ARS / Rescue Rooter Indiana

Our experience has been mixed, and we are not planning to use this company again. Pros: *The annual maintenance is good enough, and easy enough to schedule. *The technicians - when you actually get one - are friendly and competent. Cons: * Experience of 6/23 - we called at 8am to request service for an air conditioner that suddenly was not working. They said they were on "stand by" and had no appointments. (At 8 AM???). I told them we had an almost-90 woman living with us for whom the heat was dangerous, and that we needed service as quickly as possible. And I told them we had the annual service agreement which was said to mean priority scheduling. I took vacation time from work, and sat with my cell phone AND my home phone all day because they said they would call both. I called very few hours, verifying they would be there that day, verifying my phone numbers, reminding them of my elderly relative with us. At 8pm they called my cell and the touch screen locked up which it does at times in cold or hot weather (look into this if you are considering a touch screen cell phone). I was able to return the call within seconds, though. First the woman said they had called to tell me they were moving us to the next day's standby. I told her I had called repeatedly, and had been promised service today - and that I had an elderly woman who needed air conditioning. She talked to someone, returned and said it was because I had "not been there for the call" which was a change of story. I reminded her that I called back within seconds, that I had called repeatedly that day and been promised service that day each time, that they told me they would call BOTH numbers - the primary and secondary, that my cell had locked up possibly due to the heat, and all the other details. She went back and forth to the dispatcher, and after about 20 minutes of begging and pleading, she did put me back on the list, with the understanding it was the end of the list and it could be in the middle of the night. The good conclusion was the tech did get here late in the evening, and fixed the air conditioner, and my elderly relative did not suffer any ill effects from the heat. However, the TECH called us when he was on his way, not the office, like we were told to begin with. So I do suspect the office was calling us to tell us they moved us to the next day, like the office staff told us before she changed her story. * Winter of 2008 - I called with a dead furnace issue, and again, they would not be able to get to us the next day or the day after. We chose another means of fixing the furnace. Perhaps we should have known better CONCLUSION: The techs we have had do the maintenance are good; the tech we had for the repair was good; but it is difficult to get emergency service, and the front office and dispatcher are dishonest (note the change in story to us) and not reasonable (if the second story was in fact true) if you need an emergency repair.

They are really great, they call you when it's time for the maintenance to be scheduled. They are prompt and professional. They put booties over their shoes when they come into your home.

Their prices are too high. It cost me $89 just to get them to come out - and even to do that was like pulling teeth. Both times I had to start threatening them. I would wait for them to show up and they wouldn't and say they would come the next day. They even forgot to put the filter in my furnace. Even though I had a service agreement with them it still cost me $83 to have them come and just flip a switch.

3;30 pm sat of a holiday weekend noticed wet carpet in basement - called home warranty co and was told would have to wait until tues to get someone out -when it got worse they gave me a contractor who didn't work weekends so checked the list and called ars )open 24-7) they dispatched someone within 2 hours. he was quick, helpful and courteous. very pleased.

Company overbooked service calls. Gave me a four hour window. Plumber came at the very last minute during the four hour window. Showed him running toilet. He said he should be able to fix it. Showed him two dripping faucets. One he said it was normal since it was a goose neck style, which dripped a little after faucet was turned off. Said he didn't have parts for the second faucet since it was a type they normally didn't stock in their trucks. Showed him slow moving drain. Said it would be cheaper to call the rescue-rooter part of their company. I asked the price of fixing the toilets since I was originally told that they worked by the job, not by the hour. He said price to rebuild tank was $221.50 for each toilet. I said to go ahead with the worst one. It took him about 20 minutes to rebuild tank. I was furious since I thought this was a BIG job. At this price the company was charging over four hundred dollars an hour. The problem was corrected, but I have no intention of ever using this company again. I should have been able to have all problems fixed for this price.

The plumber arrived on time and was knowledgable about how to solve the problem but the cost was considered excessive as it was almost three times the cost of installation of the entire Auto Circ system about a year earlier by a private plumber

I feel as though no matter when I call them they never have a problem. They are clean and courteous. They are prompt as well. They always have someone follow up to make sure that they had performed their job in a satisfactory manner.

They were fine. I did have one little problem with the installation. The wiring was not done properly, but they came back out to fix problem quickly. It was a fire hazard and they took care of it as soon as possible.

