Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Chaz N.

There is More than Phishing on the Web to Worry About

While I was away on business, an exposed PVC pipe in my sprinkler system broke - the problem was plainly visible (see photo). Once the water was shut off, my wife called Roto-Rooter. After failing to be there later that day, they arrived the following day and - without looking at the problem - quoted her $1,975. Not knowing the extent of the damage, she agreed.

Here is the breakdown. $220 for parts (their choice to replace PVC with copper). $1,730 labor for one plumber and an apprentice. Total time at our home - including the time they left for lunch - about three hours, maybe a little less.

When I called and complained, the supervisor's defense was that my 77-year-old wife agreed to the offer, which is true. I'm guessing this is not the first time he justified a grand payday in this manner. As for the parts, he told me he did not have a breakdown available.

Never in my life have I treated a client in this manner, which is why they stay with me.

This is Roto-Rooter Plumbing and Water Cleanup based in Livermore, CA. It has a one-and-done business model. Know this if you choose to engage anyone who works there - or maybe any Roto-Rooter franchise.

S. K. C.

Fast service, repairs were done quickly and the problem hasn't resurfaced. Wish they were a bit cheaper but I guess the reliability is worth the $$$$.

Anurag B.

Called them in November 2021 for emergency slab leak. Out of 20 different plumbers I called, roto rooter were the least professional ones, never called back, kept missing appointments to even give an estimate and I never received the actual estimate. Their initial range was 3 times of what I actually paid to another plumber. Please avoid and save yourself unnecessary stress.

Anil A.

I am not very happy with their service. My home toilet was clogging. They came and cleaned the main pipe. But the clog happened again in just three months. And they gave only 30 days assurance for any future clog. I am not sure they really understood the problem or they did not have expertise in figuring out the real problem. I would not recommend them and won't use them again.

Kevin P.

First off, I HATE calling plumbers or anyone to work on my house. I feel like I should be able to do it myself. I had an issue with my drain and Tarhea came out to fix the issue. I can't explain how grateful I am. Tarhea was professional and had amazing customer service skills. I'm the type of person that wants to know everything that's going on and Tarhea explained every step of the process and made me feel comfortable and informed. I truly could not ask for anything more. I will be a roto rooter fan for life

I work in customer service and truly appreciate good customer service. The type of customer service Tarhea provided was world class and is a shinning example of how it's done.

Thank you Tahera, keep training that German Shepard and providing world class customer service

Mike Q.

Our tenant called on a Friday late morning. I called Roto Rooter Livermore. I was told they would respond between 10-2 on Saturday. They arrived at 7:15 PM. Wanted $340 per hour. No thanks, I'll pay someone else who can be on time.

AL C.

I am very disappointed not being able to get a timely estimate. I waited Saturday and all day Sunday, I did not get a voicemail on Saturday at 8:45pm. Then I called Sunday and they said they would be out between 12 - 4pm and got a call at 7:30pm who said he would like to reschedule and I asked to be cancelled. I feel if they are unreliable about showing up, I cannot trust them to do any work on my home. I wasted both days waiting on the estimates.

Bonnie S.

Our main sewer line backed up after the big rain last week. Hubby is super handy but this was too much, even for him. He called the national 800 number and we were assured someone would be in contact within an hour. It was already late evening but as promised, the guy showed up on time and was very professional, efficient and friendly. Luis (I believe) said it was his FIRST DAY! He got the pipe cleared quickly and called in the pipe cam guy, Jason, to give us a video of the entire pipe. Great service, friendly techs and we were up and running in just a couple hours. These guys turned what could have been a stressful mess into nothing to fret about. We are very grateful.

Yunhe M.

We highly recommend Roto-Rooter for their extremely hard work, absolutely professional , and high quality service. We contacted Roto-Rooter after another plumbing company failed to open our swear line three times. Manager Stephen Boudreau , Technician Eric came to our house the same night I called and worked under the darkness until very late : snaking, camera, video and diagnose. They started the job on the second day : digging through concrete, breaking the old pipe and placing the new swear line. During the working time, there were two storm days and they never stopped working on the site. Miguel, one of the crew members, is smart, experienced and extremely hard worker. Now our swear is perfectly fine. We finally come back to our normal life. We are very much thankful to Stephen and his colleagues.

Simon F.

My wife and I needed our kitchen sink to be looked at (we learned yesterday that the garbage disposal had to be replaced).
An appointment was scheduled for Sunday.

My wife was told that a technician was going to come between 10-12.
She then learned that the time frame was really from 11-3 (right away I wondered if there was a communication issue).

I had places to go with my family, and we were waiting around for hours in vain (our day was sort of wasted).
Shortly before 4:30, my wife was told that a technician was not going to come after all (""Available 24/7"" seems like a joke- my wife and I both got the impression that the technicians don't really work past 5 p.m.).
My wife received a phone call after 1 indicating that the technician was running late, and all that did was give us some false hope.

A new appointment was set for Monday.
My wife made it clear to the man on the phone that we had to work.
We couldn't be home all day like on Sunday.

The technician was supposed to come between 5-7.
Because he came early (my wife was given no details as to why- she was simply told that he was ""on his way""), my wife had to leave work early and race to pick up our son from school (her only assurance was that the technician would ""wait a few minutes"").
I also felt rushed to head home (I should have been around when the work was done, but I missed the technician by about 3 minutes).

https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/roto-rooter-plumbing-and-water-cleanup-livermore?select=Uzyt0yaRlwzCv_Ae9RId7A:
Labor: $690.
Parts: $159.96.
Discount (we used a coupon): $50.
Tax: $14.80.
Contract Price: $814.76.
(It's also upsetting to know that our total would have been $864.76 without the coupon.)

My wife and I were ripped off.
$690 for labor was totally ridiculous (an estimate of $820 was given, but the technician did not break things down at all- I think he knew that ""$690 for labor"" would have alarmed my wife).
The technician did 1 task and only worked for about 18 minutes (including the time he was waiting outside, he was at the house for about 45 minutes).

My wife asked a few questions, and the technician was not impressive in terms of how much he knew.
He also didn't work on the faucet (my wife asked about something that can wait, and the work wouldn't have taken long).
My wife said no because that would have been another $350 (highway robbery).

On the invoice, the technician recommends that the faucet work be done ""soon.""
It's arrogant to even think that Roto-Rooter would be considered for that job.

There was a lack of customer service in general.
No one apologized or anything for the nonsense that we had to endure (believe me, I'm keeping myself from swearing up and down while writing this review).

I'm mad at myself for suggesting Roto-Rooter (we should have gone with a company that my mother-in-law recommended, but I foolishly had some loyalty to Roto-Rooter).
I gave the company 4 stars 7.5 years ago.
I didn't know that things had really gone downhill since then.
I read some negative reviews while at work yesterday, but I still thought that our total would be around $400.

https://www.rotorooter.com/livermoreca/:
It's weird.
My wife and I thought that we were dealing with the San Leandro location, but we weren't.
It's also kind of comical that the general phone number listed is no longer in service (the invoices need to be revised a little).

As another reviewer points out, the company was ""locally owned"" before a ""big corporation took over.""
When that happened, prices dramatically increased.

Our time and our money were wasted.
Please learn from our experience and don't give the company your business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilnl2iHd1Ec&ab_channel=OrianthiTV