ARS / Rescue Rooter Austin

I called ARS for a bid for a new A/C unit because another company told us our compressor was shot. ARS looked at the problem and suggested that we could get away with just replacing the fan for now, saving us at least $4,000, probably more.

We have a service contract with ARS which is very reasonably priced. We have never had anything but highly professional and knowledgeable service people. They are always careful to not to make a mess and to clean up if they do. They normally have the required parts stocked in their truck. ARS's prices are competitive with other service providers.

In the beginning of the year (2013) I signed up with a check up plan for AC/heating and plumbing. I had previously used ARS to replace air conditioners (combined value is 20,000.00) and a new water heater. The work they had done on those was good and I have used ARS in Austin for other issues which they did a good job on. The problem with this check-up plan was that I could not get them to come out to do it. They always had some excuse to not come. In the spring , for the AC check up , I had to call 3 times and finally got to a supervisor who got them to come out.This was after I had to tell them that my time is valuable too and that me hanging around for 3 days till they get their act together is just poor taste. This last time it was a check up for my furnace and plumbing. Again , they had told me between 9 and 1. By 1:30 pm I had not heard anything from them. It took me 3 calls to get to someone who kinda listened . When I got to the 3rd person (customer relations), I told them they basically took my money and did not provide me with the service I paid for which made them thieves in my eyes.I told them that this was the second time now that they gave me the run around. I also told them that now a days the internet is a powerful tool. Lo and behold , all at once, they did have people available to do the services. It is a shame I was treated this way for something as simple as a check up/service plan as I do think that they do good work. That is why I have used them in the past. This experience left me with quite the bad taste in my mouth that I don't think I will use them for any more work in the future.

Fixed 2 leaking toilets. One needed a new flapper & chain, the other a new handle. The toilets leaks were fixed called back a week or so later becauser one of the toilets was flushing too slowly. The first appointment, the technician arrived at scheduled time. The second appointment, we had to call dispatcher several times, before technician arrived 3 hours later than expected due to geographic distance between appointments and traffic. After his arrival, the toilet was quickly fixed at no charge.

Having just moved here when we experienced a clogged drain in our sink we were not sure who to call that would be honest and do a good job for us. I had heard several ads for ARS and at they time they were running a $66.00 drain cleaning/diognostic special. I gave my husband the number and had him give them call. They were able to come out right away and showed up pretty much right on time...so far so good...They diagnosed the issue as a clogged line pretty quickly and set about taking care of the problem. My husband said they were polite and worked quickly. When it came time to pay my husband was asked if we had any coupons to which his reply was "no". So they charged him $175.00. Unfortunately I was not there to explain that while we did not have a coupon we did in fact hear the $66.00 deal being advertised on the radio. When I found out what we had been charged and i explained to my husband what we should have been charged he immediately called them and explained what had happened and asked if they would be willing to honor the deal we had heard on the radio. He was given a number of someone to call which he did and he left a message explaining what had happened. A day or so later he got a message back that basically said "Sorry nothing we can do. You didn't say anything about having a coupon at the time of service". REALLY? You refuse you honor your own radio ad? How can we present you with a coupon that we don't have? We called you based of off a radio promotion.... This is a VERY SHADY way to conduct your business. When running an ad on the radio it should be honored WITHOUT the customer having to request it. This is HORRIBLE and DISHONEST customer service. They are now running a $77.00 ad and every time I hear the ad I get very angry about all the other honest and hardworking people they will swindle. My husband is an Army vet as well as a police officer and works very hard to serve his community unlike this dishonest business. You can believe I will be telling everyone I know and that my husband will get to know in his job as a police officer to STAY AWAY from ARS.

The annual fee is around $260 for 2 units. They installed 2 AC units in successive years; last summer and a summer before that. I was very impressive with the professionalism, the sales guy and just the folks over here that did the installation. Overall I was very impressed. The service folks who came over for the service contract were again very professional. I am very happy with those guys. On price, I think I probably could have got it cheaper.

Technician was professional and thorough. Made a few minor replacement of items. Provided final report. Was very pleased with the technician and the service that he provided.

