Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

PROS: They responded right away and I believe that could be a good choice for an emergency situation. CONS: had to be transfer me to the local office 2 times (they have over 15 locations around WA) PROS: operator scheduled an appointment same day. She also called to confirm the appointment within the time frame that was given for a visit. Pleasant phone staff. CONS: plumber had a thick accent and I it was hard to understand what exactly needs to be done and why does it cost so much to do the job. PROS: plumber took time to assessed the issue CONS: WAY too expensive. It is a rental unit and I was not able to be there during the appointment. I talked to the plumber over the phone. He explained that if the parts were right.. the flap and the fill valve had to be replaced and there is a flat fee of $239.00 plus tax for it. Or ..if he doesn't have the right part (toilet model is too old) the whole toilette needs to be replaced with labor cost of around $395!!!! plus parts - the toilette itself. I felt that 0.5 hr of work should not cost what average person makes in 2-3days. PROS: no charge for the visit. I could not afford it and had to cancel the job with them. Instead I spent 2 hr searching for the local small plumber company and had it fixed it next day for $70, including parts and labor after $20.00 Angie's list coupon discount. PS: no company that I've called gives any estimate over the phone.. so it's technically shot in the dark how much any plumbing would cost you :(

They were very responsive and have good service.

Overall, I paid 500 dollars and all I received was a DVD of a camera run showing a cleared pipe, after I cleared the pipe myself. If I was a trusting person, I might have paid almost $10,000 for work that was not needed. I keep asking myself about how many other customers out there have spent large sums of money without really needing to.

See the above description of the issues.

It went very well. I definitely thought the person that came out went kind of above and beyond to help me trouble shoot what the problem was. He came out and it was late at night, and he didn’t leave until midnight. It was 25 degrees outside and we were both kind of digging for holes in the backyard at midnight. He provided great service and he came out when we really needed him. I don’t really know what other companies charge and so I don’t know how his price is. I will use him again in the future.

They provide great service and are prompt and professional.

ABSOLUTELY HORRRIBLE. Price gouging to the worst degree. This man charged us $275 to do a simple cleaning of an outdoor drain with a snake and charged $275, not kidding. These people take advantage of clients that are in need of a service. They wnated to use a "special tool" and charge us over $500- to clean a drain! The whole thing took 5 minutes. NEVER again will we use ROTO-ROOTER. Shame on them!!!!

Plumber Steve White arrived on time. He explained the procedure and billing. He worked quickly and expertly. He cleaned up afterward.

Everyone was professional, prepared, and efficient. There were unanticipated problems but those were dealt with, after thorough explanation and agreements.

Our water heater began making a hissing sound. After several hours of it not stopping I called Roto-Rooter. The were very busy and just to make sure things were under control they contacted me several times prior to their service technician arriving. During one of those calls they explained what the service technician though the issue was. When the technician arrived the issue was exactly as he predicted without even seeing the tank. From there their service just got better. The technician (Elvis) was excellent in his attention to detain, assuring I knew exactly what my options were, and assuring things were fixed exactly to my expectations. Prior to leaving Elvis asked if there was any other plumbing issues we might be concerned about. I told him about a long time leak in the crawl space that has existed for years. We have never been able to identify where the water is coming from. Elvis took a look in the crawl space and under our sink. He was immediately able to both identify the problem and put together a written estimate for fixing the problem. Fantastic job Elvis!

Called for emergency service when my septic system backed up and caused a raw sewage spill into my home. A call to my septic company indicated it most likely was a clog between my tank and the house. Called at approx. 1 pm for emergency service and was told someone would be out between 3 and 5 pm and that I would get a call when the tech was on their way. At approx. 4 pm I get a call that the tech is on his way, someone who has been with the company 11-12 years. Should be there in about an hour. About 90 minutes later I call back because no one showed up. I'm told that they have me on the schedule for Friday (5 days away!!!!) between 3 and 5 pm. Excuse me? What about the dispatcher who called to say that someone was on his way???? Do I know the name of the dispatcher? No. I'm told "Sorry, I don't know who called you. There's been a shift change. We'll have someone out there in a couple of hours." At this point I have had raw sewage seeping into my home for the last FIVE HOURS!!!! And I need to wait for them for another two hours? No thank you. I cancel the service and promptly receive an e-mail from them that confirms I am canceling the service scheduled for Monday (today) from 6-9pm. ???? Next!

They did the work well but they broke the top of a toilet and they did not let us know. When we found out, they replaced the toilet with one that was not as nice as the one they broke. I will not use them again in the future.

They were very helpful a couple of times because we are on septic. We have had good response from them and I will use them again in the future.

