Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

I had a water leak in my utility room by the water heater. The plumber sent out by Roto-Rooter watched where the water was pooling on the floor between the water heater and the wall and said he would have to cut a hole in the wall before he could determine where the leak was originating. He cut an approximate 8 x 8 hole in the wall beside the water heater only to discover a gas line, but no water line. He then said he would have to cut another hole in the wall behind the water heater because, apparently, that's where the water lines were. When he started to move the water heater in order to access the wall, I (not the plumber) noticed water in the base of the water heater and asked if the water heater might be the origin of the leak. He then determined that was indeed the case. In my opinion, a professional, experienced and knowledgeable plumber would have taken the water heater into consideration as the possible source of the leak before cutting large holes in the wrong wall looking for water pipes. I also think this Roto-Rooter representative should have been a bit more knowledgeable about the location of water lines. Since the water heater was quite old, I agreed to buy a new one (at what I thought was a very high markup) from Roto-Rooter , and the plumber drained the old one in preparation for installation of the new one. It was discovered a day or two later that he had drained the hot water from the water heater into my neighbor's yard which resulted in a large, scalded patch of grass which quickly died. Fortunately, I am on good terms with my neighbor, and they accepted just my apologies for the damage done to their yard. The plumber was also careless in removing the old water heater from the house to his truck which resulted in two separate very large and unsightly rust stains on my driveway. I have no issues with the installation of the new water heater.....other than the high cost.

The plumber called to come a little early, thoroughly inspected what needed to be done. I thought there might be roots in the sewer line which would have been an extra cost; however, the plumber said his roto rooter device would detect that when he cleaned the drain because root bits would appear. He went in 40 feet into the line with no evidence of roots. So no extra expenditure. He discovered an old leaking pipe too, showed me exactly what was wrong and how water is draining into the tub pan. This house is 50 years old, with original pipes. He's given me an estimate for that repair which we will do at another appointment. Satisfied with their work and would use again. Plumbing is costly, but he let me know what those costs would be before service. Easily worked with the discount.

He was easy to worked with, he was quick, in and out. He was very professional and the cost was a lot lower than I had expected. I called him at 9:30 at night and he was there by 10:30 to do the repair. I would hire him again.

Called Roto Rooter on a Sunday morning at approx. 900am. Denton arrived at 1200 and went right to work , Job only took approx. 30 minutes. I was very happy with the outcome. Thanks for a job well done!

Dentin came and was unbelievable polite in every sense of the word. He came in and got the job done. I had a small infant at the time. The loud noise would startle her and he would give me warning when the service would be loud. He took the extra steps to know what was going on and how long it would take. Even when they came out for the estimate they weren’t pushy, it was just this is what we can do and this is our price. Their price was about 25-30% of what Benjamin Franklin was going to charge us for the same project. It was a more comfortable meeting and I wasn’t made nervous. Benjamin Franklin was very high pressure compared to Roto Rooter.

I called because we had sewer gas coming into our upstairs bathroom a few days ago. The person who took my call was very polite and friendly. About an hour later, she called back to tell me the technician was on his way. An hour and a half later, the technician arrived. When the technician arrived, (unfortunately/fortunately?) there was no smell of sewer gas in the bathroom. I was expecting that we needed a new seal in the toilet, but he said he didn't think so, and instead diagnosed it as a water-level problem. He said the valve inside the tank was old and needed to be replaced. Because it didn't flush smoothly, he thought it didn't always let enough water into the bowl, and gas was coming up that way. I had a coupon from Angie's List that gave $30 off service, but he said he could give me a better price than the coupon. I found this strange, and a little unsettling. There didn't appear to be a set price for service. If I wanted to use the coupon, it would cost more than if I didn't use it. So, I didn't use the coupon. Instead, he quoted me a price of $249 for labor plus $22 for the part, and then applied an unnamed "discount" of $69. Because of my schedule, I told him to go ahead and do the work, and he was finished in about 15 minutes. The new valve that he installed is definitely an improvement -- the flush mechanism works much more smoothly, and he increased the level of water in the bowl, so hopefully we won't have any more trouble with gas coming back into the house. But I'm left with the feeling that I paid more than I should have because of the way he handled the quote and coupon. The work comes with a 6-month guarantee.

Technician was generally prompt (I scheduled the 4-6pm time slot and they confirmed 4pm; technician got to the house about 4:25pm). He knew exactly how to address our problem and did so within a timely manner. We were very satisfied.

