INDIANAPOLIS — Central Indiana has been slammed by winter weather the past several days. For Monique Grays' mother, the cold weather has made its way into her home. Her furnace is broken. Making things worse, Grays said her mother thought the furnace could be replaced under a plan she bought from Choice Home Warranty.
"This needs to be expedited because my mother is elderly. She's 67 years old in a house with no heat," Grays said. "My mom went and bought heaters. She's got little space heaters all over the house just for it to be warm."
Grays tells WRTV, this actually started in the fall. Her mom's furnace was making noises. They wanted to get it fixed before the winter. Two service calls were made to fix the furnace in September and November of 2020 according to Grays.
"Every time someone comes out, she has to pay a $60 service fee. Each time, they claim that they fixed the issue. Now, here it is February," Grays said. The last week has been a constant back and forth between her, Choice Home Warranty, and the people they're contracting to fix the furnace.
"I don't want to keep talking to multiple representatives, I want this to be taken care of ... Just take care of it," Grays said.
WRTV Investigates has looked into service claims against Choice Home Warranty in the past.
Each situation was a little different, but in each case, a customer said they did not get the service they thought they bought.
Consumer Watchdog Groups urge people to Google businesses before signing up for any similar warranty services. Choice Home Warranty's Better Business Bureau page shows a pending consumer fraud lawsuit against them by the Arizona Attorney General. There are also thousands of complaints listed: 7,595 in the last three years.
All of this has been a learning experience for Grays who's trying to do right by her mom, hoping to get her out of the 3.5-year contract she spent $1,176 on through Choice Home Warranty.
Grays told WRTV Thursday morning, Choice Home Warranty scheduled a service for her mother's furnace on February 27. Thursday afternoon, Grays and the company confirmed the appointment had been bumped up to Friday, February 19. We will check in with Grays to see if the service is completed.
Choice Home Warranty released the statement below to WRTV about the situation:
“At Choice Home Warranty we pride ourselves on providing the best claims service to our customers. When Ms. Hill filed her claim on February 10, we had a technician to her home on the 12th who reported that he had repaired the problem. When Ms. Hill contacted us on February 15 to let us know that her heat stopped working again, we were able to send a technician out, approve the replacement of her furnace, and source the replacement equipment. We are happy to report that the technician is scheduled to replace Ms. Hill’s furnace tomorrow.”
