Customer Service? HA!
It’s an upside-down world and no one seems to care about customer satisfaction or service. You absolutely won’t believe this story. It has me questioning my sanity!!
Our Dacor oven went on the fritz last Sunday (July 20). And since we have a home warranty on our appliances, I called the insurance company to report the problem. Of course, no one works there on Sunday, just the voice mail system. I left a message after the prompts assured me I would be contacted first thing Monday during regular business hours. By late Monday afternoon no one had called me back, so I called again and reported my problem.
A repairman named Michael (his company will remain anonymous) called me a short time later and told me the soonest he could come to look at the oven would be on Wednesday. So on Wednesday, he came at the appointed time and proceeded to determine what was wrong with the oven. He found the reset button had been tripped and said the relay board was not working. He then told me that part might take 3 to 4 weeks to get; Dacor, he said, was very bad about making parts available. I said that time frame was totally unacceptable. I told him that I was going to call Dacor to see why it will take that long.
I asked Michael for the part number of the relay board so I could get the necessary information from Dacor on how to get the part faster. He eventually and rather reluctantly, gave me the number. He said he needed to get an authorization for the part from the Home Warranty Company before he ordered it. And I told him I would see if Dacor would rush the part or tell us where it was available in this area.
Well, I spoke to the folks at Dacor, gave them the part number and they told me there are 7 of them sitting on shelves at 2 different appliance parts companies in the Phoenix/Mesa area. I called Michael and he said he already ordered the part from his supplier and cannot stop the order. According to him, it will take 10 days (maybe longer) to get the part because it is a special order. I said stop the order and get the part where they have it in stock. He said he can’t stop the order and has to pay for the part even if it is canceled. Why he didn’t wait to hear from me knowing I was contacting Dacor about that part, I’ll never know.
All I do know is that he made an error in judgment and special-ordered a part that is available in this area. I realize it is no inconvenience for him or Land America. I am the one who has to wait 10 days to 2 weeks for my oven to be fixed. Had Michael gone to a Dacor parts dealer, the oven could have been fixed last week.
The Land America Home Warranty Company is not going to do anything for me—they are standing by their man (even if he did make a foolish mistake). The Home Warranty contract says they “are not responsible for delays due to labor difficulties, weather, delivery problems, availability of parts..” But it adds: “beyond our control.” To my way of thinking, this is clearly within their control since 7 of these relay boards are available in this area. It is the repairman’s error and I am being penalized for it.
Seriously, I do not understand this whole chain of events. Why didn’t Michael call around to see if the part was available locally before he special ordered it? Clearly he was aware he could not return the part. After all, he should know about their policy; he told me he deals with this company for all his parts except when they don’t have them in stock–then he uses another company–the company that stocks Dacor products!
Update:
I decided to get a buy-out on the repair of this appliance. So this is what Land America is willing to do for me:
Land America Home Warranty will give me $185.00 plus the $35.00 service fee. This amount is minus the cost of part Michael ordered, for which he is billing the Home Warranty Company $294.93. The part actually costs $175.08. Not only am I being asked to pay for Michael’s error, but I am also supposed to pay his company’s mark-up $119.85 for that special ordered part. That seems totally wrong. Does any of this make sense???
Clearly, I do not want Michael’s company doing any repairs in my house. He could have had a great client. (We do have a kitchen full of major appliances and the home warranty thing doesn’t last forever.)
Land America has not heard the last from me. They have lost a customer for good and any recommendation I might have made regarding them has turned into a diatribe against their home warranty product. I want to warn everyone how miserable they are to deal with and how badly they treat their customers. This is not customer service but customer abuse. If you are a real estate agent, do not recommend them. If you are buying a house, or selling a house, find another company or put funds in an interest bearing account to cover any necessary unforeseen repairs. And if you are thinking of getting a home warranty policy be aware that they are not really looking out for your best interests–like any insurance company it is in their best interest (i.e. profit margin) not to pay you anything!
The bottom line is this: Land America is difficult to work with, they send 2nd rate companies (not authorized service companies) to fix your stuff, and then they want to make life as difficult for you as possible when things go wrong. I’ll think twice before I ever call Land America again. And I suppose that is exactly what they want–they make it so unpleasant to deal with them, that you’d rather not call them for repairs that are rightly yours to get.
Land America also goes by these names:
RPM Residential Property Management
Buyers Home Warranty Company
Best Home Warranty Company
P.S. I called an authorized Dacor service company today and they are coming to my home tomorrow morning to repair the oven. I actually don’t care what it costs. They are getting the oven fixed in a timely manner with great customer service…and that is priceless. I won’t deal with a company like Land American again–it is not worth the stress and aggravation. But I will be sending a letter to the president of the company.
