Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

April M.

Scammers. That's all they are. Between my dad and I we've given Roto-Rooter our business for well over 10 years. While they've never been the cheapest plumbers by far, over the years they seemed to at least get the job done. Well, their recent visit was the last straw for me. Our sump pump in the basement had issues and was shooting water out like a waterfall. My first instinct was that there must be a hole in it. And sure enough the tech gets here and confirms and shows me that there's a hole in the hose. He gives me a verbal quote for $269 + parts (a new hose) and literally tells me """"I give you no discount and we up-charge is that ok?"""" Honestly this is where I should've kicked him out of my home. I was confused by his discount statement especially since I mentioned nothing about one. I initially agreed to him doing the work and he gave me a blank invoice to sign. As he headed to Home Depot to get the hose I started having second thoughts because honestly something just didn't feel right. Over $300 for just a hose replacement? I priced the hoses online and the exact one that was in my basement was only $11. At this point I realize how ridiculous of a quote that is for such an easy fix and I decided I'd do it myself. So I call the main office back and ask them to contact the tech and cancel the job. They claim they spoke with him on the other line and cancelled the service. By the time I'm getting in my car about to head to Home Depot and get the hose myself the tech pulls back up in the driveway with the new hose. I explain the situation to him and he tells me that he never received a call from anyone to cancel. After explaining it to him he seems frustrated and asks me """"so what's the problem"""". I tell him the problem is the price and I don't feel like $300 is reasonable for just a hose replacement. Then he tells me """"No, no it's not just the hose, it's the pump too. The pump is dirty and not pumping properly I have to clean it out"""" ok....he NEVER mentioned anything about the pump until now only the hose. So at this point I agree to the job bc I'm believing he's actually going to repair the pump and not just switch out a hose for $300. Nope. I literally stand there and watch him do the """"job"""" and he literally only changes the hose. Took him all of 5 minutes. Never once attempted to """"clean"""" the pump/motor like he said he'd be doing. All he did was pour water into the hole where the pump is which gets it started. He literally did nothing but switch out the hoses. So of course I have an issue with this. I called Roto-Rooter and they get a manager on the line. I explain my issue and they tell me to ask the tech to call his manager so I can explain to him. The plumber gets upset and wants to argue with me and justify his price, gets more upset and storms to his car....I go back inside and finish talking to the manger on my end. They basically tell me since he's already done the """"work"""" I have to talk to his manger on his end about it. After the tech's temper tantrum he rings my bell and hands me his phone with his manager on the line. Long story short the manager apologizes to me and chalks it up to being a language barrier (the technician had an accent) ..and offered me a $100 discount. While I do think there may have been somewhat of a disconnect in communication I also believe he 100% knew exactly wtf he was doing. The final invoice the tech shows me, he writes on there that he made adjustments to/cleaned the pump + changed the hose. When I asked him when did he exactly repair/clean the pump bc he definitely didn't do it as I watched him....he gets combative but can't answer the simple question. The reality is he didn't do crap but change a hose and charged me an insane amount for it. The $100 discount still left me with a $214 bill. Before leaving, the tech tried to make light of the situation and asked if I was happy now. I told him no I'm not. Then he says """"next time I'll give you a good discount"""".....I told him there won't be a next time. And there absolutely won't be. Roto-Rooter and their scammy business practices will NEVER step foot in my home again. They've lost a longtime customer.

S. P.

My experience is based on terrible service and very expensive. Run away and do not use them. Plumber was alex and tried to fix a sink in my home. Charged me 350 + parts and said he would return in 2 days and replace from a part he had to purchase. I had 3 other small jobs to fix in the home which he did and I paid for all of it. I had a leak that was identified and required a new water main to run to my home. The plumber had no experience with this and could not repair a simple sink faucet. He called another plumber from roto rooter because of my new pipe that had to be run. They quoted me $7800. I had a second opinion and it was fixed within 4 hours for $2300. I have asked for a refund on my sink but no response from the corporate office. Terrible company, horrible inexperienced plumbers who should not be in the business. I had 2 other opinions due to the major problem in my home and both disagreed with roto rooters.

Doug B.

