Roto-Rooter Reviews

He went into the basement, opened the pipe and used a snake. He said the job was done. I said that wasn't possible as I had prior experience with this type of clog and no way it was cleared. now, three weeks later, the sink is starting to fill up again. I called Roto-Rooter back as I was told there was a 30 day guarantee. Now we'll see what happens and if they come back. I do not recommend this company. Work was poorly done and extremely overpriced. 357 dollars for 10 minutes of work. How can this be justified???

After he turn tight of joint, water was running like turned on water faucet. And he could not do anything to stop it, but asked me to call their main office. The office dispatcher asked me to call fire department to come over to turn off street water. I could not believe it, this company even do not know the fire department will not in charge of that.

What a no professional action. After all of mess created, the dispatcher told me that the guy could not do anything, I have to call someone to turn off the street water, and the guy will be back tomorrow after the water had been turning off. My basement was totally wet and messy because a none professional action from this company. The company and guy never call or come back after all of mess that he created. What a no professional and irresponsible company that I have ever experience.

Keep in mind that Roto-Rooter does not give estimates nor offers any. When I complained about the price the "Technician" brought the price down to $400. Emailed Roto-Rooter and complained. Their response was that their "Technicians were like mechanics and doctors... That until they could diagnose the issue, they couldn't price the job". So I guess their "Technicians" have to have a lot of education and possibly an MD to do their job. Great business model for them, for the general public, not so much. Lessons learned. Words to their jingle should be "Roto-Rooter that's our name and away goes money down the drain, Roto-Rooter". Learn from my mistake. Stay away from them.

I asked if they can reimburse for my time lost at work. They said no. I asked if they can reimburse some of the cost of the leak since I will need to wait longer now for a new plumber. They said no. I then asked if they can reimburse an emergency service fee for service if I was able to book tonight. They said they would need to talk to upper management. I then asked if they could at least get a letter for work stating that they were unable to do the appointment due to their error. They said they didn’t know who to ask for that information. This also took about 15 calls because they hung up on me multiple times.

I called the 800 number to get a plumber to fix what I presumed was a leak and a clog. A very nice plumber came out and cut a hole in my ceiling to assess the issue. He stated that I didn't have a leak. Water was just overflowing from the pipes under the toilet due to a clog. He snaked the mainline and diagnosed that I had tree roots in my line and that I would need to have the camera man come out and take a look. I paid $519 on 3/7/19 with a six month warranty on the work. The plumber said everything was flowing fine. I called Russell, the camera guy, out on March 14. He came to my residence and I explained what I was told. He said he was not going to do the camera inspection because it's impossible to have tree roots in the line of the second floor bathroom. He gave me his card and told me to call him if anything else happened.

Under the guise of my plumbing issue being resolved, March 16, I paid $120 to have the ceiling repaired where the water had damaged my ceiling and where the RR plumber cut the hole. My family doesn't use this bathroom at all because of the water issue but after it was repaired, I tried to use the shower on March 20. Immediately I noticed the water backing up and I ran downstairs and lo and behold the water was still leaking through my ceiling. I immediately called RR and Russell and the dispatcher sent out a plumber covered under the six month warranty. The plumber cut open the same hole that I just paid to get fixed. They eventually came to the conclusion that there was material in the line and snaked again. The only difference is this time he actually took the time to do a camera inspection and noticed that the line was fractured and that's why the water was backing up.

I spoke with the manager today and I was told the only way that they would refund my money is if I pay for the real repair that is $3300 and they will deduct it. Otherwise, per the manager Danny, I got the service that I paid for. I deferred to their expertise and Roto-Rooter failed to diagnose my issue the first time and they refuse to rectify it even though they warrantied the work.

I am in the process of trying to sell my home and this has set me back in time and money due to water damage to my floor and the $120 I already paid and will have to pay again because Roto-Rooter didn't do their due diligence the first time around. I'm a single mother and hardworking individual. I don't have $519 to just give away. I'm very disappointed in how everything transpired and I will publicize even if it takes me contacting my local news station to get my money back. I'll never do business with these people again. $519 + $120 later my bathtub is still backing up which was why I called in the first place.

He wanted me to pay $350 for an hour of labor!!! I was not told they charge hourly or that if the issue isn’t resolved I still have to pay. His answer was “I have to charge you something”! Spoke to his manager who was nice to offer to pay 50% of the job once they escalate it and the $300 would be a credit. Which was nice but it didn’t sit well that I had to pay $300 for a job that was not completed and wasted 8 hrs of my day. I didn’t want to commit to needing to use this company for further work. They are not trustworthy especially after being on hold and their automative system saying “no service no charge!” But then they come and want to charge because they have to charge me something?

Is it time to lawyer up? He said a foreign object caused it. I was there. I say his ramming that snake in and out and letting it just spin cause the problem. Anybody ever seen an old sewer pipe from the 1950's, a piece of that was in my sewer line. Line was spotless other than that. Imagine a female product got stuck on it and just built up. Should I pay for his cable???

Experts have written every-thing that was done wrong, and the asbestos removal company was appalled at the fact they had done this, plus left my basement in a hazard mess. They have been paid what the experts say was owed, and now they have put me in collections, and put a lien on my house, because I won't pay them another $6,000+, and they have been paid almost $12,000 from my insurance, and me. I found out by the adjuster, they would pay for the work done outside, so they were lying to me, and overcharging for their work. I have since found out this company is known to take advantage of elderly women. I am a retired R.N., and I have never had trouble with any company like this, and have always had perfect credit, I would advise everyone not to trust this company!!

About that time I called home to get the status of the Repair. I spoke to the plumber by phone. He told me about the Pin Hole Leak - - I asked him how much to Repair. He told me $600. After that he told my wife he needed to go out and buy a copper sleeve and 2 connectors – because he didn’t have in his truck. The Copper Line he bought was: 6 inches long by ½ wide. He returned with the parts and went to work without telling my wife that the Parts cost extra! So when the job was completed at 4:00 p.m. he went out to his truck and spent 30 minutes preparing the Bill in his truck. He came back into our home at 4:30 p.m. and the bill came to: $681.33 Labor + $157.05 = $838.38 Total - - which is: $238.38 higher than the $600 quote w/o authorization.

My wife asked why the price was $838.35 vs. the $600 he quoted me. He said the increase was due to the parts (which he never said would cost extra). However he did not include a copy of the part invoice. I called Roto-Rooter the same day as well as the following day and asked for a copy of the Part Invoice. I was told they could not e-mail me a copy of the invoice without the Manager reviewing the invoice. I asked when the Manager would contact me – I was told not until March 13th – or 1 week later - - this sounds very suspicious to us!

Since we did not get a copy of the Parts invoice my wife went to Lowe's and saw that the Cover Sleeve cost: $5.99 + $1.99 each * 2 for the Fittings on each side or a total of $10 + tax - - not $157.05 that we were charged without the parts invoice. Summary: $238.35 - - we did not authorize. Didn’t tell my wife the parts extra cost. Didn’t give a copy of the parts receipt. Office told us that only the manager could send us part receipt in 1 week. Same Parts at Lowe’s only cost: $10 + tax.

After not believing it was buried they looked in the wrong place or tried to rip me off. They offered to do a blow out to the street in which the camera did not show any backup but wanted to charge me an additional 500$ for that service. I asked them to just snake the toilet but they insisted was not the problem. So I called a small business Plumber and he snaked my toilet and replaced the wax ring also helped me clean up for only 150$. Thank God for honest people unlike Roto-Rooter who will try to take advantage of you and overcharge you for as much as they could.

The following morning my toilet backs up and is now part of the problem. 730 pm the next day I call just to make sure they are going to be on their way. They state their plumber is on another call and may be a few minutes late and they would call when on their way. 830 pm called to follow up and dispatcher states that the plumber is still on the other call and asked if I wanted to reschedule. I really wanted to keep the appointment bc my main lines are getting worst. She said she will keep me updated.

945 pm I called and dispatcher says the same thing. They are now over four hours late on my appointment on a Saturday and I still do not have anybody out here to address my problem as they said they would. This is absolutely ridiculous and needs to be addressed. If I wasn't in such a bind to get this fixed I definitely would look elsewhere.

11 pm I get a call that the plumber is still at the other location and can’t come. Seriously? I waited 6-8 bc that was my appt and they finally tell me they can’t come at 11 pm? And they rescheduled and said I am the first appointment 9-10 am on Sunday. Sunday 10:15 AM I get a call stating that the plumber is at another appointment and they are trying to get him out. Why do you guys make appointments but cannot keep them? How did you say I was going to be the first appointment Sunday yet your plumber is at another appointment? Don’t bother making appointments here or waiting for a plumber. They don’t show up and don’t keep you updated. This is no way to run a business.

YESTERDAY I had a bad leak under my bathroom sink which I caught just before total disaster happened but still a big mess. I told them I wanted everything under that sink replaced and I can only suppose that he did it. BUT, he threw a wet towel down on a multiple plug surge protector which shorted it out and would have ruined the wall plug too but it has a protector on it. It threw my circuit breaker and it took me 2 trips out to the box in the yard to figure out what had happened and restore service to that wall plug. AND, a 25.00 surge protector is in the trash.

Before he left as I was paying him he told me the amount and I said "Did you say 335.82?" and he said "No, that's 385.82" so I wrote the check. I started not to even go online and print out my receipt (which is ridiculous) but I did and saw that it was only 335.82 so I called Melissa. She said he'd come back and change out the checks. He never showed up and in the meantime I found the surge protector messed up so I called her again and told her to just tear up that check and I'll send her another which I've done already.

