Welcome

You have reached the blog of Keith Elder. Thank you for visiting! Feel free to click the twitter icon to the right and follow me on twitter.

Total Protect Home Warranty – Good or Bad?

Posted by Keith Elder | Posted in General | Posted on 24-06-2006

I was going through mail this morning (no not email, real mail) and my mortgage lender sent me an advertisement regarding Total Protect’s Home Warranty. I normally don’t read ads but this is from my lender so I read them all just in case. It’s funny because now that we are home owner’s my biggest fear is some major gizmo in the home is going to all of a sudden quit and I’m going to have to fork over thousand’s of dollars to get it either fixed or replaced. Probably my biggest concern is air conditioning. We have two air conditioning units for our home. One cools the north wing and other the south wing. If one of them all of a sudden goes, we are talking thousands of dollars. Living in the heart of the south where temperatures are above 90 degrees each and every day for 4-6 months out of the year doesnt’ help my feelings either. My mother-in-law just had to replace an air conditioner. Her air conditioner was over 20 years old but she doesn’t run it that much. I figure it got about 4-5 years of solid use compared to mine since our’s stay on all the time. Insurance is primarily peace of mind but is it worth it? According to the brochure I got the price of the coverage would be $36.95 / month and a $50.00 deductible. Using the quote rate on their web site our deductible would be $95.00. Either the mortgage lender doesn’t know how big our house is or they are cutting us a break. Either way I’m going with the $50.00 because that’s what I have in writing from them. So $36.95 / month is $443.40 a year. If an air conditioner blows up within the next year or a refrigerator, I’m ahead. If a washer or dryer goes I break even since I can buy a new dryer or washer for that amount of money. But what about stoves and garbage disposals? The bottom line is how much stuff breaks? I don’t know nor can I remember from growing up. What are your thoughts? Home Warranty insurance good or bad?

Comments (188)

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.

This is a summary of our experience with Total Protect Home Warranty:
* We spent 15 nights out of our home and returned on the 16th day – (June 25-July10)
* The temperatures during this time were between 110-116 degrees.
* I had to spend many hours away from work to be available to meet the service provider that they contracted with and the service provider was as bad as Total Protect.
* No consideration was given for the excessive time to complete the job, money spent
for accommodations, or loss of wages from time off work.
* We experienced a complete lack of: professional courtesy, customer service, work ethic and integrity.
* They blocked our family from their Facebook page when our family posted what we went through.

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.

Please tell me how to cancel the contract. Who do I call and what do I have to do to cancel it?

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

SAVE YOUR MONEY – THEY WILL GIVE YOU every excuse to not pay!!! and they give you a runaround to get answers. Then some poor schmuk calls you and says you have been denied because you didnt properly maintain your ac unit.
SCAM – SCAM – I am going to call the news and go after them hot and heavy…..

THE BEST PART if you study all of the reviews – they are very good at fake sites….and all the wonderful review on them – CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM hahahahahaha that is their website!!! no wonder everyone is happy it is a bs website…….

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 am a happy, very pleased customer. I bought the service in DEC 2014. Six months later before even a full year of premiums my refrigerator went bust. (It was 13 years old, a Maytag). Great service all the way, from my call for help, from the repair people who came out to look at it, to the delivery of a brand new one of comparable cost (which I was asked to agree or disagree to). I was very pleased with the service and the replacement. The people who evaluated it for repair (the local Sears store folks) and the men who delivered it were polite, professional and knew what they were doing.

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!

They suck all the way around! Do not buy their service! They send the worst of the worst to do your repairs.

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.

Disgruntle Home Owner

Total Protect is a bunch of nonsense. They advertise peace of mind, yeh right. When having an annual maintenance performed on my boiler it was condemned for C02 emission’s and required replacement.

So it turns out that I have a $1500.00 cap and because I had already a claim on a repair a few months earlier at a cost of $1,100.00, the remaining balance is $300.00. Wow that’s really going to help me with my $5000.00 plus replacement cost. Peace of mind, what a joke.

Needless to say I will not be renewing my contract. I find this is now the norm of picking people’s pockets. Let the buyer beware!

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.

