ARS / Rescue Rooter Atlanta (PL)

No call, no show. Next time I'll start my search on Angie's List like I normally do.

It went fine. The price is comparable. The price is a little higher than other quotes that I received from other companies. Not a lot, but a little. So they weren't the lowest. The technicians that come out are very professional. Last month he was here for a while, but that was a good thing, because he was very thorough on what he was doing.

The work is fine. In the past there has been some discrepancy but they were addressed by the ARS people. In the past there was a rather serious situation that they had replaced the unit and I had leakage coming out of the ceiling. That created a little disturbance with me. Generally speaking it is an alright situation. It is a fall/spring set up and they come and check both units upstairs in the attic and the outside unit. It is a general thing and takes 45 minutes to do the regular routine. They have been fairly decent. The price is okay. I usually renew the contract every year. When they come, they need to look at every aspect of their maintenance program. Some of my copper lines were missing with insulation, and they overlooked that, and I had to do that myself. I had to go to Home Depot and buy insulation for the copper pipes that carries the freon. That could have been taken care of the company, which I would think is part of their assignment that not only the unit is working properly, but also the pipeline that is bringing the freon and it is in proper order and looks insulated. I took pictures to show the before and after, so that was a neglect on their part. It is just for them to do a total detailed surveillance of every thing. The competition out there is very great, and it is just a matter of looking at details that need to be checked in a home. They not only have to check the units, but to look at the overall picture of everything. There are a lot of things that I needed to follow up myself because they neglected them. They miss other small details that are just as well important, other than that, the workmanship is good. They have the knowledge of what they are doing, and the work is good. I enjoy some of them over others. Others are very professional and more knowledgeable, I ask them questions and they answer them.

They did fine. I have had them for quite sometime. I am on service plan, they come and check everything out. They come in the spring to turn the air on and winter to turn the heat on. The price is a little bit high. They are always trying to up-sell me but I don't think that is unusual. They are very professional. I would use them again in future.

It was very good. I would use them again in future.

The serviceman came on time, was pleasant, and explained the problems to me. I paid at that time for parts, labor and a service fee. He returned the next day (a few hours later than scheduled)) with necessary parts, installed them and made sure it was all operational. He did all said he would do, but gave me an invoice for a total paid of $0 (nothing). I asked for an invoice for the monies I had paid on the first day and he said he would drop it off the next day, which he did not do. I called the office and they emailed one to me, but it listed the total cost of each job only; it was not itemized by parts and labor. When I called Trane, they stated they would cover the parts only and needed to know the cost of those. I sent an email to ARS/Universal requesting that information on 3/7/2016 but did not receive a response. Upon calling them and notifying them that I needed the parts costs to recoup those costs from Trane, they told me it was their policy to not give those prices and that they could not provide them to me in spite of my needing them for the warranty. So, because of their policy, I am out the monies I should be getting from my Trane warranty. I want to make clear that ARS/Universal was not in any way responsible for the warranty.

They said it was the blower wheel, so we bought a new wheel. It ended up being the wheel mount, so we had to purchase another part. They make service calls but don't show up; overall, they're very unprofessional.

John did a fantastic job. He addressed the situation and also looked at other potential causes of the blockage. He did a great job explaining everything and he also gave me advice on how to avoid this from happening again.

Universal seems to have a major problem, at least to me, in keeping appointments. I have noted this before in a previous review. We made an appointment for our maintenance check for 10/30 between 9 - 1. We received a phone call saying the technician needed to reschedule. He was already in our town and was heading to another town 20 minutes away. I asked why he couldn't come by our house first and do the maintenance check before leaving and having to come back. I realize emergencies happen, but almost every time I make an appointment a reschedule is necessary and many times, just a no show and no follow up. So we rescheduled for the afternoon, same day, 1 - 6. That's a full day I had to stay at the house waiting for Universal to show up. Universal failed to show up...no phone call, no show, and still a week later, no follow up. I've had an issue with Universal ARS in the past, wrote a negative review, and received a phone call and email from a National Customer Relations Analyst who apologized and said how important I was to the company as a customer and said she was their to fix the problem and I could contact her with any issues. That problem was resolved but I contacted her again this time to let her know of the no show for a scheduled appointment and that I would be writing another negative review. I was surprised that I received no follow up from her either. So much for being important to the company. So, here's my opinion of how Universal works...Universal already has my money. I've paid for 2 units, was considering a 3rd, or a damper system installed. I've paid for my annual maintenance plans. I'm now an after thought to Universal it appears. Sending someone to my house for a maintenance check is essentially non-revenue generating for Universal so I'm a back burner customer now. I would bet a year's salary that had I ordered a new system or had something that would be generating revenue for Universal, I probably would have someone knocking on my door to get the work done. Just like the follow up to make sure the initial install was done properly on the 1st unit we had installed...nobody followed up, and the same is true with the second unit...why? Money is already in Universal's pockets and sending someone out doesn't generate any more revenue. As a representative of Home Depot, which is how we connected with Universal, it reflects badly on Home Depot in my opinion. It has been this way over the 4 years I have been a customer of Universal ARS. Once or twice, I can understand...but this isn't even a habit...it seems, in my opinion and based on my personal experience, to be the culture of the company. And as nice as they are on the phone and WHEN they show up, and letting me know that Universal cares about me as a customer, it's meaningless as the actions I've experienced have shown otherwise.

