ARS / Rescue Rooter Laurel

Install went fine but since it was the middle of winter, the tech didn't test the AC unit. He told us to call him back when it was warmer and he would come back to test it. We were also told by the salesman that we would get a $500 rebate from BGE for the unit. I asked what paperwork we needed to submit and he said they would take care of all that but our check wouldn't arrive for a couple months. After a couple months, I called the company to check on the status of my rebate and they told me that salesman was no longer with the company, he never submitted our rebate, and the time for the rebate expired. I said I didn't see why I should be penalized for that. The manager said they would write me a check for $300 for the rebate. I told him it was $500 and I had the paperwork to prove it. I copied and emailed him the paperwork and I received a check for $300. I'm still waitin on the other $200 that the manager said he resubmitted. Then the weather warmed up and we turn on the AC on 5/27/14 to find its not working. We call the company on the "emergency" phone number and have to listen to a recording trying to sell us a cruise. You are forced to listen to the recording before it takes you to the menu. After hitting the button that supposedly lets you speak to someone, the recording goes on again asking if "you're sure you don't want to take advantage of this special offer." Then it disconnected us! So we had to call again and listen to the whole sales pitch again before speaking to someone! Very irritating to say the least. The repairman came 2 days later and found some poor wiring on part of the previous homeowner. He fixed the problem but then gave us a quote suggesting install of 2 surge protectors on the furnace and the AC unit costing $500-$600. Are you serious! After paying $7000 and still waiting on my rebate, they want me to give them another $600! Why didn't they suggest that during the sales pitch or the installation? Very unprofessional and I would never recommend this company.

I was really excited when I saw the deal. However, when I scheduled the appointment the girl told me it would be an additional $59 on top of what I had already paid.

Background: I purchased my house one year ago; it was a flip and had a brand new Nordyne HVAC system (heat pump) that was supposedly under warranty with the installing company (which was not ARS). The system broke immediately and the original installer would not honor his warranty, leaving us without AC during a brutally hot summer. Our home warranty would not cover the system, either, because it turns out it was incorrectly installed. After much arm-twisting, I got the original installer to replace the system. Unfortunately, the replacement was just as poorly installed as his original. He also allowed all of the refrigerant to leak out and improperly wired the system, leaving us with extraordinarily high heating bills over the winter. In April, we turned on the AC to test it and found it was not working. On a recommendation from a coworker, I called ARS. They sent Jonathan out immediately and he diagnosed the problem, fixed the system, and cut us a break on the cost of the refrigerant. He also provided very detailed notes about what he found and what he fixed. Unfortunately, about 3 weeks later, the system broke again. This time it was the coil that started leaking (not something Jonathan could have foreseen). Because we had already paid $1400 to fix the system and because ARS knew about our unfortunate circumstances with the original installer, ARS attempted to honor the original installer's warranty for us. ARS sent its head tech, John, who was wonderful. He did everything in his power to fix the system. He even took copies of all of my warranty documents and called Nordyne and the original installer on my behalf. He kept us well informed of everything ARS was doing to fix our system. As it turned out, the system was just not fixable. The originally installer made too many mistakes and too much damage had been done. We decided to get an estimate on replacing the system. ARS offered to credit us the $1400 we had already paid. They explained all of the available options. Their price was in line with our other estimate, plus they gave us the credit, plus they had worked so hard to help us out, so we decided to use ARS to replace our HVAC. ARS installed the system the very next day. We signed the contract in the afternoon and they were at our house the next morning. We can already feel the difference with this new HVAC system (a Carrier unit). Once again, ARS walked us through the entire process so we feel comfortable that this installation was done correctly. They pull the proper permits and will have a county inspector out to inspect our new unit in a week or so. The parts are warrantied for 10 years, with 5 years of labor, and they will come check the system twice a year. We had only one minor problem with ARS, and that was immediately resolved. The tech who was supposed to come out on a Sunday, when our system broke again and leaked all over our basement, had a miscommunication with the scheduling desk and did not show up. The corporate office intervened immediately, apologized, and prioritized our work as a show of good faith. The head technician also apologized (he was blameless). I have never had a company follow up so thoroughly to ensure that I was happy with the result. All of the technicians and installers have been wonderful. They show up within the allotted window, they call in advance, they wear shoe covers in the house so they don't track dirt around, and they've been great with our dogs. They are very professional, but also quite friendly. As for the cost, anything related to HVAC is expensive. I am giving ARS an A on pricing as they compare to other companies, and based on the quality of the products and work. Obviously I'd prefer to pay less, but not if it means getting a poorly installed inferior system. I hope that I don't have to see anyone from ARS for a while, but I would not hesitate to call them for future HVAC needs.

