Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Sarah K.

Waited hours for plumber to show up for a water softener installation. When he got there he opened the box and proceeds to tell us he has never done this before. They will not provide quote until plumber is onsite. Quote provided was ridiculously high. If you need a water softener install I recommend you go through lowes, it's only $199 and they actually provide good service.

Mike A.

1. I believe that we were not "billed correctly" on the recent installation of the water heater in our home and that you owe us both an apology and a refund of $ 169.19.

2. Your bill shows:

Labor $ 950.00 to remove and replace (R&R) water heater
+ 100.00 to R&R a portion of the old gas line with new line & cut-off value
sub-total $ 1,050.00

+ 120.00 for City of San Antonio Water Heater permit fee
sub-total $ 1,170.00

Parts + 716.87 (not identified or itemized)
Other + 59.14 (not itemized or itemized) [sales tax? Or maybe "Shop Supplies", which I think is much too high]]

subtotal $1,946.04

less discount - 120.00 [I'm not sure what your man will attribute this to.]

TOTAL $ 1,826.01 Total that I was billed on my Visa card.


3. My calculations look like this:

Labor $ 950.00 to remove & replace water heater plus dispose of old water heater/parts.
Parts 716.87 water heater, gas line, water line, turn-off valves.
Shop Supplies 25.00
Sub-total $ 1,691.87

4. Now, this is how I justify MY VERISON OF THE BILL:

(A) You and/or your employee tried to collect a $120.00 "City of San Antonio Permit Fee" when you had legal NO RIGHT to do so. A honest mistake or rip-off? I brought this to the attention of UC's inspector when he showed up unannounced at 8:30am this morning. He had been told that you would notify me of his pending visit.

(B) You can absorb the cost of the UC Permit fee as a business expense because of the above incident.

(C) I want a 10% refund of $169.19 for numerous reasons:

(1) Mainly because on three different occasions your people were told that I wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater only to have a 40 gallon installed. I had told the female person answering your telephone on two occasions that we wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater. The first time was when I first called Roto-Rooter to see about having ours replaced as quickly as possible as it was leaking all over the garage floor. In a few minutes, she called me back wanting to know if I was the person who had just called in a service request. DUH! I then repeated all my information and restated the fact that we wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater. I distinctly remember this because I remarked to my wife that I could not understand why people do not listen and write down the information as it is given to them the first time [except this the nice verison of my remarks about your employee]. I later told your plumber when he was first here that I wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater. It wasn't until he had torn the cardboard box off the heater that he mentioned something to the effect, " ....40 gallon heater...". At this point I told him to stop everything! Needless to say, I was "slightly" upset [to put it politely]!

What to do now? Your man said he did not hear me nor did your 'phone answering' lady say anything to him regarding a 50 gallon heater. After talking for several minutes, I decided that he could proceed with the installation with the following conditions which he agreed to:

a. I was not to be charged the $120.00 City of San Antonio Permit fee, and

b. I was to be given a 10% "across the board" discount because of the errors and frustration created by Roto-Rooter and its employees' errors.

(2) Should I have gone to one of the large home improvement centers, as a military retiree I would have received a 10% discount on all items purchased.

c. After the installation was completed, I looked on the internet (consumeraffairs.com) and discovered that research by top Bath & Plumbing Companies on ConsumerAffairs did not have anything good to say about Bradford White water heaters. The website had a very, very poor rating of Bradford White water heaters. Under an article 'Consumer Complaints & Reviews', with the two latest entries being Jan 2015, revealed the consumers' Overall Satisfaction Rating for Bradford White, based on 46 ratings out of 51 reviews, to be:

5 stars 2 reviews for 4%
4 stars 2 reviews for 4%
3 stars 1 reviews for 2%
2 stars 3 reviews for 7%
1 stars 38 reviews for 83%

But your employee stated that Bradford White was the one your firm used all the time. Should he have said, " It is the cheapest"?????

d. We are a "return" customer to Roto-Rooter (two previous service calls). And maybe you would like to kept it that way.

PS: The UC City Inspector said work was done correctly; but I'm pissed because I think that I got screwed over the price for the entire job and that I may have got stuck with a CHEAP water heater.

MICHAEL ALLUMS
UNIVERSAL CITY, TX 78148

Dawn M.

I have used Roto Rooter every time we needed plumbing work done at our house. Guess it is safe to say that they are my preferred plumbing company. The 2 technicians are always friendly and explain the process. The technicians answered all my crazy questions. I agree with others that this company is expensive, but I feel like I am getting what I paid for and I feel like I can trust them. I can count on this company.

Carlos C.

Water Restoration...Had a busted pipe in the walls, plumber showed up on time by the name Randel Nunn, he was great. He was easy to work with very polite and did the job in a timely manner considering they charge by the hour. Now we did run into a few issues with the water Restoration rep, but It wasn't anything that the Supervisor Ross couldn't handle. Ross was very professional and gave the info and customer service I was looking for. Any questions for Water Restoration ask for Ross.

E C.

The technician showed up within an hour of me calling. He cleaned out the main drainage pipe and put a sealer on pipe to prevent roots from growing back in. Very professional and polite, and they did honor the Yelp coupon.

Kerry H.

Called Roto-Rooter on Thanksgiving Eve, desperate because of a flooded shower and non-functioning toilet, impacted by kitchen sink. Couldn't imagine cooking and running dishwasher on Thanksgiving Day. Response to our NW San Antonio home was within the hour as promised, and Johnny did a wonderful job of clearing the stoppage within minutes. Then, free of charge, he ran a camera through the outside main, showing potential problem areas and suggesting fixes needed for long-term care. Total cost was under $300 (with a 6-month period of free return if necessary), which--while high--was about what we expected to have to pay. So we were very satisfied overall!

Roger P.

Excellent service! Arrived on time knew what to do cleared wash machine drain. Would recommend. A little pricey though!

Jesse G.

After my experience with rotor rooter , I was contacted by Management and asked what the problem was and how could he fix it . After we talked he sent out a plumber and fix the problem at hand and informed me off what was needed to be done . I'm extremely excited that this company took the time to go out if it's way to make things right ! I wanna thank jim for going above and beyond to make a customer happy !
Thank you ! Jesse !

Mark R.

Our sewer line was completely stopped up, on a holiday weekend. Called Roto-Rooter on Saturday evening. Randell Nunn showed up early on Sunday morning. He diagnosed and fixed the problem quickly Left everything clean and sanitary. The charge was not cheap, but it was fair. We had a cheaper bid, but felt more confidence in Roto-Rooter. There were no additional charges for Sunday service or holiday weekend. I would go with this company again in a minute (though, frankly, I hope I don't need to!). And I would be happy to have Randell's help in the future.

L L.

At 9:15 pm Saturday night we discovered a busted pipe in our garage. We don't use that entry to the house often but a snake on the front porch prompted the detour. It looked like it had been going for a while and the damage was significant. We had seen a Roto-Rooter truck at our neighbors house recently and after a good report from the neighbor we called and asked them to come out. After talking to dispatch we got a call from the repairman and he showed up within the hour. He found the leak quickly without having to cut out too much drywall. He wasn't able to repair the entire section that night but he was able to make a quick repair and turn on the water to the house and the use of one water heater. He called the next morning and showed up at 10:30 am. He fixed the issue, handed me a bill for less than 330.00 and I am happy to say I didn't have to return my mother's day present. : )