Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Saturday morning (10/6) the plumbing backed up in my basement. I called three different plumbing companies to come out to fix the problem. Roto-Rooter was able to come the earliest. Dennis the plumber from Roto-Rooter came. I told him the symptoms and he said that the main line from the house is most likely plugged. He augured the line out to the street. He found tree roots when he reeled the auger back in. He was very careful to protect the area around the sewer clean-out access. There was a few splatters but he cleaned everything up. Dennis was very professional, courteous and friendly. He recommended a video inspection to determine where the roots were coming in and to look for any other damage. He said the charge for the video inspection is $75.00 and that I would receive DVD of the inspection. Dennis helped me make the video inspection appointment. Josh came out on 10/09/12 for the video inspection. He ran the camera down the length of the sewer pipe. I watched on a monitor. The whole thing was very impressive. We saw where the roots were coming in as well as some pipe grade problems. Josh was very neat and kept the area clean. There was no pressure to perform any repairs. A couple days later on October 11, I called Roto-Rooter and asked them about the DVD that Dennis said that I would get. The receptionist said that Josh would call me back. He did not. I called again on October 17 and left a voice message explaining that I was promised a DVD of the video inspection and that Josh was to call me back but had not yet. I asked that someone return my call to let me know whether or not I would be receiving the DVD. No one had returned my call. I am satisfied with the original service from Dennis. The cost of $273.00 was a bit pricey but it was also on Saturday and we needed it repaired. Josh was friendly and courteous with the camera. $75.00 is a reasonable price for the video inspection however I was expecting a dvd of the inspection prior to scheduling the service. I am disappointed that after calling twice that no one has returned my call.

The guy was competent. He got me squared away in no time. I was very happy with them.

Their service was fine. Their name really stands for itself.

Called to request our kitchen plumbing be looked at as we no longer water preasure from the hot water side of our kitchen sink. The dispatcher that took our call let us know the plumber would be out that night between 6-8pm to provide a free estimate. We were called by the plumber shortly before 6:00pm and he asked a few questions over the phone. He then stated the minimum cost would be $249. He stated he would come out only if we agreed to pay that amount. I let him know he does not even truly know the issue and we were garanteed free estimate. He stated the the phone estimate was our free estimate. I told him not to come. I then called the original dispatcher and she let me know she would talk to her manager and call back. She did call back with in 15 minutes and told me the plumber we had spoken with is coming out and will provide an estimate. I let her know I did not trust his work and did not want him in out home. We canceled the call.

Our kitchen drain clogged on a Sunday morning and the sink overflowed while the dishwasher was running - we had a huge mess on our hands. We called Roto-Rooter and the technician was at our house within 90 minutes. He cleaned/cleared our kitchen drain and was finished in about 45 minutes. He was courteous and professional and our drain continues to work perfectly 6 weeks later.

The floor drain in the basement was backing up. I called Roto Rooter and they arrived right away....maybe a couple of hours after I called. I was impressed with that but it was all downhill after that. The technician only used a 4 inch blade to clean the line when the sewer line furthest from the house was 6 inches. I learned that there are two access points to clean sewer lines. Although the second, larger one was hidden, the technician never asked or looked for it. Instead he chose to use the smaller, more accessible point which prevented a proper cleaning. He recommended a video feed ASAP to check out any possible damage or integrity issues with the sewer line. The next day the video inspector came and showed me all the roots the previous guy failed to remove. He then claimed that the sewer line needed to be repaired at the price of $6500. I chose to get a second opinion. I found American Sewer here on Angies List and called Jonathan. He encouraged me over then phone by claiming the sewer line likely doesn't need to be repaired, just a proper cleaning. Turns out he was right. He properly used the second, larger access point and was able to remove ALL the roots from the line (this is where Roto Rooter failed). He sent the camera down the line and we found that any problems were minimal and does not need to be repaired. Rooter Roto either tried to rip me off or they were inept. Either way is unacceptable to me...will go elsewhere from now on. Thanks and good luck all!!!!!

He came out the same day we called and did a great job. I think the price was a little high. They were on Angie’s list.

Our drain in the basement was overflowing and we called Roto-Rooter. Bill was at our house less than 45 minutes later. He diagnosed the problem, talked us through our options and gave us an estimate. When we gave him the go-ahead, he quickly and thoroughly did his job and even cleaned up afterwards. He was friendly and helpful. We we're too pleased with the price, but you get what you pay for and when it comes to plumbing, I think its worth it.

