Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

We called to ask the price of clearing the sewer line from the house to the city sewer in the street. They said they did not have a standard price and they did not charge by the hour, but they would come for a free estimate. They came the next day and gave a non-written estimate of $265, which they said was the standard charge. We accepted the estimate and they immediately began the job. After two hours and the removal of some roots, the technician said he got about 20 feet out from the house, but our line had offset pipe section and other obstructions, was possibly collapsed, and could not be cleared, but the full $265 (less $40 for a coupon) was due on the spot. He had no camera with him, but arranged to have another Roto-Rooter technician with a camera come the next day to determine what the obstructions are. The camera technician put his camera in the line, but said he could not see the problem because the line had water that wouldn't drain and his camera could not see through the murky water. They do no pump out lines to get a better view. He said the only solution was to excavate in the front yard over the first obstruction and dig up and repair that part of the line for $4,999.00, and they could do it that afternoon. In any event he demanded $150 for the camera service. When we asked why he would bother to bring a camera to a clogged line where he would see nothing, he said he gets called out as the excavation estimator, and the camera is useful because the camera hardware includes a meter to identify how many feet out the obstruction is. We decline to pay the camera charge. The next day I called to speak to a manager at Roto-Rooter, asking for a refund of the $265 and complaining about sending out a camera, knowing it would see nothing but as an opportunity to recommend expensive excavation. Also, I noted that the contract says that if the technician encounters an obstacle and must stop work, the customer "will pay us a reasonable charge for work performed." He said that "reasonable charge" simply means whatever the estimate was to begin with, regardless of how much time they spend or how much they accomplish. He offered to send a sewer cleaner back to try again. There would be no charge for the first 90 minutes, and a charge of $149.99 per hour after that. I declined that offer. He ultimately said he would make a $35 refund to be mailed out within 21 business days. The next day we had a competing sewer cleaner come out and they found no offset pipe sections or obstructions other than more tree roots which they removed. The problem is solved, but we are disappointed at Roto-Rooter's misleading contract language, their practice of charging full price for jobs they don't complete, their failure to complete the job for no apparent reason (other than it taking more than two hours), their attempt to collect money for camera service they knew would add no value to the project, and their attempt to convince us we needed major exavation and waste line replacement at a minimum cost of $5,000.00. As a minor point, Roto-rooter's basic prices are substantially higher than local competition's prices to begin with. The individual employees seemed pleasant enough, but if our experience is common for how Rotor-Rooter does business, I would have to regard their business practice as very unethical, and I would strongly recommend avoiding this company. In addition, their practice resulted in our not being able to use our plumbing for four days after they first came to the house.

They got here really fast and that stood out to me.

the drain backed up in the basement on Christmas Eve. they came out within 2 hours and repaired it but also discovered a larger blockage deeper in the sewer line. Came out on 12/28 and examined with TV line and discovered a collapsed sewer serving the house. This was not the responsibility of the city. Gave us a bid and came out the next day, dug it up and repaired it in 10 hours. the pricing rating I have was to be considered as an average price being as we did not get competitive bids.

Despite the poor timing, they sent a guy out at 8:30pm and he was friendly and helpful. Even though he was working the Christmas Eve shift, he was happy and easy to work with. He explained the problem and what the cause was. Overall, a very good experience.

The call for service was handled immediately and a technician was available that morning. He arrived exactly on schedule and went right to work. He determined there was a 20 foot horizontal run to the main sewer line and checked the main clean out and decided it was OK. He then ran his power snake from the floor drain to the main sewer and checked the flow. It still had a little back up, but substantially less than prior to his work. He asserted that the pipe may have a low spot that will always make it run slowly. I'm still not sure that I'm happy with the job.

See above. Helpful tip: If a plumber tells you that the old clay pipe needs to be replaced, have them stop the work and get estimates from several companies.

Easy online scheduling. Arrived on time and did a quick estimate of the problems. Repaired quickly and explained what he was doing and what caused the problem. I asked for an opinion on a separate issue, and he offered advice and suggestions on how to fix on my own - but also offered to come back at a discount and help if it was something I couldn't do myself.

Very well. They communicated ahead of the gentlemen arriving, and then once he was there, we talked at length regarding the missing cap that fell down a drain the upstairs bathroom. I was concerned that it was a pipe hazard, but we could determine that it was going to cause any issues, we decided against any work. Then, he snaked the basement as described. Took approximately 45 minutes and charged $199 for the first job, regardless of what it was.

