Roto-Rooter Reviews

Original review: Received an outrageous estimate from this company. This company wanted to charge me $3800 to replace a water heater. Another reputable retailer charged me on $1475.00. The tech at Roto-Rooter was so rude, once he saw that I was a women of color had a lot to do with it in my opinion. The technician stole my vent before he left and I had to pay the vendor that completed the job for another vent. The tech from roto rooter wanted my job, not sure why he wanted that because the financing is done online. I complained to the corporate office and of course they sided with him. Please do not use roto rooter, especially if you are a women and a woman of color. I had never been treated with that type of disrespect before plus his plans were to get over on me. Please be aware of this company.

First and foremost, their so-called "emergency" service came with a ridiculously inflated price tag. They took advantage of my vulnerable situation and quoted me an exorbitant amount after talking to my insurance and convincing me that insurance had confirmed to proceed with the repair and that Roto-Rooter would directly deal with insurance. But that was just the beginning of their deceit. They not only charged a heavy amount from my insurance but also filed a mechanics lien on my property even before providing me any notice and made me pay a huge balance of over ~$35K. It's evident that they care more about squeezing every penny out of unsuspecting customers than providing quality service. Do your research, find a reputable plumbing company that values honesty and integrity, and spare yourself the distress and financial burden that I endured.

Next day, I call to confirm still on track because I have to leave work to accommodate and they never had me on the board. They had it for two days from the online submission! The guy who answered puts it back on for next day same time frame. Call again to confirm on track and I’m told, "No, we have to do it at 5pm because it sounds like if it’s a total replacement of your water heater the last tech stops at 5pm." I acknowledge and leave work early only to get another call that, "OHHHH we didn’t know you live in KY, we can’t come today again because we only have one tech. How about tomorrow?" Terrible customer service. You’ve had my info. I completed online and spoke to multiple people and each person I spoke to is a deer in headlights and rude.

Thankfully, I was able to get another company to come out and cancel with Roto-Rooters. I don’t recommend because if you have several people working and you’re rude to customers or can’t have attention to detail or any sort of communication to your customers then you don’t belong in customer service and should not preach 24/7 or reliability when it is less than reliable.

Keep In mind he never opened the main clean out and examined it for himself even though he was standing next to it wiggling the pipe. So those two guys talk to me for a while about nothing relevant. The trainee thought he recognized me from his last job as manager of Wendy’s….lol yada yada. They left and said it would be an hour and a half before the guy with the camera get here. Ok he shows up and he is also polite. He hauls up a pools of line with a camera and light attached at the end opens the cleanout, positions the camera and light just in the entrance and turns on monitor. Then he explains it’s right there! It was at the mouth of the cleanout.

He take it out and asks if I have anything to put the rusty line in and I said I have a trash bag and that wasn’t good enough; he said a bucket would be better…Lucky for this guy I had a bucket from buying kitty litter but I found it interesting I was furnishing this when I think they are supposed to handle that I would think for the price I’m giving them… Well basically he didn’t even have to use the camera and was going to charge me 350 for pretty much nothing…just cause he brought the camera out which if the first guy would have opened the clean out and inspected it, it would been solved and I would paid for a service call only.

Next, the fellow realizes he didn’t do much j or use his camera and didn’t even dirty the camera so he says he might as well take a look at my sewer line since he’s there, he says; l mean what the hell right? I agreed stupidly not realizing he was planning to charge me more money on top of the 350. So my sewer line was good, there was a couple small clumps roots in there that I knew was there when I bought the house and I took out the junipers responsible. Well he said he would clear that for me but to remember he doesn’t have a bigger blade…so basically he took our maybe 50 percent of one clump and 30 percent of the other one and told me to remember he didn’t have a big enough blade to get it all….something I later found out that there is different size blades and if he had the proper blade he could have taken care of it like he was supposed to.

Well, then he spent about 45 minutes ** with me about my sewer line and using a wand in my front yard to see where the pipes were. Then he gave me a bill for 568.00! Well I’m not one to get angry and cause a scene without analyzing it afterwards and making sure I’m in the right which is what I did…I paid it and then a couple days later tried to speak to a manager. The day I called I was told someone would call me back within 30 minutes, that wasn’t the case. I ended calling repeatedly only for one manager to get on the phone and say he only has limited power to help and no one would be available till Monday…he asked what I thought was fair and I said for half the bill to be refunded seemed fair to me to resolve the issue.

He said he only had the power to refund 100 dollars and I will need to speak with higher management Monday…after getting off the phone I thought he was going to refund 100 dollars but no he did not. Monday I was referred to corporate manager that I got was a woman named Pat ** or something to that extent by the voicemail I finally got to… Pat obviously wasn't about to take my call as it was by accident the machine took me to her voicemail after I left a general message in a general voicemail I pressed a button that took me to her extension which I was quickly disconnected and had to call back and each time I tried to get that extension again I would get disconnected or get sent to a recording main menu and there was more game playing over the phone but I think this is enough to get the picture.

I knew for sure it was being done on purpose let’s just say… At one point suddenly a guy called me while I was trying to get through and said he was a manager John ** or ** something like that and he had a semi-Al tone to his voice. You know someone is either going to be genuine to their customers or they are going to be defensive and genuine seems to be rare these days. I told him the story and he proceeded to say the charges sounded good to him cause usually they charge 750 for a camera guy to come out. I said, "Wait a minute, I was never told that," he interrupted me as if I was the crook and a liar and said he knows for a fact that they never give quotes over the phone…

I said, "Excuse me but I wasn’t going to say I got a quote over the phone, I was going to say what I was told before anything had been done…" Well I in my younger days, I probably would got angry with the smart elec undertone he had while he was telling me that all was good and he wasn’t going to do anything for me and as he gave me an employee number and such the undertone was an antagonistic tone of about to laugh and as if he was trying to antagonize me to instigate me into anger. This is something I’m realizing bad companies do these days to turn the tables on a customer and make it look like the customer is a unruly angry lying crook etc…

I’m 52, these days and I am shocked at many things I am running into in this country these days of people and big companies especially that you would think have a good rep and wouldn't be about robbing someone… In conclusion; if the first guy would have actually did something besides talking and shaking a pipe…if he would have at least opened the clean-out and examined the opening with a flashlight even I would ended up paying for a service call happily and I would have been giving them a great review for their politeness although the politeness isn’t real genuine… You know it’s like when someone has a fake smile and many can usually sense the fake smile is not genuine but something they have to do…. Well it’s the same with these guys, their service is what they have to do but it isn’t genuine…something completely different than what the founders of Roto-Rooter gave out I’m sure…

I’m sure I’m just one guy In Their nationwide conglomeration so this review will not hurt them, this is also why customer service is the way it is these days…and frankly, the second fellow tricked me into doing more work than I needed since he didn’t even get his camera dirty in The first place…I really thought the guy was checking out my sewer line cause he didn’t do anything and wasn’t going to charge me hundreds of dollars more!

Instead, a month later, I received an email and letter that my account was at risk of going to corrections for the full fraudulent amount. I spoke with them once again on the phone and via email and they said they would send a corrected invoice. Now, a month later, I received a letter that the full amount is being sent to collections and my calls, messages, and emails to the company for the past two weeks have been ignored. How this company is still in business after illegally charging for work that they never did—with photo and call log proof that it was never done—is beyond me. I will say it’s nice how detailed their invoices are so that I can see all of the places where they fabricated costs and work.

The issues started before the collections department failed to do their job as well. The company won’t provide true estimates for work and will bill after it’s said and done (my range was $2,500 to $7,500). They also say there’s a required asbestos test for a “minimal standard rate fee” that they somehow didn’t know the amount of at the time. What they didn’t mention is that they also will charge for a lead test and that the cost for the asbestos and lead tests are $900, which is on top of the estimate.

One important thing to point out: Roto-Rooter’s Denver water restoration leader is Scott **. He will screen your calls and get angry if you question why there are charges for work that wasn’t done, and will simply not respond when presented with evidence. Notably, the higher-than-market-price asbestos test was done by Abigail **. The lead test, which no one came out for, was certified as done by Val ** under his EPA certification. There aren’t a whole lot of ** in Denver and the company that did the inspection, Mountain West Environmental, lists itself as a “family” company, which would explain a lot about the inflated inspection charges.

Scott sent me the certifications for the lead test and asbestos test. As mentioned, Val never came out to the property to do a led test, though the certification says the inspection was performed by Val ** and lists his EPA certificate number. This is just the start. There are so many questionable, shady, and outright illegal things that this company did before suddenly becoming unavailable and sending me to collections.

I cancelled the excavation and got a second opinion. The REAL PLUMBER cleared the clog and attempted for 45 minutes to remove the broken snake left by ROTO ROOTER. The REAL PLUMBER charged about half of what roto rooter wanted originally if they were to just clear the clog. And now we have a broken snake in our drain that can and will likely cause future clogs/backups and we have to pay another company to get it out. And all the customer service person said was "I will talk to the technician about the miscommunication about the broken snake." And he said that our pipe was probably bad which is why the snake broke off, the pipes are fine and this was confirmed by the REAL PLUMBER.

