ARS / Rescue Rooter Boston

I paid $135 for a technician to examine my 12 year old AC system and diagnose why it was not running. After a complete examination of all of the components he prepared a report that gave me 3 options. #1 was to replace and repair a circuit board for $1,775. #2 was a new system for $8,575. #3 was an upgraded new system for $9,175. He recommended not pursuing option #1 because "the system is old and it's t not to spend a lot on it". Since the costs were so high I had a second company look at it and did not tell them about the first estimate. The second company replaced the thermostat for $75 and the system now works perfectly. I called ARS back and told them that their technician was either inept or unethical and demanded my $135 fee back. They said they would look into it. I called 3 times and got the same "runaround" from the same person. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY. If I hadn't gotten a second opinion I would have wasted more than $8500 on a system I DID NOT NEED. And, I never got my fee back.

Job went very well. On time, as scheduled and for the price quoted. Service person had great socials - was pleasant and affable.

James L. showed up on time. He diagnosed the problem and gave me a thorough explanation. He walked me through how I could prevent related problems in the future. He gave me tips on the best and least expensive AC filters to purchase, and how to clean and maintain the system. I was very happy with his attitude and good customer service. I have had nothing but good experiences with this company.

It has taken me 2 years to write this review because I wanted to see if any issues came up to give an honest review. I am very happy with the service provided and the response time for Service. I initially called ARS in a panic. We already had a different contractor that we had been talking to for months. 1 week before the install date, this contractor said they couldn’t do the job. We risked losing a valuable rebate offer from Lennox which is why I called ARS. I talked to Linda, told her the situation I was in. She scrambled to find some contractors to perform the job before the rebate expired! They came as promised. There was a supervisor on site overseeing the work. The work took an extra 2 days because it was too hot (completely understandable). Getting central air is night and day difference. Any concerns I had, they came over next day and addressed the issues. Amazing customer service, great quality installment and cudos to Linda who I have not forgotten about. Linda and her team submitted the rebates for us also. Absolutely recommend and I don’t hesitate to call them again. Thank you!

Good. They were recommended by Home Depot. Called other places with mixed results of details or even quotes. Old boiler was dead; apparent circuit board fried. No heat, probably for a week or two, since its a seasonal house. Pros: - Fast. Called the first business day after contacting Home Depot. Came next day for estimate, day after that started the install. They appear to be flexible being a big business. - Reworked pipes from old install; the old placement was strange. - Navien, much smaller than old boiler, hung on the wall. Instant hot water. - Nest wifi thermostat and smoke / carbon monoxide detector, since house is seasonal, I can check remotely for operation and temperature. - Did not want payment before all issues resolved. I finally called them to pay. Didn't even make a deposit. Not at all pushy. Cons: - Expensive. I probably didn't need a 95% efficient unit for a seasonal house. That also gave a condensation pump the old boiler didn't have, one more thing to break. - After 2 full days of install, I needed 3 service calls to get wiring and settings correct. Circuit tripped, main zone didn't heat well, hot water didn't function if any zone was on; these all seemed like issues that shouldn't have happened. This was with 3 electricians, 2 plumbers, and finally the manager working. - Boiler and Nest thermostat are complex with lots of settings. I felt with the problems I had to understand them more than I would've expected. The Nest has a "learning mode" I had to turn off, as I was setting the temp up and down to figure out problems, it was trying to create a schedule. I figured it out, but wasn't warned about this.

ARS was great. There was a part that had stopped working and was easily replaced (not that we knew that at the time). Water stopped leaking into the garage which was a good thing. They also gave us a heater tune-up and everything else was working fine. ARS also takes care of our A/Cs so we've been very pleased with their work. We will continue to use them.

Con artist! Worst cold in 20 year in new England and they think they can hold you to ransom. Oil furnace broke first guy fixed problem said if it goes again its the pump ($300) on burner. Breaks again, call to order replacement pump. Another guy comes out No pump says he has to look at it again. This guy says its the pump and motor ($1000) Ok Please order it, another guy comes out No pump or Motor Says he has to look at burner ( its already a week with no heat) OK Says it the entire Burner (3,400) need to replace it. Ok please order it we are FREEZING. Yet another guy comes out has to look at furnace make sure there no cracks, says we need a new furnace and burner ($7,000) We are now two weeks in with no heat and theres a storm coming Shower of con artists, we had enough! called a local guy, came straight out, put on the pump and like magic the furnace works.($275) So spent two weeks freezing for no reason other then they wanted a large sale. Never Ever Again will i use these people. Reporting Company to the Attorney General for Exploiting customers and Guidance for compensation.

