American Residential Services

Elsine H.

If I could give this company a zero rating if I could! They advertise $88.00 to unclog a drain and we ended up paying $1,750.00!

We called Rescue Rooter because the toilet backed up into the stall shower. We found them on line, and they advertised $88.00 to unclog the drain. They responded within one hour. We were impressed with the fast response. The agent asked us if we had clean out drains we informed them we didn't know.

Jorge came out and asked the same question we told him we didn't know. He then went under the house and came back and told us we did not have clean out drains and it would cost $1,750 to put one in. We assumed he was telling us the truth. So we went ahead and let him do the work under the house. He then came back and told us our sewer pipe was old and rusted and needed replacement or it would break and under the house would be flooded with sewage. Jorge Vallarta said I can fix everything for $7,500 and not charge for the clean out valve. We told him that was too expensive and we would check with another plumber. He the said he would check with his supervisor and see if he could lower the cost.

He came back and told us he would charge $6,800 for the entire job and he would be back Monday. We then called a contractor friend who fixes plumbing and also builds bathrooms and houses.

He went under the house and found we had 4 clean out valves two under each bathroom! Jorge lied to us when he told us we didn't have any. Jorge unnecessarily cut our main sewer pipe and cleared the clog by installing a plastic pipe. When we stopped the installation of a new sewer pipe under the house he came back and added a clean out valve that will now shoot out of the crawl space.

We were in extremely disappointed with the integrity of this company, and the lies Jorge told us regarding our clean out valves. We paid the exorbitant $1,750.00 for the work that was completed. Do no use this company they rip off people!! All he needed to do was snake the shower stall or open one of the two clean out valves under the shower stall or the toilet.

B. L.

Way overpriced and they try to convince you to do work that is not necessary by claiming that certain things are broken or not working when they are not broken and could work with simple unclogging of the pipes. I would get at least 3 quotes before you give them any job.

Cheryl C.

I contacted this company for a clogged kitchen sink. I informed the company upon calling that my husband had tried to snake out the drain in the kitchen sink and was unable to do so. Hence the reason I was calling a plumber. Juan C. from Rescue Rooter arrived and asked me to show him where our clean out was. I told him it was in our basement. He said because my husband had tried to snake the drain and failed it had to be a much bigger problem. He then showed me with a flashlight a wet area under my house that was about 8 to 10 feet away from where we were standing in the basement. (The area he was indicating could only be reached by the crawl through.) The area he was speaking of was below my kitchen sink. He told me that one of our cast iron pipes were leaking. He said to repair the problem correctly we would have to have all of our cast iron drain pipes replaced. He quoted us $8,500 for the job. He never went under the house and checked the particular pipe out up close, he only viewed it from afar. We have the bid ""in writing"". I asked him how much it would cost to replace that one pipe. He quoted us $4,500 to repair the one pipe. (We also have that bid in writing.) He told me he would like to discuss the repair with my husband and asked if my husband were at work. I told him no, that my husband was at a cardio rehab class and would be home shortly. He said he would wait for my husband.

When my husband arrived, Juan reiterated the same scenario he gave me to my husband. I can't believe this guy.....My husband just arrives home from attending a cardio rehab class (HELLO!!) and receives news that he has to pay $8,500.00 (that's including their senior discount.) to repair his clogged kitchen sink???? NO CONSCIENCE!!!! He also told us not to use the shower, toilets or faucets because raw sewage was leaking from the pipe. He also said it would be at least a two day job and it would be best if we went somewhere else to stay during the work.

I then called a different plumber who unclogged my sink, installed a clean out to my kitchen and repaired the leak behind my kitchen sink (which was where the water was coming from). He also checked our cast iron pipes and said they were in great condition. HUMPH!!! All for under $1,000.00.

I will NEVER recommend Rescue Rooter to ANYONE!!!!

BTW, I gave them one star only because I had to give them something in order to post!!

William S.

I wish there were no stars coz that's what this company deserved.
In their ad they promised a one-hour turn around. When I called they promised a two- hour turn around, but since a technician was finishing up a job in Beverly Hills it wouldn't be that long
After two hours I called and the dispatcher said there was no technician en route and they don't even service Beverly Hills! Another dispatcher called me shortly thereafter and told me that the soonest a technician could come out was in an hour or more.
For those keeping track that's three hours total.
Maybe.
I then called roto rooter and they sent someone out in 40 minutes. I fired this bozo concern.
The right hand didnt know what the left hand was doing. And neither hand was at my house to fix the problem in any of the times they promised.
Don't use!

Elsie W.

Excellent job!! James G. was very courteous and professional. He was knowledgable in fixing our problems quickly and at fair price. Extremely pleased. James seemed very honest and we will definetely call Rescue Rooter again.

Ken L.

