American Home Shield Corporation is an American home warranty company based in Memphis, Tennessee. It administers home service contracts on major home systems and appliances.
Video American Home Shield
Overview
American Home Shield was founded in 1971 and operated independently until it was acquired by ServiceMaster in 1989. It serves 1.4 million customers across 49 states and the District of Columbia. It is one of the largest home warranty writers in the United States, and has home warranty companies with active operations in all 48 contiguous states. In 2012, the company had around 1,500 employees, and handles roughly 2.5 million service requests each year. The company works with over 11,000 licensed contractors and 45,000 technicians in the U.S. The headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee.
Maps American Home Shield
Mergers and acquisitions
American Home Shield operated independently from its founding in 1971 until it was acquired by ServiceMaster in 1989. As of July 2017, ServiceMaster had announced plans to spin off American Home Shield to operate independently again, beginning in the third quarter of 2018.
Consumer reception
American Home Shield's home warranty products have been reviewed by Consumer Reports. In June 2015, consumer and finance journalist Anthony Giorgianni, author of the Consumer Reports review, writing on AlterNet, described American Home Shield's complaint history with the Better Business Bureau (BBB):
- Of the four companies we reviewed, the highest complaint generator by far was Memphis, Tennessee-based American Home Shield, with 4,660 complaints as of mid-June. Of the 44 reviews customers posted on the BBB website, 41 reported negative experiences with the company.
However, Giorgianni also reported the following response from the BBB when he asked about American Home Shield's complaint history:
- A BBB spokeswoman said the number of complaints against American Home Shield is not out of line for companies with similar annual revenue, but it is the reason the company received an A- instead of an A+ rating.
As of November 13, 2017, American Home Shield's BBB rating was B.
WJLA-TV has reported on a case in which American Home Shield refused to pay for replacement of a clothes dryer that caught fire, on the ground that the local fire department had removed the dryer from the home when responding to the call. WJLA-TV repeatedly attempted to contact American Home Shield about the incident, but received no response.
References
External links
- Official website
- BBB Accredited Business Profile: American Home Shield
Source of the article : Wikipedia