A Different Point of View
At 7 p.m. on a Friday night, Dmitri Anaya quickly got America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) on the phone and filed a claim for a toilet leak in his Newport, Minnesota home. APHW approved, he paid his deductible, and the plumber fixed the leak. This has been ‘Another Claim Story.’ The end.
Okay, obviously there’s more to this story, but we wanted you to hear it from Dmitri’s point of view:
“I called at 7 ‘o clock on a Friday night, and there’s someone to answer the phone. I didn’t have to wait for a company-approved contractor to come over and tell me what’s what—I can call my own guy to come and look at it, and fix it right away. Unlike other companies with their own contractors, they don’t have that conflict of interest. Using a third party is the right way to do it, and that’s why APHW should be the number one company.
“They stand behind what they say they’ll do and actually service their customers. They’re not just there for the money grab. Yes, I have seen that many home warranty companies have lower ratings on major review sites—this is a tough business to make people happy in. And this company isn’t like the others. There are bigger companies out there, but I stick with APHW because it’s great, and their deductible is very reasonable—and I’ll keep renewing it year after year.
“The best part of the whole thing is that it can all be done on one smart phone. I can call, take a picture, wait for a reply, and then wait for my check, and they’ve already fixed the problem. It was painless, and I didn’t have to play any games. Keep it up!”
Thank you, Dmitri, we’re glad we could help!
A Quick Point Goes a Long Way
Contractors tend to avoid home warranty companies; some have a reputation for being difficult to work with. “Honestly the last few times I’ve had to go find contractors that I know and trust, the first thing out of their mouths is, ‘We don’t work with home warranty companies,’” said Arkansas resident Terry Ford. So why would we bring this up? Isn’t this a negative? Because, as with any group bias, it doesn’t apply to all of them—at least Terry certainly thought so.
Contractors Are Amazed
He had heard stories of how some warranty companies could make getting paid a headache for contractors; but Terry knew America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) was different. “I had previous experience with APHW, so when my microwave went out, I called my contractor,” he said.
They had worked together before, and at first the contractor didn’t want to work through another home warranty—until Terry explained APHW’s payment options. “I told him APHW could pay him right away with a credit card over the phone. He was shocked; he could hardly believe it!” Terry said. “And other contractors I’ve talked to have been equally amazed.”
Caring Customer Service Too
Before the original home warranty on his home expired, Terry had called around for other options. “I didn’t feel comfortable with what I kept hearing on the phone, though… like they just didn’t really care,” Terry said. “Then I called APHW.
“Let me tell you: With other companies I’ve dealt with, you can never get through. The phone would just ring and ring, and then you’d be on hold with automation for 30 to 40 minutes. But a real person picked up within the first couple of rings at APHW, and we had a really comfortable conversation,” Terry said. “I didn’t feel rushed into making any decisions at all. It just kind of clicked, and I knew APHW was the right company to go with.”
Terry says his experiences have only reassured his decision to go with APHW. “They are second to none!” he said.
Customer Quotes: They Seek to Serve
Glowing words from another customer-based business owner: High praise indeed! Thank you Eric!
“I can’t say enough about how professional of a company this is! They truly seek to serve their customers at the highest level. This especially resonates with me being a part of a small family business that seeks to do the same. Every point of contact was knowledgeable and never dropped the communication ball once! Being able to offset the costs of everything in my home has been a huge value to me and my family. I highly recommend this service to every single homeowner out there!”
Eric Surdi
Lake Stevens, Washington
Google Review
Way Easier Than We Expected
After a positive claim experience in October 2018, Jake and Carrie Perkinson of Montgomery, Alabama, renewed their America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) contract the following month. Carrie explained why in an interview:
“It was really easy—way easier than we expected. With our dishwasher, we basically just called America’s Preferred Home Warranty and explained the issue. They listened, described our options, and just made the process simple.
“We also got to pick the [licensed contractor] who came into our home to do the repairs. He was great! He did what he said he was going to do and did it quickly, and it was all just so much faster and smoother than I thought it was going to be.
“We would recommend America’s Preferred because it just gives us peace of mind. We have an older home (built in the 50s), so things are going to go wrong. If it does, we can call APHW and they’ll tell us the path to take to get it fixed.”
Only a few months after their renewal, the couple received approval for coverage on another claim—the total reimbursement of which exceeded a full year’s standard plan payment. “Once we understood the process and how easy it was, we can’t imagine not having a home warranty,” Carrie said. “It would seem silly not to have it.”