Brad the technician that came out did a good job with the work. He was also polite and courteous.

I was very pleased with them. They were very professional. I was dealing with another for many years. I changed to ARS because I liked them so much. They charge market prices.

There were a couple issues during the installation?they made a mess that they did not clean up, and they did not fine-tune the air conditioning unit when they installed it. Someone else came out 6 months later to fine-tune the unit, and I therefore went 6 months without it operating at maximum efficiency. The unit does work, however, and I was generally happy with them overall.

They had same day service, they honored AL coupon and did an excellent install.

We were unhappy with their service overall. It seemed like every time they came out there was another problem. The prices were high, and we had more problems with them than we should have. We do not plan to renew when our contract expires.

They came out and did a diagnostic on an old water heater that was not working properly, and that cost $250 but did not solve the problem. A new water heater would cost $1000, so I was irritated that I had just spent that on a diagnostic. I called them and they very graciously applied that toward the purchase and installation of the new water heater. I was very pleased. They even came out late in the evening for no extra charge so we would not have to take cold showers in the morning.

Furnace was starting to inconsistently heat the house. Contacted ARS to schedule a cleaning, then called back to get immediate service because the heat was not working at all. They were to arrive between 2pm - 3pm, but called at 12:30pm to report someone was on the way. While I personally praise ARS for this advanced punctuality, some people may be annoyed by the over promptness if they're away from their house. When the technician arrived, he evaluated the furnace and agreed a cleaning should resolve the issue. He took care of business and the heat has been working ever since. Back in the fall, I was being cheap and didn't renew my service agreement. I'm now back to being a believer in paying for the service plan that includes a heating and A/C maintenance each year. Especially since the furnace is getting up there in age. If you have one emergency service call, you have almost paid for the service agreement without getting one. Additional comment, when I called, the phone representative asked me the same questions repeatedly. I wanted to tell her to take a moment to get a pen. I'm not sure if they were having computer issues or what. All that said, I would call them again (and repeat myself, if necessary).

They cut the pipe, put a connector on it and that did not work. Then a couple more plumbers came out and cut the pipe and that did not work. Then a couple days later I noticed water under the house and they finally got someone out and they got it right.

They maintain the air conditioner and boiler twice a year. Everything has been just fine.

They were very professional and willing to explain what was wrong and how things worked.

Very prompt, very professional and polite, and covered under warranty.

When we got tired of not using the upstairs toilet due to it's not flushing appropriately, we called ARS to come repair it if possible. To our surprise, a technician would be able to come that afternoon-GREAT! The office called us before he arrived, and he was at the door soon there after. He took a good look at it and said he could repair it and gave us an estimate. He also gave us an estimate for replacing it and what type he would recommend as far as a good, dependable performer. We decided to go for the repair at this time. He did the job and cleaned up after himself very nicely. While paying the bill we asked for his opinion on water softeners, and he very kindly gave us a very knowledgeable answer, AND the toilet is now flushing incredibly well for its age.

Sam was prompt and efficient. He found a solution for my leaky bathroom faucets that has eluded other plumbers. He had the work done quickly and even ran out to get parts in the snow. He also diagnosed a couple of other critical repairs that will be needed. I'll have them back soon.

Even when it's this cold we don't get static electricity! You can adjust the humidity through the thermostat.

The basic customer service was fine and the price was standard. He came up with several things that needed to be repaired and I thought the parts were over priced because, I was able to get the parts for a lot less by going to another company. I was upset about the price he wanted to charge me.

The office staff were very courteous. For such a stressful time, being without water, the serviceman was most courteous and offered hints for the future.

I had to have the supervisor out to look at the pipes with a camera. They explained to me that I needed to have them out to fix it, and during that time move into a hotel. They quoted 5-7 days to get the job done. However they finished in 2 days. I stayed at the hotel and got up every morning to turn the alarm off and on. I also found out that they had opened a window and tore the screen and didn't let me know. They never put the screen back in and they never locked the window. Also I made the mistake of walking through the newly poured concrete. I tried my best to smooth the area myself, and asked them to fix the issue. They explained that it wasn't a big deal and that I would never notice. When another person from the company came out to install new carpet they said otherwise. I still feel an obvious drop in the floor where the mistake was made.