Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Mary Ann H.

I wish I could have given a NO STAR review! I'd used Roto Rooter in the past, but this time, the experience was so horrific, I would never call them again. The technician showed up, told me I had to sign his IPad before he could begin work (which apparently was a release absolving them of their future sins), put on his haz-mat gear and went down into the basement. Took the cap off the pipe, started snaking out the drain, came back up and said, ""Sorry, the sewer line is broken"". (Not his fault, the town broke it fixing a water main break). He charged me $300 and left - but not before breaking my storm door as he was removing his equipment. That night we had a heavy rainstorm. I woke at 2 AM to the sound of water gushing in my basement. The idiot hadn't fastened the sewer pipe cap correctly, the cap was off and my basement was flooded with raw sewage. Their position was ""Well, we said there was no guarantee."" I had to call haz-mat professionals to clean the basement. I tried to contact Roto Rooter by both email and snail mail. They don't care enough to give a response.

Dave P.

Probably one of the worst and nastiest Roto Rooter franchises I've come across. Having done drain cleanings myself, someone else called this outfit to unclog a main drain as I was away for work at the time. Have dealt with other roto rooters in the past before I got the equipment to do it myself, but never dealt with the BS like the Bergen franchise.

I was told the technician himself was nice enough, but he wasn't really able to clean the main drain since he hit an obstruction around 60 feet out to the street. Thats fine, I probably have a collapsed pipe which needs to be taken care of by a plumber. But at least it should've been cleaned out to that point, I was told he got a few things cleared but when I get home the bathtub and toilet are still clogged to the brim and not draining at all. The guy only did one pass with the drain machine, something may have gotten stuck or snagged on the way back up right near the opening he started at. At least test or do something to make sure the water is partially draining, then go in for another pass just to make sure.

Real problem was when I called the franchise number when I got home, I was wondering why I was charged $382.78 for a drain cleaning when they weren't able to clean it. My first question was just to have the guy come back and just run the drain snake again to the point it couldn't go any further to get the stuff that may have gotten snagged on the way back up. This nasty hag of a woman told me nope he isn't coming back out, the guarantee is 0 days. 0 day guarantee, wtf is that. Um, on roto rooters own website it states they guarantee their work. She proceeded to give me every other excuse in the book on why they don't back their work. Being fed up at this point, I am questioning why I am getting fully charged for a drain cleaning when they weren't able to do it. I can understand a service call charge which I would've paid, but this? After more BS from this woman, I told her I will be doing a chargeback on my card which is going through right now.

From roto rooters website - https://www.rotorooter.com/plumbing-basics/roto-rooter-101/how-much-does-roto-rooter-cost/

""No hassle guarantee* means we'll come back to fix anything that doesn't stay fixed after we worked on it. Your local handyman might tell you he'll stand behind his work, but what happens if he has moved or his phone is disconnected? If you're spending good money on a plumber, you deserve to be covered by an honest guarantee.*""

Nice, I see the deceptive advertising - guess the asterisks mean this franchise, Bergen / Passaic Roto Rooter owned by Jack Branciforte , don't stand behind their work. Typical jersey hack this guy is.

Stay away Bergen Roto Rooter with their 0 day guarantee!

Jim A.

Had service from the company and Nick was absolutely horrible!! Extremely rude and did not clean up after himself! Even worse it only corrected the problem for a day!! Would never go back to these people ever again! If you do and Nick shows up, RUN!!! The only good review about Nick is from his wife!!!

Julie D.

Cannot say enough good things about Nick from Roto Rooter! Explained everything beforehand, professional, knowledgeable and neat when working, super friendly and easy going! Highly recommend!

Richard S.

I had a major ,on going problem with our main sewer line .
They had someone there within an hour after we called . The technician was professional , pleasant and took care of the problem with no fuss .
Couldn't recommend highly enough .

Wai Y.

The service came on time. The technician came and snaked the wrong drain even though we told him so, he found it to be cleared. 2 weeks later my drain was clogged again and this time the technician did it right but I had to be charged again since it was a different spot and the 30-day guarantee is no longer applicable. The tech told me to call Monday so that he get the job do. When I called Monday, the rep refused to refund the charges. Although the 2nd job was discounted, it really should not be paid when the error was not ours. Will need to look for a new drain guy, it's too bad. We've used them for 3 yrs now.

Kristine P.

The tech came to unclog kitchen sink drain/line. It was working when he arrived so he was thinking he didn't need to even attempt to fix it. When I said I still needed him to look at it cuz both sinks were clogged just a few hours prior, he used a snake to locate and determine there was a clog. He noted that there was significant grease clog in the line and cleaned it out, or so I thought. I paid the $239 fee for this service only to have both sinks backed up within 24 hrs. I called to have the tech come back out to fix it and I was told that I would have to pay yet again for their service. So basically they come out, charge you, maybe fix, maybe not fix then want you to pay them to come out and fix, maybe not fix, the same problem. Maybe ensure that it's fixed the 1st time! You're the plumber!!! Never AGAIN!!!

Bob B.

Called them at 1pm, they said they would be able to be there between 130 and 3pm. Gave me a price for the service and a current discount. Showed within the window stated, cleaned the drain in question and we're finished in 20 minutes.

Tech was a experiened plumber and it showed. Gave a receipt and a 30 day warranty. I'm very happy with the whole experience. Would and already have recommended them.
Price was a little high in my opinion but not excessive.

Dot S.

Horrific service. They charged $375 to clean a pipe out and left heaps and piles of the remains in the basement. Now the whole house stinks of raw sewage. You'd think they would clean up after themselves but they don't. Woman who handles the phones is extremely rude. Best to go elsewhere.

Ian Blake N.

Terrible. Taking care of my dying parents in Spring Valley, NY (not this one in NJ, because the SV one has no Yelp site). Called them last night at 11 pm because the house was flooding; drains backed up. They said they would be here by 2 am. 1 am they call, say, ""I'm sorry, but we can't get someone there tonight after all."" 24.7? NFW! I could have called someone else and saved the house and the aggravation. This morning I wake up to an email from Craig Schwinghammer, saying my appointment has been ""successfully"" canceled. That is all Roto Rooter did right. Successfully cancel. I will never, ever recommend this company to anyone, and I consider the $75 ""coupon"" they sent (for a future visit) an insult. If they had sent $10K, I would choose to pay someone else $20K. I hate these people with the white-hot intensity of a thousand burning suns.