Many folks have asked me what the difference is in the A+ Service Plan as compared to the standard Home Warranty.
The way a typical home warranty works is to charge you the money “upfront” and then when you have a problem you make a claim. A service tech of the warranty company’s choosing comes out, charges you between $50 and $75 to diagnose the problem and then bills the warranty company for the remainder of the repair.
My personal experience with these companies and many conversations with clients leads me to believe that the home warranty company’s end game is to put your money in their bank account and give as little back as possible. This is not always true with every home warranty company; however I would venture to say that most are like this.
From the home warranty company’s standpoint they make a bigger profit if they can find a reason to deny your claim or pay out as little as possible towards your claim. They deal in large numbers and know that a certain amount of people will cease the home warranty before they have realized a “return on their investment”.
As a service tech working for that company, I could run around and deny claims all day (the home warranty company “likes” this) and collect my average $65 and do almost no work. I can deny the claim for “not properly maintaining the equipment” or for “user abuse” or for “pre-existing conditions”, any number of creative ideas to not have to work but still make money. And to top it off, the home warranty company sends me lots of business, because it doesn’t cost them anything to have me deny the claims.
Now again, I don’t really believe that all techs or all home warranty companies operate this way, but hopefully you can easily see how the system that they have set up leads to this type of modus operandi.
At A+ Certified Appliance we operate a little differently. The A+ Service Plan is designed with some very distinct differences which amazingly enough actually can enhance a home warranty, or is a great stand alone service.
First – Our overriding principle of business is: Companies should be in business, first to serve people. I hope that everyone that has done business with us and everyone that will do business with us in the future experiences this philosophy to the fullest extent we can create for each individual.
Let’s get the downside out of the way first. The drawback to the A+ Service Plan is that it currently only covers what we work on. We hope to change this in the near future. We service and repair: Washers, Dryers, Refrigerators, Freezers, Dishwashers, Ovens, Ranges, Cook tops, Disposals, Microwaves, Wine Coolers, Ice Machines, Trash Compactors, Flat Panel, & DLP TVs.
Second – the A+ Service Plan is a monthly automatic billing, cancel anytime you want. There is no long term obligation or risk.
Third – We give you value upfront. We maintenance your equipment once per year on your sign up day anniversary. This includes: cleaning the coils on your refrigerator(s) – this will save most folks enough on their electricity bill to pay for their service plan, we open up the dryer and clean the lint out from the interior of the dryer – prevents the danger of fire, we check for drain clogs on dishwashers – prevents leaks and helps dishes get cleaned, and for front load washing machines that have access to the drain pump we clean out the lint trap in the pump – this can help with the “stink” that front load washing machines can get. This service alone is worth up to $215 depending on how many appliances a home has. In addition, maintaining your equipment will absolutely save you money long term as the appliance will run more efficiently and last longer.
Finally – ANY time you need service or repair, you call us, we’ll be there, we’ll treat you right and you will only pay for parts. Being on the A+ Service Plan eliminates any trip charge and labor and gives you the comfort that you won’t have a big bill for repair that you weren’t anticipating. Even though a few parts can be costly, especially computer boards (get our whole house surge protector for this), being on the A+ Service Plan will reduce each repair by 30% to 100%. If you don’t need parts, there will be no charge.
As a bonus, we will warranty all parts we replace for 1 year from installation. This is 4 times what the typical manufacturer will warranty the parts. Also, if we ever have to declare an appliance unfit to repair, we will offer a 50% off our normal installation fee.
So, I hope you can see how the A+ Service Plan differs from the typical home warranty – Value upfront, no desire to “duck” the service and a great value to the customer.
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