My initial contact with Roto-Rooter to fix an intrusion of sewage backing into my basement did not appear to be overtly unusual. When a nationwide company sends a plumber in a company van to your home that same day, it is reasonable to expect they have established credibility in their craft. The field supervisor identified himself as an experienced plumber and worked with another plumber to identify and resolve the problem. After the draining cleaning proved ineffective, they brought in a sewer camera. The problem was then identified by the field supervisor as an impenetrable blockage at the street connection. I was informed an excavation would be necessary to view the pipe directly and effect appropriate repairs. Possible causes and available solutions were discussed. An agreement was reached and repairs were scheduled for the following week.

However, issues and concerns arose the following day that were neither resolved nor addressed by the field manager. Priorities shifted as the gradual sewer intrusion became zero drainage the morning after the plumbers had worked on the drain. This meant no flushing or water usage for over four days. A coincidence? The field manager did not respond. After repairs had been made, but the project had yet to be completed, I identified specific concerns and submitted them to the company liaison, who created a complaint for the local manager to review. The manager's response was to deny my concerns before he escalated into rage and threats. This is not acceptable under any circumstance.

One concern: The field supervisor had stated when the project was completed, there would be no hole remaining on my property. He described how the excavation hole would be completely backfilled and leveled, the only task remaining for the homeowner would be leveling the soil with a rake and re-seeding the bare spots. One fact: The sizable hole in my front yard next to a pile of soil, the numerous concrete pieces and white residue covering most of the vegetation across the front yard, and a basement drain that continues to back up.

I got hold of trenchless sewer who had 4 people work for 6 days, cleaning out the lines and re-piping with PVC with no damage to the inside or outside of the house. Wrote letter to president of Roto-Rooter with copy to Better Business Bureau with details of problems and asking for 50% refund. Never got any response from roto-rooter. They are liars, thieves, commit fraud. Do not use them and let your friends and family know to stay away from them as well.

What further compounded my disappointment was the plumber's initial claim that they couldn't access the roof to clear the four pipes on the roof like they did 6 years ago. He even said that would have been faster and have a better result. However, to my surprise, the plumber later contradicted himself, stating that they could indeed go on the roof but would require a harness. He attributed the unavailability of harnesses to a shortage within their company, which left me questioning their commitment to safety protocols and their overall level of organization. According to him, they lacked the necessary equipment to safely navigate the roof, specifically mentioning the absence of harnesses.

It was quite baffling to hear that a reputable company like Roto-Rooter would not equip all their plumbers with essential safety gear, especially when working on elevated surfaces. While I understand that there may be legitimate reasons for the high costs associated with professional plumbing services, I find it difficult to justify paying such an exorbitant fee for just thirty minutes of work. Moreover, the inconsistencies in the plumber's explanations regarding their ability to access the roof left me feeling skeptical and uncertain about the company's integrity and professionalism.

The next day I called the manager and he also said they were not allowed to go on roofs. So I asked, "Do you service commercial properties?" He said yes. He said, "Yes we are allowed to go on commercial roofs." In conclusion, my experience with Roto-Rooter was less than satisfactory. The steep price they charged for a short duration of work combined with the conflicting information provided by their plumber and the manager regarding roof accessibility and safety gear has left me with a negative impression of their services. I would caution others to thoroughly research and consider alternative options before engaging Roto-Rooter for their plumbing needs. I would like my money back.

We had an immediate leak from the dining room ceiling again. Called them back, and had someone out that next day (Sunday, exactly two weeks from the first crew). This was a new person, named Mike, and he was amazing. He spend all day Sunday diagnosing the problem. He first started with having us turn on various water sources in the bathroom while he watched the leak, and determined it was not the toilet, but the sink. That day was taken up by him working backward to determine exactly what was failing. The next day he returned with a Master Plumber, who was also spectacular.

It took them literally all day (they worked until almost midnight on Monday) to fix the problem (a cracked vent stack and an improperly installed pipe [not by us] - this was in place when we purchased in 2021). $17400 later (and none of it covered by insurance - I'm convinced it's due to how the problem was communicated to our insurance company), I am left feeling completely taken advantage of and let down by what they claim to be a professional company. I feel so fortunate that at least Mike and the Master Plumber were diligent, super knowledgeable, professional, and customer service-oriented. The first crew, as well as the project manager and the claims coordinator, were useless.

The thing that bothers me most about this is not the carpet in my office needing to be replaced, but the damage to the kitchen flooring. The tiles under my washer and dryer are loose and the flooring has absorbed so much water under hard tile that even the tiles in my kitchen have raised up and began cracking. I requested a quote from Restoration 1 that it would take over $5,000 just to do the remediation and removal of all damaged components ahead of necessary repairs, which have yet to be estimated for cost and time.

When I suggested replacing the existing (wet) carpet they quoted $2,500 for removal of the old carpet - excluding costs for a new carpet!!! This is when they lost all credibility. Talked to my insurance adjuster who confirmed RR has a reputation for overcharging. Wish I'd engaged with a company focused on supporting customers during stressful events without making problems far more severe.

When this was pointed out to management, they then focused on the request for service, and the invoice signed by us, saying, regardless of the experience we had they were going to rely on hold harmless statements in both of these documents. What they did may have been legal, but it was clearly unethical. Most importantly, when the work was done, the technician abandoned the work site, our house with standing water throughout the first floor. No reputable company should have ever behaved in this manner.

While he was working on the sink, he would ask me to flush the toilet. He finished the sink, told me it was an accumulation of grease, went and filled out the paperwork, and I handed him a check for $639.00. This was on Tuesday. Thursday, woke up to a clogged toilet. Called. Plumber came out and went to snake. He finds a wad of toilet paper. He says "that isn't covered by the warranty". There is going to be a charge.

He snakes further and yuck starts coming out of the bathtub. He asks me where the clean out is. I say to him-how come on Tuesday, the plumber never said anything about the clean out? Plumber said he had no idea. He snakes more, takes the toilet off (machinery again was brought in). He told us that he most likely pushed the clump of toilet paper that had accumulated to the main line and the house was not affected any longer. He explained that the new toilets don't hold a lot of water and have low pressure and if you don't hold the handle down, the toilet paper can't be pushed down the pipe and to not use Charmin toilet paper.

My husband (military) comes home and asks him to explain what the guy did on Tuesday to get us to this. Plumber said he didn't know. He wrote us a bill for $1020.00. Our military discount was $75. So on Tuesday ($639.) we got a $100 discount and on Thursday ($1020) we got a $75 discount. We are in absolute shock!! We couldn't believe it. We feel completely ripped off. Nothing was explained to us, we were just charged this and that. What is going on with this company? How can they do this? This is so unfair? $1659 to unclog a toilet (took 2 days) and get grease out of a sink (his advice was to pour liquid Draino monthly down the kitchen sink).

1. Leak detection: The technician Matthew had good communication with me. He was on time, accurately detected the leak under concrete driveway. I should give him a 5 star!

2. Leak repairment: This technician had very bad communication. He suppose to contact me on the same day of leak detected. He never called. I have to call to company's dispatch line and was told he will call me back in 30 min. He never called. Eventually he called 2 days after leak detected. Gave me a ridiculous quote ($6,200 for single leak repair). No schedule mentioned. I called multiple times for the schedule and again, no response. I ended up schedule the leak repair with another company with much reasonable cost.

Afterwards We had a third party come to our home. They tested and check everything including Roto-Rooter's replaced pipe. Turns out they created a grade issue with the pipe connection they did. I was told by third-party at most a job this size would’ve been $7000 at the most and the least amount would be $3000. They also told us when a company does a job on a missed. Diagnosis it is a whole different ball game. The charges they want are outrageous. I’m Trying to get resolution with Roto Rooter's Corporate office. Size of hole they dug! Sandy soil. No Rocks to deal with. 125” in Length 104” is the widest point, 62 1/2” is the narrowest point.

In the end, I was quoted $5500.00 for new water heater, pan, piping, parts and labor. When he asked if that was too much, he said he'd call his boss and knock off $100.00, and that I had the option to apply for their credit card for 18 months of interest free. RED FLAG. I paid the $99 fee and sent them on their way. If you have money lying around that you can blow off or like to be screwed over, use these guys. I called an honest plumber. First off, my equipment was up-to-code. I got a new water heater, pan, and piping that directs the water out of my garage, with all the parts needed to complete the job, plus labor for $1800.00. I knew Roto-Rooter was scamming me. Be smart. I don't know how they sleep at night, taking advantage of people. Please do your homework and always get a second opinion because too many places like this exist and they don't care about the customer. They are only out to be greedy and rip you off!

Basically tells me he can try to vault the space between the tub and tub liner and that the crack in the caulk at the other end of the tub is allowing water to get in between the tub and tub liner- this was all apparent the first time water was leaking. It wasn’t addressed, brought up or fixed. So basically I’m out $3k and I have a problem that is still not fixed. Not to mention what they got from the insurance company for the water mitigation and now I am missing a substantial amount of ceiling in my living room. Of course I don’t want that repaired until this water problem is definitively fixed. I wish I had looked at the reviews before using them. It’s disgusting how they abuse people in emergency situations and take full advantage.

I have been met with total obstinance, unreturned e-mail messages and telephone calls, and uninformed conclusions by company representatives. I have spent literally thousands of dollars with this company, but no more. They will never work at my house in the future. The terrible attitude with which I have been met is inexcusable. That I am forced to spend my time taking Roto-Rooter to court over this matter is also inexcusable. The company would rather pay a lawyer several hundred dollars an hour than simply admit its mistake and fix it.

