ARS / Rescue Rooter Dallas

They were prompt, and transparent with what they were doing. They were very informative.

Right in the middle of a 40 day run of 100+ degree heat, one evening we began to smell something burning through our downstairs air vents. We immediately turned off the unit, and called AHS to schedule a technician. ARS returned the call promptly the next morning, but we were unable to get anyone to our home for 4 days (we called AHS on Tuesday night and the appointment wasn't scheduled until Saturday morning). However our second unit was working fine, and we were afraid that something very bad could be wrong with the lower floor unit, so we waited. On Saturday morning, ARS called around 11am to let us know the technician was late, but they hadn't forgotten us. At 2, they called again to keep us updated, and at 4:30 called to inform us the tech was on his way. When the technician arrived, he was very polite, efficient and found the problem very quickly -- it was a burned out capacitor. He let us know that because of our fast action turning off the unit, the fan and other parts were fine. He replaced the capacitor and everything came back on and works great. Total cost was only $60 (we are assuming that AHS covered the cost of the actual call while we purchased the part). We were very happy, and truly felt as if we had dodged a bullet -- we expect any AC repair to cost a fortune, so this was a very pleasant surprise. So while we did have to wait for ARS to arrive, the technician was very honest and knowledgable, and I will call them again in the future.

Last year our 10 year old 4 ton A/C unit just couldn't keep up with the Texas heat - so we went to Home Depot and signed up for service and evaluation from their home services. ARS came out and pronounced that the issue was our 4 ton unit was too old to fix and too small for our square footage. They promised us that a new 5 ton unit would fix all of our issues and let us enjoy 73 degree indoor comfort on 108 days. (Pretty much a direct quote from the sales guy.) Fast forward to Late May 2011 - the new unit is freezing up just like the last one did! The ARS repair guy came out on a Wednesday and soon called in his supervisor. It seems the issue now is that we don't have enough airflow - they suggested the installation of more ductwork. $$$ WOW $$$ OUCH $$$.Talk about the upsell! So in exploring other options with the service supervisor he meantioned a less expensive option called a DUMP. I arranged to work from home last Wednesday - and ARS sent 2 techs out. But with the wrong ladder, no grills and completely unprepared. So they rescheduled for today. So today they were supposed to be here between 8AM and Noon to install a new really big duct over the stairs and cut a new intake grating. The idea is instead of lots of new ducts this will increase the airflow through the unit at lower cost.Well... it's 1:30 PM and I am still waiting. I just got off the phone with them - apparently I have multiple service calls pending for today - one morning and one afternoon - we'll see if the make it to the afternoon one. So far, I must say I cannot recommend ARS to anyone. EDIT - It is now after 5PM - still no technicians. Three calls to ARS later and all they can say is they will get to us eventually and will report our unhappiness to their manager. So much for my wife and I doing anything with the family today or hitting the movies tonight.

Had an A/C problem with the unit cycling on and off, but seemed to resume normal operation later that night. Called American Home Shield as per my home warranty since the problem would probably reoccur, they referred me to ARS. ARS called the next morning (Thursday), and we agreed on the following Monday between 8am and noon as we were going out of town (4 days in advance). At 930 Monday morning I called ARS to attempt to narrow down their time or at least get an idea where I was on their list -- answer "we're waiting for the next available technician." At 1145 I called again, same response, as well as at 430pm. The technician finally rang the door bell at 711pm, right in the middle of dinner, of course. He had no idea I had been waiting since 8am. He proceeded to check everything out, but found no problems. When the service was finally performed, they seemed relatively competent. However, their scheduling operation rates an F in my book. I understand it was hot and probably lots of people need a/c service, but don't give me a 4 hour window to sit at home, then miss it by 7+ hours with no information. My time is just as valuable as anyone else's, and perhaps I need to bill them for the wasted hours with no information. I've also told AHS I will not accept a future referral to AHS, we'll see where that goes.