I had a slow drain and some backup in the basement. I called and within a few hours someone was on the job. Took about 45 minutes and haven't had a problem since.

The technician came promptly and explain what he did. He gave tips on how to prevent future problems.

COST: After I explained what I needed prices were discussed. The tech had a list of prices and quoted them to me, then as I added work on the individual prices dropped so the total wasn't overwelming. He charged the full price for the root cleaning, then half price for all the other items. Each little thing he needed to do had a cost, which added up as we went along. For instance, replacing the faucet was one price, installing the pop-up drain an additional price. Also the tree roots were given one price, then after 1.5 hours an additional price was added on to have him keep trying to clear the line. SERVICE: He was at our house for more than six hours and the faucet and laundry line were completed and worked well. I was very happy. But as the sun started to set he still didn't have the street line cleared. He charged me an extra hours worth of work although I am sure I didn't authorize it. He said he'd misunderstood me - he had a rather thick Hispanic accent; although, we'd had no problems communicating other than that one point. He did not offer the recind the price even when I explained that I had not said he could continue past the first hour. He had already done the work, so I paid it. Perhaps it was an honest mistake and, he'd done good work elsewhere. The sink in the guestroom turned out to be a lot more work than he'd planned on. The bolts were really hard to get off and the sink was really tight to the wall, so there wasn't room to work. He eneded up removing it from the wall, tearing it down, cleaning everything and rebuilding it. He even cleaned the calcium buildup from around the faucet before replacing it with the new one. It looks great! Overall: It went fine, but I'm annoyed that the line to the street isn't complete. On the other hand, he did three hour work on it and I can't say he did anything less than his best. He suggested we send a camera down to see what's blocking the line, but we've done that a few years ago and already know it's tree roots. I don't know what else a camera could tell us.

They were very helpful and informative and they made some suggestions as to how I can keep up with the maintenance on keeping the pipe clean. There were 2 sets of people that came out to check on the work. I did purchase some heavy duty drain cleaning product from them to use on a regular basis. They were very helpful, informative, nsiderate and were pleasant.

They were willing to make discounts on the work. They did good work. I was satisfied with their service.

I gave up trying to do it myself at about 10:30am (rusty nuts and bolts wouldn't budge) and called company. I was told the plumber would come between 10:30am and 12:30pm. At about 12:30 pm the company called and said it would be another 1/2 hour. I called at 1:45pm and asked when I could expect my plumber. The dispatcher was quite rude and told me my promised time wasn't correct and a plumber would get there as soon as possible but " the traffic is bad". Plumber, who did an excellent and tidy job, arrived at 2:15pm. I'd call them again but wouldn't re-schedule my life to meet their time frame.

Do not use this company. They are expensive compared to other companies and not competent at what they do. Apparently, the Roto-rooter technician never even got to the roots in our main drain -- the second company ran a camera (for free) prior to cleaning the drain and said there were cobwebs in the drain prior to the roots. Also, Roto-rooter tried to get us to do unnecessary and expensive work. They took advantage of the panic we felt at having a sewer backup and tried to leverage that into a huge project for themselves. Our main drain and the few roots in it hadn't even been the issue for the sewer backup in the first place. Rather, it was the side sewer line that was clogged. This was a very bad experience with Roto-rooter and we will never use them again. I am trying to get some of the money we paid refunded. After complaining to their customer service line, they agreed to return approx $200 and said the check would be in the mail within 5 days. That was three weeks ago and we haven't received anything from them. I don't think we will ever see that money.

Response was phenomenal as they arrived within an hour of calling. However, there was no estimate given on the phone (not even an approximate cost) and there is a fairly hard sell when they arrive. My main disappointment was that they are twice as much as 3 others that I called, but due to it being Saturday night before fathers day - I had limited options. In addition, be very weary of upcharges - line to main line, anytime over 90 minutes is 135 dollars an hour, etc. In addition, they said my cap was stuck on my main line, and after he chiseled it off, he informed me it would be $32 to replace that cap. Finally, my line backed up again within 24 hours, and they told me the guarantee wasn't given. But they did put the single blade all the way through to the street, and the double blade got stuck 1/2 way through. He said I had the typical 50's style asbestos and chicken wire pipe, but when we actually dug up the main sewer line, it was all cast iron from my house to the street. Anyways, they were expensive, and had quite a few hidden charges, and they weren't completely honest (or proficient - not sure which one). I would use them again if I were in a pinch, or it was an emergency, however, I would recommend a local guy off from Angies list any day over this company.

