*Words of Wisdom From The Elder

Please Read, and let me save you some time and money.

Recommendation:Set aside the money each month and use Thumbtack.com as a much better alternative.

I bought a Total Protect plan for an out of town rental property for the peace of mind. I get it, in order for Total Protect to be a sustainable business, they have to take in more money than they pay out. I am perfectly ok with this if it provides protection in a Dooms Day event, but they make it nearly impossible to even get out of the starting blocks with a claim.

Ineffective website- Filing a claim should be easy, and the directions in the pamphlet they send you seem simple. BUT THE WEBSITE DOESN’T WORK. I received the message “There was an error. Please resubmit your claim or call us at 800.474.4047.”Anyone familiar with TP hates that phone number. I tried resubmitting my claim on 4 different computers, multiple browsers, different combinations of claims over the span of a week to ensure no website updates were blocking the claim. NOTHING. The website is completely useless. This is step one of how TP limits how much they pay out.

Ridiculous Hold Times- Be prepared to wait. Estimated/Actual wait times that I tracked were the following: 5/12, 20/35, 20/50.

Inept Customer Service- Now you’ve gotten through to someone, be prepared to be underwhelmed. I notified them of the website issue on multiple occasions. Responses ranged from “Oh” to “I’m sorry you had to deal with that”. Every time I asked who they would report the issue to, and the idea of reporting the issue was beyond foreign. The first lady I spoke with ran into the same website issue and had to manually submit my claim. I let that one sit for a couple of hours, but with the urgency surrounding my claim, I called back. They couldn’t find any record of my claim. This time I received a service provider and a confirmation #. I was pumped. I repeated the confirmation # back to the operator to verify accuracy. I go to look up my claim online…nothing. Finally I receive a confirmation #, very similar to the one I repeated back, but different. I’m not sure how the number the operator provided me was different, but it’s in line with everything TP has provided thus far. I will get to the service
providers, but I need to discuss my last interaction. After being on hold for 50 minutes, I tell them I want to cancel. This requires forwarding me to their membership department. More holding. Finally, I get someone…but they don’t service Total Protect contracts. How do I call the Total Protect customer service line and get someone that doesn’t service Total Protect contracts. More hold…finally I’m through to someone. I tell them to cancel my membership…they’re trying to save the sale…just cancel it. “Mr. W, are you ready for your confirmation number?” The call cuts out…nothing. No call back; total call time: 1 hr 50 min.

Suspect Service Providers: I’ll make this quick; between both service providers with whom they tried scheduling appointments, I found 1 online review, and it was a terrible
one star review. The service providers have effectively no online presence. I got through to the first provider to schedule my appointment. I was quickly informed the sole technician just had surgery and Total Protect had been informed not to contact him for appointments. Back to square one. I get another guy…he accepts the appointment…I call to iron out the time and details. No answer, I leave a message, and another message, and another…The day of the appointment comes and goes…nothing. I can’t even go anywhere to leave a review because they get garbage service providers with no avenue for recourse.

Back to square one. I go online…nothing…it’s been over a week since my tenants have had a dryer. This isn’t the peace of mind I signed up for.

You’ll hear special cases where someone got multiple appliances replaced in the first two months, and that’s why you should also use Total Protect. That’s like saying the
roulette wheel is a smart investment strategy because some guy just won a
million dollars. Just remember, the house always wins, and in the case of Total Protect, they make every aspect of their business so bad and impossible to even initiate a claim, the odds are heavily stacked against you.

I have been paying Total Protect Gold for about 8 years now and I was satisfied with the service of fixing an appliance or putting freon on my AC up until two months ago. My AC needs replacement according to TPG servicemen and they want to spend $2300 to replace it or accept a total of $500 to replace a $3700 unit myself. I have been paying 49.95 every month specifically to avoid large out of pocket expenses when something stops working. If it is a small repair there is no problem, but when it comes to large expense items, this company refuses to pay. I am not sure what to do now. No AC in Florida in the summer is hell and no one cares. The employees and the supervisors give me the run around. I would love to start a class action lawsuit against this company. I will contact a lawyer. I will replace the unit and sue them afterwards since I cannot accept the terms offered. Had I put the $49.95 that I have paid the past 8 years, I would have had enough money to replace my AC now. To make things worst, I have just gotten a letter from the company advising that my copay will go from $60.00 to $125.00. Now, I have no choice but to cancel this contract. How dishonest can a company get. They are trying to get me to walk away with this increase for service calls.

Never, never, never contract with Total Protect. They are liars all.