They've come for years to inspect & maintain my AC system. I use them mostly out of inertia. At some point they offered & I accepted a plumbing inspection offer, but that is a separate disaster story. Generally they do an adequate job in inspecting my AC system, though usually about 50% of the effort is on upselling you to more expensive services and/or new equipment. It was no different this time. They suggested that I replace my AC system and he developed a couple of bids. I got competing bids and will say that their price was in line with the competition. They didn't include a supply plenum but after adjusting for that their offer price was still in line with their competition. I also asked for price to simply clean the exchanger. When I spoke to him about the low ratings on Angie's List and elsewhere he said it was frustrating for them, but most likely a result of the fact that a lot of their work if for home warranty/protection plans and that a lot of that work is denied by the insurance company. When I decided to go with cleaning the exchanger, I asked that he e-mail me a proper proposal indicating what is and isn't included. Given that this company has been coming to my house for years, I didn't feel like that should have been a big deal. He agreed to do that after some ridiculous statements like "we normally just come out and give you a work order when we show up to do the work." Really, not for a job that you almost charge three thousand dollars for? I insisted that he e-mail me a proposal. I guess he wasn't interested in my business, as I never got the proposal and never got a further call-back. My sense is that they were going to come out to "clean" and they say it couldn't be cleaned after removing the exchanger. I don't know what incentives this company has for their employees, but they seem to care more about upselling than service delivery. I'd not recommend using them for anything large & complex. There are too many highly rated companies here on Angie's list that will be lower risk for you (and me). Oh yeah it has been 10 weeks, temperatures are 100 degrees and my AC system is doing just fine - despite not having spent 8 grand to replace it.

First, they mis-dialed my phone number when the service man was ready to come to my house, and when they didn't get me (they had the correct number) they moved me to the end of the list for service that day. If I hadn't called back to ask when they were coming , I don't know if they would have even showed up. Then at 3:40 they called and said the service man was in Irving and on the way. He showed up at 4:30, 50 minutes later. The service man looked at the pipe for 20 seconds then called his supervisor (or the insurance company), telling him it wasn't covered. It just wan't that complicated, and I had told them what it was when they scheduled the apppointment. If they weren't going to fix it they should have said so then. He said because the junction between two lines was at a slight angle it couldn't be fixed - would just leak again. That tells me something about his skill as a plumber. I think he just didn't want to work late on a hot day. I ended up taking half a day off work for nothing. I asked how much they would charge to do it if it wasn't a warranty - he wouldn't answer, saying his supervisor was gone for the day -all this happened between 4:30 and 4:45pm. He also said they wouldn't work on it until I had foundation work done. The reason I was having it fixed was because foundation people told me it needed to be fixed before the foundation work because the leak was causing a foundation problem and the soil needed to dry out. Bottom line, I took off half a day's work and waited all afternoon for someone who I think never intended to do the work in the first place. Rates an F, if anything does. I would never use this company, for anything.

I was pleased with their work. It was an emergency situation when our water heater started leaking on a weekend. They were able to get somebody here that day to replace it. They did a good job and took care of a couple of things. My house is an older home and I knew at the time we bought it that there were a few things that weren't specifically up to code. They weren't forcing the issue because it was older. They took care of a couple of those things and they replaced the water heater. A couple of things couldn't be taken care of because of the structure of the house. A couple of things were done in addition to the fact that it was an emergency and they showed up on short notice. I was very pleased with that work. I don't remember the price specifically, but I don't remember it being anything that I thought was out of the range than it should have been. The quality was good. I think they showed up when they were supposed to.

I thought I would try to replace the toilet fill valve myself and save some money. All the videos I watched on how to do this suggested it would be a simple project for a do-it-yourselfer. I went out and bought the part but when I tried to install it I could not loosen the nut in order to remove the old part. It wouldn't budge. After some hours I called ARS to come out and install the toilet fill valve I purchased. The plumber was prompt but when he arrived and saw how small the job was proceeded to tell me the valve I bought was inferior and wouldn't last 5 years. He also told me the other component in the toilet that has the flapper would also need to be replaced. The estimate he gave me was well over $200! I told him that was outrageous just to unscrew a nut and install what I purchased. I sent him on his way without performing the job. I will never call on them again.

I called someone else, who came immediately, drove to pick up the part, installed it, fixed everything and left in a couple of hours with the job done perfectly; ARS should have done the same thing. Instead they did nothing for 10 days and now I have lots of expensive repairs ahead.

I have been using them for three or four years. I like them because I can send an email to the manager that says when I want the work done and has a list of what I want checked. They come and they are ready to do it. They never leave a mess or I wouldn’t use them again. Their work is all really excellent.

The technician came out the same morning I made the call. He provided quotes for the needed repairs and completed the work promptly. He repairs were excellent. I also requested quotes for repairing the spray hose on a kitchen faucet, but the technician indicated that it would be less expensive to replace the faucet. He provided a quote of $231 to replace a customer-provided faucet. I declined that work. He also provided quotes on optional work that we were considering and evaluated the status of our water heater. I appreciated his advise on various options.

