ARS Rescue Rooter

excellent. see above. we now look forward to at least a further 17 years of efficient and reliable service from these new units.

We contacted them to start the basement HVAC work (and plumbing, see above) because this is a fairly new house (3 yrs) and they installed the original systems. We found their sales rep Mike to be pleasant, even punctual. He came at appointed time (Friday, 7:30 am.) and went over what we needed, then sat down with us and gave us what we considered a fairly reasonable price, if a little on the high end, even after a "discount." But he said they could start first thing Monday morning, and we agreed, since we really wanted to get our basement finished quickly. They were supposed to start at 7:30, so that they could meet the agreed time-frame for completing the work (no later than 2pm). They were supposed to send two 4-man teams to do the work, so that they could use one team upstairs and one down. They arrived at 9, with no apology, though my husband was waiting for them and needed to get to his own office. They brought half the men, and less than half the required materials. They had to return to get more supplies at least twice. My husband reminded them again (we'd confirmed with Mike when making the appointment) that they needed to be done with upstairs system no later than 2 because our three-year-old son needed his nap, and the attic pull-down is accessed via his room. They assured us that it would be no problem, since it shouldn't take that long. It was supposed to be a 90-degree day, and they wouldn’t want to be up in the attic any more than necessary. They took a lunch break at noon, promising to return in 30 min, giving no indication of their progress. I assumed, naively, that they wouldn't take such a break if they hadn't thought they'd be finished on time. My husband returned from his office (30-min drive) to check on progress, but was displeased to see that they weren't done with the upstairs level yet, and that they were using "flex" duct, not solid, given their price and the amount of time they were taking to do the work. He encouraged them to hurry with the upstairs, as the temperature was rising, and naptime loomed. They again assured us they'd be done, though it might take just a bit longer. We tried to be reasonable, and gave them an extra hour. At 3pm, my husband asked for a status update. They then told us it would be at least another 2-3 hours. We were furious, asked what was taking so long, and why they could not finish on time. They shrugged and told us things take as long as they take. They finally cleared out of the attic at 5pm, three hours after their original promised "I can't imagine it taking that long" deadline. The upstairs was now eighty degrees, and slightly warmer in my son's room, since they'd had the attic stairs open all day. They told us the upstairs system was ready to go and working fine. Except it wasn't. When I took my son up--along with a fan to try to make it slightly more comfortable for him--two of their men appeared and said they needed to get back into the attic to fix something. I refused, and told them they could wait until my little boy had gotten his nap. My son was exhausted by then, and was able to sleep, fitfully, for just over an hour (he usually gets 2+), while they continued to bang away in the basement. Obviously they had a very nice time, because their voices, and frequent laughter, carried quite well upstairs. My husband had returned to work again once my son was napping, because he had deadlines himself, and much of his current project required computer programs only available on his office computer. He is a mechanical engineer with a very strong work ethic, and the casual attitude of these "service" providers frustrated him greatly. In addition, the need to keep supervising their progress took the bulk of his day, at great cost to his own work. He warned the workers to finish quickly and quietly, so their noise wouldn't wake our son, or upset me any further, as I was five months pregnant and very angry already by the whole situation. When my son woke, I went downstairs to ask about their progress. They said it wouldn't be more than another hour or two, and that the upstairs would just take a few minutes, once my son was done napping. Their tone was rude and accusatory, as if it was my kid's fault that they couldn't finish their work. Well past furious by this point, I asked if this time estimate was in real time, or the same kind of "time" they'd been estimating all day. They swore to be finished within this time frame. It was now 6:30 pm! Half an hour, and several trips up and down the stairs finally seemed to have done the trick to finish the upstairs. Just before 8, one of the men (I can only assume he drew the short straw to deal with the angry pregnant woman) finally appeared to tell me they were done. He demonstrated the use of the new consoles, which were nearly identical to our old ones, and I disliked the condescension in his remedial-level "how to turn on the air conditioning" tutorial. They had already preset them to cool at 76 degrees and heat at 73, not our comfort zones, but I figured that was easy enough to fix. They had also, without asking, programmed them with time settings (a handy feature if you are gone much of the day. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so this is useless). After they finally left, my husband and I had to reprogram each unit. The man did actually "apologize" that the day had been so frustrating. "Mondays are hard for us," he told me. (In a tone that implied that we were to blame for scheduling on such a day, silly us!) They "don't know what their schedule will be when the sales guys make appointments over the weekend." Apparently 8am on Friday is too far into their weekend to be able to plan, and their workers are so conscientious that they arrive whenever they please. I told him that while I sympathized with their management and personnel problems, it wasn't my fault, and if they can't meet their obligations, they shouldn't make them. He told me that the sales guys make the appointments and that they can't be responsible for what the sales guys promise. I suggested that again, it wasn't my problem, but that they should teach their sales reps what they may and may not promise their clients. Then he told that he "wouldn't take the blame" because the supply guys screwed up, and they didn't get the parts they needed, despite the fact that they brought most of it themselves. He said it was hard for their crew to work in the attic all day since it was so hot. (Again the accusatory tone, as if I'd personally arranged the weather!) I pointed out that I hadn't exactly been comfortable in the heat myself since I'm pregnant--visibly pregnant, by the way--and he expressed astonishment, as if he hadn't been told by my husband, or was half-blind. I also pointed out that they were reminded several times to start upstairs and finish quickly, as well as the fact that the day's temps had been predicted for several days by weather reports, and perhaps they should have planned better. Then he went back to his original argument, that they can't predict their Monday schedules, etc. I was ready to scream with frustration, but decided to save my breath, since it would obviously be wasted on him. The systems are working, and they did complete the work in one day, albeit nearly twice the original time estimate. We are very glad we signed a contract ahead of time for the pricing, because if we were paying them by the hour we'd be broke. I've read other reviews for them, and unless they behave in a spectacularly different manner on every other job, I can't imagine how they've ever managed more than a "C" rating, and even that seems generous. For a service provider, they don't grasp the meaning of customer service. Their employees do not take personal responsibility for their work, nor do they seem to understand that, as representatives of their company, they should. Their sales reps do not communicate effectively with their workers, and the workmen do not listen to basic instructions, even when they are given repeatedly. 2 ½ wks after this horrid experience, they called with an automated message to ask if we were satisfied. I said no, and that we would not use them again. The next day, a “customer service” rep called to ask about our experience with them, saying their automated call had said we weren’t entirely pleased with their service. I said of course not, and relayed a bit of our experience. She was apologetic, but said she had not heard of any complaint. Yet again, total communications incompetence, despite having relayed REPEATEDLY to their rep, Mike, how thoroughly disgusted we were with the whole thing. (Mike took two days after the original problem to return my husband’s call, and they played phone tag for days, never actually connecting.) I was further annoyed when less than ten minutes later, their “manager” called to discuss our situation. Yet again, total ignorance of any problem, to the point of demanding the names of the men who had done the work, and to whom we had complained. I said I did not know their names, but that we had made it very clear to each one of their men who’d been there that day that we were very angry. Again he asked which employees. I told him I was finished having the discussion and to speak with my husband. The experience was stressful enough without having to keep rehashing it. Bottom line: use someone else. I don't know about the work of their plumbers, but given their discourteous phone behavior and the company's management problems, I can't imagine they're any more efficient.