First, the won't give you a price over the phone for standard fixed-price services such as rooting and sewer scoping. Each cost $300, which is more than local independents would cost. They give you an price when they show up (I should have known better and not had them come out). Second, I was told by the operator that I could have a tech scope it while he roots it. Some companies such as O'Neil can do this. They can't, and I had to pay for two separate service calls. Third, they did the work, and I found some repair that was required. Fine, I'll do the repair. But the scope technician kept providing a hard sell saying if I "commit now" he'll give me a much better price, almost 30% less. That's just sleazy. I'll get other bids, and I bet they'll come in a lot lower. He kept doing hard-sell tactics and I had to get in his grill and firmly ask him to stop with the hard sell or leave. Fourth, they left the bathroom dirty. Most pros will take the time to clean up after themselves. Finally, he wouldn't mark the spot where the repair was needed. I've had scoping done before, and they always put pins in and tell you exactly where issues are and how deep. They would only mark the spot if "I hired them to do the repair work, due to liability reasons". Unbelievable. I've not been this steamed after having work done for many years. This was really unbelievable.

The septic tank first backed up 4 months ago. They came out and roto rooted the drain and ( for $400 extra), ran a camera down the pipe. Last week, it backed up again and they came out promptly and reamed the drain again for no charge. Yesterday it backed up again. I dug out the outside cover so that they could see what was happening at that end since reaming out the pipe was not accomplishing anything. They discovered a piece of the pipe had broken and quoted me $2500 to fix it. I agreed, not knowing what it entailed and being a Friday, did not think I had time to get more bids before having to live with a broken system over the weekend. The actual work took less than 2 hours and I was charged $2000 for labor. The person who did the work, Jerry, was very good and probably did it much quicker than the average guy would have, nevertheless I felt I had been taken advantage of. I may reuse this company again, but would make sure I know, in advance, what the work actually was.

It was 3 pm, and I was leaving town at 5 pm, when I put some clean dish towels under the kitchen sink only to find the pile of them already there were soaking wet. My InstaHot was leaking just as the previous one had, only halfway through the warranty! My regular plumber couldn't get to me, so I called alternatives on Angie's List. Roto-Rooter had someone at my house within an hour! Luckily, as a result of the last InstaHot failure, I had a spare in the garage, so Wayne was able to replace the leaking one. Since I was going away for a week, I did not want to leave the water on, even though there were no leaks when he tested the new one. It is very cramped under my sink, and since I am disabled, very difficult for me to get down there, much less plug in the unit and turn the water on to it . He kindly offered to do it for me if, upon my return, the person I was traveling with was not abe to do it ! Wayne was not only knowledgeable and efficient, he was firendly and helpful! I will certainly call him for my next plumbing job!

Excavation of the supply line outside was a completely unnecessary thing to do. There was no leak out there. And I pled with him to not do this since I used to have a lake in the crawl space due to water coming in at the point of entry for the water line since it was lower than the footing drain. I had that sealed with concrete (which wasn't easy). So now, the seal has been broken, the soil disturbed, and I will once again have a lake in my crawl space, all because Roto Rooter refused to leave well enough alone and fix the problem I called them to fix. He made the case that he had to replace the whole line because he is a journeyman plumber and only does things the right way or not at all. I would be OK with that if it was just a matter of going the extra mile to do everything the very best it can be done, but that is not the case here. By going the extra mile he has caused me a problem that is far worse than a minor crimp in the soft copper water line. A lake in the crawl space is a very bad thing. It must be fixed, and I will do what it takes to fix it, but it would have been far better if the plumber could have left well enough alone and fixed the leak that needed to be fixed and called it a job well done. I won't be calling on Roto Rooter again.

They charged me $540, but never found the septic tank. They told me that they charged $150 for every hour and that they had come out for a long time. It did not matter to them that they did not find the septic tank. The price was outrageous. I felt like I was ripped off. They needed a camera to locate the septic tank, but they did not bring it along with them. When I asked them if the camera was required or not, they told me that it would cost me an additional $300. Also, they said that they would have to come back out another time since they did not have the camera with them. I did call them and asked them for reconsideration of cost. They refused to work with me.

Curt came out to repair our septic tank. He was very helpful and patient. We had to find the septic tank first because we didn't know where it was. Overall the experience went very well.

Joe Hicks was amazing. He assessed 3 toilets and told us honestly that one toilet was just a lousy toilet, the other had too much Charmin in it (he told us Charmin is the worst toilet paper) and he quickly cleared it, and then he rooted the third with his tool. They don't charge extra for emergencies on the weekends. And here's the best part. I called in a panic at 1pm because I was having party guests over at 3pm. When I explained, they got Joe to come over at 1:30 and he was out well before 2:30. They saved the day!!! I am a BIG fan of Roto Rooter customer service. Amazing from dispatch to service!!

I went to their website and scheduled a service call. I really appreciate that option! They called me right on time and had their guy out within 30 minutes. VERY fast response time. I did feel the cost was a bit high. The standard charge for a drain clearing is $279. The coupon from Angie's List was great, but it still came to almost $270 with tax. Still I'm very satisfied and I'd call them again next time!

Plumber did not show up on time as another plumber in company called in sick. He did call to let us know the situation and that he would be late. He also clarified what we called for because Roto Rooter has a call center and that operator did not take good notes of what he was being sent out for. We appreciated the notice and his thoroughness. He evaluated our project and gave us his estimate (High!). We thanked him and let him know that we would call him if we wanted to move forward. We chose another plumber based on price and experience.

