Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Marin County

tami j.

I did not have a good experience here.
They told me my window of service was 2-4 pm. Earlier in the day I called and had spoken to a lovely woman who told me she would put me on the earlier side of that window as I had requested. I waited for a phone call from 2-3. No one called so I called and asked for an estimate time of arrival. This time I spoke with a gentleman. He said he would call me and I never heard from him. I called him at 5:00 only to be told that no one would be coming out. Not even an apology. POOR SERVICE. Don't use this company.

Lisa L.

I had a plugged up drain in kitchen sink, couple plumbing companies under home warrantee tried to fix it with snakes, but failed. Out of frustration I contacted Mr.Rooter, and Ernie came and did hydro-scrub from the clean out under the sink, he was professional, very respectful, and patiently explained to me what was going on after the job done. I highly recommend Ernie and will call Mr.Rooter again next time. Thanks Ernie.

Justin T.

Second time having work done with Mr. Rooter Plumbing. I was so impressed with the level of professionalism from Ernie last time. Called and Ernie was able to come out and replace a toilet for this job as a repeat customer. Sounds simple, but this is an old house with unique issues. Ernie did an incredible job. No shortcuts. Everything in much better shape behind the scenes and for what is visible than it was before. Highly recommend and work with Ernie!

Maureen M.

We had clogged lines and could not do dishes or laundry. Forrest came out when expected -- told me exactly what he was going to do and before he started any work, I knew how much it would cost. Did not feel it was overpriced for what he had to do and he double and triple checked and kept working until he was satisfied that all the affected pipes were functioning as they should. Incredibly professional, personable and detail oriented. I will most definitely continue to use them and recommend them. He went above and beyond. Looked over other fixtures in our home to make sure nothing else was going on. Advised us on what to watch out for and what needs attention but NEVER pushed us towards more service. When it comes time for us to focus on other projects, they will be the first ones we call. Great customer service.

M. P.

Sunday, 5:00 pm, all three toilets not flushing. Our Main drain pipe must be blocked up!!! Panicking, I make several calls. The only service I could contact was Mr. Rooter. Was told 'Robert' is just finishing a job and would be here in an hour - He was here in an hour! We had a quick chat, reviewed the paperwork and in the pouring rain, off he went to clear out the blockage. 30 minutes later, DONE. Toilets working, some good advice for maintaining the system, the bill paid, Robert leaves. Quick and simple... just the way I like it!

Maysie T.

I highly recommend Forrest Miller from Mr. Rooter. We called this company because our sump pump stopped working under our house and some serious flooding was about to occur if we didn't get it handled. Even though it was a very rainy day and flooding problems were cropping up around town, we were able to get an appointment and he showed up promptly. Forrest patiently diagnosed the problem and got the pump working again, without having to do pointless repairs or replacing the very expensive unit. He also cleared out some dirt and debris in our driveway drainage system with me and was a very nice person to be around. I will definitely be calling him for my future plumbing needs.

Kerry M.

Called Friday evening to schedule someone to come for a sewer line clean out. Booked for Sunday 12-2pm. They called Sunday at 1:45pm and said they were delayed. Called two more times and then said they could probably come after 10pm. We waited for them all day. Total hassle. Roy's Plumbing came out as promised and cleared the line in less than 30 minutes.

Justin F.

I had Mr. Rooters Jason Glavis come out to one of our properties for a sewer problem, not only was he timely (an oddity in service these days) but the quality of service was top notch. The price was more than acceptable and given this experience, in contrast to others, and as a property manager, I am compelled to do continued business with them moving forward.

Julie B.

i was very pleased with Mr Rooter's service - they arrived promptly, took care of my plumbing roblems and were extremely courteous and professional. I would definitely call them next time I hear a drip, drip, drip!
A happy customer.

Bonnie L.

""Just because you complained doesn't make you right.""

This is what the project manager told me after I called about being overcharged $123.

When we replaced our main sewer line on our property in San Rafael, we agreed to $7000 plus splitting the cost of the city permit. The contract was written so that the entire job was $7000, including half the permit. This wording was confusing to me so I called the plumber to confirm. Does $7000 total include the permit? He said yes.

So when I called about the overcharge, the project manager spent the next 20 minutes arguing with me. I told him the contract should have been written clearer: ""$7000 plus half the cost of permits."" Why else would I have called to clear up the confusion before we started the work?

He disagreed and kept arguing before finally saying, ""You know what? I don't care. I don't care about this. It's only $123."" He promised that the check would be cut in the next 10 minutes.

So what else do you need to know?

THE GOOD
1) Overall I think they're well meaning people. Except for the project manager, everyone was friendly and cheerful.

2) When our toilets and showers were non functioning, they were super responsive and got to the site quickly.

3) When our cap was missing, the plumber stopped by to replace it at no extra charge.

THE BAD
1) I don't think they're bad people and mean to lie. In my experience, they seemed to overpromise and under deliver and are people with poor follow through skills. You have to keep following up with them on the things they said they were going to do.

Some things I've had to follow up on: sending the contract, sending pictures/video, showing up when they say they're going to show up, contacting us regarding payment, cutting checks. And this is just a partial list.

2) They seem like a small operation with no standard operating procedures, so they'll tell you one thing and then another. Example: They told us plumbers can't handle credit card numbers so the project manager would be calling us to process payment. A week later, I was still contacting them to tell them no one has contact us about it. The plumber wound up taking my credit card info.

FINAL VERDICT
Within 2 weeks of spending $7K to replace the sewer line, our branch line to the washing machine backed up. I don't know if this was coincidence or a result of replacing the main sewer.

Either way, I was tired of Mr. Rooter and called someone else. The new company was so professional (and cheaper too, without any negotiating!) that it made me regret not contacting them about our main sewer line.

Oh and that check that was supposed to be cut 10 minutes after my call? They promised to send the check within a week. It took them 3 months.


Update 2/6/2013
I got a voicemail today from Wendy today. She was very apologetic and said they've they're going to be learning from those mistakes they had made with me. She also asked for me to remove my review because she felt it would adversely affect their business for a long time.

I certainly don't want to ruin their business but Yelp is a place to share experiences, both the good and the bad. My experience is just my experience and I do hope that other Yelpers who have better experiences with them will share it here.