We live in a world much different than our parents, and our grandparents. We have the ability to use our computers, and smart phones to research businesses that we want to purchase from, and see what kind of company they run, if their product is satisfactory and if we should spend our hard earned money on it. If it were 50 years ago, we wouldn't be able to do that. We'd have to rely on old Bettina's opinion from down the road before we really could be sure of trying that brand new dish at our local diner. Now, with a touch of a button, we can scan thousands of reviews, and determine where we want to stay, what we want to eat, what type of car we should drive, and yes, what home warranty we should purchase.
As with any service, home warranty reviews are plentiful, and so are the home warranty companies that go with them. According to most of these reviews, a home warranty can be a life saver, or a money waster. So how do you know which reviews, and consequently their companies, to trust? Landmark Home Warranty is here to help! Here are a few steps you can take to navigate the world of home warranty reviews.
COMPARE THE NUMBER OF NEGATIVE HOME WARRANTY REVIEWS TO POSITIVE
Paid review sites have always been blamed for changing reviews and ratings when companies begin to advertise with them. Of course, how much of that is true depends on the review site itself, which we'll get into in a moment. But how can you tell what the rating on a site truly is? Of course, the percentage, letter rating, or amount of stars each company has can be helpful, but sometimes you have to go a bit deeper. One such way is to see how many negative reviews a company has compared to their positive reviews. You can also compare the amount of negative reviews from one home warranty company to another.Now, if you've done this, you might have found that there are some home warranty companies with outlandish amounts of complaints, but high scores overall. Yes, it's kind of like the kid next to you in class getting an A on his paper, but getting 60% of his questions correctly.
Rude...
Unfortunately, most review sites don't base overall score on the amount of bad reviews versus good reviews. They have particular algorithms that determine the correct overall score for each home warranty company. Luckily, you can usually see how many negative reviews there are for each review site, and compare those. Make sure to not always take the overall score for face value, unless you're looking at the best home warranty reviews sites, which brings us to ...
FIND THE BEST HOME WARRANTY REVIEW SITES
Review sites are plentiful, and it's hard to tell which ones to trust when you have a decision to make about a home warranty. Of course, there's always the matter of Yelp that comes up when discussing reviews online, which makes sense. Yelp is less than helpful when it comes to finding unbiased reviews online. They've tarnished the reputation of review sites after business owners have taken them to court for letting anonymous users post on their site, having the Washington Post see if there was a correlation to advertising and positive reviews, and more. So how can you know if the home warranty reviews sites are telling you the truth? No, it's not by making each reviewer take a lie detector test.
"Come on in! You're the 3,402 person to take this test! We can't be too careful, you know."
It's by going to trusted sites that you know have the consumer's interest in mind, instead of advertising. Some of these are:
The Better Business Bureau "“ this nonprofit company is one you can definitely trust. It lets consumers file complaints, and depending on if they are resolved or not and how many complaints the BBB receives about those businesses they determine a companies rating. You can find Landmark's rating and closed complaints at Landmark Home Warranty's BBB.
Consumer Affairs "“ Consumer Affairs is a consumer advocate, and is another site where you can trust their home warranty reviews. They check to make sure the reviews are actual customers and let the company help to resolve any problems that are brought to their attention. Make sure to look at how many reviews are left without resolution on this site, it could show a potential lack of customer service. You can find Landmark's Consumer Affairs page with a 5 Star rating at Landmark Home Warranty Consumer Affairs.
Home Warranty Reviews "“ This review site gets straight to the point. They let consumers write reviews on different home warranties, and give out awards each year based on those reviews. You can find Landmark's Best Regional Home Warranty award (for the second year in a row) at Home Warranty Reviews Landmark Home Warranty.
MAKE SURE THE REVIEW IS FOR THE RIGHT COMPANY
Finally, when you're reading a review, make sure to check that it's indeed for the correct company. Yes, we know that sounds ridiculous, but it happens. Sometimes with home warranty reviews, a homeowner will review the contractor that was sent out to the home, or even a different home warranty company. This is, of course, about as effective as standing outside of your favorite fancy Italian restaurant, and picketing against a fast food chain's hamburgers.
So, essentially, not very effective at all.
Many times on less than trusted review sites, these complaints cannot be pulled, and since they aren't for the home warranty in question, they hurt the company and their overall score. So make sure to keep a lookout for these less than helpful reviews.
FIND THE BEST HOME WARRANTY WITH HOME WARRANTY REVIEWS
If you are interested in learning more about Landmark Home Warranty, and how you can get great service on your home warranty with great prices, go to www.landmarkhw.com. There you can read our own home warranty reviews, see our home warranty coverage and learn why we're the best home warranty out there.