American Residential Services / ARS Rescue Rooter
reviews and complaints

As someone who values reliable service, I must say my experiences with ARS/Rescue Rooter have been quite mixed. While some technicians like Anthony have shown exceptional knowledge and dedication, others have left much to be desired. The pricing seems to vary greatly, with some customers feeling overcharged for services rendered. It's disheartening to hear about instances where work was not completed properly, leading to costly consequences for homeowners. On the bright side, there are shining moments like the commendable work done by Bert and AJ, who left a positive impression with their professionalism and efficiency. It's clear that ARS/Rescue Rooter has room for improvement in consistency and transparency to truly earn the trust of their customers.

Fantastic response on the weekend. Professional staff. Great service every step of the process

The technician was on time and efficient. He was competent and courteous. We are very satisfied!

The work was done in a timely fashion and the workers were knowledgeable and professional. I am satisfied with the work done.

Very helpful. Had knowledge about what was needed to be done and explained everything that he was doing. Asked a lot of questions to solve the problem.

Bad news but Tech John was very efficient & knowledgeable on what was wrong and showed me. Had others before that were terrible. Will use ARS from now on.

John, representing ARS Rescue Rooter of Raleigh, was very diligent in working to resolve a hard-to-find issue with our air conditioner. He was professional and respectful of our home.

Super serviceman! John is terrific! He is all business, very thorough, and the ultimate professional! ARS should be proud to have him on their staff. Highly recommend!

We had an HVAC unit replaced in February 2022. The new unit did not meet our expectations due to AC compressor pulsing noise. After ARS reviewed the unit performance, they recommended they replace the unit with an equivalent unit of another brand at no cost to us. The unit was replaced in a few days upon our acceptance. All ARS personnel, including the installation crew were very polite, competent and professional.

ARS always comes through for us. This time it was a toilet not working. The service people they send are always friendly, polite and experienced. Hey with prices today the bill seemed reasonable, but of course higher than we hoped. Then again, prompt service and good, effective work is not always the experience. It is with them. Recently we had to schedule for another repair and we had to wait 10 days later as the earliest available. ARS were here on a Saturday within two days of calling. I'd recommend them for your plumbing work.

Our AC went out Sunday night. They had someone here by early Tuesday morning. The problem was identified and immediately taken care of. I didn't have to pay for parts or labor as my air conditioning unit is still under a 10 year warranty. We have used ARS for years for our boiler as well as air con and heating. Overall very satisfied. My only complaint is that they said on the phone that my warranty was for only 1 year and they didn't know what it covered. Luckily I had the paperwork. I would recommend this company, their products and services.

Requested service call. No hot water. They sent a technician promptly. When he arrived he looked at my tankless water heater use his finger to pull a couple wires off to the side and then stated that the burner was defective. He went on to say that due to the supply chain issues that the burner probably wasn't available, even though it's under warranty, for up to one year. He then stated that he could go to a nearby supply vendor and get a whole new tankless water heater and install at the same day so that we would have hot water. He went out to his truck to get estimates and came back in with a piece of paper with three estimates . None of the estimates included a model number ansimply included a price for a tankless heater with a recirculating pump. New burner only, which supposedly is unavailable at the time. The estimates were $5200 down to $1500 or so for a burner which once again was supposedly not available. I told him I did not have enough information to make a decision at the time and he left. The technician was very polite and courteous and friendly. After he left I pulled out my tankless water heater manual and looked at the error code that was indicated on the tankless water heater when he arrived. One of the troubleshooting steps it recommended was to take out the igniter plugs and clean them off. I did that put them back in and took a total of five minutes. Put them back in and the tankless water heater was working properly . I did not have to replace the part but upon looking online for the igniter‘s they were available for $24. I paid for a service call and the technician did not do one of the very basic diagnostic test recommended in the owners manual. I waited a few days to make sure that everything was as I thought it was and then I called the Blanton's HVAC company to tell them what happened. The person answered phone said the need to escalate this up to anothe level and someone will be in touch. No one ever called. I waited a few more

Service desk kept us informed of arrival. Technician knowledgeable and helpful, explained everything he did and why he was doing it. Fixed our problem.

