Cinch Home Services Reviews

Something went wrong with the plumbing this year. I paid the deductible of 150, and they didn't have anybody that was in our network. So, they said I can call anyone that I know that's local and I will have to pay the whole thing and then they'd reimburse me. Customers pay for insurance because they don't always have that full fee. Luckily, it was tax season, so I had the money to do it. So, I paid it upfront. They told me it was gonna be close to $500. They subtracted that 150 deductible, and then they mailed me later. The process was you got to wait for them to fix it, and then once it's done, then they send out the invoice and then you email Cinch the invoice, and then they get a check out to you in the mail in 12 days. That's like three weeks you put out money.

The company that I picked worked on my father's house. They were called Stevens & Son Plumbing. So, they got me an appointment quickly, which was the next following week. They came out. I got to take off a half a day so they can get the work done. By the time they get the invoice and to email them the invoice, then their reviewer review it, it's two and a half weeks. So, the only sucky part that they got to think about is the deductibles. If they don't have anybody in the network, then the deductible should be lowered or they shouldn't have to put all that money upfront.

Cinch did reimburse me the money. It wasn't like a dragged-out going backwards and forth but the thing is you pay that insurance because you don't know if you're gonna have that big lump sum to pay it off or you don't wanna charge your credit card for it and then wait to be reimbursed. If they don't have no one in network, they should either ask the company to give an estimate and then send the invoice directly to them and they just pay it off. Other than that, the customer service is good. I like how they call back and check on things. So, I love them and I wouldn't wanna leave, but that put a damper on it a little bit because 150 also is a lot to come out of pocket with.

Back before it was Cinch, I had a guy come in here. He was supposed to change out of a bathroom faucet. And it was an older house, so he said that he didn't know if he could do it. He said he would show, but he didn't, and he called the next day and said he was running late and had to go to his kid’s sports event. I said, “I have kids myself. I get it. But we also both have phones. You could have called.” When he showed, he looked at it, and he went out to his truck. He said, “It's kind of old. Let me go out my truck and see if I got stuff.” He left. No calls or nothing. I called him after that, and he said, “No, I can't do it.” I said, “Dude, you got a phone. Let me know. I can get somebody else.” The guy after that came and said it is old, so he had to cut the surround for the tub. He cut that, and there was a big hole, and he just put duct tape over it.

The last guy I had for my dryer came. He said, “The belt's broken. We're gonna do the belt and the pulley.” But there was a problem. The serial number and the model number didn't line up. I called Whirlpool and they said there’s not such an animal. I said, “Me and the repairman looked at it, and it's stamped on the plate.” It was a plate with embossed numbers in it.

They called back. They said, “We don't wanna work on it because it's not correct, and their liability.” So, I called and Cinch called another contractor, who called me and I said, “The numbers don't line up.” He said, "You give me the model number." I gave him the model number. I said the other guy came out. It was the belt and the pulley. He said, “Good to know. I'll bring them with me.”

He brought them with him. He changed the belt pulley and the rollers. But before he put the drum together, he said, “There's a seal back there. It would work, but it's worn and you're gonna have to go through all this whole step to change that." That was a Friday. He said, “I have one in the warehouse. Can I come back Monday? And that way, I can just change it and it'll be completely good." I said, “That's fine.” He would put it together. I said, “No, no, no. I just want to do laundry over the weekend, That way, we don’t have to take it all apart.” He went the extra step and changed that while he was there. And it was my choice. I told him to change it. That was the other end of the spectrum which was concerned. He cared, and was professional. Preventative maintenance.

I like having the security, because if something is going to break and it's never a convenient time to break. I only made one claim since it became Cinch, but I that process may have been improved, knowing the contractors. If they know something would break, somebody could at least take a look at it and tell me if they could fix it or if I should get a new one, or which way to go.

The recordings are pain in the butt. It's ridiculous because we don't get to talk to a person right away. And sometimes the prompts do not take us to what we need. I don't like that we have to go this step to this step to this step just to get to where we need to go. The phone should be more personal where we could get ahold of a person and not be bounced around to one person to another. I dread making the phone call to get the process going. It shouldn’t be that way. Sometimes the ball is dropped. And that has happened a few times. I have a number to a supervisor. So, I try to give it some time. Also, I've had a couple of times I’ve put a claim in and not heard from anybody. They never heard that there was a claim. I don't like to think that I have to have a turnaround of 24 hours, but I would wait and find out my claim was never written up. But it used to be worse than it is now. It has gotten better.