This new computer system just isn't working well. Old people don't usually know enough about computers to print out their receipt. A receipt should be handed to the customer before the worker leaves. I'm almost 83 and had no problems with it but I don't like it. This is the worst experience I've ever had with Roto-Rooter and I'm not a happy customer. I would like for someone to come out and check this man's actual work since I just don't trust anything about this experience now. Frankly, I'm thinking of changing plumbing services.

Original Review: I was charged over $700 for 2 hours of a water pipe replacement. I called the supervisor and he advised the charge was correct. I said okay. Roto-Rooter is marked off my list. I said I couldn’t understand why the charge was so much.

They then proceeded up the stairs and tried telling us it was due to rainwater because it was clear my not stupid and don’t lie to me it’s middle of winter and hasn’t rained at all in a week or 2. Had no problems till after the tech was here then told me to claim it on my homeowner's insurance but I will be contacting my attorney and will be turning over all video, sound and pictures since they want to cover up a mistake their tech did and caused thousands of dollars of damages. I will not and will never ever recommend them to anyone in my area. A 250k+ home built in 2016 damaged due to the lack of paying attention. This won’t be the only place I wrote a review and will warn everyone.

About a week ago I began noticing wet toilet paper floating in my yard where the tech snaked the drain and our bathroom tub, sink, and toilet is backing up again. My husband dug down in his disabled condition and found the cap had not been placed back on the septic line after the tech snaked it and was at least a foot away from the opening. Bernard **, owner will not honor the no hassle guarantee and wants money to fix the problem the tech caused leaving the line uncapped. Don't use these people.

NOPE, my error was to sign the $489.00 contract which I was told is a flat rate. Whatever you do, DO NOT hire this company but IF you do DO NOT sign the contract. Especially if you call them to unclog a pipe/drain. Now to be fair, Roto-Rooter guaranteed the work they did for 6 months and if they have to return to address the same clogged pipe, there would be no charge. I've owned my home for 30+ years and I can count on one hand how many times that pipe has clogged... Lesson learned, I will never call on Roto-Router again.

I have outside line insurance. Roto-Rooter was the contract company that I was referred to by the insurance company. They proposed replacing the entire sewer line for $9500. The insurance agreed to cover $7700 based on my policy and I agreed to pay $1800 at that time. Since then, they have dug up my sewer line, ruined my entire yard and patio, fully collapsed my sewer line, broken my patio table, and have still not fixed anything. They initially claimed there was a boulder the size of a small car that was blocking their ability to complete the job. They left the job site and didn't return for a week, after I made multiple phone calls. They said they would barricade the area with plastic fencing before leaving, but they left everything completely open and a hole 5ft long x 2ft wide x 3ft deep completely exposed that any child or animal could fall into.

Then, the city public works came and reviewed the line placement and scenario and told them to just go around the boulder that they claimed was such a huge issue. The city also said that since Roto-Rooter has now collapsed the sewer line they are responsible for completing the job and that any other plumbing company would be very unlikely to come in and take over where Roto-Rooter left off. They then claimed that they did not have the proper equipment to go into a hole the depth of what was needed for my line (12-15 ft) that would ensure the safety of their workers, but also gave no alternative options or suggestions. They returned their payment to the insurance company and were apparently trying to skip out on the job entirely.

I have been getting nothing but a runaround ever since. It is now February 18th and I still don't have a working sewer line, have feces and sewage all through my basement still (3 days short of a month like this), and have now been told they will be back out Wednesday, a day later than I was told last week, to "see what they can do". When asked why they moved it back another day, I was told they had another job site they had to be at tomorrow. I would think a job they started a month ago that is a total health hazard to myself and my children would be a priority, but apparently it isn't. Since January 21st, my children and I have had to take showers/baths at friends' houses and at a local gym, have not been able to run water for more than a few seconds, are doing dishes out of a basin and dumping it outside, and have had to put our used toilet paper in ziplock bags (as recommended by the Roto-Rooter employees).

We have flushed the toilet on a sparing basis as absolutely needed, which of course results in it coming right back up into the basement. My next step is to alert the Board of Health as well as the Better Business Bureau. I believe they took an "easy pay" insurance (primarily) covered job without doing their due diligence in assessing the situation and repairs needed, and then when they realized they were in over their heads they attempted to flee the job completely and leave us stranded with more damage than was there when they were initially called. This company should be completely ashamed of the way they run and manage their business.

The camera guy saw I was hesitant to open the door since I never asked for a camera guy. He then lied to get me to open the door, and pretended he was a supervisor. He then proceeded to go to where the tech was working. The tech told the camera guy he needed to go to his van for more supplies to get this sewer back up fixed. He asked the camera guy to help him carry his equipment. The 2 of them disappeared for some time.

The camera guy left without telling me, and the tech came in to tell me he's not doing the work, and will make sure to set up another appt. with a Real plumber since he's only a tech! Roto-Rooter kept on canceling my appointments, and gave me a hard time! I had to call the company so many times, and they kept lying to me that they will send someone out there. Then they told me they don't have real plumbers, and only techs available. Finally some jerk that was a tech called me, and was screaming at me on the phone. I told him I had a 6 month warranty, and the tech was being disrespectful asking me how much I paid.

I called back Roto-Rooter, and they said the next day they will send another tech. Again they canceled my appointment. I had to call so many times, until they finally sent a creep for a tech who looked like he was about 18 years old. He didn't know much about how to do plumbing work. This young kid was too lazy to even try. He walked in, and said he doesn't want to do the work! I called the company to complain, and they said they will see what they can do! They lied, and I never heard back from them! Roto-Rooter is a Scam! Don't trust them! I will never recommend this company to anyone! They don't even deserve one star but, you're forced to pick between one, and five stars! This is the worst plumbing company I have ever used! They don't stand by their work or warranty! The customer service is terrible!

While he was working, I read online that it is usually $100-$200 for a minor clog. I asked the plumber towards the end if he would consider this a minor or severe clog. He simply nodded his head and said it was a very minor clog. He then pointed out saying he gave me a discount, which brought the total price down to $474 (after taxes). I will never use this company again and I would not recommend them to anyone. This was my first and last time using their services. If I had just read Roto-Rooter's reviews before giving them a call, I could have avoided this situation completely.

Day 3, 2/2/19 we were told workers would be here no later than 10am and it would only take 2-3 hours. They called and said there was a mishap and wouldn’t be here until 11. We had an inspector coming as we are selling our house and yet he can’t inspect plumbing as they are gonna be late. Technicians didn’t end up showing up until after 11:30. We left for the inspectors to do what he can and returned 2 hours later. The technicians were still working and as I was getting groceries out of the car I heard one of them say ”we just won’t tell them about that.” And then they left as they didn’t have everything they needed to complete job. They showed back up around an hour or so later to complete. When they were done they never notified anyone in the residence the repairs were finished but just left, over 4 hours later for a job that was only suppose to take 2-3 hours.

We were excited to finally have water after 3 days, so everyone was getting ready to take baths and relax. My mom goes first and takes a nice hot bath. Next my daughter decides to take a shower in the downstairs bathroom and guess what. Toilet won’t flush and water is backing up into her shower AGAIN. Not even a full day and the problem is still here. We immediately called Roto-Rooter and was told they would send someone out. After an hour they called back and said they didn’t have any technicians and it would be another 3-4 hours or they could come in the morning. Since this was at 10pm at night we decided to wait until the morning and was told someone would be here between 8-10am.

The technician showed up at 8:15am and was rude and cocky, he would not listen to anything we said and ended up making things worse. Our shower is full to the point of overflowing now and all he tells us is the first guys didn’t do the job right and he was going to call them. After sitting outside on the phone for a while he comes back in and says a supervisor will be out within 30 minutes. Now this is day 4 no water. While he was outside my mother decides to call the field supervisor that originally came out and he tells her the guys told him there could be another blockage closer to the house and that’s what they had not wanted to tell us. And said he would come out after church and put another camera down the line at no charge but if there was another blockage it would be more money.

This is very unprofessional as they only did the minimum they needed and left. It has been an hour, supervisor still hasn’t shown up. They should of known when they did the initial inspection what all the problems were. The work that was done was not worth $6200, as I’m in this sewer industry and no this is a rip off. Worse yet, the little work that was done didn’t fix our problems and your technicians only made it worse. This is day 4 we have no water, no clean dishes and no clean clothes. This need to be fixed immediately. Root-Rooter has overcharged us for a half ** job and they need to remedy the situation immediately with no further cost to us.

They want to work on things without the homeowner present, dig up yards unnecessarily (especially since I've been told this one isn't licensed to handle pipes in the ground and installing clean outs, etc. they still want to dig up my yard with a backhoe... Um, no) and then when you ask for a refund you get hung up on. And my favorite thing...one of their techs was running around with my credit card info written in a notepad, not on the invoice, and I had to cancel my card due to it being a security issue. What a hassle. I have contacted corporate offices and reported their business practices but I'm likely to just be out the money and I still can't run my washing machine, dishwasher and shower the way I should.

Had a 2nd opinion plumber come out today to tell me what job should have cost (approximately I said). He said I got charged double! And asked me why I called Roto-Rooter (because I couldn't flush and I had to take whomever got here first). I hope and pray I never have another plumbing issue and that another neighbor/friend will ask me about my experience. Because I can assure you that every car/truck that went down the road looked over at my driveway and saw the Roto-Rooter truck here because I saw them! I will 1000% percent tell them about this and I will do my best to make sure they don't get taken/**/broken etc by Roto-Rooter as I did!!!