Worst service ever! Canceled the appointment three times. Twice with no phone calls. Then the price was quadruple what another company to do the repair for.

Sent me a receipt without info just a total ( over priced) amount!Called to have them send me an itemized receipt. Got that. Also asked for info from when they came out. Woman said someone would call me with that info. I have yet to get that return call!

The ARS Rescue Rooter technicians responding to my home were all very skilled and communicated the process clearly. Their workmanship was comparable to any in the industry and suited my need well. It was clearly explained they contract with Lowes to complete the installation and removal of the hot water heater, so the terms of the contract are set by Lowes and not ARS Rescue Rooter. Lowes does not warrant labor except for specific defects occurring in the installation process. The manufacturer warrants the product. If you want a labor warranty, go directly to a service and shop contracts. ARS Rescue Rooter charges were well within the limits of the area for similar work and they were responsive to my questions, educating me on my plumbing. I definitely feel they did their job well.

Had a full HVAC system installed on 8/31. The air conditioning has been intermittent at best since then. Finally, after almost 2 years, they were able to find the issue. It turns out that my AC needs to be replaced. They quoted another price on top of the original $12,000, which was less than 2 years ago! They are only willing to cover the cost of parts (due to a 10-year warranty with the manufacturer), but they refuse to cover the cost of labor. This has been an ongoing issue, with service technicians coming to my house at least 5 times since the installation, and not finding any issues. I am hoping to get this resolved. I called customer service and they gave me a 48 business hour turnaround time (which is 6 business days, so more than a week) in over 100-degree temperatures. Nevermind that it is 90 degrees in my house and over 100 degrees outside. With 3 dogs and a family unable to stay comfortable, this is a huge issue!

I had hot water heater issues & contacted ARS Rescue Rooter. They came out on Dec 7th & said I needed a new water heater. They took my credit card info & charged nearly $3k. The plumbers were supposed to replace the water heater on Dec 9th (at that point we hadn't had hot water for a week). By 5:30 no one had shown up so I called ARS Rescue Rooter. I was told my service window was almost closed & someone would be out within the next 30 mins. By 7pm no one had shown up. I called ARS Rescue Rooter again & was told a technician was never assigned to come out to my residence, including dispatch had gone home for the evening. Saturday morning I had a plumber call saying he would be out within a hour. 2 hours later he showed up & immediately realized the wrong water heater had been ordered. He also was not notified that a leak stop was supposed to be installed & a pressure valve needed to be placed outside. He ended up going to the store & getting the correct water heater and finally wrapped work up around 3. I had plans to leave out of town that got majorly delayed due to the poor service of ARS Rescue Rooter. I was told I would be contacted the next week so that I could schedule someone to come finish the work that I had already paid for. I was not contacted so again I called ARS Rescue Rooter & was told they had no one available & someone would come out to complete the work the following week. So after no one called me this week I called ARS Rescue Rooter again. I was told someone would be out to finish the work yesterday 12/21/22 between 5 and 7 pm. I even was sent a confirmation email. No one ever showed up or called yesterday. I have never experienced such lack of customer service. I called again and asked to speak with a manager and was given the number to corporate. When I called I received a recording to leave a message. At this point I am in utter disbelief that this company is still in business. All in all I have made about 8 calls to ARS Rescue Rooter & paid them almost $3k and after 3 weeks the work still hasn't been completed.

ARS Rescue Rooter is absolutely 5 star. Prompt, professional & informative. Excellent.

Very friendly and prompt repair service. Explained in detail. Easy financing for a big job.

I had a new Neat Thermostat and Carrier Heating/Cooling installed in August 2023, and was only provided with a generic invoice with a total but no description of the work performed. I am applying for a rebate that requires an itemized invoice. I have made numerous attempts over a two months and a half period to request an itemized invoice. I can’t imagine how hard it could take someone to email a single piece of paper itemizing the work that was done.