Original Review: April 9, 2023

They charge 1692.00 for jetting. I have a drain pipe that needed service. He came out. His hose got stuck 1st try. Than he replied, "I'm done. Can't fix it!!!!" Plus he left a mess from trying that I had to clean up. Note I'm a senior Female. For this huge amount of $$$ this isn't right.

About every day a rep. would come out and check how the drying was going. Took her about fifteen minutes a day. After we got the basement dried out we recieved a bill for over $9,100. I contacted them and ask why so much. Was told it was because the fans were shut off at times. When I informed them why and contacted the BBB they lowered the bill to $8000. After calculating the hour their employees worked, Allowing them to have made about $20 hrs we calculated that with labor and fans, we paid $160 an hr and they used our electricity. We also had to listen to twelve fans running at high speed 24 hrs for 11 days. This is outrageous! I won't recommend their water restoration services to anyone!!!! In my mind, it's price gouging and deceptive selling. We were insured our homeowners would cover it, they had a copy of our policy. THE HOMEOWNERS DIDN'T COVER ANY OF IT!!!

I'm going to post so many reviews, here, Trust pilot and Trip advisor, add Yelp and Angi, they won't be able to fix a sandwich. I'll begin with the BBB. I'm sending a bill for my lost wages for the day. When they don't pay, I'll see in small claims court. Win or lose, it'll cost them money. Anyway, what kind of morons are these? I'm of course, never calling this ** again. In the meantime, we gave about 11 profiles. We will all post in all forums, just to give them the big middle finger. I'll update when I'm done screwing them over. They dud me, now, it's my turn. DO NOT USE THESE FOOLS, YOU'LL REGRET IT.

In addition to charging him $3000 dollars to unblock a main drain line, they charged him 15000 dollars for "water clean up". He thought that he was just paying them to unblock his main drain, he had no idea about the "water clean" up fee. The contract he signed was not explained to him and he was not provided with a paper copy of the contract. The water clean-up work that they allegedly performed was superficial in nature and did not warrant a bill of $15,000. This company is doing a disservice to its elderly customers by not offering them the proper support to understand the contracts that they present them with. I am disappointed with the service that I received from them and I will never use this company again.

Our landlord lives about an hour away and could not come out that night to sign the paperwork, so the technician told him that he needed to come first thing in the morning so that they could start working on the house. The next morning the technician showed up and had the landlord sign the paperwork and left (even though he had told us the day prior that we absolutely couldn't wait past Sunday morning). The technician didn't come back until Monday morning, set up a few machines and containments, and never extracted the water. Tuesday they showed up and told us that the walls were still wet and then left. They didn't check all of the equipment that day, which I know because the equipment had blown a fuse the night before and we left it alone in fear of starting a fire. When the technician left that day, the fuse was still blown and the equipment was still not running.

Wednesday the technician never showed. Thursday the technician told us that everything was dry and that they would not be cutting the walls or ceilings. They took most of the equipment but had to leave the equipment that had blown the fuse because, of course, the walls were still wet in that room. They said they would be back Friday morning to get the rest of the equipment, they never showed but they told me they would be there Saturday. They did not show on Saturday. Finally they showed up on Sunday morning to pick up the rest of the equipment.

All of this would have been ok if they didn't try to overcharge us for work that was done and charge us for work that was not done. Overall they spent 7 hours in our house from Monday-Sunday. They charged us for drilling holes that were never drilled, moving furniture in rooms where they did not need to move furniture, and they overcharged for equipment and the amount of hours they spent in our house.

The landlord received the estimate on 12/14. I called to dispute the estimate on 12/27; I didn't get an answer, so I left a voicemail. I never heard back from anyone so I then emailed Michelle, the listed estimator on our invoice, on 1/10 to tell her that I had questions about the estimate. She responded and cc'd Claudia and Britton, saying that they were the ones to talk to. So I called Britton. Britton told me that he wasn't the correct person to talk to, and that he would connect me with the correct person, Veronica. I never heard back from him. So then finally on 1/25 I reached out to Veronica on my own. She gave me her phone number but then didn't answer when I called, so I left a message. She said she would call me the morning of 1/26 and then never did.

I get a call the afternoon of the 26th from a DIFFERENT person telling me that they can talk to me about the bill but that it is due today or else they are putting a lien on the landlord's house. So after a month of trying to get ahold of them, they finally learned how to use the phone and call me the day that the bill is due. Convenient. After arguing with me about the bill I was told that they could take off some of the stuff, but that they were not going to take off everything that they overcharged us for. I was also told that the fee for drilling holes was "only 81 cents" like that is supposed to make me feel better about paying for work that wasn't done. Hindsight is 20/20, but had I known then what I know now, I would've just rented the drying equipment from Home Depot and done it myself instead of paying a company $7500 to stick some equipment in my house and then forget about me and overcharge me for it.

Original Review: Jan. 18, 2023

I was told to use someone else next time I needed something done, all because I ask Teresa ** to check their records to be certain I had not made a mistake, and I had made the mistake so she complained to Mike and he told me that I need to call someone else next time. Mike at ** office number. After they had done enough work totally over or about 3200.00 hundred dollars paid in full at time of services. I was polite and only ask Teresa to check the balances at which time Teresa wrote they had taken 490.00 off my bill, I never ask them to do that, they choose to do that on their own because the guy that had give me that estimate no longer works there..** this is cellphone number.

I have been a remodel contractor for 25 years and have many rental properties. The typical price to clear a drain is around 200. This guy was just trying to pull a scam of some kind dealing with my son. If he was trying to pull overtime for it being New Year's Eve, I don't know but THEY made the appointment for that day saying it was the earliest available. They said nothing about holiday or Saturday. The drain was not plugged, just draining slow. Do not deal with Roto Rooter. Completely unethical company. And my son WASTED all day waiting on this yahoo basically ruining his New Year plans.

Well, I agreed to the water mitigation, sewer line cleaning and trap replacement. Trap replacement, with Roto-Rooter (I later learned) was extremely overpriced but I opened up a line of credit to pay for the trap replacement. The sewer line cleanout was about $700. The trap replacement was almost $7500. We also made a payment of $4000 on the line of credit. We had our floors replaced, and walls restored with the remainder of our claim.

In late November, I begin receiving emails stating that we have a balance of over $11,000 for water mitigation. The total cost that Roto-Rooter is claiming that we owe them is the exact cost of the entire claim from my home insurance policy. Roto-Rooter is claiming water mitigation and trap replacement for almost $20,000. I called a local plumbing service and learned that Roto-Rooter grossly overcharged us and that anyone will tell you that Roto-Rooter is known for overcharging customers and being unethical. I am greatly disappointed in the "hustle" that Roto-Rooter is doing. It is now ethical as they know that people use their services for emergencies. Do Better!

The technician advised that the company would send out a camera inspector to ensure that the job was done, and everything was clear. No technician arrived, and I had to make numerous calls to try and get someone out. When someone did finally come out, he said he could not do it because of his size and the space where the cleanout was, but someone else would be sent. Nobody was sent back out, no service was scheduled after calling again, and no call backs from leaving messages when I would be forwarded to other people. This company is nothing more than a scam with not performing services as promised, and I will be sure to pass these details along to the BBB for resolution since the company would not respond to me.

My husband asked him specifically if he thought it was just a broken valve and Scott replied no. We didn’t hire Scott as he had no clue that it was a simple problem and he wanted to take apart my whole sump pump. We paid him $99 and sent him off. My husband replaced the inline check valve for $10 at Home Depot the same day. Our sump pump is now working without a problem. If I knew their rate is $472 per hour, I would have never set this appointment up. They were not honest about their pricing over the phone and trick customers to pay their $99 appointment fees. Also they sent me an incompetent tech. I feel like it was all a scam! A licensed plumber hourly rate is $150-$200 in my area. Roto-Rooter is totally overpriced. Do not use Roto-Rooter!

After him pointing for us to make 2 holes for him. He got up on a step stool barely looked in (there was insulation and other things and you couldn't even see the pipes at this point unless you took out the installation) The tech then claimed everything was dry and we would have to have someone come back out. He then opened up his clip board and gave us a $600 bill. I asked him, "What was the $600 for since you weren't able to complete the service." He said he unclogged or cleared the line. Ok never at anytime was this in the quote he mentioned. The service call was to stop a leak in our shower. He said we had to sign the paperwork or he could not go on to his next call and made my elderly dad feel bad for him and he went ahead and told me to sign. I know just a few min into the visit he knew he wasn't going to fix the leak yet proceeded to do unnecessary work to get paid. This is a shady practice.

Reaching out to customer service was no better. He said a service was performed whether we needed or not and we would not be compensated. Please if you do use this company get all estimates in detailed writing before they start work so you don't end up like this out of $630 for a service not wanted or needed. On a positive note use Eco Plumbers if you have a harder plumbing job. They have been awesome and do about everything.