The same blockage would reoccur 1 week later in the same pipe. Knowing I could not easily afford a call to a local plumber or Roto-Rooter I attempted and was successful in getting it to drain a 2nd time. Each time I was hopeful that the blockage was completely eliminated. January 15th was the last time that I attempted myself to clear the blockage, again occurring in the cleanout from the bathroom. I made many efforts this 3rd time to unclog it and was unsuccessful. Despite knowing I didn’t comfortably have the money to call Roto-Rooter I had no other choice as temperature were going to be reaching negatives in that upcoming weekend so I called Roto-Rooter out.

January 16th (the next day) the dispatcher called me and service tech James ** came out to service my drain. He ran 105 foot snaking out the main line from the cleanout. It was successful in getting the water to drain just as my previous 2 attempts had also been “successful”. I use the term successful loosely as neither of the times were complete satisfaction. I paid James $285 after the coupon that I used was processed and he gave me a 6 month guarantee.

Based on my previous experiences with it blocking up I also asked if Roto-Rooter would be able to send out a camera inspection to verify with 100% certainty that the job was successful. James told me that would be included if there was another occurrence within the 6 months. One thing I need to explain about my cleanouts. The bathroom cleanout is tied into the 2nd cleanout which runs out to the city main. If the bathroom main is blocked it comes out through the cleanout which doesn’t in my opinion make it an emergency situation. However when the 2nd cleanout which is tied in gets blocked the water draining to that cleanout has nowhere to go so it comes back up through the floor drain in my block basement.

That leads me to January 18th 2019. My 2nd call to Roto-Rooter. I was already cashing in on my 6 month guarantee. I walked down into the basement on January 18th and noticed water had gathered around the floor drain and was not draining. I went out to the cleanout and could observe water standing still in the cleanout drain not draining. This time it was the other cleanout that was not draining. I believe that James the first technician was able to move the blockage but not push it all the way to the city main so instead of successful clearing it he just prolonged the inevitable. The dispatcher called me back and sent out a different technician named Rodney **. Rodney came out and both technicians that came out were very professional.

My experience with the technicians was not bad. I explained the situation to Rodney and showed him the water in the basement. He ran his line, again his line was roughly 105 feet. He told me he had to clip some off of his line in the past. I tell you this statement because again my main line is at least 110 feet to the city main. It took Rodney more time but he was eventually able to get the water to drain. I again say this attempt was “successful” in getting the water to drain but was skeptical in its ability to successfully clear the problem. I asked Rodney about calling a camera inspection as it had been explained to me by the prior technician that I would be awarded an inspection if another blockage occurred. Rodney called Ronnie to perform a camera inspection and the camera tech had it in his notes to come out. Rodney packed up and left around 5pm.

Around 8pm I had became impatient waiting for the camera inspection so I called back to dispatch. A few minutes later I received a phone call from Ronnie the camera inspection person. He proceeded to explain to me that he would not be coming out as a part of the 6 month guarantee. He told me he had spoken with his excavation manager and that a camera inspection was not part of a 6 month guarantee. I explained to Ronnie why I had sought out a camera inspection given the previous attempt at clearing the blockage unsuccessfully. I had asked for the inspection to be covered in the 6 month guarantee because I couldn’t afford to pay an additional cost. He told me his hand were tied and that he could come out but he gave me a quote of the cost for a camera inspection and said he was sorry that I was given incorrect information.

Last Friday was the last time Roto-Rooter came out. This brings me to Wednesday January 23rd. 5 days after the last technician had came out. I went into the basement to get an item and saw that I had over 3” of standing water in my basement. My furnace and my water heater are located in the basement. I made sure to turn off the furnace and immediately called Roto-Rooter. It was around 5pm when my first call went out to Roto-Rooter. I explained the situation, very frustrated and explained that it was an emergency because we could not use any water in our house without it backing up into the basement and we couldn’t turn on our furnace which was not a good situation with below freezing temperatures approaching that evening.

The first call to Roto-Rooter was successful and I was then waiting on dispatch to call me back. I received a phone call from dispatch around 90 minutes after my first call. I explained the situation to dispatch and he notified me that unfortunately there was no technicians within the radius that would be available to come out that night. Despite the emergency of this event and the fact that the problem I had paid $285 to have corrected still was not corrected I was now forced with finding a different place for my wife and 2 young children to stay for the night. Dispatch explained that they could have a technician out the next day and asked what time worked for me. We decided on a four hour gap of 12pm-4pm. In that time we were unavailable to use anything in our house.

Today is Friday, January 25th 2019. Yesterday from 12-4pm I should have received a phone call from a Roto-Rooter dispatcher. I did NOT receive contact. I waited the entire day. For the 2nd day in a row I left the water stand in the basement now a little higher and gave Roto-Rooter the entire day to call me because I knew I couldn’t afford to call another company to come out. As of this morning I called a local plumbing company and they came out and ran their equipment and unclogged the main line. This technician ran 125 feet out into the city main. I had to borrow money to pay this technician to come out.

At the beginning of this email I acknowledged I would explain my situation first so I could explain what I am seeking. I feel this is simple. I was not given satisfactory work through Roto-Rooter and when an emergency occurred as a result of negligence in completely servicing the client with the goal of completing the initial task I believe I should be warranted the refund of $285 which was the cost of my initial payment. I paid for a service that was unsuccessful in the goal of clearing the blockage in my main lines. I was forced to call another company as a result of unprofessionalism in not performing the task I was told they could perform. I emailed the customer satisfaction employee, public relations employee and company president and have yet to receive a response.

The smell in our home is unbearable because they leave the everything open. It didn't smell like feces before they started but it does now. Next day same thing. Then we are told to have our septic pumped out so they can see if they can pull their jetter out they way... at our expense. So we do this. Day 3 my husband goes down to the basement and it's flooded. It wasn't flooded before they got there but it is now. Here they unplugged the sump pump but left the pump sitting in sludge so now that doesn't work...

Now today they come back cut the end of the jetter which is still stuck in our pipe... and leave. My basement is still flooded and smells like ** and my clothes are ruined and they walked away like not their problem... I have the other plumber who can verify my basement was not like this when he left hours before. My insurance agent has called and guess what voicemail!!! Guess my family will smell nice for the Wake tomorrow due to this nightmare.

At 10 pm I called again this time angry because I couldn't flush the toilet, use water, had laundry sitting in the washer, etc. Was told the appts were backed up from 12pm but they were moving me to the next in line. Tech arrived at 11pm and confirmed what I already knew. He said the normal rate is $549 with tax would come to $600. When I said that was ridiculous he said he could do it on the side for half and would take $300 cash or check but preferred cash. Being that it was 11pm and I had no running water I paid the $300. The guy was in my house for 15 mins and left it dirty.

Roto-Rooter came over and found no problems with the line but while discussing, Roto-Rooter told my wife we had water damage that must be fixed. We’ll lo and behold minutes later Roto-Rooter told my wife they had spoken to our insurance company and the damages were covered by insurance and Roto-Rooter was sending over one of their clean-up crew to take care of the damage because she wouldn’t want sewage water in our house.

The Roto-Rooter cleaning crew that came over ripped all of the trim out of the main floor bathroom, cracked 3 floor tiles while removing the trim, tore down the bottom half of the drywall in the main floor bath, and they tore up the door trim. Downstairs, the Roto-Rooter “cleaning crew” tore down three quarters of my basement bedroom ceiling, they tore up a quarter of the hardwood floor, they tore down all of the drywall in the closet and on the walls and they tore down our french door trim. This all for an overflowed toilet that happened when my family was home. Our house wasn’t unattended for days or even hours, my family was at home.

We are looking at a minimum of around $5,000.00 to rebuild our basement and bathroom (I also don’t know what Roto-Rooter charged my insurance company for the demolition yet, I bet it’s a pretty penny though). Minimum, five-thousand dollars, for an OVERFLOWED TOILET that happened when the wife and kids were at home! The kicker is Roto-Rooter never looked at why the toilet overflowed, my wife sent me pictures and the float was out of alignment, sticking against the tank wall.

My wife feels as though she was completely taken advantage of by Roto-Rooter because she was scared into believing we had significant sewage damage and Roto-Rooter crammed our insurance and their cleaning crew down her throat. She believes Roto-Rooter did this because she was a female, home alone, who knows nothing about plumbing or home repairs, and who was afraid her husband would think she couldn’t take care of things while he was away. I tend to agree.

Now, if the government shutdown ends and I get paid again, I get to look forward to spending some of my paycheck on rebuilding a basement and bathroom and on home owners insurance increases because of Roto-Rooter.

They will not tell you a price until they arrive and you are desperate at that point! They make up prices by looking at the area in which you reside, the size of your house and the vehicles in your driveway! $460 for a 5 minute snake and dodge job! They DID NOT take pictures of my drain like I requested and they were supposed to, and they did not assess the full issue! They make you sign the paperwork and provide the payment upfront, before they complete the full service! This is a breach of contract! Then they promise you that they will send someone back out the (following day) to finish the work! It doesn’t happen!!! They delay and delay and stall and stall for what was considered “an emergency” situation!