I had a water heater installed 8/15/2023 & it is damaged. I was neither informed prior to the install or after of the imperfection of the unit & it is noticeable visible. I called immediately upon getting the picture from my son to report it. I spoke with customer rep #066938 as it was also necessary to get a copy of the receipt emailed to me. I called again 8/17 to follow up & spoke customer rep #33883. I was advised that responses typically take 2-3 days. Today is 8/24 & I have yet to hear from anyone to even acknowledge or address my concerns. I paid $3,700 and received a dented product.

On April 5, 2023 An ARS plumber and I agreed on a price of$490.00 to unblock/clean the main drain (approx 30 ft) on Norwich street, San Diego Ca. 92117. He found the stoppage was about 5 feet past the city installed "Tee pipe." He unblocked the pipe and water flowed but he could not get the snake to go further in the drain. At this point he stopped work and called a co worker with a camera. They detected a Tee in the main drain that blocked the snake and camera. Actual "hands on" work was less than a hour.

Subsequently, I saw aTV advert that ARS main drain clean price was $83.00.
That prompted me to check local pricing... San Diego zip 92117 average price to snake main drains is $190.00 up to 90 ft.
Considering work time to clear the drain and camera a generous price would be $200.00
ARS San Diego invoice # [protected] dtd 4/5/2023 refers

Service Call/Quote [protected] 1/13/2023

Jose Gomez came to my house on 1/13/2023 to check out 2 toilets that were potentially leaking. Jose has been to our house before for service and all was good. In fact, we have been using ARS for over 28 years, in 4 different residences and have always had a good experience. I do not believe that Jose was deceitful, I simply think he was incorrect in coding the charges.

Jose was here for maybe 45 minutes. He looked at the first toilet and said he thought it was leaking from seal. He looked at other toilet and said the flapper needed to be replaced. Both jobs were done in under half an hour. He sealed around Toilet #1 (using sealant that I provided because he did not have any) and replaced the flapper in Toilet #2.

He notes on the Invoice: Install Toilet. Jose did NOT install a toilet. This has to be an error in pricing.

After several nights losing sleep, I reached out to 2 other plumbers and a contractor and went over the job with them. They all told me that this job should be $300 - $350 TOPS.

I have called ARS twice. both times I have been assured someone would call me back but it has been over 10 days now with no reply.

I called on [protected] to report that my heat pump was not working and they told me that they would be there between 8am and 12 noon. So no one showed up and I kept calling they kept on telling that someone would be there but no one showed up. So girl I talked to told that I was the schedule for 12-25-2022 8am and 12 noon but no one showed up at all that day. I was told again I was scheduled for Monday 12-26-2022 8am and 12 noon so what happen no one shows up I have called all day and I am getting the same run around again and my heat pump is still not working. I wish that I would never bought the heat pump from ARS/Rescue Rooter from them. I am a Disabled Army veteran and I feel like they took advantage of me and I will be turning the company in Nashville TN into the BBB and I am going to seek legal advice on this ARS/Rescue Rooter this bull crap. We had holiday plans for the weekend and that got shot down. This was My wife son first time home for Christmas in fifteen years and that got ruined Thank you so much for ruining our Christmas and lying to me about coming out to not fixing our heat pump my name is Richard Stitt 281 Tom Johnson Rd Morrison TN 37357. [protected]

Please Read All the Negative reviews about this company and save yourself some frustration. They all have a common theme, no show, no call. shoddy work, and the same generic response from their customer service.

I called this company for a drain cleaning. They gave me a two hour window when they did not show up or call within the two hour window I called them back. They told me it would be an additional three hour delay. Three hours later No show / no call, I called them back again and they pretended they were unaware of my request and tried to reschedule for the next day after 3pm, When I brought to their attention their text and emails . They had a “manager” Anthony call and try to BS me by offering a discount, The discount he offered was higher than the price they had originally quoted in the first place. At that point I attempted to cancel with the assurance that I would not use ARS in the future.

So he agreed to send over a tech at no cost the following morning.