I had an appt for Friday 5/16/2014 but due to other homes and their failed AC units, my appt was changed to Monday 5/19/2014 between 2-6PM. I got a phone call at 8:51AM on 5/19 that a technician was already in my area and if they could come early. Steven Jones showed up, polite, professional and boots covered to begin work. Steven immediately began his inspection of my Unit and I felt like I was taking a class in HVAC. I learned about the compressor beginning to fail as he worked to replace it. I learned about the schematic of the lines as well as the pipes, power supply, fan and cleaning. I could go on with everything I learned, but that would leave nothing for you to learn. It was amazing to know the lengthy knowledge Steven. We even discussed the Mini Splits for the Ductless Unit. Amazing! I am NOT one to compliment as there have been very few technicians, in any field, to impress me. What a breath of fresh air to have such a respectful and high level of professionalism and customer service provided by Steven Jones. If this is what ARS Laurel is all about, I am happy to become a loyal customer. Thank you ARS Laurel and Steven Jones for the prompt, professional and awesome service. God bless, Linda Diaz

I purchased my coupon and made the appointment for two days later. I received a call later to tell me that they had an opening for the same day and so they were able to come out and take care of my problem right away. They were very responsive.

The technician could not explain to me why the same job (replacing the same rubber gasket on two identical tubs) cost so drastically different for each tub ($229 vs. $80). I totally felt like I was being scammed and told him the charges were outrageous. I can buy a tub gasket at Home Depot for $1.99! Obviously that did not work so well when I tried to do it myself, but $307 ($309-$100 credit + $49 service charge + $49 coupon) is really out of line to get a technician to do it. He called his supervisor and agreed to take off the $49 service charge. He did not budge on the price of the work so I told him not to do anything and I would call another plumber. We wanted me to be "happy" so he tightened the screw on the face plate of the overflow drain of the tub that I had already replaced the gasket. So bottom line....I paid $49 to tighten a screw (cost of Angie's List coupon)! I am not happy. I will not be calling ARS/ Rescue Rooter again!

They said they could come out next morning. Gave window 8am-1pm. Nobody came. I called them and they said they had been calling the wrong phone number. I asked them to come in the afternoon (1pm-5pm), and they did not come. I called back and it was an answering service and they said the phone number had been corrected. They said they would come this morning instead. Nobody showed up. They had a lot of excuses. They said they only had 1 technician in Virginia. I was disappointed because I had a 2 day window to get help and I missed the opportunity.

Their service is quick. I called them one day, the first time I used them they came out the same exact day, like in a couple of hours. The next time, they came the next day. Their response time is very quick.

The tech was polite and seemed knowledgable. He quickly verified what I suspected, that I had a refrigerant leak somewhere. I am now looking to replace my HVAC unit.

Service provider was very professional and courteous. Wore shoe covers while in the house, and carefully answered any questions i had during and after the repairs.

He did good. He was prompt. It was difficult to get through to him. I called the 866 call center number, and they even had trouble getting through to schedule the work. It wasn’t very helpful. He was efficient and everything was fine when he did come out. It was good that they got everything done the same day.

They came out to do a tune up on my HVAC and they were not able to because my water heater was broken.

When the technician told me there would be a $366 charge for what the coupon advertised as covered on the Big Deal price, I called the service provider and asked to speak to a supervisor. 50 minutes later after many phone calls between the technician and the supervisor, the technician told me he could not perform the service by his supervisor's instructions. The supervisor did not return my call. I called the company again and voiced my complaint. I believe that this Big Deal was false advertising on Angie's List. Both services requested were named in the printed coupon as included in the Big Deal. The provider instructed their technician to perform one 5 minute task and to refuse the second task. The technician was present for 50 minutes for phone calls with his company, far longer than the service delivery would have required. I believe the provider intended to collect an additional $366 for a service that was specified as covered in the coupon. I would not recommend this provider. I also will be hesitant to purchase any further Big Deals if false advertising such as this is permitted by Angie's List. I would appreciate hearing back some resolution on this misleading situation.

They agreed to show up as the first appointment of the day at 8 am, Friday 4/18/14. They never showed up, and after several calls, they finally responded and said that they had too much work to do. They rescheduled us for the first appointment of the day at 8 am on Monday 4/21/14. After 8 calls, they finally called back, we played some telephone tag, and a plumber finally showed up at 3:20 pm, and then said that their standard price to replace a 6-inch piece of copper pipe was $462 plus $59 for the visit. The coupon waived the service call charge, and gave a credit of $100 toward the job, which would still cost $362 for a half hour of work. I considered that to be outrageous, and after their incredibly poor service, I cancelled the job, which still cost me two full days of work. I would not recommend this company to anyone for any kind of job.

The price was not that good. The deal was not so much of a deal. He showed me how it was a discount but he didn't end up being a good deal. It would be a horrendous rip-off for that big deal. They're very punctual. They came earlier. They gave me an earlier time than they have originally promised, so that was good. The price was much higher than expected.

The system is super quiet and does a really good job. ARS did an amazing job and had everything completed within one day

I had 2 toilets that were out of commission. The plumber assigned to me was Quintin. One toilet had a straightforward problem, and the second was complicated. Quintin was knowledgeable, professional and personable. I could tell he was very skilled and he was happy to answer questions. It was quite a messy job, but he took great care as he was doing it and cleaned everything up when he was finished. I have had many plumbers to my home over the years, but this guy seriously is the best plumber I have ever dealt with. I hope I can request him the next time I need one. Highly recommend.

