Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Deb B.

I gave San Jose Roto-Rooter 5 stars because they arrived promptly, took a genuine interest in solving the problem and explained why it was clogged. After fixing the sink I then asked if it were possible to get a video of the pipe at the suggestion of my contractor. A tech cameraman was immediately located and my request was completed before dinner. Impressive.
Not cheap but very reasonable for a job well done.

Daniel W.

A few months ago my plumbing backed up. I called Roto-Rooter because they are the only one who actually answered the phone on a Sunday at 5pm.

Now, they weren't cheap. I mean it was pretty late and needless to say it is a ""crappy job"" so I understand why it's not an inexpensive thing to have done. The guy had a hard time finding my house like everyone else does but got here eventually. He had to do a bunch of things because the plumbing at my house isn't exactly done properly (part of the reason it wasn't so cheap... get a good plumber to plumb your house save boat loads of money down the line). He got it cleared up and even offered to do a few extras because my hour wasn't over. He cleaned up everything after he was done and cleaned it well! Turned out I had roots in my pipes, he pointed it out and everything.

OK well, that's what you should expect. A pretty decent job considering the cost. As it turns out, the roots were ONE of the problems. Two months later my system backs up again. They said they have a 90 day warranty so I call them back. Guy comes out and again is very courteous and professional but informs me that I have a different problem so the warranty doesn't cover it. Well, it was my septic system (I live in the country). At this point I don't really care, I just want to be able to use my toilet so I pay the guy. Next day I call and explain that had the first employee checked the septic system I could have had it pumped and it wouldn't have been a problem so therefore I believe that the work should have been covered by the warranty.

They didn't disagree but didn't agree either, they told me that a manager would call me back. They didn't call back until several weeks later and I wasn't even home for the call. My check had already cleared so I figured it was a done deal. Oddly enough though they honored their warranty. In my experience this NEVER happens so that's why they get 4 stars from me. It wasn't the best experience but I don't imagine these guys see many septic systems. Hopefully I don't need to call a plumber again soon but the next time I need one these guys will be my first call.

Joe M.

I had a property that the toilets were backing up and called to schedule an appt. next day. The Tech Jason showed up on time and was professional. He resolved my issue in less than two hours. I AM A SATISFIED CUSTOMER!! Thanks for getting the job done right!

Sharon S.

We had a major sewage blockage and we called Roto-Rooter, they came very fast.
The service was amazing, the guy who came (Jay B - Tech 409) was so nice and very professional and spend also time to explain to us how we can avoid blockages in the future. He also showed us where is the sewage openings inc case we will have an issue in the future.

Overall great service and the price was decent

Thanks much, Sharon

J B.

We had a clogged landscape drain - one could literally see the clog from the open end of the drain pipe. With ""Pineapple Express"" storms on their way, I called them from work to arrange a service appointment with my wife at home. They charged us $250 for a failed service attempt, indicating that the drain was clogged beyond repair, but they still needed to charge us for an hour of service. ...later that night I directed a stream of water from our hose into the drain and in 10 min was able to remove most of the debris. I don't post a lot of reviews, but these guys are expensive, charged for a job not done, and are polite but have terrible service. You can do better - find someone else.

Rose N.

I called for help with my main line and asked for a ball park figure on pricing. Was told by the rep on the phone they could give no estimates or ball park figures unless someone came out. I explained I wouldn't want to waste anyones time to have someone come out and not be able to afford the job so a ball park for what I needed done would be helpful she said sharply ""I'm sorry I don't have any pricing"". Maybe it's their script and she took it to heart. Not helpful in an emergency of course I didn't use them.

Tom L.

This review is for the 356 Mathew Street, Santa Clara Roto Rooter. On June 11, 2014 a technician came out. I expressed two concerns, one about food stuck in the toilet and the second about the sewage line itself. The technician solved the toilet problem but paid no attention the the sewage line problem. For this he charged me 171.75. Now on August 13 I have a sewage backup. I checked my warranty and was informed that I only had a seven day warranty because it was a bowl stoppage case. I would have been happy to have paid the 171 to have them run a rooter line originally....that is why they are called roto-rooter. So now I have to pay someone else to do the job that they did not do. In addition the technician was sloppy in his paperwork, not even putting down the date and mislabeling the guarantee by marking that he had worked on the kitchen sink!

Jason F.

what's the difference really, parking on the fire lane or blocking pedestrians? common sense is not common.

kristine z.

The quality of the work we've had done has been fine, though snaking a drain that we know is clogged isn't exactly rocket science. The two stars go directly to the office, where their proported ""Customer Service"" experts are about as rude and uninterested in providing service to customers as one could possibly imagine.

I made an online appointment earlier today, and received a robo confirmation email with the time, order ID#, and local phone number to call in case there was a problem. Sat around waiting for 2.5 hours, 30 minutes more than the scheduled wait period, but I thoughtfully assumed that Friday afternoons can be tough and gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Finally, at 4:30pm, I called the office to see if there was an issue. At that point I was informed that they had no record of any appointment for me. I offered to give them the ID# from the confirmation email I received, but instead of apologizing and trying to immediately get me on the schedule the woman on the phone chose to blow me off by complaining that, ""Those online appointments go directly to corporate in Chicago and they're supposed to let us know about them. If we didn't personally call you to confirm, than we never got the email from them."" I explained that, while I agree that doesn't sound like a great system, I don't actually care what their back end process is. I care that I made an online appointment and received an email saying it was confirmed, an email that never mentioned a second tier of local confirmation. Her attitude quickly degenerated - it was more than ten minutes into the conversation before she even said, ""I'm sorry the system didn't work,"" but of course then quickly followed it with, ""...but that's not my fault.""

Basically, what could have been a simple error that was smoothed over with a quick apology and immediate service turned into a nasty exchange, for no reason other than that the employee has no concept of customer service.

MORAL OF THE STORY: don't schedule online! Though it could potentially be extremely unpleasant to call the office directly, it seems to be the only way to get service!

Russ T.

I called them to unclog my sewer line, as my pipes were backing up into the showers. Joseph and David came out quickly and did the job quickly with not problems. Joseph even gave me some advice on finding my hard to locate clean-out. They had to access my line from a roof vent, so cost was a little higher. But, Joseph and David were experienced; I got the feeling they could handle whatever plumbing issue I might have. It's great to get guys like them when you call a franchise, and not some rookie right out of training.