Total Protect Home Warranty Complaint - The worst company I have EVER dealt with - Warranty on appliances, heating, etc.

Posted by justthefaxx on 2009-10-17:

Unfortunately, if its in the fine print you're out of luck.

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-17:

Well you can't say one thing and sell your product based on that information and then retract it in the fine print. That's fraud.

Posted by PepperElf on 2009-10-17:

what did the fine print say?

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-17:

Home security is not going to replace at their cost an 18 year old unit. It is unreasonable to expect that they would. $1000 for such an old unit is reasonable. Ours went out last year and it was 13 years old.

You got to read the contract. I am going to bet they did not tell you they would replace anything that old. Any reasonable person would expect such a thing to be prorated.

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-17:

Well, that's not what their policy says at all, it's very misleading and I would not hesitate to take them to court over this. It says nothing about replacement value, age, nothing. If it DID say any of that, I'd never have signed up with their company in the first place, what would be the point? It's printed all over their policy info they will repair or replace only for your deductible - period. So, I guess I'm not reasonable since I expect the company to do what they advertise and sell their insurance based on that information, that I've paid for in good faith. And by the way, the company is not called Home Security, it's call Total Protect Home Warranty.

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-17:

Their website doesn't give much info. You have to go through the sign up process. If your policy states they will replace the unit, then sue. I doubt it does. If it dopes, I bet there is something about age of unit cap.

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-17:

I'm interested to know why you defend this horrible company so much, do you work for them LadyScot? There is nothing about an age cap on anything, they just do their best to get out of paying for a claim. AND, I do plan to sue if they don't live up to their statements on their policy. I have had no heat for two weeks now, and it's 33 degrees tonight, if you don't think I'm upset, you'd be wrong.

Posted by PepperElf on 2009-10-17:

nan - just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they work for the company.

it's shocking but... pretty much true.

and you didn't answer my question i see... what did the fine print say.

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-17:

Nan, of course I work for them. How cold you tell? The fact that I know nothing about them or the fact that I had to look at their website to even know who you were talking about?

I also work for Bank of America, Taco Bell, At&T, Charter Communications. Chase Mortgage and every other company I have played devil's advocate on here for.

I am not defending them. If you can't read my post and get anything other than that out of it, just ignore it. Otherwise, READ your CONTRACT. I have a car that is a junker. It can not be insured. Why? It is a JUNKER.

The website says that MOST, NOT ALL, appliances and units are covered. Yours was, but apparently it was prorated. Which is reasonable and to be expected. Again, IF your contract says your unit is fully replaceable, sue them. If it doesn't take the grand and put down on a new heat pump.

And please, STOP accusing people of working for the company just because they either ask questions or don't side with you. It makes you look childish and ridiculous.

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-18:

You know what, I didn't come here to have an argument with anyone. Least of all, people who really don't have the information I have available nor all the facts or experiences I have had dealing with this company on more than one occasion. I can't sit her and type out all of their fine print, or even get into this any further, there would be no point. My purpose was to warn people to beware of them and their misleading business practices and what they say they will do and then don't. I think all you need to do is go and read what other people say about this company and look at their rating. If you want/need to have your appliances replaced, take the money you would spend on premiums each month and put it in a bank acct for that eventuality of having to replace broken items, you will be a lot further ahead.

That said, I am now worrying more about how to prevent the pipes from freezing in my house since it was 31 degrees here last night and promises to be the same again tonight. So thanks all for your understanding in this matter, and all I can say is I hope you never have to go through what I'm going through.

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2009-10-18:

Thanks for the warning Nan...you bring up an important issue about carbon monoxide poisoning. As for the fine print, you have reminded us all how important it is to read the fine print before buying/agreeing or signing anything. I can guarentee you, that not everyone reads all the fine print and that's the reason companies use it.

Thanks for your review and your warning to others.

Posted by madconsumer on 2009-10-18:

with a cracked heat exchanger, the heating unit will not fire up. so no worry about carbon monoxide poisoning.

i recently repaired my heating unit for the exact same thing.

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-18:

No, not any more because it's dead. It was during their initial attempts at band-aid fixes when they kept restarting it and it would run for about 12 hours and the safety's would kick it off.

Posted by sherdy on 2009-10-18:

Man, it sucks thinking that your warranty covers stuff and it doesn't. Just one more reason I think warranties should be free, should be extended past a year (maybe two?) and shouldn't make people read small print. The OP probably paid for the warranty and now has to pay for the part, too. That does suck.

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-18:

Our heating unit is out too OP. I am not replacing it just yet. We bought several little radiator heaters and it got down to 30 last night and we were toasty warm. They are about $40 each.

On a side note, our electric company finances heat pumps and adds it to your bill each month. Does yours?

As for arguing, no one here was trying to argue. YOU jumped on that wagon and took off simply because you did not like the questions or the suggestions. Which is what we DO to try to help. How can anyo9ne give you an answer without knowing the facts? YOU chose to ignore the questions and get mad.

Good luck but I would read the fine print. Again, IF it says they will replace, sue. Have I NOT advocated that several times already?

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-18:

I have a little more time now to address this and I'm not so totally upset about it all now, so here's the deal, straight from their new policy they sent me, I'll give you the bold print highlights first, then you all tell me how you would take it:

This is on page 4 of their booklet under How to Use Total Protect:
"No matter the age, make or model of your system or appliance, your service specialist will repair the covered item so it's working properly. If it can't be repaired, Total Protect will replace it."