We have used this company several times over the years. They are on time, professional, and do good work. While they charge slightly more than independent companies, they have provided us with a variety of work done well.

I noticed a "rumbling" noise when my upstairs air conditioner was running. It sounded like a dump truck was idling outside the house, but I could only hear it from the two rooms directly below the air conditioner. I assumed that the bearings on the main blower motor were going bad, so I called ARS to have my pre-paid "spring air conditioner tune-up" a little early and told them I wanted the fan checked out. The technician they sent out had been to my house before and he had been very helpful in telling me how to adjust the air conditioning ducts to get better cooling to my bedroom and how to repair a condensation drainage line that had broken off at an exterior brick wall. He had a trainee with him, which was a good thing because it took two people to pull enough parts out of the way to get to the blower "squirrel cage". I told him that I thought the bearings might be going bad. He admitted that this was a possibility, but in his experience it was more frequently caused by debris in the "squirrel cage" fan. After pulling off the covers and removing the rigid exhaust pipe, there was just barely enough room to stick a hand into the fan cage. After a bit of rotating, the trainee felt something stuck in the fan and pulled out a piece of pink fiberglass insulation about the size of a baked potato. This must have been working its way through the ductwork since some additional intake ducts were added about 6 years before. They turned the fan back on and the rumbling was completely gone (and has not returned in the six months since the service). The price I paid was just for the service work, since the service call and tune-up were pre-paid. I am always pleased when a repair service has the integrity to find an inexpensive fix when the customer is already expecting to have to pay for a much more expensive repair.

We called them out to repair an outdoor shower, and the plumber spent 2 days completely dismantling the shower, attempting to put it together and basically left it in a state of disarray. We had to call them again, and we told them that we didn't want that plumber, because he didn't know what he was doing. He was friendly enough, but he just wasn't qualified to do the job. They sent out another plumber, who said that he didn't know what the first guy was doing, and this was not the issue. He said that a part was required and went away, but unfortunately, we were in the transition part of the move, but we wanted to have this taken care of for the new owners of the home. I followed up a week later, to ask, and they said that they had ordered and it was on it's way. I followed up after 2 weeks and didn't get any response from anybody, spoke to them, spoke to the manager, spoke to Larry - the plumber directly. They left the shower in such a way, that any other plumber coming, in would not know what to do and what the set up was. We had to call a completely different company. I thought I would go with a big company instead of a local company which would be a one man shop, but it turned out the opposite. I tell everybody I know in Austin to not use them. I also gave the owners of the new home the numbers to call and they tried but no one called them back. They never invoiced me for the work. I later found out that the things he was repairing didn't need to be repaired.

I would lable them either incompetent or dishonest or both. Within 3 months, my ceiling crashed in due to the condesate drain being blocked, about $4,500 dollars of water damage. ARS said they checked the condensate drain, but they also said they checked and cleaned the outdoor units. Another air conditioning company told us the outdoor units had likely never been cleaned in close to 15 years. Even if ARS had checked the condesate drain, it turns out the next reducancy for a blocked water drain is the drain pan, which was rusted through, and the secondary drain. Whoops! There was no mention of that. And the reduncancy after that is the pan shut-off switch which was rusted and inoperable. Whoops! Nor was there any mention of this problem. This is really basic stuff that ARS missed. Basic stuff that was missed, or ignored, which caused water to crash through our ceiling upstairs. New sheet rock, a new mattress, new linens due to rust stains, and a new paint job for the room totaled about $4,500 in damages. I have run the gauntlet with ARS speaking and writing repeatedly to their Memphis office, which handles complaints, with no success. I suspect this division of Home Depot will someday come to haunt them. If a firm cannot get the basics right and stand behind its work, you should avoid them at all costs.

The service was great. I have used them before and they have always done a good job.

They did not end up unplugging the drain and left the whole drain undone. I would not recommend them.

