Bob Oates Sewer Rooter & Plumbing LLC

They wanted to come back the next day and do work that was not needed.  They tried to up sell the job.

They were very prompt, responsive and professional about their work and their communication. Even though their bid was the highest of the 3 I got, I chose Bob Oates because the Project Manager was very professional and convinced me they would do a first-rate job. And they proved themselves!

I originally scheduled a sewer cleaning, which I thought I needed because of a poorly draining fixture. The appointment was made a couple of days ahead of time. Someone called in advance of the two-hour arrival window to confirm that the technician was on his way, and he ended up being a bit early (which worked fine for me). When Konrad arrived, he looked pretty young, and my first thought was that he might be inexperienced, but he won me over right away and turned out to be very competent, professional, and a great communicator. He quickly determined that the drainage problem was most likely due to a failed vent, rather than a blockage, but because it couldn?t be accessed without opening up the wall, I decided to tackle that repair another time. I still wanted to make sure that there weren?t any issues with the sewer line, so he recommended a camera inspection for less than the cost of sewer cleaning (which would also have included a camera inspection). If it turned out that cleaning was needed, I would still have the option to upgrade to that service. Fortunately, the inspection didn?t show any serious problems, and I?m glad to have peace of mind since we did not have the sewer inspected prior to purchasing the house 11 years ago.

Konrad did a good job protecting the floor and other surfaces while working and left everything clean when he was done. I also appreciated that he invited me to stay while he worked and talked me through the inspection, since I didn?t know what to expect. As a bonus, he fixed a wonky sink drain, and didn?t even charge me for it! Overall, a great experience and I would not hesitate to call on them again.

Very well.

Went very well.

Very neat.

I bought a Big Deal package online for $799. I requested quick service because the old water heater had started to leak.  They showed up at my house the next morning at 9AM. My water heater is in the garage.

Removed old water filter and cleaned up mess.  Installed new one which works well

Original appointment was on a Friday. The company showed up in the scheduled window. After showing the employee what needed done he asked if it would be ok with me to return the following day Saturday to do the work. My first reply was no that I wanted the work done during the scheduled appointment. The employee explained he was trying to purchase a car. I called and verified the next day Saturday would be ok with the tenants who live in my home. I agreed that he could return the next day after 10am.

The employee was a no call no show on Saturday. On Sunday morning I received a phone call from the employee stating he had a personal emergency and would meet the tenant at 2pm Sunday. At 2:40 the employee was a no show and his phone was off and going straight to a voicemail that wasn't setup to take messages. At this point I stopped giving the employee the benefit of the doubt and called the company directly to report what was going on.

The employee showed a short time later on Sunday and did part of the work and did that part poorly. The employee didn't include a required gasket in the new kitchen fixture and it leaked. The employee also didn't tackle the drainage issue and stated to the tenant he didn't want to phone me because I was made and he would be asking for more labor and $$$ to do it.

Bob's daughter Rhea was super professional and helped get on the case when I reported what was happening. This is to the companies credit that they responded well in my opinion.

A new employee was dispatched who took care of the drainage. He was unable however on the spot to replace the missing gasket. He needed to come back a day later at 3:30pm. The employee missed this appointment due to locking keys in his truck and having to wait for a locksmith. Eventually he arrived a few hours later and fixed the sink fixture issue.

Bob Oates will only charge me for the sink fixture and labor but not the drain clear. I'm glad the stepped up but execution of the project was just simply very bad. My personal wasted time and my tenants is worth far more than the financial value provided through the discount.

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Professional, punctual, helpful.

Everything was perfect. They showed up on time and scheduling was quick & easy.

They did a very good job and everything worked out just great. The big deal covered everything and there were no additional charges, so the price was good. They were also early and their professionalism was very good.

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The dispatcher and service technician were very professional and courteous. The tech showed up on time, kept me apprised of any issues as the job progressed and then cleaned up the area when he was finished. I was happy with the work. The hitch to the job was that as part of the Angies List "Big Deal", I purchased a water heater with a 10 years manufacturers warranty. I reminded the tech and dispatcher of this before the install. After the tech left, i researched the newly installed water heater model number online and found that a six year warranty tank was installed. I called Bob Oates and in the end they purchased an extended manufacturers warranty for my water heater, which made it a 10 year warranty.