The next day, Elijah showed up with a broken snake. (See the pictures.) When Questioned him how he could possibly remove the blockage with nothing on the end of the snake, he assured me that they would honor their 90 day guarantee. However, a week later when the drain backed up, they had me sit home all day and called me at 3pm to refuse to honor their 90 day warranty.

When the actual plumber from a different company came to do the work and saw the pictures of the broken snake, he told me oftentimes companies will use no cutter on the end of the snake to guarantee a second more costly visit or to upsell you on other work, just his opinion. Don't take my word for it. Read the other reviews and be forewarned.

In my opinion both Anthony and Elijah were dishonest with me. I will not use this service ever again. You get what you pay for.

We purchased condenser with paying almost $9000 in July 2022. Then within one week, the condenser did not work, so they changed another condenser for us. Then in September around 19th, the AC did not work again. They sent the technician to check by saying it is the issue of compressor needs to be changed. We do not understand is this is a brand-new condenser we purchased in July, how come the parts will be bad so quickly. Anyway, we let them change the compressor on 21st. After one day, on 23rd the AC did not work again! By then the room temperature is 87+ degrees. Since so many issues of this new condenser within two months, we decided to return this product instead of keeping repairing the new condenser. ARS seems agreed to refund back our money and remove the condenser. There was a gentleman called me and told me that they would move the condenser on Friday morning which is 23rd of Sept. We were happy that they could move the product, so we can install new other brand condenser from other company on Friday. But surprised me is they do not move the condenser till now 26th Sept and our upstairs’ rooms have high temputure since 23rd. The reason they provided me is because the legal department is doing refund Paperworks? Here I don't understand is they should think during such weather, AC will be needed asap especially we have little baby. They can move the condenser first and then doing refund paperwork. So, our house can have AC immediately. Anyway, we are not happy for this arrangement, and we really hope ARS can pick up the condenser today. We cannot handle the heat anymore.

Thank you.

ARS installed a new AC/Heat pump at my home on 08/27/2022. The very next day the AC system shut down showing a E73 error on the thermostat so I called ARS and they sent someone out and he discovered the drain pan in the attic full of water. He drained the pan and flushed out the drain line and the system worked again. On 09/05/2022 the AC went showing the same error. I called ARS again and checked the attic to find the drain pan again full of water. The old system never had this issue and I want them to install whatever is defective to correct this problem.

August 25 2022.

I called you because I have a leak on the tankless water heater Naiven 210 that was installed New on 01-14-2015 according to Invoice # 9131- R70252.

Technician Showes up at 09:30am on 08-25-2022 and he did the repair and charge me the total amount of $ 1,152.00 Invoice # [protected].

What I complaint about is on his comments about ""Completion Notes"" said he replace the condensate media, plus tank cleaning. Also replace part that's under warranty for customer.

He charges me $ 410,00 for the replacement part that was supposed to be under warranty as he said on his report.

So that means I was charged $1,152.00 only for labor? That was to much for a customer that has been with you since 2014.

My brother was contacted by ARS and they left him a voicemail saying that they needed to speak with me so they could deliver papers and that I needed to go to a court appearance regarding a $7000 medical bill back in 2012. I was freaking out! When I called the number the lady was VERY rude direct like [protected] EXT 5437. She said that she needed a card on file to lock in my payment plans so that I don't get sued. I told her I wasn't giving her my card information and she responded very snappy almost like she failed at getting a payment from me and was disappointed. I told her I would contact my lawyer and she asked for my lawyers name and I told her no! She then said if I don't get her info by the end of day today that I would be served. It's funny that they didn't have the correct address or phone number on file, but I've always had the same number for 7 years now. Don't give them any information! She didn't ask for an updated address either. I just had my brother block their number and I did the same!