The worse company ever! My service was not completed and they have inconvenienced me! I’m going to file a report with the police if they try to “now” come back on my property to rectify their wrongs! I have already had to pay a new company to assess and resolve the issue because RR did absolutely nothing in the pitch dark with a tiny hand flashlight. They will never get a dime from me again and I look forward to a class action lawsuit being brought against this company!

Constant texts saying techs and supervisor would be out then they show up hours later and only work for a short time, then leave with absolutely no word on progress. Was told on Jan 18 that work was completed and they were waiting on inspector to show up. I looked at their progress and saw several broken water lines unfixed and my sprinkler lines were cut through and unfixed. Still waiting for work to be completed...

Came back Tuesday at 10 am and started digging. They stopped at 11:24 am. (I have it on my security camera.) Later we were told they found that our water line was next to our sewage line and that they would have to replace that for an extra $6000. I decided to do research and get other estimates and everything came back at half of the cost. All quotes even stated that they could do both the sewage and water line much cheaper than just what Roto-Rooter was charging just for sewage line. I called Roto-Rooter and asked what it would cost if we canceled the rest of the job. At first was told that there was no way they could cancel. Then I made another call and was then told they would cancel and fill in the hole they dug and refund me a little over $400. That would mean that they did less than 2 hours of work for $5300.

I asked if I could get an itemized breakdown of the cost and they said that they couldn’t at the moment and would have to get with escalating company. So the only option is to be out around $6000 or have them complete the job for close to $12,000. Question 1 - why were the 3 other plumbing companies quotes consistently 50% lowers than Roto-Rooter. Question 2 - why were they hesitant on getting me an itemized breakdown on the work they performed so far? It not like this is the first time they have done this. I think it’s because they have no way of justifying $5300 for less than 2 hours of work. BBB will be contacted. The entire experience will be shared on all forms of social media.

A short time through digging the first hole they encountered an uncontrollable amount of groundwater (which I saw first hand). They were forced to stop what they were doing and put everything back. Dave came out while they were still on site and told me that they would need to bring in another guy to install a well point to be able to dig deep enough. The new cost would be $10,650. He sent in another technician to try a different machine to unclog it enough to run water in the house over the weekend. I left that technician to work on his own also and he called me outside about 20 minutes later again showing all kinds of rocks, trash, and debris he was pulling out of the cleanout with a long hook. He said there was nothing they could do.

The soonest they could be there to complete the job was Monday (3 days later). I was upset but I trusted them and signed the paperwork. Monday came around and no one came or called. So I waited a while and then called Dave at about 10:30 AM. He told me his subcontractor couldn't make it until Wednesday but he was looking for an alternate. I grew impatient and angry to the point where I called another company to see if they could do something faster. This other company had the clog out in literally under 5 minutes. No rocks or anything out of the ordinary came out of the cleanout; just those "flushable wet wipes."

I had that technician inspect the line with a camera and his conclusion was it would last longer than I owned the house and was in good condition, no further services required. Roto-Rooter felt comfortable literally scamming me out of over $10,000 to replace a perfectly good pipe and do permanent damage to my driveway by cutting into it to dig. Thank God for high groundwater. This time it saved me a fortune. The rocks and debris were absolutely planted by these crooks and when I called Dave after it was fixed his only response was "Really they fixed it? All those rocks in there? Well we tried for you."

I was very specific what the problem was when I called. He told me he would have to come back tomorrow. When I told him that I worked and that is why I scheduled them for the time I had he said, "Well we will try to work with your schedule, but we are very busy this time of year and don't know when we can get to it again." When he left I called another company who was out to my house within the hour, treated me very fairly and stayed until the job was complete which was about midnight. I will not be calling Roto-Rooter again.

Original Review: I called Roto-Rooter on November 25, 2018, said he would be there in about an hour, he was on another job. He showed up to do the job. Said it was going to be 353.00 dollars before he did anything. He was going to clear it then run camera down. Thought that was great. He claimed he unclogged it by saying look running water. Didn't bring camera will have to come back next day. Show up November 26, 2018 with camera he didn't know how to use. He figured out after calling someone, he put it there and water. We took man cover lid off. No water coming through.

He said the ground settled on the pipe and the City is going to have to break it and fix it. I asked him to put his snake back in so I could see it through. Said he didn't have time, has two other jobs to do. Then left. I'm thinking I had to wait for him, but they can't. I did a survey and his boss called me six times in a row at midnight. I told it was kinda late. Had to block his number. Maybe Roto-Rooter encourages that kind of work. Personally I believe I entitled to at least 253.00 dollars back.

This was a total rip-off. I would never recommend Roto-Rooter to anyone. I will share my unpleasant experience with everyone I know. I have had an encounter with another plumbing company and he was here over a hour. He fixed the bathroom drain. He was up and down in the basement. He explained his findings and his work. His price was very reasonable. I hate my daughter contacted Roto-Rooter. If I felt the price he charged me was worth his work I would say so but Joe knows his price for what he did was totally unfair to me the consumer.

The representative informed me that I had raw sewage under the floor, the floor would have to be replaced and they could start the work of pulling up the tile that evening. Fortunately, I am not as naïve as they probably hoped and I informed them that I needed to have my insurance agent come out and take a look at it. He tried to convince me that my insurance probably wouldn’t cover it but I told him that when my water heater broke and flooded the basement a couple years ago, they absolutely covered it. After telling me to figure out what kind of replacement tile I wanted, I finally managed to get him to leave. Shortly thereafter, the technician left, leaving a bottle of drain cleaner (which I didn’t particularly want but was charged for), a $500+ dent in my credit card, a mess that I had to clean up AND a broken closet door that I didn’t notice until the insurance adjuster came the following day.

Incidentally, she informed me that, when she did her own water test, there was nothing under the floor to indicate raw sewage. We agreed that she would close the claim and if I found out that I did have some water damage in the future from the visit, she would reopen it. This happened almost a month ago and still no damage. Naturally, I cancelled the insurance claim. I have used Roto Rooter in the past and was satisfied with their service. They did the same work the guy did this time for half the cost. However, I can guarantee that, after this latest experience, even if my basement is many inches underwater, I will absolutely NOT be calling Roto Rooter again.

After he was done with unclogging the toilet, he told my wife that our water pressure was too high (something that we have never experienced any issues prior) and proceeded to take her out in our backyard to show her a tool that indicates water pressure using the gardening hose. He then suggested that we replace the pipes connected to our water heater inside the garage. My wife told her that she needed to check with me. He left her an estimate with his personal cell phone number to contact him if we wanted to make the upgrade.

Later on that day, I returned from work and decided to use the toilet downstairs. To my surprise I heard a very loud noise (like a pneumatic drill) after I flushed the toilet. I immediately contacted Roto-Rooter and they sent another technician within a couple of hours. The technician did not know why the toilet was making that loud noise and proceeded to call the first technician who did the repair that morning. He had the phone on speaker and I clearly heard him telling the new technician to close the valve under the toilet. After that the noise stopped. Unfortunately, your service has now caused more problems as we have discovered a burst pipe in the front yard. I have called and spoke to one of your supervisors who has offered to pay for the leak detection but not for the pipe repair.

Now. The gent did give me the hook up and took 25% off which brought the price down to under $700 so...yeah. Now, when you have the people standing in your house ready to work and they present you with an estimate of this sort what exactly are you supposed to do? Have him sit for a bit while you shop around for better prices? You hired these people based on the idea you can trust they will give you a competitive price and actually get the job done. Yeah okay maybe they will be a little higher as they are a big company but this isn’t even close.

Even after the job is done you still want to believe what just took place is somehow not the biggest rip off ever but Google searches only prove otherwise. For the amount of money they charged I could have gotten 2 brand new toilets installed from anywhere for LESS MONEY. That’s when I reached out to Roto Rooter who promised a response ASAP. That was 2 weeks ago. And that’s why I’m now here. No one should have to deal with this kind of treatment for any reason nevermind help with a toilet with a wobble! Hopefully this will help. And that’s why I’m now on here.

To recap my experience - Roto-Rooter kept my tenants waiting around on a Saturday with a ridiculous 4 hour time window for arrival, and were STILL over an hour late. The technician rudely complained to me on the phone that he had trouble finding parking, and threatened to leave (it's as if he never worked in a city before), incorrectly diagnosed a clogged pipe - the simplest of all plumbing issues - as a cracked toilet that needed to be replaced, and charged my tenants $100 to do this.

While it may sound extreme, I truly believe the technician wanted to make off with the toilet in my unit, as it is an expensive Toto one-piece toilet. He was going to replace it with a generic $85 Home Depot toilet, and probably charge me ~$500 or more in addition to the cost of the toilet, and probably keep the Toto for himself or resell. The reason being, when I looked at the toilet, there was absolutely no indication whatsoever that there was a crack, ANYwhere.

It all sounded fishy to me when the technician said the toilet was cracked in the back, on the bottom of the bowl. Just knowing how this toilet is set up, there is no porcelain were the technician was describing, and that is where the sewer connection exists. He was trying to take advantage of the fact that my tenants did not know any better, and the fact that I wasn't around. When I told the technician that I would do the work myself, he attempted to backtrack and say that he may be able to do the work sooner, but I had already heard lost trust in his diagnosis. Roto-Rooter, you either have completely inept and incompetent people working for you, or you have thieves and liars. I'm not sure what is worse, but judging from the reviews on this page, I don't think this matters to you. I will be reporting you to the Better Business Bureau.

