HMS Home Warranty / HMS National / Cinch Home Services
Reviews and Complaints

Waited six months for dishwasher repair having been passed through two different on site service organizations. Eventually brought in state insurance bureau. We settled for a (very) lo-ball amount just to be able to move forward.

During this extended episode, we made at least one call per week spending at least 20 min each time wading through phone trees and offshore call centers.

We then cancelled our contract with over three months remaining. We are still waiting to have our original pre-paid yearlong contract refunded for the unused 1/4 of a year...

This extended episode occurred from Nov 2022 to present.

I purchased the highest tier warranty available from Cinch Home Services, covering appliances and systems, over the phone. I was told my deductible would be $50. I was never sent a copy of the contract, despite calling to request it several times.
The first time I had to call for service, it took TWO MONTHS just to get them to enter a service request.
The next time, we went without heat for over a week in 30 degree weather when our central heater blower motor went out. They couldn't find anyone to do the job, because they treat contractors so poorly (i.e., don't pay them for months after they complete a job, refuse to cover all of what it takes to complete the repair, etc.).
This time, I had a leak under the kitchen sink and the faucet was broken after a super hard freeze. We went without water in the kitchen for THREE WEEKS because 1.) I was dismissed and rudely hung up on repeatedly by outsourced, chauvanistic, foreign men who had no grasp of typical English communication. I'm not talking about an accent. I'm talking about the abject inability to communicate using the English language. 2.) once a service request was actually entered, at 4:00 P.M., and I had paid a $150 (not $50) deductible, they called me 16 hours later at 8:30 A.M. to tell me they couldn't find a provider and I was on my own to find someone to do the repairs, pay that provider myself, and then PRAY that Cinch would reimburse me in two months. 3.) When I refused that "option" and asked to speak to someone about canceling, since they're incapable of servicing my warranty, I was finally transferred to someone who spoke English. I was then outsourced to yet another company, Plus One Solutions, that is somehow TIED to Cinch but also a separate entity, to actually find a service provider. 4.) Plus One Solutions didn't get the memo from Cinch that I had a leak under the sink. They were only authorized to cover the faucet, which was the least of the issues. Their solution was for ME to call Cinch AGAIN to get a work order for the leak. 5.) It took two weeks AFTER a plumber agreed to work "just this once" with Cinch before we had water in the kitchen.
6.) Cinch refused to cover a faucet comparable to the one I had. I have a ceramic sink, with no hole on the side for a sprayer. My sprayer was part of the faucet. The cheapest comparable faucet the plumber could find was way more than the $85 limit Cinch placed on him. The part needed to fix the leak in the plumbing was also more than the $25 limit Cinch placed on him.
I had to pay this plumber $170, on top of the $150 deductible I paid Cinch. There's no point in having a warranty unless they fix the problems, no matter what it costs. I could have just plopped down $320 to get a plumber three weeks before when the problem arose. At least we wouldn't have had to go without water in the kitchen for three weeks.
Don't waste your money.

Why would anyone ever buy a home warranty with this company? Sure you might save $500 on a new water heater (they don't tell you there is still tons of hidden fee's) but is it worth waiting 2 weeks for a water heater? It has been 7 days since the plumber came out saying I needed a new water heater, they still haven't even ordered it. They let me know they upgraded me to a medical emergency since I have a new born but apparently that means nothing... Meanwhile I still have no hot water, "the water heater is in research" but they can't tell me when it will be out, after its out it still will take 2 days to arrive or more, then the plumber has to get me on their schedule. How can places like this still operate. Someone should shut them down. I have to decide now do I go ahead and hire someone to come out and install a water heater or do I continue to wait to see if I can save the $500.