I had some of the same experiences I've read of on this site, wish I looked earlier, but I was in a bind. I had a clogged drain and I called Roto Rooter first thing in the morning. They told me they would be able to come to the house that day. I asked repeatedly and that's what they said. I called three more times that day because nobody showed. Each time someone was supposed to call me back, but that didn't happen. Finally late that night I get a call from Michael, and he showed up the next afternoon. He worked for approximately 3 hours snaking the drain. The labor charge was $1,140.00. Less than 30 days later I had the same problem. I called another plumber who found ROOTS in the sewer line between the house and the street. They did not grow there in 30 days. So obviously the job was incomplete. I lost a good bit of money because of Roto Rooter as I had to pay twice for the same service.

Brian P.

Perfect experience. The technician was courteous, professional and very competent. He resolved the sewer drain quickly. He also recommended several maintenance tips to prevent the problem from reoccurring. We have used them before, and We would recommend using Roto Rooter if you have a plumbing issue. They also came very quickly, the price was fair as well Also please check out the discount coupons on there web site

Karen F.

Great service! Zurab was very polite and hard working. He had our clogged pipe fixed in no time

M L.

Don't be fooled by R.R's quick response to reviews. Corporate roto rooter does that to make them look responsive. Nothing came of it except an email that a regional manager would call me. Well, I talked to a manager right after the plumber left. He said the only recoarse was for him to talk to the plumber about not telling me how much the work would cost before it was started. I definately didn't want to make the plumber mad. (He had just left my house.) So, I told manager to drop it and that I would just never use them again.

Aneel R.

Worst company to work with. Scheduled the appointment and no showed up. They kept promising that they will send out technician as soon as they can. 48 hrs gone by no one showed up. Very unprofessional people.

Raghu T.

Hi, This was my first experience and probably the last with Roto Rooter. The technician came on time and stayed for about 15 mins. In these 15 mins all he suggested was that I should actually replace the entire water heater as I already had warranty for it. And that he would be able to do so for $600. The technician even offered to bring in the equipment in his truck for additional $120. There was no check done on the equipment nor was there an attempt made to repair it. I do not think the technician was even prepared or had any alternative equipment that could have repaired or replaced. For this advice the technician charged me $120. All I was left with an impression that the technician wanted and was looking for ways to extract more money from consumer. This was a terrible experience and I will certainly not recommend to any of my friends. Later I contacted another plumbing company (K.E. Greene Mechanical/Hydronics) and they were able to replace the part, fix the water heater for the same price. They even worked with the manufacture so that I am not charged as the product is covered under warranty. My Advise: Stay away from them! They are not even worth a penny of your hard earned money. Thanks, Raghu

Pamela B.

Schedule service from Roto rooter in the Jonesboro Ga. area for Saturday September 22, between 8 am and 12:00pm, they did not show so reschedule the same service for September 30th. Again they did not show after I called twice that same day to inquire when I should expect the workers to arrive. Called then at around 12:15pm to complain about the poor customer service and the fact that I should have been the first service stop today since I was missed last week. Not only were they not even profession to even call me before my missed appointment to let me know that the were running late. Instead at 12:29pm after I had already called them they called to advise me on the status of my repair order. I was a repeat customer but if this the way they conduct business I will find someone else. I had three issues I needed addressed. Not only did the tech show not concern but the receptionist who addressed the phone did not show any concern or empathy. My repair order should have been annotated to show that I was a previous customer with a prior missed appointment. My time is valuable and I could have been doing something else besides waiting for repair people who did not show. PBass

Nancy R.

Expensive and poor customer service! I've relied on Alex when I had plumbing(toilet) issues, but little did I know how much they overcharged. He replaced my water heater tank about 1-2 years ago. So he's been to my home 3 times now. Recently I called on Alex to fix my PRV. Alex asked me where the water valve is located. The whole time he talked about how he's experienced he is and that he's the top man. So how does an experienced plumber not know where the water valve is, especially when he's been to my home and turned it off before in the garage. Well this time, he shut off my water using the outside valve. After replacing the PRV he couldn't turn the water back on. I said that he didn't complete the job since he didn't turn the water back on. He said it wasn't his problem and that I had to pay for his services of replacing the PRV(which was almost double the cost as normally priced). He left my garage a mess and was very rude when I was upset that I didn't have water!