HomeSmart from Xcel Energy

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Sincerely, [redacted] ***

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and accept this resolutionWe have been contacted by the business, but have not received the check yetOnce we receive the check, we will be satisfied Sincerely, [redacted] ***

I am rejecting this response because: The first time the repair person came, they said there was a piece of cloth that had blocked the washer which they removed and left the washer workingThere was no mention of a board failureThere was a crack on the plastic around the washer which he mentioned was an existing problemThe next time I called, the washer had stopped working againThat is when they diagnosed a board issueI told them right away that I am not going to fix it as he was telling me that is an existing problem given the day rule Given your time line, which I had forgotten the exact dates, the board failed after the days expired and that should have been coveredThere is no mention of stopping to bill me for a washer that is not working

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 8, 2014/12/02) */ The noisy inducer motor has been replacedWe apoligize for any confusion regarding this matter and will work with our service provider to prevent future similar situtions

Thank you for alerting us to the opportunity to resolve concerns regarding a request to update appliance information following the customer’s purchase of new appliancesMs [redacted] contacted the HomeSmart From Xcel Energy? Call Center on February 28th to request a change to the appliances on her repair plan because she had purchased new appliances There was a miscommunication between Ms [redacted] and the Customer Service Representative (CSR) who took her call The CSR thought Ms [redacted] wanted to change the composition of appliances on the plan For example, remove a brand new Clothes washer from the plan and add an old dishwasher in its place Such a request would have fallen outside the plans terms & conditionsHowever, what Ms [redacted] really wanted to do was update the information on her appliances to reflect the newly purchased appliances; Ms [redacted] was not requesting to swap out a newly purchased appliance and add an old appliance Ms [redacted] called the HomeSmart Call Center on March 7th and spoke with a different CSR who explained how the plan worked Once Ms [redacted] received this explanation, she better understood how the plan works and no longer had a complaint with the HomeSmart repair planI spoke with Ms [redacted] this morning and apologized for HomeSmart’s delay in responding to her Revdex.com complaint, and I apologized for the miscommunication between our CSR and MsOrt In turn, Ms [redacted] apologized for logging a complaint with the Revdex.com Ms [redacted] confirmed she is satisfied with the way the plan works and does not wish to cancel her repair plan at this time

Very professional service & excellent repair work by Tech, [redacted] ***

Thank you for allowing us to address Ms***'s concerns. We have entered the beginning of the Air Conditioning season, and it has hit the industry hard. We apologize for any inconvenience the wait for service has caused, however there is no remedy other than what has already been given
to Ms***.I have attached our terms and conditions. HomeSmart's Appliance Repair Plan is NOT an Emergency Service. Our providers work Monday through Friday during business hours, which are generally 8am-4pm. When Ms*** called at 3:40pm Monday evening, the provider was still catching up on calls from the extremely busy weekend. She would have been called by end of business on Tuesday, 6/and be given an appointment time. I am not sure why the reference to HIPAA release and was accepted? HomeSmart nor Metro Heating & Cooling received any health concern request, however, even if we did, we do not prioritize calls in that way. We handle our calls and services in the order that we receive them to be fair to all of our customers. Again, HomeSmart apologizes for any inconvenience and frustration this has caused. I have asked Metro Heating & Cooling to keep the appointment for Friday, 6/16, 8am-12pm for Ms*** until either Ms*** or HomeSmart calls them to cancel. We are willing to make an exception for Ms*** and terminate her month commitment with HomeSmart since it sounds as if Ms*** wishes to have emergency service and that is not in our plan. If Ms*** keeps the appointment for Friday, however, that does lock in the month commitment. Please advise as to what Ms*** wishes to do. Thank you. For any further questions or concerns, please call HomeSmart at ###-###-####

Thank you for the opportunity to address Ms***’s concerns. Per HomeSmart’s Replacement Helper Plan Terms & Conditions (see attached), “HomeSmart from Xcel Energy reserves the right to deny reimbursement if your account is past due or has been cancelled.” HomeSmart from Xcel
Energy did mail Ms*** a denial letter on October 28,(see attached). However since Ms*** has had communication and has received some conflicting information from the HomeSmart representatives, HomeSmart has reactivated and processed the claim. Ms*** should receive her HomeSmart Replacement Helper Plan reimbursement of $within weeks. If there are any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call HomeSmart from Xcel Energy at ###-###-####

