Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Kate M.

Total 5 star service from start to finish. We had water in our basement and the Roto team came within 2 hours of calling. Bryce and Gil went above and beyond helping us to problem solve, work through our issue, and get to a staged solution for us (so we could get back to our daily living -- showers, running water, the whole thing!). Professional, friendly and courteous -- I can't recommend them enough!!! Thank you so much. Kate M.

Karen R.

This is a extremely misleading and overpriced company. If I could leave no stars I would.

I was having a problem with my toilet making bubbles when I was talking a shower, I did not know what was going on so friends said sounds like your main sewer line has a clog.
I called Roto Rooter told them the problem and asked how much the service would cost.
They said they would send a technician out to do a inspection and see if there was a problem.
I asked if there was a problem would any change for the inspection be put towards the service?
I was told the inspection was free and the technician would go over the price when they get to your home.
I was given a two hour window, they were here within the two hour window.
The technician showed up I asked him about pricing and he said I need to take a look and handed me a contract for $530 without even looking at the problem. He would do nothing until the contract was signed.
I am a single female home owner and felt he was very pushy with me.
He found the problem snaked the sewer line I watched the camera go down and saw the problem myself. When he was done he gave me a bottle of Roto Rooter drain cleaner, told me my problem was solved and I have a six month guarantee.
Well three days later the toilet was bubbling again,
I was so glad I had a guarantee.
The technician was at my home maybe 40 minutes when he snaked my house the first visit.
I thought maybe he didn't get the entire problem finished.
I called and was given a two hour window between 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock.
They were running behind and I got several calls to let me know they were behind.
I was home for the day so I was very nice and said that was not a problem.
The technician showed up a little after 5 o'clock said what's the problem?
We went to the toilet and I told him I was having the same problem as I was before.
He said I will run the water to make sure, I went to watch TV and let him do his job.
He came to me after just a few minutes and said I have a important call from my boss. Could you watch the toilet for bubbling while I am outside in my truck? I looked at him and told him that was not my job.
He came back in and told me he was not the technician that started the job so he would be charged for this the original technician was working but could he come tomorrow?
I said no I am on a 12 hour shift tomorrow.
Well at 6 o'clock Now I am upset.
I called they said he will be there soon.
My 12-2 appointment was done at 8:30 at night.
The original technician had a whole new nasty attitude, found the problem and snaked again.
He came and told me you have a severely bad grease buildup. I looked at him asked why did you not tell me this on your visit a few days ago?
He now wanted to do a water jet cleaning.
I asked how much will that cost me a thousand dollars?
I asked about my 6 month guarantee and he said I am not going to keep coming here for free.
I said it was not free I just paid you $530 dollars.
All I can say is HORRIBLE.

Dan B.

Follow up to my last review. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY!!!! Be warned people!
When I wrote to the company and complained after finding out from other companies they charged 2-3 times the same rate to make the exact repair I was called by a customer service rep named "" Chris "" . What a clown! He had no interest in hearing my displeasure and actually insulted and started arguing with me about how typical plumbers bill out at $310 per hour but since his plumber had 17 years experience that he worked "" much faster "" than most plumbers trying to justify the rate. Doing the math ... he took 1/2 hour to make the repair which I paid $465 for
( that's $ 930 an hour !!) The plumber did offer me a SPECIAL $55 discount "" because he said he "" liked me"" and i was a good guy that a competitive plumber asked me "" did they offer you the $55 discount they offer everyone "" and laughed about
it .... meaning they offer this to EVERYONE ( after they rip you off ) !! STAY AWAY !!! I wish I had taken the time to get other quotes.

Evan U.

Roto-Rooter was quick to respond to both of my service requests, however the prices and helpfulness are hard to swallow. My kitchen sink wasn't draining, and the dishwasher was backing up into the sink. My first appointment was on 9/15, when one technician cabled the drain. I explained that the disposal unit hadn't been working since I bought the house in April, and wondered if that was causing the problem. He explained that it probably wasn't the case bc the sink should still be able to drain. So, I paid $465 for him to snake the drain. My sink drained for about a week and a half before the same problems came right back. I called, again, and had someone come out on 10/7. By this appointment, I had purchased a replacement disposal unit, but didn't have the technical knowledge to install it. I asked (again) if the disposal could be the cause of the problem, and showed the technician that I was intending to replace it. This technician almost immediately pointed out that it was the problem, but it was going to be $519 for him to install the new one (which had already been purchased separately). I explained that I couldn't reason why the price was so high, considering I just paid $465 for the ineffective cabling. The price was suddenly adjustable and sank to $260. I appreciate the discount, but the experience now feels like a hustle. I paid the $260 and the sink, disposal, and dishwasher work and drain great. But the $465 was a waste.

Tim M.

STAY AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF AND INTIMIDATED!

We had installed a new faucet and drain in our downstairs bathroom and realized it didn't fit quite right into the PVC drain pipe. We were looking for someone to come and redo the drain piping under the sink. Not a huge job, but something I didn't want to deal with doing myself after a very long week of work. We called Roto-Rooter because we figured with a well known name, they'd be fast, courteous and able to do the job that day while I was at work and it wouldn't disturb my wife too much who works from home. The plumber was very condescending to my wife and was absolutely trying to pinch every penny we had. He spoke in a very confusing, and urgent way, making it seem like there was a lot more going on than there really was. He turned a $200 job into an almost $900 bill, double charging us, calling it ""two separate jobs"". He also tried to sell us a whole house water filter to clear up sedimentation. While looking at the water meter in the basement, he said we needed to get our water meter replaced ASAP, which he claimed cost an extra $2700. He actually threatened that if he were to call the city that it wouldn't be up to their code of standards, and that we'd have to have our water shut off until they fixed it. When my wife said we didn't have that kind of money just laying around he responded in a antagonistic tone saying ""well you gotta figure out a way to find some!"" He was at our house for just about 2 hours, but was in his truck for over 45 minutes, while leaving a putrid chemical smell to waft through the house without telling my wife he was going outside. She could smell it from the other side of the house and had to open the windows and turn on the fans to air it out. Overall, he did a great job with the work, but really did everything he could to intimidate and take advantage of my wife who was already in an anxious state (over his confrontational approach and the exorbitant bill), trying his best to justify charging $900 for a 1 hour, job with $25 worth of parts.

