I am highly disappointed in the services provided by this company and would respectfully recommend to never use there services. I had my 3 year water heater go out and scheduled a service appointment for the following day, which I was assured they would meet me at a scheduled time the following day! When they didn't show up I had to call and was treated horribly by the the appointment coordinator (Joyce), which told me sorry "hun" that's how the business works. Next I was informed I would have to pay $120 for an after hour fee if I wanted them to come that night. Wtf you not only no showed to our scheduled appointment, but now I have to pay or no one would come out, what a scam! I have a family and needed it fixed so I had them come out. Joyce needs a lesson in customer service because she is terrible at it, as a customer it feels terrible to be lied to numerous times. The tech called before coming out, and informed me of the problem was a known concern as he just finished up on a previous call with the same concern. But he came and diagnosed the problem within 5 minutes and was gone ten minutes later after charging me $120 dollars for his after hour fee, even though I had a scheduled appointment which should have been no charge. He told me the part was under warranty, and should be in one to two days. With no hot water I had no choice but to wait. After two days I had a call that the part was in but after talking to the technician I was informed it was not, I asked for the part # and where it was going to be be delivered to. After checking daily and being filled with Nonsense and lies by the ARS and the technician I found out the part was in by calling the company that actually ordered it (Moore Supply Co)We had to argue with both the technician and ARS that the part had arrived. Finally we had the technician come very late at night to install a part that was ordered 9 days prior, it was obvious he didn't want to come that night but got busted lying that the part still had not arrived. They then informed me a warranty part was going to cost me $380 to install, or I could call someone else who would install it for no charge under warranty but I would have to go through the same process and I would have to reorder the part. Shame on your company. The technician was nice and completed the installation in under an hour, but informed me it was a company charge and he had no control over labor fee. What is your labor rate? $400 per hour? I would love for someone in corporate to contact me because I would never see a company succeed when they treat their customers this poorly, and provide such terrible service. It feels like I got scammed!! I would never recommend this company to anyone. read more

This is one company I would avoid. They look all polished on the phone when you call but my experience is that they 1) don't keep commitments and 2) rip you off. My original appointment, scheduled for Sunday May 31st between 8-12, arrived around 11:30. The Plumber, Mark, took a look at the issue but seemed very hesitant to trouble shoot it. He told me that because of the way the PVC pipes were connected to the top of my sub pump that he was unable to do anything. When I pointed out to him that ARS was the ones who attached them that way, he said appeared doubtful. He asked me if I had a copy of my service records and I told him that I probably did but would also expect that ARS had them as well. He went to his truck and called to verify. He was able to verify that the work was done in 2005 by ARS. He then told me that there was "nothing he could do." I asked for clarification, "do you mean that ARS can't fix a problem that they created?" He then backed down some and said, "well I can't do anything today because there are no parts stores open. But I can get the guy who made this mess to come out and fix it himself tomorrow, first call." He then scheduled the appointment for "first call, 8am, on Monday." On Monday I was supposed to be scheduled as the "first call of the day - 8am." At 8:35 I called the ARS dispatcher to find out why the plumber was running so late. She told me that he was wrapping up another call and then would be on his way. When I questioned her about not being the first service call as committed, she told me that he would still be there between the 8am - 10am time frame. I was never told about this range of time and was told by Mark that I would be the first appointment of the day, 8am. My schedule today was extremely tight and I would not have scheduled a service appointment had it not been at 8am. Keith, who had worked on the plumbing issue in the past, arrived to take care of the problem. He was very helpful and eager to fix the problem. Because we needed to fix it right away (the house smelled like raw sewage and I have an infant at home) he wrote up an invoice, had me sign it and prepay, then left to go get the parts. The quote came to $1,950 for work to replace the sewer ejector pump with float and add an alarm float (alarms was already there. It just needed a float). After doing some homework, I am finding that ejector pumps with a float look like they are retailing in the $300 - $350 range. That means that approximately $1,600 of the cost for the job were in labor. Considering the time it took to do the work (I'm assuming that you do not charge for time that Keith spent estimating the job), then the billable rate would be approximately $530/hour. I contacted HQ customer service but they gave me a very canned response about "all of the paperwork was in order." I won't be using ARS again.... read more