Hi ***, I apologize, as I didn't understand the full circumstances of your request. I have reached out to the claims supervisor, *** ***, to find out what needs to be done to get your installation scheduled for the replacement water heaters. It would appear since the previous claim expired, that it needs to be re-opened, so that the work can get scheduled with you. Here is his contact information:***###-###-####Once I hear back from him on what needs to be done to get things moving forward with the water heater replacement, we can contact you with an update. Thank you for your patience. Regards,***

I am rejecting this response because:
While I understand that the terms of the plan state that it is a month contract, it is ridiculous and unethical that the sale of a property would not be an exception to this rule I am very disappointed in Xcel’s Homesmart policy and customer service They lost a loyal customer and I will make sure to share my experience with any current or potential customers that I know I will be switching my home warranties to Centerpoint Home Service Plus, who I have confirmed does not penalize homeowners upon the sale of a property despite the month contract

Upon receiving the Revdex.com complaint this morning, I called the customer, *** ***. *** informed me that since first issuing his complaint to the Revdex.com, he has received HomeSmart’s Replacement Helper Reimbursement check of $(6/8/16)I was also able to verify that
***’s HomeSmart account was credited prior to cancellation. An unfortunate set of circumstances that were controllable. Many apologies to *** and his wife, ***

Hi *** ***, We confirmed that you were eligible for a replacement claim on the clothes washer, but that the claim expired prior to the purchase of a new clothes washer. The washer was removed from the plan, per the HomeSmart terms and conditions. Upon further review by
management, we will allow you to go ahead and purchase a new clothes washer at the address on the service plan. Once the washer purchase has been completed, please send a copy of the purchase receipt to HomeSmart at *** ** *** *** *** ** *** ** ***, or you can scan the receipt and email to *** Once HomeSmart has received proof of purchase of the clothes washer, a check will be cut in the amount of $300, the replacement assistance claim amount, and sent to you within business days.Please let us know if you would like to move forward with this

A HomeSmart agent called *** *** and apologized that we had not contacted her sooner. We verified her issue and offered a service call for today. We explained that the ticket would be from now (10:00) until 4:30, so she decided on a service call tomorrow. We
entered a ticket for her between 8-tomorrow. She was satisfied with that. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience of her not being able to reach us by phone, as we are experiencing a high volume of calls with the heat, and a shortage of agents. new agents have been hired to rectify this problem as well. Regards, *** *** Tell us why here

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2016/02/17) */
HomeSmart has reviewed this matter and prepared the following response
On January 18th KB service diagnosed Mr***'s Carrier furnace as having a plugged secondary heat exchangerThe technician communicated to HomeSmart that he
explained the situation regarding the heat exchanger including the recommendation that the furnace or heat exchanger needed to be replaced and it was not covered by the HomeSmart service planThis was also noted on the service ticket left with Mr***Mr*** contacted the manufacturer to determine the warranty reimbursement options
As you know, HomeSmart from Xcel Energysm is a repair service plan for major home appliancesTo keep the price of these plans affordable, there are certain coverage restrictionsWhile a majority of typically serviced components are covered, unfortunately, not all parts or services are covered for repairThis is common with other service plans offered in our areaThis is what happened in the case of Mr***, as furnace heat exchangers are not covered by the HomeSmart service planI have enclosed a link at the bottom of the page to a copy of our terms and conditions for your reference
Typically in cases of furnace heat exchanger failure either the furnace itself or the heat exchangers requires replacementThis is usually an out of pocket cost benefit decision by the homeowner since manufactures warranty terms can vary significantlyHomeSmart would not be involved in this transaction as the homeowner has sole discretion whom is hired to perform the workWarranty coverage requirements, including reimbursement amounts are determined and vary by manufactureTypically the specific manufacture dealer or original installer is involved in this type of warranty option determination
For example some manufactures offer limited heat exchanger warranty coverage, typically considered a life cycle ending component which may or may not include a labor manufacturer allowance for the labor portion
In this situation, and at his own discretion, our understanding is Mr*** did not agree to the terms proposed by KB service to replace the furnace heat exchanger and chose to hire another firm who was willing to install his heat exchanger according to the manufactures warranty reimbursement terms and reimbursement amountOur understanding is only the secondary heat exchanger was replaced which may have an impact on the proposal
After reviewing this matter HomeSmart from Xcel Energysm will be unable to honor Mr***'s request request for any further compensation for fees or the evaluation of his piping and furnace ventingI apologize for any confusion regarding this matterIf you have additional questions please contact me at ***
http://www.homesmartminnesota.com/images/pdf/HS%20Terms%20and%20Conditions%20Oct...⇄ /> Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2016/02/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Xcel Energy can hide behind their terms and conditions all day, but the truth of the matter is that they failed to deliver on one of the basic principles of business which is to take care of the customerEspecially a customer that has no heat on one of the coldest days of the yearIt's pretty clear that they were caught performing bad/questionable business practicesTrying to strong arm a customer into replacing a furnace for $vs working with the Manufacturer to replace the secondary heat exchanger AT NO COST to the customer is unacceptableI wonder how much unsuspecting customers Xcel Energy has done this to? Kath Heating and Electrical came on site within an hour of receiving my callThey worked with Manufacturer and they were reimbursed for their time because the parts were COVEREDThat is what you call customer service
Final Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2016/03/08) */
HomeSmart from Xcel Energy's terms and conditions do not cover the repair or replacement of heat exchangers of furnacesI have enclosed our terms and conditions as an attachmentHomeSmart from Xcel Energy and it's service providers will only complete warranty repairs on items that we physically sell to consumers, because we are the "dealer" in that caseHomeowners have the responsibility to know if their furnace has a warranty, and if so who they are supposed to call and what is or is not coveredProtocol is normally to call either the company they have purchased it from or the manufacturer of said productHomeSmart from Xcel Energy and it's providers do not complete other companies warranty work