Customer Quotes: “They Talk To You Like a Human Being!”
“The seller of our home purchased the home warranty and we have used it two times already for unforeseeable issues! … The customer service is always very kind and knowledgeable–they are real people talking to you like a human being! … We are on a strict budget this first year in our new home … so we can sleep at night better, knowing we have an awesome warranty!”
Thomas & Jessica Kellaway
Davison, Michigan
Google.com Review
Customer Receives Same-Day Claim Service
When water is leaking inside your home, speed is of the essence. Tom Donnelly was indeed quick about contacting America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) and a plumber he trusted, to great effect: His claim, the payment, and his repair were all completed in the same day!
“Before I knew it, it was taken care of,” Tom said, adding in a Google review that APHW’s “professionalism and responsive customer service [was] refreshing.”
The Oxford, Michigan native characterized his claim experience as flawless. “There was no waiting days for things to happen, it was just immediate,” Tom said. “And with the ability to call in a reliable plumber that I knew in town—it was the way it needed to be.”
Tom and his family recently renewed their APHW coverage and even increased it to cover their washer and dryer. “It seems to be a reasonable addition to your normal homeowner’s insurance,” he said. “It meant enough to us to get it for a second year.”
No Pain, All Gain
A chilly Monday in March isn’t a bad thing… unless your furnace starts making unusual noises. Kayla Purvis of Delaware, Ohio, worried about a high-pitched squealing noise it was making for about a week. Then she noticed a funny smell. It was time to call the warranty company.
While most folks dread having to file a claim, Kayla already knew it would be a fast, easy process with America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW), because she’d done it before. “It’s been really great both times,” Kayla said. She called, she filed her claim, and once her claim was approved, she sent in her receipt for reimbursement. “It’s just been that easy.”
According to Kayla, the APHW customer service is more than just a ‘give me the details’ kind of experience. “I feel like every customer service agent I’ve talked to there has been extremely helpful, very kind, and understanding,” she said. “They’ve all been top notch—I literally tell everybody. One, you talk to a real person, and two, they’re super-fast with everything. We’ve been so happy!” she exclaimed. Even Kayla’s husband, who hates being on the phone, appreciated the customer service. “He was like, ‘Yeah, this is easy enough,’” she said.
Choosing her own contractor was a welcome convenience. “We wanted to find someone who would do it, but not be outrageous,” Kayla said, referring to the cost of the contracted service. “They’ve done great work, and they were local, and easy to deal with. Once we explained the [APHW] process, he was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve done those before.’”
Kayla exclaimed her happiness in a Google review. “They have made home repairs so painless!” she wrote. And when the time came to choose whether or not to renew the warranty, she and her husband chose to renew. “It’s reasonably priced, and anything could happen,” she said.
It Came with the House—Will It Actually Help?
A leak is bad enough when it’s close to the floor, but Portsmouth, Ohio native Paula Cooney’s leak was much higher. “We noticed the water,” Paula remembered, adding that they discovered its source was the plumbing over the upstairs bathroom ceiling in her home.
It needed to be fixed in a hurry, and thankfully, Paula had an America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) to help with the cost of repairs. She was tentative on calling the warranty company, however, because the warranty had come with the purchase of the house.
“You never know what exactly the previous homeowners purchased,” Paula said. “I was concerned, honestly. We didn’t know what we had for help, or if we had coverage for the leak.”
It turned out Paula really didn’t have anything to worry about. “I explained what happened, I got a contractor, and after we got it approved he did the work, and we just submitted our receipt. It was a pretty smooth process,” Paula said.
The customer service was a satisfying experience, too. “Everybody was pleasant and gave me all the information I needed. I was also first in line and didn’t have to wait or anything. It was great!”
Paula has every intention of renewing the warranty when it expires in May. “It’s worth it,” she said. “It was easy to file the claim and get it processed. I would highly recommend APHW.”
As ‘Luck’ Would Have It
When you buy a home, it comes with more than X-bedrooms and X.5 bathrooms—there’s a collection of appliances and home systems, too. Kathy Kincaid’s real estate agent suggested they add an America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) to their purchase in Fort Wayne, Indiana, just in case. “A few of the appliances were original to the home,” Kathy said, and only a few months later, her 25-year-old furnace went on the fritz.
