ARS / Rescue Rooter Illinois

As soon as I knew they were trying another scam, I cancelled the service call.

Overall, everything is fine. They come out when they say they will come out and they contact us ahead of time to let us know when they are on their way.

They arrived on time , flushed the unit, cleaned up and were very efficient.

I've used ARS in the past and it's been a decent experience. Usually, I've called them when I've had plumbing emergencies (i.e. backed up sewer line, leaking natural gas line, etc). However, this time we needed something non-critical and scheduled the appointment about 5 days in advance. Rather than having the technician show up during our agreed upon time (10a - 12p), he was almost 3 hours late. It took me three calls to their dispatch office, each call had to go through their national number, as nobody was answering the number at the local office when I called directly. Each time, I was told that the technician was on another call and would come as soon as he was available. Each time I asked for an ETA, and each time I was told, "as soon as he finishes." I don't necessarily know what type of call the tech was on (maybe it was someone with a burst pipe, or some other emergency), but personally, the fact that nobody bothered to call me to let me know my appointment window was going to be missed, let alone calling me after it had been missed, was completely unprofessional. When the technician finally did show up, the price that was quoted to replace 3 sink drains was almost as much as ARS had charged me to install a new water heater last year. When I complained about that, as well as the inconvenience of my scheduled appointment having been missed by 3 hours, all the tech offered me was a $50 discount (<10% of the total). At that point I should have told him to go, but I would have still been charged for the visit, and I needed the work done this weekend in order to meet some obligations with regards to the sale of our house. The only plus side to this was the fact that the quality of the work was excellent. However, that doesn't make up for the other shortcomings in the experience. I used to trust ARS, but this experience has made me second guess that. I don't think I'll be calling them again.

They are excellent. They are personable, and they explained what they were going to help us with. I have never had a bad experience. They are efficient and very responsive. I can't say enough good things about them.

They do a nice job. They are always prepared and the price is reasonable.

The guys that rod the main line that goes out to the street have been great. That project has been fairly priced. They showed up on time and got the work done promptly.

They were quick, polite and efficient.

Overall, everything turned out well.

They were originally assigned to me by a home warranty company I used, and I was impressed enough by them that I even used them for things they do that isn’t covered under the home warranty. Everything has worked out fine.

Showed up on time, very courteous, priced fairly, came same day I called for service.

I thought the fees were excessive but since the work was already in progess and I had a semi-wet basement I had the service man continue. After thinking about the charges and talking to family about the cost of a top of the line sump pump, I decided to check further. When I called the company for a breakdown on the invoice, they were unable to justify the cost for this work but assured me that the pumps they install are the best. Eventually they ivestigated and reimbursed me for part of the costs, but this never would have happened if I hadn't demanded some type of explanation. I felt taken advantage of.

We contacted our home warranty company to report a clogged sewer line at a rental property (single family home). ARS was sent out to respond to the call. They arrived quickly and punctually, which was greatly appreciated due to the nature of the problem. Upon entering the home, the technician and I located the cleanout that was needed for easy access to the sewer main. However, for some reason, the technician did not feel that this was a cleanout because it had a six sided "nut" on it, not the four sided one that he was used to and had a hole drilled in it (which was later explained to me that it was from when they pressure tested the lines when the house was built). Also, only the nut was exposed through the concrete slab, as the rest of the cleanout had concrete over it from the time of install. So, we went on a hunt around the house to find another clean out, which could not be located. The technician said that he could enter through the toilet pipe, but that was not included in the warranty call, and that he could not guarantee that he would even be able to get the pipe flowing that way. So, he wrote up a proposal to dig up the yard, install a cleanout outside, and rod the line from there - all for the price of $3,900. I am still not sure what the tenants were supposed to do for a bathroom while we were waiting on that to be done. While he was doing his write up, I spent some time breaking the concrete around the top of the cleanout in the floor, exposing the entire cleanout plug. However, he still did not think it was a cleanout (but didn't know what it was), and said he could not access it. He made no attempt to open it or inspect it any further. I thanked him and sent him on his way. A call was made a to a different plumber, and he had the non-cleanout cleanout opened within minutes of arriving (it was a cleanout) and the line cleared shortly after that. Oh, and the different plumber also videoed the line, installed a cleanout outside and rodded the line with a 6" cutter for less than half the price quoted by ARS.

I have been using ARS*RescueRooter for about four years. They installed a complete furnace and AC package four years ago. Since then, I have been using them for the annual tune-ups. So far, so good. But, I have started to see a pattern emerge. It seems the repairmen are free to charge whatever they wish for certain things. A year ago an ARS tech charged me $38 for a new humidifier pad. This year I was charged $51 for the same pad. Last year the humidifier stopped working and I was told I needed a new humidistat - cost $250! Recently, I decided to look up online the prices I would have to pay for those same items from an AprilAire distributer- the pad was $11 and the humidistat was $58. Plus - I suspect this time the ARS tech charged me for a pad and didn't even install it. He was a little unsure he had one on the truck. He said he found one and installed it. My humidifier stopped working about two weeks after it was serviced. I opened the hood and saw a very calcified humidifier pad. There was no way this pad was less than one month old. I suppose I could call the company and complain, but I've been getting a bad feeling about ARS*RescueRooter in the last few years. They are always trying to upsell me all kinds of things including their pre-paid maintenance plan. So,I'm choosing to use a different company on Angie's list with a more favorable rating.