They suck. We just wanted a. Basic new wAter heater put in and ours taken away and they tried to quote us 1600z. We bought water heater frpm home depot and never heard of 600 dollars As basic cost for installation. This guy tried to sell us a smoke detector which we did not need. He was a real charlatan. read more

Wow. Words cannot express my disappointment. I ordered a sink and faucet from Home Depot. Asked every question I could to assure there would be no hang ups. Had to call after not hearing back from ARS for my install and was given an appointment nearly 3 weeks out. Tech showed up today, didn't even know he was doing a sink, thought just the faucet. Opened my sink, and then said, sorry I can't do any work because the holes for the faucet aren't drilled. (They are marked and cut underneath, anyone could do this). In front of him I called another company and they laughed and said they would happily take care of that and be here tomorrow. Thankfully, Home Depot immediately refunded my money. They need to get a contract with someone else if they can't do a simple job. This whole, we could be liable, excuse is crap. This is what your a insured for. Anyone could cut these holes. read more

The worst company to deal with. Avoid at all costs. Literally find anyone else. No need for such bad service.

I wish I could give zero stars. I'm not sure if the field supervisor for ARS is just lazy or not interested in making any money. The day before Christmas Eve, our toilet busted. We called ARS because I didn't know who else to call and they were one of the first plumbers in the directory. BIG MISTAKE. Please keep in mind I have no issues with the plumber sent out. He fixed our toilet in a timely fashion and a week later we haven't run into any issues. However, he identified that there was a tree root in our main line. He didn't have the tools to identify where the root was to give us a proper estimate. He called his field supervisor out who wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it out that day. Guess what, he never came. He never came or called the next day or the day after Christmas. It's now Tuesday and I still haven't received a phone call from the lazy field supervisor. Crappy customer service ARS. I do highly recommend RooterMan. They came out the morning of Christmas Eve and their plumbers actually have all the tools they need on the truck to be able to provide an estimate without having to call a field supervisor. Don't waste your time with ARS. They obviously don't want to make money or get new customers. read more

they came out at no charge on a saturday the only good point. they said if the pilot light went out again i would need a new control unit at a cost of $466. did a little online research and learned the problem was a bad thermocouple that was a $65 part and easy to install. bought the part and stalled it myself in under an hour. total cost $64 not the $466 ARS claimed it would cost.. read more

Started out good but ended on a sour note was pretty much called a liar the install of the 2 tubs and 2 toilets was to satisfaction though one of the flanges on one toliet was cracked was told they would repair it then the next thing was told he never said that and pretty much called me a liar ..over all id used them again just not if the same plumber does it... read more

ARS gave me a non emergency estimate for a gas water heater install at my 10 year old home. the water heater is in the garage in a closet. They job will take about 2 hours. 500$ an hour, total cost 1723$ including water heater from home depot at 544$. My brother just got same water heater replaced in dallas in his 10 year old home with heater in the garage in a closet-1300$ including heater from home depot. I think the ARS estimate is absolutely criminal!!! read more

scam artists. tried to say I needed a new system for 15k what a bunch of crooks. golden eagle repaired same day replacing one part the pressure switch. heater has ran great since. Invoice from ARS was a joke 15k and manager stated he would remove the 79 dollar charge for the bogus estimate. never happened. I would never suggest the howard lane team for heater repair. as during the coldest of times they ty to scam for new over priced systems. if you had less than 1 star I would select that. gougers and crooks and proven false by honest repair people. never again will I use ARS! read more

3 appointments, 4 techs, $497 = toilet still leaks all day! April 2014. I had my neighbors husband look at the toilet, $4, one Home Depot trip, 10 minutes, and my neighbors husband did what 3 ARS tech couldn't. Why is that?!? I have all three invoices! Never ever never ever never ever call ARS. They DO NOT value my time. read more