My AC fan motor on my outdoor condenser went out on Friday 9-16-2016. I was told a service tech would have to come out and diagnose my problem. If parts were needed Total Protect Gold would order the parts and ship to the repair company chosen by them. This was on a Friday about 12 noon. I live in south Texas the heat index was going to be 102 to 105 degree’s for the next several days. My house was not occupiable at these temp’s. It would have taken at least four days minimum for parts to be ordered and installed. Not acceptable. I would have to spend at least four nights in a hotel room averaging $110.00 per night. I called the same company they recommened and by Saturday morning I had the part and the AC was fixed. Total Protect Gold acted like they could care less about my problem.
I have had Total Protect Gold for several years now and will be cancelling my contact next week. Would not recommend tem to anyone.

I haven’t even used toilet paper, I mean total protect and I am dissatisfied with there service! Lol you guys said TP. Thanks for the warning!

I WOULD NOT advise buying Home Protect. Had a very bad experience. They replaced a faulty water heater. The plumber “THEY” sent installed I different sixe so afterwards, the wires coming from my breaker box would not reach. The plumber just jury rigged the wires together and said I need a Electrician. Guess what?? elev]ctrician not covered. A problem caused directly by the plumber OF THEIR CHOICE…is now going to cost us hundreds of dollars!
DO YOUSELVES A FAVOR!!! read the fine print, these folks are weasels and do not stand up behind their servive!!
My brother was about to purchase…not any more.

Your TotalProtect home warranty will cost you more than your repairs would. They will continually bump up your deductibles and find ways to deny many claims you would expect to have coverage on. Do yourself a favor, take what you would have paid this profit driven company into a savings account. You will find that when something breaks you will have what you need to cover repairs. You’re just throwing your money away if you’re dealing with TotalProtect. I was with them over six years and got tired of spending 3x the cost of repairs just to have their coverage.

Hello sir I got the same situation like you. This company is Rip Off. It is happened to me today. Said the same poor maintain but I was clean up and check up my unit on begin summer every was work fine. Break down can’t tell that why we buy from them as averting protect your home and took money from my bank every month 59.95. Over a year now. This is my lesson soon enough been with this liar company… I am going to cancel them.

I had one of the worse experiences with Total Protect. I started a claim on 1/14/2014. No one arrived at the residence until about 2 weeks later. I paid the $60 service fee. According to my tennant, the technician walked all over the house overlooking the furnance which was obviously in the hallway with the short door. He ask how to get to the attic thinking the furnance was in the attic. Once he checked the unit, he claimed poor maintenance and gas line was not up to regulation etc. I was informed by customer service that my cost would be over $800. I requested immediate cancellation. I called an a/c technician I had used before. He confired that Total Protect’s technician was wrong. He found the circuit board and fan limit switch to be bad and replaced them with a new circuit board and a new fan limit switch. The cost was $440. Total Protect had just charged my monthly premium and the $60 service fee. I stated to customer service that in my opinion, I should be refunded the monthly premium that was just paid at the time of my claim. I also requested a refund of the $60 service fee. Of course, I was denied. I told my daughter about my experience as she is also a Total Protect customer. She is cancelling also. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TOTAL PROTECT TO ANYONE!!!

OK, my 2 cents here, purchase TP warranty since 2009 a few couple of claims with no problem one the garage opener and another one an electrical problem, NOW the A/C unit when out and they are saying they WONT covered it because even though is a mechanical problem and my policy covered that is a ‘lack’ of maint. what cause the problems and now I have to change the coils and the condenser outside all for 3000-4000!!! OMG I am sooooo mad with this company because this is a normal wear and should be covered… SHAME ON ME!!! not surf around and read all this complains before I waste my money =(.
Still a believer and I know God will have a master plan though…so far no more payment for me! I don’t want to give them a single extra dollar!

I payed for total protect for 3 years and my first claim was the refrigerant filter dryer was leaking ac man told the claim agent it failed because rust. (to me its normal wear and should be covered because its always wet when running ie normal wear) but NOT claim denied.for rust!  When I call to cancel my policy they tell me I could have upgraded my policy for $5 more a month and next time rust would be covered. they told me this new upgrade wasn’t available till after I started this one I told them thanks alot for not asking me to upgrade when it came out! well theres a $1000 dollars i wasted!!!!!!!!!!!!  i cancled this policy they have wayyyy too much fine print in there contracts i dought they have ever payed a claim!!!

I hate Total Protect Gold.  My hot water tank went out March 21, 2012.  It is now April 3rd, 3012

NO HOT WATER   14 DAYS    NO HOT WATER

Be warned people   THIS IS NOT A GOOD COMPANY       VERY BAD SERVICE   

PS   THEY ARE STILL GOING TO FIX THE NEW TANK  WHEN THEY WANT TO
(THEY ARE NOT LIKE OTHER PLUMBERS THEY ARE THE ONES PROTECTED
 NOT YOU)    

THIS IS WHAT TOTAL PROTECT GOLD MEANS    WARNING !  WARNING!
              

