Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Marin County

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.

Sharon N.

Called for service to my toilet, which noisily, intermittently ran, as the water attempted to refill itself in the tank. Drove me nuts to hear it come on all the time, until finally, I turned the water valve off completely so I could sleep in peace at night. I called Mr. Rooter Plumbing because I had, in the past, beckoned them to repair other water-related problems in my home. I recalled that they had done an efficient job at that time. I was able to book an appointment very quickly. They gave me a window of arrival time: between 12p-2p. Service person, Robert, arrived at my home right at the onset of the 2-hour window--at 12pm. I was overjoyed that I would not remain prisoner in my own home, waiting until the last minute of the quoted window of time. Robert evaluated the status of my complaints, then took time to explain the toilet mechanisms and why they needed to be replaced. He not only replaced my old, defective fixtures, but also brought my attention to the issue of noise emanating from an old, original valve. I decided to have that replaced also. Most of my bathroom plumbing is years old, if not original. If the Serviceman had not noticed or mentioned this issue, I would probably still be listening to noise from water flowing into the tank, very slowly at that. I am most satisfied with the service I received from Mr. Rooter Plumbing--the timeliness of arrival, and the thoroughness. Everything was tidied up in the bathroom when the serviceman left. I was also able to use a service discount coupon, available on Mr. Rooter Plumbing website. The service is not cheap, but reasonable in today's world. Plus, this company does not charge for overtime work being done at your home, OR travel time TO your home. Either way, we are all going to spend some moola for getting bathroom or other plumbing repairs. I will DEFINITELY call Mr. Rooter Plumbing again in the future!

J.J D.

They charged me close to 100.00 and when they left I saw that boyh my toilet handles were broken. I asked them to come back and fix them. They came back and wrrent able to fix them but charged me $50.00 more dollars saying that they were broken to begin with...Never Again! I have been afraid to call another plumber, yes tge problem came back soon after.

Sean W.

He came out to look at a sink problem. He charged me $150 and told me he'd have to order a part and come back. That was 3 months ago and he won't return my calls.

Run away from this plumber!

jane s.

Because i was assured over the phone that there would be no charge for an estimate on a leaky tub faucet, I made an appointment for one of their plumbers to come to my house to assess the situation.

He spent over an hour looking under the house and turning on and off my water and talking to his boss on the phone... but ultimately had no idea how to fix the leak. He then suggested having the built in tub lifted out and turned around to have better access... which would cost me around $3000 with a new faucet... same tub..mind you.. with a new faucet. then he tried to charge me $300 for his time.... leaving me with a faucet that was leaking worse than before he screwed around with it. The $300 included $20 for gas! even though they were supposedly a local company.