Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Al X.

On 06/02/2020, I called Roto-Rooter office in Garland, TX to send someone to check out my leaking toilet. A plumber by the name of C$_#k ID # 1#@4 turned up at my home in Plano, TX. He checked my the leaking toilet and gave me a written estimate of $360.00 (incl. parts + labor) to fix the problem.

So I asked him" "What was wrong with it and why was my toilet tank leaking water into toilet bowl?" - "He told me that it needed a new 3" flapper"

So I pondered about it for a while and told him that his estimate price was too much - and he said: "I've a $100.00 coupon, and so the revised price will be $260.00" So I said: "Even the revised price - after coupon - was too much for me just to change a flapper changed, and so I told him thank you very much for your estimate, and he left" I have the proof of the written estimate to prove it!

After he left, I looked for the serial # and model # and manufacturer from inside the toilet tank took some picture with my smart iphone and Googled this on the web for a flapper with this model and serial numbers?

I found several hits on the web matching this info and found the exact flapper piece I wanted on Amazon.com. The price of the flapper on Amazon - for a 3" flapper - was $15.00. So I ordered one piece from online Amazon and with a $15.00 discount card from Google, the flapper ended up costing $0.00 - for FREE nothing, nada, zilch!!

It took Amazon 6 days to mail it to me by UPS but it was all worth the wait - now I understand that I lost a lot of water thru my tank but sometimes certain things life are out of your control. After the 3" flapper arrived, I turned off the water supply to the tank, removed the old flapper, and installed the brand new one - it took me 5 minute to do this job and the Roto Rooter guy wanted to charge me: $360.00 - can you believe this company: Roto Rooter?

Roto Rooter is out to get as many people as they can - they think that all the people are suckers. The scariest part of this whole episode was even if this plumber would have gone down as far $50.00, that would still have been a RIPOFF for me. So my advice to everyone out there is NOT to give in to the first estimate, get 2 or even 3 different opinions and estimates before choosing the right one and BTW ALWAYS ASK before asking the plumber to come to your home: if he charges any fees for giving out estimates? I was just lucky, Roto Rooter does NOT charge to give out estimates. Good luck and stay safe!