I have never written a Yelp review - but this deserved one. There's a reason this company got only 3.5 stars. Called in a plumber for a leaky toilet and he's trying to upsell me hard that I need a new toilet. And if I don't get the new toilet that he would have to try and unblock my toilet (when I can clearly see that it doesn't need unblocking) and that it would cost a lot more. But he can't tell me the price until he removes the commode. Min would be $260 but probably $500. But if I change the toilet then only $600. At that point I told him to leave and called in a competitor (Johnny Rooter) who fixed the extremely minor leak for $130 in exactly 18 mins. read more

Can't review the actual work because they never showed up on time. Gave us a 4-hour window they would show up within and arrived an hour and a half late. We were desperate but due to plans had to schedule them to do the repair the next day instead. They promised we would be the first customer of the day at 10:30. Well it's already 11am. No show and when my husband called there was no time noted on the work order. We ended up canceling the service as no one ever bothered to call us at anytime to let us know they were running late. read more

I had an appointment with this company for a service call through homedpot. They gave a 4 hour window - but they never came nor called. What a customer service. Wonder why Homedepot sent me here. How could you keep someone waiting for 4 HOURS ? no showing and no call to inform the customer. I hate to de-rate someone but this really reflects my experience with ARS. I guess after my review someone from this company comes and says "we're sorry blabla". That's not of any use to me when you waste my whole Saturday. Incidentally just look at the following review from another customer. Check for yourself. read more

We had our yearly heating checkup. Mike F. did a very thorough job, and he was knowledgeable, friendly and polite.

We called ARS to do some work on our A/C because our normal company was going to be a couple of days. They sent someone out a few times and the person never seemed to have the proper parts to complete the job. Several visits later, we have a huge bill and no real reason for it. No one has been able to give us any clarification on the price or an itemized list of charges. It's been a really frustrating experience that hasn't ended yet. read more

I did finally have a person in billing contact me only AFTER the BBB contacted them regarding the matter. She apologized and "understood my frustration about the matter" and did refund me. It was too little, too late though and I have cancelled all services with ARS and will never use them or recommend them to anyone. read more

If you contact your Home Warranty Company for your plumbing issue, be sure to tell them NOT to use ARS Rescue Rooter. You may never have your problem resolved and once they've sent them out they won't switch to another plumbing company. They came once, took the toilet off the base and left it overturned. They never returned and we've been waiting all week for someone to actually show up again. Every time they're scheduled, they don't show and ask to be rescheduled. We are unable to get out and live life because we are waiting for someone to actually show up. This company is absolutely worthless. read more

ARS / Rescue Rooter - They came on Monday, left our toilet like this and never returned. - Plumbing Near Me - Austin, Texas

We just spent 8k$ on a unit and within 2 weeks it has already went out. Obviously we still have a warranty, but these guys are doing everything in their power NOT to repair it. I've missed 2 days of work at this point to stay in this hot house and wait for these guys to get it running. 2 separate workers came and said THE SAME EXACT THING, but again, did not have the equipment to get the job done. This took 8 hours for them to tell me we needed a new compressor (For the second time) with ZERO results. The last tech, Robert told me that he knew how hot it was and he would be back first thing in the morning. I then took another day off and had to call when I noticed no one was coming in the morning. They then told us it wasn't scheduled til 5pm to come over and repair the new unit. It has been over 100 degrees outside and these guys have no empathy. The tech, Robert also had mentioned that the techs that originally installed the unit did not do it properly and that he felt it was them that should fix the problem, not him. Big regrets choosing this company read more

ARS / Rescue Rooter came out to fix my A/C. I got a time window for the same day, the tech called in advance to let me know he was on his way, and fixed the problem competently. read more

Wow, wish i had loomed at their yelp review before i called them. I am furious with this company. I had an emergency plumbing situation, and scheduled something from 8-12am the following morning. They called in the morning saying they were on the way. Then they said they were running late. Then they called saying they would be here in the afternoon. I called at 430 and they said they couldn't make it today. I told them it was an emergency and they said they would come later in the evening. Then i called their office to make sure someone would actually come because it was an *emergency* they had me wait on hold and them told me they woild not be coming and would i like to reschedule? I could have had someome 8 hours ago if they had just told me! So mad! read more