Update–July 29th: The oven is fixed. I can cook. The excellent service company I called fixed it in less than a half hour. What a total run-around I got from Land America and the repairman they sent. Had I called a reputable (and authorized) repair service initially, I could have had my oven up and running in no time and without the headaches and hassles.
Update–September 16th: I have been waiting for the check on the buy-out from Land America and haven’t heard a thing from them. No check. No communication in spite of the fact that I have made repeated calls and left messages that were never returned. What a horrible company! They take customer service to a new level of incompetence. My next move is to contact the Better Business Bureau.
Content and photos copyright by Janet Towbin, 2008
13 responses so far ↓
Lynn // August 15, 2008 at 2:38 pm |
Janet, I feel your pain. I am currently dealing with Land America to get my air conditioner fixed (I live in Texas and we have been having a heat wave, by the way). I could spend 45 minutes writing out all of the details of the runaround we’ve gotten but suffice it to say, after 5 visits from the A/C repairman (including missed visits when they said they’d call 30 minutes before they came, but didn’t, then went away because I was at work and they wouldn’t wait for me to get home) we gave up and paid for the repair ourselves, on top of the $60 service charge that is supposed to be the ONLY thing you pay. The contractor made “repairs” that didn’t fix the problem the first 2 times they came out, although my husband kept telling them it needed a new fan motor. Finally, on Wednesday, they came out and said, “It needs a new fan motor, but we don’t have one with us, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow and we have to get authorization from Land America first.” We told them to just come out and put the fan motor in, because we couldn’t continue to wait (it’s been over 2 weeks at this point that we’ve been dealing with them) and they said okay, but that we’d have to pay them on the spot. They said they had put the request in to LandAmerica to approve the fan motor, that they had called and left like 7 messages, but that LandAmerica wouldn’t call them back. The a/c contractor even held our debit card number for a day before charging it, to see if the authorization would come in. It didn’t, of course. By the way, when I called LandAmerica, they said they hadn’t received the report from the a/c company saying we needed a new fan motor. Now LandAmerica is telling us that they won’t reimburse us because the protocol is you have to get authorization first, before the repair is done. What a ripoff. I’m an attorney, by the way, and they are going to find out that they shouldn’t have messed with me. I smell a class action suit.
jt // August 15, 2008 at 2:56 pm |
Dear Lynn,
I am not surprised you has such a bad experience with Land America. They are really the worst company I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I am still waiting for my check from them. (I am betting it will never come.) Let me know if you pursue a legal fight. They deserve to be sued for the hassle they put you though. I wish you luck with everything and hope you are staying cool.
Kat // August 15, 2008 at 11:30 pm |
I am in Peoria, Arizona, and I probably could have gotten the part for you in less than a day and had it to you by the next day via Fed Ex. Yet I am just a “regular Jill” who lives in a suburb considered part of the Phoenix-metro area.
I am reading quite a bit about the worst home warranty companies, and while mine isn’t much better, First American Home Buyers Protection Corporation, through it, I was lucky enough to find an extremely wonderful electrician, along with an air conditioning and heating repair, sales and service company called CooLine whose owner is hard-working, resourceful, intelligent and honest.
Whereas I’ll ask a technician or repair person for advice and get nothing, I asked Garry, the owner, for advice about a couple of issues, and he came up with some wonderful ideas. My mother, who has issues with ill-fitting filters, etc., and who sought help in the past to no avail, will be calling Garry the minute temperatures drop to a more comfortable level.
If anyone has any what home warranty company might provide adequate service (meaning coverage for appliances and systems inside a home that one would typically need help with), I would love a name, because I will be done with First American Home Buyers in 2009.
Thanks.
Jan Davis // September 24, 2008 at 5:34 pm |
Beware of Land America – unethical – will not honor contract!!!! I have the premier upgrade to cover “faucets” but when the lavatory faucet handle broke they would not repair or replace it because only the faucet is covered, not the handle. They call the handle “cosmetic”. I call it functional. How else do you operate the faucet unless you turn the handle! If I buy a faucet at the plumbing store the handles are included; it is all part of the unit. I am still in disbelief at their refusal to provide the service that I paid for, to fix the faucet.
jt // September 24, 2008 at 6:20 pm |
Dear Jan,
The worst company in the world strikes again! Why am I not surprised? I am still waiting for my buy-out check… They are horrible!
Justin // October 31, 2008 at 11:48 am |
I too am tied up in a dispute with Land America Home Warranty. I bought a house recently, and had the seller purchase their highest coverage plan for me. Two weeks after buying the house, a pipe burst under the kitchen. They claim that it was pre-exisiting. Funny how it wasn’t leaking for two full weeks, and then this pre-existing leak showed its ugly face. They then asked why my home inspector didn’t catch it. I replied with, “most likely because it is 10 feet under the house in a pipe pressurized with water, and past several 90 degree elbows in the pipe.” Now how was my home inspector supposed to inspect the inside of this pipe?