When he arrived and looked at the situation, he quoted me a price of $430. I did not question it because I needed it fixed. He cleaned the stoppage which took 25 minutes. When he finished he noticed that my sink strainer was cracked. I asked for a quote to replace it, he said $450. I said, "No, I will fix it myself" which I did that day at a cost of $19 for the part and 30 minutes of my time. My final bill was $523.79 which included a bottle of enzyme drain treatment. I know I should have negotiated the price since for 44 years I’ve been a licensed General Contractor. As a footnote notice, all bad reviews are responded to by the same person nationwide, Pat **.

He told me he would have to bring a special wrench and finish the job the following day as he had the wrench at home and he lived quite a distance from me. Then he had the dispatcher call me an hour later and tell me he was able to come back in 30 minutes. I appreciated their checking with me first. Roberto came back as promised and fixed the problem right away. The price he quoted was fair and the workmanship was top-notch. He really knew what he was doing. I highly recommend Roto-Rooter. They really care a lot about their customers' needs.

John again came in and cut the roof in couple of places and informed me that the toilet is leaking. John said that he needs his manager approval to perform the repair free of charge and I need to call them on Monday. On Monday I called again and explained the situation and I was told that the work is covered under the previous contract and the technician should not charge any money. Technician came after 2 hours and started asking for $520 to fix the leak. After several calls to the customer support and the corporate, they refused to fix the leakage unless I pay $450. This is simple fraud. You come to somebody house, cause a leakage, and refuse to repair it. I am left with water damage, roof damage, and now I am working another company to fix the leakage that was cause by unskilled technician. Worst company to work with. Don't recommend anybody to use it.

He then asked me to remove some items underneath the sink and I'm thinking for the amount you are charging you should move them but went ahead and removed them. He then went to his truck to get his drain machine. Approximately 20 minutes later he was done, and everything was functionally properly. Good work. Good job but $310.00 for a 20 minute rather easy job is ridiculous. My first and last time calling them.

I was just concerned about the charge for the 160 because they did nothing, now I did sign the contract. But I was amazed that the technician did not know about an air snake and it could’ve been done very easily. I contacted the customer service at the local Roto-Rooter. Todd was the customer service rep, he said that there’s nothing that he can do because I signed the contract, but they didn’t clear the drain. And the other company did it in 30 minutes. I’m very disappointed in Roto Rooter and will never use them again.

He didn't even write our business name correctly on the invoice. We needed the repair done quickly because we had several bathrooms not working. Did they fix the problem overnight? Yes. Did they do a good job? No...they used an EXTENSION CORD to power the pumps (and other details I won't go into) which kept tripping the breaker because of the water involved in such a repair. They didn't even try to fix the wiring. How much did they charge? $12,300 for 10 hours of work. They replaced two pumps, which cost about $2,000, so the rest was labor.

We were forced to hire a septic company to replace all of their work to the tune of $9,000 because it was so substandard. I complained to their billing department and management and they only took 20% off of the bill even after learning all of this. They asked for the estimate and paid invoice of the other septic company that had to fix everything they did, but I don't know if they even called to find out how poorly their plumbers did on our job.

I have worked with a lot of service providers over 16 years of business ownership. I have bought and rehabbed three business properties and I have never had the predatory experience that Roto-Rooter gave us. I can't stand businesses who operate this way and so badly take advantage of their unsuspecting customers. I am telling you all this in the hopes that this doesn't happen to someone else. And lesson learned the hard way...even when you are desperate, don't sign anything until they fill out the pricing and then take a picture.

Being a mother of 3 young kids I didn’t have time to shop around for quotes and I couldn’t go without hot water so I agreed. They began draining the old water heater and after 20 minutes 2 of the technicians took off for an hour to go get the new water heater. I went to see what the remaining technician was doing and he was just sitting around on his phone. After returning with the new water heater they had the old one removed and the new one running after about an hour telling me they'd be back with an invoice for payment.

After being outside for approx 30 min 2 finally returned with the invoice. They charged 1861.16 minus a $200 coupon for parts and 1995 for labor. When I asked what's the hourly rate for labor the lead tech replied that they gave me a flat rate regardless of the hrs worked because I agreed to pay 4k and then refused to tell me what their hourly rate was. The tech was only focused on me signing paperwork he claimed should have been signed before they performed the work. The other tech went on to say that they got me the best 50 gal tank available because I had a 50 gal tank before but he also didn't know why I had a tank that big for the size of my condo, they were just replacing what I had. As a professional he should of explained to me that I had options.

I've called around to get some quotes from other contractors and I was quoted 1800-2300 for the installation of a new water heater (parts plus labor). And after an internet search I found out that rotor-rooter is paid commission. I also looked up the price for the new replacement water heater installed (Rheem XG50T12HN38U2) online and they only cost $979. I believe I was a victim of price gouging and that I was preyed on in an emergency situation because I am a woman.

So it took 3 days to get it done.

After he used a camera, the blade was stuck with 20 feet from the main entrance of the camera so in the middle of our basement. After looking at all that he said he call their manager and he said two options, one we can used another snake to removed their blade, they give a price and if it won’t work I will be responsible for the second opinion. It was 5800 to removed a 2 feet extraction. So that means I will be responsible for over 8k for a just simple clean up. My insurance won’t not cover and after a week talking to their manager and area manager won’t take any responsibility for their job. I just want to make sure if they give you 2 options they will charge for both.

I call another company for a second opinion week talking to them. So here is what I found out, first if you are going used a 3 pipe star with a small blade just with all the turns but they said they used the blade base on where they are going. Second we had a free camera review and they recommend 2 options, one is to used a jet option because they don’t think the blade is stuck in the pipe. The second opinion was to remove it by excavate 10 feet, just a reminder roto rooter recommend 2 feet. The cost to remove the blade was a lot less with the excavate, but the 2 different companies are roto rooter will charge you for both options. I know for fact because I had talk to their area manager and Done plumbing was very clear if the first option did not work it will cost me a lot less even with their discount they try to give me. If you can avoid roto rooter do it, I would recommend 100 done Plumbing.

Before I knew it, they were forcefully removing ALL of my flooring which confused me since one of the guys just said they had to take samples first to make sure they were in the clear to proceed. Unfortunately, I trusted these people and didn't speak up when it didn't feel right. After they removed ALL of the flooring that day, samples still in hand, they brought in their dehumidifiers and left for the day. 5 days later the results came in from the samples they submitted and it came back positive for asbestos! That same day, one of the techs called me (he wasn't aware the results were in) and when I told him the results came back positive he said, "Oh...well that changes everything..." but didn't elaborate. He then told me I should give Andrew (the Project Manager) a call. He dodged my call and didn't respond to my voicemail (the results were also sent to him via email by the company who tested it).

They came to pick up their equipment the next day but avoided my questions. I have been exposed to asbestos now with no choice but to walk on the contaminated floor daily. Based on the contract I signed, it states they can be held liable for this. This company has no integrity. They do not care about their customers—only getting the job done and receiving compensation for it.

Once he arrived, he assessed the issue and said I need a new toilet flapper which I know is a ten minute job and a $10 part. He quoted me $390 plus parts - that is the cost of a brand new kohler toilet! Seriously? I can actually buy a new one for less money! He would then need to go out to purchase the flapper because he did not have one in his truck. When I called to escalate this exorbitant amount to a manager he blamed it on gas prices and the cost of labor and parts - also, they have had break-ins in their trucks so they no longer carry parts in them!

I am extremely disappointed with this company and would not recommend them to ANYone who needs a quick toilet fix. I sent the technician home - I honestly feel bad for him that he has to tell customers these prices - cannot imagine how much time they waste going to homes, giving quotes, and are being sent home because anyone who doesn't throw away their money would not spend a crazy amount of money on something so simple. $200 maybe, but $400??? Outrageous.

Alan showed up at about the time he said and he called in advance to let me know he was on his way. I appreciated Alan's service throughout the ordeal. Alan arrived and quickly began working. To my surprise, in under 25 minutes, Alan was done. He said that I got lucky and he didn't have to sweat the pipe or anything as it was a screw in pipe. He then presented me with the invoice for the full $435.00, saying all he can do is charge book time. I was flabbergasted and disappointed, but I was going to have to sign the invoice anyway. It was then that I noticed Alan had filled out a part of the invoice as to when he arrived and when he completed the job. These times were a complete fabrication. Perhaps he gets paid by the hour from Roto-Rooter which led to this inflated time. In reality he arrived at 10:01 AM (EST) and was finished with the job at 10:23 before going to his vehicle to complete the invoice.

Alan said the times provided were just an estimation...Well, he was obviously fudging the time as he filled it out to say that he arrived at 10:30 and was leaving at Noon (this was at about 10:25). I find it interesting that the arrival and completion times do not get copied onto the customer's copy of the invoice. Alan #125 got me and so did Roto-Rooter. Personally, I will never use their services again in any capacity. I still have to fix the hole in my exterior wall, which I understand plumbers do not fix themselves.

Overall, it was a poor experience due to the shady tactics. I bet if Alan had to spend MORE than the 3 hours "book time" instead of 20-25 minutes, there would have been an additional charge. Anyway, from now on, I will be using local professionals who work for themselves, not companies who may or may not be complicit in the overcharge culture. Good luck to you, Alan, and Roto-Rooter. I am giving 2 stars because the repair allowed me to turn my water main back on, and 1 day in, I do not see any leaks.