I’m not one to spend time writing product or service reviews, much as I appreciate the output of those who do, but I feel compelled to write this one in the spirit of offering some guidance. Let me state unequivocally, at the outset, that ARS was competent when both installing my Lennox gas-fired water boiler over seven years ago, and when replacing a part for it this past month. It is the latter job which is the basis for this review, although I now realize their pricing culture probably accounted, at least in part, for the very high cost of initial installation ($8,600). Despite my Lennox boiler having a 10-year warranty on parts and being only 7.5 years old, ARS told me the part needing replacement was no longer under warranty. As this part was highly integral to the boiler’s operation, I was skeptical, but they were adamant. So, I called Lennox Customer Service and was told ARS should file a warranty claim, so that the warranty question could be evaluated by Lennox. This sounded reasonable, so I asked ARS to do this (a simple and quick online procedure for them, as a licensed Lennox dealer). ARS refused to do so, saying “they never file warranty claims,” and tried to make excuses about it being futile because I hadn’t done “annual maintenance tune-ups” on my boiler. Nothing about such maintenance was even mentioned to me by Lennox Customer Service. Again, I called Lennox Customer Service, and they told me they always expected any of their licensed dealers at least to file a claim with them in such a case as this. Lennox Customer Service then transferred me to the Lennox Consumer Affairs Department, whereupon I spent over an hour and a half on the phone waiting to talk with that department’s representative. When finally reached, he immediately insisted that ARS should be filing a claim on my behalf, and he proactively called ARS to instruct them to do so. Moreover, he made no mention of any need for “annual maintenance” with respect to maintaining a valid warranty, and told me -- on the spot -- that the part was still under warranty coverage. ARS called me the next day, leaving a terse voicemail to the effect that the part was under warranty, after all. It’s obvious ARS wishes to avoid filing warranty claims whenever they can; they even said so explicitly to me, as already referenced. My guess is that they much prefer to “milk” their customer for a new part. I use the pejorative term of “milk” because ARS was going to charge me $690 for this new part even though Lennox Consumer Affairs told me (and I later confirmed by checking online with an HVAC parts supplier) that the part in question was available for $195. And that still would include the manufacturer’s warranty (in this case, from Honeywell, a subcontractor to Lennox), provided it is installed by a licensed technician. (Finally, I will also mention, as almost an afterthought, that ARS charged $270 for a mere 30 minutes of labor to replace the part. When I protested that this seemed high for so short a job, they simply stated it was their “flat-rate,” conceding only to throw in a $50 coupon. Of course, this followed everything I’ve already written about above, as well as the fact that the first replacement part they tried to install was defective, forcing me to wait without heat for almost another full week until the second replacement part could be shipped from Ohio.) The toxic pricing culture of ARS is why I’m writing this review, since it is often hard for a layperson like myself to ascertain how exploitative a service provider can be in a field like this. Perhaps other heating & A/C providers are just as bad; as for myself, I’ll try elsewhere in future. 10/22/17 Update: This review is already unusually long (to present a complete picture for fair evaluation by readers), but I wish to add the fact that ARS has been attempting to contact me since it was published. I don’t intend further communication because I was absolutely transparent with them as to my concerns throughout our couple of week engagement, and their response was never more than perfunctory. I think it should be evident why they now appear interested in my level of satisfaction. It’s for the reader to decide whether any comments they might make here in response to this review are trustworthy. All I can say is there’s nothing personal in what I’ve written, and my objective is only to help someone else avoid a similar experience or, more likely, not even know they’ve been treated in a similar fashion. I will also reiterate, for the record, that ARS does competent work. It is their pricing policy which is abusive, and takes advantage of the opaqueness inherent in this type of service.

I think they did an OK job of servicing my furnace, but they tried to sell me a $16000 furnace and it turns out I did not need it. The work they did was OK. They got right back to me.

They showed up on time and corrected the problem

Work was performed as agreed with Sales person / foreman. All questions were answered promptly. One communication incident was quickly handled by the foreman. We were the third house in our neighborhood to contract with them in the past year.

Offered to sell tune-up of both A/C and heating for $218 each or $358 for a service contract. Told them to check out both heating and A/C. Showed photo of cracked heat exchanger and found burned out capacitor in A/C unit and low refrigerant level in A/C. Offered complete repair job for over $3,000. Long story, short: Another reputable repair sevice replaced the capacitor and recharged the refrigerant for less than $900 and inspected the heat exchanger and found no crack. ARS seemed to upselling at every opportunity and even 'finding' a large expensive non-existent problem. Won't call them again.

Great Craig arrived on time and preformed the service in a timely manner

My roommate was there at the time and he did not say anything so I am guessing they came when they said.

We have been using ARS for a number of years and they have done a great job.

Good- explained the problem and replaced the valve. Said we would need a new faucet and we did.

Arrived on time. They were professional and called for a conformation of appointment.

Jim was great. To the point and friendly.

very well- the system was checked and parts replaced

fine. Quick and professional. Answered questions well. We have had them before.

They came when they said and performed the tune up. All good.

They were great - very patient, thorough, good value. They recommended a slightly less expensive system than the other vendors, which we appreciated.

There was one appointment where the sales person, Jamie, couldn't make it on time, but got in touch with me early enough that it did not affect my day and rescheduled for 2 hours later. Other than that everyone was on time or early and they were extremely professional even so far as asking if it was OK to play music while they were working. Obviously, I had no problem with this and they went about and did their work and I now have a new Lennox system that works perfectly and I can barely hear it, even out on my deck where the unit is right below me.

Great experience: - Service call with Dave was very informative. He is very professional. He walked me through the issues and recommendations/options I had, things to look for, etc... - Replacement of unit: Louis and Tom were just as professional and very friendly. They were on time, clean, non-intrusive, and humored the kids. They explained to me all the proper maintenance, helped with the paperwork for rebates, etc. Overall, although unexpected expense, a nice experience. ARS has always been my go-to for heat/AC and this can only reinforce my decision.

They were very good. They are usually very punctual. I am going to have them come in to service my air conditioning system.