ARS/Rescue Rooter Reviews 217

Excellent job done on replacing our HVAC.Neat cleaned up after the job. Pleasant and curious employees.

was billed for work and items that were suppose to be installed professional but was not installed professional and not installed at all. The expansion tank was never inflated to the proper pressure and the anode was never installed. The expansion tank caused the water heater to implode and cost us $10,000 to install a replacement. We called ARS and they refused to send someone the same day and when I asked to speak to a manager I was disconnected. ARS states they are not responsible because I did not give them a chance to inspect the heater but their rep hung up on me and never took an appt. NEVER USE THESE PEOPLE THEY ARE A RIP OFF

I've used ARS in the past and they installed an electric heat/AC in our upstairs. I've been pleased. Recently my heat went out and they responded in an hour or so. Tech said the burners were bad.

The Ignition control board was throwing an error code which I asked about. He said we'd get the burners and go from there.

The burners had been on order for over 3 weeks and they informed me it would be another week. I asked for the part number and I was able to get three burners in 3 days. And I installed them myself. They slide into place and only have 4 screws that retain them. Not a skilled installation at all. And nothing critical in the system was touched.

They quoted $570 to replace the burners. Oh by the way the burners cost $15 each and it maybe takes 5 minutes to remove and install new ones.

After removing the burners I discovered the ignitor ground rod was laying loose from its plate. No spark could be made to ignite the gas.

The initial tech never removed a burner to inspect and if he would have he would have discovered the failed ignitor. In other words he'd have gotten the burners and then said "Your flame sensor / ignitor is bad. We'll order one. Would it have been another month?

I called ARS and told them I had received my own burners and wanted them to come back out to install an ignitor and see if the control board was problematic. They scheduled a tech.

An hour later they called me and said because I had removed the burners and worked on the unit they could no longer send a tech. I explained that I had gotten burners in 3 days and that they had them on order for a month and I had to do something.

I suspect they are angry they lost out on $570 easy dollars. There is no concern that my wife and I have been freezing for a month.

So here I am running up on sub freezing temps in a day or two and my HVAC company will no longer come to my house because I dared to touch my HVAC unit AT MY HOUSE, THAT I OWN.

My wife and I have discussed just getting a new unit. This is only 4 years old and rusted burners probably mean a wet heat exchanger. Couple that with a broken ignitor and possibly a bad ignition control board and I have some trust issues.

One thing is for certain. ARS will never do seasonal maintenance for me. Nor will they get my business for a new system should I go that direction.

How dare I order OEM burners myself after they cannot get them after a month in the dead of winter. It appears they only care about losing the $570 installation fee for installing 4 screws on 3 burners.

The initial responding tech should have removed a burner and inspected further. Poor troubleshooting.

And the fact they refuse to now even show up as a winter storm approaches infuriates me. I'll never use ARS again for anything.

RR Cleveland (Ohio) inspected home and gave an estimate for install/remove residential 50 gal. gas water heater from Lowe's. Representative was pleasant enough, but ended up showing me a standard pricing list---$2,000 for labor only---which is at least 3 times higher than industry average, including Home Depot!

We had our brand new a/c installed by 2 excellent technicians Eric and Yoevin besides been friendly courteous they were outstanding professionals. Please let them know how we appreciate the job they did
Rafael and Luzi in Boca Raton

DO NOT USE ARS/Rescue Rooter for ANYTHING you cannot see - like plumbing drains in your yard!!!

The City of Austin (30 years ago) had come into the neighborhood and planted trees. At the time, my wife was a divorced mom and said "sure, thanks, plant a tree in the front yard". And they did . . three feet behind the water meter . . and, as it turns out, three feet from the waste line!!

Three years ago (2020) we had ARS come look at our waste drain to the street and run their Rooter through the accumulated roots which had broken through the joints. $900 later, we were told we would have no more problems. Until September 2023!! We have them out again. They run their Rooter again and then tell us they will have to dig it up again . . @ $2500?!!!