The RR serviceman also took out a whole section of wall in our basement which was totally unnecessary and made an outrageous mess. I called the service department several times and was given the run around for weeks...never got a call back as promised. Roto-Rooter service was deceiving, not properly done, extremely overpriced and their service department on complaints was horrible and couldn't care less. Very dishonest company.

He put some leak finder on and it bubbled around the new gas line he hooked up. He noticed it and goes, oh "the line wasn't tied" but went on to replace my gas valve which was not faulty. I knew what I was paying for the job initially and even though $189($205 with tax) is ridiculous for a gas line I accepted the job. The second charge of $205 is absolutely ludicrous considering it was the serviceman who forgot to tighten my line. Here's my end game - $410 for 30 min of work just isn't right.

7 hours I waited for someone to come out to address my backed up sewage in my basement. I cancelled everything I had planned for the day. Only after they close the billing office at around 7 that I discovered I had no appointment. As they then informed me 7 hrs later I was flagged until a manager came in the next morning to speak to me. I found this very cruel and very Petty. I was being played. They assumed I owed invoice from 10 yrs ago with no proof and no details about the work or amount and now it was payback. This is extremely Petty and unprofessional and downright cruel. If it was one person who mislead me about my scheduled appointment I understand but I spoke to several people throughout the day and not one person told me that the problem was not solved. That I had to solve it before booking appointment.

I don't know what happened 10 years ago if there was a mistake on their part by incorrectly not posting my payment or I was I mistreated, an unsatisfactory experience, or the work was not done and maybe I chose not to pay based on bad experience which is the only way I would not pay a bill. This experience today was cruel, petty and unprofessional. I would think twice before booking with them.

Then after another two techs come out and started the process of water damage restoration. They removed half of my walls, three doors, my floors, and a toilet. I mean half of half of half very small space. Apparently they then disinfected the area they ripped apart, threw all the items they ripped apart out in my lawn and then hook up 15-20 fans to dry the wet area for 2-3 days which ran off my BGE. Came back and obtained their fans and I explained to them water was still leaking and the smell was still strong. I then receive an invoice for $4800.00 for the horrible work that was done and on top of it all it was not and I mean was not nowhere near $4800.00 worth work they had done.

Rotor Rooter requested the check from my insurance and it was sent to me to endorse. I refuse to give them the check for that amount because as little as the space was they ripped apart it again. Was not worth $4800.00. Due to me not doing that they then requested another check from MY insurance for $4200.00. Had it sent to them directly and called me and ask can I sign it. I SAID NO. FOR WHAT? My house is a mess and I'm not pleased with the anything that was done. Drop that price.

Days later a supervisor comes out because I was very pissed with the invoice, water was still leaking from somewhere and the work was not satisfying and he stated he understands. He then agrees that he still smells the odor and had the tech cut another portion of my floor. They then spray something and place another fan there for 2 days. A few weeks go by. They then email me another invoice for $5400.00 with the $699 they said they weren't going to charge me. "SCAMMERS". I can’t afford a contractor to repair the damages Roto-Rooter did and I refuse to allow my insurance company to pay them when they did NOT anything worth $4800.00 and now the repairs are damn near double to be fixed. My insurance is not trying to give me more money to repair the damages either. Now these scammers are trying to threaten to put a LIEN ON MY HOUSE for NOTHING! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! I'm fighting this.

I state I can’t afford, and presto, price is now down to $800, and then $800 with current service charge of $300+ being credited towards the jetting. But ultimately, they advised me they could not clean the line, and not to put much water down drain until they could come out the next day (for $800). But lo-and-behold, when I examined the line after they left, and run some water down the drain, the debris they left behind in the line flushed out and blockage completely gone. So, they were just lining their pockets with my misfortune. And since they claimed they could NOT clean my line, and left with the assumption the clogged line was not fixed, why then was I charged over $300 for NOTHING! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

The technician arrived and immediately told us that we needed a new garbage disposal. We were pretty surprised that a three year old disposal needed to be replaced. When we mentioned this the technician, he brushed us off and said it was strange but it could happen. In fact when we mentioned the faucet to the second technician he suggested that we purchase a new faucet and he would install it for us. Three days later, our basement ceiling was leaking water onto the carpet. Two new technicians came and fixed the actual issue in about 10-15 minutes. The damage is estimated between 2 and 5 thousand dollars and the company failed to take any responsibility for the damage that occurred during those three days. Furthermore, getting someone to respond to us was extremely difficult and we had to call several times.

They worked doing who knows what for 5 hours while they waited on air circulation fans to arrive, put up more lights than in the movie ET, threw my collection of antique chisels, gouges and other antique tools valued at over $1500 in a wet trash bag that allowed them to rust and lose ID tags. Even after telling to leave all the tools on the ping pong table, along with $2000 worth of other collectibles, my Keurig, wet/dry vac...and more. That were 100% fine as they were never in the water, then chilled out. Put out the fans, used my pumps to pump out the water from their 3 dehumidifiers that drained into my new 30 gallon trash bucket. They had to use my 12 gauge extension cords, 5500W generator as they kept popping the breakers with their faulty equipment that leaked water as they had insufficient hose length, then finished up, left wet cardboard, Xmas paper wrapping, and 2 trash bins full that they were supposed to haul away.

I had to clean up their mess they left behind and evaluate the damage they did as they stripped the paint off my floor and ruined my belongings that were supposed to be put in plastic tubs...and left. They came back 3X to check on things, never took any of the trash as they should have, then picked up their equipment nearly 24 hours late, including 12 fans they stacked up using my basement as a storage unit.

Then sent a $6800.00 bill, and the contract I supposedly signed via DocuSign. The signature by my name is not even close to my name, or my writing style, the initials that were supposedly mine were "22", and even filled out the satisfaction form and dated it on the day they began the service, not 5 days later after they were "done". The signature that is supposedly mine has a character that matches the Roto-Rooter tech's character, and the only distinguishable character in his signature. All documents had the same date, signature, and fraud. They also keep asking me for the claim #. Let's see where this one goes.

On Saturday he returned to talk about our options, which was to excavate a 6’ long trench and replace the cast iron pipe with PVC. He gave us an estimate of $7120. My husband and I were shocked! We asked him if people usually get second opinions and voiced that it seemed high for the work being done. He explained that the bulk of the cost was labor and assured us all of the expense except $200-$300 would be covered by our home owners insurance. He then informed us of a loan through GreenSky that was available so we wouldn’t have to use our savings and then we could pay it off when the insurance money came in. We opted for that option so we wouldn’t have to touch our savings which would only cover half the repairs anyway.

Before the field supervisor left he told us he had someone coming out and would text when he was on his way. He also said that once they had the damaged pipe removed he would return and run his camera the rest of the way before they put the new pipe in. That evening someone arrived, with no notice at 4:45, worked no more than an hour and said he would return the next morning to finish the job.

Sunday morning comes and goes and I text the field supervisor around noon to ask if anyone was coming and he informs me that no one is and they would resume Monday. Two different men arrive Monday at 11:30, leave at 12:45 to get parts and are gone until 2pm. They end up removing a pipe about 36”-38” long, mind you my estimate was for the removal of 5’ of pipe.

Before they replace and fill the hole I ask if the field supervisor will be returning to inspect the rest of the pipe as he stated he would and the guy says “He told me everything is good to go”. So they filled the hole with Quik-Concrete and finished around 5:15. When they left there was chunks of dirt all over my carpet, dirt and scuff marks on my walls, and a hole cut out of my drywall behind the washer to get their camera out. That Thursday I excitedly did a load of laundry. When I went down to switch it to the dryer I checked the carpet just to be sure and to my horror it was wet. I immediately texted the field supervisor and told him since it was in the same area that they supposedly fixed. He came the next day at noon and attempted to run his camera down our washer drain, only then realizing his camera doesn’t even work.

Although his camera wasn’t even functioning he was already planning to dig up my basement again to fix what he assumed was a connective issue between the old and new pipe, openly admitting that he believe the water was coming from a portion of pipe they were supposed to fix. He returns the next day with a working camera and tells me everything looks good but they can run the camera further to see if there are other issues. Expecting more of our money of course, as if $7,120 wasn’t enough to not even fix our problem. I have spoken to the manager and he has not offered any help other than to do more work for more money. I believe this company is dishonest, unprofessional, overpriced, and more importantly does subpar work. I will never recommend them to anyone and I am contacting the Attorney General to file a claim.

We’re now up to $8500 in work and repairs, but there is now rainwater and sewage backing up into our basement and we can’t flush the toilet for fear of it getting worse, so they have us by the balls and they know it. They dig, find that the pipe is in fact NOT collapsed, broken, or even cracked, but replace it anyway. They then inform us it must be further down the line, we’ll need to dig in my neighbor’s yard to find and replace the pipe. At this point fees are already stacking up, so we see no reason to not spend a little more on a second opinion. Call up a local plumber, with a longer snake and cutter. He cuts right through the blockage and clears the pipe for $200. Roto-Rooter was not happy and suspiciously defensive that we had someone else solve the problem they failed to fix.

While explaining to multiple techs and managers, they admitted there were other options besides digging up perfectly good pipe, but we didn’t ask for them (because we’re not plumbers. How would we know to ask?). So the long and short of it is they completely took advantage of people in a sticky situation to “upsell” services that did not need to be rendered. If you ever think of calling Roto-Rooter for a plumbing job, just flush 6 times as much money as you’d think you’re willing to spend on the work needed directly down your toilet, then call another plumbing service to come clear those pipes. You’ll still come out having wasted less money and time than having to deal with the scam artists that are Roto-Rooter.