The company gives you a run around when trying to speak with someone and have left us without heat for over 2 weeks in a WV winter. We purchased a home warranty and have made 2 seperate claims. The first they refused and would not send a technician out. On 12/17/2019, we woke to a smoke filled home and fire alarms. Luckily, the home was not on fire, but our heating unit had burned out/over heated/something. My husband, Charles Thornton, contacted Cinch to make a claim. They were supposed to find a technician and have them contact us. They did not. When we were finally able to speak with someone, we were informed that we needed to locate a repairman. We did so and on 12/20/2019 a technician came out. The repairman condemned the unit and informed us it was unsafe to use due to carbon monoxide danger and a potential fire hazard. He then contacted Cinch and gave his estimate, but they told him his estimate was too high and that they would contact us with further instructions. The did contact us that day, but indicated that they would find a company to send to us and someone would call us back with that information within 48 hours. They did not call us back. On 12/23/2019, I contacted them and they gave me a number for a company. At this time, we had been without heat for 1 week in December in West Virginia. It was cold. I contacted the company that they identified and the company could not come out until today, 12/30/2019. This would put us without heat for 2 weeks. I called Cinch back and complained that the company they identified could not come out until the following Monday and we were without heat. The gentleman, Ronald, apologized for any "inconvenience". I expressed that in my opinion having heat in the winter was a necessity and not just a convenience. At that point, I requested to speak to a supervisor and was told he could not do that and one would call me with 24 hours. He also stated that he would try to find another company and have them contact us. After 24 hours, which would now make it Christmas Eve, no one had contacted us again. We called back and was given the run around and hung up on multiple times. We finally was able to speak to a supervisor, Kiana, and she provided us with the name of yet another company to contact. We contacted that company and was told that the would not be able to have someone come out until after the New Year. We again contacted Cinch. At that point, we requested that they provide an alternative to us staying in a cold home for another week and were told that it wasn't in our policy. We asked for a copy of our policy, as we never received one and they indicated that they would email one. Today, 2 weeks after our initial claim a company came out and evaluated the heating unit. When he turned the heating unit back on, our house filled with smoke again. The technician insisted that he could safely repair the heat, but could not make any guarantees about air conditioning and our unit is a two in one unit. He then went out to call his report in and he came in and told us our claim had been denied and he shouldn't have even been sent out. He went on to say that he had witnessed Cinch "screwing people over" multiple times and that the company was awful. So, two weeks after our initial claim, we still have no heat and have found out that our claim was denied so it would be our responsibility. We have contacted the company multiple times today and asked for a number to the corporate office and that we wanted our premiums refunded, since this has been an ongoing issue since we purchased the warranty. We have again been hung up on and still have not gotten a number to try to address this issue.

I worked for HMS and owned stock in the company in 1986, 87 and I think 1988.
Today I saw the public ratings of one star for HMS. Instead of five stars, perhaps the rating company should offer 10 stars so that the public can more closely define the service to be even closer to the bottom.
Well, I listed 908 Chelmsford Court Va Beach, Va. on September 24, 2019 and sent the paperwork in on the same day. I called today to see if the warranty was ever received.
Yes, it was received, but it didn't matter that the I failed to receive confirmation. I don't know who Cinch Home Services is, but I'm looking elsewhere from now on for a warranty company.

I've been paying into the service for over 4 years now and when I needed to file a claim, they don't really come through like you expect. Read the fine print! First, my dryer went out and they sent a company to repair it. After several days of not getting a response from the repair company after telling us parts needed ordered, I called HMS and they said they would just get me a new one. I thought that was great, but what they offered was a basic dryer with the same features, but it didn't match my washer or the brand I had. I was then offered a much lesser cash amount to buy my own and still needed to spend over $300 ($400 with deductible) to get a comparable unit.

Fast forward a few months and my furnace goes out. 2 days later, the service company comes out and says 2-3 days for parts. At 4 days, I call and was told the part is back ordered and it would be 2-3 more weeks. Meanwhile, I have no heat. When I asked for some other option, they told me that their supplier couldn't get the part and I would just have to wait. I asked for a replacement and they said, "under no circumstances". I found the part for next day delivery and then they wouldn't buy it from that supplier. They again offered me a very small amount of money to handle it myself. I could have covered it for that amount, but they wouldn't return the deductible that I already paid.