They determined that it had taken a while for the issue to resolve from the service the day before. the issue was resolved. they ensured that it would not happen again and provided biological drain cleaner. No charge for visit. Service man was professional, personable and reliable.

They do a really nice job. I have been using them for a while. I have always had a good experience with them. They were really prompt, and they finished in record time. I felt that I definitely got a great deal on the equipment that they installed. It was of great quality. Also they are very friendly to work with.

LB project manager provided a detailed inspection on my current HVAC system and provided a detailed quote, including photos of item needing repair or replacement. LB spent over 2 hours just in the quoting process and answered every question or concerns I had. Upon my approval, LB contacted ARS management to authorize a Saturday installation which was approved on the spot. The 6 ARS installation technicians arrived Saturday morning and they worked till after 6pm until all work was completed. Although, its been only a few days from the installation, my family and I are very happy with our new system and ARS's professionalism of doing everything and then some which you don't find in a company everyday.

Our upstairs, especially on the coldest days, was 10-15 degrees hotter than the downstairs. We tried everything from closing vents to getting new insulation but nothing really mattered. So I used my American Home Shield warranty to hopefully investigate and they put me in touch with ARS. The one thing I didn't like is that my appointment window was from 12-6. However, I asked them to give me the last appointment so the repair person didn't come until after 6 which was nice. They were supposed to call when they were 30-45 minutes away but he just showed up. He told me that the dampers that controlled the heat were probably broken but didn't seem to do too much investigation for other possible reasons. He didn't know if the warranty would cover it or how much ARS would charge otherwise but would call me before lunch the next day. He did not call so I called at 4. He said he would call back in 10 minutes but it was closer to an hour. The warranty would not cover it so it would be $244. After talking about it with my wife, we decided to try. I made an appointment for the next day. At 5:30 I called to see where he was and was told he would be there shortly. At 6:30, ARS called to say that he had forgotten to put the equipment on the truck so would have to reschedule. That made me upset. First of all, she didn't appologize. Second, I was off that day and any other time would be inconvienent for me. Up to that point, everyone I talked to at ARS couldn't be nicer. So he came the following day but didn't apologize. (Didn't get a call either that he was on the way over.) But he replaced the part relatively quickly. After 5 days, it seems like the job worked. Very little air is coming upstairs (what we wanted). So instead of 10-15 degrees warmer, usually 6-7. Hoping it is a long-term fix.

