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Call Kurtis: Home Warranty Company Won't Fix or Replace My Noisy AC

MANTECA (CBS13) — A Manteca couple says their air conditioner is making loud noises so they called their home warranty company.

When the company refused to fix or replace it, they called Kurtis.

They say their AC started acting up about a month ago but because it wasn't completely broken, American Home Shield wouldn't replace it.

So what can you do?

"It's summer, the last thing you want is your air conditioner to go out," said Dan Dole, Manteca resident.

Dan and Jamie Dole say lately their air conditioner hasn't been sounding very good.

"You can hear it when you're sitting at the dinner table, when you're watching TV," said Jamie.

"Sounds either like there's a helicopter outside hovering above," said Dan.

They paid $530 for American Home Shield's home  warranty.

After paying the $60 service call fee, Dan says the tech didn't fix or replace the AC unit because despite the noise, it was actually working.

American Home Shield's own web site says their "protection plan" will give you "the confidence that a problem is handled before it even occurs."

"We're trying to be proactive.  If I have a small leak in my roof, I'm going to fix it, not wait till it's a big leak," said Dan.

But when we looked at American Home Shield's contract, on page 10, it does say "AHS has the sole right to determine... whether a covered item will be repaired or replaced."

"That contract language is written to benefit the insurer, always written to benefit that insurer," said Nancy Kincaid, California Dept. of Insurance spokesperson.

Kincaid says home warranties come with conditions and consumers should weigh the costs of buying one against just paying for repairs.

But if something doesn't seem right...

"You should be the fly in the ointment with that insurance company and just keep going back to them until you get satisfaction," said Kincaid.

We contacted American Home Shield and they sent out a second technician who found "a schematic sticker in the squirrel cage of the a/c unit... was causing the noise and vibration."

"They removed the sticker and the unit is working properly with no noise."

-- Alison Boyle, spokesperson

Dan and Jamie are glad their mole hill didn't turn into a mountain.

"Just like their advertisement says, why do I need a home warranty? To fix the problems before they become problems," said Dan.

The Dept of Insurance does regulate home warranty companies.

They say if you aren't getting results, give them a call.

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