I'm not one to spend time writing product or service reviews, much as I appreciate the output of those who do, but I feel compelled to write this one in the spirit of offering some guidance. Let me state unequivocally, at the outset, that ARS was competent when both installing my Lennox gas-fired water boiler over seven years ago, and when replacing a part for it this past month. It is the latter job which is the basis for this review, although I now realize their pricing culture probably accounted, at least in part, for the very high cost of initial installation ($8,600). Despite my Lennox boiler having a 10-year warranty on parts and being only 7.5 years old, ARS told me the part needing replacement was no longer under warranty. As this part was highly integral to the boiler's operation, I was skeptical, but they were adamant. So, I called Lennox Customer Service and was told ARS should file a warranty claim, so that the warranty question could be evaluated by Lennox. This sounded reasonable, so I asked ARS to do this (a simple and quick online procedure for them, as a licensed Lennox dealer). ARS refused to do so, saying "they never file warranty claims," and tried to make excuses about it being futile because I hadn't done "annual maintenance tune-ups" on my boiler. Nothing about such maintenance was even mentioned to me by Lennox Customer Service. Again, I called Lennox Customer Service, and they told me they always expected any of their licensed dealers at least to file a claim with them in such a case as this. Lennox Customer Service then transferred me to the Lennox Consumer Affairs Department, whereupon I spent over an hour and a half on the phone waiting to talk with that department's representative. When finally reached, he immediately insisted that ARS should be filing a claim on my behalf, and he proactively called ARS to instruct them to do so. Moreover, he made no mention of any need for "annual maintenance" with respect to maintaining a valid warranty, and told me -- on the spot -- that the part was still under warranty coverage. ARS called me the next day, leaving a terse voicemail to the effect that the part was under warranty, after all. It's obvious ARS wishes to avoid filing warranty claims whenever they can; they even said so explicitly to me, as already referenced. My guess is that they much prefer to "milk" their customer for a new part. I use the pejorative term of "milk" because ARS was going to charge me $690 for this new part even though Lennox Consumer Affairs told me (and I later confirmed by checking online with an HVAC parts supplier) that the part in question was available for $195. And that still would include the manufacturer's warranty (in this case, from Honeywell, a subcontractor to Lennox), provided it is installed by a licensed technician. (Finally, I will also mention, as almost an afterthought, that ARS charged $270 for a mere 30 minutes of labor to replace the part. When I protested that this seemed high for so short a job, they simply stated it was their "flat-rate," conceding only to throw in a $50 coupon. Of course, this followed everything I've already written about above, as well as the fact that the first replacement part they tried to install was defective, forcing me to wait without heat for almost another full week until the second replacement part could be shipped from Ohio.) The toxic pricing culture of ARS is why I'm writing this review, since it is often hard for a layperson like myself to ascertain how exploitative a service provider can be in a field like this. Perhaps other heating & A/C providers are just as bad; as for myself, I'll try elsewhere in future. 10/22/17 Update: This review is already unusually long (to present a complete picture for fair evaluation by readers), but I wish to add the fact that ARS has been attempting to contact me since it was published. I don't intend further communication because I was absolutely transparent with them as to my concerns throughout our couple of week engagement, and their response was never more than perfunctory. I think it should be evident why they now appear interested in my level of satisfaction. It's for the reader to decide whether any comments they might make here in response to this review are trustworthy. All I can say is there's nothing personal in what I've written, and my objective is only to help someone else avoid a similar experience or, more likely, not even know they've been treated in a similar fashion. I will also reiterate, for the record, that ARS does competent work. It is their pricing policy which is abusive, and takes advantage of the opaqueness inherent in this type of service. read more

