Roto-Rooter

Rebecca M.

I live in Oakland. Called Saturday for a big problem --the technician arrived Sunday morning.
That in itself was a plus, as other companies didn't answer, couldn't arrive for days, or were mysteriously MIA: the phone of one plumbing company highly recommended on Yelp had a voice mail withthe vague message ""I'll be gone for a few weeks."" No return date. Weird.

The RotoRooter technician who came was Michael K. At first, he seemed way too young to even be working. WRONG! He is conscientious, thorough, patient. His approach was ""I can fix this...and i'm not leaving until I do!""
There are less expensive places, but it you cannot or don't want to wait (time=money) and want work backed up by a written guarantee, call these people. There's a reason Roto Rooter has been around for decades!

Steve F.

Scheduled Oakland RotoRooter on Saturday for a Sunday clearing of my blocked sewer line.
The technician (Cliff) did a great job clearing it, finishing both that and clearing my shower drain in less than an hour. Although they were delayed past the scheduled window due to being short-handed, they kept me informed on their status and arrived within the updated window of arrival. The $30 discount coupon on their website was an extra plus.

David B.

Complete rip-off!! Stay away!! We had a sewer clog problem, and the guy comes to our house (promptly, on a Sunday; I give him credit for that) and says that it will take two guys to carry the rooter machine downstairs, and the cost is $720 per hour, including any partial hours. That's right. Not a typo. Seven Hundred Twenty per hour. Then he says that even at that price he can't do the work on the same day.

I tell him thanks but no thanks, and then call Alansi's Plumbing which is top-rated here on yelp.

They look at same problem, realize they don't need to haul in big machine to fix it, and for $165 total the problem is solved.

Darin E.

Sure, they came within the promised time window and cleared the bathroom sink drain, but what a rip off! Minimum visit charge: $365. It took the guy 15 minutes to do it, but I still had to pay the full amount. Might have been cheaper just to buy a power snake myself! I feel robbed.

Karen P.

UNRELIABLE, unbelievably so!! Had to schedule a second day's service after waiting near end of first day's three hour window. First plumber incorrectly diagnosed a clog from sewer line leading from our building to one below. Work scheduled for next day to tune of $800. Waited second day for two hours, called office for update, was told team would arrive within next hour. Team completely failed to show or give me the courtesy of a phone call with any explanation before the end of three hour window. I had to return to work, later received a 4 second message: ""Hey, Karen, this is Roto Rooters. If you can just give me a call back..."" Left no phone number, no explanation. He didn't answer his phone when I called back thru caller ID. This morning, NO CALL TO EXPLAIN, APOLOGIZE OR RESCHEDULE ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS. WE REMAINED WITHOUT A FUNCTIONAL TOILET. When I called the manager this morning, he also offered no apology, made no effort to quickly correct the situation, and only offered weak excuses that they had to have two guys come from different locations, hinting they were short staffed and must not have been able to finish on time the night before.

Ramsey S.

The guy who came to fix my kitchen sink is JESUS ROSARIO and he did a great job,

Marion E.

$730 to unclog sewer line. Exactly one month later, same problem and they say do do not guarantee their work. They are suggesting another $350 to run a camera down to see what the problem is now...unbelievable! Rude customer service and a total rip off...

Colleen B.

I would rate this service 0 stars if I could. If you're in a bind, don't bother contacting them. I had called on Wednesday to make an appointment on Friday afternoon (the only time I could take-off from work). The appt was between 3-6 pm. It is now 10:30 pm and I have been told that unfortunately they won't be able to honor my appointment. Mind you, this was after I called every hour on the hour from 5 pm to 10:15 pm. Supposedly someone named ""Ray"" was supposed to call me back, but I never heard from ""Ray"" This is an entirely unreliable business. You've lost my business forever. I would NEVER count on you again. I now have had to resort to an ""urgent"" request through a different 24 hour service, costing me double what was estimated by RotoRooter. Shame on you RotoRooter.

Daniel C.

I had leaking problems with two toilets. I called Roto Rooter and got the same day service, which was good. The service man came and gave me a quote of over $600 (to fix the two toilets). I did not think too much and gave the job to him as he kept saying that plumbing jobs were expensive. After he replaced the fill line and the flapper, he told me, in addition to $600, that the parts costed $160 ( you can get both parts for less than $20). So the total cost was about $750. This was super expensive. Unfortunately, the job was already completed, so I paid. Overall the service was okay, but be careful about how much they charge.

Sergio K.

Since no stars is no option I will have to resort to this.
i made an appointment to clear some pipes.
they offered me 4 hour window 3 to 7pm. While waiting I called them a couple of times
to make sure someone will be coming. They confirmed. At 7 PM I called again to to see why no show. They said the guy will be late a few minutes. I finally gave up after 5.5 hour wait on Saturday night. The people who answer the phone don't give a rip about customer service either.