Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

The plumber was very courteous and nice. The service was OK, but the pricing was quite high however they were willing to negotiate.

They did arrive on time to service my 82 year old father in laws slow draining toilet issue. My husband had already used a snake and plunger so we were pretty certain that the main line needed to be cleaned. We did explain this to Roto Rooter during our initial call. My husband and I were unable to wait until the repairmen arrived. When they came they took off both toliets in the house and cleaned the drain. They left muddy foot prints all over the hall bathroom. We had an Angies' list coupon for 30.00 off service but my 82 year old father in law was told it couldn't be used unless they charged him a higher price. REALLY? I felt comfortable leaving him to handle the situation himself because we had choosen an Angie's List provider.

Toilet had been leaking water from the tank into the bowl, and was not filling properly. The technician came out the same morning I called, fixed it quickly, no mess, no drama. Top-notch service. Will definitely use them again.

On Sunday, October 13, 2013, my neighbor brought to my attention that his home's water pressure was at 100 psi. I then checked the water pressure on my home and also found that it was at 100 psi. A normal water pressure for a residence should be approximately 60 to 80 psi, but not higher than 80 psi. When I called this company the technician was at my door in a couple of hours. The technician, Billy #1915, was very courteous and professional. He explained to me what needed to be done, and what a pressure regulator and an expansion tank was and their usefulness in a home. I informed him that I had a water softner in my home and he advised that I put it on by-pass, so that the present water pressure in my home wouldn't damage it. He returned the following day, Monday, and installed a pressure regulator; and two expansion tanks, one each for the two water heaters. He did an outstanding job; there were no problems or mishaps...everything went smoothly with the installation. As he was installing the items, I would ask questions like what is this and how does this do that, etc... Billy would answer and explain more in detail so that I would understand what he was explaining. He always had a nice smile, very courteous and professional.

Work done two different days under "whole house special" rate. One tech. first day, two technicians second day.Involved working under house to remove permanently clogged section of pipe and replace. Labor about $860, parts about $170 and balance taxes. Nice thing was no extra charge for service 40 miles from San Antonio, or for the Saturday involved. Expensive but seemed only way to restore water to old house which had not been in use for years. Technician(s) professional, hard working, competent and pleasant.

Awoke to no hot water. Placed call to Roto-Rooter a little after 7am and had 2 technicians on the job shortly after 9am. Both Johnny G. & his assistant Jose were very courteous & professional. They got the job done quickly and left the work area clean & dry. I was very pleased & will definitely use them again.

It was alright. The guy showed up at like 2 am, so right when we needed them. It was great!

Jeff was an asset to this company. He explained things as he went and worked to get me washing again! He was a nice, nice man.

The service tech showed up on time, and promptly fixed the problem. Great experience.

I would not call this company again. They do not stand by appointment times. A little late wouldn't have been am issue. But when your appointment is from 8 to 10 and its 330 and they haven't even told you they were coming that is bad!

It went very well. The tech knew what he was doing; told us what kind of faucets would be inserted and about the warranty on the faucets as well as the service. The new faucet works great and we are pleased with the work.

I thought they were excellent. They are nice people and do good work.

I conveniently made my appointment on-line and services were available 24x7, so the services are very convenient with anyone's schedule. I accidently chose 9 PM instead of 9 AM, so when I called the company at 9:30 AM, they immediately sent a technician to my home within 30 minutes. The technician quickly and professionally evaluated the situation and thought the pipes were installed incorrectely which would require more parts than he had available. Within 5 minutes, he wrote a quote of $295 and informed me that a senior technician would arrive within 2-3 hours. The senior technician arrived in 3 hours. He re-evaluated the situation and found no additional parts were needed, only the dishwasher hose needed to be hung higher or mounted at the top of the sink cabinet instead of lying on the bottom of the cabinet. He reduced the quote down to $195 and fixed the issue within 15 minutes. The website had a $40 off coupon from any service. However, when I asked the technician about using the coupon, he indicated he already reduced the original quote by $100, so I was unable to use the coupon. I have had no repeat issues with the dishwasher filling up with water. If you are looking for convenience, this is the company for you. However, if you are looking for value, I do not recommend this company. The overall price was very high for 15 minutes worth of work and no additional parts needed. Additionally, I was disappointed that I could not use the coupon, as it did say $40 off any service, which should mean $40 off the end price.

The service man arrived very soon after calling to schedule someone. He introduced himself and had a business card to give us. The work was done cleanly and quickly.

Technician was there approximately one hour and was able to take care of my needs for less than the estimated price. Backflow prevention device was not necessary (inspector didn't know what they were doing).. it was present.. adjusted drain pipe to allow for better flow from dishwasher to the drain.

Jeff was very respectful and professional. He was new to the company and took a little longer to research pricing than usual. However, he did try to find me the best rate available. He did have to go to a local home store to get some plumbers putty. He took quite a while to complete the job. The sink drained properly at first. However, now is is draining slowly again, so I need to contact the company.

Unclogged the sink drain outside as I instructed. Satisfactory.

We are very pleased with our expereince. Billy and Jane arrived within about two hours of our initial call. They explained they would try to fix the diverter in the tub/show first before going for replacement of the 3 handled valve. We apprecaited how they kept us apprised of thier findings immdiately. AFter providing us with an alternative to complete the replacement on the same day or to come back the next morning, we asked they come back the next day. They arrived the following morning in the time fame they indicated. They replaced the 3 tub/shower valve. It works like a charm now.