While trying to decide what to do - I first called the Austin City Waste Water Department. Within a day they were here with their (much better) pipe viewing camera and we STILL HAD ROOTS?!! The City fellas brought out their 20,000 psi pump and hose and proceeded to cut all the roots out of the pipe.
Their advice - NEVER call a plumber - the City will clear the roots FREE!!!

Their cameras did show joints with roots showing and said we had 4 - 6 months before they would be back inside blocking the drain. So we called a group in Georgetown that our daughter uses in her commercial property leasing job and they were right out at our home the next day.

I had started digging the hole to make it easier, quicker and cheaper than paying the plumbers to dig! In the hole back fill from the ARS "fix", I found remnants of a lunch including a broken soda bottle?! Since this was on top of the pipe, I knew who had left it.

As to the "repaired pipe", it was a mess of small sections of 4" PVC and "fernco" (rubber) connectors. Our new guys found that one end of the rubber connector was not even covering the PVC - ROOT ENTRY! Also neither of the two PVC "repaired" connections to the existing pipe were primed nor glued?!! Roots getting through - you betcha!!

We now have a well fixed drain line, a knowledgeable plumbing company to call upon and the City of Austin Waste Water Department phone number just in case we ever have another root issue - which I doubt we will!!

Dennis in North Austin.

ARS is the worst customer service experience in chicago. The gross incompetence is company wide. From the techs that did not know how to open the sewer main despite the fact we had the tool to open with. They tried to claim the company that did the install did it wrong. Rather than admit they were clueless. But here’s where service is grossly negligent. I called and booked a few days before. I was given a window 8 am- 12 pm on Black Friday. I stayed home waiting. At almost 11 am no text, call or email update saying my appointment was changed. So I called. I was placed on hold. 10 minutes into hold my other line rings but I didn’t hang up lest I lose my place in line. In the following 4 minutes they called 5 times while I was stuck on hold waiting for the customer service manager Chris to talk to the tech Daniel and find out when he planned to get to us. But instead they canceled my appointment and blamed me for not answering the phone while I was waiting on the damn manager to fix this. It took 4 more calls. I was changed to between 12-2. No one came. Then 4-7, and finally after I called an additional 2 times to ensure arrival, a dipshit shows up with no tools. Which would have been ok. Because we own the tool needed. But they we’re too stupid to use it. I do not recommend this company unless you like being lied to, left on long holds, lied to more, blamed for their failure, then ultimately left unserviced. I give negative stars and Chris, customer service mgr has no authority whatsoever so don’t bother. This is a company destined for bankruptcy.

I completed an online form at Lowes.com and was surprised to have a scheduler contact me at night to schedule for the next day. I was given a time window of 9-1 for installation of a water heater. At 1:30 I called to see if I was still on the list. The agent told me I was next in line when the technician finished the current job and if I left I would risk losing my spot. I called back at 4:30 and was told I was still on the schedule. I received a call at 5:23 saying they weren't coming today. Waste of a whole day ... would have been helpful if someone had the courtesy to notify me they were so far behind. Never again will I consider using this installation service from Lowes.

PLEASE FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH ARS ESPECIALLY WHEN HOME DEPOT REFERS ARS. I WAS OVER CHARGED, AND LIED TO. I WAS TOLD I HAD A 6 YEAR WARRANTY WHEN I CALLED FOR SERVICE WAS TOLD I DID NOT HAVE 6 YEAR WARRANTY. ARS installed my Carrier Air conditioner model#81-20438-01 10kw installed 2/26/2021. So that is 2 years ago, the plywood 1/2 inch base they installed is caving in and delaminating because the plywood is too thin and not waterproof causing it to become delaminated. The caving in is causing the water not to drain out properly causing the system to shut down. The heat absorption coil is leaking freon sending poison throughout the house. The filter is difficult to replace due to pipes installed too close to slide out housing the replaceable filter . The electronic filter elements are expensive and ARS does not sell them, making them difficult to find and could not tell me where to get them. They are not available in stores.You must find them on line. I called ARS to get an estimate to correct these issues. They insist on a $109 charge to come out. ARS called me the morning of dispatch. They sent the repair man to Pensacola Fl when I live in Sebastian Fl, 543 miles away, then insisted on a charge of $109. I don't know how they are still in business and don't understand how HOME DEPOT can recommend ARS. Looking at all of the dissatisfied customers here tells it all.

