Monday, June 25, 2012

Just Say No to Home Warranty

Dangit, you guys. Just... dangit.

Let me rant real quick*, a rant that will double as an excuse for why I have eaten HORRIBLY the last few days. Actually, let me break this down into a few steps. And by a few I mean that this whole process SHOULD have only taken a few steps, but actually took more like 18, though I think I actually skipped one or two for brevity's sake. Ha.


An Instructable, by Kirsten Clark
How To Get Really Angry at Your Home Warranty and Then Just Quit in 18 Simple Steps

1. Get warranty through the company Home Warranty when you purchase your house in March.

2. Believe that said warranty will cover any appliances breaking, mainly the old, old air conditioning unit.

3. Have air conditioning unit break.

4. Have a Home Warranty dude come to fix it.

5. Have air conditioning partially break a few days later, then totally break on previous Tuesday - just as temperatures are spiking at 100+ degrees Fahrenheit. 

6. Try to talk to someone on Tuesday. Leave a message and wait.

7. Try to talk to someone on Wednesday. Leave a message and wait.


8. Try to talk to someone on Thursday. Finally demand that this is an emergency. Have them say, "Oh, well since it's an emergency... we will get someone out to you RIGHT away. On Monday, that is.

9. Tell those jerks that you still want them to send someone on Monday, but that you will also try to get someone else to come out that day.

10. Call up a local guy, Randy Ray & Sons. Have them tell you that your air conditioning unit is a big fat mess and that they can't believe the Home Warranty fix it guy left the unit with so many issues.

11. Have Josh take off work on Monday. Wait for the people to show up. They are an hour late. Finally call and ask what the deal is, only to find that apparently they had canceled your appointment without telling you.

12. Get really quite angry but be too hot to do anything about it.

13. Spend 30 minutes on hold with HW. Finally get them to send someone out to fix the air.

14. Have the same fix-it guy show up, have him tell your husband that he is wrong about what he KNOWS is wrong with the unit, have the guy do a little something and claim to fix it.


15. Have the air break down not even 5 minutes after dude leaves your house.

16. Talk to HW after another 30 minutes on hold, only to have them tell you that dude can't come back until tomorrow and there is no one else to fix your air.

17. Throw in the towel. Demand your $500 home warranty payment back. Finally have someone agree to that after another half hour on the phone.

18. Call Randy Ray and his sons and have them be incredulous about the HW debacle. They show up promptly and are up front and not complete Home Warranty jerks. Decide to replace the air unit out of pocket. Be relieved to just be dealing with non-jerks and on the real road to recovering a normal temperature indoors.

Summary: Home Warranty is a bunch of jerkfaces. Don't give them your money.
Randy Ray and his sons are awesome. Give them your money instead.


So in terms of the Real Food Pledge/ Challenge, what have I learned from this? Well, it is tough as an overcooked steak to keep up with any kind of diet when you are under stress / having to live somewhat transiently (I've been bouncing between my parents' house and Josh's dad's family's house while he has heroically stayed at the house to care for the animals). I can't say it's impossible to stick to good eating under such circumstances, because at work tonight I was extremely impressed by a guy who was on business in Huntsville and had stopped at Earth Fare to load up on fresh produce (green peppers, apples, oranges) and deli meat to keep healthy while on his trip. But the inhospitable home issue definitely threw a wrench in all of my meal planning this week and I'm not going to lie, we've eaten some major crap (Taco Bell for lunch today, what what!).

The awesome thing I've learned? In the few days last week that I DID get to eat the requisite two veggies/fruits per meal, I started feeling great. And even better? Started craving those healthy things. In fact, right now I am craving fruits and veggies that are still sitting in my fridge - too bad I am now 30 miles away in my parents' air conditioned guest room. Oh wait, not too bad, kind of awesome actually. I have a renewed sense of appreciation for the privilege of sleeping in 72 degrees rather than 90 (the house temperature when I finally gave up and left last night at midnight). And I promise to resume the Real Food Pledge once our air is fixed. Pinky Swear.


* Side Note: I'm not usually super complain-y about heat issues. I've spent time in both Mexico and Afghanistan, both in very much not air conditioned houses, and have also worked on un-airconditioned farms. I can deal with heat decently during the day, but when it comes to trying to sleep in it, I either need good air circulation (lots of fans and open windows) or I am going to have intense nightmares, waking up drenched with sweat and even more exhausted than when I fell asleep. Our heat issue is exacerbated by the fact that our house is 50 feet or less from two-way train tracks, with trains running all night and tooting their horns, which sounds adorable but it actually deafening if you are outside - or if your windows and doors are open, say to try to circulate air if your AC is out. 

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