It was a Sunday evening and we were BBQing outside my daughter's house when one of her guests came to tell her there was a leak in the downstairs bathroom ceiling by the fan. She freaked out, of course, but I jumped on Angie's List right away to find a plumber that worked weekends. I called Roto-Rooter because they advertised 24/7 service. They gave her a 4-5 hour window but later she received a call that they could not find someone in the area so someone would be out first thing Monday morning. Which was ok with her since the leak seemed to stop. The Roto-Rooter employee came out, went up in the attic and immediately knew what the problem was, one of her a/c unit's main drain line was backed up. He told her what he would have to do, snake the a/c drain, and how much it would be. He fixed her problem in no time. He also gave us tips on how to keep this from happening again. Later we found out the a/c unit turned itself off because of the overlfow, that's why the leak stopped. Overall, the experience was a nice one.

I called Roto-Rooter Plumbing to get an estimate to snake out a washer drain that was backing up. They said that they do not give estimates over the phone but, if I did not like the quote that the technician would give me there was no obligation to pay. I agreed and the technician came out and said it would cost $249 just to snake out the drain from the driveway, it would be more if he had to get on the roof. This was much more than I had ever paid for this service so, I declined. The technician was about to leave without replacing the plug to the drain and complained when I insisted that he leave things in the same condition as they were when he arrived. I hired another company that was very reasonable and professional that same day. Roto-Rooter just wasted my time.

Professional, prompt, helpful, honest. Would use again.

The call I made was to repair a leaky valve that was for the water line to the refrigerator. The first thing the technician did was to find the main water shut off for the house. Then he replaced the valve and I mentioned that I had a leaking toilet upstairs and trouble flushing from the one in the master bath. He told me he could combine the work into one visit and save me some expense. The technician was very polite, professional and well versed on his profession. Long story short, I was skeptical about calling Roto Rooter because of their cost but needed someone quick. They were here within the hour and were finished with the work and educating me on some things I could do myself in another hour. I would certainly have them come out again IF I have another problem.

The plumber who came to give the estimate told me that I would need to call Kohler on my own and find out which cartridge model I need to replace the valve. He said that if Roto-Rooter did it for me it would take hours and hours and they would charge me by the hour. At first I thought he was being helpful and trying to save me some money, but after I spoke to the Kohler rep, and she told me that I would need to remove the shower trim/handle to find out the model number, I'm thinking he was just being lazy. Apparently once you remove the handle, it's pretty easy to figure out the model number. Of course, since I have no experience with removing shower handles, I will need to email a photo to Kohler so they can tell me which cartridge I need. The rep warned me I may still need to remove the handle. I really wish that the plumber had done his job and removed the handle to get the cartridge/valve info. Overall a disappointing experience. UPDATE: Ken Hrebec, the general manager of Roto-Rooter, contacted me by phone on 10/19/11. He apologized for my experience with his company. He was very professional and I appreciate that he called. I would probably give Roto-Rooter another chance, but I would call Ken directly.

Our kitchen sink needed to be replaced. After trying to do it ourselves, we quickly realized that it was out of our league. So I went to Angie's List and searched for plumbers. Roto-Rooter Plumber of 2500 Central Parkway Houston came up first and after seeing how highly rated they were, I called them. I was told that they would be here within 4 hours. This was a Friday night...so I asked, "are you sure?" They assured me they were. I told them it was only for an estimate. I was told that the plumber would arrive to give me an estimate and be prepared to do the faucet switch if needed. Dispatch kept calling me with updates on their ETA which I thought was wonderful. When they finally arrived, they at 8:30pm (this was not an emergency call) they gave me the quote and explained what needed to be done. Even though it was more than I anticipated, I wanted it repaired. It took them close to 90 minutes to complete the faucet switch because our supply lines and valves were corroded and needed to be replace as well. The master plumber and his journeyman answered all of our questions and were very friendly. Before leaving, they checked for leaks and made sure all of our questions were answered (they were). The master plumber even left his cell phone in case we had any problems. If you need a plumber in the Houston area, call Roto-Rooter of 2500 Central Parkway...and maybe you'll get a master plumber like we did...one that really cared.

I called Roto-Rooter based upon the reviews on Angie's List. They were able to send a technician out the same day (even though it was a non-emergency and it was a Sunday) and were even earlier than the original appointment time. Our technician was Robert Stanley, he was very professional and seemed very thorough. The original call out was because in the process of purchasing a new home the home inspection noted the tubs and toilets were slow to drain. The house is 33 years old and had had foundation repair so we just wanted to ensure there was not a problem from that or other pre-existing blockages. Robert was able to get the flow going better by simply adjusting a valve in the bathroom and then he did a complete scope of the main line running under the house and out to the city sewer line. The whole appointment took around two hours and Robert stopped to show us on the camera any issues he found. He further provided quotes for the repairs and a DVD of the scope video. The call cost $249 but RR offers a $30 coupon to Angie's List members, so our out-of-pocket was $219. Overall, we are very pleased with the work preformed and the cost.