I am writing this review to express my extreme dissatisfaction with ARS, the company responsible for installing my Mitsubishi mini-split system. My experience with them was nothing short of a disaster, and I feel compelled to share my negative encounter to warn others. First and foremost, ARS used inferior quality copper lines (which they are aware of and have admitted to doing so) during the installation of my Mitsubishi mini-split. It is evident that they cut corners by opting for cheap and substandard materials, which has led to numerous problems and headaches for me. The copper lines they used were faulty and cheap, resulting in leaks and inefficient performance of the mini-split system. The use of these cheap copper lines has had a detrimental impact on the overall functionality of my Mitsubishi mini-split. The system constantly fails to maintain the desired temperature, resulting in uncomfortable living conditions. It is frustrating to have invested in a quality product like Mitsubishi and have it compromised by ARS negligence and inferior materials. Adding insult to injury, when I reached out to ARS to address these issues, their customer service was horrible. They displayed a complete lack of professionalism and were unresponsive to my concerns. It is disappointing to see a company show such disregard for customer satisfaction and refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes. I strongly advise against hiring ARS for any plumbing or installation needs. Their lack of attention to detail, use of cheap materials, and disregard for customer satisfaction make them an unreliable and untrustworthy choice. Save yourself the headache, expense, and frustration by seeking a reputable plumbing company that values quality and professionalism. I will certainly be sharing my experience on various platforms to ensure that others are aware of the poor service and substandard workmanship provided by ARS. read more

I called ARS to perform a tune-up on my two old furnaces. Service Technician Daniel Moore was assigned to the job. He was friendly, extremely knowledgeable and walked me through what he was looking for and was explicit with his findings walking me through everything with his telescope light that allowed you to see the real live problems he was seeing including severe rust fines falling into the furnaces from the exhaust piping to name a few. The furnaces would need to be replaced sooner than later. He wasn't trying to give me a sales pitch on purchasing new furnaces. He explicated the reasons and left it up to me as to when I should make the decision to replace them. I saw first hand the need for replacing them and I had never had a Service Technician with such integrity. He explained my various options to include BTU's, square footage, efficiency of the different brands I asked about. I had the furnaces replaced and the ARS installers were great! I had one concern with the furnace for the basement when the heat came on but went off after 1minutes. A different Service Technician came out to identify the problem and it was determined the circuit breaker was tripped. He reset the circuit breaker adjusted the thermostat and departed. I telephoned ARS to explain the circuit breaker tripped again and I need another service tech to come to my home and correct the problem. Well, much to my excitement it was Daniel Moore. Daniel looked st every wire in the furnace as he ran back and forth to the circuit breaker to check it. As I watch he explained, as usual, what he was doing and what he was looking for. He never gave up checking this. Testing that. Determined to find the cause of the problem. Then he found the problem read more

Converting our oil system to gas was an extremely challenging situation due to the exceptionally poor customer service from National Grid. If it had not been for the outstanding service we received from ARS, we would still have an oil system. All of the people we dealt with from the time I first talked with Linda and Melissa in the office I had the best experience I have ever had with home service organization. The salesman, Taze P did an excellent job of explaining to my husband and me our options for the new gas system, Chris and his installation team were very competent, neat, on time, and exceptionally patient while having to wait hours for the inspector to arrive. Aron S was the star of the team yesterday! He arrived at the time he specified, 1:30, having driven to the Cape from Randolph. He had come to attach the system to the meter that National Grid was supposed to have installed in the morning. When Aron arrived he found that NG had not arrived as yet! Aron was exceptionally professional, handled the situation very calmly and kindly. After waiting for a half hour for us to finally get someone at NG to help, we learned they would not arrive until 3:30. Aron again handled the situation in a very reassuring manner, letting his supervisor know and getting permission to wait for NG. Aron knew we really needed to get the system running for the weekend since very young grandchildren were arriving. Bottom line, NG arrived at 3:45 and Aron left at 5:30 after ensuring the system was up and running and the new boiler was working as expected. Aron is an exceptional technician and exceptional representative for ARS. As a result, ARS will have at least three new clients! Pam W read more