Not only disgruntled customers post reviews. I usually post when I am happy with a product and I buy things because of their good reviews. Like any other company Insurance companies are in the business of making money and they do incredible well, do you really wonder how? I have sent repeated inquiries to Total Protect and they have ignored me completely. I am glad I found that out before purchasing. Saving your own money is the best possible insurance there is.

J3cub     replying.      You probably had the same repairman from this total joke warranty company that I did.  They Probably sent out Lee From Airtech Services, because that is the same thing I went through.  He came two days after I called in the problem with my failed A/C.  He came in , asked for $75.00,
 and told me that my A/C was” Out”.  Duh, No Kidding !!! It was August of 2011, and the temp was 115 degrees.  I had to go get the parts over 100 miles away myself because Lee said he would not go get them for me, because “He Didn’t Have The TIME “.  The Mexican repair men he sent to replace the bad compressor proceded to release all of the Freon in the entire unit into the atmosphere !!!. They also had no TACL License number on their truck.  (Texas Air Conditioning License )Number = TACL. They undercharged the freon, and the new compressor burned up in three days, and I had to go get another one from the supplier . Another 200 mile round trip!!!.  It took five more repair men to come and fix this system until I finally exploded and told Total Protect I would sue them if they did not get it fixed. They Finally Offered to pay e a Buy Out Fee to just go away.  I took the money and had a man from Sears come , and fix the A/C. It was Overcharged with Freon this time.  He charged me $40.00 to do the job. A/C has been fine since December 2011, but who knows what will happen this 2012 summer season. I Am Changing To Old Republic immediately before anything else goes wrong.

It’s is so sad to see the way people get scammed. I really thought we could trust a home warranty but found out otherwise. I won’t make this long because I am still fighting back for how upset Total Protect has made me, also known as Cross Country. I hope you all learn from all the complaints that it is better to bite the bullet and just buy the applience even if you can’t efford it, try another way, but please please please, spare youself the aggravation and don’t go with these home warranty scams!!! I am still reeling from it. Sad but true!! Don’;t bother to read the fine print because they will always find another way to cover their back side. I wish I knew a way to make this so public like years ago when you could fight your problem with David Horawitz because this is something that needs to go public. So sad!

Just got a replacement stove from AHS valued at $1300 as the part needed to fix it was not available,

Total Protect has loopholes in their contracts so that what may cause a failure is not covered.  Example – we have a refrigerator that has a bad seal on the freezer door.  It was noted during the “Gold Plan” inspection.  I called Total Protect and was told it is not covered. If it means the freezer does not work and either the seal or now most refrigerators would require the replacement to the entire door because of the way they are constructed, the cost is not covered.  Thus we are stuck with an inoperable appliance that will not keep food properly frozen.  I priced the door.  It is a third of the price of a completely new similar refrigerator. The logic is replace the entire refrigerator as it is old.  The warranty cost then is a complete waste.   
Replacements will only be at the lowest cost item available.  Example – we had a toilet that had to be replaced.  Total protect would only pay for the cheapest “contractor grade” toilet on the market – not an “American Standard” or “Kohler”.  I agreed to pay the difference for the toilet itself to get something other than the crap (sorry for the pun) they wanted the service provider to put in.  Then I got the bill.  Total Protect refuses to pay for the incidental costs of things like a wax ring to seal in the toilet, the bolts to hold on the floor, or the labor to install.  For a difference in cost of $40 dollars between the actual toilets, I have an out of pocket expense of over $250 dollars.   
Read the fine print and do not believe what their representatives tell you.  You are better off self insuring than using Total Protect in my opinion and that is why I am cancelling our contract.  I will also make it clear to our bank, US Bank that we are not pleased that they are marketing Total Protect to customers. 

I’ve had good luck with them so far.  I had a problem with my washer and AC in the same week.  They were able to get the washer fixed right away but I’m still working on the AC.  11 days after they were called, which is today, I found out they are going to completely replace my AC.  They are also going to replace the ductwork and do some other things. Since my AC is 20 years old, I really feel like I’ve got a good deal here because I definitely don’t have the $5,000 to replace my AC.  🙂

Total Protect:  They should change their name…they do anything but give you total protections.  Called 5 days ago because my 48in Northland Refrig stopped cooling. They sent someone out and after two visits determined that it could not be repaired.  I was told I would receive a replacement model options or a cash offer to replace within 24 hours.  5 days later and with temps in the high 90’s they have used every stall tactic to avoid setteling the claim. Now they tell me they need to get a second opinion on the diagnosis.But can’t tell me how long that will take. I am getting ready to be ripped off for all the money paid into them. ANd am betting they have some excuse why they won’t cover it. Incompetent though friendly agents on the phone, never return phone calls, keep raising the deductible. MORE AND more excuses and exclusions its a joke.