I called the county water authority, they came out within one hour, and within 15 minutes located the clog six feet into the street. Over 18 feet from where these incompetent technicians said that it "maybe". If you have problems with your sewer lines DO NOT CALL ROTO-ROOTER! Besides being outright dishonest, they lack the knowledge to handle the simplest of jobs.

While looking at the water meter in the basement, he said we needed to get our water meter replaced ASAP, which he claimed cost an extra $2700. He actually threatened that if he were to call the city that it wouldn’t be up to their code of standards, and that we’d have to have our water shut off until they fixed it. When my wife said we didn’t have that kind of money just laying around he responded in a antagonistic tone saying “well you gotta figure out a way to find some!”

He was at our house for just about 2 hours, but was in his truck for over 45 minutes, while leaving a putrid chemical smell to waft through the house without telling my wife he was going outside. She could smell it from the other side of the house and had to open the windows and turn on the fans to air it out. Overall, he did a great job with the work, but really did everything he could to intimidate and take advantage of my wife who was already in an anxious state (over his confrontational approach and the exorbitant bill), trying his best to justify charging $900 for a 1 hour, job with $25 worth of parts.

When I got home, I called the office to speak with a supervisor to let them know we were double charged and try to get our money back for the “extra” job we were billed for. The plumber had added in a new stopper for the drain, saying it was going to be sturdier than the one we had put in, but we hadn’t asked him to even do this, and this is what was invoiced as the “extra job” costing an additional $400. I spoke with Karen, a woman who was so apathetic and relentless she would not let me get a word in. She was so catty, had no sympathy for our situation, said he did everything by the book, and scoffed at my sincere feelings that the plumber was trying to scare and intimidate my wife to make her think the job should cost more than it really was worth.

Karen was so argumentative that I gave up even trying to plead my case with her. She even insinuated my wife of being stupid, saying she should have been able to see and understand everything written on the invoice because she could read it in under 30 seconds “so where’s the disconnect with your wife” (even though when the plumber was explaining things to her he was doing so very fast and trying to blow over the fact that he was charging us twice for the same thing).

After getting off the phone, she called back a few minutes later, saying the plumber actually coincidentally came to the office and she conferred with him about my discrepancies on the invoice. She basically called back just to argue with me more. I could hear her seething through her fake smile and condescending “nice” voice. She offered me a $40 coupon to be applied to the bill. I said that was insulting and that doesn’t make up for the extra $400 charge for literally nothing. I finally gave up and got off the phone. This turned a what would have been nice afternoon for myself and my wife into a stressful evening full of negative energy leftover from the plumber in our house as well as Karen the supervisor giving me the worst customer service I have had in my entire life. Stay away folks.

Three days later there was water not draining again in downstairs shower where it was before that I had reported originally. When I called the same plumber came out and said this drain was not under warranty but only the main drain and he told us he would have to charge another $375.00. We asked him to leave. He then said he could fix it but we would no longer have a warranty on anything. Why wasn’t this fixed in the first visit. It was reported at the time of my first call. I know we are being gouged big time. I now don’t have a warranty for anything that’s been done. If this is how you run a business I would rather not use you again.

I've got money back almost instantly the day of i spoke to them.

Original Review: Aug. 16, 2018

I had couple plumbing issues, rusty main water pipe in the basement, leaky faucet, wiggly toilet, missing shower handle knob. I called Roto-Rooter and they answered very quickly to come next day. When he came in, I told him about the problems and he went to look at all of them to see how much it would cost. After seeing all the problem, he went back to his car to write me a invoice with 135 dollars charge for looking at problems. He didn't even fix any of my problems! And told me that all of the problem are going to cost 3000 dollars.

On their website, they say it's free estimate! Why should I pay him to look at the problems and do nothing about it! He didn't want to leave even though, I told him it was free estimate unless I paid him 135 dollars. The tech was very unprofessional and rude. How can he charge me for just coming by to not even lay a single finger on my problems? Don't ever use this company! Free estimate? It's false advertisement.

He then told me Roto-Rooter was more expensive than most and I was welcome to go find someone else as if he were daring me to knowing the sense of urgency. He promised me he could get someone out first thing in the morning (Saturday). I had plans Friday night but I ended them early so that I could come home to be here for Roto-Rooter in the morning. I waited all morning and then around 11:00 am I get a call that they won't be coming after all and that the soonest they could come was today, (Monday). Roto-Rooter thoroughly wasted my time and I certainly hope no damage was sustained to my property from a leak Roto-Rooter was supposed to fix days earlier!

I stuck with Roto-Rooter, a company that has a 1.4 star rating on consumeraffairs.com, that admitted to me themselves charges more than competitors, and because I wanted the problem fixed fast and ended up being stood up, having my time wasted and had to deal with a rude plumber. Worst of all, I could've had a more reputable company come out in the time it took. I am absolutely disgusted and livid with Roto-Rooter.

Remind you we just paid these people $863.57, So basically they trying to tell me that was for the 1st service of the guy sticking a camera through the drain line for barely 20 minutes cost me an amount of $863.57. Now I got to pay the same "Roto-Rooter" again almost $900 for a job that I thought we already paid for in full for a 2nd time... So basically "Roto-Rooter" wants to charge me 2x for a job that they never started in the 1st place. I called a few other local companies that came out for free estimates. I got $250, $375, $425, $450 price quote on 4 for the same exact job "Rotor-Rooter" trying to get damn near $2000 from me for... So I went with a local company and was extremely satisfied with the work. I am currently shopping around for attorney to take these "Thieves, Rip off, highway Robbery" company to court...

A few days after the job was complete, we had a rainstorm. Because this mound of dirt prevented the rainwater from traveling from one side of the yard to where the storm drain is at, my backyard flooded to one side of the mound. This caused the Earth to be pushed away from the foundation of the house and water started pouring into my basement. We had to go out into the storm and dig trenches in the mound to get the water to go down in the backyard but this did not stop the water from pouring into my basement. Once the water stopped pouring in we had quite a bit of damage.

I contacted Roto-Rooter. They said that the leaking was not their responsibility and would do nothing about it (I have never had that much water in my basement from the back wall until after they left the mound of dirt there). It was mentioned they would have someone come and do a clean-up in the basement so I would not get mold but I have not heard back from them about it. I recently had some companies come give me estimates on waterproofing and every one of them is shocked at the way this job was left. I was even told by two waterproofing companies that I should not have paid Roto-Rooter. Needless to say, I would NEVER recommend Roto-Rooter to anyone!

After five hours they did nothing to get the water up, did replace the water heater valve, and then turned on my water. Normally PSI for water in a home is no more than 80 PSI. Mine was 160 PSI. I asked them to replace the valve before they left but couldn't do it. They did put a shut off valve on my water heater. They also turned the water back on which is still way too forceful. After they left, I bought a key to shut off the water and did so. They are returning tomorrow to get the 2" of water in my floor up. I felt like the pressure valve should have been replaced today and something should have been done to get some of the water out of my floor. I've called another company for a free estimate tomorrow. They said they could get it all done in one day.

Roto-Rooter said five days and I would need to rent a POD for my furniture at an additional cost of $675.00. I can't get one here for two weeks so that's out. I don't trust them now and don't feel they have my best interests at heart. The plumber was good and honest. They were all very nice however had no problems poking their noses through my entire house where there was no water damage. I should mention I'm disabled with spinal problems so a fall on a wet vinyl floor could be very dangerous for me. They didn't care. Everyone was nice but I don't think they have my best interests in their hearts.

The other company I called gave me an estimate that is $5000 less than the Roto-Rooter estimate. But it won't be firm until they can come out tomorrow for a walk through and a free estimate. They wanted to come out tonight to help me. I probably won't use Roto-Rooter again. If things change I'll update this review. I think they should have gotten the water cleaned out at the very least plus placed some fans and a dehumidifier to prevent mold buildup.

She further inform me I signed a document stating I was responsible for this service with an amount stated if insurance did not pay for the service. I told her I didn't receive an estimate nor any kind proposal indicating the amount I would be charge and the guy told me if insurance did not accept the claim not to worry about paying that. I was only signing a form allowing them to submit a claim to my insurance, it didn't indicate an amount. Feeling Angry and Deceived!

Then we went down to the basement. I had a clogged drain. It took him all day to unclog a drain. When he gave me the bill for $1500.00 I was in shock. I felt 2 or 300 would have been reasonable. Then they said the basement was contaminated and needed to be cleansed. They sent someone out the next day who said he could get it done shortly for me. No mention of price. We had an appointment to get it done and I got worried about what the price would be so I canceled.

In the end, I pinned him down on the price and it would be 5000 to take everything out of the basement, clean and disinfect it put it all back. We did not have it done. I would never recommend this company to anyone and I would never call them again. They don't give you an estimate, they are shifty, and I feel they overcharge you for everything. I paid the bill that day, but it is the last they will get out of me.

The next morning I got a call from the technician named Owen telling me that the job wasn't under warranty and that we would needed to pay him $1200 to fix the leak. I was livid! I asked him, "How can you tell me one day the repair is still under warranty and they call me the next day and say it's not?" He gave me the phone number to the management office and I called them only to have the office manager tell me the managers were in meetings. I told the office manager what was going on and she assured me that she would have a manager call me back asap. I only got a call back from the office manager to tell me that she looked up my account and said the job we had back in 2013 only had a 6 month warranty.