The unit was installed in 2011. A sales person came out and counted our vents and intakes to size the unit properly, we were told. After installation and on testing, we heard and felt that there was some vibration. We were told by the installers that's just what multi-stage systems do. We have since maintained a yearly maintenance plan with Universal/ARS and had a second unit replaced by Universal/ARS (price for this is not included in the approximate estimate noted) as well. During one of the maintenance inspections, the inspector noticed the vibration and said that shouldn't be happening. He ended up replacing the blower which helped a little but the vibration was still present. He apologized that he could not do more. We then met the gentleman that sold us our unit at Home Depot. He remembered us and asked how things were going. I explained about the vibration and he indicated that he would have Universal/ARS call us. Universal/ARS called us a couple of days later and scheduled for someone to come out and take a look. On 7/23, the representative arrived on schedule and after an evaluation determined that we needed another intake. This was determined since he noticed that the vibration decreased dramatically when he removed the filter. When putting the filter back in, it began to vibrate. Since we were on a maintenance plan, the visit was only $50. He indicated the cost for the new intake would be $300. The representative that did the evaluation called me about 15 minutes after he had left my home and scheduled an appointment for Monday, 7/27 in the afternoon, to add the new intake. I think this should have been caught during the initial evaluation before the unit was put in when the size was calculated. At 4:30PM on 7/27, after not having heard from Universal/ARS, I called to try and get an ETA. I was told I did not have an appointment scheduled and they could schedule one but would have to call me back. I agreed. After not hearing back from Universal/ARS, I called back on Friday, 7/31, and asked to speak with a manager because I had a complaint. I was told that all the managers were in a meeting but someone would call me back in 40 minutes. To date, I have not received a call regarding this. This seems to be a pattern as we have had, more often than not, appointments scheduled with no shows and no phone calls from Universal/ARS for maintenance checks. It's inconsiderate and unprofessional of Universal/ARS to set an appointment and then not show up when I'm taking time from my job to be here at the scheduled time. I understand emergencies arise, but a phone call would certainly be better than nothing. I have spent thousands of dollars with Universal/ARS between 2 new units, maintenance plans, and service calls to be treated this way. I am definitely not a happy customer at this time. I am very skeptical about the initial work they did on installing the unit and am now having to continually pay for something that shouldn't have happened in the first place. I am not sure if I will continue to use their service.

They put in the original system and that went fine. They did maintenance and I paid monthly for this service. They started calling me in march of 2015 to set up the maintenance. I found out I was being overcharged for the AC filter. Then when I wanted to schedule they were not available and I felt like this was a run around. I told them I did not want to continue with them and they did not reimburse the entire amount. I feel like they are robbing people all around. Bad policies.

It all began pretty well. We started with one contract with Universal ARS about 7 years ago, and then kept one on our rental property and got another contract on our home. They used to be prompt and reliable, but things started going downhill. These past 2 years, a pattern has developed. Appointments broken. And our unit would be running perfectly, the technician would come in to do maintenance and a couple of days later, something major goes wrong, and then we call him back for a diagnostic, only to be told it's something major - always costing between $800 and $1,200. We can only think this is a racket. The technician (same person) always blames it on the builder, even though these are 2 different systems, built by 2 different builders in 2 different neighborhoods. The most recent visit, our suspicions were up. One week after a maintenance visit (the system had been running fine all year) the tenant complained that it wasn't even blowing. The ARS technician went in and said it would cost $800-$900 as something was wrong with the zoning board. And that if the supplier didn't have the part, we would also have to buy the dampers, and it would cost a whole lot more. He said he would call back the following day to let us know if the part was available and the cost. Tired of the same pattern, we got the HVAC company used by our property management group to go in and give us a second opinion. The second opinion confirmed our suspicions: there was nothing wrong with the zoning board, but "someone" had roughly wired and taped something that would have been easy to rewire. A fuse needed to be replaced. Instead of paying the estimated $800-$900, we paid $79, and the system is running fine. We're terminating our contract with ARS Universal (now ARS Rescue Rooter) -- a company that keeps changing its name (never a good sign) -- with immediate effect.

