A renewed contract says a lot, but when a homeowner chooses to come back after time apart — and loves it just as much as before? Now that speaks volumes.
The first time around
Jessica Kranson's first America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) contract came with her first home, and it came in handy. “I used it for a hot water tank, a furnace blower, and one other thing,” she recalled. “Having three major things fail at the worst possible time, and as a first-time homeowner, it was just a relief to know that I could call APHW and see where to go from there.”
Having the freedom to choose her own licensed contractor was helpful as well: Jessica used a family friend (a licensed plumber) for the hot water tank, then selected a referral from APHW for her HVAC claim. “He was fantastic and professional, had good availability, and was able to come out within a day or two,” she shared, noting she had renewed with APHW for her second year at that home.
A new home, a different home warranty
The now-veteran homebuyer bought her second home in summer 2019, but this one came with a different home warranty — and some unpleasant experiences. “The furnace went out that winter. When I first called, I had to wait on hold for 35 minutes, then had to use whoever they assigned. I called the initial people, and they couldn’t come out for a week,” Jessica shared.
After a callback to the home warranty, the second assigned contractor was able to come out the next day, but the problems continued. “To call back so the contractor could share the diagnosis, I had to wait on hold for another 40 minutes,” Jessica said. “The third call took 45 minutes; I had to just sit there with the HVAC guy making conversation.”
Jessica’s next claim came in summer of 2020 for her A/C unit. “That time it took 45 minutes for both the call to initiate the claim and then again when the contractor was there,” she shared. “It just was not a good experience at all.”
Jessica chose not to renew with them, but she wanted to return to APHW. “I literally put APHW on my birthday wish list,” she said. “Nobody got it for me, so I put it on my Christmas wish list. Then in January I just decided to go ahead and buy it.”
Back to award-winning service and clear coverage
Knowing her Michigan residence was an older home, Jessica selected APHW’s premium plan. She was okay with that, though, because she knew exactly what she was getting. “With the [other home warranty company], just reading through what was covered or not was very confusing and vague to navigate. With APHW, it’s all just laid out for you. If you want to find it, it’s there, in very specific detail, what is and isn’t covered,” she said.
When her hot water tank started leaking in February, Jessica filed her claim online. “It was awesome! Just super helpful to me, because I’m a night owl with a 2-and-a-half-year-old running around. It was very convenient to be able to file online and not be on the phone.”
Then Jessica made use of her freedom to choose contractors again, calling the same licensed family plumber she had used a few years earlier. “We called to do the claim, and I didn’t have to wait on hold at all: Someone answered in like a minute!”
Her A/C went out a couple months later and she had an HVAC guy come out. “We were ready to make the call around 7 p.m., and the guy literally said, ‘There’s no way anybody’s going to be available; we’ll just wait on hold for an hour.’ So I put it on speakerphone, went through the prompts, and somebody picked up within a minute! The look on his face — he was shocked.”
Sticking with APHW
Jessica posted a 5-star Better Business Bureau review saying that she will continue to recommend APHW to every homeowner: The reps are available, friendly, and personal, her contractor thought it was neat that APHW offered several convenient payment options, and she was able to get her reimbursement by direct deposit.
“I believe every real estate agent or home seller should absolutely consider using APHW as an incentive to sell their home. It gives that buyer a good peace of mind and a good experience with a home warranty company — I’m so glad that mine did back in 2016!”
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