ARS / Rescue Rooter Austin

It went well. They did a good job. They fixed the problem which matters most in the end.

They were great. It took them several hours. There were two installers to come to my house. I have had them out here for a number of things. No problems with there service.

Fine. Very good. Everything was good. They do good work

Set up an appointment through Home Depot to provide an estimate for installing a gas water heater. I was to be contacted on March 7th before Noon. Never happened. I wasted a Saturday waiting for someone to contact me. I have submitted a complaint to Home Depot headquarters. They need to find more reliable installers to work with their customers.

Advice to my neighbors: HSP: The Home Service Plan was a great deal and gave me peace of mind via the twice yearly free inspections. High Prices: When it came to repair jobs, their quotes were very high. For example, in 2014 I requested a quote to replace the entire A/C system for the house - they came in around $6,200. One of their competitors did the job, perfectly with a new Goodman unit, for $4,800. ARS was 30% more expensive than their competition. On several other smaller jobs I accepted their high price because their dispatch was usually fast and the work was usually done well. Disorganized / Hard to Deal with Office Staff: On many occasions there was clearly confusion between their dispatchers, their technicians, and their billing staff. I travel extensively and have several rental properties in Austin. I often have to schedule services while I'm travelling. ARS is very difficult to deal with via e-mail. Most of the time I was contacted by different folks regarding billing and recently for a job two different people in two different ARS offices contacted me for payment. Miss Ruby Vasquez was unprofessional and lazy causing me to walk away, even though the job at hand (hot water heater relief valve replacement) had already been quoted and price agreed. UPDATE - 24 March 2015 - Mrs Renee Kellogg from ARS Customer Service Dept reached out to me personally and sincerely to make amends. She offered me free HSP at two properties and volunteered to be my single point of contact for future work. Because of Renee I will give ARS a second chance on my next job. As I said before, I never had a problem with their quality of work, it was problems with the office staff, and high price, that had turned me off. Renee, thanks for giving me a reason to keep the relationship alive.

I was approached by a representative of this company at Home Depot and asked if I would like a free in-home estimate of my insulation needs. I had already looked into this type of service but was open to another estimate. I agreed and set up a time for a representative to come take a look in my attic. The gentleman that arrived was very polite and professional. However this company uses HEAVY PRESSURE SALES TACTICS to make you feel like you're getting quite the deal and that its a very limited time offer. They made ridiculous promises of the efficiency of this installation. Fortunately I had done my homework beforehand and knew well enough that a spray in radiant barrier would not get a guaranteed 70+% reduction in heat nor that "its better and more efficient" than the foil barrier. After several rounds of the sales man calling his boss to ask about this or that I knew they just wanted the sale. PERIOD. My schedule is very hectic and although these people were doing any and everything to try to accommodate my schedule I felt that all they wanted was to collect my $2400 ASAP. They even asked if they could come do the install at 4am on Saturday morning because it was the last day of the month and the last day of the "special pricing". I signed the paperwork just to get the guy out of my home and cancelled it the first thing the next morning. The sales man then proceeded to call me back a couple of times still trying to get me to keep the job. I finally had to resort to blocking them from being able to call me. I would NEVER do business with this company. The next morning I called Home Depot to explain to them the sales tactics of this company and that I was ashamed that Home Deport was partnered with someone like this. I spent a great deal of time on the phone with the manager of my nearby Home Depot explaining in detail how this went down. I stressed to Home Depot that I DO NOT want this company to contact me, I have ZERO desire to hear anything from them. STAY AWAY. Do your home work on attic insulation and radiant barrier before calling this or any company like this.

I spent about $1500. My experience was excellent. They did a fine job.