The technician arrived the same day and completed the work. The price seemed high - $356 to clean the drain and $39 to repair a pipe. The area under the sink was left dirty from the work.

Good workmanship for an expensive price!

ARS was provided through my American Home Shield Home Warranty. I informed ARS that the leak was located in the crawl space beneath my house. I spoke with the technician beforehand and informed him that I have a pier and beam foundation. When the technician arrived, he tried to inspect the leak by peering into the crawlspace. I informed him that the leak was further back and that he would have to actually go into the crawlspace to inspect it. He entered the crawlspace and attempted to inspect the pipe, but was unable to reach it due to his size. He noted that he was going to attempt to have a smaller technician sent out. He then contacted American Home Shield and had them call me to tell me that the work would not be covered until I either had the area underneath my house excavated or had a floor removed. My issues with AHS aside, the technician made no further effort once AHS stepped in. The leak was never inspected or diagnosed, the problem not identified and no solution was offered. For whatever reason, it seemed more reasonable for them to tell me to excavate the area underneath my house rather than send out a technician that could actually fit. The original technician actually noted on the work order that a smaller technician should be sent out. I do not feel that the original technician made much of an effort to do anything and once AHS let him off the hook, he just wanted to take my money and move on.

We had the "pleasure" of dealing with ARS Resue Rooter because we had AHS American Home Shield insurance. An exterior water shutoff to the whole house was leaking and flooding the front yard. We called AHS and they confirmed that this is covered by our contract and they dispatched Rescue Rooter. When the guy arrived, he looked at the problem, then made a phone call, and informed me that this was NOT covered by AHS because the leak was outside the house. He nevertheless gave me a quote, which we would have to cover ourselves, and which was unacceptably high. I declined to have them do the work. Throughout the visit the guy was brash almost to the point of hostility. But the icing on the cake was, after I declined his quote, he demanded a check for coming to our house, and he demanded to see my ID! I am the homeowner, I don't have to show my ID to any contractor, and no other contractor has ever, ever, ever asked for my ID!!! This is one company that I am proud to rate F.

Air went out on a Saturday afternoon. They were at the house for a repair by 5 pm on that Saturday. We knew we needed a new one so we got a quote and installation was completed that Sunday. I was thankful for the quick service especially when the heat was in the triple digits. However I think they are a little pricey but I was in a bind and they came through for me. The reason I would not consider using them again for anything is they are so sales orientated. I am constantly getting phone calls and they are constantly trying to sell me some type of service. When they try to sell you something they don't take no for an answer but keep trying to talk you into it, then drop the price for a special for you. I cannot tell you how much I hate that and for that reason alone I would not recommend them to anyone. But let me be clear they do quality work, are efficient and work quickly. It is their sales tactics that are what soured my experience.

One service man arrived and said he needed to call a specialist even though the location of the leak was obvious. The second man arrived and stated that for him to continue to research the leak he would need to charge me 290.00 to attempt to locate the leak (in addition to 60.00 for the service call). After I paid the amt, he walked around some and came to the conclusion that the leak was coming from the exact same spot I had pointed to and there was a puddle. Eventually an estimate was given to me to fix the repair at a cost of $3000. Not trusting the estimate, I had another company come out. Their estimate was 1/3 the cost; they were also professional and quick. (ARS in their response claims that the service agent gave an estimate of $2270. This was only after the initial estimate of $3,000 was frowned upon and he called his supervisor. Still yet he wrote in the next estimate the price could be higher depending on what they encountered after they started the job. On the other hand, Rodger's plumbing, the company called afterwards to do the job, was straight forward and priced at one third.)

I have a home warranty through American Home Shield. After my A/C froze up, I called them, and they scheduled an appointment with ARS. The next day, and ARS rep called me to schedule a time for the appointment. Annoyingly, they wouldn't give me an exact time, only a four hour window. However, I did request that they show up as close to 4pm as possible. As it turns out, they did show up right at that time. The tech was courteous and competent, and was able to fix the problem in about 45 minutes. I only had to pay a $60 co-pay for this, as the rest was covered under the home warranty. A slight negative - the tech did try to soft-sell me on some additional services offered by ARS. However, he wasn't pushy about it, and I know they're probably required to try and upsell whenever possible. Besides that issue, I had no problems with ARS at all. UPDATE: The first tech did not end up solving the problem. I had to re-call ARS to come out and take another look at the system. So far, the second tech's work has held up, but he was very aggressive in trying to upsell my on other ARS services. I was majorly disappointed by his lack of professionalism.