In the end, my options were to wait 2-3 weeks without heat to have them take care of this under warranty, or come out of pocket another $100+ to get it taken care of inside of a week.

They make you go through a huge menu of options over the phone and don't offer any email or chat options to get through sooner. I spoke to no less than 6 reps. Most spoke broken English and you could hear phones ringing in the background. Always a promise for a supervisor to call you back, but no one ever does...

My hot water heater broke on a Saturday. Called monday morning, was told they could not find a service provider but would have service department locate one and contact me asap. THey escalated situation as I have a one-year old at home. 1pm, no call. I called again, was switched to membership services after a tech told me she could only locate service providers in state of texas ( I live in PA). Membership transferred me back to customer service, stating they dont handle claims. Customer service then escalated to emergency said I would receive a call within 24 hours. 24 hours later, no call. Called in am, asked to speak to supervisor. Was told one was not available until 9am. Called at 9am and asked to speak to supervisor, was told the customer service elevated and I would receive a call from service tech in 2 hours, that he had went through with his supervisor. 3 hours later no call. Called again asked to speak to supervisor, was placed on hold and when line picked up was back with my old friends membership services who again stated they had no part of claims process and transferred me back to customer service. Asked to speak to supervisor, placed me on hold again. Then line disconnected. I give up. I will just replace the hot water heater myself. This is a total scam. Money wasted. I will also be contacting my realtor and advise that their company break all ties with this company as it reflects poorly on them.

They call daily never leave a message, we do not pick up bozo phone calls.
calls started with the caller ID Cross Country, Changed to Cinch Home Services just came up under TotalProtect. [protected] to my knowledge we have no business with them. Have caller id, nomorobo and a call blocking device on the phone. They lead me to believe that they are not a legitimate company but are some sort of scammer or phisher for information trying to steal your money.

Our issue with HMS Home Warranty began August 1, 2019 when our water heater leaked. After 13 days of boiling water on the stove for hygiene, we had enough and replaced it at our cost. I cancelled the agreement right away. Because they ordered a water heater for us under our claim, we are to be charged $559.90 for the remainder of our contract. If they ordered it, they can cancell it. HMS says no. Where is this water heater I'm paying for? I don't have it. Anyway, there are things we all can do to make their lives miserable as they made ours. I filed with BBB, state attorney general for consumer affairs, and will file with state insurance agency. I will be a loud, squeaky wheel until I receive some degree of satisfaction from them. Looking into other options as well.

Go with another company. My hot water tank broke called to submit a claim told them I have 4 kids and that need it fixed asap. Was told I would be bumped to emergency dispatch and received no response from this company in 3 days. Finally had to break down and buy and install one myself. This is a fraud if you ask me. Happy to sell you a warranty for 500 dollars or money and laugh at you when you call to file a claim and you end up paying for it yourself. PUT THIS COMPANY OUT OF BUSINESS. Buy a warranty from a company with good reviews that will actually care about hour issue and handle their obligation to provide you with reasonable service

