ARS / Rescue Rooter Columbus

They reset my toilet on a new plastic ring. I have used them before and was happy with their service. They come any time in the night or day so their high prices were worth it. However, on this visit he asked me for $900. I had asked for another plumber to come in. He said that all that was required to be done was to put in a compression ring for about $50 and the job would be done. So I was not happy with Rescue rooter. The guy was from Haiti. He was a nice guy. He was here at 10 o’clock in the night. I might try somebody else next time.

We live in an older part of town with lots of trees. Roots clog the drains, and we noticed a bit of a backup so, although it wasn't an emergency, I called Rescue Rooter and they responded promptly. I have used them in the past, and the experience and cost hasn't been excellent but it's been ok. This time, my adult daughter was here when the service man arrived -- he had not serviced our house before. He was using a small machine going through the floor drain for about 20 minutes by the time I got home. He told me he had brought up a lot of mud but was ready to leave. I happened to flush the toilet as he was packing up. He said the water backed up again when the toilet flushed and that the problem was worse than he'd thought. He brought in a bigger machine and only then opened up the main stack. I needed to return to work, so my daughter waited for him to send a camera man. They told her our line was full of water and we needed to excavate the front yard to replace pipe as soon as possible because there was probably damage but we wouldn't know until the excavation. We were told to use water as sparingly as possible and that he could be there the very next day to excavate. It would cost $3,329 and they would take off the $394 I spent for the drain cleaning and camera. I was very concerned about the solution to the problem, especially because Rescue Rooter had been to my house 4 months earlier (in the winter) to do the same thing. No one said anything then! Somehow, after 2 months of spring growth, the roots had become so bad and damaging since the February cleaning that I had a $3,300 problem. That seemed very unreasonable and I would come to believe that the warning bordered on scare tactics. I called Angie's List companies to see if I could get another estimate. One company would charge me over $200 for the estimate. Another showed up (another 2 hours off work for me) with no charge but would do nothing without a video tape of the problem. I also learned that it takes about 48 hours to get a city permit to excavate - that made me very suspicious about the work done by Rescue Rooter. How could they return the next morning with a city permit to dig when two other companies knew they could not start work immediately? I finally called a company recommended by my family plumber (with A grades on Angie's List). They were here promptly two mornings later. Their camera showed a hard root ball but they were able to send the camera past it to show that there was a clear line to the sewer with no damage to the sewer pipe. They had removed the root ball and were done in a little over an hour. It was also clear that there was no evidence that roots were cleared out a couple of days earlier; I saw the tape and compared roots that had been cut that day with the section of pipe leading up to the cuts -- nothing had been cleared by Rescue Rooter. I was told that going through the floor drain is not effective. I will never call Rescue Rooter again.

Everything is working fine now and the manager couldn't have been more service-oriented. We really appreciate his responsiveness.

- 0/1/18/2009 – Alex from Rescue Rooter comes to our home for a backed up floor drain. He diagnoses the problem and tells us the black water drains under the floor have collapsed - Between or during the initial visit, I ask Alex about putting a sump pump system in the basement. I detail the problem where the water comes up through the floor where the floor and wall meet and ask for an estimate for that work as well. Alex indicates that they do that work ‘…we run perimeter drains and install the sump and pump… all that stuff… ’. - Alex, I believe on 1/19, tells me that the black water work will be $7,600 and the sump system $2,200. I agree to the work for a total of $9,365.00. This work was to include: o Perimeter drains on unfinished portion of basement o Sump pit, pump and discharge lines o Replacement of all black water drains under the basement floor and out to the 6” that runs to the city sewer. o New outside and inside cleanouts (3) o Replacement of rear stack in its entirety and partial replacement of the front stack - My wife and I along with highered workers remove the contents of the basement. - Work begins on 1/21. At this point, they tell me they want to run the new lines partially under the finished half of the basement because of limited access in some areas of the unfinished portion, to which I agree. While excavating, they find the concrete basement floor is placed on top of hard packed, clay soil. They find the collapsed pipe with is buried in the same soil. - The work was originally supposed to take about three days. - Week of 1/26-30/2009 o I ask about the perimeter drains that Alex told me about and he stated that ‘… we did not estimate for those….’ And ‘… with where the water is coming this will be fine…’ o Eddie (the guy for RR that did most of the work), installs a new rear stack, two inside cleanouts, one French floor drain (near the rear stack close to the location of the original one), one drain for the furnace condensation line with a floor grate level with the floor, a sump pit (in the corner of the basement near the rear stack but isolated from the new pit and drains for the sewer pipes) with 4-6” of gravel around it, attach the new drains to the old leading under our foundation… but NO front stack, front stack connection, outside cleanout nor perimeter drain leading to the sump. o At some point, we notice the new trench (for the sewer pipe) is filling with water and find that they front stack, that previously was not leaking, is now leaking. They delay the inspection (scheduled for the next da

Very well-sent someone out very quickly after we called, worked quickly and quality service.

This company came out and installed the sewer line and outside clean out. When they did that, they also collected the money for the service. They said they would be back in six months to restore the lawn which would have been in March. Due to the weather, they did not show up. Through the months of April to June, I called them weekly to come and restore the lawn as promised. Every time I called, someone told me they would return my call but no one ever did. Finally in July the came out and finished the job. I then could not find the outside clean out, so had to call them again for them to come out and show me where it was. It took them 4 visits for them to find the outside clean out.

He came on time and I think he got the job done in the right amount of time. He did his job without getting everything messy. He cleaned up well when he was done.