After plumber was done he told me that the 2 bathroom sinks drained fine unless used at the same time. I said as long as when you fill one sink then drain it it does not back up in the other sink that was fine. We tried it and it still backed up. More pipe cleaning and then it all worked fine. After he was gone we noticed that the toilet in the master bath did not fill the bowl correctly after flushing. This was a new problem just since he had had checked the toilet. Found the fill pipe had been knocked loose while he was in the back of the toilet. I am pretty handy so I fixed that. There was terrible black ick mess under the sink vanity in the bathroom and in the kitchen sink also that he did not clean up. Then I walked outside and saw his discarded blue latex gloves on the roof where he had been working. Nice guy and seemed professional to talk to but for $500 I expect them to clean up after themselves and do not expect them to create a plumbing problem that was not there before, If I had not found it it would have meant calling the plumber back out to fix. I will never call this company again!

AC capacitor in the condensor unit was the culprit. They charged $99 just to come out and I had no choice but to go with their estimate of $240 to replace the capacitor since I was already paying the $99 and the outside temp today is 100 degrees! It took the guy 10 minutes to replace the $40 capacitor and 20 minutes to write up the bill totalling $341!! I had a coupon printed from the web for $50 off and he refused to accept a printed coupon

Excellent .. on time, very specific on what needed to be fixed, did it quickly plus more. Great job

Exceptional. i could not believe that they could do this much work in a single day and not be intrusive and not have left any sign of being in the home except for a new working system. Our heat pump went out on Saturday they replaced the system on Tuesday. The crew was exceptional no mess, no damage, no problems. Just did the job in the most professional manner I have experienced in 20 years of living in this house. This is the second system I have had them replace, the first was great this was exceptional. The service is more than worth the price. I would highly recommend this company to do any work around your home.

The salesman arrived on time which I very much appreciated. He provided me with an estimate to replace the air conditioning unit. As part of the verbal discussion regarding proposed work, he recommended an "add on" which amounted to over $2000. I declined the "add on." He wrote up a proposal for me to review/sign. He also tried to pressure me into signing the proposal and scheduling a date to do the work. After reviewing the proposal, I noticed that the $2000 "add on" was included on the written proposal. When I questioned him about this, he said it was included just in case I changed my mind. I am not certain what would have happened if I signed the proposal as provided to me. I think the "add on" that I had verbally declined would have been installed and I would have been charged for an additional $2000. I believe this is incredibly unethical and he was trying to take advantage of me. I highly recommend looking at other companies to do your work.

He came and did it quickly. The cost was the stadard set rate.

My upstairs toilet was leaking and causing water marks on the ceiling downstairs. I called ARS to have someone come look at it. I was charged a $79 diagnostic fee which I was told would be applied to the final bill. I was told that the toilet was cracked and that was causing the leak, however the flange was also below the floor and had a crack in it that needed to be repaired. Rather than doing a major repair, the technician said he knew of an easier, more affordable way to repair the flange. I was quoted $252 for the toilet replacement if I provided my own toilet and the repair for the flange was not known at the time. He was unable to do the repairs until 2 days later, when he called back and said it would be a $197 to fix the flange. I was still under the impression that this would be an extensive repair and was shocked to learn that it involved two pieces of material that can be purchased for $3 (flange spacer) and $5 (flange repair bracket) at Lowe's. I had already agreed to the repair, which including the toilet replacement only took 2.5 hrs. I had a $30 coupon and ended up being charged a total of $414 in addition to the $79 diagnostic fee which was supposed to have been deducted from the price. It took several weeks to finally receive the refund for the $79 diagnostic fee, but am outraged by the price they charged for the repair. It took approx. 20 minutes, if that, and was not a service quoted in their price list. The cost should have been much more reasonable max. $100, but really not more than maybe $50. While the technician was very friendly and professional and had no say over the price that his boss quoted, I will never be using ARS again. Their prices are highway robbery and take advantage of people.