Wow, I can’t believe all these bad reviews. I have had my ac replaced, my refrigerator, hot water heater and dish washer and have not had one problem. I upgraded on the refrigerator and they reimbursed me in 4 weeks. Everything was explained and had no problems at all. Thank you Total Protect and I will be a customer as long as I own a home.

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.

You obviously work for Total Protect. There is noway anyone could be satisfied after years with these crooks. HVAC excuses: lighting, only cover one unit, improper instalation, improper maintainance. That gets them out of most claims. Fridge not level so no coverage. Don’t cover faucets. Washer and dishwasher not level so ‘sorry’. Who goes around leveling their appliances every month.

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!!!

Total Protect was a total joke and a MAJOR scam! Do your homework and read reviews before getting scammed. Just because a reputable lender sends you the info about Total Protect, does not mean they will do you right, BUYER BEWARE!!!!

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 also got an advertisement piece in the mail from my mortgage holder for Total Protect. I don’t have any positive or negative experience from them. However, I’ve had American Home Shield Home Warranty for over 14 years and continue to have their coverage. If you decide to purchase a plan, make sure you choose the right coverage. Right now apart from your monthly contract you will also pay a $75 service call fee. We have had our appliances repair many times in the past 10 years. In addition, they have paid for a portion of a slab leak, garage door motor twice, and replaced my air conditioner and heating system. It worked out good for us.

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 have totoal protect and ive used it twice in the past 6-7 months. first time my furnace stop working and just yesterday my ac went out. on both occations i had timley service and they fixed the problems. ive had nothing but good service so far.

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!
              

I too am trying to decide – the way they bundle it, you end up paying for things that are fairly cheap to fix or replace.   I just bought a new furnace 2 yrs. ago for $3,300 – wish I had them then.  The next two most expensive item are the A/C, Regrig. and Hot Water Heater.  I don’t know what to do.

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.

In these days protection is main and important for everything and we should choose good security provider.

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.

This is a horrible, deceiptful company.  Do not waste your money. Sure they sent people out to repair our broken appliances but the first guys they sent had no idea what they were doing.  It took a month to get my dishwasher and oven fixed and they had to both be fixed 2 and 3 more times after that. We complained and demanded they send someone else out which they did for another deductible.  When the dishwasher finally died, they offered us $330 or a replacement bottom of the line Whirlpool with a plastic tub.  We had a top of the line Kitchenaid with many features of which the Whirlpool had none.  Watch the wording in their policy – it says same mechanical function which apparently means no more than “working.” We demanded arbitration and were told we had it as a supervisor had reviewed our complaint letter.  I am a disgruntled customer because the company is deceiptful and corrupt. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!

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!

I have had to call Total Protect on three occasions in the last three months.  They paid for everything.  All of my appliances are working and I had an oven replacement.  Customer service  was great.  The repair technicians were timely and I had a follow up call to make sure everything went smooth.  I am a happy camper and I would recommend this service to anyone.

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

I’ve had total protect for years now and they are very professional and work on a timely basis. I have put in claims and they offered me either the money to fix it or update my appliance. What more could someone ask for. Thanks total protect for the great job and piece of mind that I am covered.

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. 

File a class action suit.  Get everyone together that has had problems … go from there.

I do not have this home warranty but got the same letter many of you did from my bank that holds my home loan.  So, I have been checking the reviews and have decided I WILL NOT use them.  Last home warranty company I was with (expired  May 2011) SUCKED!  That was First American.  I did get my pool filter replaced, after two+ SUMMER months waiting in southern CA.  Total run around, numerous calls to the warranty company and the contractor, they never answered phone or my messages!  I told them I did NOT want to deal with the same company when I called again.  They sent the same one … Needless to say I did not renew!

All home warranty companies are in it for the $,  Why be in business if you can’t show a profit?  We work for $, or sure need some to live on.  I know I don’t like giving it away.  

I agree with the people that say we should put 50.00+ a month away and when something happens call someone local that you TRUST to fix the problem.

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.  🙂

I also agree – same thing happened to me. However, I am extremely satisfied with the rest of the service. They got my Refrigerator and dryer fixed!

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.

So true – all complaints about Total Protect Home Warranty.  I am trying to represent my 86 year old father in 104 degree Texas heat.  Company is deplorable.  Even the companies representing them complain about them.  Ugh.

Write a comment