Mr. Rooter Plumbing

On November 2, 2010, I placed a call to 'Mr. Rooter' for a clogged bathroom shower drain. A representative came and cleared the drain, and charged $189.22 for the repairs. The following day, I saw a TV commercial advertising that this company would do a drain cleaning for a total cost of $99.00. I contacted the company the next day and requested that I be refunded the overcharge. No action on Mr. Rooter was taken on this complaint.

Approximately ten days later, I contacted the company by phone and a representative told me that she would pass the information on to the manager who would then contact me. This same request was made a total of 3 times to the company with no response. I then attempted to contact the Better Business Bureau in Detroit and left a message with my name and address so that they could mail me a complaint form. I had to do this 3 times over the course of the next month. To date, I have not received any reply from the BBB or the company of Mr. Rooter. I would appreciate any assistance that you could provide to me in this matter.

I called Mr. Rooter to unclog four underground gutter drains and one drain in the driveway. The quote was $732.00 for the first two hours and approximately $350.00 for each additional hour. I agreed, thinking that they would clear all five drains. The technician and his assistant cleared one underground gutter drain but could not clear the others. The technician suggested that I call a landscaper to fix the problem. The amount of time expended to fix one drain was less than one half hour, and the total amount of time they were in my home was less than an hour. You can imagine my shock when they presented me with a bill for $783.24.

I immediately wrote a letter to Mr. **, president of Mr. Rooter, to complain about the situation. To this date, I have not had the courtesy of a response. Having not received a response to my letter, a few weeks later, I wrote complaint letters to the Better Business Bureau and New Jersey Consumer Affairs. Neither of them could help me. So I then filed a complaint with Angie's List who sent me a copy of Mr. **'s response. This response included a number of mistatements by **. They are as follows: 1. That I had agreed to the quoted price (Yes, I agreed but the contract was for clearing five drains and not just one). 2. That there was no charge for a machine used to take pictures of two of the drains that they could not fix. The normal charge for this he claims is $373.00. I did not request these pictures and do not need them if, as they suggested, I am to call a landscaper. 3. That the technician spent more than one hour at my home. Believe me, this is not true.

4. That they only heard of my dissatisfaction four months after the fact. As stated above, my letter to Mr. ** was mailed immediately and my letters to the Better Business Bureau and New Jersey Consumer Affairs followed shortly thereafter. Since all of this took place within a few week after Mr. Rooter's visit to my home, Mr. ** certainly was aware of my complaints long before the four months he alleges. I should add that after I searched Mr. Rooter on the Internet and found many complaints against Mr. Rooter of Midland Park, New Jersey as well as Mr. Rooter organizations throughout the country, I certainly would not have contracted them had I done this search originally.

On a Saturday late afternoon, my drains started to overflow in the basement. I had no idea what to do. I opened the phone book and it happened to open on their huge two page ad. Aaron called another person to help him--Francis. They showed me the price which was $950.00 to clean out the drain and use the camera. I was beside myself, had water all over, and am on a limited income. I told him to go ahead and clear the drain. They then showed me the "video" from my drain which showed a broken pipe under the floor and told me that it needed repair or I would have more problems. They quoted me a price of $3,600 to fix the problem. I had two other companies come out to get quotes on the repair that Mr. Rooter said I needed. I was told that for the work that Mr. Rooter did, it would have been $300 from one and $500 from the other.

I called Mr. Rooter at 230 Bank Street, Midland Park, NJ 07432 to clear four underground gutter drains and one driveway drain. The quote was $732.00 for the first two hours and approximately $350.00 for each additional hour. I agreed, thinking that they would unclog at a minimum of $732.00 if it took them two hours or less. Of course, if the work required more than two hours, they would be compensated at the rate of approximately $350.00 for each additional hour.

Mr. Rooter cleared one gutter drain and attempted unsuccessfully to clear the two other drains. The amount of time expended was less than half an hour. The technician then proceeded to use a machine that takes pictures on two underground clogged areas and advised that I should contract a landscaper to clear these areas. All in all, Mr. Rooter was at my home for less then one hour.

You can image my shock when the technician presented me with a bill for $783.24. First, they unclogged only one of the five underground drains contracted for. Second, I obviously do not need Mr. Rooter to take pictures of two of the underground drains they could not clear so that they could suggest that I contract a landscaper. I could have hired a landscaper in the first place without contracting Mr. Rooter.

To add insult to injury, a letter to Mr. Steve **, president of Mr. Rooter, was ignored without the common courtesy of a response. I should add, that after the fact, I checked the Internet for complaints against Mr. Rooter throughout the country and found an extraordinary number. I suggest that anyone considering the services of Mr. Rooter first search the Internet for such complaints. A word to the wise. Thank you for your support.

On August 19, 2010, I called Mr. Rooter to fix a water leak that I have in my house. The leak was coming from the second floor to my first floor. The plumber charged me $1,569.56 to fix the problem; all work is guaranteed for 1 year. However, I still have the exact same leak. On September 01, 2010, I called Mr. Rooter again to fix the problematic situation. They are attempting to justify their poor and carelessness doing the initial job by stating that it is a new leak. Nonetheless the leak comes from the exact place. They want to charge me an additional $450.00 to come to my house to fix the problem. I already paid them the money for something that they never completed. I want my money back since I would need someone else to do the job. As a consequence of this leak, the ceiling and the walls in my basement are destroyed. In addition, I have tenants with kids. They need to cook for them; they need to use the bathroom.

exorbitant fees...