The experience was good. They came out and did the estimate. They were timely.

Called for appointment to get our Air conditioners and furnaces serviced. ARS offered a maintenance contract for two visits in one year. We accepted. The repair man came and glanced at the AC units and said he would have a sales person come over. He went on to the furnaces and claimed he cleaned them and thoroughly inspected them. He left leaving a report that says the furnaces have been cleaned and serviced, and ready for service. The sales person came and did a survey, and explained his recommendations. He suggested replacing the A/C compressor, entire unit, or, entire system. Due to the price, we decided to get another opinion, which we did the following day. The second company did the same service free of charge. ( I will rate this company here_after) However, the second technician discovered a gas leak on the second floor, and immediately turned off the gas. He also called his superior. He came right over, and we went over our options. Before the night was over, we purchased two complete new units. These units have been installed in a timely manner and working beyond my expectations. I have since written ARS, canceling the balance of the service contract, and requesting a refund. I believe that if they performed the work as agreed, they should have known there was a gas leak on the second floor. I think the responsible thing would have been to call me and talk out an acceptable compromise.

We have a service contract with ARS for our air conditioning unit. Our realtor suggested we contact this company as they are prompt in emergencies. I contacted them when our water heater was not putting out any hot water. We had tripped the fuse, and just wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with the unit itself. We had to leave town, so they offered to come the day we got back, which they did. They came out, inspected the unit, found no damage and did not charge us for this service. They were courteous and professional, and I will call them any time I need assistance for a real problem. This was mostly a courtesy call, and much appreciated. Although I do not expect them to come out for free, I think because we have a service contract on our air conditioner they considered us a customer and did not charge the normal service fee. I offered a tip and it was refused. This is amazing service, and something one would expect, but rarely find. The service contract we have with this company enables me to feel secure if there is another incident and well worth the money spent.

If anything goes wrong, they will come and repair it. We have used them for many years and like them. One time, they sent a new technician who was inexperienced. He couldn't figure out the problem we were having; it was a difficult problem. The next day, they sent their most experienced person, and he figured it out.

this company is the one my local home depot uses for HVAC services. i was assured by the in-store home depot trane salesman that there would be no high-pressure sales tactics. the ARS estimator did show up puntually and acted professionally initially. he took time to look around inside and out, so i felt he gave us a fair estimate. however when i mentioned that he was the 1st of 3 companies i was getting estimates from, he started the high pressure 'schedule now to get the best deal' tactics. he used one of those PTT nextel phones to call some other rep and was able to get me a 'special scheduling' discount if i would schedule the install for one of the next few days. i assured him i would decide quickly once i had my estimates in the next few days, but he was visibly disappointed i didn't commit right then. what irritated me the most is that i could overhear the rep on the other end of that nextel phone call state that i had through the NEXT WEEK to schedule install and receive the 'special pricing'. that made me feel very leary of using this guy. so we didn't.

They gave an estimate and stayed within the estimate. The work was done in the beginning of May this year. My husband was impressed with their attention to detail. The whole procedure went as well as one could possibly expect. They showed up at the time they said they would. They cleaned up after themselves and disposed off the old system which was eighteen years old. We see a significant improvement in our energy bill following the installation of the new system.

This plumbing service is one that I will use again for the various ways a good service business takes care of its customers. I recommend ARS highly.

Excellent, fixed two drains and installed shower head and control valve.

They were prompt and courteous from the moment the service rep first came out to the moment they were finished. They left everything as clean as they found it.

The company sent a technician to repair an older heating unit that would not come on. He said the card was bad and replaced it, but it didn't solve the problem. After he replaced the igniter, which was bad, the heater worked. (He charged me for both the card and the igniter.) I asked for the card back after he installed the igniter, and he retrieved it from his truck, saying that it didn't work. I removed the new one and installed the "broken" one back. It worked fine until the unit was replaced a year later.

Since I have a home warranty, I did not have a choice with ARS. I called on a Thursday but they didn't have an appointment until Monday afternoon. That was the only negative. The plumber was professional and seemed to do a good job. I will definitely consider them when I need work done that's not under the warranty.

I called ARS and they would not give me an estimate, and the lady was very insistent there was no such thing as a "standard charge for a drain clean out" (I'm 30' from the curb, yard accessible clean out, cast iron pipe, not rocket science folks...) Then, I submitted a service request from an on line service comparison company, and another person from ARS called me and gave me a quote with the identical behavior. Disgusting behavior of a company who lies to their customers with such devious practices. Avoid at all costs because there cost was 2x what I ended up paying. See my other reviews to see who I ended up going with.