Due to loosing several call center team members, contacting HomeSmart has been challenging for our customersWe apologize for the long delays and are working to get more people hired to alleviate the issueMs *** contacted us on 12/19/via phone to schedule a service call for her Clothes
Dryer and again on 1/4/for a service call on her RangeI tried to contact Ms *** on 1/4/17, at the phone number on the complaint 303-810-and the phone number on her account ***I left messages on both phones, with my direct extension, for a call back to further discuss the issueAs on today 1/12/17, I have not received a callback, perhaps because her issue was resolved

I am rejecting this response because:I have not yet received my November bill and did not receive any compensation in the October bill.I had a productive conversation with your supervisor yesterdayShe assured me that a refund should be coming in the November bill.I will wait until I receive the refund of the five months that were deducted from my account before settling this complaintI did not receive any in the October

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/21) */
***
***
Eagan, MN
May 21,
Dear Ms***:
HomeSmart received an escalation regarding the scheduling of a service call for your fireplaceWe've reviewed your complaint
Our records indicate
that you called on 5/1/for service on your fireplace and that service was scheduled with our subcontractor *** Plumbing & Heating for 5/6/*** Plumbing & Heating did not show up for this appointment and did not follow up to schedule a new appointment
On 5/6/15, you called and spoke with a representative here and were told that they would work with our contractor manager and *** Plumbing & Heating to find a resolution
On 5/8/15, you called because still no one had followed up with you to resolve the issue on your fireplaceA formal escalation was put in at this time for our contractor manager to follow up with you
On 5/15/15, you called again and another order was put through to *** Plumbing & Heating and they scheduled an appointment with you for 5/18/and your fireplace was repaired
We apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused youThis is not acceptable service and we promise to follow up with those that are involved to ensure that this does not happen in the future
Because we do value you as a customer and because of any inconvenience we caused you, we will be crediting a total of months service
Please let us know if there is anything else that we can do to help you resolve this matter
Thank you,
***
HomeSmart Supervisor

Thank you for the opportunity to address Mr***' concerns. After reviewing the account, I have found that the customer service representatives were correct in their communication to Mr***. HomeSmart does not pro-rate the charges for the HomeSmart Appliance Repair Plan nor for
the Replacement Helper. Xcel Energy does our billing, and their billing statement for electricity or gas is billed at various days of the month. With the HomeSmart plan we bill for the whole calendar month, so the April Xcel Energy billing statement, that would show the entire month of March's billing for HomeSmartthe $24.85. I apologize that the customer service representatives were not friendly in explaining our billing, because of that, I have entered a credit on your account that will show on your May billing statement. Again, I am sorry for the experience you have had. Please feel free to call us with any further questions or concerns ###-###-####

SUBJECT: $1,Reimbursement
Claim Number
I have spoken to countless service reps over the course of nearly months now regarding the $1,"fixed replacement reimbursement" still owed us We've been told it takes several weeks, then were told your new computer system had delayed payments, and finally, we were assured we'd have our refund in the mail by this past Wednesday December 14,
It is now Friday, December 16, and we are still waiting for our reimbursement
It is now Thursday December 29, still waiting

We apologize that we misspelled your name, Ms***. We have been notified that the supervisor was actually able to connect with you today. The supervisor also stated that the credit has been put onto your account and that it hit the November billing statement being as though your October one was already processed. We apologize for all errors on our part. Thank you for your feedback on our online sign up system, as we will look into ways on improving it