Why anyone would put an ounce of validity into online reviews is mind boggling to me.

We have had ARS or the companies it bought the entire time we have had the house. That is going on 40 years. They used to be ok but good techs all leave. Some are at HVAC Unlimited and I am tempted to switch but scared to burn bridges in case we need emergency services.
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This question has my attention. The five star review is a misrepresentation of technical skills and marketing. The technical part is masked with new test equipment new trucks and many new technicians. They have been taught customer skills and are computer literate. Technicians are knowledgeable. The experience factor and corporate structure includes the upsell. Ex. I need a blower motor, but we replace the wheel the housing and motor. Motor, my charge 200, 1900 for fh. they install it. This was after I was told Txv was broken. Txv was scheduled first. Then the blower went out. OK. I chose to refuse service and put a century motor in. Still paid for a coil cleaning it was worth seeing how the covers were removed and put back on. The guys did good here. Good guys but the company's mission is not my code. Corporate structure dictates techs procedures. Helps cover the advertisement. The invoicing was like going to the hospital and make sense of each line item in the statement. This business is a numbers game, many techs to respond quick. All issues are not a mystery to techs but they are for you, hence they are the heros. 5star.
Technicians in this environment will take longer to learn the finer points of their trade. They will sell parts and bill hours. Tech V.S. Part replacers.
Jim I am a Doctor not an engineer.

Online reviews mean nothing. Companies purchase AI generated reviews for pennies.

Anonymous wrote:I have worked in cybersecurity for 15 years, CISSP, Masters, etc. Firms sell bots by the millions, so any company can purchase legitimately appearing reviews and stars (4.8 stars!) for a fee. Online reviews are meaningless.

I don't trust the positive reviews, but I do pay attention to any negative reviews that I read online.

Anonymous wrote:Any experience with ARS?

Just let me say that my personal experience with them was very bad. That company will never set foot on my property.

Anonymous wrote:You do understand that they pay all the reviewing companies such yelp, google etc to keep their reviews up.

I had an incident with yelp in which I gave a bad review to a company and they would refuse to publish that review because company has gold membership.

I had a similar company pay me to take down a bad review. The cost of the service plus 20% for my inconvenience was worth more than keeping up a review.

Does anyone have experience with Gary P Frank https://www.garypfrank.com/

or B&B working with both these companies now to get quotes for AC repair.

You do understand that they pay all the reviewing companies such yelp, google etc to keep their reviews up.

I had an incident with yelp in which I gave a bad review to a company and they would refuse to publish that review because company has gold membership.

Anonymous wrote:Any experience with ARS?

ARS has the same business model as the private equity companies.

Anonymous wrote:We used to have their monthly service plan. The times they came by were ok and they didn't necessarily always upsell but they charged so so much of we needed anything. Then our AC died and we got quotes including from FH Furr, GAC and some smaller companies. FH Furr was by far the worst. The guy insisted on two 3 hour high pressure sales visits right smack in the middle of dinner time. The guy even had the gall to say he was giving us of his time for free. And the quotes were ridiculous, like really ridiculous. GAC was expensive too but not to this level.

Had the same experience! Tried to go through Costco, who sent FH Furr. Guy would not leave! It was after dinner time, though, and I had two little kids who needed to be bathed and put to bed. He drew (by hand) an elaborate picture of our system. It was ridiculous.

To the PP who asked about ARS, we used to use McCarthy Services, but now they're linked to ARS/Roto Rooter, and they've been awful. Came out for a maintenance visit and tried to scam us into spending thousands to take apart our air conditioner which had nothing wrong with it. Paid the guy to get him to leave. Then the company wouldn't return our calls. Kept saying management was in a meeting. For weeks! Got our money back from our credit card. They also taped over the internal shut-off switch to our furnace and a bunch of other stuff. Do not use.

Anonymous wrote:$800 for an AC capacitor replacement. It'd one of those tough things where once they're out there you're already on the hook for the service call so it's just enough to be a rip off but not enough to want to pay for someone else to come out.

Like others, I called my prior local company and they had been bought out by Furr.

They also have this obnoxious pricing model where if you don't buy a "membership" the cost is $200 higher. I'm sure that will be a PITA to cancel when the time comes.

Just paid $350 to have a capacitor diagnosed and replaced. I had Michael & Son quote me 3k for a new water heater. I called up my lazy ass plumber and he had it installed in a few hours. Total bill was 1.5k.

$800 for an AC capacitor replacement. It'd one of those tough things where once they're out there you're already on the hook for the service call so it's just enough to be a rip off but not enough to want to pay for someone else to come out.

Like others, I called my prior local company and they had been bought out by Furr.

They also have this obnoxious pricing model where if you don't buy a "membership" the cost is $200 higher. I'm sure that will be a PITA to cancel when the time comes.

Re Google Walter Electric, it takes you to FH FURR website. A HVAC company was also subsumed by FH FURR. Plus they audio record technicians interactions with their clients for “training and quality purposes.”

Good HVAC is Green Fox. Family owned and operated.

Or HVAC Unlimited? https://hvac-unlimited.com/contact-us/

Our ARS guy saw Furr across the street and laughed.