However, I personally feel like I may have been upsold on services that were not required at this time because our toilets were still flushing after the initial job was done and ultimately putting me out an additional $800ish at this time as they also hydro flushed the line and snaked the line down further in which tree roots were supposedly found further down the line that could not be broken up supposedly with either the snake or hydroflush. However, that part did not upset me as much but this finding was documented NOWHERE on my second invoice and is all just per say information, in which I was personally quoted to look at around $25,000 minimum to have this issue fixed.

However, I will still say the initial technician was still quite friendly but his partner that arrived later on site was more so less friendly as I could occasionally hear him snickering or making snide remarks as the initial technician found other issues such as, "This doesn't look good" while laughing. Otherwise, I will not be utilizing these services again and will next time stay locally.

Now the kicker is for the 15-20 minutes of work that was done we paid $469 in labor fees! That's insane. Not to mention a part of that 20 minutes was spent with me turning on the hot water and letting it run. I would never recommend using this company. They are a rip off money wise. Our technician was nice and helped us out with a coupon but to have a price like that is crazy. And being new to any type of plumbing work we were extremely caught off guard with the price and would gladly have chosen not to use them had we known better.

At around 3:20pm he finally showed up so my mom called me and I had her put him on the phone so I could explain what was going on and that the bathroom had to be fixed. He called me back about a 1/2 hour later saying there might be a problem with the toilet removal and re-installing of the toilet and it was probably just clogged. This would run around $800 because he had to run line to the city main to clear the clog.. I thought that was an outrageous price to unclog a toilet but it needed to be done so I told him to do it.

At about 8:20pm that night I contacted my mom to see what was going on she. Said she had just written a check for $1802.98. I asked her if the plumber was still there and to put him on the phone.. when I spoke to him I explained he didn't call me to approve the additional charges and that the price he just charged my mom would probably overdraw her account or leave her with very little money which it has. I am utterly disgusted with Roto-Rooter and the prices they charge people. I WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN OR RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE.. BE WARNED!

Yes, I understand that they are free to quote whatever price they want to, and it was my tenant’s own fault to get ripped off for not checking with other companies. However, it is completely dishonest to take advantage of someone just because they didn’t know what the going rate is for the type of service performed. This job should not have cost more than $400 by a licensed plumber, and I’m counting higher because it is NYC. For a similar job, I have paid $200 elsewhere. I’m giving them 1 star because at least, the job was done correctly and the problem is solved. But Roto Rooter is never getting my business again.

Roto-Rooter came up with a decent star rating so I called them. I told them it was an emergency and that I had sewage rolling out of my bathtub at a high rate and I couldn't stop it. That same sewage was leaking from the floor of the bathroom into the basement and when I went down to look there was like half a foot of water down there and under the bathroom, it looked like someone had built a rain shower. A guy, a Sewer solution specialist showed up first. I was so relieved. It had only been me, my brother-in-law who had a stroke that lives with us, and my 2 cats. I was just glad someone had shown up. Someone who could reassure me that everything was going to be ok.

6hrs with helpless innocent beings that I was in charge of and I had no idea if there was going to be a fire from the electricity, how high the water was going to get, and what I was going to do with my charges if one of those things did happen no car, and I don't know any neighbors. To say I was relieved is an understatement. The guy said the plumber would be there shortly, and those magic words I was waiting to hear, "everything is going to be ok." The guy walked around looking at the damage, exclaiming about how we needed to get on top of this water damage and start right away because of the mold. I listened as he told me about all they could do and fix.

I was almost limp with relief that this nightmare of a bad Insurance commercial was gonna come to an end. The plumber came. Jacob. Jacob was amazing, the kid worked from about 7:30 till 1 am to get the clog out. The whole time with a smile on his face, even though he had been up and down my steps about 15 times. He couldn't get the clog and came back the next day at about 10 pm that night to finish the job. The guy had left about an hour and a half after he'd gotten there. Only after he asked me several times if I had Insurance and what kind and reassured me they would take care of everything. It only took Jacob about an hr and he got the clog. He gave us a bill and he left.

This is where things start getting bad. I want to make it clear that the plumber Jacob was terrific before I go on. I don't want anyone to think he wasn't. The next day the guy called my husband and asked if we wanted to use Roto-Rooter for the water clean-up and mold remediation. Did I tell my husband absolutely, after hadn't the guy been my hero? My buddy? The one who let me know that all wasn't lost and everything would be ok? And they were right there ready to get things going without us even having to look for anyone else? The guy was there within 30 mins. We walked around, him telling me each thing that had to fix, and letting me know that Roto-Rooter even had relationships with contractors who could come and fix everything when they were done. We sat down at the table as he talked and I and my husband was in a daze from no sleep and worrying about our house all night.

I signed the paper saying I wanted them to clean up and then he left. Before he did though he let us know that his guys would be at the house the next day to start to clean up. The next day I got home from work and there was a dehumidifier in my bathroom, I was a happy woman, it had started. The next day I took a shower around a giant fan and Dehumidifier. I didn't care, it was worth it. I got ready. Brushed my teeth and went to rinse my mouth with the water I was about to cup in my hand when I got shocked! I jumped back from the sink when I realized I was standing on the cord from the dehumidifier. I finished getting ready, went to kiss my husband goodbye, and warned him to put his flip-flops on when he got out of the shower, I had gotten shocked. He said, "Is that what that was? I got up in the middle of the night and went to the bathroom and when I washed my hands it hurt." He said he thought he had layed on his hand wrong.

The next day when I came home there were several big fans and dehumidifiers in the hall, bathroom, and basement. It was very hot in the house though. I looked at the thermostat and it was 83 in the house. I just thought that was what they wanted for things to dry out faster. When I got home that night it was still hot. 85 degrees. The air was on 63. We went to bed that night with no covers with 3 fans on us. This morning when I woke up it was 87 degrees in the house and the air was clearly not working, At work, I figured I better call the insurance agent. I called and spoke with him, telling him all that was going on. When I told him Roto-Rooter was still there he said, "You need to tell them to come to get their equipment." He said, "They should be done by now." He then asked me, "Do you have any idea how much they are charging you?" He then told me they charge for every single piece of equipment every day.

I said, "No, we didn't talk about money." So then I panicked. I called the guy and said, "You know, we never talked about how much this was going to cost." The guy kinda stumbled around his words and said, "Yes we did, remember?" I said, "No, I don't remember." He said, "We went over the paper and I explained how much each thing was going to cost." I said, "No....you did not." I said, "You told me what you were going to fix, but you never said what it was going to cost." He mumbled something about a thousand dollars I thought. I said, "What?" He said several thousand dollars. I almost died right in my seat. I told him that I thought he took advantage of a bad situation. He said he didn't. I told him, "You never said it would be thousands."

When I signed that paper apparently in my shock over everything that had happened, I didn't realize I was signing a contract to pay, not permission to start work. There was never any talk of a contract or an exorbitant amount of money. Trust me, if you knew me, and I'd have known it was that expensive, I would have gotten some other estimates. After the 3rd time, he said that we talked about money, and it dawned on me. I had been suckered. It's a good plan. Come in, assure the customer that everything is going to be ok, tell them insurance is going to cover everything. How well you know the insurance companies and that they love to work with him and they will trust what he says. Get your customers while they are in shock and just care about the place that they live, getting back to normal. I asked the guy how he slept at night, doing people like that? He continued to mumble.

I told him that I wanted the equipment out of my house and I wanted it out today. I then told him I wanted his supervisor's number, and he stammered and said that the supervisor would call me, but he wouldn't give it to me. I told him that I would just look for it myself. I got off the phone and called Roto-Rooter, and asked for the supervisor of remediation. As I was waiting, my call waiting beeped, it was the supervisor. He introduced himself as The big guy and asked how he could help. I said, "Well...I need to know how much I'm being charged." He then said 5 thousand dollars. I thought I was going to pass out. I told him that the guy and I never once talked about money and that I never would have agreed to that amount without getting other estimates.

He said, "Well you signed the contract." That's when I asked him how he and the guy slept at night scamming people like that. He said, "You knew the amount." I told him no I didn't know the amount, if I had wouldn't have signed it. I went on to tell him that I wasn't stupid and that had I been given the opportunity I would've gotten other estimates. I then told him that I needed him to get his men and come out and get this equipment and have it gone before I got home at 4:30, that I wasn't going to pay for another hour of that equipment. He then told me that if I made him come get that equipment he would charge me even more. I told him to just come to get it and hung up.

Now before you judge me for not asking about money, please put yourself in my shoes for a minute. You have just witnessed your home be partially destroyed. Your belongings are ruined and your loved ones possibly are in danger. It does something to you. I am a Registered Nurse, and I have witnessed and managed more medical emergencies than I can count. Held people's lives in my hands. But it does not compare to the feeling you have when it is the place that you live, your shelter, your belongings. Not knowing what is going to happen next. Then you have someone come along that says everything that he knows you need to hear, gets you to trust them.

I know it's a bad time for everybody money-wise. We are not rich people either. We're just like everyone else, about 1 paycheck away from bankruptcy. These people prey on people that are in shock, that don't know what to do, and who's never had something like this happen to them. So now I have to pay 5 thousand dollars out of 11 thousand I will receive. Holes cut in walls, plaster ruined, a whole bathroom ruined, hardwood floor ruined, not to mention I had to pay 100 dollar deductible for someone to come out and tell me my central air wasn't working because either the plumber or someone from the cleanup crew tripped the breaker for it. We will be lucky to get the holes fixed and walls painted for what we have leftover, let alone the rest. I know it sounds stupid, but I trusted the guy. So now what was a little outdated home but still finished, is an outdated h.

