find a new way to take money from us. Their warranty states "mechanical parts and componets as follows: above ground accessible plumbing lines leading to and from the unit; air pumps; blower motorl filters (free-standing housing body, laterals, pressure gauges, back flush valves); gaskets; impellers; internal spa pack heater; internal switches; primary circulator pump and motor; and relays." The items that we are requesting to be replaced are in this list of covered items. The warranty also states "We agree to pay the covered costs to repair or replace the items listed as covered on your Agreement Coverage Summary if any such items become inoperable during the term of this Agreement due to mechanical failure caused by routine wear and tear." I feel that we have stated the facts to the best of our ability. We should be refunded our warranty purchase money and the $100 deductible that we paid on this "so-called" claim. In the meantime, our pool is not in the best condition, leaving it open during the heat with algae and what-not growing on the liner and in the water. Where does this leave us? Feeling SCAMMED!!!!!!!
posted by Eric on: Jun 26, 2009 04:08pm
Wow have I got a good scam from HMS Warranty. They replaced a cond. unit on my home after many many calls but they replaced a 2 ton with a 1.5 ton and now it runs 24/7 and they say they replaced it with a higher eff. unit that will overcome the 1/2 ton difference and they will not do anything for me since the contract is out. If you want to have fun with HMS Warranty Services this is the number to call so will not have to wait 1 hour on hold. 1-800-327-9787 Rep that was rude to me was JOE SNYDER Make sure is you are reading this not to let anyone you know get suckered into using them. Thank god I did not loose since I purchased a home and the sellers paid $175 for the coverage and I used the service 1 week before it ended!!! I won and they also sent me a renewal notice asking for $945 for another years service!! HA HA that is the difference in the work performed. I won for once but they stuck a POS unit on my home ( PAYNE ) that is the junk they use for HVAC needs. MAKE SURE TO KNOW HMS IS A SCAM HMS IS A SCAM HMS IS A SCAM HMS IS A SCAM Keywords: HMS IS A SCAM
16 COMMENTS
posted by pool installation prices on: Nov 3, 2011 11:12am
Great! Thank for information, I'm looking for it for a long time,
posted by pool installation cost on: Aug 11, 2011 07:17am
Great! Thank for information, I'm looking for it for a long time,
posted by Pool Installation on: Jun 28, 2011 02:17pm
Excellent! Great article, I already saved it to my favourite,
posted by pool installation price on: Jun 3, 2011 12:35am
I'm so love this blog, already bookmarked it! Thanks.
posted by ac repair lorton on: May 17, 2011 07:23pm
Yes i agree what you discussed regarding HMS issue of warranty it happens with many other companies that they dont honor their promises i think state should take action regarding these matters that are very serious. You save me from HMS to get deal.
posted by Bill on: Jan 6, 2010 06:04pm
Follow-up: Thanks for the info dmsiii. I'm going through the Better Business Beauru right now, which I suspect won't get me anywhere. I think that when it is done I may do the small claims route. Not that it would be worth my time, but at this point it is more about principle. Really there should be a big class action suite against them, and some regulation of their industry. Take care!
posted by on: Mar 19, 2010 09:24pm
Small claims court, and someone should do a class action suit on this one. I'll bet there thousands like you and a friend of mine. I am a Realtor, and they said my client did not pull the refrigerator out every 6 months and vacuum the motor and coil area. After I informed them he had only lived in the house 5 months and thus should still be covered, they said a manager would call me. They never did. Every call was initiated by myself or my client, and each time they were going to get back to us. When I called back they now said you have to pull your refrigerator out from they wall and vacuum every 3 months. They also changed their web instructions, because I pointed out that they listed what homeowners were required to do with the refrigerator and that was not listed. Looks like intent to mislead. They changed their web site the next day. I have a copy for court. I've heard nothing but bad comments about this company.
posted by inground_pools_small on: Mar 2, 2010 11:25am
Thanks for information, I'll always keep updated here!
posted by Cardcreek on: Nov 16, 2010 03:13pm
why would you expect a warranty service to buy you a new dishwasher? at best they could offer to pay you the value of your old dishwasher which is probably less than the $50 part.
posted by Davis on: Nov 16, 2010 04:05pm
In response to Cardcreek: The whole point of a warranty is defined: "to guarantee of the reliability of a product under conditions of ordinary use". In other words, if ordinary use leads to failure, they are obligated to make the replacement. And not at the current value but a new or reconditioned unit of adequate service. So if they take my money, they "guarantee" replacemnt if it fails. It's in the contract.
posted by Newageman50 on: Sep 14, 2010 10:57pm
I had the exact same deal with HMS. AC failed, they wear you down with ineptness, slow response and excuses until you give up. If you got the warranty through Weichert write to the top man there. I did and got a repose. If they lose Wiechert it will be sweet.I will be first in line for any class action suits.
posted by Davis on: Aug 26, 2009 09:41pm
I AGREE!! HMS Home Warranty is a tremendous rip-off, and will take your money and then find excuses not to honor a claim. My dishwasher gave out in my new home. The plumber indicated it needed a new timer, but since it was 23 years old, the best move was to replace it. I have called HMS repeatedly over the last two weeks, to no avail. They promise to follow up and never return the calls. I see no option but to pay for the installation, and then sue HMS for the cost.
posted by on: Aug 29, 2009 05:42am
Wow have I got a good scam from HMS Warranty. They replaced a cond. unit on my home after many many calls but they replaced a 2 ton with a 1.5 ton. Great work. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get for free insurance quotes to save the future.
posted by Davis on: Sep 9, 2009 06:30pm
Update for anyone who might have an interest. After repeatedly calling HMS, I was advised by the appliance repair company that HMS has chosed to replace the timer on a 23-year old dishwasher with a used one, instead of honoring his recommendation that they replace the whole dishwasher. Total cost to HMS, less than $50. Cost to me, whatever a new dishwasher costs, likely in excess of $700. I cannot continue to use a dishwasher that doesn't adequately clean the dishes.
posted by Bill on: Dec 16, 2009 04:43am
I'm going through a very similar situation with them right now, just filed with the bbb. Has anyone had any luck? Anybody try small claims court?
posted by on: Dec 16, 2009 02:06pm
You can try. I worked with the MN Attorney General, and in the end, they encouraged me to pursue a claim with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which I am doing. HMS will claim you can't do small claims court, cuz the contract says you have to go to Federal Court arbitration. I really doubt they have the authority to set the jurisdiction, but I am not a lawyer. If I were you, I would start with small claims court as you have little to lose. Good luck.