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I recently purchased a Shield Star Warranty. All was going well until my well pump went bad. It took Shield Star 3 days to send out a technician. After he got there, he called me to inform me that Shield Star would not cover the part. According to the shield star rep, it was do to the placement of the part. This part was installed in accordance with NC and local code requirement. The only way they were willing to cover the part is if it were insalled directly on the pump which would amount to a code violation. I called them back. After many conversations, I finally reached someone at shield star that agreed to have a well specialist come to my house. The well tech stated the pump needed to be replaced. After replacing the pump my claim was denied. They did not agree to the price of the pump. They stated that a new pump would cost ~$350 installed. The well man charge me almost 1650 dollars. They offered to pay me $350. I am not sure how they beleive that this is complete coverage. I would avoid Shield Star at all cost. They will deny every claim for absolutely no reason.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
SHIELD STAR home warranty cheated me and is RIP OFF!
I bought the warranty “PEACE OF MIND” this January (2010) after selling agent told me that they are a very good company and they offer very competitive prices. I completely repent my decision to save just 50 dollars to go with a company running scam. I went through a lot of agony and want to bring to notice my contention with them below:
MY CONTENTION :
I am a very patient person; I waited over 2 weeks and saw it going nowhere and that’s when I decided to contact BBB for helping me out in investigation against this fraud company. Below is the timeline of my interaction with SHIELD STAR.
13th FEB 2010 – Saturday: My refrigerator broke, so I called the service number [protected]) at 10:36 AM and left a message with an answering company (they claim they are not part of SHIELD STAR and just take messages).
14FEB2010 – Sunday: I did a follow up call at 10:10 AM and 2:25 pm and did not get any response. All I could do is log message on answering machine with company.
15FEB2010 – Monday: I did not receive any call on Monday so I called again at 11:14 AM. The service representative told me that they will look into the problem and get back to me.
17FEB2010 – Wednesday: I did not receive any call, so called them back again at 10:36 AM. I got confirmation from service representative that they will send contractor to look at a problem.
18FEB2010 – Thursday: A service contractor arrived on 18th FEB afternoon. All he does is looks at a Refrigerator and tells us that the compressor has gone bad and he will talk to SHIELD STAR representative for approval. We gave him 50 dollars as deductible. We did a follow up call with SHIELD STAR and they did not have any information about the claim, they promised to call back.
19FEB2010 – Friday: We did not receive any call from them on Friday, till we decided to call them back again at 4:39 PM. The message went again to answering machine and again we left a message so that they can call us back. We did not receive any call back so called them again at 5:50 PM and left an urgent message again.
20FEB2010 – Saturday: Called them again this morning, but did not receive call.
22FEB2010 – Monday: Called them at 8:55 AM, I was kept on hold to 6 minutes and the representative responded back that the account department is looking at request and they will let me know shortly. Did not receive a call so called them again at 10:16 AM and got the message that they are reviewing the request. Did not receive a call till 6:30, so called them again at 6:37 PM and 7:07 PM and it went to answering machine again.
23FEB2010 – Tuesday: Called them again at 10:10 AM and was kept on hold for 5 minutes and no one picked up the call. Called them again at 10:26 AM was kept on hold for 5 minutes again. Called them again at 10:31 AM again and got lucky this time, a representative picks up and asks all the information again and complete history. He keeps me on hold for another 5 minutes and tells me that he cannot fulfill the claim as we have not been cleaning our refrigerator coils and that caused the compressor to go bad. He points out that the coils should be clean as per contract. As per contract, SHIELD STAR provides preventative maintenance tips. Below are the tips for refrigerator/freezer. We diligently clean refrigerator and take proper care for it.
Refrigerator/freezer
_ clean refrigerator compartment regularly, even though it does not require defrosting.
_ wipe up spills in the refrigerator promptly to avoid staining and odors.
_ clean coils with a condenser coil brush
_ once a year slide the refrigerator out and vacuum around and beneath it.
_ defrost freezers about once a year, before frost is 1/2 inch thick on inside walls and clean. Use a plastic or wooden scraper, not a sharp instrument.
_ when storing items in the door, place the heaviest items closest to the hinge side; this will reduce stress on the door and inner door panel when it is opened and shut.
SHIELD STAR stipulates LIMITS OF LIABILITY which is below. We have cleaned the back part of the refrigerator to remove dust with utmost precautions and complying with manufacturer’s instructions. There is no need to have specialized service personnel to carry out annual maintenance.
11. Shieldstar does not perform routine maintenance. You (the customer) are responsible for providing maintenance and cleaning on covered items as specified by the manufacturer to ensure continued coverage on such items e.g. Heating and air conditioning systems require periodic cleaning and or replacement of filters and cleaning of evaporator and condenser coils. Water heaters require periodic flushing. These maintenance records must be provided to the service contractor and shieldstar in order for a claim to be fulfilled and honored at time of service (previous service and or maintenance records will be requested at time of service).
Below are terms for refrigerator / freezer covered under “PEACE OF MIND” warranty by SHIELD STAR. The refrigerator is located in Kitchen as stated below:
Kitchen refrigerator: (quantity of 1, must be located in the kitchen)
Shieldstar covers all components and parts, except:
Shieldstar does not cover racks, shelves drawers, ice makers, ice crushers, beverage/water dispensers and their respective equipment,
Interior thermal shells, food spoilage, freezers which are not an integral part of the refrigerator, and multimedia centers.
Considering all the facts above and the refusal of claim we feel cheated and want to register complaint against SHIELD STAR. We have gone through more than 2 weeks wherein all our food got spoiled. We have a very young daughter and we preserve a lot of breast milk which she consumes during the day time while we work. A lot of it had to be thrown out due to their incompetence and non-fulfillment of contractual terms. Our whole family had to dine out a lot and had to spend a lot of money on adhoc purchasing. We have paid them 339 dollars as an annual fee and 50 dollar deductible was paid to service representative.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY ISSUES:
1) They do not have any claim management system. You won’t receive any claim number for reference and every time you call, you will need to start describing the issue again.
See section c.1- to request service on an item that is covered, please log onto shieldstar website at www.shieldstar.com twenty-four (24) hours a day seven (7)days a week or by calling our toll free 877 star-[protected]). Notice of service must be given to shieldstar before expiration of this warranty.
2) The number they have provided on the contract [protected]) is an answering machine after 5:00 pm. They claim they have 24/7 support. So you are down on your luck if your house starts leaking due to plumbing issue or refrigerator broke down. You won’t get responses at all. (see section c.1)
3) They will never call you back and if you are able to talk to their representative then you are very lucky. I called them around 18 times (can provide my telephone records) for getting my refrigerator fixed with no results. Every time I called, either it went to answering machine or a sweet talking representative who will promise to look into matter and will call you back. I did not receive a single call from representative till I threatened to complaint to BBB, in which case they immediately responded back.