It was actually very good. The price I pay is for the year. I haven’t removed the membership that I have, because with the membership if I have any problems they don’t charge me a fee to come out and just see what the matter is. They were punctual.

It turned out fine. The gentleman that I had came out I was very very impressed with him and he was very thorough, but he had made mention that he does some things they don't normally some of the other people don't do. I think if I was going to suggested and make sure that all trained to these guys level because he does the extra mile and what he is doing. He thoroughly done his job. I think they are little bit overpriced compared to other providers. I would most definitely use them if they were going to sent the same guy out.

The service was fine. They were on time courteous and professional.

The price is for the year. It includes two service calls. It is for two units. They did a good job installing it and my air conditioning bill has dropped in half when they installed it in 2010. I signed up for a five year warranty on parts and labor. It has been very good so far.

It was fine. We didn't have any problems. It was reasonably priced, they were on time, and they got it done when they said they would.

Wonderful. They are always very thorough and prompt, and they always put booties on when they come in your house.

I was very satisfied with them, and I will certainly use them again.

They were fine. The technician was good. They did a good job. I was satisfied with the work.

The technician told me that my compressor on the Heat Pump was defective and could not be repaired. He also said that my 13Seer system was obsolete and as of the first of the year ARS would not be able to service my system and that I would have to replace my entire system. He prepared a quote of $9500 Hi end to $8200 Low end. The Low end price was for an 80% Efficiency unit which can't even be installed in my system because I currently have a 90% Efficiency system. I asked the technician if there was any possibility that the compressor was good and maybe something else was causing the Heat Pump to not come on. He said "no, your compressor is bad and the entire unit needs to be replaced". I had another contractor come out to give me a second opinion. The second technician did a series of test and got the compressor to come on. The ARS technician lied to me and tried to deceive me in order to sell a new system. BEWARE OF ARS!!!

We started this process by obtaining at least 3 estimates. Of the other 2 companies who came out to give us estimates, one never bothered to get back in touch with us and provide us with pricing. The other company did give us a written estimate on the spot, which consisted of "Good, Better, Best" pricing. When John Melton of ARS came out, he sat down with us and spent time finding out what exactly we were looking for, what our needs were, explained what we currently have and what the differences in A/C/Heat technologies are today. Rather than just throwing an estimate at us, we sat with him and designed a system, top to bottom, that suited our needs and our budget. We are so happy with the results!!! They came out yesterday to install our new system. They were prompt and arrived within the stated time frame. The work was done professionally and cleanly. One of our requirements was that this new system would be compatible with our current thermostat technology, an EcoBee thermostat that is a wireless unit that not only controls all of the A/C/Heat functions, but humidity as well and supplies us with data on all of this. While John and the technicians had never worked with this particular thermostat, it went very smoothly. They got on the phone with the tech support guy at EcoBee, found out what the wiring configuration needed to be, and it was up and running in just a few minutes! The techs who came out and did the install were very personable, knowledgeable and did such a professional job. They cleaned up and upgraded parts of the system that were not up to today's codes and standards and left the workspace clean afterward. Overall, this has been a very positive experience. We highly recommend them, and, I highly recommend that if you are in need of A/C and/or furnace work or replacement, you get in touch with ARS and ask that John Melton come out to speak with you and help you figure out what you need.

Eric Lott is an A+ technician. Friendly, courteous, helpful with explanations - seemed very thorough with his servicing, offered me reasonable options. This is typical of the service I have received from Universal ARS since they rebuilt my system about 3 years ago. I can wholeheartedly recommend them!

That was at 3:00 PM. Our tenant has been waiting all afternoon and evening and Universal has not even called. Are they planning to go out at 11:00 PM with no information about that? Called the company and they said they said they would have someone from the actual service dispatch get back to us. An hour later they couldn't be bothered to make it happen. I am canceling the call and going to Reliable who offered a much more reasonable price for service without an "emergency service" fee.

I called on the weekend and they schedule me for Monday. I waited all day and I finally call at 6pm and they told me they were still coming out. However, I gave up on them around 8:30. Called Tuesday morning and they had us on the schedule after 1pm. Finally they showed up at 2:45. They did the work. When it came to paying, Ray, the technician, said I could pay part cash and part check. The bill was $287. I gave Ray $85 cash & wrote a check for $202. A couple weeks later I get a bill for $85, the cash I hand him! I call to explain & their accounting department had already left for the day. I got no return call so I thought everything was good. Today my upstairs unit as the same problem. I called ARS & they said they could come out but I had to pay the $85 balance. So to me, Ray, the technician, pocketed the cash I gave him. I would not recommend them for anything since they are thieves!!! Please be careful if you use these guys!!