Good Morning,
I am reaching out to you hoping that you can help us with our situation. We called HMS warranty company to help fix our hot water heater on June 19th. They were very nice on the phone at the beginning and they sent a mechanic out to look at her hot water heater. He got here he was very nice at the beginning and said that we need a whole replacement water heater and that was fine. HMS said that they would pay for the work and the hot water heater, come to find out they are only paying $546 for a hot water heater unit but we have to pay the mechanic $805. I questioned the charges that this man is charging us because he is overcharging us and I have proof from the state of Kentucky that he is overcharging us for what the $805 dollars is for. Also yesterday morning at 6:45 the mechanic called me and I spoke to him about the overcharges and he decided to yell at me, be irate and verbally abuse me while I was at work (that was really embarrassing for my coworkers to hear that). After that I was upset and on the phone he kept telling me that it was the warranty people fault for all of this (I assume his actions too?). I did call the HMS warranty people and they will not help any situation we are going through. They only offered us a $546 check for a hot water heater unit and said sorry. But it also cost 1000-2500 to put it in on top of the hot water heater unit cost. So that is not an option for us because we pay money to HMS every month and we expect the company to do what they are supposed to. I've been on the phone with HMS 14 + hours and also with the mechanic and Sears department parts store that HMS sent me to. We had the service call on the 19th of June and they said the part will not be in until the 26th of June. We are out of hot water and we have no water because when you turn the water on water leaks throughout the house. We can not go without water or our hot water heater this long. I was told that they would expedite the order. So we are now without water from the 19th through the 26th of June. My family cannot take showers, cannot cook, we cannot clean our dogs and our puppy, we cannot get of our lizard or dog's water. We have to drive 30 miles each way to my mother's house to take a shower and clean our dishes and laundry and everything else that needs water. HMS said they will not reimburse us for any of our inconvenience, our travel/gas and any of our troubles that we are experiencing because the hot water heater broke. My son has to go to summer school being stinky and he is getting made fun of because he cannot take a shower, my mother is not always home she is retired and she goes across the country for vacation. HMS said they would expedite the order and that it was a lie because the next day they said it would take 7 to 10 business days for the part to get here. So as of right now we have no water, our basement flooded our floors are ruined, can't use water, we can't clean ourselves nor animals and we have been dealing with HMS, the Sears part the store and the mechanic for multiple multiple hours. I have never dealt with a company that will not reimburse anything besides a part. This is highly upsetting us as a family and the people around us. I would hope that you can help us in this situation because we cannot go without water from June 19th to the 26 on top of all the extra expenses that we have to pay out-of-pocket for this inconvenience of the hot water breaking. It ruined the floors and that alone cost $2, 000. The travel/gas back and forth to take a shower, clean our laundry, our dishes and our animals are already over $200 and its only the 22nd. Also have some recordings of what the HMS staff, Sears and the mechanic are saying. (running us in circles)
I would hope that you can help us.

Thank you for your time. Hope to hear from you soon.

The Doyens
My email is [protected]@gmail.com
My phone number is [protected]

Do not get a contract with hms home warranty. I've had small issues with them in the past, but let it slide. They are now telling me that I have to coordinate and pay a plumber out of pocket to disconnect and move my water heater, schedule with the hvac repair (which is the only part they cover), then get back in touch with a plumber to have them put the water heater back in place and hooked up. This is because they don't cover access to the covered device. I would be more understanding if they had the current water heater installed in its current location. They won't even cover me spending an extra deductible for the plumber because the water heater is working properly.

They are telling me that I need to pay money to spend a week without hot water so they can repair a system they don't have access to - because they put the water heater in the way.

I have a Home Warranty with HMS. A week ago Friday my heating system went down due to a malfunctioning Inducer Motor. I contacted HMS online and found out they would not be able to get their contractor out here until the following Monday. A whole weekend without heat in the middle of winter with temps in the 20s and 30s. I contacted a local HVAC contractor who was able to come out on Saturday and locate the problem. The inducer motor was malfunctioning and blew a fuse on the circuit board. He replaced the fuse they system started up and blew the fuse again. He turned off all the power to the furnace and waited several minutes before restarting the system. The Inducer motor restarted and ran for several minutes before shutting down again. After several more tries the system came back up but continues to malfunction and shut down. In Inducer Motor is a component that vents toxic gases up the flue so your home doesn't fill with Carbon Monoxide. The furnace WILL NOT run if this motor is not working. I filed a claim with HMS who sent their contractor out on Monday and he verified that the Inducer Motor was malfunctioning. However HMS denied the claim. HMS says that until this component fails completely they will not repair or replace it. This doesn't make much sense when it is the middle of winter to have a heating system completely fail before doing something to prevent it. In addition they advised me that when it does fail I will need to file another claim so they can send out another contractor to verify this and I will be charged another $125 deductible fee. Not much common sense here.

On Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019, we had a power outage and our thermostat on our TRANE HVAC system went blank. We reset the breakers, but it would not turn on. The system was on, but would not provide heat because of the thermostat. I called HMS as my home warranty clearly covers this, and I had no heat in my house. It was to be 18 degrees with a "real feel" of -4 degrees for the night. I was told that they had no companies who were willing to go out and that I could call ABC Heating and Air when they open at 8am. I explained that I had children and pets, and what the temp. was, and again, that I had no heat. I was told that there was nothing they could do and if I called a business myself, I would void my home warranty on my HVAC system. I asked to speak with a manager, and was told there were no managers on duty, but that I could ask for a "call back" and someone would call me another day. I said I also had hotel nights on my policy/contract. Could I use those? I was told that I needed to call Assurant, and was given the number. I called twice, to get a recording that said I needed to call between the hours of 8am and 8pm M-F, and no holidays. This was to set up a hotel room if you were displaced from your home because of emergency. I was told I could not be reimbursed for the hotel if I did not have them set it up.
The first page of my contract warranty book states, "So when emergencies arise, there's no need to worry - your budget is now protected. Plus you have access to Customer Care representatives ready to assist when you need it the most." I received no care, no service, and a threat that if I took care of my family and my house so they and pipes didn't freeze, I would forfeit my warranty. We wound up all sleeping on the floor in my living room with a space heater and my fireplace; hoping that the pipes didn't freeze, and that a spark didn't set the house on fire. When I called ABC heating at 8am, I was told they would be there before noon. When they came, they asked me if I had the instruction manual for the system. After a while, they replaced the TRANE thermostat ($235) with a honeywell ($60). I explained that the thermostat was a TRANE, and was told that, "It isn't, TRANE doesn't make thermostats. Someone just put a sticker on it." (Really? I am female, not stupid.) I looked up the model number right then and showed him that it was a TRANE and what it cost, as well as his model and what it cost. I was then told that he could put it back up and wait to get approval to put one in, and I wouldn't have heat for a week because I would have to wait for them to fit me in, if I didn't want the one they put in. My warranty says things will be replaced with items that have comparable features. This does not. It is not wifi compatible; not touch screen, etc. I have yet to have someone call me. I kept the original thermostat, as well as all paperwork with the new one, including the beat up box. Also, there should be 3 recordings of my phone calls with the customer service representatives from yesterday between 8:00 pm and 9:30pm, the second was Taylor who would not tell me which call center she was with, and the last was Katie. Katie said there were notes from the first rep. Taylor said there were no notes written.

On Friday, Nov. 30, I contacted HMS because my daughter's furnace quit working. They set me up with a company called Comfort Zone Heating and Air in Toledo. I was asked to call this company to confirm the service date. It was late Friday, so I got the company's answering service. I was told someone would call me back Saturday morning, and that they opened at 7:30. I waited until almost 8:30 am and called again. I still got the answering service and was told again that she would ask someone to call. I called two more times on Saturday and no one called back. HMS showed on my info that Comfort Zone was scheduled to come on Sunday between 9 and 5. No one showed up. I called HMS Sunday evening to complain. He called Comfort Zone and was told they didn't work on Sundays! My daughter and family had at that point been without heat for two nights, and they were now going to have to wait another night. I told the rep to cancel with Comfort Zone, which probably wasn't necessary since they obviously weren't going to show anyway! I said we would find someone reputable ourselves to do the work. This was really upsetting, not only for the lack of service but because we paid HMS $443.88 to make sure we would only have to pay the $125 deductible if we needed service. We called a local company this morning (Monday) who has done work on our home before. They were there within an hour to do the work. What good is it to have HMS when the company they hire won't do the work? You should remove Comfort Zone from your list of qualified repair services!

In July of 2018, as a part of my home purchase, I obtained a home
warranty agreement with HMS Home Warranty. During the first week
of October I started have problems with my side-by-side refrigerator.
The temperature in the freezer started fluctuating by several degrees.
It got to the point that after 60 degrees I threw out the food.

