Are home warranties a waste? Couple faces weeks without heat despite paying premiums since 1998

Since calling the repair in on Dec. 2, and a Foxcroft technician determining the furnace needed one replacement part on Dec. 4, the couple says they received little to no communication from Foxcroft or American Home Shield on the status of the repair or when the part might be delivered.

“(It’s) been nothing but a headache,” Larry Tufts said.

An investigation by the Dayton Daily News found that American Home Shield, or AHS, has been the subject of 116 complaints to the consumer complaints division of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office since the beginning of 2024.

One of those complaints was from a Dayton man, William Keeton, who reported his HVAC system shut off Dec. 30, 2024.

A service company came the next day, he said, but they claimed parts weren’t available. Another service company came in February, then the first company returned again in March and did a partial repair, he said.

“It took months,” Tennille Keeton, William’s wife, said.

According to the complaint, the HVAC system was still broken on March 31, 2025, meaning the couple and their three young children went the entire winter without heat.

“They never did fix our unit. We had to completely just do away with (AHS),” Tennille Keeton said.

Another complaint from a Fairborn man said he paid into AHS for 20 years and required service when his hot water boiler started leaking in late 2023.

The first service company sent to handle the repair reportedly ordered the wrong part. When the correct part was ordered, delivered and installed, it did not work properly, the complaint says.

As of the date of the complaint, three months after the boiler started leaking, it had not been repaired, the complaint says.

American Home Shield is the country’s largest home warranty company, according to Clark.com, the website of personal finance and consumer protection author and radio/podcast host Clark Howard, in a February 2025 post.

The site notes that AHS is frequently the subject of complaints to the Better Business Bureau, which has tracked more than 16,000 complaints against AHS over the last three years nationwide.

Howard’s criticism expands beyond AHS. He says home warranties in general might sound like a good idea, but companies can make it challenging for consumers trying to make use of their contracts.

“It sounds so wonderful,” he said. “You pay five or six hundred bucks, and supposedly you are buying peace of mind for repairs and replacement of appliances and major mechanical in the house. But when something goes wrong, the warranty company is like, ‘Who are you? You want us to do what?’”

Neither Foxcroft nor American Home Shield responded to requests for comment from the Dayton Daily News about the delay of the repair to the Tuftses’ furnace, or about consumer complaints with the AG’s office.

Teresa Tufts has a chronic heart condition, for which she takes blood thinners, and was “freezing” in their 92-year-old home on Flemming Road in Middletown.

Because of this, the couple was told the part replacement would be put on an emergency timeline.

But on Dec. 12, as temperatures reached below zero degrees, Larry, 70, and Teresa packed up their things — including Larry’s beloved German short-haired pointer, Bella — to stay with Larry’s daughter in Franklin.

As of Dec. 15, the pipes at the home were at risk of bursting, according to Larry, and the furnace had not been fixed.

“If I pay into something for 27 years and something breaks, I don’t expect to wait two weeks in this kind of weather to have it fixed,” Larry said.

The delay in repair and lack of communication left the couple wondering about the value of the home warranty Teresa has been paying into since she bought the home in 1998.

“I’ve never skipped a payment,” she said.

Because some home warranty companies — like AHS — require homeowners to use contractors of the company’s choice, it can be difficult to schedule services, communicate between the home warranty company and contractors and/or hold either company accountable for the quality of services provided, according to Howard.

There are also limited options for follow-up services if the job isn’t done correctly the first time around, according to Howard.

Larry, a retired maintenance man, said he knew how the furnace needed to be repaired before the technician came out, but, “If I touch one screw on anything, they won’t fix it.”

An additional clause says anything that needs to be “modified” is not covered by the home warranty through AHS.

Foxcroft reportedly told AHS the Tuftses’ flue pipe needed to be modified for $300, which Larry says is not the case.

“I think they do that ... so elderly people will pay it because it’s getting cold,” Larry said.

An automated AHS message said “contracts” through the company “do not cover malfunctions due to freezing.”

“I’ve had to borrow and buy heaters for this house because of this reason,” Larry said.

A search on Better Business Bureau shows Foxcroft with 1.89 stars out of five, and it has been the subject of eight complaints to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

The complaints cover issues with repairs and service, poor service/shoddy work, misrepresentation and failure to deliver products.

Each complaint details lack of communication, inaccurate claims and repairs done incorrectly or not done at all.

The 116 complaints about AHS to the Ohio AG’s office detail, largely, issues with repairs or services (32%), warranty (22%), failure to deliver products (13%) and poor service/shoddy work (12%).

A total $185,926 was disputed in the complaints and $40,084.38 (or 22%) has been recovered or distributed to consumers, according to data from the Ohio AG’s office.

One complaint, also from a Butler County customer, said they were assigned an HVAC company out of Columbus — not Foxcroft — and an initial service request resulted in the incorrect part being repaired.

A second service call was scheduled but not completed, and follow up with AHS was met with “constant excuses” for the “non-response” by the HVAC company, the complaint says.

“This was done having paid the monthly premium and the $125 service fee as required,” the complaint read. “AHS stated that my request to have the service provider assignment reassigned to another service provider was not permitted and to do so would require my paying another service fee of $125 ... this was during a heat alert lasting 9 days averaging temps at 93-97 with a humidity levels exceeding 101.”

With the home’s pipes at risk of bursting due to cold weather in mid-December, Larry Tuft hired a separate company to come out and fix the furnace at the Flemming Road home, according to his daughter, Megan Tufts.

Larry Tufts continues to dispute the charges with AHS, hoping to recoup the price of his elevated electric bills due to space heaters, the deductibles paid to AHS for Foxcroft to come out and assess the furnace and the price of the repair through the separate company.

Larry said he might put money in a bank account every month instead of paying a home warranty premium for future repairs.

The Keetons, who purchased their home in 2014, no longer pay for a home warranty.

“It’s not worth it,” Tennille said. “Nine times out of 10, when they come out, you’re going to pay a service fee ... and they’re going to tell you this isn’t covered or that’s not covered.”

Clark Howard agrees.