Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Joe W.

I have a clog in my main line and this happened last year. I get a technician out today and he tell me double what I payed last year. Why has the price literally doubled? It has gone from $316 to 600 dollars! Outside of that this technician is the only 1 out of all that have came to my house that found my clean out so I can't complain too much.

Kedar K.

Had a service appointment scheduled for 1-3 PM with Ernie. Dispatchers had the courtesy to call and say the person could not make it half way through the time window, but they will have someone come out as early as possible tomorrow.

He shows up at least on time, but quotes 235 for backflow testing!? Mind you this is an annual test in city of Portsmouth, VA. Complete rip off. At least they could let me know ahead of time how much they are going to quote instead of right when show up.

No thanks.


Overpriced, underskilled based on these reviews, and wasting my time.

Shelton M.

The initial call I made to roto rooter was very professional and very efficient. They took my information and sent me a confirmation email. I advised them I wanted a free estimate to have a new vanity installed in a half bath. I stated if the estimate is ok. I will move forward with install. The technician Ernie came out with very poor customer service and very poor workmanship that I later discovered after I consulted a master plumber. A week later after my consult with a master plumber. I called roto rooter again to comeback out to fix the inadequate repair. The representative stated that the technician will be out between 8am - 10am Friday morning with a confirmation email. At 8:00am I called to confirm someone was still coming based off the previous reviews I saw stating that the technicians either do not show or they are always late. The representative assured me that they will be there in between the stated window of 8:00am - 10:00am. 10:00am comes around no one present I called to follow up with representative she stated they will be there within the hour. No one came in that hour. I called again stating the same thing. 12:30pm is when the technician finally came. Michael was a great technician when he saw what his co worker Ernie had did he was shocked. Michael knowing himself that this was poor workmanship that was completed. Stating throughout the repair why did he do this. Michael properly repaired the drains and used the correct parts. I called later to speak with a manager I was informed that she was in a meeting. I asked for a call back to discuss the issue. Still to this day no call back. I feel I should be compensated for the additional time off from work and for them not fixing it correctly the first time. This was a very poor experience. I will be sure not to use or recommend or refer roto rooter in any future jobs or repairs. Here are photos as well.

Logan W.

This company was once excellent at Customer Service and Performance, however staff turnover in recent years has obviously turned it into a bottom of the barrel plumbing outfit.

I set up a service appointment on a Monday in early February 2018 for an 8-10 AM window on Friday morning. 10 AM came and went on Friday - no call, no tech. Called their service line myself and was told ""All service techs are currently on jobs. Once one is free, they'll come by. Maybe in a hour.""

11 AM came and went, then 12PM, 1 PM...no call no, tech. Called the service line again and was fed the same worthless excuse. ""The techs are on jobs."" I understand that if you're calling for same day service that there's going to be a wait. But setting up the appointment several days in advance for nothing more complicated than a clogged sink and then being ignored? Not acceptable. Complete waste of time.

Take heed - setting up an appointment in advance is a useless action with this company. Even if you schedule a visit days in advance, service calls are based on how close your address is in relation to the techs house. So even though I most likely planned a service call before anyone else was on the schedule, those who lived closer to the tech and called for service at any time would be seen first. And in my experience, all other companies I have dealt with at least have the decency to call you and say they will be delayed. You have to follow up with RR yourself apparently.

My time is valuable. Once upon a time, RR was the more cost effective choice among the more heavily advertised and expensive plumbers in the Hampton Roads area. At least those other companies actually show up and complete the work in a timely manner. Worse yet, however, is that RR is now JUST AS COSTLY as those number triple A brands. $500 to unclog a sink. Unreal.

Julie F.

Service window-12:30-2. They call and finally tell me they are coming at 6. The first woman I spoke with hung up on me while trying to figure out why they weren't there. She didn't bother to call back. The second person I spoke with was speaking to a coworker when I answered the phone and somehow thought it was funny when I got mad at their lack of customer service. I don't get mad easy but this was just too much. The technician comes to the door and I wanted to tell him he could stick his plumbing tools up his .... but I kindly told him his services were no longer needed. He didn't seem to care.

Eric T.