They royally messed up, but have taken steps to rectify the situation, and I have updated this review accordingly. Read on.
~~~~~~original review~~~~~~~~
-5 stars. Seriously. You'll see that almost all of my reviews are positive. Not this time. These guys are beyond horrible, but come off as really professional with their uniforms and professional-speak. But they're to be avoided at all costs.

First, they are ridiculously expensive.

And it gets worse. As per their own contract, Paul, who came out to do the job, did not replace all the pipes, set the main drain line at an improper pitch before exiting the foundation, and did not clear all the debris under the house, leaving the old cast iron pipes behind. All of this was clearly stipulated in the contract.

And it gets even worse. They left the house soaking in old water, so much so that eight months later, when we looked under the house wondering where a strange damp odor was, we found mushrooms growing under the house, the cinder block walls wet and water stained, and much of the ground still damp!! Again, eight months later!

But it gets even worse. When I called their manager, Abraham, to come out, he said he would return with a technician. No show. Abraham and I reschedule for the following week.

No show again!!!! and no phone call either!!!!!! I call. Abraham's not working. Great. And I suppose the technician isn't working either. Nope. Of course not. So I have spoken with a General Manager named Lou, who said he would call back in half an hour.

They haven't called back.

I posted this review while waiting for a call back, and within half an hour, one of their ""damage control"" experts responded to my review on Yelp (see below)!

But I still haven't received a call back yet.

~~~~~Update: June 25 2015 - Things Start Looking Up~~~~~

After the constant non-answers, I contacted Lou, growing angry and saying that if it weren't fixed immediately, I would begin calling Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau. Now, I should have to start tirades, but to Rescue Rooter's credit, they have attempted to rectify, and Lou, the General Manager, has managed to step up to the plate. Acknowledging that the house was still damp under the house and the original job was messed up, he sent a technician out to remove the pipes, fix the main drain line so it was at the proper pitch and wouldn't back up, cap the old pipes, and add the pipes from the kitchen that should have been added. That was all done the next day.

For the dampness, Lou called Pedro from Emergency Services Restoration, a company dealing in water damage, out, and they added some sort of natural drying compound, two fans, and one ""negative air"" fan, leaving it blowing from something like June 11 to June 15th. Pedro acknowledged that their company should have been called out in late October when the job was initially done, but at least they were getting on it.

Because the job was not done properly, I skipped work a couple of times, spent a lot of time and energy contacting them, general aggravation, additional electricity costs and more, I also asked for a $1000 back, which was approved. I am waiting on that.

I am writing this because while most of my experience with Roto Rooter has completely sucked, I also want to be fair and describe the good things they've done. This review might still scare people off, but people should know that they've at least attempted to make things right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Better Business Bureau:
https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/nature-of-complaint/

Attorney General - California:
https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company

Consumer Affairs:
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/login/

P G.

Russell and Roy are the best!!! I was very impressed on what a great job they did with a difficult job of the clogged pipes we had. They arrived quickly, explained and drew pictures so that we completely understood the situation. If and when we have a problem again, they will be our first call. Thanks for everything Russell and Roy!

Anita M.

I have used this company many times and each time their technician was awesome. Today I had Jose G show up. He was nice, fast, clean, and did the job perfectly. Thank you!!

Rachel S.

When we ran our washing machine this morning, yucky stinky water started coming out of the base of our toilet in the master bathroom! We called Rescue Rooter (on a Sunday) and the technician (Margarito D.) arrived in the 2 hour window that they said he would (which was shortly after I called them). He was very friendly and made me feel comfortable. He was patient and spent time with us while we tried to figure out which option to go with. Once we decided what to do and he got to work, I asked him if he would mind installing a new toilet for me since the one he was looking under was cracked anyway. He said yes so I ran to Lowes, got a new low flow toilet and he took it out of the box, assembled it and installed it without charging me extra than the original quote (which included a 10% AAA discount). I would absolutely ask for him again. The only reason I am not giving 5 stars is because the cost was still expensive, but plumbing work is never cheap! Just not sure if I could have done the work for less money, but this was not something I wanted to wait on and I really really liked Margarito.

Charles J.

Apparently Rescue Rooter consistently overcharges. They clearly took advantage of a 72 year old lady, who knew nothing about what had to be done and how much it should actually cost. My wife, alone in the house, panicked when a toilet overflowed. She called them to clean out the drain. They talked her into replacing the pipe under concrete a few feet from the toilet. Their charge - $9300 (but they gave her a $700 discount). It was done in two days. Because we had a contractor estimate repairing some other damage, I asked if the Rescue Rooter charge was fair; he said the Rescue Rooter charge was two-thirds to fifty higher than it should be. Then I had an independent plumbing company give us an estimate based on what work was done and photograph s. Their estimate was $4900, about half the Rescue Rooter bill. Rescue Rooter even charged $475 for a city permit; the actual permit cost -- $74!.