“The heater had started fluctuating, and sometimes it just completely stopped working,” Kathy said. Once she had filed her claim, Kathy reached out to the technician who had checked out the furnace during her home inspection. It wasn’t good news—the contractor advised that fixing it was out of the question. “They don’t even make the modification kits needed for my kind of furnace anymore,” Kathy said.
Kathy called APHW back with the technician, thinking she might be out of luck. “I’m the type that if I don’t have bad luck, I don’t have luck at all,” she joked, then went on to say how great the experience became. “They said they could still provide coverage, and I could use it toward a new furnace, which I’d rather have anyway. I have never worked with a company that has been so nice, so professional, and so fast!”
It was hard for Kathy to believe just how fast and easy the whole process was. “I had the heating people come back within two days, they were in and out within a few hours, and I think I waited until the following Wednesday—there was already a check in the mail!” she exclaimed. “I mean most places, if you actually do get a check, it takes two or three months. This company is awesome!”
The recent homeowner and her family (pictured) highly recommend others add an APHW home warranty to their home purchases, “especially if it’s an older home,” Kathy said, saying that it’s just a common-sense move. “They’d be silly not to.”
Contractor Issues Made Her Switch—And Discover Her Reason to Renew
When Gilbert, Arizona native Alyssa Ward purchased her home, she had previous experience with a Home Warranty—something she was in no hurry to experience again. On the last go-around, there were some serious problems with the quality of work.
“They sent out the same contractor like five times,” Alyssa said, “and they not only didn’t fix the issue, but created more issues. That’s one of the big reasons I went with America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW), because you could choose your own contractor.”
About a month after closing on her home, Alyssa’s garage door broke down, and it was time to see if APHW lived up to its high review rating on HomeWarrantyReviews.com, which is where she discovered the company.
“I called up America’s Preferred Home Warranty, and I didn’t hardly have to hold at all. Then I found a contractor on Yelp, and he was able to come out that same day,” Alyssa said, adding that after the contractor spoke with APHW, they not only approved the claim, but approved a second claim for something else he noticed.
Alyssa was able to pay her contractor in full with her credit card, on the promise that APHW would send her reimbursement in the mail. “[The contractor] sent me an invoice, which I forwarded on,” she said. “And my reimbursement arrived exactly when they said it was going to!”
“Within the couple of months that I’ve had my house now, what the home warranty company has covered has actually reimbursed me for the whole year,” Alyssa enthused. “I’m actually planning to renew, now, when I hadn’t planned to. I’m so happy I chose this company!”
Customer Changes Cautious Contractor’s Mind
In a Google review of America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW), Steve Sedahl out of Apex, North Carolina, wrote, “The best reviews come from the contractors I’ve hired to do repairs.” We were inspired to do some digging to find out what he meant.
Steve has made several claims with APHW, each of which was a quick and easy process on the phone. “The couple of times that I’ve called, I haven’t had to wait very long to talk to somebody, and they’ve been super helpful—really going into detail,” Steve said. “They clearly know what they are doing.”
His latest claim involved a 19-year-old air conditioner. When his contractor advised it was beyond saving, Steve knew his warranty wouldn’t cover a complete system, he said. But APHW still approved a healthy amount toward a replacement, “Which I thought was great!” he exclaimed.
Steve was used to an easy process by now, but his contractor hadn’t worked with an America’s Preferred Home Warranty before and was clearly skeptical. “When I talked with [the contractor] and said this was a home warranty, the guy just went, ‘Oh, okay.’ Obviously, they’d had bad experiences with other home warranties before,” Steve said. “But once they had their initial conversation with APHW customer service, he said, ‘Those guys are really good. That was as easy as it’s ever been to do a warranty job! Sometimes they’re just awful and rude, but this was a pleasant experience.’ He was really happy.”
Having the ability to choose his own contractor is a definite perk for Steve. “I like the freedom to call whoever I want,” he said. “I think I stumbled into a pretty good company.”
Steve plans to renew his home warranty again in the future. “The first year the previous owners paid for our warranty. When it came around last year, I was like, ‘No-brainer,’ and renewed it. Obviously, I’m going to do it again this year. It just makes sense,” Steve said.
“You know when you’re looking at a house, it’s inevitable you’re going to have some trouble—that’s why you have the warranty. If something goes wrong, you get some help. To me, it’s just a good investment,” he said. “The peace of mind it brings is worth it.”