I called Roto router on 3/12/17 (Sunday) for service due to good reviews from my Neighbor who used the service last year. My main sewer line out the front yard to the County sewer line was clogged. I had water backing up in my garage utility sink and downstairs toilet. The customer service representative was very responsive but the soonest they could come out to the house was Monday afternoon from 3:30 to 7:30. I did have York County come out Sunday night and check their lines to ensure the clog was not in the county's lines--it wasn't.
Monday at 9:30 pm, 2 hours after the scheduled time, the service tech showed up. I did not get any updates from customer service or dispatch on the timeliness of the service. Even though he was late, Micah did a great job explaining the required actions and service. He had the 100 ft snake with him and used the entire length and unfortunately, it did not reach the blockage. He stated that they had another machine (""the Jetter"") which could reach all the way through the yard to the county lines. He called Dispatch to schedule this service the next day (Tuesday) from 1:00 to 5:00 pm.

At 9:30 pm that night, (4 1/2 hours late!), Robert showed up with the same 100 ft snake machine. He apologized profusely for the mix up and called dispatch again to reschedule the Jetter machine for Wednesday. On Wednesday mid-day, I got a call from the technician, Eric, with an update. It was too cold (below freezing) to use the Jetter machine and he would have to reschedule for Thursday when it warmed up.

Finally on Thursday around 1:00 pm, Eric showed up with the Jetter machine and cleared the clog with help from another technician Chase, who reset my toilet in the downstairs bathroom. Both Eric and Chase are great techs and know what they are doing.

So 4 days and $415 later (do the Yelp check in to get a discount!) I could use the water in the house again. I was supposed to get a follow up call from a tech with the camera system to come out to the house on Friday and do a system check in the pipes, but I haven't heard back from him yet. If it wasn't for the scheduling snafus and lack of comm when the techs ran late, I would give this a higher rating. Once they get out to your house with the correct equipment, they know what they are doing.

Joseph L.

Rental property in Cheapeake. Arranged an 8am-12 next day to fix a leak. Wayne the technician arrived at 1 pm, so we're not off on a good start. $1,300 to replace the 50 gal gas water heater, because it cracked at the hot water outlet threading. I was worried it would be the case, but the price was high. I can get a 12 year heater for $600 and they charge $800 for a 6 year heater plus $500 labor. But it couldn't wait so I agreed. Wayne is friendly and professional...finished around 4 pm, so the entire day was killed. Then I get a call at 4:30 and they want payment now now now yet they still haven't provided a receipt or bill of sale and can't (office closed). What company works this way? Feels like a scam at this point. Would be one star except for Wayne.

David S.

Woke up one morning to a clogged toilet.Called Roto-Rooter.They arrived within the hour.The 315 dollar quote to snake the main line seemed a bet pricey.I showed the tech our clean-out which consisted of a busted hole in the pipe we had to dig to every time we had to clean out the main line. He offered to install a clean-out and clear the line for 800 dollars which was a couple hundred dollar discount. Offer accepted,job done,customer happy.

Dianna H.

Just moved into a new house called Roto-rooter on a Sunday for a toilet emergency and they were able to fix the problem. We had Gary help us out and he was friendly and super knowledgleble. We had called Micheal & Sons previously and they were going to charge almost $300 more and $89 dollars just to come out, Roto rooter was fast and friendly, took care of the problem, charged less and no service fee call. We will definitely call them again for any plumbing issues!!

Sue H.

Okay, first, the guy who showed up was awesome. Zack Jaber is his name and he was great (got the job done in good time, was personable etc. However.... two things 1) 4.5 hours late. They had a meeting. To their defense, they did call me and said they'll be an hour past the window. An hour and a half past the window and we had to call them wondering where they were. They were STILL in a meeting. 15 more min and I get a call they're on their way. At least another 30-45 minutes because coming from further location. Okay so I can live with that I guess except I was in a hurry to pack and leave... to catch a plane 2) The prices are steep. It's about twice what it should cost. I understand you have to pay for their fancy truck and for expensive gas, but 300 dollars for a 10 minute snake out is kind of ludicrous. I sometimes think they go in and look at you and see if you are a woman, young, in a hurry or whatever and scale you to see how much they can get away with. Just my personal thought and I don't know if that's true, but so many people quoted so many different prices on reviews that I wonder. I understand some clogs may be worse, but this was simple and straight forward. In fact, first priority is to buy a bigger snake and do it ourselves. We tried this time but the snake was too short and hubby too cheap to pay an extra 50 bucks and get the big one. I guess he learned his lesson! I paid it because I had no choice last minute like that. but if I am not in a pinch next time, i probably would not use them.