We have had very mixed experiences. When we called 2 years ago, we received a quick and reasonable estimate on a new heater. Initial installation was quick. A second visit got the attached humidifier set up. A third visit was necessary because the placement of the condensate pump was causing loud vibrations and the "solution" was stuffing a towel between it and an upright. A year later, quick response to fix our air conditioner. Recently, 2 year old condensate pump failed and caused damage in condo below. Relatively quick response but technician brought wrong sized, smaller pump which had to be held in place with 2 yoga blocks! We were told pump was under warranty and that someone would come back to refit piping. I called a week later and was told I'd get a call back. I called 2 weeks later, told 3 messages had been left but I hadn't received them. New technician brought another small pump, didn't know about piping, explained part NOT under warranty, fixed piping and, seeing my concern about further damage if/when new pump fails, graciously attached "kill wire". Why the inconsistencies? Why wasn't "kill wire" in place to begin? Individual technicians have been very pleasant. But poor communication within the company leading to me spending way too much time on all of this. Then I looked for email address to send these notes. None available. Used "chat" to ask for one. Gave my email address. Was told someone would reach out. They haven't. So I'm here. read more

Recently, I wrote a very negative review of ARS based on service provided and associated costs. The company has since made things right by providing and additional service visit with the service manager, John. The service provided today was excellent, and John seemed to be a true expert. He re-positioned a switch that was said earlier not to be working, (but in fact it was), and also did a thorough evaluation of my 12 year old a/c system. He also explained ARS' pricing policies, and let me know that the individual that had originally worked on my unit is not longer with the company. While my original experience was negative, I feel that the company has done its best to address my concerns and make things right. I feel much more confident in the company and am glad to hear that John not only manages, but trains new employees...so hopefully the company is staffed with qualified individuals who provide excellent service like he did today. Every company can have problems, especially with a mobile workforce, but it is a good company that stands behind their service and goes out of the way to ensure that quality is delivered, and bad experiences are rectified. ARS has done this and I am a now satisfied customer, who can recommend their service. I would also like to compliment the national and local ARS customer service staff, who have been very helpful on the phone in helping me to rectify a bad situation. All good now. read more

Jim C with ARS Boston came to my house in January 2015. I wasn't sure if I needed a maintenance on my steam boiler or a repair on my baseboard heat system. He quickly diagnosed air in my hot water loop and used my local sewer line to bleed the system. After that I was able to get more heat in my rooms. He refused to service my steam boiler because he said it was too corroded and worried it would damage it...I wonder if he would have charged me anyways if I had only called him for that instead of repair (-1 star). Anyways...his office told him they had a record of their visit to my condo 3.5 years earlier, I thought that was professional too! I paid $99 for the 10 min diagnostic and $101 for bleeding the system for 10min = $200 is more than the retainer for any plumber's first hour...I'm just happy because I was desperate and he made my situation better, he's a nice guy too and he took time to explain things to me :) Other relevant facts: When I called home depot to schedule, they could only schedule 24h out, and the original appointment window was 11am-4pm, but they said they'd call 35min before (to give me time to drive there). In the end, they didn't call ahead of time and I was lucky to be home when he came about 1pm. read more

I had a new tankless water heater installed. Both John and Derek were amazing. They worked so hard and so steadily all day. The job was complete and the areas cleaned up. The new system was explained to me in great detail. The technicians were knowledgeable and polite and so sweet. Not only were their professional skills amazing but their social skills were as well. They were so easy to talk to and to have in the house. In addition they were so careful with masks and gloves and social distancing. They took those requirements very seriously. I had a question the next day about my washing machine. Turns out it was just unplugged but Aaron was very understanding about that as well and while he was here showed me where the paperwork was and how to turn up the heat on the water heater. He was also incredible. I have a long relationship with Anthony B who was also here this week tuning up my air conditioner. I trust him and his knowledge and he told me the pros and cons of a tankless water heater before I decided to go that route. So four technicians in three days and each one a perfect example of professionalism and social awareness. Thank you ARS read more