The new company re-snaked the pipe (more thoroughly) and charged me $350. They agreed that I may have a cracked pipe but in a different location than what Roto rooter told me. The new company gave me a quote for $8,000 for pipe. I called Roto Rooter several times and left several messages the following day and no one called me back. My credit card company is going to dispute the charges. I am 69 years and live by myself on a fixed income. I will never use them again or recommend them to anyone.

Original Review: May 12, 2022

My mother who is older had this company come out and fix the pipe that goes from the house to the water meter, it had broken against the house and was leaking. I was able to turn the water off from the street, last night when we found the break. The usual plumber had a family emergency and was unable to come, only Roto Rutter could come out today. They came out and said because it involved excavation would be $1700 but would give her a discount and it would be $1500. She is on a fixed income and said ok, because it was either that or an outrageous water bill, plus the water had to be turned off and on from the street when she needed it. She is in a wheelchair and basically housebound.

They fixed it and upon reviewing the bill, $1498 was for labor, 2 guys, and $2.00 for parts. It took them no more than an hour. They did do excellent work and I know they only work for the company but truly this is not right. Her usual plumber just got back in town and came by, not knowing we had it fixed, he was shocked when he saw the bill, he said this job should have cost no more than $400. They only had to dig 6 inches max and replace about 2 feet of pipe. Plus we had already dug out the hole. This is wrong and a rip-off. It would have been cheaper to go to a hotel until the plumber returned. Buyer beware.

In speaking with Ron I learned that had been the case Roto-Rooter does not charge a fee for coming to your house, they charge a fee if they start touching stuff, which at the time they did not do. He said if he did the work the service fee would be removed. To avoid paying someone for coming out and doing nothing I agreed to let them do the work. He told me about the fee for the diagnostic to check to see if anything is wrong with the line, later it was the fee for the faucet and then he said he spoke about taxes and that is how they arrived at 643 for a faucet and sprayer hose change. They should make a law against anyone having to pay someone just for visiting your home. He got the work by trickery. I don't want problems with two men who are strangers in my house. Tania-

Original Review: I wanted to warn people not to use this company unless it is an emergency. My usual contacts were busy or unavailable. So, I reached out to Roto-Rooter Staten Island. I told them the problem. They sent Miguel and another guy to my house to fix the problem. They knew what the problem was but said they had to do a diagnostic (I say this because they mentioned replacing a faucet -not pipes), which was 199.00, Miguel said I would not have to pay home visit fee (the was fee was not told to me on the phone) if I took their service.

But the fee to come out was 199.00. That was high given his slip that the problem may be as simple as replacing a faucet and sprayer hose but because of my little one who is in the house with me I went through anyway. Miguel said that to replace the faucet would be 450 with tax. After he completed the job with another tech, they said they had to put in codes to determine what the final price would be. They ended up charging me 643.45. That was terrible! Again, try to avoid using this company.

5. And they mentioned additional costs based on the pipes

$300 – $1,200 Jet

Do not use this company, whatever you do.

Once this plumbing guy finished he asked me for $500 and demand I pay it now. Then I asked Yaniv, "You said it will be covered with $7000." He said they will adjust it in somewhere else. Then there is new restoration person Joseph **. He looked at my home insurance and I have 1500 deductible. He said, "You will end getting couple hundred dollars back" and I don't have to pay deductibles. I said fine. After 1 month after it settled with my insurance I did end up paying 1500 deductible and they charge me total 4300 for restoration (insurance covered 2800). After T trap removal was done Yaniv ** was supposed to call me to set up camera inspection post trap removal. But that guy never called me once he got his $7000. So how $500 job cost me $8500.

The boss would only drop it to $75. I understand that everyone is struggling between being short staffed, everyone having to raise prices on things, but good grief. The poor technicians have to do all the digging by hand to get to the tank, so they don't have any machine to do that work. It took me waiting almost an entire day to get a call from anyone the first day then the second day it wasn't much better. I guess you can say I am NOT a happy customer!

After looking through the plumbing, it was determined there were no issues or anything needing to be repaired/fixed. I was given advice on how to prevent any sort of issues from happening in the future. The technician was truly on the clock working maybe 1.5 hours total. I was charged over $1k for no repairs or fixing. Just for the technician to take a look around, move a toilet, and use a camera for a total of 1.5 hours, I was charged over $1k. I find that price outrageous for the services provided.

I have called the local office 3 times to speak to a manager regarding the justification of their pricing and have been promised 3 times I will receive a callback. The 2nd time I called, the customer service rep said the technician who provided services told her to tell me that I agreed to the price and it's final. Still haven't received any call back like I have been promised and it's been over a week of trying now.

The next day the supervisor arrived an hour after our scheduled time. He seemed very knowledgeable about the issue and said he had been doing this 10 years. He ran a camera down and showed us all the issues. He gave us a quote of 10k+. This was an unexpected expense but it was a major issue and since Roto-Rooter had a good name, my wife and decided to go with them. The supervisor showed up on a Monday to have me sign off on the paperwork and said the job would start the next day between 8-10. This was a 1 day job possibly 2 if there is an issue. AS OF RIGHT NOW MY WIFE AND I WERE HAPPY WITH THE SERVICE....AND THEN THINGS GOT BAD.

DAY 1 The crew showed up roughly around 11 am. The workers set things up, dug holes for the pipe and then left....For approx 2 hours. When the workers returned they worked for another hour or so. The crew came back around 3 and worked for another hour or so. Towards the end of the day around 4, one of the workers knocked on my door to tell me they were done for the day. I looked to the street and noticed water was running from my house down the curb all the way down the street. The worker stated he hit my outgoing sewer line but it was ok, I still had running water. He said water would stop running out once the pipe emptied. After the workers left I evaluated the job site to find the holes they had dug left uncovered and caution tape hanging on by a thread.

DAY 2 The next morning, one of the holes filled up with water. The hole was approximately 4' deep and nothing safely covering them. I called the supervisor and told him that the crew needs to come here immediately fix up, I live around a lot of families with children who could get hurt. In the meantime, the city came to my door saying that the water that was still running was actually the water hookup for the city. The city shut my water off around 12.

The workers showed up around 10:30 covered the holes and left around 1 after the water had been shut off. The workers would return around 3. At approx 4:30 they knocked on my door to let me know they had found the issue but unfortunately the water would have to stay off for the remainder of the night. They did offer my a hotel room which at that point was not what I wanted to hear. I voiced my concerns to the supervisor that sold me the job and he said he understood my concern but couldn't do anything that day. I requested a new set of workers because I was worried this expensive job was not being handled properly. The supevisor said he would look into it.

DAY 3 The same workers showed up. I called the supervisor and he said he didn't want to rock the boat with the workers or they may walk off the job and I wouldn't be able to get things fixed. The water was turned on that day. However the job was not completed. DAY 4 The workers showed up at their normal time and said the job would most likely get done today. However, by this point, the city was on to the job at my house and they were making regular visits to make sure the job was being done correctly. The job was not completed.

DAY 5 This was actually a Monday so I had these large exposed holes all weekend. However, they were covered properly. The job was finished and approved by the city that day. CONCLUSION: My wife and I are heartbroken and extremely upset by the lack of consideration for my community and the people living in it as well as the response by Roto-Rooter themselves when called out. During my frustration, I contacted the BBB and reported Roto Rooter as at this point, the supervisor I had been speaking with seemed to keep getting me the run around. Roto-Rooter's response was pretty much "We did our job correctly, JULIE marked the lines wrong, so blame them." They never addressed any of my other concerns.

At no time was the supervisor that had sold me the job or any other representative from Roto-Rooter called me or showed up to the job site to address my concerns. On top of that, when I spoke to the supervisor I had been working with, he really made it sound like all the work that had been done was a band-aid solution and realistically, we may have to dig up the line completely if it happens again. A 10k+ band-aid. That's the work I paid for and the terrible service I received.

After calling three times I was able to talk to a very rude manager that says that don’t give their customers access to the video. We told me if I don’t used their plumbing for repairs then why should they supply a video. I would have had the camera done if I know that. I guess their employees in the field do not know how things work with the video. I believe this is very bad business I will be spreading the word not to do business with your company.

Fortunately, a friend came by and looked at things and questioned why I was pressured into buying a new water heater when the former worked. Feeling dumb, naïve and scammed, I stopped everything and my bill came out to $7000.00 basically for a blockage, a new water heater (that I didn’t need) and two holes in my front yard, where they were going to put pipes but it wasn’t what caused the blockage. Just some roots in the pipe.

After asking for an itemized invoice, the cost came down to $6100.00. The thing I really bought is knowledge and to warn anybody about Roto Rooter. I will never use them again and if I hear someone questioning if they should, I will easily say a hard no! Find someone else! I got ripped off! Won’t recommend them to my worst enemy! And if you are here because on their site, it’s straight five stars, well look at all the people on this site who have similar stories to mine! You are in good company! This is where the truth is at!