They were great. Very responsive phone support and they cleared our clogged drain expertly.

I purchased an Angie's List Big Deal for this service and the installation went okay, but their charging policy was not clear. I did not understand him when I asked him how much it would cost to do additional work, so when I got the bill it was higher than I expected. The communication level was not as good as I would have liked it in terms of communicating how much higher it was going to be compared to what I already paid.

said my water pressure was too high but I had it checked by another plumber who says it is ok..

Installation of outside faucet went fine.

Delays in getting a response but when I called a few weeks later, they immediately scheduled. Technician removed existing garbage disposal and set up plumbing for kitchen sink without one. Pleasant and professional man who arrived on time.

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 I used this company for cleaning up a sewer backup at my rental property.  First, they run the snakes through the toilet and I spent about $450.  They told me that I have tree roots in the sewer line and I need to install the cleanout to run power jet.  I looked at the video and I agreed so I order them to do the work for another $3700.  Then they told me that they still cannot clean my sewer line because there are concretes in my clay pipe so I need to spend another $5000 to dig up the sidewalk to replace portion of my clay pipe.  I felt very suspicious at this moment since I looked at the video the first time and there was definitely no concrete in the sewer line.  So I asked another company to check and confirmed that I only have roots and Bob Oats didn't do a good on power jets or maybe even didn't even run power jets.  So I asked Tyler (the project manager) that I want to be onsite when they are running power jets the next morning.  After requesting him a time frame through email and phone call, he still scheduled a time that I couldn't be there.  At this moment, I think this company is trying to prevent me from seeing their work.  So I called the owner and thought maybe he cares about his company's reputation and would work with me.  It turned out I was totally wrong.  Bob Oats was so rude on the phone.  When I told him that I will hire another company to double check their power jet work since his company refused to let me see their work in person.  He shouted at me "Are you accusing my company for creating unnecessary work?  We have hundreds of customers!  Don't call my company again!"  I was just stunned after the phone call.  The worst customer service I have ever seen.  His super defensive behavior is also very suspicious.  After that, I never heard from this company but they charged the remaining balance on my credit card (first given to them for paying half before the job) without asking.  There was no email or phone call or letter from this company to tell me the status of the job. I finally had the other company to run the camera through the new cleanout, the roots were mostly gone but they left quite a few big ones there.  Obviously, there are no concretes in the sewer line!!  Bob Oats was indeed trying to cheat customers!

They fixed this problem and provided new parts, all without adding any extra charge to the estimate they originally gave me. Excellent service, reasonable cost, very personable and reliable personnel. I would definitely use this company again.

He worked diligently to find why our bathtub drain was stopped up and discovered it was something actually stuck in the line that he was able to burrow through and release!  Lots of sweat on that endeavor and we were impressed!

My water heater failed and the recommended service provider was unavailable so I called Bob Oates since they had reasonably good reviews on Angie's List.   I was given a time range to give me an estimate and told I would be called before the plumber, John, arrived.  The call didn't happen but he came within the time range so it worked.  He took a look at my situation and made some recommendations mostly for tankless heaters.  The location of my water heater required that I install a water heater with a power vent.  Each of these options was very expensive and a very unhappy number right before Christmas.   John went out to calculate estimates of the various options and came back with estimates within a hundred or two dollars of one another (3 tankless and one power vented tank).  I found it very hard to believe that replacing my existing tank (w/ power vent) would cost MORE than a new system, so I asked for some time to think about it.   I made a few calls to other plumbers and was told that my system was expensive to replace and that putting a replacement, could take 3-4 hours (in plumber hours that's a lot of money).  I decided to move ahead with the tankless heater and John came back the next day and completed the job.  Surprisingly he left the previous venting spout hanging in the wall with no support or cover so cold air easily came into my basement.    He also splintered the wood exterior of the house so it is exposed to the weather and left a six foot pipe in my driveway.  I guess clean up wasn't his strong suit, although he did do a quick floor clean up in the basement around the installation.    I have a few other questions that I need to address to the folks at Oates about my new system, so owe them a call.  All in all I have hot water and am pleased that I am using a more efficient system & won't be looking at a replacement for 20 years.