Note: this is a covered appliance as it is the only source of heat for the home

Page 6: excerp: "But what if it can't be repaired? No problem. Total Protect will replace the covered system or appliance with a new one of comparable features"

"Based on our research that could save you as much as .... 3,000 to replace a furnace and even as much as 4,000 to replace an AC system" (my system is both)

Page 8: "Does total Protect cover older systems and appliances?" OF COURSE, Total Protect provides repair or replacement of your covered systems no matter their age, make or model. (I am typing this exactly as they have it)

On the last page of the booklet congratulating us for our "good sense" in choosing Total Protect, says once again:

Furnace > Replacement cost without Total Protect > $1,500 to $4,500 >>> Replacement cost WITH Total Protect > $deductible

Here is their contradictory line in the fine print they referred me to: Paragraph 3 Primary Central Heating Systems, last sentence: "In no event shall we be liable for claimes in excess of $1000 in the aggregate per agreement term.

Refer to aggregate agreement amount, 15,000. Annual Claim limit.

There is nothing that I can find in their terms and conditions that out lines what exactly they define "aggregate agreement" but 15,000 is not 1000. Are you confused and mislead yet?

BTW, LadyScot, it's your word choice that comes across inflammatory, perhaps I misunderstood you. However, since you suffer the same fate as me, Home Depot has space heaters for under $20.00 that do the job quite nicely.

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-19:

OP, according to websters dictionary (and I had to look it up) aggregate means "the sum of the whole in units".

From what I read by what you wrote, the total liability per year aggregate (TOTAL in sums of units, which would be the replacement value of all your appliances prorated) would be $15000. They are claiming no more than $1000 per each unit.

I am wondering if your total units are 15? Kind of crazy but that is the only thing that makes sense. Like the aggregate total is $15000, and you only had 10 covered appliances, then your total payout would be $1500?

I would try to nail them down to make sure you understand the exactly what they are liable for.

On the side note, I am fearful of any heating unit that you can see the heating element lol. The radiators keep the 'fire' contained. :)

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-19:

What you say makes sense and it's possible that they base it that way, except when they replaced my water heater a few years ago, they only gave me 500. towards the cost and I paid the difference. I really didn't understand it all at the time, I'd had a family tragedy only two weeks before, so I just had it replaced, paid the guy, and didn't think much of it. What I think it is, is insurance double-talk to use as a fall-back when they don't want to pay a claim. Now that I have a more serious item to replace, I'd really like it if they do what they plaster all over their policy. (Who wouldn't). I did ask them about the term "aggregate" (which I looked up too), but they didn't give me a straight answer and then I got sent to the supervisor and never did get an answer or definition.

Today they are supposed to call me and tell me what they are doing and when it's going to be fixed. Let's see if they follow through.

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-19:

Nan, let us know. How much was the water heater?

Posted by JR in Orlando on 2009-10-19:

Take the documentation to an attorney and have them review it. Don't guess, when you can find out. The amount of money is enough to make it worth it to check it out.

Also, This last weekend it got soooo cold, I had to turn my airconditioning off. It was in the high 50's. After our indian summer of 90 degrees last week, it felt so cold. I had to wear long underwear. It was so cold on Sunday morning when I got up, I put things in the refrigerator to warm them up.

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-19:

50?!

Jr, come to Tennessee and feel 30 lol..We would have been burning up at 50. :)

My mother lives in Ft Myers...man to be there..

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-19:

Hmmm, replacing that water heater was over three years ago. I'm thinking it was 700. and then I had to find and pay for someone to take the old one away. So I paid 200. + disposal.

So they still have not called me today, gee, there's a surprise (not).

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-10-19:

Nan, that's not too bad then...a new heat pump would run about $2000 or so, so paying half is not bad...but do have your contract reviewed by a lawyer anyway.

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-21:

Wednesday: It's been three weeks since my heat pump/furnace broke down. No one has returned my calls this week. Tomorrow, I'm going to start looking for a lawyer if they don't call me today. This is ridiculous! I'm starting to think I'm going to have to get this replaced on my own and sue them for the cost. I am so frustrated by this!

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-10-24:

Thought update the continuing saga of my heat pump: It's been THREE WEEKS now we have had no heat in our house. I had a voice mail from a lady at Total Protect earlier this week, who left no information, I returned her call four times over the next two days and she never called back. Yesterday in utter frustration, I called the mortgage company and told them that soon, their house will be suffering from broken pluming when all the pipes freeze. The mortgage company are the guys who "hooked us up" with Total Protect in the first place. Well guess what? I got a call late yesterday afternoon from a supervisor apologizing for the wait (blah blah blah). However, she still didn't really know what was going on and promises to call me Monday. What a crock.

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-11-02:

My final update on my heat pump. It's now been just over a month since I had heat in my home. After a lot of fighting, I was about ready to give up and get my neighbor to install one (he works in the business) and give up. However, late last week they finally agreed to replace the heat pump, but not without stipulation. They will pay for the whole unit, but I have to pay for the "un-covered" parts and ALSO the labor. So, what should have been about $500 for the uncovered stuff is now going to be $1100. because they are going to stick me with the labor *sigh*.

To be honest, I don't really care at this point, I'm tired of fighting with them and since they are going to replace the unit, I'm good, it's what I wanted all along. It's still cheaper than buying a new one, but there are still just sooooo many things that tick me off about this on so many levels.

However, as soon as this is all done, I'll be cancelling Total Protect and start putting the money in the bank to earn interest so I don't have to fight for a month to have something fixed or replaced they are supposed to cover.

Anyone who uses Total Protect is asking for trouble and should be prepared for a long fight to get something done.

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-11-03:

Nab, that's good then. At least you will have heat.

Can you pay them over a few months to make it easier?

Posted by NanS123 on 2009-11-10:

Naa, I had the money in my saving account but since I was paying the contractor directly, I doubt they would have taken an arrangement, not that I asked. It's very nice to finally have heat again and I returned all the space heaters I don't need now. Next, I plan to cancel that insurance, who wants to fight for a month to get something done?!?