The technician showed up and told me it would be $200.00 to clean out the kitchen drain. I said the website said $88.00 and he made me show him. He acted upset with me and then proceeded to do the job. He called me out and said he could not unstop the drain that I had a broken pipe and showed me sand on the end of his snake. Did I want to call the guy with the camera to come out and show me the problem. I told him no and would get with my insurance company.
After he left I put a ticket in with AHS and had their technician come out. The first technician had stuffed a sponge and cloth down the drain. AHS pulled out the stoppage to show me. ARS/Roto Rooter technician was totally unethical. DO NOT USE THEM.

We called and scheduled to have a drain cleared in our bathroom sink. Advertisement said $88. To have one drain cleared. Serviceman arrived and immediately said he wanted to do a "free inspection" of house. Although I was only interested in getting drain unclogged - I agreed. He then tried to sell me on various hot water heated valves etc. I declined and asked him to service drain. He looked at drain and said it was going to be $376.! I was shocked - but needed to have work done and had already missed a day of work waiting for him to arrive so agreed. He completed the work in less than 30 minutes. I do not like ARS's deceptive advertising... and I do not like that service companies are trying to sell you extra service work through their bogus free inspection. VERY VERY UNHAPPY WITH THIS COMPANY.

ARS is a scam. Let me start by saying that asking for 50$ up front even if you dont work is a scam...you can give a 2 mil dollar bill and just go from house to house all day long collecting 50 bucks. (which is not far off from what happened to me) This is YOUR business YOU need to go out to peoples houses if you want to be in the plumbing business.. sometimes you can do business and sometimes you cant. How dare you make me pay for the ride over here. every plumber needs to go somewhere.

I needed to take my bathtub faucet off and put a new one on. I took the faceplate off and tried to loosen the faucet from behind the faceplate. It felt really tight so i called a plumber to come help me. They shined a flashlight behind the faceplate and said there are threads they can see. then without even trying to loosen it he said we can get your shower working again. he proceeded outside to his truck with his accomplice, did some talking with each other, wrote something down on an invoice then headed back inside to talk to me. he handed me an estimate for over $2, 000 dollars! I said look guys i just want you to unscrew my faucet. they told me its so old they did not want to risk breaking anything. I grudgingly gave them 50 bucks and told them to be on their way.

The next day I called a different plumber and when he got there he said and i quote "This faucet is made to be unscrewed without removing the faceplate". it was so simple he almost removed it without any tools. Now granted iam not a plumber i dont know anything about plumbing and it cost me 100 bucks to learn how to unscrew a faucet. But that is exactly why i called a plumber. These guys dident even know how the faucet worked and if they did know then they were purposely trying to scam me out of $2, 000 dollars. Either way its not a business i ever want in my home again. Iam writing this hopefully to keep someone else from getting "ARS'ed".

Company came over to clean my sewer. First price was $359.00, I asked if they could do any better and they dropped down to $250.00 within 10 seconds. The plumber goes to his truck and as I look out my window I see him snort something up his nose from the dash of his truck. He runs the machine through the sewer for about half an hour and tells me he is going to have to charge more for the extra time. He explains that if the job goes past the first half hour the price will go up 75.00 additional per half hour, this was never explained to me. I told him was not happy about the additional charges. HIs response was, If you don't like it call someone else but you still have to pay for the service that was done. At this point I told him to leave, His response was a verbal tirade. What really surprises me is that the BBB gave them a great rating. I also looked at the company site which stated that all employee's are drug tested, Which I find hard to believe.

On June 11, 2011, I contracted to have a new airconditioning unit installed, fabricated duct work and a new duct run to an add on bedroom on income property that was tenant occupied. As of August 15, the work is incomplete and the company has already charged $6000 to my credit card. When trying to have the work completed, the company's represenative avoided me, made excuses or extended deadlines, and did have the work completed timely. Today, I contacted my credit card company to file a merchant violation. I am unhappy and very frustrated because I was trying to do business with a company that would be best value, long history, and would honor the agreement. As of date (August 15) ARS Rooter has not honored their agreement.