We had a company come out for a refrigerator two years ago. But the poor man couldn't even get on the floor. He's elderly to do the job. And he did the same thing with our washing machine. The man couldn't perform his job. You gotta be able to get down and do your job. I don't care how old you are. You could be 90. If you could perform your job, that's okay with me. It's about capability. That was the worst service we had. We just know not to go with them.

Usually, I'm satisfied when the job is finalized. After the garage was done, I got a substantial amount of money back from the initial. It was $1,000. I got back 800 for the service being done. So, I've been satisfied as far as replacement. One year, we had two refrigerators replaced within a couple of months apart. So, after two or three tries, and they would say, “Okay. We give up.” I like that. If the appliance couldn't be fixed, they would offer us to get another one. So, I've been, on the most part, happy with them. I referred them to a couple of people.

The guy said, "Oh, we can't turn on an air conditioner until it's been 72 degrees for longer than 10 days. So, I don't know why they sent me out here, but I can't do anything today." So, I asked him if he would reschedule when it's more than 72 degrees for 10 days, and he said he didn't know. Three weeks went by, nobody called me. So, I called the company and they said, "Our policy is that it has to be 72 degrees for 10 days." They were never gonna send somebody out again unless I called and I owe them another fee. So, I asked the woman, "Really? Is that a trick that you don't tell the person calling? 'It's not a good time for you to call, wait until it's 72 degrees,' that you actually send somebody out and then they don't do anything?" She insisted that that is how they do business.

So, I called Cinch. I just got the information that they took over. The woman said, "I will have somebody more local come out to you." She gave me a phone number. She told me to call them because I was a little annoyed about it. Then 15 minutes later, the guy from the company called me and told me that Cinch contacted him. He came out the next day, and he said it was a compressor issue. He put the part in. I asked him if I owed him the service charge and he said Cinch told him that they would give him the service charge just to come out and fix my unit, and he went home. So, Cinch really did a good thing. Then somebody from the other company called days later and apologized and said that they would send somebody else out. I said, "It's okay. Cinch already sent somebody else. There is no reason for you to come back." So, my experience with Cinch was a good one.

I got a text saying my technician is coming back out to replace the control panel in the stovetop. It tells you who my technician is and that he is expected between 8:00 to 5:00. I got that yesterday. And this morning, I got an update saying, "He's five stops away. It'll be 1:27." So, Cinch is good about updates because he's expected to get there at 3:14. And he can't replace the parts. He has to get approval. He had the part for the dryer, and he was able to replace it. So, it's a one stop deal. The dishwasher was something stupid. The previous homeowner got a new garbage disposal and never took the plug out when he hooked up the dishwasher. So, the dishwasher would not drain. That was a simple fix. And the stovetop was also simple, but the tech had to get that part ordered because he doesn't carry those. Parts came in, and he's coming out today to install.

But when it came to going online to address my pool heater, Cinch didn't have a pool option. But that's one of the services they cover. So, when I called Cinch's 800 number, they tried to direct me to go online to address and file claims. Which is fine and dandy because online they have is it an appliance, a kitchen, a dishwasher, but they didn't have a category for pools. And the pool is one of the covered services. So, it complicated things.

I had to call, wait until I got ahold of somebody. Called about the pool heater, and they didn't have anybody in the area that could service it. So they said, "Go find your own, we'll reimburse you." I called one. They came out and looked at the pool heater last Friday. And they said, "Yup. It's not repairable 'cause it's a gas pool heater. The manifold and the gas tubes are rusted out. So we have to replace the system." They sent me the invoices saying the diagnostic thing, "Hey, yup." And they did that Monday.

Monday I called Cinch and asked what they needed me to do because I figured I had to get pre-approval before they would authorize replacing the $4,400 pool heater. They said, "Yup." So I emailed them Monday with the information. And I got an email yesterday saying they need additional time to look at my claim, and they would let me know if they need additional information. It's all good because it was through the service they use. It was quick and easy. But because now I've had to go out on my own to find this, that's where I have a concern about, "Are they going to fight me on having to replace this system?" But it's straightforward.