This time I had extensive damage to all my downstairs carpet. I can't remember the guy’s name. It begins with a J. He went outside to check my grinder pump. He manually got it started and everything started flowing correctly. We were both in the rain making sure that we get the problem solved. He was awesome. The next morning, I called Roto Rooter the next morning, to let them know of my issue and Alex (manager) called me. I sent him pictures of the damage both days. Then he had Antonio (Project manager) to call me. They sent two guys to come clean my carpet. When the guys came to my house, they informed me that this was too big of an issue for them. I took before and after pictures. Let's just say the next morning my carpet was horrible; it was worst before they did what they did.

Once again, I reached out to Alex and Antonio with pictures. No response from Alex this time. Antonio came out the next morning. He had it set already in his mind that they weren’t going to pay for anything. He told me he was going to talk with his GM Bryant L. Antonio called back and said the GM wasn't going to pay for anything. I told him to have his GM call me. Antonio said he was out of town. Funny, you just said you just talked with him. I called my carpet cleaning guy to clean my downstairs carpet a week later due to Roto-Rooter neglect. I must remove my whole downstairs carpet bc your tech didn't do his job the first time. I have reached out to Roto-Rooter several time and I get no response or VM. Roto-Rooter should pay for me to have my carpet replaced downstairs.

Person number 2 came by hours later, which was the plumber who I assumed would fix things. He calls me and tells me he can't do anything and they need to get the "water restoration" team in. Further says that they will use infrared guns to see where the water is coming from, will open the ceiling and then sanitize it. I then told him this leak JUST started and ONLY happens when water drains from the shower.

I asked him if he could open up the ceiling and repair the pipe and he refused to do so saying that it was their "protocol" to bring in the water restoration team. He also said that all the plumbing supply stores were closed and he wouldn't be able to fix it anyway due to this - which is crazy because I would expect an emergency repair service to have basic pipes ON HAND to use in repairs. I then asked him what a ball park estimate is for this "water restoration team" and he wouldn't tell me anything. At this point - I was done with them and told him to pack his bags. When I hire a plumber, I expect ONE person to come and ONE person to fix the issue. Not multiple teams of people. I suspect had I gone forward that I would have been looking at a HUGE bill.

When I called the local Roto-Rooter this morning and related the above I was told that, “that’s the standard price for a clogged drain ($565.00).” Why were they unable to tell me this when I called initially? She said that it is Roto-Rooter’s policy not to give prices over the phone. I feel that this is a disingenuous business practice that is in place to take advantage of customers who are anxious to have their plumbing problem resolved as soon as possible, before further damage can occur. This is just like someone selling bottles of water for exorbitant prices after a natural disaster or N95 masks for $20 each during the pandemic. I emailed Pat ** at customer service and got an non-response. I then telephoned and left a message and got no response. Telling, I think, that they would not comment on their pricing structure before or after the job.

I came back and saw how they have ripped up my flooring through my whole kitchen including all molding and throughout my closet, they ripped up all the molding in the bathroom, hallway, took off partial door frame molding, stripped excessive carpet padding, drilled holes into my wall and stripped some wallpaper off of my wall. I ended up having to stay at a hotel for a couple of days because of all the equipment and damage done to my home. They never contacted my insurance and I had to take the time and send over pictures and complain about all the things they did in order for me to get a place to stay because the house was unsuitable for me and my dog to live in.

After the damage was done and paperwork was signed, I called Roto Rooters manager to talk about the excessive damage. They damaged my home like it was CAT 3 water damage (which is sewage water damage) when only CAT 1 water damage actually took place (clean water). That I later learned technical terms from my insurance company. I asked for a itemized bill of what they were charging for and never received one until two months later after staying on top of them and was only sent emails between their agent and my insurance agent. I am being charge over 8,000 dollars for the excessive damage that took place, insurance is only covering up to 3,000 and they expect me to pay the rest out of pocket when I don’t have that kind of money and more damage was done than needed all for a water line behind the fridge.

It’s funny that you guys initially charge me almost the exact amount that insurance sent me to FIX my home. I have tried to talk to them respectfully, complain and get the bill reduced but they refuse to do so. My insurance agent is trying to vouch the amount of work done was excessive and they claim that since the work is done it’s a oh well you must pay situation. I was sent a partial bill amount for the amount insurance paid for and was told I would be contacted by a lawyer if I didn’t pay the 5,000 that was left. They are charging for destroying my property, throwing away good product that could still have been used in my home, excessive equipment left for four days to dry out the whole home when my house is older and built on a slab.. A home like that will never have 0% moisture. So why charge me for excessive drying when it will never reach that level.

They charged for unnecessary things. They are trying to charge me for cleaning my bathroom sink, tub and toilet. For cleaning my bathroom mirror, my stove and cleaning my kitchen table and washer and dryer. They took pictures of them holding a rag to these items that were in fact dirty when I came home. Now why would I need you to clean out my bathroom tub for a busted water line behind my fridge? And then you later charge me because of paperwork I signed BEFORE I was even aware of what you were charging for. That has nothing to do with it whatsoever. Again it is cat 1 water damage why would this need to be done.

It has been stressful dealing with the unprofessionalism done with this company, the excessive damage to my home and they took the opportunity to take advantage of young female woman at the age of 21 who just bought a home living on their own. How is the a way to treat your customers? How is this professional and how do you claim to be a good company and treat your customers this way? You guys did anything to try to get money out of someone for no good reason.

I will not use this company again and wouldn’t recommend. I will fight this situation because no one has money just to blow on a situation that was taken over the top especially when I have came to you guys with respect and all I have been treated with is the run around of not being contacted by the manager, unreturned phone calls, left in the dark about a situation, and failure to be presented with proper paperwork, emotional damage, a destructive home and a high bill that I cannot afford for damage that shouldn’t even have been done.

Original Review: Jan. 7, 2022

While they fixed my problem quickly, my scheduling with Roto-Rooter was a nightmare. They said they would come 11-3 yesterday, didn’t show up, then said a technician would arrive by 9 today, and after some back and forth, a guy finally came at noon. It was $260 to unclog the toilet and an estimate of $400 for a shower drain. Not sure what comparative prices are, but that seemed high to me.

My husband works in IT and has no clue about home repairs but thought this line of thinking sounded bizarre so we called our neighbor, a retired home contractor, for his opinion. He suggested we get a second opinion and in the meantime try to defrost the pipe. We informed the Roto Rooter tech we would like to seek a second opinion and paid the $275(!) “service fee”. That’s right $275 for them to saw open the pipe and give us what turned out to be completely false information. My husband and father were able to defrost the remainder of the pipe rather quickly to see that it was not, in fact, frozen all the way into the basin and, once defrosted and plugged back in, the sump pump worked just fine to discharge the water again. All we had to purchase was a new pvc drainage pipe from Home Depot to replace the one Roto Rooter cut open.

I feel like the RR technician was either not knowledgeable enough or too lazy to suggest defrosting the pipe as a first step and instead jumped directly to replacing the entire sump pump system. Or this could be a standard practice for this company to which really takes advantage of home owners who don’t know better. As a result, I will never use this company again and suggest getting a second opinion if you do.

After tried to restart the pilot a few times, the technician stated water heater issues are in general hard to diagnose, he could not figure what went wrong, he would suspect a thermal wire was the issue. He promised he would come back the second day and also promised he would fix the problem for sure. Again it was until 6pm the next day their office called me if any technical contacted me, when I told him I have been waiting for a whole day, the office person said he would contact the technical and have him call me back. Again not a phone call from anyone afterward.

Today is the fourth day since I talked to this company, still not hearing anything from them at all. I have completely lost trust on them. I want to share my experience so you won't fall into the trap when you consider using them. The way I look at the situation is this company does not have the resource skills or capacity to support their service requests, they use the tactics to get you on the hook, to buy time for their benefits. This is an very unprofessional team, avoid if you have a choice.

The technician stated they would run the sewage machine in the cleanout to see if there was a clog, and then run their camera to see if anything of concern could be located. The technician stated that this call and service would cost appx $640 dollars. Being a week before Christmas I was reluctant to agree to the high dollar amount, but due to the present exigent circumstances I felt I had no other options but to agree to the price thinking these guys could fix our problems.

The technician’s initial diagnosis was believed to be we had a two-tank system and that we did not have any broken lines. The technician stated in an obvious visual that we had a “lift station/pump station” which is above ground access and that when you have that, you also have a solid waste tank which is typically buried. This was news to us as we have no knowledge on the components in a septic system. The technician stated we should have our solid waste tank pumped because it was full. The technician then packed up the equipment, had me pay the bill of $640 dollars, sign it, then left the residence.

So at best the technician made an educated guess as to the diagnosis of our problem. We then had to contact a septic service that day to have them come and try and locate and pump a second tank. The 2nd company did in fact locate a 2nd tank and did pump it out due to it being completely full and backed up into the house. The septic service tech stated that due to the pipe being completely compacted with waste that there was no way anyone got a camera in there to verify anything other than a pipe packed full of sewage.