After contacting HMS, they dispatched A&E (Sears) to make the repair.
On October 5th the tech diagnosed the problem was with the front door
control panel. He also ordered and replacement motor for the ice maker.
After a couple of weeks, the parts arrived. The tech that installed the
parts said that the real problem was the master control board.
Fortunately, he had a control board on the truck. In addition to replacing
the board, he ordered another board and a solenoid for the icemaker.
After restocking my freezer, it went out again. On October 26th, A&E came
out and replaced the board again. Now, as of November 1st, the freezer
is dead again.

Now comes the fun part. I called HMS and was told the soonest I could
get service was the 6th. They then assigned the call to Expert Appliance
Repair and asked that I call them to schedule an appointment. When I
called Expert Appliance [protected], it was answered by an unmonitored
voice mail box. I then called HMS again. After they couldn't reach
the service provider they assigned the call to National Home Alliance
and said they would be here today (November 5) and would contact me to
confirm. Never got a call from them or HMS. I did get a call from
Universal Appliance Service who proceeds to tell me that the soonest
they could get someone here would be November 12th. Not going to work!

I called HMS this evening and after being transferred 3 times over the
course of 45 minutes, I asked to speak to a supervisor. Of course, none
was available. So, I asked for a department manager. I was then hung-up
on.

Needless to say, HMS has no clue on how to do customer service. Their
warranty is worthless. They can't even track who is going to perform
the service. I will do everything in my power to make sure as many
people know about HMS and pitiful service. Don't buy a warranty from
them!

My HVAC claim was initiated in May and is still not resolved. My home has been without air conditioning all summer and now without heat as temperatures dip below freezing. I have taken 3 days off work to wait for a HMS Home Warranty service provider that never showed up. I've spent a week attempting to resolve the issue on the phone but can never reach an individual authorized to make a decision. I have been promised a call from "authorizations" and have never gotten one (even though there is a need to verify my contact information even though I've called every day for a week). I don't know what HMS Home Warranty considers an appropriate response time but it appears they are attempting to wait out the clock until my warranty expires. It also appears the business model is to frustrate customers until they are fatigued and find another solution to the problem. I do not recommend this company.

I have been with this company for 4 years. I rarely use the services and when I finally do for my range oven it has been useless. Normally when I buy any major appliance I get the store warranty this time I didn't because I read it would be covered under my home warranty. Of course 7 months after my purchase my split oven door decides to get off track and won't complete shut. I called HMS to file a claim (May 2018) Chesapeake Appliance come out and are unable to fix it. Tech suggested another part need to be ordered. Over the past 5 months I have had 6-8 different visits and different parts ordered and it's still not fixed. I have to call the authorization department after each visit to ask them to approve the parts that are ordered. Today I spoke with Taylor from the claims department and she informed me that I should just go out and buy a new one. I asked to speak with a supervisor and she said there are no supervisors. She then told me have a great day and hung up. If you are looking to give your money away to a company who is clearly not interested in fixing your appliances something they agreed to do then this is the company for you.

I am beyond frustrated with this company. I had submitted a claim more than 3 weeks ago and the end result was it being denied. The first service tech that they sent out assessed the issue and submitted their paperwork. After we paid the deductible, HMS deemed them unable to properly assess, so they scheduled another tech to come out, which was a no show/no call. The third tech they scheduled did not cover repairs on the model of washing machine that we have, in which HMS was notified of. I constantly got the loop around. I basically called everyday to get an update, each time waiting for more than 25 minutes until reaching customer service. They never noted a single thing on my account even though they said they were doing so because I was constantly told the wrong thing. It wasn't noted until I said that they were not doing their job. The fourth service tech that was sent out submitted an assessment. The claim was denied due to "structural component" requiring replacement, even though the tech said it wasn't a structural component. Authorizations department did not contact me. Every answer I received was from me calling them, not them returning a call. The last call, they told me I could get a second opinion but it wouldn't be covered; however, doing so would be unnecessary since they have people "assessing" the problem on their end that never actually come out. All techs were of THEIR choice, but for some reason they always found some reason to invalidate the assessment. I was even asked to renew my contract with them so that they could better assist me despite the fact that the claim was placed far in advance.