Excellent no worries or problems to contend with although I used the ARS HVAC personnel from the North Shore

I had a real disaster with plumbing and had a great job done by them. I called them simply because they were in a pile of coupons on the table that had arrived the day before. I probably had used them once years ago but had forgotten about them. I sensed that it was a rooter job and they would do it. Their person came out for the rooting job and then we went down to the basement where there was some access. He looked and saw the sewage pipe that went from the house up to the street was clogged with the roots. We were two days away from going on a vacation and I panicked as I did not want the housesitter to be in the water. He managed to get a crew the next morning. It was a big expensive job. They had to dig up a three fourth wide path about eight feet long and seven feet down to replace this pipe. The miracle to me was that they got the city permit and the digging people to my property the very next morning. They had it done by the end of the next day. I would have been really at a loss because I had booked an out of the town vacation a long time ago. I told them that they were my heroes. I don’t know about their price as I did not go and shop around but it seemed like it was about right. They were able to diagnose as to why it went wrong as it was due to the shortcuts that the builders took while building the house over twenty years ago. I would recommend them to anybody and everybody. I would absolutely use them again in the future.

Their service was good. They did what they said and they did it when they said they would do it. It is working as well. It cost me about $6000 to $7000. They had a good price and it is a high efficiency system. We bought the heating and air system from them and they installed it. We haven’t had any trouble with it. They put it in when they said they would put in. I haven’t had any questions or anything with the results. It is a pretty good company. They were pretty good all the way around. I have been using them since the mid 90’s and I would use them again. They also do plumbing, but we didn’t use them for plumbing and we have just used them for heating and air.

I’ve been using them for years. I have a $12 a month contract with them so they come in the fall to check the furnace and in the spring to check the air conditioner. They do everything; they clean the furnace, replace the filter, and do any repairs that are required. If something happens to the system, I get a big discount on the parts and labor. They are very honest and prompt. My furnace went out on Christmas Eve a few years ago and they came out at midnight to fix it. They are very clean, they always put covers on their shoes, and they don’t leave a mess. I have never had anything but really good luck with them and I have nothing bad to say about them. They are the only ones that I call.

I used them for many years and when they came out to do a routine winter inspection on my furnace, they told me I needed several things that I didn't actually need and that I had a Carbon Monoxide leak when I did not. I got a second opinion and the other company said there was nothing wrong. ARS said they would come back out and check it again and then they said they would replace my furnace whether it was broken or not. I hung up and haven't heard from them since.

Tom Diciolla was the service technician that came out. He was great. He was over Friday morning and I asked him to make sure that he didn't make a mess moving these huge units up and down stairs. He was extremely careful and clean in his work. You couldn't tell any work was done on the white carpet in our basement or on the stairs. I wanted to adopt him he was so good.

I am very happy with them but I expected it to be cheaper. He was efficient, fast, and clean about getting the job done. He was knowledgeable about what needed to be done and the estimate he gave me was exactly what I was charged.

They replaced it without any problems & investigated the issue that was causing us to replace water heaters every 3-4 years (not normal). They offered us practical solutions & advised us on other well water issues that we've had that they could not service.

I am 8 months pregnant and my husband and I thought it would be a good idea to get the A/C and furnace checked and get on a maintenance agreement. ARS bought out the company that originally installed the A/C and Furnace for the previous owners of our house so we called them. The customer service rep I spoke to was great and got a contract right out to us. We scheduled our first PM on the furnace/AC for the following week and the technician showed up as scheduled. He informed my husband that the A/C was fine but that the furnace would most likely need to be replaced by winter. They sent out a "Salesman" a day or so later and he did not seem very knowledgeable and definitely was not very professional. He gave us a price for a new furnace and confirmed that the A/C was fine. My husband and I decided to get other prices on a new furnace so we joined Angie's List and found a few other contractors in our area. Before we could call any of the other contractors to get estimates, we got hit with a heatwave (again, I'm 8 months pregnant!) and our A/C wasn't working. We called ARS' answering service on a Sunday night and the operator assured us that we would be on the service call list for the next day. I called at 8:30 a.m. on Monday to confirm that we were scheduled and we were not. The rep I spoke with said that they would get us scheduled and would call us with an ETA. At 1:30 pm I called back and found out that we had not yet been assigned to a tech and they couldn't confirm that we would even get service that same day. I called the other contractors that I had pulled from Angie's List to see if any of them could do better and was surprised to get great response/service from another contractor who informed us that our furnace was absolutely fine. It is 13 years old but looks much younger internally and should last us a long time, however our A/C was shot and needed replacing. My husband and I feel that ARS was banking on us replacing the furnace and knew the A/C would go out this summer which would force us into purchasing a new one. Something definitely didn't seem right. We were contacted by ARS to complete a survey regarding our experience which we did and have not even received any type of phone call to apologize or give an explanantion. Please note that the PM performed was adequate but we got a really bad feeling about the company based on the chain of events that occurred.

The tech started off by insulting our furnance, calling it a "beast" and immediately asking "how high are your gas bills?". True, our furnance is old but it's OUR furnance. He doesn't know our financial situation. I found his comments to be very insulting. Next, he proceeded to head outside to check our air conditioner. Last summer, it had malfunctioned toward the end of the summer. He returned to me to tell me the bad news-- all the coolant was gone. He quickly jumped into suggesting we replace both the furnace and AC with a top-of-the-line model. When I tried asking questions to educate myself on options, especially since this is our first home and I am unfamiliar with step 1, step 2, step 3 in diagnosing AC problems, he brushed off my questions. He did not offer to quote any other options aside from a top of the line offering.

I used them for basic maintenance on my heater and air conditioner. I stopped using them because I didn't think that they were doing everything that they said they would do. They were responsive and came on time.