Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Michelle C.

DO NOT USE ROTO ROOTER. My 80 year old mother who lives in the Houston area contacted Roto-Rooter when a pipe broke in her guest bedroom. She selected Roto-Rooter because she thought there were a reputable company. How wrong she was. Eric (who I see has gotten many negative reviews) came to her home and assured her that Roto Rooter would take care of her, thus putting her at ease. He had her sign a document on an ipad that listed no information on costs for clean up. My mother called her insurance company to file a claim the same day. When the agent came, he told my mother that there were enough fans in a very small bedroom to dry a flooding incident in an office building (there were so many fans you could barely walk into the room). The agent himself then contacted Roto Rooter and said that the insurance company would NOT pay for that many fans and that they needed to remove all but one. He was told by Roto Rooter the excess fans would be removed the next day. The next day, the fans were still there. My mother contacted Roto Rooter herself and asked them to remove them. She was told that someone would come by and remove them and no one did. Finally, the fans were removed. Flash forward to last week when my mother called me in tears because she received a $5,000 bill from Roto-Rooter, $2,300 of which would be reimbursed by the insurance company but Roto-Rooter informed her that she would need to pay the remainder or a lien would be put on her house. She just received a notice of Lien that 7 days from today a lien would be placed on her home. I contacted the insurance agent about the incident and he informed me that Roto Rooter does this **all the time** and that multiple clients of his were treated like this. Furthermore, he said, other insurance companies refuse to deal with them for just this reason. My mother is an 80 year old woman, on a fixed income who did everything right but Roto Rooter took advantage of her. Eric and all of the Roto Rooter company deliberately misled and deceived her. I cannot say enough bad things about this company. I will be filing multiple complaints about their business practices. DO NOT USE them.

Cosmin S.

My wife and I unexpectedly faced a backed up plumbing line, and after purchasing a snake device from Home Depot to try to fix it ourselves, we called Roto-Rooter. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, we did not have many options for other plumbers given that most are closed on the weekends. I was nervous because Roto-Rooter has mediocre Yelp reviews, but our experience was great! The operator was very friendly and attentive. She explained the process and was informative. Steve, the plumber, called us shortly after and informed us that he'd be at our home in 30-45 minutes, and he was on time. We were charged $300 for him to snake one of the main plumbing lines, which wasn't the most cost effective, but he was friendly, informative, and it fixed the problem that the snake we purchased from Home Depot was not fixing. We had a great experience and would have given Roto-Rooter 5 stars had the price been less expensive. The original price was $359, but we were offered a coupon which dropped the price to $300. Aside from the price, we had a great experience and appreciate an establishment that is open 24/7!

Peter C.

This review is not about the service but more about their employee driving. Today I was almost side swiped while merging onto a highway by one of their vehicles. Instead of taking the lane to merge on the highway, they waited til last minute to force their way in between my car and the car in front of me with no signal and no regards my car. When I pulled up next to them, I saw that their windows are illegally tinted beyond the legal limit. You can't even see an outline of the individual driving with the sunshining through. This screams all kind of shady. I would avoid contacting this company for services. If you're going drive a company vehicle with your company name on it. Your road etiquette will be a direct reflection of how you conduct business.

Lc W.

4 PM on a Saturday afternoon and we have company over and naturally a plumbing disaster that resulted in us having to turn off the water supply to the house. 2 babies in bottles, no water supply, a sink full of dishes and a house full of guests...From the time we spoke with dispatch to when it was fixed (less than 4 hours), I cannot day enough positive things.

The Emergency Dispatch was fantastic and kept continuous communication with updates on arrival time until Andrew arrived. Andrew himself was knowledgeable and honest - which is rare these days.

got our victory by 1130 PM and we are grateful - Andrew (1563) was our savior.

D G.