Great, they came in about 1/2 hour and took about 1.5 to complete. Our main drain cap was impossible to open, it hadn't been touched in 50 years. Dennis took the time to chisel it out and finish the job.

Very well. Wayne cleaned out the drain. I liked that they were able to send someone out the same day I called. I liked that he put booties on his feet and I really like that I won't have to take a shower ankle deep in water anymore!

The technician was very nice. We specifically asked for him to come back because he was so polite and knowledgeable. I used a coupon, which they accepted with no problem. Because the work was done so recently I cannot say how well it is going to work, but I am happy with the work they did so far. The technician himself was outstanding, and I was very pleased.

We were very pleased with both jobs. They did a great job. They came out on New Years Day and on Thanksgiving, which we really appreciated. They were courteous and helpful. The Thanksgiving Day fiasco ended up being quite involved, but they were able to solve the issue and did not charge extra for the extra work it took to solve it. We were very happy and would use them again.

It went fine. They were able to come out right away. They were there within an hour, which was super considering the toilet was overflowing. They were able to fix the problem.

It started with my toilet acting funny. The resin from my water softener was leaking out. He was able to flush the water out and the resin with it. He came when the company said he would come. He kept me informed of any difficulties or new developments. The price was not too bad. He demonstrated that system was working before he left. I was very pleased with their service and the experience.

My sewer pipe backed up in the basement (at 10:30 OM at night). I called Roto Rooter right away because their add said they provide 24 hour service. They said they would come by midnight and at 1:00 Am no one was at my house. When I called to confirm, the answering service said that the call was canceled. Since I did not cancel this, it is still a mystery to me how it happened. I asked them to come first thing in the morning, which they did. The person working checked out the drain and said that he could not run his line all the way because he thought there was a break in the line. He recommended a camera treatment for an additional $150.00 and some other service to try to run the line further for another additional $100.00 or so. He did not give a guarantee for his work becuase of the break in the line but said that he did take care of the roots and it should last me a while, meanwhile he said they recommend fixing the pipe by replacing a chunk of it from outside. I agreed to get a quote for that work. The quote was $4200.00 8 days later the sewer backed up again and this time so much that my basement was flooded significantly (the smell was rather awful). At this point I called Roto Rooter again and said that even though I understand there is a small shift in the exterior pipes, if this work was done with the quality I expect, the roots would not grow back in just 8 days. The manager was very arrogant, suggested to me that given that neither he nor I were plumbers, we should not be creating theories about the nature of the work of Roto rooter. He did not agree to give any discounts, did agree to refund the camera work ($150.00). Since I was highly dissatisfied with their work, I did not want for them to do this again. I called another company for cleaning the line and yet another one for an estimate of fixing exterior pipes. The person from did a great job cleaning the pipes. The estimate from a competitor to replace the exterior pipe was was $2100.00 (I did do this work). In the process of calling different plumbers, many mentioned that Roto Rooter has a tendency not to fix properly so that they can do a more expensive projects and then inflate their prices. While these opinions are voiced by Roto Rooter's competition and under normal circomstances I may not pay too much attention to that, given the arrogance combined with the incompetance of their services in my experience, I would caution anyone who plans to use Roto Rooter for anything in their house and would urge you to call around and find someone else to help you.

Was professional, polite, clean. He wore booties and took care not to get snow from the wheels on his equipment on my carpets by putting shower caps on the wheels, clever. Did the job in a timely maner. Cleaned up the floors around the sink after. Good job. Seemed a bit expensive at $200, but I don't know what the going rate is.

The woman who answered the phone was very friendly and polite. She told me they could have someone out in a couple of hours. About 45 minutes later, she called me to confirm that a plumber would be on his way and would call me about a half an hour before he arrived. A few minutes later, the plumber called. He told me he was on the other side of the Twin Cities from me and that it might take him a bit because the roads were icy. He also let me know that the minimum charge would be $218, in case I wanted to wait. Since it was a Saturday night, I was just happy that I had found a plumber who could come out. He arrived about 40 minutes later. He was very polite and friendly. He replaced the plastic pipe between the trap and the pipe in the wall and tested it for leaks.