They did unclog the pipe, however, their plumber failed to put the plug back in the floor drain access pipe. So, we had very stinky sewer gas leaking into our facility for awhile until we figured out the problem.

Our family moved into a new house on June 16th, only to find a leak in one of the bathrooms (causing us to be without water for our first night in the place). After several attempts to fix it ourselves, we ended up calling Roto Rooter on June 17th (Fathers' Day) for repair. The woman I spoke with was very helpful and assured me there was no cost for the plumber to come out and we would only be charged if we agreed on the price we were quoted. She said she would have someone out within two hours. I received a second call within 30 minutes telling me someone was on the way.The gentleman who arrived was neatly dressed, polite, wore shoe covers, and fixed the problem quickly after we agreed on the price. I couldn't have asked for more. They even honored the Angie's List coupon, even though I couldn't print it out (printer was still packed).

My outdoor water faucet started leaking quite a bit and I tried replacing it myself to no avail. Then I tried to turn off the water flow to the outside, but the handle just broke off (it is an old house with old pipes). Obviously I didn't want leaking water overnight, so I knew I needed a plumber. I saw on Angie's List that Roto-Rooter did not charge additional fees for emergency services, so I gave them a call. I was told that within 45 minutes someoe would be at my house to fix the faucet. Shane (I think that was his name) was out in less than 30 minutes and looked at the problem. He showed me what was going on (old pipes were corroding and actually slightly leaking inside as well. He would have to replace some of the piping and it would be a few hours worth of work. He got to work right away and about 3 hours later, I had a new faucet outside and better piping inside, and most importantly, NO LEAKS!!I was very impressed with his work and will remember him if/when I ever need plumbing service again!!

I called Roto-Rooter at 10:00am and by 11:00am there was someone at our house. He promptly went upstairs and I showed him the problem. He checked to see as best he could where the blockage was coming from. He inspected the rest of the pipes in the house as well. He quoted me $149.00 to do the drain auger and an additional $199.99 if he had to remove the toilet and snake the drainage pipe. Thankfully, the drain auger worked well. He accepted my Angie's List Coupon and my total price was $109.00. The service provider was professional, courteous, and pleasant. I was pleased with the company.

I was pleasantly surprised when they showed up within an hour of calling. However, all feelings of confidence in the company plummeted when the plumber couldn't figure out how to get the faucet off of of the sink. We were told that it would cost over $300 just to get in to find the problem, let alone make another trip to get parts to fix it. We immediately called off the call and dismissed the plumber, but not before he "helped" us out by calling a drain technician because he himself couldn't take a look at a simple sink clog in a bathroom. This drain technician showed up and gave another ridiculous estimate, a whopping $230 to unclog a drain. Ridiculous prices and employees that take advantage of unknowing clientele.

Very easy to deal with. Scheduled appointment online (same day service on a Sunday morning with no up charge). The tech arrived within 2 hours of my request through their website. He came in ready to go with fresh booties over his shoes to keep the floor clean. Not sure what was in the toilet (likely my 4 year old's doing) but within a few minutes he had the tools out and the drain was flowing again. Used the Angie's List coupon to boot....

It was good. Because of the additional work it took longer and cost a lot more than I was expecting. the only thing I don't like is that even after getting me to upgrade my service, they continue to try to sell and upgrade - don't like that. I hire them for something, I don't want the person who comes to do the work to continually be trying to sell me something else. There's a reason I called and that's the service I wanted. Also thought it was strange - great that he put the "booties" on over his shoes, but wasn't sure what the point was when he then wore the booties when he walked out to his vehicle and back into the house.

They are honest and reliable. They have a good reputation.

The man who came out was very nice. I was happy with the service.

Water from the dishwasher and laundry were backing up in the basement floor drain. I tried a couple of applications of drain cleaner but that did not solve the problem so I called Roto Rooter. The technician arrived within a couple of hours of my call and unclogged the drain.

Called on Sunday and they came out on Monday morning (offered a Sunday visit but I was busy). Had a backed up drain and Peter not only fixed it, but helped me to learn about my sink's specific drain system and how to maintain it more efficiently. He also had suggestions for basic maintenance, and when I asked him, advised me about a bigger street-line issue that I already knew we'll have to address at some point. I will definitely be calling them again.