UNPROFESSIONAL, ATTITUDE, AND WASTE OF MONEY. Trust through HomeDepot for heater repair service from ARS, first visited for tune up and found the problem of 2 years old furnace can't fire up the ignition, then a week later for 2nd visited for technical repair & charged with $109 in Dallas, Texas area.
Technician name tag "Paul" came with unfriendly attitude, diagnose heater problem like 10 mins (don't see any tools, tool bag carry along with him) and judge the circuit board has been fried with throwing "A Bunch of ERROR codes" ??? without explaining the reason of issue and issue location. this will cost another ~ $500-600 labor to fix with part warranty. There is a loop hole scam that I aware from this guy, which I have hired different heater professional that found the issue of defected limited relay sensor module(nothing to do with the fried circuit board) and fixed within 2 days. So I just paid this unprofessional ARS guy for nothing and there is no receipt proof after I paid in cash as well.

It's a SCAM. I called for a simple $49 tune up of my perfectly working AC. The technician came and after telling me a bunch of technical terms and numbers, he offered $2000 repair. Don't fall for it, it a trap of getting into your home. I found them in Home Depot and was thinking it eas a great deal

Here is how ARStress prices you. They look at your square footage of your home... the more you have, they more they'll charge, even if a smaller unit will work. Dont have a tech come over late in the day because they'll charge you more because they want to go home...especially on a Friday night or holiday. Dont get service at the end of the month, because if they are short on commission, your price magically goes up to meet their quota.

I found ARS Rescue Rooter through Angi (formally Angie's List). I knew the problem with my AC before they came. The blower motor in the air handler needed to be replaced. I've had it done before. They wanted $2,060.00 to replace the blower motor. I got a similar motor from Amazon for $289.95 and paid someone to replace it for me.

ARS installed a new Lennox unit in 2018. They have been out several times since then due to issues with the unit. Yesterday they came because the upstairs unit it not cooling properly. The tech said something was not "opening" fully and needed to be replaced. He said the part was under warranty so it would not cost us, then told us the install was over $1,100.00. We are getting a second opinion. Sounds like highway robbery to me.

ARS technician lied to me that I had leak on the system he didn’t show me a prove of leak and he didn’t send me any reports in the email and the tech asked me to replace the entire unit, I had called two other technicians from two different companies and non of them couldn’t confirm leak, in fact they told me that my system is in perfect condition. It looks like ARS didn’t send me a technician but a sales person. I am going to sue ARS for this.

I reached out to ARS on July 3, 2023 for diagnosis informed that it was the condenser coil, which is under warranty still charged $1800 for labor, just had an evaporator coil fixed 3 years earlier after ARS put in new system 5 years earlier. I'm being told that the condenser coil is on backorder indefinitely. I have made several return calls to followup with this issue, mostly with no return calls. I regret buying a unit from ARS.

paid $7500 for Rheem system. 3 yrs later (all yrly maintence done, last 2 wks ago) I have to pay for service call of not working HVAC, not cooling.

ARS is absolutely an awful company, that exploit people. It happens that my evaporator coil has a leak. ARS resorted to replace and install the coil for a whooping sum of $5200.00. They even gave a worst option of replacing the evaporator coil with condesing unit for over $12000.00, even though, the condensing unit was in a good condition. Replacing an evaporator coil for over $5000 is insane. ARS provided a receipt that depicted two weeks of installation period whereas the coil was installed within 3 hours. They call this insane high charges their standard. Don't fall into their trap, I do not recommend them.

They did a job for us and wanted $1100 for a capacitor and contactor that only cost $60 for the parts. The job would take less than a hour to do. Keep away from this company!!!!

If I could give a negative star rating, I would. I experienced this type of scam years ago with a service where they claimed that my entire system needed to be replaced when all that needed to be replaced was the capacitor. I had only called so that I could get the refrigerant checked. I bought a new capacitor the next day, installed it, and my compressor fired up. They were trying to get me to pay the very high cost of replacing the compressor vs. $27 capacitor part. Call someone else.