BEWARE!!!! We had a heater not working a few years ago and was quoted over $7000 from ARS for a repair stating we need the system replaced along with new duct work. We put the repair on hold since our upstairs unit was still working. Decided to get another quote this week from another company referred to us from a friend. Turns out we only needed a switch and circuit board replaced and with maintenance done on both heaters we spent just over $400. What a scam from ARS! read more

Scam artists pure and simple. I had an A/C that was making noise. The person at ARS said they could fix it but that the repair would cost $750. My wife said she was going to call around but she was told that the 5 minute visit from ARS would cost $80. Fearing that another company would charge close to $750, she didn't want to pay that plus an $80 penalty so she agreed to have it repaired. The repair took 30 minutes as all they had to replace was a fan motor (a $100 part). The technician also tried to tell my wife that our AC units probably had no more than a year or two left on them and that new units run $10,000. This is about twice what a new unit would cost me. Turns out that $750 is more than twice as much as most A/C repair companies in town charge. I called to ask why a $100 part and 30 minutes of labor cost $750. I was told that there was only one customer service person and was put into her voice mail. I left several messages and never received a return call. I only heard back from them after I disputed the charge on my credit card. Michelle at ARS told me that they charge flat pricing and they charge for 4 hours of labor so that I wouldn't be charged extra if the job took up to 4 hours. She actually had the gall to try to sell me on the idea that being billed for 4 hours of labor when only half an hour was performed was for my benefit! Their basic scam is to come out to determine the problem and then to charge a ridiculously high amount for a 5 minutes service call so that you feel pressure into using them to fix it. These guys are slimy and I'm telling you to stay far away from them. I got taken but hopefully you'll avoid being taken as well. read more

DO NOT USE ARS!!!! We were out of town on vacation and had water pouring out of our slab. My neighbor called ARS to come out to do a leak detection for us. They did come out promptly, but then estimated the service to fix the leak at $6,700!!! This was a leak where the main line connects to the house line. It was 2 1/2 feet deep and they estimated it at 6 feet deep. I had two other contractors come out and bid. Both were $1,100 to $1,300. ARS was totally just trying to take advantage of us either based on our zip code or the fact that we were out of town and desperate. I plan on contacting the Better Business Bureau. There is just no way that a bid can be that far off without some serious wrongdoing. read more

Avoid ARS!! I have a rental out there - I'm in Vegas and have a hard time finding quality people to do service work. So when my tenant said the ac was out, I didn't know where to start looking for a repair guy. She said she called a place that could come the next day - ARS. Evidently they advertise a lot out there. The next day, the tech called me while he was there to say a short term fix would be $350 but really I needed a new unit at about $8k. I had to ask multiple times what was wrong with the unit. Long story short, he finally said the compressor was drawing too many amps and needed to be replaced. I had to ask for a quote on just a compressor fix - that was $2k. Not knowing what really needed to be done -I told him I would get another opinion. I did a search and called the highest rated companies. Big shocker - ARS isn't rated highly. Larry at Bunten talked to me about the issue I had and said he could ck it out the next day. He did as he said - and imagine my complete surprise when my tenant told me the unit was working and blowing cold air! He had cleaned it out and started it up. He said he didn't think the compressor was going out - maybe the motor. But he said we'll just wait and see how it does. It's been a month now and my tenant is having no problems! ARS shouldn't even be in business! Stay away from ARS! read more

Always canceling/rescheduling appointments or waiting hours passed schedule time. Technicians get upset if you express dissatisfaction or call out rude behavior even in a polite matter of fact manner and refuse to provide service. If you can get Passat that and they do the work, the work is good. read more