When I got home, I called the office to speak with a supervisor to let them know we were double charged and try to get our money back for the ""extra"" job we were billed for. The plumber had added in a new stopper for the drain, saying it was going to be sturdier than the one we had put in, but we hadn't asked him to even do this, and this is what was invoiced as the ""extra job"" costing an additional $400. I spoke with Karen, a woman who was so apathetic and relentless she would not let me get a word in. She was so catty, had no sympathy for our situation, said he did everything by the book, and scoffed at my sincere feelings that the plumber was trying to scare and intimidate my wife to make her think the job should cost more than it really was worth. Karen was so argumentative that I gave up even trying to plead my case with her. She even insinuated my wife of being stupid, saying she should have been able to see and understand everything written on the invoice because she could read it in under 30 seconds ""so where's the disconnect with your wife"" (even though when the plumber was explaining things to her he was doing so very fast and trying to blow over the fact that he was charging us twice for the same thing). After getting off the phone, she called back a few minutes later, saying the plumber actually coincidentally came to the office and she conferred with him about my discrepancies on the invoice. She basically called back just to argue with me more. I could hear her seething through her fake smile and condescending ""nice"" voice. She offered me a $40 coupon to be applied to the bill. I said that was insulting and that doesn't make up for the extra $400 charge for literally nothing. I finally gave up and got off the phone. This turned a what would have been nice afternoon for myself and my wife into a stressful evening full of negative energy leftover from the plumber in our house as well as Karen the supervisor giving me the worst customer service I have had in my entire life. Stay away folks.

Meghan B.

Caution! Never use this company. I had a clog in drain under my sink which prevented my dishwasher from draining. I called RR for service and when they came the said I needed to clean out the pipes all the way down to the basement as well as replace part of the drain in my kitchen. They estimated the whole job at almost $900.00. I told them to just replace the pipe under the sink where the clog was as everything else in the home was draining properly. So it obviously wasn't in the basement. They were just trying to scam money from me.

They replaced part of the pipe under the sink below the trap and charged me over $300.00. The dishwasher still didn't drain. They said I needed a new dishwasher. I was Annoyed that this dishwasher was new and expensive. So they left.

My uncle came over to look at the clog issue. He was able to fix it In less than 3 minutes without replacing any piping. There was a clog in the trap that he stuck a screwdriver into to break up the clog. They replaced the pipes before the trap where the clog was and it wasn't the dishwasher at all.

I called to complain about being charged to fix something that didn't need be fixed and they keep giving me the run around. They are totally scam artists and have awful customer service. Stay away!

Jedi K.

Update- 4/20/18

Q: How can a company that charges over 2x as much as the highest hourly rate that a normal/honest plumber would charge & that slaps on an extra $50 for parts make itself look even worse?

A: By assigning one of their people to keep up with Yelp reviews and pretend to take complaints seriously. ""Pat Swanson"" contacted me and said a complaint would be filed on my behalf. The local Roto Rooter branch called me and essentially told me ""Well, that's just the way it is-that's how we do business."" That's it! I understand that the company wants to try to make people think they are doing something to address negative Yelp reviews--and having a rep type in responses to each one might look impressive--but there is no substance. You cannot run a business this way and expect it to survive. Roto Rooter is a joke.

Dyanna D.

So my mom was having some problems with her kitchen sink. We called, they sent someone out asap. Matt M. Came to my mothers rescue. He was polite, sweet and knowledgeable about the situation and gave us some tips to avoid the problem again! I would highly recommend them. We will also Only be asking for Matt! Great job!

William S.

I was totally in a jam with a stopped up septic line (see what I did there). I had guests coming in for the weekend and a first floor bathroom that was unusable. The first company that came to mind for a solution was Roto-Rooter. I called the local outfit and explained the problem. The person on the phone was super friendly and told me someone would be there within the hour. Sure enough, 30 minutes later the Roto-Rooter truck was pulling down the driveway. The clog proved to be stubborn but the friendly tech that came out wouldn't leave until I was 100% convinced that the problem was solved. He even took a high resolution camera and snaked it down through the line so I could see that he had completely cleared it. The price was totally reasonable and the speed of service was phenomenal. Everyone I dealt with from start to finish was very friendly and professional. I hope I don't need them again, but if I do, Roto-Rooter will be first on my list to call.

Amy L.

UPDATE AS OF 9/1/17

After three weeks of back and forth, the manger Christopher Miller, finally dropped off a $50 gift card to my house today. I literally renewed my RI drivers license online and, received in the mail quicker than these jerks got me a gift card for fucking up their service. Ready for the kicker....!....they told me they'd give me $100 gift card to a place of my choosing and they only gave me $50. Upward and onward, corporate here I come!!!! Two can play this game. Let the games begin.


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8/12/17

So after a couple weeks of waiting for Roto Rooter to get in touch with me, I finally talked to them yesterday. They were apologetic for what had happened, and completely owned their mistakes which was refreshing. They offered me a $100 gift card to wherever I chose as an apology so I guess I'll be getting that in the mail soon.

I appreciate their ownership for their mistakes, and their attempt to make up for it, but I still won't recommend their services or give them a higher rating on here.

Good riddance!