Before calling Roto Rooter, we tried plunging and snaking the drain ourselves, to no avail. Roto Rooter was available the same day, and we were very pleased with the service they provided--the technician (Mark) was professional, friendly, and a fast worker.

Called because of a clogged toilet. Six months ago a plastic toilet roll holder was accidentally flushed. A different plumber came and got the toilet flushing again, then recently the problem reoccurred. Called Roto Rooter, they brought out the camera and showed me where there was a clog of paper. They cleared out the clog and then showed me the pipe all the way to the road proving that it was clear. Plumber was very professional and cleaned up after he finished. And he even gave me a coupon to save me money. Would definitely use them again.

At 8:00pm on a Thursday, we noticed we had water coming up from one of the drains in our basement. It seemed like just a dirty drain issue, not a sewer backup, but we didn't want to let the problem sit overnight and potentially cause more damage. Looked at a few ratings on Angie's List to see if any contractors had evening hours or offered 24 Hour/Emergency service. Finally settled on Roto-Rooter, since their listing says they have weeknight staffing until 11:30pm. The operator said a contractor was already in the area and would be here within an hour. Sure enough, about 40 minutes later, he arrived. A man of few words, he sized up the problem as a drain that was clogged by years & years of kitchen & disposal waste. He brought in a 40ft snake and took care of the problem. He was finished by 9:30pm. The price was higher than some other jobs I had seen on Angie's List, but I'm willing to settle for the convenience and expediency of having the problem resolved in less than 2 hours.

I am taking issue is with Roto-Rooter's policies and fees. Firstly, I was advised that the servicemen are commission only and are allotted 1.5 hours for each service call. Roto-Rooter offers coupons however, the visit cost is partially commission for the technician and more money to the company. The coupons come out of the serviceman's cut. As such, I had a coupon on Angie's list for $40.00 and another offered by the location for $50.00 but my printer would not work. He could not honor them and gave me a $25.00 discount. Admittedly, he was patient waiting while I tried unsuccessfully to print it but I also think that it is a stupid policy to need a paper copy and definitely not fair to cut the employee's wage. He stated emphatically that you cannot obtain a roto-rooter price list even if you call the location. The corporate policy is that if you are asking about prices, you are not looking for quality service. The current price before discount for a main line clear is $273.00. Their prices increased as of the first of the year. Frankly, my drain is only guaranteed for 48 hours unless another employee comes out with a camera and determines there are no further issues. While I understand the technician's point that there are unscrupulous folks who will deliberately clog the system under warranty, which is generally six months, I cannot concede this is a good way to conduct business. He stated he was only responsible for clearing them. To ROTO-ROOTER, price is a major part of a service and $250.00 is a LOT of money! While I didn't choose one of the local companies running banner ads for $99.00 for a clear does not necessarily mean that I do not deserve to know your price point. If your service is great and valuable enough, you will get business and consistent business. Being secretive only makes me less likely to select you in the future. How can I trust you as a company and properly value your service if you don't tell me until the technician is here how much this is going to cost me! My perception of you as a corporation is not improved. I will point out to other readers I was advised there is no additional service charge for weekend, holiday, or evening service. To the SERVICE TECH, I appreciate your assistance and your candor.

The guy came out pretty quickly and told us that he'd done the work we requested but that he was concerned that the problem was more than a simple roto-rooter could handle and recommended that we have a camera team come out for an additional $400 charge. The camera team confirmed that there was a low spot in the pipe and explained that we'd have continual problems if we didn't get it repaired. They wanted $7500 for the job. I resisted and they put in the hard-sell which totally alienated me so I paid them for the camera work and threw them out. The next highest bid was a contractor who was willing to do the whole job for $3500 and I seriously considered hiring him but he didn't have roto-rooter's equipment so he needed the GPS recordings they made while using the camera. Roto-rooter was unwilling to give me the records but offered to drop the price to $6000 if I went with them. Then I found RON THE SEWER RAT on Angies List and solved the problem for another $150 worth of work. It is amazing what can happen when the company doesn't set out to fleece you for as much as possible. In doing further research, I've discovered that this "you need for us to immediately dig up your front yard" deal is a scam that Roto-Rooter pulls pretty frequently and they may yet be subject to a class-action lawsuit because of it.

They honored the Angie's List coupon which was good. I would definitely use them again in the future.