We used ARS because they are the contractor for our home warranty and our hot water heater went out. They sent a plumber on a Friday afternoon... he shut off our water and gas to the unit and said it would be Monday first thing before he would be able to replace it... first thing Monday turned into 11:30am.... At 9:00am I got a call saying they were on the way and would be there around 9:30... at 9:30am I got a call saying they actually were still at the shop waiting on the unit to come in... and they had no answer as to why they said just 30 mins earlier they were on the way. At 11am they called my wife to tell her they were on the way. She missed the call and called back within 5 minutes. The plumber told her he had been trying to call all morning (guess he forgot about caller ID which showed only 1 missed call) and that he was already turned around heading back to the shop since no one answered. Once they finally arrived, they started to drain the old unit. This process took over 2 hours before they gave up and just cut the pipes and dragged it out. They then realized the unit they brought was too tall, and they had to go back to the shop to switch out the unit for a different one. I would have thought professionals would have wrote down the information on the unit they are replacing and checked the sizes in advance.... maybe that is to professional to expect. On top of this, the plumber has been giving us attitude like these delays and issues are our fault. He has been rude and very short when we try to ask questions or time frames.... This repair has turned into an entire wasted day sitting at home waiting... I would never recommend them to anyone. It is now 5:30pm and they are still here working on it... read more

This company is super high on there pricing. Got an estimate from them today to install an electric water heater for 1549.00. That's only installation. Ridiculous. Technician was rude also. I got quotes from different plumbers for 650.00. Wow.what a difference. It pays to check around even if you have to take a cold shower for a day or two. read more

Don't bother with this company. Made appointment to have them look at my water heater 6 days ago. 3 days before the appointment they called and said they need more info before they could come out, the 2 times I called I got a answering machine. So appt day (9-1) gets here and I'm thinking they're not coming but they call and say he's on his way up north and would call on his way back, of course now it would be late afternoon sometime... So they never call back! I'll look for another company with better reviews and now I'll go to Home Depot's site and suggest they find a reliable company to outsource they're work to. read more

Beware of installations from Home Depot! 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. read more

Our A/C fan motor went out yesterday, and today I genuinely enjoyed seeing Bunny and Peter show up to fix it. We always request them as they know their stuff, are reliable and trustworthy. They got it done, the house is cool again. Superior customer service, and great job! But beyond that, Bunny is always entertaining and humorous..Thanks! read more

These people don't show up. Even after calling and confirming the time multiple times with their call center. First scheduled an appointment via their website. No one showed. Figured "ok, maybe they are just incompetent with respect to their website". Called the next day to set up an appointment from 10am-2pm. Called @ 1:30 to verify that someone was coming, was assured someone was. Currently writing this review @ 3:52pm with no one at my house. Ignore these guys and find someone more reliable. read more

We went through Home Depot process to get a quote for a Hot Water Heater installation, they of course use ARS Rescue Rooter in Austin. We had a quick first response within about 30 minutes of filling out online request. ARS set us up an appt for the next day between 9am - 1pm. We called at 2pm to ask for an update and we were told they could not reach our plumber to get an update but that they left a message and would get back tome. By 4pm still no update so I called again, this time the person transferred me to phone of plumber assigned to me. Of course no pick up from them so I left a message asking for an update. By 6pm I called a 3rd time and now no one answered the phones. It's now a day after my initial appt and have not heard anything from ARS. This let me to Yelp where I read this problem is not unusual, also read lots of complaints about cost and quality so in the end maybe it was a good thing they left us hanging. read more

Very expensive and appeared highly inexperienced, especially with my problem -- a clogged grinder pump. Plumber lacked experience in dealing with my problem. Removal of pump is with a handle on top the pump -- my plumber used the attached PVC discharge tube pipe to lift the pump and stripped the threads of the pipe. After an additional, more experience plumber was called in, the pump was cleared, and repair to the damage caused by the 1st plumber in the first place accomplished -- at a charge of $400. Beware of ARS Service Express.... read more

You guy always show up when you say you'll be there and are professional. My issue is with you charging me $295.00 for a 40CFM capacitor. $295 dollars!! Talking about mark-up, this is ridiculous. I do believe I was way overcharged and need to be charged a more reasonable price. read more

This plumber was sent to me by AHS to diagnose and fix a rusted out screw in my waste and overflow. Not only did he inaccurately diagnose the problem causing AHS to at first refuse to pay for the repair but then he gave me an estimate of over $500 to fix it claiming he would need to make multiple holes in my wall. I had Volente Plumbing come out and he fixed it easily without any holes and it was covered by AHS. read more