I have filed a complaint with the BBB, but I am sure most of you have already figured out they have an F rating on the BBB website. They also basically told the BBB to F off, when they delivered the complaint.
Currently I am filing a complaint with the Texas Real Estate Commission (the agency that they have to get licensed by to sell warranties in Texas). I am hoping that might get me somewhere.
Count me in if you start a class action suit.
Beth in Texas // March 9, 2009 at 10:25 pm |
I wish I knew a lot of this some years ago… I have had problems with them, especially in 2007 when my air conditioner went on the fritz and it took 4 weeks to fix in the middle of the summer. My daughter and I nearly melted… I will follow this to see if anything else ensues – I’m truly an interested party.
Karen Eddinger // March 23, 2009 at 11:25 am |
I’m a realtor in St. Louis and found your Land America comments while googling to find their phone number. You have every right to be outraged, although I would like to clarify a point. It’s not just Land America. I’ve had trouble with American Home Shield and Home Security of America – such as leaving a client with a young child freezing for an entire week-end because the one HVAC contractor HSA would use in St. Louis couldn’t readily get the necessary part for the furnace because he didn’t have the same access that a contractor who represented that brand would have. Last week, they sent out a plumber who could not find the leaks that were witnessed by agent and building inspector together the week before. Of course, the homeowner had then to pay $75 to the plumber for the call and only discovered a week later that he had chipped up the floor in the bathtub (probably dropped his tools). HSA was charging my seller, who had been extending the HSA policy since he purchased 3 years earlier, $100 more a year than a new policy with Land America would cost, so that’s why I was calling Land America. Bottom line in my opinion: none of them can be trusted to give the client good, reasonable service. Hurray for you that you’re taking the time to vent. I just want you to know it’s the nature of the industry.
jt // March 23, 2009 at 2:23 pm |
Thanks for your comment. I think it is very sad that this is, as you say “the nature of the industry.” I think the home insurance industry should be investigated for their practices and exposed for the way they scam and mistreat their unsuspecting policy holders.
Daryl Chen // June 9, 2009 at 8:38 pm |
I’m having problem with the Land America.
My heater broke. Their excuse is that blower is dirty thus it’s not under warranty beucase lack of maintance. But, the blower working fine. The gas vale had broke. They refused to paid for the repair. Finally, file comaplaint with BBB. But only recover half of the repaor cost. Land America is working with their contractor to scame people. Don’t buy warranty from this company. I won’t surprise if there is a class action law suit in the near future.
Jeff // June 11, 2009 at 2:22 pm |
Reported my first AC problem in May. The technician showed up and just refill the freon, where we told him the problem is that there is a leakage in the coil. Didn’t bother to help, and said if there is more problem, call. A week after, the AC is blowing out hot air again. Requested a return service, and ask to speak with the representative that was handling my case, but was denied that I cannot select who I want to speak with?! Are you serious? Another technician came and said “you have a leakage in the coil, and will order the part immediately and be back in two days” After waiting for two days, I decided to call and check, but found out no report was send to the home insurance so no part has been ordered. Long story short, waited two weeks to find that the part ordered doesn’t match my AC unit and Land America wouldn’t help, but said “you are pretty much stuck with this technician, but I totally understand how it feels like without an AC in the summer”
Do you really?
Problem still not fix
Chris // July 17, 2009 at 1:09 am |
I’m not even going to attempt to explain the frustration I have been experiencing.
Here’s the synopsis:
We purchased our 26 year old house in September, along with a maximum coverage warranty from LandAmerica.
I called June 25 to report AC not cooling. It’s now July 17. As of today – after many bungled tech visits – my registers were blowing 100 degree air when I got home. I have a 3 day old newborn and his grandmother trying to survive in this. I am worried for the safety of my family. People die in un-airconditioned houses here in the 100+degree Texas heat. I called today to report that our lack of AC has escalated to emergency status, I was promised a call back from a manager named Richard. No call. Can anyone help me by telling me what I can do to get some real service? I don’t have $10K for a new system. That’s why we insisted on the maximum upgrade home warranty when we purchased.
jt // July 17, 2009 at 10:15 am |
Dear Chris: Here is an idea: Tell them you want a “buy out” on this problem, ask what they will pay you and then get your own HVAC repairman and send them the bill. Other options: Contact a place in your city for free legal aid–possibly through a housing authority, contact a TV station who helps with consumer problems, or find out who the current VP in charge of Home Warranty policies at Land America and get them on the telephone. This is totally outrageous–Ifeel very badly for you. Good luck!