American Home Shield

American Home Shield Corporation is an American home warranty company based in Memphis, Tennessee.[1][2][3][4] It administers home service contracts on major home systems and appliances.[2][3][5][6][7][8]

American Home Shield Corporation
TypeSubsidiary of Frontdoor Inc.
IndustryHome warranty
Founded1971 (1971)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
HeadquartersMemphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Area served
Nationwide
Key people
Rex Tibbens, CEO
Pirasenna Thiyagarajan, CTO
ServicesHome warranty
Number of employees
1,600
ParentFrontdoor Inc.
Websitewww.ahs.com

Overview

American Home Shield was founded in 1971 and operated independently until it was acquired by ServiceMaster in 1989. It serves 1.4 million customers across 49 states and the District of Columbia. It is one of the largest home warranty writers in the United States,[9] and has home warranty companies with active operations in all 48 contiguous states.[10] In 2012, the company had around 1,500 employees, and handles roughly 2.5 million service requests each year.[11] The company works with over 11,000 licensed contractors and 45,000 technicians in the U.S.[11][12] The headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee.[1][3][13][14]

Mergers and acquisitions

American Home Shield operated independently from its founding in 1971 until it was acquired by ServiceMaster in 1989. As of July 2017, ServiceMaster had announced plans to spin off American Home Shield to operate independently again, beginning in the third quarter of 2018.[15]

Consumer reception

American Home Shield's home warranty products have been reviewed by its clients at trustpilot.com,[16] sitejabber.com,[17] and bbb.org[18] with overwhelming negative feedback. All reviews on the BBB more than 1 sentence long have a first hand experience explaining how American Home Shield has failed to honor their end of the contract.

American Home Shield also hires contractors that are either unlicensed, under delinquency, or permanently closed by their local state.

American Home Shield's home warranty products have been reviewed by Consumer Reports.[19] In June 2015, consumer and finance journalist Anthony Giorgianni, author of the Consumer Reports review, writing on AlterNet, described American Home Shield's complaint history with the Better Business Bureau (BBB):[20]

Of the four companies we reviewed, the highest complaint generator by far was Memphis, Tennessee-based American Home Shield, with 4,660 complaints as of mid-June. Of the 44 reviews customers posted on the BBB website, 41 reported negative experiences with the company.

However, Giorgianni also reported the following response from the BBB when he asked about American Home Shield's complaint history:[20]

A BBB spokeswoman said the number of complaints against American Home Shield is not out of line for companies with similar annual revenue, but it is the reason the company received an A- instead of an A+ rating.

As of November 13, 2017, American Home Shield's BBB rating was B.[21]

WJLA-TV has reported on a case in which American Home Shield refused to pay for replacement of a clothes dryer that caught fire, on the ground that the local fire department had removed the dryer from the home when responding to the call.[22] WJLA-TV repeatedly attempted to contact American Home Shield about the incident, but received no response.[22]

References
  1. Gwin, Carl R.; Ong, Seow‐Eng (2001). "Overcoming adverse selection in buying an existing home". Journal of Property Investment & Finance. 19 (3): 283–295. doi:10.1108/14635780110387628. ISSN 1463-578X.
  2. Fitzsimmons, James A. (1993). "Strategic Role of Information in Services". Perspectives in Operations Management. Boston, MA: Springer US. pp. 101–113. doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-3166-1_6. ISBN 978-1-4613-6387-3.
  3. Ringing in Sales. CXO Media, Inc. January 1991. p. 65. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  4. Giorgianni, Anthony (August 16, 2017). "What to Know About Buying a Home Warranty". Consumer Reports. Retrieved November 5, 2017.<
  5. Pollard, C.W.; Graham, B. (2014). The Tides of Life: Learning to Lead and Serve as You Navigate the Currents of Life. Crossway. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4335-4175-9. Retrieved November 5, 2017.<
  6. Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 1977. p. 396. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  7. A Study of Home Inspection and Warranty Programs. A Study of Home Inspection and Warranty Programs. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. 1977. pp. 3–4. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  8. "Company Overview of American Home Shield Corporation". Bloomberg. March 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  9. Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. January 1994. p. 111. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Home Warranties Insurance - About Us - American Home Shield". www.AHS.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  12. Raines, S.S. (2012). Conflict Management for Managers: Resolving Workplace, Client, and Policy Disputes. The Jossey-Bass business & management series. Wiley. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-118-41548-1. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  13. "Extended Warranty Market, Part Three, 13 October 2004". Warranty Week. October 13, 2004. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  14. Mehl, Annie (June 29, 2017). "Summer associates for American Home Shield gain more than experience". Daily Times Herald. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  15. Cornell, Joe (July 27, 2017). "ServiceMaster to spin-off American Home Shield business in 3Q18". Investing. Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-11-13. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  16. "American Home Shield is rated "Bad" with 1.2 / 5 on Trustpilot". Trustpilot. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  17. "AHS American Home Shield Reviews - 1.9 Stars". www.sitejabber.com. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  18. "American Home Shield | Reviews | Better Business Bureau® Profile". www.bbb.org. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  19. Giorgianni, Anthony (June 30, 2017). "What to know about buying a home warranty". Homeowners Insurance. Consumer Reports. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017. (Full report available only by subscription.)
  20. Giorgianni, Anthony (June 26, 2015). "Watch out: how you can get ripped off by the home warranty racket". Economy. AlterNet. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  21. "American Home Shield". BBB Accredited Business Profile. Better Business Bureau. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  22. Holmes, Horace (n.d.). "7 On Your Side asks: are home warranties really worth the money?". 7 On Your Side. WJLA-TV. Archived from the original on 2017-11-13. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
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