I have used them for several years now. They have made several repairs including recently replacing my sump pump as well as my water heater. They give all of my options for repair and replacement. They explain what it is that they are going to do and why it needs to be done. I have called for plumbing emergencies and they have come out the very same day. Good quality work done at a reasonable price.

I found out I had a water leak Friday of Memorial Day weekend. I called a few companies, but no one could come out on the weekend. I called Rescue Rooter on Friday evening and they had someone out on Saturday morning. The first man came out to give me an estimate but found that he was not qualified to do so. He called in another technician who came out later in the day. He (Eddie West) gave me an estimate of $1500 to jack hammer up my flooring, fix the leak, then replace the cement (but not the ceramic tile). We scheduled for him to come back to do the work on another day. The day of the scheduled appointment, the tech was tied up with another job, but called to let me know. He came later in the day and began the repairs. Once he hammered through my ceramic tiles and cement slab he found the leak, but realized he did not have the correct pipe to repair it. He called around (6:30 p.m )and found the correct pipe and left to get it (he drove 30 minutes away to get the correct pipe so he could complete it that day). He returned and completed the repair. Once the repair was made, he protected the pipe, replaced the stone, and filled in the hole with cement. He even offered to mop the floor that was dirty from the work. His work day was over at 9 pm, but he stayed until 11:00 pm to complete the job. He was very courteous and professional in his work.

The guy who came out was very personable and told us what the problem was and what he would do to solve it. They were very responsive.

Our home warranty had us use Rescue Rooter. They were late for the 1st appt. Their equipment didn't work and had to reschedule for later in the day. They were 5 hours late for that appt. They then determined that the problem required a more than snaking & gave us a quote for just under $1000 & scheduled for the next day. They were late for that appointment, then changed the quote to over $1600 for the same exact work. Because it was warrantied we went ahead. They didn't have all the equipment they needed and therefore did not finish the job that day as promised & rescheduled for the next day. Again they were late. I took 4 days off work! Then I find they had unplugged the freezer & never plugged it back in. I lost $500 in food! I don't blame the individual workers, but the company itself. They obviously don't schedule their technicians in a way that they can be on time. They don't provide them with the equipment they need & that is functional. They don't train them.

The end result was, I called Buckeye Plumbing at 4:15 p.m and had a new water heater in place by 6:30. My kudos to Buckeye for their prompt response.

I have used this company many times in the past and am used to professional and courteous service. Maybe it had been a long day for this guy and he really just wanted to get to a New Year's Eve party, but hey, if you don't feel up to it, don't take the customer's call. We found another company on Angie's List and went with them instead. A great experience.

We were able to have someone come out the same day we called. The serviceman was due between 10-11 and didn't arrive until 11:45. He was courteous and gave us a free estimate quickly.

They did a really good job! They even helped me with my stereo!

Called for clogged kitchen sink. They were able to fit us in the next afternoon, and the work was quick and efficient. Removed clog from potato peels put down the garbage disposal. The technician was very polite and tidy. We paid $55 through home warranty, but I believe it would have been $116 w/out warranty.

Rescue Rooter saved the day! If I could give them higher than an "A" I would. The technician was a very professional young man, he moved a bush and replanted it because the bush was blocking the drain. I am very delighted with the work that was done. He was honest and didn't try to overcharge me for work I didn't need. I would recommend them.

I could tell he was disinterested and didn't want to do the work if those were the prices he was quoting.

I think they did a good job. They were conscientious.

I have drainage problems in the back yard and called for an estimate on having a drain pipe installed. The guy who came out was not the one who does exterior pipe estimates. So from that point of view, it was a wasted trip. However, he asked if he could look at the sump pump and discovered it was not working. I agreed to have him replace it. It was at least 15 years old and very rusty when he removed it, so I'm comfortable that it did need to be replaced. He was courteous and cleaned up afterward. He also installed a cut-off valve (or something like that) which was missing. He explained why I needed it, and my son-in-law confirmed this was good advice.

Still have clogged drain, mess was cleaned up with my cleaner, after I called manager. Plumber was dirty, smelled of cigarettes, and very unprofessional! Can not believe I still have problem after this horrible experience.

The basement drain cleaning went fine . The bathtub appeared to be draining when the plumber left. Several hours later it was apparent that the tub was still not draining correctly. I called the next morning to have them come back. On the second trip they said it was not covered under the warrenty and would be an additional charge of $100 since it was considered another drain. We refused to pay $100 to have them finish the job they should have done correctly the first time. I hired another plumber to clean the tub train and fix the problem. We left a message for Dave Markham requesting that he call us regarding this matter. He never returned the call. We then wrote to the company demanding a $125.00 refund. We did receive the refund. In addition they were 45 minutes late for the initial appointment. They did not offer an appology or an explanation.

They were very friendly and fast, and it was a very good experience.

The downspout drain out to the street was clogged. The technician came out and attempted to remove the obstruction using a high pressure water hose instead of a drain snake. When that didn't work, he told us we probably needed to have the drain dug up and replaced because a tree or root had broken the line. I paid the man and he left. Not wanting to pay thousands of dollars to replace the drain, I called another company to come out and clear it. This time the technician used a snake and the drain was clear in minutes. He was also $70 cheaper. It's our opinion that the Rescue Rooter guy didn't know what he was doing or he deliberately didn't fix the problem. Repeated calls to this company about getting a refund have been ignored.

Sorry bad experience. This is a first time that I had a bad experimence by this company. One job a week before this job was perfect and excellent.