What a joke! I called through Home Depot who contracts their Water Heater services through ARS. I used the Home Depot number which goes directly to ARS' Home Depot hotline. The agent was very nice & helpful. She said she'd have some come out between 8AM-12PM, the guy shows up at 1:45PM...no big deal. The moment he arrived, he begins trying to up-sell a bunch of stuff I don't need. All products are sold through Home Depot. Water Heater cost = $517, it requires a Floodstop (~$150) and of course installation. He tried to say our water pressure is high & might need some work to our meter which would be another $475-$500. I watched him check the water pressure and suddenly it was okay, within range (70-75 psi). Even with a markup, you'd expect what...$1,000? Maybe $1,500? NOPE!!!! He tells me it's going to be $2,600 for the water heater, floodstop & installation. He did finish with "well, I'll knock off the cost of the tray if you buy it yourself, ARS charges $162 but you can get it at Home Depot for ~$25. Wasn't this entire job through Home Depot!!!??? I then asked, "wow, with a price like that I'm curious, am I better off going with a tankless water heater?" He said that would START at $5,800!!!! It took all I had to not kick him out of my house. All other companies I've called already have given me an estimate that doesn't exceed anything over $1,500. ARS, never again! Home Depot...guilty by association, I'm now going through Lowe's who quoted me just under $1,400 for the entire job (through Fairway Installation).

Scheduling an appointment is reasonable. They sometimes recommend me services I do not need. The brands they use could have been better.

On Sunday my hot water heater started leaking and so I thought, no big deal, I'll buy a new one through home depot and have them install it. Called on Monday and discovered that ARS Rescue Rooter is the contractor they use for installation. They wouldn't give me any pricing on the phone but said they would be there between 8 - noon to give me an estimate. At 11:45 I got a call that they were on the way. They explained that there were certain things that had to be brought up to code and that they would also have to check my water pressure and if it was over 65 they would also have to install something to bring down the water pressure. They didn't show me the gage where they tested my pressure so I'm not even sure this is true but they said it was at 100 and so the total for installing the $350 hot water heater would be $2000. I almost fell for it because my house was flooding from the leak and I wanted to get it fixed as soon as possible but was informed that they couldn't do the actual installation until the next day. I'm very grateful for that because it gave me time to call around and discover that their quote was $1000 more than everyone elses. I talked with Texas Water Heaters who were great and they explained that I didn't need the water pressure thing because the city no longer enforced that part of the code. Unfortunately they weren't able to come until Sunday (and how amazing is it that they were willing to come do the job on a sunday without charging extra) but I've been without water for two days and I just couldn't wait that long. I called Touchstone plumbing who can come tomorrow and basically gave me the same price as Texas Water Heaters so i will be using them. Then I remembered that several years ago i had a leak in my yard and ARS Rooter Service came out and gave me an estimate for that job which was also ridiculous. They wanted $300 to dig a hole to look for the leak. They told me often they had to dig 3 holes (@ $300 a piece) before they would find the leak so we were already up to $900 with no repairs included. I called touchstone plumbing back then and he said I charge $80 an hour, it usually takes me 1 & 1/2 hours for a job like that. He came out and fixed the leak and that's exactly what he charged me so I feel very comfortable that they will be installing my new water heater. Maybe ARS only pulls this stuff when they come out and it's a woman. I don't know but I think Home Depot should find a more honest company to handle their installations. I know I won't be buying anything else from them.

Well the service tech who has since been fired named Mike....overcharged me for the work. Apparently he gets a higher commission for the most money he can make. I am still paying off this bill. I spoke with the manager to ask him why I was charged twice what everybody else would have charged for the same job. He said the service tech overcharged me and has since been fired. Never offered to reduce the bill via GE. Pretty bad a service tech can make up his own prices for a job. I would think the company would tell the tech what to charge. If that procedure was in place, then things like this would not happen. Turned out I had some additional work done later and was told that ARS didn't install a grounding rod like they were suppose to. At least ARS came out and did that for free.