I called ARS because of the great reviews on Yelp, and I'm so glad I did. I had a silly problem where I had accidentally had a sheet of paper sucked up into (what I now know is) the central air intake while replacing the filter. I called ARS and Ashley was prompt and courteous regarding my unusual problem and directed me to one the field guys (John, I believe), who was sitting in traffic and was willing to help me over the phone. Once I gave him the model of my central AC unit, he gave me step-by-step instructions and stayed with me on the phone for 20 minutes to walk me through how I might go about removing the paper myself. Ultimately (mostly due to my non-handiness) I decided to bring in the pros. Nick G showed up promptly, was extremely knowledgeable and courteous. He took care of the paper right away, and since he was out at my house anyway, I decided to upgrade to the AC check and tune-up, which hadn't been done in a few years anyway. Through and through a professional company that cares about its customers. I was impressed with the ARS team - from Ashley to John to Nick G. Highly recommend! read more

My new (old) house had a seriously gunked up oil boiler that hadnt been serviced since 2012. It was so bad that our home inspector turned it on and promptly turned it off and told us to seek professional help. After combing through a few review sites, I called ARS to book a cleaning. They sent Jim C. to come do a cleaning, and he was excellent! He took the time to do a really thorough cleaning and cleaned up after it. Our basement is just as clean as when he arrived. Major brownie points to Jim for his patience. I had about a thousand questions since I have never dealt with oil heat before, and he took the time to answer them and explain to me how the system works. He even explained an add on that the previous owner had put on the boiler that required it to be "on" year round. He said the fact that it is been off for so long is part of the reason why the boiler was so grimy. Jim did a great job with cleaning and was a pleasure to work with. I would definitely do business with ARS and with Jim again. Thank you! read more

Anthony arrived right on time to service our AC and do a pre-summer tune-up. He explained every step he was taking as he was doing the work in a manner that I could understand. As he was doing the tune-up he discovered a couple of other serious issues that were affecting the performance of our unit and he went above and beyond and took care of what he could during this visit and did not gouge us price wise! At the same time, he explained some further work that we should consider having done and left us an informative brochure for us to look over, as well as giving us what it would cost. We were again extremely pleased with Anthony's work in all regards - timeliness, great personable and friendly attitude, excellent work ethic and most of all his proficiency and top knowledge of his job. 100% pleased!!! The pictures attached show what he discovered up in the attic we were totally unaware of. read more

ARS went above & beyond the call of duty. They have extremely talented techs & supervisors that are not only the most qualified, they are helpful & some of the nicest people you will ever have the pleasure of doing business with. We had the pleasure of meeting Matt & John H who both were extremely professional, smart & hardworking individuals. They exuded class & a wonderful work ethic, they were thorough in their job. John H exceeded our expectations & spent hours studying our systems & put together fact sheets & diagrams to help explain the problems that existed. We would only use ARS as they are a trustworthy breath of fresh air, the company only seems to have the most diligent & great people to work with--up to the owner who I spoke with on the phone. We are so grateful for the work of John H, he is not only a wonderful man he is a savant in his line of work. read more

I chose to go with this company for the replacement of my new boiler and James was very helpful. He seemed to have a lot of experience with our type of situation and found a solution. After getting 4 quotes we chose ARS for their professionalism and eye on detail. Ryan was the installer and when I met these guys I was impressed with their no nonsense work ethic. They got the job done and my new boiler is running perfectly. I really appreciate when a company goes out of their way to offer good service. I told James the sales person that if we had any issues I would be on the phone with him immediately and would call until handled. The reason I write this is because in the end I didn't have to call back about anything. He called me to make sure I was pleased with the experienced and I said I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you to everyone who was at my house. Great job! read more