The installation was fine and handled in a timely manner. The pricing was better than other companies. We had two problems, one under warrenty and the other not. They did not let us know that our warrenty was running out. We did purchase an extended service plan. The major repair when the furnace was not heating took many days. At first the man who came did not know how to fix and was on the phone with the office for help for a number of hours. Although he said he was familiar with unit, he was not --- inexperienced. The next day another person still could not fix. Finally the top repairman came out and troubleshooted and repaired. A part had to be replaced. This repair took many hours. So I can only give a B rating --- other problems were handled efficiently and our contract includes 2 service inspections -- one fall, one spring.

They are an excellent company and very reliable and responsive. We also have ARS Rescue for our home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina so we used the company at both of our homes.

On April 2nd 2014, I arranged for ARS Rescue Rooter of Laurel to come out to diagnose and repair a leaky tub. This is my 3nd time using the company as the first and 2nd time was very pleasant and affordable. My 2nd time was last winter 2013. I had poor water pressure and long story short it totaled $278 with a military discount of 5% and a corporate website coupon of $100 off of a repair over $200 (original quote was 398.26). The savings was of my own accord. It was a medium size job approx 2 hour enter to exit. Poor water pressure turned into a replace of main ball valve and welded pipe fixed to a turn lever valve. Very reasonable for the price and service. Great Experience that time! My most recent (April2 2014) was a leaky tub like I mentioned above. It was quoted after 2 min of looking at my tub at $307.20 plus the 59.95 diagnostic fee (which it states on the website/but indeed was a dispatch fee as I was told by the supervisor. No free estimates here. The slip stated it was to ?rebuild? my delta tub/shower. I asked several questions before anything was signed or touched because the technician was difficult to understand and I wanted to know what he was doing exactly, the language barrier caused some confusion still honestly. I was still unsure of the complete job but I had a general understanding that work was going to be done. As I watched he proceeded and simply performed two quick actions. Removed the dial and unscrewed the cap screw and unscrewed the bolt that secures the stem. I explained those were new stems, springs, washers, (only 6 months old as they were replaced just after their last/ recent visit). Technician replaced them anyway. Job completed 10 to 15 minutes later. No more leaks which was good. I explained to the tech that charging me $367.15 for $10 in parts, 10 to 15 minutes in setup and clean up labor for the screwing of 2 items times two dials equaled that price? I was very dissatisfied! He stated it was corporate pricing and policy, out of his hands and that was the diagnosis going in. I eventually was able to speak to his supervisor in Laurel HQ and explained the situation. Supervisor only made excuses and reasons as to why the charge was so much and there was nothing he could do but offer 5% discount. As I mentioned I already had a 5% discount because of military and that I applied a $100 coupon on my own finding in which he then removed the offer as I was over using normal discounts the company offers. I received poor customer service and reasons that its corporate fault, and the charges are set to cover parts, labor, equipment, truck drive over, techs certification, and excellent trained expertise, etc. I explained skills and training are not requiring in screwing a few general screws and bolts. He urged me to call corporate as I insisted and guaranteed I would and demanded his name and identification as I wanted to speak to his superior. He gave me his supervisor name and number and said that I would only be able to reach him on Monday morning as it was currently Wednesday 630pm. I will be calling him amongst others. I was appalled at this price for service, the lack of hospitality and understanding by a dispatch supervisor. I was over charged and taken advantage of for a measly 10 to 15 min of work. I will continue to burden and negatively review corporate, on Angies list, yelp, Facebook, twitter etc about what an aweful experience I had with ARS Rescue Rooter urging services from any other company. It states on the corporate website the company stands by their exceptional service guarantee and that it ensures meeting every effort met and expectations satisfied, standing by their work. I am very dissatisfied with the service, repair and customer service of this company. You lost a 3 time customer. This is bollix and needs serious review. A very very unhappy dissatisfied customer.

Rob Sykes was very nice to deal with and very knowledgeable.

They were great and solved the problem. I had hired someone else who snaked it previously but it clogged up again. This time it was done right. Will definitely use them again.

I turned out well. He did the inspection and told me everything was fine. He did look at my furnace. I have used them before and they have always done a good job. I would use them again.

My experience with them was good. They only charged me the coupon and nothing extra. They showed me what was wrong with my plumbing. They were clean, professional dressed for a plumber. They were very knowledgeable. I will definitely use them again.

We were very happy that service technician John Q, plus Annie in ARS parts department. Both went over and above to locate the part needed for our 30-yr-old boiler and then modify it a bit to make it work. We were especially anxious because the weather was still cold (in March) and we were getting ready to leave town for 2 weeks. They clearly worked well as a team and Annie's communication made us feel confident that they would get it fixed in time -- and they did! Thank you!