My experience was very frustrating. Over all at least three days of my time were wasted because initially when I contacted Rotor Rooter, I was told that the following day I would be contacted by somebody who would come to assess my plumbing needs to repair my garbage disposal and also to install a water pressure regulator. It was 3 p..m. and I contacted them to remind them that I was waiting for them. A lady said no to worry because I was still on schedule; but the day went by and nobody called me or showed up. The second day came I received a phone cal; I called back, I was told they would be coming to my place only if there was another customer. The following day, I was told that they would be coming to my place on that day anytime from 1 to 5 p.m.; but at 4:30 p .m. I received a phone called and informed that they were busy. He seemed to have a challenge to tell me whether he was still coming to my place after he was done or whether he was no longer coming to my place. I made it easy for him and asked him whether he telling me that he will not be coming to my house tonight , or if he was telling me that he wouldl be coming to my place after he was a done. He replied that they would come to my place after they were done. That did not happen. The following day (A Saturday), I found a voice mail. I called them. The man I spoke to said they were coming that day (Saturday). I asked him to call me before showing up because it was a Saturday and that I had many things to do and that I had already wasted a couple of days waiting for them. He said they would call me before showing up. At 4:30 p.m., I received a phone call from customer service. I was told that they could not come to help me out because I lived 2 hrs and a half away from them. I was very professional to him; and told him that why had they taken a few days just to tell me that.. His response was that they had failed to tell me about it sooner. In two hours and a half I can go to Austin. Rotor Rooters is not that far from me. In my prior conversation with someone at R Rooter, I remember mentioning to a man there that I am an Angie's list member. I imagine that is why customer svc rep was contacting me instead of a plumber or a dispatcher.

Overall experience from the first contact on the phone to the quality of service performed was very good.

While the apprentice drain tech suffered some technical problems by punching a hole in the drain pipe, his journeyman supervisor quickly acted to fix the situation and all is well. Very good service and explanation.

He was very professional , very nice, very clean cut. I was having problems with the main drain ,washing machine drain would over-run , contents from the kitchen drain would appear in the bath tub, toilets would back up.

John and the Excavation Sales Supervisor Caleb Drow insisted that the cost to Roto Rooter for the excavation was $1500 for the entire job, and charged me $750 for the digging that was done, and did not include the refilling which was done by the last of the plumbers. I consider this price excessive, since the one man digging the ditch says he would be paid $90 for the job. John and Caleb said that Roto Rooter subcontracts excavation, and that both Roto Rooter and the subcontractor mark up their costs, but the nearly 600% markup seems excessive to me. I was also told that $385 to put a camera down (for the purposes of diagnosing and estimating a job!) is significantly higher than standard. And since the actual resolution of the problem of smells was the hair clog remover, I came to the conclusion that John was a better salesman than plumber. As I was considering stopping the job, he came over and stood on the pipes to create a slight leak, which he said showed they were cracked (I think the water came from the unsealed joint.) Considering the last minute discount of the job, the increased cost after a lower estimate before work began, and the outright errors in John's diagnosis and repair plan (he said the old pipes were not Standard 40 and they were, he said they were clay and they were not, he said they were cracked and they were not, and since he diagnosed the pipe had sunk, but never mentioned how to raise and stabilize it--which the other plumber did) that conclusion was re-affirmed. I would never recommend nor use Roto Rooter again. UPDATE: After the above review appeared John called to ask me to phone his supervisor, Walter Carnes. Mr. Carnes asked me about my experience, and offered a $400 refund. He also asked "What benefit will I get if we make this refund?" I told him I would update the review, and I have now done so, raising ratings on Responsiveness, Punctuality and Professionalism to where they are now. For me, the morals of this experience are: thee are huge markups in the plumbing business and negotiating price, getting a second opinion and sending your review into Angie's List are useful tools to getting a fairer price. I still cannot recommend Roto Rooter, but I commend their attempt to make things right.

Based on reviews on Angie's List, Roto Rooter was called to determine if they could assess problem. They promised that they could have a plumber available to look at the problem the same day - estimated that they would have someone arrive before noon. Plumber arrived finally around 5:30 pm. In the intervening time, Roto Rooter did not call to advise of delays - I had to call multiple times to find out what the situation was. Roto Rooter indicated in these calls that their available plumber was involved in a job that was more complicated than originally expected. This was understandable, but I expressed concern that they were not keeping me informed. The response was that they would be willing to call me when the plumber was en route to the home. My concern was that this did not give me a way to plan how do to accommodate other activities away from the home since I could not estimate how fast I could return to the home once I got the call that the plumber was en route. The entire day was thus spent waiting for the plumber without an ability to take care of other business away from the home. Once the plumber did arrive, however, he was courteous and efficient. He determined that the kitchen sink faucet was leaking badly and proposed to replace the fixture with one that he had already available in his van. We agreed and he promptly replaced the device with the new fixture.

I called this company on Saturday Jan. 5, 2013 in hopes they would check out my toilet in a day or two. to my surprise they said someone would be there within 2 hours. That 10:00am at 3:00pm I got a call from them, they were running behind but someone would be there shortly. At 6:00pm they called again still running behind but someone could come tomorrow (Sunday). I told them Sunday was not good but how about Monday, they put me on the schedule for Monday between 8:00 and 10:00am. At 9:30 on Monday I received a call from them still running behind it will be around 11:00am. At 1:00pm they called again still running behind allow another hour. At 3:00pm they called again still running behind, at this point I cancelled the appt and called someone else who kept the appt and did the work.