I argued with her, telling her we were told it was a 5 year warranty which was their biggest selling point to justify us paying so much for the job. She then said, "Well that still doesn't matter. The 5 year warranty expired 6 months ago." Needless to say I never received a call from a manager and we ended up calling another plumber who showed up in 30 minutes and fixed the line for $350. Roto-Rooter is a big scam and I'm warning all consumers to stay away!

I used them 3 times, every time giving them the benefit of a doubt, same lying and cheating every time, they have done the same to quite few of my friends as well. The technicians are all on commission, (that is why they do not give you price ideas over the phone), when they show up they will try to sell you as much nonsense and price jack up as they have been trained. They will add many unnecessary items to the work that needed to be done. I realize they are in business to make money, but how about some honesty. Horrible company, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.

I told her that they advertise free estimates and there shouldn’t be any service fee to begin with. She asked me if I was quoted that when I made the appointment as if I was getting a bargain to begin with. It is now after 2 o’clock in the afternoon — I have been waiting over six hours. I took the day off work, got up early, put in extra time, clean out the areas where the plumber would be servicing, put off other appointments to deal with this and could have called another company. I have a major sump pump issue that needs to be repaired before the next rain which is forecast for tomorrow... I am finding it is now too late to schedule someone out this afternoon, and I will likely have a major flood and bricks coming up under the pipe when it rains.

So I will have to take another day off of work at greater expense. No phone calls, no nothing. Dispatchers or someone could have called or at the very least offered some sort of apology. My time is just as valuable as theirs—Not only did I not get the job done but they wasted an ENTIRE morning and afternoon of my time simply operating under their standard business procedures. Homeowners should have some type of recourse for no shows other than simply posting a review—otherwise companies like this will continue to have no repercussions.

The job was a little more than I had hoped it would be but then again, I really didn't know what to expect so maybe I was underestimating. I had already called around for other quotes but none of the other plumbing companies would quote over the phone and were charging over $100 bucks just to walk in my door because it was Sunday, regardless of whether or not I used their services! Plus, waiting until Monday and having to take a day off from work would set me back more than what roto rooter charged, and if I waited until my next weekday off I would be stuck for days without a kitchen sink or dishwasher and with five kids that wasn't a good option either. So all things considered I feel like I received fast, convenient, excellent service for a reasonable price.

I told them that the issue was not resolved and I needed the same man to come and fix it. He did come back but told me the pipe broke. He then told me to call the office to make an appt. for someone to come and give me an estimate. Patrick was dispatched and came 4 days later on a private truck not a Roto-Rooter Van. He then told me it was going to cost $4200 dollars. I told him I could not afford that amount. He then spoke to his boss and came back with an estimate of 3550.00. We agreed to it and he emailed me the proposal on February 7, 2018 and told me they would start the next day. No one showed up the next day or the day after.

They started digging on the 12th. I go home for lunch and I see a small gray/silver car parked on my driveway and 2 Hispanic men there. No uniform or a company vehicle there. Very unprofessional. They worked for a couple of hours and they came back the next day again to work for a couple of hours. Later Patrick called me and he said the guys had dug up another pipe to connect to the pipe in kitchen and the pipe broke.

On his proposal he was to dig 10 feet and all they dug was 4 feet. The pipe they were talking about was not even exposed so they could not have seen this to determine if the pipe broke. I asked Patrick how did he know if he didn’t ran a camera. He stated that even if he would have ran the camera the pipe would have broken anyway. He said it was going to cost me an additional $4900.00. I told him I did not have that money to do it. He said that they needed to have me sign a waiver so they wouldn’t be responsible of the mess they created. I refused to do it. I called the office to have them come out and finish the job and close the hole that was left. I told them that they could not have seen the other pipe if it was never exposed. She told me they ran the camera and that’s how they could see.

I then replied that was not true because Patrick told me he did not ran the camera. Then she said she would give me his supervisor’s name and number to see what he could do. I called him his name is Tommy. He told me either we pay or they will not finish and hanged up on me. I called the office again and they said they could not help that the hole was left to have the inspector come and view it. Again nothing happened. I called again and then I told him that I was waiting for the inspector, they replied “What Inspector? No inspector is coming." I asked them for the corporate office number and finally after insisting she gave it to me. I called repeatedly but no one returned my call. I called Patrick and Tommy may many times and they would not answer my call or called me back after I left many messages.

I called so many companies to come and finish this job but they would not touch it. I finally had to beg a company that comes to the property I work at since I work in property management to fix plumbing problems and they agreed to do it. The reason I gave the check to Patrick in the first place was because he insisted of paying him and he promised he was going to finish what they started and close the hole. My boyfriend and I are extremely upset and disappointed on top of frustrated.

We all got tons of mosquitoes and larva, also tons of gnats. He all got sick due to the fact. The Tunnel Company came in with large excavators and finished the job but took off the pipe that Roto-Rooter put on because it was not done correctly. This job was totally botched on top of making my life miserable. We suffered vomiting and stomach cramping and diarrhea because of the open hole they refused to fill. This company has been around for some time but now they are hiring subcontractors to do the jobs and they could care less about the client. All they think about is how much money they can get out of you. I always thought they were reputable but PLEASE BEWARE! NOT WORTH THE STRESS AND AGGRAVATION. Shop around before you agree to anything.

In the morning around 8 am I got on the phone with Plumbers to have someone come out and look at my sump pump to see why it had failed. Roto-Rooter was my second call. They came out around 10:30 am, James **, a field supervisor, stated the sump pump was fine because he saw it dispelling when he drove up. He said we needed to be concerned with mold setting in, which could happen in 24 hours. He stated that the job was going to be 10s of thousands of dollars, because we had poop water all over, he brought out a blue light and showed my partner the water on the carpet, which again he stated was poop water. He said our main sewage line was backed up and it would cost a lot of money to repair. He said it definitely had to go through our insurance, due to the cost. He advised me to call my insurance company and find out my max payout and deductible. Also to verify we had a sump pump rider.

Once I found out I had a max of 5K with a 2K deductible his story changed to he could salvage everything and do the clean-up for around the 5k my insurance would pay out. I told him my main concern was the carpet, because it was an 8k carpet that the previous owner just installed 2 years ago. He said no worries that they would be able to salvage it, that the backup was all clean water and they would lift the carpet up, and allow the fans to blow it dry. He then called me later and said the padding could not be saved, because it was like a big sponge and we would not be able to get all the water out of it. So their plan was to remove the pad. He asked for my permission, to discard the padding. I agreed. I again asked him about the sump pump and he said it was fine and nothing needed to be done with it.

I still don't understand why he told us the main line was clogged and had to be pumped out and then changed his story after the funds were not available. They came the next day, my appointment was at 8:30 am, at 10:30 AM I called to see where they were, he said they got caught up on a job and were on their way. At 1:00 pm I called again and asked where they were and James said a tech would be calling me any time and let me know when they would arrive. At 2:26 pm, no call from the tech. I called James and received no answer. I texted him and received no response. At 3:00 pm a van arrived and they sat outside for 30 minutes. I then went outside and asked what was going on. They stated that they were just helpers and don't normally do this job, Roto-Rooter was shorthanded and they were there to help at 3:45-4 pm. The real tech came. He had the guys start the removal of the padding.

The helper came back from his truck with a pliers and the tech asked him what he was doing with that, he stated he didn't know how to pull up the carpet. I have a picture where he used a crowbar to get the baseboard off the wall, which they broke. So now I have a big hole in my wall where he did that and several broken trim pieces. Since I am not a professional at this matter and Roto-Rooter stated they were, I let them do their thing while we kept an eye on them. They left at 7 pm. with the padding and put the fans in place and 2 dehumidifiers for the whole house. He started to put holes in the walls in order to spray the micro bacterial solution that would kill any mold. He stated the moisture levels were too low and it was not necessary to spray for mold. The tech said someone would call to stop by and check on the progress the next day. They left around 7 pm.

No one ever checked on the progress the whole time, ever. The floor or carpet was not touched with any deodorizer or treatment according to the contract. No cleaning was done whatsoever. They didn't suck any water out of the carpet either. First thing I noticed was they put all my furniture and beds back on the wet carpet. Before the job was started, Monday James told us to save the furniture we needed to put everything on cardboard or up on wood blocks. Which we did. When they finished they put it all back down on a wet carpet. Second I notice how my carpet was ripped to shreds. Threads hanging everywhere and cuts that look like someone inexperienced cut it. Third I noticed a nightstand sitting with the door torn off and the door sitting on the top.

I also noticed a bookshelf in the bedroom that was an antique that the side were falling off and the shelf ready to collapse. No one told us they broke anything. I immediately sent picture to James **, who of course didn't reply. I never heard from him anymore as of today. James the field supervisor is no longer in the picture. I didn't know in the beginning that Roto would not be putting the carpet back down that I would have to hire an additional company to do that. I called out Dwight Ard from Ard Interior Installations, INC. He saw the carpet and said it was totally unusable, also stated the procedures they were using were doing absolutely nothing. Fans and dehumidifiers going with the carpet lying flat with furniture all over it would not dry the carpet fast enough where it would be salvageable. That no air is getting under the carpet to actually dry it. He wrote up his findings.

Dwight told us to take all the furniture out of the bottom floor so it wouldn't receive any more damage. We removed almost all of the furniture and stored it in our garage. I then called Roto-Rooter and spoke with Tracey **, from the corporate office in Schaumburg, IL. I told her the reason I called in the first place was due to a sump pump failure, and nothing was done to address this. She called someone back out which charged me $800 to replace my pump. She also arranged for a manager from the restoration department to call me back with my concerns, she said he would call me back on the 22nd. I didn't hear from Michael, until late on the 23rd. I told him how the carpet was destroyed and he said to get one more company out there to say it was not salvageable and then they would make it right by replacing the carpet.