My air conditioner compressor stopped working on Friday night. I contacted ARS on Saturday morning because I have a service agreement that I pay monthly in the amount of $14.00. I have had the agreement for over two years (maybe more). The amount is automatically drafted from my account each month. When I called ARS, the person who answered told me the service agreement had expired. When I purchased the agreement, I was told it was for both plumbing and airconditioning/heating; that it was a month to month deal with no expiration unless I cancelled. And the usual draft was taken from my account on 6/17/13. The ARS rep also told me the agreement was just for the air conditioning. So, after discussion, I was transferred to someone who told me their computers were not communicating and I did indeed have the monthly service agreement in effect, and for air conditioning only. The previous person waived the service fee based on me insisting I had the agreement--needed to get that in because it was a positive. When the work was done, I had to tell the technician that I did not owe a service fee because I had the agreement. He readily removed the charge, but I don't understand why that was not noted on the work order after my extensive communication with the ARS reps. So I will have to contact ARS Monday so they can credit the discount back to me.NOW, THE POSITIVE NEWS. I had a window of 12-4 for the technician to arrive. He got to my home before 1:00 p.m., and promptly diagnosed and repaired the problem. He was courteous, professional, and friendly. The whole visit was less than half an hour from beginning to end. It was a $238.00 charge, and I expect 10% (service agreement discount) to be credited back to me. The snafu about the agreement and not getting my discount aside, I am very pleased with the service received from ARS. Unless there is a hassle about receiving the discount I am entitled to, I expect to continue doing business with this company. The service experience itself was very positive.

They always find an added expense. He replaced a coil last winter and took the part with him, which I thought should have stayed with the homeowner. They seem very over-priced. I have decided not to use them anymore.

They were excellent and very nice. I thought they were also considerate.

It was okay. I never knew who is coming when there is a service call with them, so I switched to another company that has the same service tech. I also found them too expensive.

They came out promptly and did all they were supposed to. However, they were unable to find the problem.

I have used them for a long time and would recommend them highly.

I had a good experience with them. They are reliable, reasonably priced and I trust them.

I called for service about 7:15pm Saturday evening. They advertise 24 hour and weekend service. The woman I spoke with said she would put in a request for service at 7:30pm that evening, but that it may take a little longer. I asked if they would be very late, and she reassured me that the person would just finish up another job and be over soon. They never showed up. The next morning I called again. There was a mix-up in phone numbers and although I gave my correct name and phone number both calls, they kept trying to use the wrong name and number. Finally, they sent a service person out around 9:45am. He said he was on call the previous night, but was just too tired to show up. He could not locate access to the sewer line and explained that he would have to remove the toilet to get the job done. He wrote up a clear detailed estimate (using the wrong name and phone number) and I corrected it and accepted it. He checked to make sure that the line was still backed up and then set to work. He had some trouble figuring out how to remove the toilet--It was a fairly new model, and I downloaded instructions for him from the internet. He cleared the drain in a reasonable time. He did a messy job of reinstalling the toilet. There were leveling objects sticking out from the base which I asked him to trim off. But they still protruded when he left. The caulk was very messy and spread onto the tile floor. His hands and the floor were dirty so the caulk ended up being streaked with dirt in places. The people I spoke with on the phone were courteous, but could not handle a simple change of name and phone number for my address. The plumber was a nice young fellow--courteous and respectful throughout, but did not do a first rate job.

We have used them for years. They are very effective. I have also used them for various others things around the home.

The plumber was lazy and poorly tranied. He tried to pass a very large drain snake with a claw at the end into a kitchen sink drain that was too small. Ended up breaking through a pipe and saying 'oh well, now there's water damage'. Another plumber arrived from ARS with the 'camera' that could not fit down the pipe. Excavation was recommended and an estimate for $12,000 was given. Called another plumber out to evaluate and they passed a smaller sink drain with no problem- guess what? No excavation needed. I could have saved $$ and time (and stress) by NOT calling ARS to begin with- HORRIBLE!

Excellent service. I would recommend highly. Price was competitive, repair person was professional and knowledgeable. Great experience.

I would like to commend this technician for quick thinking, great problem solving skills, as well as excellent customer service! He was professional, got the job done quickly and efficiently, and I felt like he went above and beyond what was expected for this service call.