The repairman finished up a job located about 40 miles away, so we waited only about 2 hours after our call. Everything was fixed and cleaned up so that our laundry could be washed for the work on Monday. Good Job!

There were completely a rip off. I believe their business plan is to bait and switch. I used them probably 8 years to root out some roots out of my sewer pipe and they did a fine job. They were a local company and everything went fine. Last July I came back from Arizona and noticed that there was a sinkhole at the foundation of my house. I called the city engineer and they looked at it and it was split. They checked everything and there were no water problems or anything else but because the sinkhole was in close proximity about 3 feet or so from where the sewer comes out of the house they said that they could be sewer related problems. They asked me to contact a sewer related contractor to come out and look at the problem. I called Roto- Rooter and they said they would come out to inspect. They came out with a shovel and dug up the line and opened up the trap. They said they would send a camera down the drain and video the line to see what the problem is. The engineer told me that they could be a break in the line and its sucking the dirt down into the line and sending it down the main sewer. When they sent the camera down they said that I had a belly in the line. They told me that my land was broken. I live around a recreational lake and if that contaminates the ground water it goes into the lake. So if the water contaminates the lake the environmentalist would be behind you. They told me they had to dig down about 6 feet and replace about 10 feet of sewer line. I asked them if that would solve the problem and they said it would. It was a pressure situation and I thought if you got to do it you got to do it. It cost me $5000. Later they found out conveniently that it's over the statue for small claim court. They came out and to started to dig. I told them to check the sinkhole but they told me that was not the problem. They dug up the line and there was nothing wrong with the line. It was a series of old concrete pipes. I noticed that there was no break or belly in the line. I asked them what was going on and I asked them to get their supervisor. He told me that he couldn't send anyone out and I would have to wait so I told him that I would drive and get to the office. I wanted to deal with a local contractor. I go there to the office and noticed that there was no one over there so I called them and I asked if there were located at the mentioned address and he said yes. When I told him I was sitting outside there was a long pause and no one replied. Then he said that he moved from those offices to another location. They were not local; they were getting forwarded from another location. I get back and notice that they took out the old pipe put a new one and covered it all up. They told me my line was compromised by a loo hole and I told them that was not the problem. There was free flow of water from my house to the sewer and that wasn't why I called them. I told them that was not the reason I had called them but to check on the sinkhole. I called a lawyer and as I had paid through credit card he told me I could cancel it, which I did. They came six weeks later and I told them nothing has changed since they were here. I figured out through another sewer contractor that this was not a sinkhole but it is caused because of the gutter being blocked and he told me the water is coming down on the down sprout and over flowing the gutter on your soft flower bed and compressing it. I gave him $15 and he was able to go up and fix the problem. I told Roto Rooter that the problem was fixed. They told me that I signed a contract and had to abide by it. I asked them to be fair. I hired them for $375 and there was no problem and I was willing to pay them the $375. They did repairs which were not necessary and had it been necessary the repairs would have cost a maximum of $2200. All it needed was three people and it was a two hour job. I went and investigated with the city. They sent me the video which I am sure was not the right one. I showed it to the city and they said that they did a study on the pipes there and in the neighborhood. There was water in the pipe supposedly and that's why it was collapsing and stuff like that. He told me that the ground water was very shallow and every sewer has water in it. The extension from your main to where your property line is, is basically flat. All the sewers have some water in them. He asked me who did the job and when I told Roto Rooters he started laughing. He told me that they charge so much that you can't go to a small claims court and you would have to hire a lawyer and the whole process would cost as much or more for the legal fees. I contacted Angie's List and they asked me to send in the required papers. The people who actually did the job were from Seattle and did not work for Roto Rooters. Roto Rooters were just the facilitators. They advertised as sewer contractors but they were not really sewer contractors, they were just facilitators. They don't send out technicians but salesmen who convince you that they have to dig. Then they hire a legitimate contractor to do the digging. The price was four times what a legitimate contractor would have cost. It was totally unnecessary. There was no work done that was needed. It worked fine and I am probably no better off than I was before. They came out at a reasonable amount time to do the inspection and their management was fully responsible in timing on coming out and checking what the contractor was doing. When I told them I was dissatisfied about the job it took about a month for anybody to come and talk to me. I had to borrow the money to pay them off. It was just an example of ripping people off.

The job took place over several days as the city needed to come and inspect the outside work. The repairmen who fixed the pipes outside were prompt and got the job done and so far, we haven't had any problems. The inside work on the pipe with the hole in it was well-done and we received a lot of great advise on how to avoid clogging in the future. The technician, Deep, was prompt and knowledgeable and his work was well-done. He gave us a fair price for the work done. We would hire him and/or Roto-Rooter again if we needed to. One other technician, whose name I don't remember, worked tirelessly one Friday evening to repair the fragile pipe with the hole in it. Deep was sent out the following week to finish it up. During the procedure for the outside pipes, I was not at home for part of that time so I am reporting to the best of my ability.