AKRON, Ohio — A 78-year-old woman from Akron said it’s been one heck of a summer after her big problems with a home warranty company. A backed-up sewer pipe led to many delays and having to bathe out of a bucket. She was at her wits' end and decided to contact the News 5 Investigators for help.
“It’s been a nightmare, really. I mean, from day one,” said Bernadette, who didn’t want to use her last name.
She was talking about that sewer issue that started in early April.
For years, she’s been a customer of the home warranty company called HomeServe. “You are not permitted to go out and get your own plumber,” she told us, and the company dispatches one out.
LEAVING THE JOB AND LOTS OF DELAYS
She said the first HomeServe representative who was sent out tried to unclog the pipe but ended up getting his steel cable caught, and he left it there.
She told us there was a plan to dig up the backyard.
“We talk about what date they’re going to do it and never heard from them again,” said Bernadette.
She told us more delays kept happening, and she couldn’t shower, couldn’t use the toilet, and washing clothes was a pain…literally… with her arthritis and walking problems.
“And if you had to do laundry in the basement, you had to put the water back into a bucket and haul it up the basement stairs…and dump it out in the backyard,” she said.
Some of the stuck cable was sticking out of a pipe in her basement. It was there for months, a reminder of all that she’s been through.
“Every time you would go down there that thing would be laying there,” said Bernadette. “And you’re like, oh, man! Can I ever get this resolved?”
After writing HomeServe’s president a letter in early July, months after her first call to the company, a new contractor started making progress.
However, after digging up her basement, she said HomeServe still wanted her to pay for replacing the concrete.
GENERAL TIPS ABOUT HOME WARRANTIES
“We absolutely get calls about home warranty businesses,” said Pam Anson, who is the President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Greater Cleveland.
She said, in general, people should read the fine print of what’s covered in home warranties, will things be replaced or just repaired, is there a deductible or service fee when contractors come out and if you need to do some work yourself.
“If you don’t take care of certain maintenance requirements based on your home warranty, then you might not be covered with your service,” said Anson.
WE CONTACTED HOMESERVE
We contacted Homeserve. It said it got rid of the first contractor that went to Bernadette’s home, and it “apologized to [Bernadette] for the inconvenience and stress this whole process has caused her.”
She now has her utilities back.
The BBB does give HomeServe a good rating. We found that it responds to complaints on the BBB’s site. HomeServe has seen close to a thousand complaints filed in the past three years.
After we contacted the company, Bernadette said she heard from HomeServe again.
“And within 24 hours, I got a call from HomeServe office of the president saying they were going to pay for everything,” she told us.
More repairs are slated for her home soon. “Thank you [News 5] for being so responsive and jumping right in there,” she told us.
HomeServe’s Statement:
“The entire repair process that Mrs. Kelley experienced was caused by a series of events both in and out of our control, and uncharacteristic of the high level of service HomeServe provides its customers. The initial contractor who failed to perform up to our standards is no longer in our network. We apologized to Mrs. Kelley for the inconvenience and stress this whole process has caused her. Mrs. Kelley is satisfied with the status of all completed repairs and planned restoration efforts.”
