Home warranty repair does more damage

Last summer at Alex Lauderdale's house in Muskogee, the air quit working.

So he called his home warranty company, American Home Shield, which sent out an electrical contractor to get it working again.

But when it came time to crank up the heat a few weeks ago, Alex says that didn't work.

"So I called the warranty company again, this time they sent out a different electric company, and they find all these code violations."

Alex found out the original electrical contractor didn't get the proper permits, even though he paid $185 out-of-pocket for them because permits aren't covered under his home warranty.

Even more troubling, Alex says, that contractor wasn't licensed to do work in Muskogee.

That's when he called the warranty company again.

"They were telling me that the original electric company is still responsible for it and they were trying to send them back to my house and told me I'd have to deal directly through them to get any refund."

But Alex says he didn't want that company back, and believes AHS should be responsible, since it sent that contractor to do the job.

He says he got a month long runaround.

"It was a headache, it was cold, it was cold first, it was a headache."

Finally, Alex called the 2News Problem Solvers and we contacted the warranty company. A rep said she'd look into the situation. Shortly after that, the warranty company sent another contractor out to Alex's home to repair the heating and cooling system correctly, and AHS reimbursed Alex for all of his expenses, a total of $380.

"I'm glad it's done with, I can move on, I don't have to mess with this any more, because I have other priorities I need to be dealing with."

Alex kept copies of all the warranty paperwork, from both the warranty company and the original contractor.

That helped us in getting his problem resolved.

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