I purchased two toilets and a new faucet for my home from Home Depot. The installation company that performs Home Depot installations is ARS. After purchase, ARS quickly called me and scheduled the install. The two technicians came out and installed the toilets and the faucet. I mentioned to him that the faucet was dripping and he said that because of the long neck of the faucet that these faucets did tend to drip but that was not an issue. After a few weeks, I noticed that in addition to the dripping from the end of the faucet, it also was leaking from the lever that turns on and off the faucet. The water was dripping quite a bit and was starting to seep into the wall. I put a towel around it to help stop the dripping. I called ARS and they were really good with sending out a team to fix the faucet on Saturday. They arrived and tried to do the repairs but said that this faucet had a special tool that was needed to be able to do any work on the faucet. They did not have this tool and said that their original technician should have made me aware that the tool was in the box and was required for any adjustments. They then said that because I did not have this tool and that ARS did not have the tool that the only way to get it fixed was it we got a replacement faucet and then they could use the tool in that box to fix the faucet and then I could return the faucet to Home Depot. He said that they could come back on Sunday between 1 and 4 to do the work. I went to Home Depot and got the replacement on Saturday. On Sunday I stayed home all afternoon to be available for the repair. At a quarter to 5 I received a call stating that they were leaving their job and could be at my house in an hour. I had in town dinner plans at 6 so could not stay at home any longer. I asked if they could come out Wednesday afternoon because I could take that afternoon off from work to be here when they came. He said that they would be out between 1 and 3pm. Ithen called Rochelle the dispatcher and she said that he had marked this down on the calendar and so we were good. I took off work and waited on Wednesday. At 2:30pm I still had not heard anything from ARS. I called the technician and he said that he didn?t have this on his schedule and there was another technician scheduled but he was not sure because there might be an issue with getting a PO from Home Depot for them to come out. He said that he would call the dispatcher to see what was going on. I asked if I could have the technicians phone number and he said he could not give that number out. And as Rochelle was not working today I could not get a number for the dispatcher. I am so frustrated with this whole situation. It has been very expensive for me to take off work to be here and also to not be able to leave the house the day before Thanksgiving. Now I still have a leaky faucet, no idea when I will get help and expect that I will have to take off work again in order to get this fixed.

They are here when they say they are going to be here. Their prices are fair too.

They were very professional and courteous. I also thought their price was just right.

The plumber arrived on time, did a good job with the toilet, and cleaned up nicely. The company does charge a high price, however, and I probably wouldn't use them again for this reason.

Everything went well. They arrived properly equipped, they were minimally invasive, and they didn't leave a mess. We can't grade punctuality and responsiveness, however, since our warranty company scheduled the work.

They give the effort to look at all things and not just skip over stuff. We will continue to use them because we had a contract for fourteen years with them.

We've used them off and on for over 5 years. The last couple of times that we have called them for same day service, they have been no shows. They are late when they get here. We go through central communications to set up the appointments. We would only use them again if we had no other choices. We had a contract with them for 3 years for a spring and winter check on our air conditioner. It was 2009 through 2012.

We woke up Monday morning to raw sewage backing up in our bathrooms and onto our front lawn from the sewer access points. After turning off the water at the main, we started putting towels all over the bathrooms and other points where water was seeping into the house. Meanwhile we called ARS Rescue Rooter in Austin TX at 9:11 and left a message that we needed service immediately. Someone called back at 9:45 to confirm the details and address. At 10:40 Marcus arrived and, after investigating and hearing our details, he immediately reduced the sewage pressure by opening the access points (which consequently released the sewage onto our front lawn which was unavoidable but FAR preferrable to the likely overflow into our house). He then noted that both we and our neighbor were served from the same main and he opened the access panel to their sewage line. They also had it building up although it hadn't overflowed yet since our line and vents are lower than theirs. He pointed out that he could clear the line on our property but if, as it appeared, the blockage was on the commen flow which was the city portion, they would need to clear it and would do it for free. That would save both us and our neighbor the ARS fee of $245. Marcus was both knowledeable and polite through hsi entire visit. He put the needs of the customer first and he was completely correct. He even turned off the main water input so that it would relieve pressure on the pipes. When the city workers came later, they agreed with Marcus' analysis and took many hours to clear out the main so that we could turn the water input back on. ARS Rescue Rooter in Austin is certainly a company that I would not hesitate to call and use in the future, should the need arise.