On Saturday I got the second opinion, plus an estimate on how much it would be to replace it. This is the company that initially installed the carpet. FCA in Merrillville. On Monday, while I was at work someone from Roto-Rooter came to the house and said they were there to pick up the fans and dehumidifiers. They proceeded to take my carpet out of the house and scratched my walls taking it out. My partner asked where they were taking our carpet. The guy told him he was told to take it since the company was in the process of making it right for us, since it was damaged. This pickup process lasted 30 minutes. They scratched my walls while removing the carpet. They loaded up the carpet and the fans and left. My 80-year-old parents and partner thought since they were replacing the carpet they could have the old one.

I am the only one who owns this carpet and I didn't give permission for it to be removed. They asked before they removed the padding, why wouldn't they ask ME the owner of the carpet. When I found this out I called Michael and asked how long till I got payment. He stated they were now investigating my estimates and letters from the carpet professionals and they would get back to me. I received an email on Feb. 28th. In which they stated that they should have categorized my job as a category 3, and due to miscommunication on their end, they would not replace the carpet the insurance company should. That it should have been originally discarded. I told Allen and the Assistant GM Andrew **, that I would have never have had them do the restoration if the carpet would not have been saved. I would have done the work myself.

Andrew then explained he had to dispose of the carpet because there was a dog pee stain on it. I had 4 rooms of carpet plus a hallway, it didn't all have this so-called pee stains on it. It all didn't need to be disposed of? Again I never gave permission to have it removed let alone disposed of. It's my carpet. I told him I wanted my carpet back or it replaced. He stated Roto would not be responsible for the carpet, because it should have been discarded in the first place. It's funny the carpet was good enough to use till they destroyed it, then they decided to look for a way not to pay my claim. Why, when they pulled up the carpet, did they not feel it need to be discarded for safety reasons. It wasn't till I demanded it be replaced that they changed their story and said it should have been removed at time of padding removal.

They decided it was no good, 8 days after the fact. So for 5 days my electric bill is being totally overused with all this equipment I didn't need for that long. They then proceed to send me a pumped-up bill for over $4400 for work they didn't complete and what’s more they charged me for the same job originally quoted, to save the carpet. With the carpet out of my house and padding, I would not have needed 2 dehumidifiers and all those fans since they would not be trying to dry carpet, just the cement floor. The walls I was told were dry and didn't need any work to them. I was told the moisture levels were in range and he didn't need to apply the antimicrobial. They also did nothing to treat the floor. Just put the damp carpet back on the cement. At this point Roto-Rooter refuses to live up to their word and replace the carpet like he said. No one throws away carpet because a dog pees on it.

I'm sure they have a picture of a pee stain, which with the water sitting on it, would make the spot bigger, but it's my carpet, I would have had it professionally cleaned after it was dried and mold free. I had 4 rooms of carpet, every room didn't have pee on it. I could have, if they would have told me when they pulled up the carpet, made a decision on replacing a room or 2 if needed, and salvaged the rooms with no pee. The pee is a smoke screen for what they did and that is destroyed my carpet by cutting it to shreds. Why does it take 8 days to determine, yes we tore up your carpet but we should have 8 days ago removed it?

First came the restoration people, ripped out the sheetrock two feet, put dryers all over. All the while I was in contact with Tim, the manager. He was very courteous and helpful. I made a list of all the damages that happened because of Roto Rooter installation issues and emailed to Tim. Today I get a call from Manny, the plumbing manager, saying that he won’t do anything about the damages and it’s a lot of “he said, she said” and will “try” to put the sheetrock back but won’t paint!! The sky just fell on me because I had at least $6,000 worth of damages if not more! There were guitars, guitar pedals, bass drum, drum pedals, to name a few very expensive equipments. Now Manny is telling me that Roto Rooter will NOT cover it, no questions whatsoever. So please beware of this fraud company. They will make a mistake, do a little for you and then turn their back on you! Unbelievable!!!

Now they did this and everything is working now. But now I have huge hole in my yard (approx 4'x4' and 8" deep in some of it and they want me to pay Landscaper). What happened to the dirt they took out? If anything there should be too much dirt. Then I received their statement charging me the $500 for routing, the $1000 for water jetting, and the $4500 for installing the clean. Who knows how much for the dirt and sod to repair the lawn. So I'm paying over $6000 for job that averages $3500. And I can't get them to call me back!!! To explain the charges and the missing dirt. I will never refer or use them again. Thiefs!!!

Come 2 pm Thursday they were a no show. My husband called and was told there was some emergency with PECO and they weren't coming. But they never called us to let us know! Very unprofessional! They rescheduled for 1 pm the next day. They were going to push us off until the following Tuesday but remembered that we couldn't flush our toilets. I had been reading their reviews and was already not happy as I would not have called them in the first place. I knew I should have listened to my gut feelings. I called someone else and described the situation. They were extremely helpful and scheduled me for first thing the next day. In fact the job was completed by noon and I saved $1800!

After I cancelled the job with Roto Rooter the technician called and apologized and wanted to offer me a discount of $500. I still would have paid $1300 more than was necessary if I would have had them do the job. The technician was a nice guy and seemed like he knew his stuff but he wasn't the one who was going to do the job. If you have a simple job that can be done through the local office they might be able to handle it but be prepared to pay a high price. I will never use them again and I don't recommend them at all!

He said he was going to have his supervisor come back and check out the situation the next day. I guess there was sludge anyways. He said they would be back the next day between 3:30 - 4 o’clock. No show. I called them and they said they’re really busy because there’s a lot of basements flooded. Yes I can understand that so I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they would call me the next day. Here I am. It’s almost 12:30 PM and haven’t heard anything from them! So if anybody is reading this do not use them. I called another company. They’re coming out and they’re going to use a Jetter hose which is like a pressure washer not like a man cave snake. They are the worst. I would never use them again and I suggest nobody else either. They’re just taking you for your money!!!

Technicians were not able to fix all the issues at once. The third one was so rude that when he removed the tank cover it fell on the toilet breaking the cover and the actual toilet. I had to order a new toilet and re-schedule the technician for a week after to install the new toilet. Fourth Appointment-3rd technician: The technician showed up with a man that is not a Roto-Rooter employee. That man was standing next to the technician doing nothing in my private home without any authorization. This is completely unacceptable! I am hiring the services of Roto-Rooter and they are liable of their employees and any non-authorized person the technician brings to a job. Finally new toilet was installed! Once installed the toilet was doing a strange not usual bubbling sound when flushed. I brought it to his attention and he assured me it will eventually stop doing that noise.

The toilet seemed that it was not flushing properly... not entirely blocked but water did not go down easily. Keep in mind this toilet is a guest toilet. Family members rarely use it. I went on vacations and when I came back I found out the toilet blocked again and strong bad odor coming from it especially when flushed. I called the company a Saturday and scheduled the same 3rd technician that did the last job to come on Monday from 8 am to 12 pm because he knew what he did and I did not wanted a new technician to start guessing on what could be the issue. Monday: Supposed to received the technician from 8 am to 12 pm. At 11:40 am I received a call from them letting me know the technician (anyone and not the one I requested) will not be able to go and that they will be calling me back in a few minutes. My husband called them twice and they could not tell when the technician will show up.

At 5:45 pm I noticed I had a missed call from them. I called them back and spoke to Amber. Conversation with Amber: I explained to Amber all the above. I requested her to make an appointment after 6:00 pm any weekday with that particular technician; the 3rd one. Or the following Saturday/Sunday at any time. Amber responded that she was not able to schedule an appointment with that technician because she did not have the schedule. I asked her to please note in the system that I was requesting that particular technician on the dates/times previously mentioned and once the schedule were up to send me a confirmation. Nothing complicated, right? At the end I am still with the same issue and I need Roto-Rooter to solve it. She told me I needed to call again in a few days as she is not able to make any notes in the system.

Her response was unacceptable because they have not adequately complied with the service... not solving the issue, missing an appointment, and not scheduling the technician I requested. I explained her that the least I expect was that they make up for all the mistakes by simply solving internally to schedule the technician and that I did not have to call them again. Amber got upset and with very poor manners and extremely rude told me she cannot do anything and hooked up the phone to me. It is evident that Roto-Rooter not only do not have competent technicians they also do not have competent customer service representatives. I immediately called back and requested to talk to a "manager". His name David.

Conversation with David (manager): I complained about Amber's behavior and the poor services I have received from them. No apologies from his part. He seemed like nothing was important. He said he could not schedule the technician because the local branch has not put in the system the schedule. So to me at this point the whole situation is completely silly. They are a company and they have a unsatisfied client because of their evident poor service and not because I am playing difficult. But I have been extremely tolerant and patient with them. Basically, David could not take care of the situation. I had to directly request him to please contact the branch and make all the scheduling for me. After repeating to him for several times he finally agreed to send an email to the branch and get back to me in 10 minutes... I have been waiting for 3 days and not a single response from them. The whole situation is a joke.

Roto-Rooter is extremely unprofessional in every single sense. I will not be using them. Never again for my house or company. I will not recommend them to anyone. And I will make sure this review is posted in other websites so other people are aware and do not waste their money and/or go through such a bad experience.