This company recommended repairs to the tune of

$447 that turns out were not needed. As it turns out, it was a problem with the building, as I had indicated to them, of course, i did not know what I was talking about, according to them. They finally admitted that it was not my problem, but a building problem. They also stated that they do not recommend work that is not needed. Well, I have an invoice that is contrary to this statement. Also, this company took $106 from me for a permit, of which i signed a statement requesting their assistance in the permit process, 1 year 2 months later, no permit has been pulled from the city. I called the city and asked if a permit had ever been pulled for my location, the City said no. I do wonder how they explained this extra $106 in their accounting process, and wonder how many others this has happened to ?

I am a former ARS Rescue Rooter employee. I answered an ad in the want ads looking for a plumber position. I'm a licensed plumber and needed a job so i applied. Got an interview and got hired. This company doesn't pay by the hour here in Las Vegas, NV. They pay on a commission based system called "Comission Units" aka "CU".
For example: If I replaced a toilet and charged the client $850 (yes this is an actual cost they charge) then I would make 1.5 CU's. When you first start with the company, you start out at @ $20 per CU. So in the case of the toilet i would get paid $30 plus the ten dollars for going to the call. Regardless of how long it took me to do the work, I would make $40 in this case.
Some people might not think that's too bad. After all this rate is $20 per hour right? WRONG! We (the plumbers) are dispatched to calls that are primarily "cold" calls. Meaning someone ( a telemarketer) from our office called the client without warning to schedule a "free health and safety inspection".
When people hear "free" they usually say yes. Everybody wants free stuff right? The objective of the "free Health and safety inspection" is to get a plumber in the house to find stuff to fix. Even if it doesn't need fixing.
The position I applied for was a plumber position, not a salesman position. But the problem with this is if I didn't sell anything then I didnt get paid anything. Again, they pay for sales not by the hour.
Another example: Let's say your water bill is through the roof and you notice a wet spot in the yard. Call Rescue Rooter and a couple guys show up ( a plumber and "supervisor"). They go through the process of isolating the source of the problem and tell you that your main water line is leaking. First thing people ask is "ok, How much?" This is when the "supervisor" and his plumber retreat to their vehicles to "work on the numbers".
Now when I first started with this company, I had responded to lots of main line leak calls. When it comes to being paid to do the work, I would be asked by my "supervisor" how much I wanted to make. Looking at the yard it would take me a day to dig the new line and install it. Then half a day to come back and backfill the yard after the inspection was done. So I would say "$600". So that number would be placed into the bid process and a number would would be generated. The general going rate was between $4000 and $6500 depending on the size and difficulty of the job. Usually the client would say ok and sign the work order. Obviuosly we dont tell the client how much the plumber gets paid.
Now jump forward to a few months before I quit working for these rip off artists. Remember when I explained the pay structure? The CU system and how I would get compensated? Now I find myself on a main line replacement. The total bill we charge the client is still between $4000 and $6500. The work is still just as time consuming and difficult. However one thing has changed dramatically. Instead of getting a lump sum of $600 to do the work (which normally took 2 1/2 days total), now Im getting 14 Cu's and nothing more. And if I wanted help from another plumber to get it done faster then we have to SPLIT the CUs! 7 CUs each! So I would get paid approx. $140 to do 2 1/2 days worth of work!
That's not just the only thing. They raised the cost of almost everything to the client and cut in half what they pay the plumber to do the same work.
When a plumbing company pays comission, the going rate is 20-30% of the ticket total. At ARS Rescue Rooter the average is just over 7%. Once again they can make you work as many hours as they want because the law in Nevada states that only hourly employees get overtime. My weekly average was between 50 and 60 hrs per week. My weekly gross in my check was @ $450! After taxes and insurance my check was approx. $200.
An average day worked at ARS here in las vegas starts at 7 am (morning meeting) and ends some time @ 8 pm. Again they don't pay by the hour. They do this to avoid paying overtime. They are overworking the staff and placing unnecessary stress on the employees because they can. Because there is no law that says they can't. I am interested in joining a class action suit against ARS of Nevada. There is already one currently in California.
They are taking advantage of the current economy and lack of jobs to exploit the employees by threatening their jobs if they dont work the hours expected.