Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Tim was very thorough, personable, price was high but expected, main drain to the street backed up called on Sunday and they came on Monday morning.

So I was caught off guard by Tim's good job in the morning so I had him call out a plumber. Anyhow Bill came out and we talked money and what needed to be done. Price was very high but I went for it. He didn't have any of the 5 ft garden hoses for the connection to the washer, only some very expensive steel hoses. I said I would run up 5 min away and grab some. He also didn't have this special faucet so he went to get that. The hoses I got were 1/4 the price of the ones he had and on the bag it said this type of hose was better than steel, FYI When he finally got back he went about his business; he gave me the impression he didn't want me around so I left.When he was done I was shocked to see he had soldered in two shutoffs for the washer, none for the faucet; he said that's how everyone does it. $600 labor+ $135 parts, included is $50 for screwing on hoses, labor charges included his run to get the faucet. Bottom line is I have to have it redone and add two shutoffs.

Found Tuesday morning that the drain pipe in the basement floor for the kitchen sink was plugged. Tried to unplug it with no success. Realized that my plumbing skills (?) needed help. By then, it was late in the morning, so I called Roto-Rooter to see how soon they could come out. A very pleasant voice told me they could come in the early afternoon. They called an hour later to say they were on the way. Jeff, the technician arrived, put his boot covers on, and proceeded to the basement. After understanding the problem he got his equipment and cleaned the drain line. We tested it, and it worked fine. We found, however, as a result of Jeff's testing, that food had backed up to another drain line serving a basement bar sink. Jeff quickly cleaned that one also. Everything was now ship-shape. Jeff was very pleasant, worked quickly, and did a good job of cleaning everything up.

Called them on Sunday, Tim came on Monday morning on time. He was personable and knew his job and didn't leave a mess.

I have contacted Roto Rooter twice now and have been very pleased. The first time was to unclog a toilet. I had another plumber come out and he was unsuccessful and ill equipped. I then called Roto Rooter and he had it done in about a half hour. The second visit was today for a backed up main line. The technician was on time to the minute and was highly professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. He went right to work and was done in about an hour and a half. I also had the pleasure of meeting his manager Jeff Schnabel who stopped by to do a surprise safety inspection on the technician. Jeff was also very professional and friendly. The cost would have been a lot more than the final bill but I was given a $363 dollar discount for having all of the drains at once. I could not be more pleased with these guys and will recommend them to anybody who might need there services and will definitely call them back when needed!

Had problems and couldn't clean the whole sewer line. Next day person with camera came out and told us we needed to replace the whole sewer line to road. They ended up replacing our main sewer and charged us another $11,000.00. Thought it was expensive, but they were the only ones we could get a hold of in a short amount of time on a weekend. It took 3 days to replace the sewer line, but they did do a good job and were very professional. The reason I gave them a B in professionalism was the first person (whom I asked to go to the back door) walked across my living room carpeting without taking off his shoes (he just came from cleaning out someone else's sewer line).

It was a terrible experience from start to finish. The tech that arrived to do the cleaning could barely speak English, didn't have all of the equipment needed to the job and was unable to clean the line. They sent a different guy the next day to check the line with a camera and he told me I had a collapsed line that would cost $8500 to repair. Obviously I was going to get a second opinion. I then had Ron the sewer rat give it a try, this tech was very intelligent and explained there was a clog but he didn't believe it was collapsed ... he was right. After snaking the line he cleared the line, verified immediately with a camera that the line was clean and not damaged. Bottom line is Roto-Rooter should have been able to clear it and they didn't, they just wanted to scare me into an expensive project that wasn't needed. Update 2/17/2014. I was contacted by a Roto-Rooter representative to discuss the services performed on this job. Since the clog was later cleared by a different company, Roto-Rooter expressed a desire to make things right. They are refunding 50% of the bill for service. Even though they weren't successful in clearing my drain line I am impressed with Roto-Rooter's customer service and their follow up after the work was performed.

It was quick, easy, and done to my total satisfaction. Nathans a very good plumber and I would be happy to use him again.

THIS IS AN UPDATE to my 1-20-14 REVIEW: Ray, the first plumber installed my faucet, but the base plate did not attach tightly to the sink. That was on 1-20-14. I was pretty upset and thought I had to live with a loosey-goosey faucet. I posted my chagrin here on Angie's List. But I was MOST impressed when I received a call from Paul, the Roto-Rooter manager, a mere four days later (1-24-14). That was very, very cool. Not only that, but Paul send out his best plumber, Nate, to address the situation. Nate came and said the base plate (Pfister) was no good and told me to go with Delta. He took off the faucet and promised to be back in the afternoon to install the new faucet. I returned the old faucet, got a Delta one, and sure enough Nate was back within the hour to install the new faucet. The best PART: NATE COMPLETELY FIXED the base plate situation and also said it's a good thing that we took care of it. Ray, the first plumber did not suggest that I return the faucet. Ray installed it and that was that (Perhaps he won't do that again, too? Perhaps it was a good thing I said something. Ray is certainly skilled). So, I want to just say that I am really impressed with the response I received from Paul, the manager and from Nate. That IS solid customer service, and I will gladly call Roto-Rooter back for repeat service. I will definitely go with my man, Nate--very friendly and knowledgeable! EVEN BETTER, I can say now with great confidence that IF problems occur (and they always do), Roto-Roter has a GREAT way of dealing with them. Paul was totally not defensive and very friendly. And Nate was great! That's perhaps the most important thing: To know that a problem that occurs is fixed. THANK YOU SO MUCH, guys. I really appreciate that. I felt really helpless after Ray left, and am so glad, you guys took care of it.