Beware!!! We were told there was a break in our sewer line and were given a quote. After work was started, Roto Rooter determined that they couldn't finish because there was a break on the City's line. The City performed a repair and the City Inspector indicated that a private plumber was never needed and we should have called the City first. The City completed the work, including work that was included in the Roto Rooter quote. Even though Roto Rooter probably didn't need to do any work at all, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and asked if they would reduce the price because they did not have to do all the work that was originally quoted, but they refused. I was attempting to allow Roto Rooter to do the right thing and was prepared to pay a fair price for the work they actually performed (even though it probably wasn't necessary) but they were not interested in doing the right thing. I will never do business with Roto Rooter again!

Valerie W.

We used Roto rooter to fix our kitchen sink. Well they told us it would be no charge until they give us an estimate. They came out gave us an estimate to fix our kitchen sink. It sounded like a good price but they give you a good price in the begging to bat it you in then add more problems after the I tial estimate to get more money. The technician Adam said that it was just a pipe leak and Charged us $229 dollars. The technician replaced the pipe but our sink was still not working.. The technician didn't tell us until after we paid to fix the pipe problem that our sink still needed a faucet replacement ( another charge). $300.. Ultimately, we paid $229 for nothing the problem was not fixed. We needed up having to call someone else to fix the problem and it was a lot cheaper . Be careful with the free estimate charges. They will tell you have the problem charge you and them come up with more charges after the fact to get more money.

Yvonne M.

I have used Roto Rooter many times for my rental properties and will never call them again. I used them to clean an a/c drain line 6 months ago and my plumbing issue reoccurred so I called them back to rectify a poorly done job. They refused without full payment AGAIN. They sent the original technician back and I was told by their plumber I need to have it done every 6 months...having owned the home for 13 years without issue is a clear indication that they are either unqualified or thieves. Yes, it does need to be done on occasion but not every 6 months, especially when the a/c wasn't actively used within those 6 months due to the winter season.

Why D.

Jonathan and Angel Jr (water restoration dept) were sent to my home to begin the drying out process from a surprise water leak over the weekend. I'm pleased with the work they did but I am mostly impressed with their professionalism while in my home & handling my unique & delicate belongings. Eric, the restoration estimator, was also friendly, professional, and very honest/upfront. In the event I ever find myself in a similarly unfortunate situation, I would not hesitate to call Roto-Rooter back to my home.

Zachary W.

My experience with Roto-Rooter has been horrible. Originally, I was impressed with them. They were very responsive and fast to diagnose our plumbing problem but once they started actually working on it it, the experience went downhill fast.
We experienced a plumbing problem Friday evening that we couldn't flush our toilets and when we tried the bathtubs backflowed. We set an appointment for Roto-Rooter to come check it out Saturday. They came right on time and cleared our pipes so we could use them for $350 but told us we had to replace the main pipes out front because of 2 big spot fractures that roots were growing into. They quoted us originally $6,000 but found discounts for us to make it $5200. Super helpful. They set the work crew to fix it the next day (Sunday.) We were told we could use our plumbing like normal until they came but once the crew began work, we couldn't use it until they were finished. We were told it would be accomplished same day.
The crew came out Sunday morning and began digging to uncover the pipes. They finished while we were away from the house and when we got back around 1pm they were gone and never came back. We now have a 5 foot deep trench from the front of our house to the front our yard with broken pipe and tools on our yard. Also, the main pipe that connects to our house is completely open and exposed.
We have been calling since 3pm yesterday for an update but the dispatcher couldn't tell us anything or reach anyone who knew our situation. We were told we would have a call this morning.
I called them at 9:30am and was told our rep would call us in 10 minutes. He didn't. 2 hours later, I called again, and was told there was a complication yesterday but they didn't know what it was, if it would cost more, but that the crew was there fixing it as we spoke and that someone who knew the situation would call me in 15 minutes. It is now 1:30pm (2 hours later again) and I haven't received a call. Also, I went to the house for lunch and nobody is working on my plumbing.
We haven't been able to use our plumbing in over 24 hours and have no idea when we'll be able to use it again. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Charles N.

$520 for a routine drain cleaning and that was supposedly after $40 coupon. Unknowledgable technician who came unprepared. Didnt even have a bucket. Spilled dirty sink water all over the floor. Will not be using their services again