We then contacted Roto-Rooter with our concerns of the price point for services rendered. While voicing our concerns we were brashly and smugly reminded by the initial customer service representative that I signed a bill/contract twice. Essentially telling us, well you signed twice there’s nothing you can do about it. While I am familiar with contractual obligations, it was in my opinion unprofessional and unnecessary to throw that in our face. Being a Friday afternoon the inflection and tone in the customer service representative's voice was becoming clear. They didn’t care about us or the fact we paid a ridiculous price point for 30 minutes’ worth of guesswork, she then referred us to the general manager.

Upon speaking with the general manager, he seemed to be a little more levelheaded but a bit more of a smooth talker. We advised the general manager that another company had previously been out to the residence prior to attempt to fix our problem and unbeknownst to us pumped the lift station and did not pump the correct tank and charged us accordingly. The general manager stated that the previous company had ripped us off for not knowing about the 2nd tank and that we should call and complain to them.

We then explained that the septic company who came and pumped the solid waste tank had told us that roto-rooter charged us way too much and ripped us off, the general manager had the nerve to call that company unprofessional and advised us not to make insults with an elevated tone as if it were a warning. The general manager stated he would investigate this matter and then call us back no later than 12/18 (the next day) to explain why they charged what they did.

The general manager then called us back on 12/20 and went through his long-drawn-out spiel on how their equipment is very expensive and that is why the cameras cost 300+ dollars to operate on a call. The general manager then proceeded to tell us that they came out same day and that no one else would have come out same day to look at our problem, and they have been in service for 80 years and they know what they’re doing. He then offered a piddly 150-dollar refund off our 640-dollar bill because our happiness was his concern…yeah okay.

This was our first-time using roto-rooter and after this interaction, ridiculous price points, and just generally apathetic tones from the customer service team, it will be the last. The service technician was the most polite and professional person we interacted with, and I know the service tech is not the one who sets the price points, our grievance is not with the service tech. Our grievance is with the company who has a perceived unethical business model and the perceivably apathetic customer service team we interacted with.

I wish I would have read reviews sooner on this company to see that other unfortunate souls have had similar or worse experiences with them. They take advantage of people in really bad situations, sell them snake oil and charge them astronomical rates which you are forced to sign for before any initial diagnosis or guesswork is made regardless of the simplicity of the job. The camera service was an unnecessary add-on to only increase price of the bill. The camera was only capable of diagnosing what was already blatantly obvious, a pipe full of sewage. No new knowledge was gained from the camera service therefore an unnecessary add-on.

I am not voicing these concerns and interaction on every public and private platform because I think we need a free service. I am voicing my concerns as a warning to any who might be considering this company for their needs. Reading through countless other recent reviews across the internet this company has seemed to establish a wonderful pattern for how much they don’t really care about the customer or taking care of them. They only seemed to be solely concerned with utilizing unnecessary services to raise the price of the bill. If you have read this far, please heed my warning along with the countless others and take this into consideration when choosing a plumbing service and steer clear of this company at all costs.

Never received a callback. Left a bad review. They call my husband to give him a 25 dollars off if we use them. I called Friday and Saturday to speak with a manager, never received a callback. Called back this Monday 4 times and the manager was in a “meeting” since 9 am. The plumber that actually came and fixed it from a reputable company said the original plumber must have loosened a valve because water was leaking from the hot water heater. I still have not gotten ahold of a manager and I am reporting this to Better Business Bureau. I just want my money back for this horrible experience. Whatever you do DO NOT use this company unless you want to be charged for nothing.

It is abhorrent that a technician did not come to my house within the original 4 hour timeframe because I responded to a text message 7 minutes after it was sent instead of your "5 minute window", which was NEVER communicated to me. A technician did not arrive at my house until almost 9:00 at night. As a mother of 3 children who waiting around all day, I am appalled. Additionally, when the technician arrived at our house, he told us that it would cost over $600!!

We had another company come out today to unclog our drain. Not only did they arrive in the timeframe originally agreed upon, but it took them only 30 minutes to snake the drain and they charged us $225... a fraction of what Roto-Rooter wanted to charge us. It is very clear in dealing with this company that they do not care about their customers. The dispatcher I dealt with on Saturday was so rude, and so was the technician. Save yourself the trouble and go with a different company!

Original Review: Nov. 22, 2021

Our hot water heater in the attic busted on October 9th. Roto Rooter was the only plumber we could find on short notice. They knew they had us over a barrel and charged $3400 for a water heater, and had to come back the next day because it wasn't installed correctly, was leaking. I have no problem paying a fair price, but they really took advantage.

I also told him that I was shocked that a plumber said he did not know how to reposition the counter weight for the the spigot retraction. I told him I watched some YouTube videos after the tech left, and that it was simple, just moving a clip and sliding the counter weight wherever you wanted it. I said it was so simple I could do it, even my mother could do it. He said “then why didn’t your mother do it?” Again I told him I did not watch the videos until AFTER the tech left. He then told me that the counter weight wasn’t part of the call so it would have been extra. Of course it would. I didn’t expect not to pay for it. He entirely missed the point that the tech said he “did not know how to.”

The manager was extremely rude and constantly interrupted me until I asked him to stop and listen to what I was saying. I did not curse, yell, or call him names. At first he told me he didn’t want to send another plumber “just for me to ask a lot of questions.” I told him I did not have any questions for the plumber, I just wanted it fixed properly. He then offered to send a master plumber the next morning. Fine. The plumber never showed up. I called that evening and got a very nice man, Jason, who said, “yes, I see the Plumber should have come out.” He said he would call the dispatcher and they would call me back with a time for the next day. I told him I had meetings setup all day on Thurs. but if we could arrange a window of time, I could probably change the time of a meeting. He said he would tell the dispatcher that and they would call me on Wed to arrange it.

I never heard back from them. Today, Thurs., a plumber shows up unannounced at my home. My mother told him I was at a meeting. He said they would reschedule. I have not heard back from them. I see in all the 1 star comments that customers are told to reach out to a company liaison. I am not interested in spending anymore wasted time on this issue. They should be reaching out to me. The 2 good things about this entire situation is that I paid by credit card and can dispute the charge, and not pay the bill and use the money to pay another plumber to fix the shoddy work from rotorooter. The second thing is I have learned more about plumbing than I ever wanted to. The piping under the sink is an easy job. Nothing special. Look at picture #3.

The tech came around 1:00 and left at 5:15. My mother said he was very nice. He gave us a price upfront and kept to that. He removed the old pipes, left for an hour with them to match up for length and the # of pieces needed. Total time for the whole job was 4 HOURS and 15 MINUTES. Incredible! After watching more videos, it should have been about an hour job and another hour to go get parts. I had a small business for 25 years. If any of my employees had treated a customer the way the first manager treated me, they would have been fired on the spot. It would not have been tolerated.

I suggest that anyone thinking of using rotorooter should read the comments on this ConsumerAffairs page, BBB, or Yelp, not the ones on Roto rooter’s website. They are not accredited by the Better Business Bureau and have a D+ rating. My Purpose in writing this long review is to warn others, and to let corporate RR know my experience. When you call RR, they say calls may be recorded. I hope the call with the manager was recorded so RR can listen to it. I taped the call with Jason and have it if needed. Marlton, NJ.

At a point in filming, he stopped it and showed me what appeared to be a broken pipe, he then went further and found that I already have a back flow valve but he said it was broken because it was in the up position. He then told me I had 30 feet of broken pipe, needed a new back valve flow and a clean out outside. He quoted me $20,000 for the job. He asked me if I wanted to finance it which I was approved for half of the cost. He then told me I would need to have the flooring removed so they could begin the work on October 25th.

Saturday he mysteriously showed up at my house as I had just finished pulling up my flooring in the basement. He told me he couldn’t talk in front of the other tech last night but told me he could save me $3,000 on the job by letting an outside company do the work, he also slashed another $500 off the job as I was seen to have a birthday coming up in the following week as a gift. He told me not to tell anyone of this arrangement. Sunday, we had a horrific rainstorm dumping more than 6 inches of rain in my area. My basement which should have resembled a lake, was bone dry and remained bone dry despite the claim of me having 30 ft of broken pipe.

When he showed up the next morning with the outside res, I informed him of such and told him I was canceling the entire job. What I have since learned is the pipe he showed me on the camera was not my broken pipe, I never needed a clean out (I have no trees near or around me) and the back flow valve was never a factor in this. I now am stuck with having to pay someone to re tile my basement as that job was never needed.

By the time the technician arrived, we already managed to shut off the main water supply, so the only thing he did was to cut off the failed water supply to our refrigerator, stating that he will come back the next morning to complete the job, connecting our fridge back to the water supply pipe. He said, some small replacements were needed that he didn't have at the time of service. We paid $373.89 and were promised the job will be finished in a few hours. That technician never returned back, and when we called his number, he never responded. We waited for one more day, then called the company, leaving the message. No response ever. This company is a complete rip off, please stay away.

Another person did hydro jet from the road to the house. This cost over $700.00. I can’t help but think how they were going to replace a pipe that was not the sewer. I feel so sorry for all the people they rip off. My daughter closed on her house 2 months ago, and she did not need to spend this kind of money to get lied to. Call a local small company, do not call Rooter-rooter!

I had to call another plumber to unclog the toilet. After that was fixed. And called hydrojetting company to clean the pipe. Still waiting for service. Just be careful. Those people are not honest. They don’t provide invoices with the correct information. I guess I will find out a invoice with forge signature and name through court! It’s gonna get ugly.