They didn't end up pulling anything out, but they fixed it. Very nice guys.

Great service. Showed up within 3 hours. Friendly and easy to work with.

I requested that my new sink disposal be reinstalled. I had a technician from another company start the project which was offered as a free service after he fixed my furnace. It was a Friday evening and his time was compromised. He apologized for completing the install and left. What he did was completely complimentary and very much appreciated. I called Roto Rooter with the request for completion of the install. I figured at least a service call and an hour of work. I was quoted $375 and that included the $30 Angie's list discount. I can't believe that there is any plumbing service that could justify this pricing for the task requested. I am extremely bothered by the fact the technician was comfortable quoting this price. I feel sorry for any one who may have paid this price for a disposal install. Let alone finish what another technician had started (wiring complete and unit mounted). I have never written a bad review about a company in my life. However, this experience has me so overwhelmed by the pricing offered by Roto Rooter that I am going to humiliate them by listing this post. I know Roto Rooter has been in business for a long time. They probably do a good service. I just cant believe they would charge $400 for a disposal install that was nearly completed by another professional. I am furious that my time was compromised to have a technician come to my home and exacerbate a completely unrealistic price.

We were preparing to sell my parent?s house when their sewer backed up and I gave Roto-rooter a call. I was out of state at the time but they worked with me and got it done. It was a little more challenging than their average drain to unplug but they completed the job well.

We did not use this provider; chose a different plumber.

Fantastic experience!! They weren't sure they could get someone out today but they were able to find someone to work after their shift. He showed up when they said he would. Very courteous and pleasant. Absolutely would call them again.

I'm stunned this company is on your list. Did you know they are involved in a law suit for fraud? They have had a continous practice of showing up in expensive neighborhoods, sending a video camera down the sewer line and then showing the home owner a clogged or collapsed line. The problem was that it was not a video of THAT homeowners sewer line, but a random photo that they used over and over again to bilk homeowners out of 10s of thousands of dollars. The average repair cost was ten to fifteen thousand dollars. This practice was featured in The STRIB in July & August of 2012. They were very aggressive about doing the work on the spot to "avoid further collapse". Homeowner after homeowner shared similar stories and complaints. I urge you to remove them from your list immediately.

It went ok. Their prices seem REALLY high. They come out and give a free estimate - which is nice since you don't have to pay a service fee. But then you are stuck having to call someone else (and wait while you have a leak and possibly water everywhere) if you don't want to pay their prices. It took the guy about 15 minutes to fix and they charged me $190 for labor. But they solved my problem - at an exorbitant price.

I was having issues replacing the new fittings on our washing machine water pipes, (they refused to budge!!) I was afraid I'd do more damage in getting them off. I decided to call Roto Rooter and see if they could help. They were very helpful in the past so I thought they'd be able this time. I spoke with a very nice lady when I called (sorry didn't catch her name) They already had all my info in their files so i just needed to verify everything. She told me they would have a service tech out between 2-5 that afternoon. (very nice to have same day service!) At 2:30 I was called and told the tech was on his way and would be there in 45-60 mins. The tech (Ray) was on time and he was shown my problem. He gave me a written estimate that I agreed to. Ray got the work done in less time then he said it might take so he reduced the price!!! YAY!! Ray was very Knowledgeable and was very helpful and did a great job! Thanks Ray!!!

They were prompt and the job was completed in short time. Money well spent.

This person told me that the pipe was broken and neede a $5000 to $6000 digging up of the sewer pipe next to the street and haveing the pipe replaced. Given thesteep amount of money involved, I got a second opinion from a highly rated Angies List sewer expert, American Sewers of Bloomington Minnesota. They told me threre was no problem and cleaned out a lot of roots that Roter Rooter had missied when they had cleaned the sewer 7/14/2012. We've used Roto Rooter for over 20 years. We'll never use them again!

We booked a 9-11am window through Roto-Rooter's appointment booking system. They called at 11am to say they were running late. They did not show up until 4pm! My husband rearranged his entire day and was stuck at the house all day waiting for them to show up. Once they arrived, they did the work as expected and gave us their under one-hour discount. However, it is totally unacceptable to offer a two-hour window and then completely disregard it.

Roto Rooter has been very prompt, thorough and courteous, and also recommended things like monthly drain-cleaner to keep our drains free-flowing.

Tony was professional and friendly. Well trained and knew what he was doing. I trusted his work and would call him back anytime I needed service. Great sensitivity to me as a customer and was friendly but never stopped working.

Great communication with this particular rep. To be honest I have used this company before and I wansnt as please before but this rep did a great job for us.

They did a good work. They were able to fix something else on our toilet too.