Richards Rooter and Plumbing

Jp M.

Warning, fairly long post...

Bottom line up front: Unclogged a drain line by removing a toilet and using a ""medium"" snake after given a precise description and diagnosis of the problem. called at 9:30PM showed at 10:30PM and completed work at 11:30PM for $500.

Preface and disclosure: I have worked construction in the past including working for an electrical contractor who made 24hr house calls. I have a lot of plumbing experience including troubleshooting clogged drain lines.

Got the call from the wife in the middle of the day that there was a foul smell in the house. Came home at 8pm and did the battle crawl and determined the root cause of the problem and attempted to fix with my meager arsenal of tools which didn't cut it. Not wanting to leave my family in the lurch until I was able to rent a machine from HD and un-clog the drain myself, I hesitantly called a ""24hr"" plumber. Richard was the second number I called and I got a answering machine. Hoping for a live response from a 24hr outfit, i decided not to leave a message and go back to trying to fix it myself.

30min later, Richard calls the house and says someone called here and didn't leave a message. I say, yeah, I have a blah, blah problem.
richard says, because of the time it will be $250 for the visit but it will be applied to the cost. I reluctantly say okay. He shows up in about an hour and the first thing he does is shove a clipboard with a page full of 4pt font and says, sign here! Oh, and he says he's tired. Like 4 times. After I tell him the exact issue he says okay, let me get the invoice and write it up. He tells me it will be $500 to clear the drain without a guarantee it will open. So I'm left with a choice- punt on this opportunistic plumbing grifter or get gouged and bet on the come that his ""medium"" snake will work to clear the clog that I already identifed. I say, you are gouging me at $500. And this is the best part.... He says, I know, it's late. This is classic... He's the freaking clown that called me back at 930pm looking for business. Go figure. Wait. the other best part, ""the wax ring is included.. ""Whoa, what an effing bargain!

More to say but whatever, lesson learned. If one person reads this and punts on hiring this clown then cool.

Oh yeah, what kind of plumber doesn't have his own towels and tarps...

Danny R.

Richard goes beyond what any plumber I've ever used . He's very diligent in his work . after using several plumbers to clean out a plugged main line that they claimed they cleared..witch they didn't ..Richard with all his vast knowledge and modern equipment, finally cleared it , using sewer video inspection camera , hydrojetting the line and later snaking it , I couldn't believe what he was showing and actually accomplished what no other cheesy plumber could do ..I was very please with his effort and professionalism.. Outstanding work.

A R.

DO NOT USE!! Only gave him one star because I could not give him less.
We had a leak in a main pipe out at the street. We had to turn all the water off to the whole home. Called Richards plumbing and they said they would be out by 2-3pm next day. I took time off work to wait but they never showed up. They finally called at 7:30pm and said they didn't have my address or number, yet he called me. I had sent him my name address and phone number that morning, with pictures of the problem.
If he did not get my text, how did he call me? He said he would be at my home in the morning. When he did show up he was upset because, I had told him the wrong size of pipe he needed to repair. He then threw out a price of 650.00 to fix the problem plus 100.00 just to look at a clogged tub. I wanted to hire a local plumber but it turns out this company is over 50 miles away. This company tries to intimidate you into doing the work. This guy began to get aggressive so I gave him 100.00 and told him to leave. I repeat DO NOT USE!!! The are out in Chatsworth.

Sharon S.

We used Richard for a drainage issue on our cement walkway. He came out promptly and diagnosed the problem with his camera. After cutting back a patch of concrete, he saw more of a problem with the roots. Since we were out of town at that time, he told us of the additional problem and the additional cost. All in all, he probably came to our house 4 times do and finish the job. He removed the plants that needed to be removed to do the job and poured the new concrete. He left the area very neat and clean. Richard provides great service and his prices are in line with most other plumbers. I would definitely use him again!

Jack L.

Beware!!!

Had worst experience with this company. Highly unprofessional and does a horrible job. Overcharging and horrible attitude are what you'll get with these guys. Creating issues and instilling fear in clients in order to up sell and rip you off!!! Look anywhere else for help with plumbing.

When he came out to my Home to help with a clogged pipe he charged me $250 just to come and look. Made something up about roots clogging the pipe but wouldn't put his camera in the pipe until I paid him another $250 bucks!! He put the camera in the pipe. Pulled it out 5 minutes later and told me the results were inconclusive but Pay me the $250 now. After some arguing and a fear of Richard possibly turning violent after some threats I paid him and asked him to leave my property immediately.

I then contacted a larger plumbing company who sent a plumber out and resolved my problem within minutes for $125.

Keep having this review removed and I will keep posting it.

Artin S.

Had a mainline clogged in one of the apartment buildings and called Richard. He came out the same day and fixed the issue. Great Price! Great Service! I would recommend him to anyone with plumbing issues.

Philip M.

We had a minor plumbing issue that our insurance provided plumber tried to turn into an expensive main line repair. I called Richard and he said it sounded fishy. He then evaluated it himself and cleared up the problem with a simple rooter. He saved us a lot of money. He was thorough, competent and honest, and we would certainly use him again.

Richard S.

My plumbing went out in the middle of the night on New Year's Day. I called Richard in the morning and he promptly diagnosed the problem and made some excellent recommendations for the future. I would use him again.

Stephan K.

If this gets published it's because I never received a call and/or explanation to Richard's Rooter and Plumbing cancellation. I waited a day so here it is...

I called several Rooter Companies and got voice mail. I called Richard's Rooter and Plumbing and he (or his guy on call) answered immediately. He gets one star for that. I explained the situation and said he would be here in 1.5 hours. He was concerned getting his equipment to the main line would be difficult up a small hill 15 feet from the street. I offered to help, offered an alternative place to park and set up with only 2 steps to deal with and let him know that it was done before without a problem. This is where I should've said no thanks to his whine but he did said he would be out. With a 6 day old baby and sick toddler, I really needed it. Other companies did call back ready to go but I let them know I had someone on the way....so I thought. Getting dark, I decided to make a trip to pick up some outdoor lighting to make Richard's life easier and exactly when he was supposed to arrive, I got his text saying ""sorry, I'm not gonna be able to make it tonight"". I text back ""will it be in the morning?"". Nothing. That's it? No explanation? I called his phone and no answer and still no answer hours later as I write.

From their website: ""A Plumbing Emergency or any Plumbing Emergencies should be handled quickly and your call will be answered by a live person 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. At Richards Rooter And Plumbing we Provide the most cost effective solution to any plumbing situation, no matter the difficulty or size of the problem"".

Really? Is this the same company that I called (thinking as I wash dishes outside using my right hand, relieving with my left). I double checked and yes it was. What a joke of a company and a waste of my time.

So if you are in need of a professional service that keeps their word, I suggest you go elsewhere. Unfortunately I can't flush, but looking at this toxic steamer is a good reminder of what I think of this Richard's Rooter and Plumbing service. Actually I'm glad they didn't make it seeing what other reviewers are saying. I had someone else out the next morning within an hour and had it unplugged in 5 minutes.

ramzi b.

We had a problem on the bathroom sink and the faucet was completely clogged. We called Richard's Rooter and Plumbing and richard fixed it instead of offering us to replace everything with brand-new fixtures. We called the other plumber out earlier and they were offering us to replace a bunch of things like pipes faucets and valves. I saved over $1000 thanks to Richard. I would recommend him to anyone. Richard is very professional and he knows what he's doing. He used compressed air to flush out the water pipe and that's it.