We found this company's service useless. They basically seem to act a means to keep the home warranty company from paying for repairs. We've had to pay for other companies to come out and provide their evaluations to appeal this company's incorrect diagnosis.

Technically the leak belonged to the hot water pipe in the bathroom for the bathtub. You had to crawl into a lower cabinet in the corner of the kitchen and open the wall and fix the leak. It was horrendous. When I had called, I had asked for a very small person, man or woman. This big guy showed up and I told him he didn't have to take the job and he could leave. I showed him where the leak was and he crawled into the cabinet. It just blew me away. He came quickly. I would use them if I needed to.

They responded to our dead furnace by having a technician in the house within hours of the first call, explained our options for repair and/or replacement. We opted for replacement of the entire system based on the age of the system and our prior experience with a new Carrier Infinity Complete 3.5 ton system that ARS had installed in our upstairs home in 2008. Installation occurred the next morning (on a Saturday no less). About two weeks later we had them back to redo the new plenum to get better air flow into one room. Our home has very unique architecture and I'm not surprised that the first plenum was not the final plenum. Several months later, during air conditioning season, the outside A/C unit had some bearings that failed at 2 AM on Friday night. The next day ARS installed a new motor. Those bearings had always been noisy and I suspect had manufacturing defects. The replacement motor, unlike the first one, is very quiet. Twice the new a/c thermostat quit working, ARS diagnosed (correctly) that the problem both times was not their unit but was an electrical switch installed by the homebuilder. I hired an electrician to replae that switch and the system has never quit working since then. ARS Warranty is ten years parts and labor. Service has always been within a matter of hours (or less) from our call. With both of our HVAC systems (upstairs 3.5 ton, downstairs five ton) this company has given great service for a price that was in the middle of the pack among the bids we got for equal equipment. You might wonder why we have more tonnage downstairs. We have 2200 sqft down and 1200 sqft up. This company sold us great equipment, with fast delivery, great service, and a fair price. They did schedule the building inspection and it passed on the first try. We are still waiting on the paperwork that meets the IRS paperwork requirements for the $1500 energy tax credit but after all my home is nicely cooled and heated and I can live without that paperwork until early 2011 when I submit my 2010 taxes if need be.

Michael V. tech # 2710 did a very quick and expert job of cleaning out the condensation line. He added a PVC union on the pipe so that next time I would be able to clean it out. He clearly explained everything that he did and was very helpful.

paid for service call, which was a joke

AVOID!! Rude, lazy, and poor service. Wanted to charge $1300 for a repair that I ended up doing which cost me $31.24 and 30 minutes of my time. ARS Rescue Rooter was called for us via an in home warranty repair. The problem was a leaking tub. He showed up and was condecending and down right rude to my girlfriend who owns the place being repaired. He made several derragatory comments about "How crazy women cause all kinds of problems" for simply using a trap in the drain to catch hair. So after this, he cut a hole in our wall (I knew they had to do this, no biggie) he exclaimed, "That's not good." After looking at it a moment longer, he decided that our tub had shifted and that in order to fix the leak it would cost around $1300 to pull out the tub and fix it. Since he stated that it was due to a shifting foundation, the damage wasn't covered under our home warranty; how convenient. Now, how he came to this conclusion is beyond me, there are no cracks in the walls, it's on the second floor (foundation shift minimized... IF it had occured) and all the tile was flush to the tub. So there was absolutely no indicators of shifting. After he left I further inspected the area and realized the problem was a leak at the tub drain. Simply the caulking/plumbers putty at the drain was dry and hard and after 20yrs. of use had cracked. I went to Lowe's bought a new basket (the metal drain part) and plumbers putty. After about 30 mins of work I had removed the old basket, put in and sealed the new one and, Wow! No more leak. Why they couldn't fix this is beyond me. It cost me $31.23 for parts and 30 minutes of actual labor to fix what he apparently couldn't... or rather what he wanted to charge $1300 for. Avoid ARS like the plague.

I called them to repair and/or replace 6 bathroom and 6 exterior fuacets that were leaking or not shutting off completely. They gave me a proposal of $3,118. This is an outrageous price and I declined the proposal except for the replacement of one outside faucet that was leaking very badly. They charged $183 for that which was equally outrageous. The serviceman spent a great deal of time trying to sell me an HVAC service contract and an expensive drain cleaning product they carry even though I had made it clear I just wanted a price for the work I needed. He was very persistent. It appeared he was more interested in selling than he was in providing good customer service.