Do I even have to give them 1 Star??? TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! This is not the first time we have had issues with ARS, but will be the last because we will NEVER do business with them again. My wife had signed up for their "service plan" and cancelled because they could never keep their times...well I am now writing this because again we are sitting at our house on a Friday evening waiting for the guy to show up for our 3 pm appointment this afternoon.... So here is our horror story... 3 weeks ago, called and scheduled our semi-annual check up with an appointment time of between 12pm and 5pm. Took off work and headed home to sit and be a prisoner in my own home. We had dinner plans that night so when the tech hadn't shown up we left our house at 7:15pm. We had already written off they weren't coming, not shocked that they didnt make their appointment and didnt call. We then received a call at 7:30pm from the tech at our house wondering where we were. Called the next day to rescheule and the "customer service" lady asked why we missed our appointment yesterday...EXCUSE ME?!?!?! Then she said if we had to leave our house we should have called and let them know....Then I asked her when we could reschedule. She asked when I wanted to do it, I picked a date and she said they were busy, so then I asked her when they could do it...this went on a couple of times before I just got pissed and asked to talk with her manager. I was then over this company and wanted to cancel my service contract. I was told the lady who handled that was out of town, but she would call the next week. The next week went by and no call back so my wife followed up and got a Debbie name who works in Austin. I followed up with Debbie and she said she would refund our service agreement and give us a year free. I agreed, she it was free and honestly I have never had an issue with a tech...so another try. I scheduled a time and this time the tech did come. He looked at our unit and told us we needed new coils, but its under warranty and the labor would only be $700...ONLY?!?!?! The tech would be getting the parts and scheduling an appointment with us. That did happen and last Wednesday we scheduled an appointment for Friday between 3pm and 5pm....well to say the least it 10:07pm and still no tech has shown up. This evening around 5pm I called and they said I was next on the list. I followed up at 7pm and there was some confusion as to what tech had been assigned to the job. I called back at 8pm and they said we would have to waiting until Monday for the appointment. My wife didnt like that answer so she called and wanted someone out now. Of course the guy on the other end of our call was just providing lip service and had the balls to tell me that if he sent someone out tonight we would be charged a $159.00 fee for after hours. The guy then told me someone would be calling me tomorrow morning and we would be the first appointment...RIGHT. If they call I wil let them know I will not EVER do business with them again. My wife also called Debbie at 9:15pm to let her know of our problem, of course got her VM because she is at home enjoying her Friday night. My wife also wrote a complaint to the BBB. TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE! Not an organization I will EVER USE and urge people to stay away! read more

Always get a second option! ARS was contacted by my wife while I was out of town on business to check our A/C that had stopped cooling. A technician came out that same day and provided us two quotes for different repair options. Numerous parts were needed and we were told we should have seen a major declined in its operation as it was only running at 80%. They ranged from $1,050 to $1,600. Given the cost involved she called me and I felt we needed a second option. The unit had been just fine and was only 3.5 years old. It took 3 days of waiting for the company that did the original install when the house was built, but it was well WORTH the wait! After a quick look at the unit a $290 repair was made and the unit is running great and at 100% of its ability. Only thing good I can say about ARS is they came out quickly. read more

Scheduled arrival time not kept. No call to let us know they would be running late.

ARS price gouges. I usually keep my cool even when I'm overcharged a bit, but I lost my cool here. Replaced a tank kit on a toilet. They call it a "rebuild" like it's fancy - they're just replacing a kit. $20 tank kit, $20 hose, about 45 minutes of work. Weekday, non-emergency. $450 total. I was quoted $292 by the tech which I agreed to assuming that the job must take at least 2 hours. About 10 minutes in, he says I need a separate hose also replaced and I say OK. Less than an hour later, he's done, and presents me a bill for $450. Apparently, this 6 inch hose that can't cost more than $15 at Lowe's is $152 in ARS's markup catalog. So the parts were about $200 by their catalog, and the work was done at a rate of $250/hour. First plumbing call I have ever had to make, last one to ARS for sure. read more