They arrived on time and were personable. They were comparative with there pricing. We went with another provider because they had a five year warranty on labor. Other companies only had a year warranty.

The technician showed up and checked the AC unit. He checked the air temperature from an inside vent and checked the coolant levels. He stated the coolant was low and it needed more Freon which was no loner produced and expensive. After he checked everything out he said it would be $400 for more Freon and I considered a new unit. A salesman showed up and said I probably needed a new unit for about $6,000. I then remembered I had a home warranty which was going to expire in 2 weeks. I called the warranty company and they came out. Come to find out my AC vent was completely clogged causing a strain on the unit which probably burned up some Freon. He took out the air vent and topped off the Freon and the unit worked just fine. Funny how ARS has trained professionals and they didn't bother to mention the actual problem. They were more concerned with selling me a new $6,000 unit than fixing the minor issue. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

Quoted too high price to install water heater. For $400 home depot rheem water heater he quoted $1800 including expansion tank, sediment trap and permit. It is too expensive. I would suggest check with Lowes and Sears before calling them.

Doug and Aaron did a fine job, professional in all ways. Called beforehand, arrived on time, went straight to work, and got the job done. I purchased the disposal at Home Depot and paid for installation through HD at the same time, so I was pleased to meet these courteous plumbers from ARS / Rescue Rooter.

We scheduled our AC tune up at our local home depot. The day we were scheduled I received a phone call that they were over booked and they had to reschedule us. They gave me about a 3 hr warning - I felt that was fair and rescheduled. The day we were rescheduled for (btw - they give you a 4hr window of their arrival) we were given the window of 12-4pm. I took the day off work and waited...and waited...and waited. At 3:30pm I called just to check because we'd been told that they'd call us 30-45min before they arrived. They said - oh yeah, don't worry. They'll be there. At 4:05 I called again. The same girl answered. I told her no one had called yet or arrived. She put me on hold. Shortly after a man answered the phone (apparently I was transferred?). I retold him what had happened. He said they'd been really behind and would try to get someone out to us later that night. No one came. No one called. The next day they called us again (around 6pm) to reschedule. I almost didn't. I was really upset about them leaving me waiting without any contact. They took another $10.00 off (making the tune up $39.00). So we scheduled for the upcoming Saturday (today). They gave us the window of 11am-3pm. Again, I sat in my house on a day we usually use to run errands. I figured we'd be able to go do some of our errands after the appt being that the end of the window was 3pm. We waited and waited. No call. We called to check - they said, oh yeah, they'll be there. We waited and waited. At 3pm we called again. They said they're running late, but they will come (sounds familiar from the last time, right?). They said they'd call when they were on their way. We waited and waited. 5pm - we call again. Apparently, they lost our phone number but the tech was 20 min away and on his way. The guy who came was great. Adrian Garcia. He was professional, friendly, and seemed really honest. He's the only good thing about our experience (well...and we were pretty happy with the price). In anycase, I marked that I would use them again - but it would really depend. There wasn't an option for "maybe" and that's where I'm at. Adrian was trustworthy (something I find severely lacking in most repair service fields). So instead of being a NO WAY! I'm more of a maybe we'll use them again because Adrian seemed to be a top notch guy.

This was a complete fraud. They replaced two water heaters with one tankless Navien 240a water heater. They charged $7,500 after applying a $150 coupon. I have since learned that the Navien unit costs about $2,000. And, one of the deals on Angie's list this week was for installation of the exact system for $3,500 (regular price $4,500). I have left messages twice and received no call back from ARS. When I finally talked to someone at billing, they refused to provide an itemized bill. I have called Navien and three service providers on Navien's list. Everyone I spoke to agreed the price was way too high.