
Tuesday 13th of December 2016 01:41:40 AM
I have experienced nothing but poor customer service from HSC. The list of issues that I have experienced runs the full gamut, including (1) requesting service and not receiving a call back until one week after the service request was made, (2) waiting no less than 10 minutes for a customer service representative to answer when calling the 800 number, (3) being dissatisfied with the vendor response upon being assigned, and (4) a lack of follow-through when offerings have been made for resolution of a problem. I will address each issue more specifically below: 1. I once requested service via the website using their submit a claim link. Despite the service request having been submitted, I heard nothing. It wasn't until a week (or perhaps a couple of days) later that I received a call from HSC, asking whether I still needed the service work that I had originally requested. It was a plumbing issue, so for all they knew, my home could have been flooded. Although the customer service agent did apologize, there just seemed to be no excuse as to why so much time had passed before I received a response from HSC. 2. Each and EVERY time that I have called HSC, no matter what time of day the call was made, I always wait on hold at least 10 minutes before the call is answered by a customer service representative. It is unacceptable. I do not know if their call center is under-staffed or they always are experiencing a high call volume, but that is the first red flag about respect for their customers' time. 3. Most times when I would call to make a claim for service and I was made aware by HSC that a vendor had been assigned (I'd estimate 4 out of the 6 claims), it would take at least 2 days to receive a call back from the vendor to set up an appointment for the service, even when the claim was listed as emergent (due to having a 1 year old at home and having mostly HVAC issues). I have, at times (at least twice), had to call the vendor instead of waiting on them to call me because the days would continue to roll by and the response had not yet come. 4. I understand that with any home warranty company there are limitations as to what they will not cover and that is to be expected. I was unaware that HSC did not cover mismatched HVAC systems (one brand for the air handler inside and a second brand for the unit outside). My upstairs unit had been previously deemed eligible for replacement, but because the system was mismatched, they would only provide me with a "good will" credit of $845 toward the replacement of the system, as to opposed to the full percentage they would typically cover. At the time, my family was not in a position to pay the remainder of a nearly $7000 replacement cost, so we declined the replacement. Subsequently, that same system continued to give us problems. On a Saturday with hot and humid Virginia weather, I called to make a claim that our upstairs unit was not cooling and that the claim was emergent. I asked for a callback the same day, but did not receive a call back until the next day, as I anticipated I might (or if not later) just given the track record of responsiveness that HSC had demonstrated in the past. Given that fact, we sought out a company on our own to try to have the system repaired that same day because there would have been no way for us to stay in the home overnight given the temperatures. That was done and received a receipt for that service completion. When HSC called on Sunday to say that a vendor was assigned and we'd have to wait for the vendor to contact us, I told them not to bother because we had someone come out to make the repair already. The customer service representative with whom I spoke advised for me to submit the receipt for consideration of reimbursement (total of $233), which I did. Subsequently, my husband and I decided to go ahead and replace the system because we'd had so many issues with it and it was original to the home (20+ years old). We did not go through the home warranty because we'd just paid $200+ for the repair and didn't want to pay another $100 deductible to potentially now be told that the system was fine and not eligible for repair. But, because we'd been previously offered the good will credit, I, again, called HSC to inform them of the system repair and was told to submit the receipt for reimbursement, which I did. With each of those receipt submissions (one of 8/24/17 and the second on 8/30/17), I anticipated that I would receive a call back within a week or so. I did not. I called HSC twice during the week of 9/11/17 to inquire about the receipt submissions because I still had not heard anything. I was told that someone from the HVAC department would get back to me because there was no way to directly transfer to that department. So, again, I waited. I called this week (week of 9/18) to again inquire and was told by the customer service representative, so placed me on hold to figure out what was going on that I would not be receiving the reimbursements with no true explanation. I ultimately had a supervisor call me back upon my request and she said that I would not be eligible for reimbursement for either the service work or the system replacement (not even the good will credit that had been previously offered) because I used a vendor with whom HSC does not have a contract, and as such, there would be a liability issue. I don't understand the liability argument, given that HSC claims to warranty products and systems that more than likely have been installed by a vendor (not one of their own) when a homeowner initially begins their contact with their company. All in all, HSC has poor customer service concern and is looking for any loophole to not live up to their end of the bargain, despite never being late or unresponsive when asking for the payment on their end.