Very professional. Arrived on time, fixed the problem, and provided help to prevent re-occurrence. Very good experience.

They are very thorough. They explained everything. They replaced waste trap in my bathroom, which is great. They are highly professional and very thorough. I would use them in the future.

I wouldn't recommend them. I have found a plumber that is much less expensive.

It went well. They were very efficient, and they did quality work. We are very happy with their service.

We had called Roto-Rooter as the plumbing had backed up twice in less than a week.. I requested they scope the lines to figure out what the problem was.. They snaked it out, and cleared it and then scoped it.. They showed my wife where the problems were.. He stated there were cracks in the sewer line and provided an estimate of $4300.00 to replace all the sewer lines in the backyard.. This would also mean digging up a concrete patio. My brother and I decided to dig this up ourselves and found there were no cracks in the line anywhere.. In fact, instead of a crack, we found that a T-section was inserted in the line, apparently to install a clean out.. Unfortunately, they never finished it.. So one section of the T was open and allowing dirt to fall in, thereby, clogging the sewer.. It ended up costing a couple hours of labor to dig up the pipe, and about $25 worth of PVC material finish the clean out.. This plumber was either incompetent, or deceptive in his quote.. I do not feel I can trust this company again and will not use them in the future.

Great service! He did not charge us for the visit.

The Plumber came on time, was courteous and professional. He was decisive and clearly knew what he was doing. He cleaned everything up and gave us clearly all options for what we needed to do in the future. His name was Joshua. I will ask for him next time we need a plumber absolutely.

Drain is working fine now with 6 month guarantee. Tried to upsell $50 drain cleaner that I did not want.

Roto Rooter gave my wife an outrageous quote for $300 for a really simple job. Wasted a day waiting for their free estimate. I went to Home Deport, bought a 'drain cleaning bladder' and fixed it myself in 5 minutes.

I sent Roto Rooter (RotoRooter.WorkOrders@rrsc.com) the following email reply today (June 10, 2010) to their e-confirmation of my service request: Dear Roto Rooter, this was the most poorly managed service request I have ever experienced in 40 years of owning real estate. You?re service man didn?t show for 3.5 hours. Your service center told me he would be here within 2 hours. He was nice enough as a person, but didn?t know what he was doing. After looking at my drain issue, he said he had to come back between 11am and 1pm the next day with a 2nd guy to bring up a big heavy piece of equipment to clean out the A/C drain in the attic. He said it would cost about $400. Your service center called the next day at 11:15am to say he wasn?t coming as he now determined it was an A/C problem, not a drain issue, and that I needed to call an A/C service company. I had already hired a house sitter to meet your guy at my house at 11am so I don?t appreciate being called after your stated arrival time to be notified you had changed your mind. That was extremely unproffesional and very inconvenient to my house sitter. Within 5 minutes after this call, your service center (the same person) called again to say that they were ready now to send out a plumber to clean out my line in the attic. I couldn?t believe what she was saying! I told her this was so screwed up and I told her cancel the work order and that I'd find someone else. Within 10 minutes, I found an A/C professional through a friend who arrived within 1 hour. It took him less than 5 minutes with a hand tool and a small 12? diameter tank of compressed air to unclog the A/C condensation drain. He charge me his company's minimum $65 service fee. He told me he felt bad about having to charge me that much for such a simple job. What the heck are you guys doing down there? I have used RR many times over the years in 5 or more of the properties I?ve owned in 3 different states. I am stunned by this level of incompetence. I am a member of Angie?s List where I found your firm to have one of the highest customer feedback ratings in my area. I will be adding the above comments to your business record and will strongly recommend not to use your service. From a very dissatisfied ex-customer. Now, for you, Angie's List, this wasn't the best 1st experience for me as a brand new customer of your's. I know your lists are based on feedback from customer experience, but this was exactly the kind of experience I was attempting to avoid by paying to join your service as a member. Not a great way to start me off. I know you don't have any control over the vendors you have posted on your site, but you certainly took my money based on touting to me the value your services offered me. Well, consider this a very negative experience for me about you as well.

We would recommend them They were on time, they did the work and it was reasonable.