I called ARS as I had seen them on Angie's list and they were highly recommended. I needed service for my boiler. I had been having problems with my current heater service showing up and it was at the point where the radiators were leaking and our hot water would start out hot but eventually would turn lukewarm. I also let them know I wanted a general tuneup for the boiler. Dave showed up to start the tuneup and asked me some preliminary questions regarding my boiler. He quickly started evaluating the boiler and discovered the nature of problem immediately. The very same day the issue was resolved as Chris came out and between Dave and Chris the job was done highly efficiently and much to my satisfaction. The boiler has not worked this well in years. I highly recommend ARS and will be using them in the future for both plumbing and heating issues in my home. read more

I had my furnace serviced for the yearly maintenance by Jim from ARS today. Jim was right on time and went over the services he would be performing and an estimate of the time it would take to complete the job. Before Jim began the work on my system he asked if I had any issue with the heat or ac and asked if i had any problem area's to address. Jim's appearance and attitude was very professional and I felt very confident that he knew exactly what he was doing to maintain my system. My furnace is a new system and Jim verified everything is in good working order and went over the worked performed he performed as well as provided some suggestions on proper air filter maintenance. I'll be contacting ARS in the future if I have any issue's or for maintenance again next year. Jim and everyone I've spoken with ARS has been great to work with. Thank you read more

TJ came the first day. Right within the window of time he was scheduled for. Long story short, my AC unit coils were covered in ice, so he couldn't do the work. He detailed what was going on. Set my unit to run to melt the ice. Gave me a heads up about possible costs and then set-up an appointment for the next day. Nice guy. Jim was the tech on the 2nd day of my AC work. He called a few minutes before arriving. He asked about the first day's work and then got to work. I asked him about on-going maintenance and he was very helpful in giving some ideas to keep my HVAC running well. What I really appreciated is that both TJ and Jim spoke to me with detailed information - a lot of times technicians speak to women condescendingly like we couldn't possibly understand the work. Jim and TJ were both professional and detailed. Recommend highly. read more

Had my Lennox HVAC system installed in 2008 (15 years ago) by this team. In those 15 years, I've never had a problem with the unit. Last week my condenser fan stopped working so we weren't getting any cool air in the house. I called ARS and they sent a technician over the next day. Timothy arrived during the appt window and quickly diagnosed the issue as a faulty fan motor. He ordered the part that day. Juanita called a couple days later to let me know the part was in and set up the install appt for the following day. Pierre Geneste called me that morning to let me know that he will be arriving in 30 minutes to install the fan motor. Pierre did a great job installing the part and making sure that the entire unit was up running correctly before he left the house. Very nice Team at ARS. Thank you for getting my house cool again. read more

Mark E was assigned to investigate a water leak from a new furnace that ARS installed in October. He very quickly diagnosed what the issue was, fixed it, and spent time doing a couple of tests to ensure that the job was done properly. In addition, he also investigated an issue we are having in a different zone and presented some excellent scenarios to resolve all / some of the issues. He broke the scenarios down into job tasks, costs and effectiveness, and gave me a very clear idea of what my options were. He did not pressure me into making a decision, instead gave me his card and offered that I call him any time to ask him any further questions I have regarding these options. Mark was incredibly thorough, knowledgeable, sincere and professional. I would highly recommend him and ARS. Thank you for such excellent service. read more

This is the first day that I can really try out my new system from ARS. I just looked at the thermometer outside the kitchen window and it say 95 degrees!! I have the stat set for 75 in the house and.... it's 75 in the house. Dale and Rob came to my house last week and did a really nice job on the installation. The piping is neat where it can be seen going through the basement, the enclosure going up the side of the house is plumb and tidy. I'm really picky and I have nothing but good things to say about the company and the job they did. I got a couple prices and theirs was the best and the equipment top of the line. They told me about all the rebates that were available helped me and helped me secure the 0% financing through MassSave. I couldn't be happier. What a tight ship. Thanks for the good work!! read more