Ratings for American Home Shield Higher on Sites That Earn Commissions From Them

American Home Shield is a company that advertises a variety of home warranties to cover major appliances and systems in your home if they need repair or replacement. Here is a recent commercial:

Certain trusted websites like BobVilla.com, ThisOldHouse.com, ConsumerAffairs.com, and Forbes.com give the company good to great reviews.

ThisOldHouse.com

“American Home Shield is a veteran in the home warranty industry and one of the best home warranty companies available to homeowners. … We rated American Home Shield a 94 out of 100 [emphasis added] and named it the best overall home warranty company. …”

Cons listed: ” âœ˜ Charges slightly higher monthly premiums than some providers: âœ˜ Guarantees repairs for only 30 days.”

“In general, American Home Shield home warranty reviews from existing customers are a mix of positive and negative reviews. Some customers are happy with quick fixes and an easy claims process, while some complain about denied claims and negative experiences with on-site technicians.”

BobVila.com

“Our Verdict: American Home Shield offers well-rounded home warranty policies that will likely appeal to a wide variety of homeowners. … Every facet of the customer experience is competently executed, and there are no glaring drawbacks with its services that might raise a red flag for potential customers.” [emphasis added]

ConsumerAffairs.com

“Overall, we find that American Home Shield offers good coverage at a fair rate. Prices are on the higher end of average for the industry but still pretty competitive, considering the level of coverage provided. Itâ€ s an especially smart fit if you like the idea of managing everything online.”

Based on over 11,000 customer reviews, the company was given 4.2 stars out of five . Under “cons,” the site said “some customer service complaints.”

Forbes Home

“Our Verdict: With decades of experience and multiple exceptionally comprehensive home warranty plans, American Home Shield is one of the top home warranty providers in the industry.”

Their editorial team gave the company 4.7 out of five stars but at the same time mentioned these CONS:

*MOUSE PRINT:

It should be noted that all the above sites earn a commission on the sale of American Home Shield policies, and have disclosures like this:

Affiliate Disclosure: This Old House‘s Reviews Team is committed to delivering honest, objective, and independent reviews on home products and services. To support this business model, This Old House may be compensated if you purchase through links on our website.

However, the “reviews” on their websites look more like detailed marketing material about the company and its warranty plans rather than objective evaluations.

On the other hand, if you look at websites that collect reviews, ratings, and complaints by customers, and don’t earn a commission on sales about the companies they list, a very different picture emerges.

The Better Business Bureau has closed 27,120 complaints against the company in just the past three years. The complaints are what you would expect: delays in getting repairs, repairs that did not fix the problem, delays in getting reimbursements, and difficulty getting refunds for contract cancellation, etc.

The BBB has over 11,000 customer reviews on its website that give the company an average of 2.25 stars out of five. Despite this, the BBB has given the company a “B” rating presumably because the company responds to 100-percent of BBB complaints and many consumers accept the settlements offered.

Reviews posted on other sites that don’t earn a commission from American Home Shield are similarly low. Trustpilot gives the company 1.8 stars. Those on ComplaintsBoard average one-star. Yelp reviews average one-star.

So, it appears on sites that make money by posting their own reviews, ratings of the company are significantly higher than on complaint and review sites that don’t earn revenue in that way. Which would you believe?