Do you have a home warranty on your home? If so, you may have noticed that the home warranty process is a bit different than just calling your local repair person and paying a huge sum of money to have them make a repair. In fact, the entire diagnosis process is created so you save the most money possible. If you're interested in learning about the home warranty diagnosis process, please read our article on the subject here.
If you've gone through the whole process of getting a contractor out to your home, and they've diagnosed the problem in your system or appliance, you may have had them leave before completing any repairs or replacements. For many homeowners, this is confusing, and they're left wondering why a contractor would leave before finishing the job. There are a few different reasons that this could happen.
- Home Warranties have Busy Seasons
During summer and winter, home warranties get extremely busy. This is when homeowner's find out their furnace or air conditioning units aren't working, and as the temperatures start to fluctuate, they know it's time to get a repair done. They'll call Landmark, and with a larger volume of people calling the home warranty, the longer the wait times are, and the more work the contractors have to do to get everyone taken care of. Many times, all the contractors in a particular area are booked through during a busy time. This is why they sometimes only have time to go to your home for diagnosis and then have to rush to another appointment. They will come back once they know they have the parts to make the repair and they have enough time to do a good job.
- Ordering Parts Takes Time
If your contractor has gotten approval from Landmark in order to make the repair, but leaves your home without making the repair, they most likely have to wait for parts. Ordering parts takes time. Most contractors don't have every part for every system in their trucks, ready to go. Even Landmark doesn't have every part for the contractors. Not only does Landmark or the contractor have to order specific parts, but they have to wait for them to arrive before being able to use them to make repairs.
Landmark also partners with vendors in order to get the best quality parts for the least amount of money, which is why for many repairs all you have to pay is a service call fee. In order to get quality parts for a good price, you may have to wait a bit longer for the parts to arrive before the contractor can use them to make the repair.
This is extremely similar to what happens during summer and winter for many contractors "“ not just Landmark contractors! It's part of the HVAC process.
- Home Warranty Repairs Require Diagnosis
As you have probably seen in our article about the home warranty diagnosis process, before a repair is completed, Landmark has to approve it. Landmark will only approve the repair if it is covered under the home warranty plan the homeowner has purchased. This may make it so your contractor has to leave your home before making the repair. However ...
There is a chance that your contractor DOESN'T need to leave your home while waiting for approval!
Sometimes contractors assume that Landmark will be slow to approve or deny a repair and will put off putting a diagnosis in until much later. Although Landmark allows 24 hours before we require a diagnosis (we understand our contractors are often out all day going to appointments and don't always have time to update your service request) we are always looking to speed up our process.
Although we have informed contractors that often approval or denial does not take a long time, it's always good to double check with them that there's not more they can do with your system before leaving your home. Here are a few steps you as the homeowner can take when communicating with our contractors to ensure they're getting your repair or replacement done as fast as possible.
If your contractor says they have to wait for diagnosis from Landmark and will then come back, ask them:
- Do you have the parts ready for this repair already?
If they do not, they won't be able to make the repair regardless of getting approval from Landmark. They are unable to do anything further at this time, and will have to come back to make the necessary repairs.
If the contractor does have the parts, encourage them to call the diagnosis into Landmark for approval right then.
- Do you have time to fix this repair?
If the contractor says no, the repair most likely takes longer. Work to reschedule a time for them to come back that works for both of you while you're face-to-face. This way, the contractor will have more than enough time to fix the repair or replacements and won't feel rushed on time.
If they do have time and the necessary parts to complete the repair, push them to get the approval now from Landmark in order to get your repair completed without trying to make another appointment.
Now that you've read through this article, here at Landmark we hope you feel prepared for the next time you open a service request. Please put any questions you might have at the bottom of this article, and we will respond to them as soon as we can. If you don't have a home warranty, but you want to get great deals on your repairs and replacements for your systems and appliances, get a personalized quote and compare our plans here.