Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Greg M.

Please consult local plumbers before calling Roto-Rooter for any plumbing issues. When I inquired over the phone for a shower drain leak fix, the person I was speaking too would not tell me how much the rates were. I was, however, told that they charged a 75 dollar trip fee just to look at, but it would be applied toward the final bill. I had the drain replaced a few years ago and it cost me a few hundred dollars, but the sealing has gone bad, so I figured that would be fine. When the tech got to the house, he quoted me $2200 for the same fix. Then, when I told him I had the work done for almost 10 times less money, he basically said ""inflation"". I had to pay 80 dollars just to tell the guy no. Super frustrating, because if I knew they were charging 500/hour and 1000 dollars for a drain strainer and sealant from the get go, I would have told them no right away. Its a scam--find someone else.

Mike G.

Called them for a leaky faucet and told them we were leaving for the airport in the morning. They said a plumber would be here between 4pm and 8pm. At 7:30 when I hadn't heard from them; I called. Supposedly, the plumber got injured and couldn't make it but they could have someone out in the morning by 10. I told them we were leaving for the airport at 8:30. ""Sorry but that is the earliest"". This excuse is what I compare to ""my dog ate my homework"" they didn't even apologize. Poor customer service and unreliable.

Won A.

Very unhappy with an overpriced dishwasher installation. The first plumber did not install a high loop which is required by code and something I explicitly requested. After a few calls to management, they sent out another plumber: he left behind trash and didn't properly install the dishwasher, causing the top of it to come crashing out a few weeks later. I emailed the regional manager Drew about this and never got a response. Will not be using this company again.

Janet W.

We had a very good experience with Roto Rooter today, especially our Roto Rooter plumber Simba. When I called I spoke with a friendly and helpful dispatcher, and they had a plumber out here in less than 1 hr even though we told them we do not want to pay emergency rates. They said they bill by the job, and don't have higher rates for weekends or evenings. Our plumber they sent is Simba and he really was honest and capable, and fair when figuring the bill. Any plumber / septic person can really fleece you but he didn't at all. They do have an hourly dig rate if they have to dig of $400/hr of digging, and we were told that in advance and we agreed to it. It turned out it's a drain field issue we have, so we need a different type of company now, but Simba really helped us in diagnosing our issue in simple easy to understand terms. We just hope the next company is as ethical and fair!

Lisa M.

Our condo 4 plex had a clog. It got progressively worse & we could no longer flush or use water as it was backing up. Steve drove 2 hours from
Orting to Olympia in Holiday traffic. I wanted to learn so he showed me every step in the process in the pouring rain. He needed to blast the water through to clear the clog & it ended up being outside the condo so the HOA picked up the tab as all the units were affected (I would have given 5 stars but the only down side was the HEFTY - charge it was nearly $1,400.00)
Steve was kind & knowledgeable. He let us know it was time to get our septic serviced as well. Thank you so much Steve! Your job is a filthy one, But you were a true professional & Sylvan Terrace thanks you! Happy Holidays & enjoy the Marion-berry pie!

Joseph H.

Ouch!

The tenant in a rental home I own reported a leaky garbage disposal. Since she knows her schedule better than I do, I accepted when she volunteered to find a plumber to fix or replace it. She chose Roto-Rooter since she had a $75 discount coupon. So, gee, how costly can this be?

The bill came to $770 - ($514 for the service call and labor, $190 for the mid-range disposal unit, the remainder tax). Had the discount not been applied, it would have been $75 more!)

Usually I experience such eye-watering charges when I have my car serviced at the dealership and labor cost is applied to an unexpected repair. Happily, this is a business expense that can be deducted on tax filing. Ouch!!

On the positive side, the service rep was friendly and appeared on time and my tenant, who is the best ever and whom I want to keep in the home, is happy.

Karel C.

Marcus with Roto Rooter was amazing at helping me with my toilet problem. He came the night before and couldn't get it fixed and turned around and came back the next day and fixed the issue. He talked to me about different scenarios on how fix the problem, was extremely helpful. Marcus your awesome you get 50 stars from me. Thank you so much. Words can't express my gratitude. Thank you again.

Tracey R.

They come quickly but certainly charge you for it. The last plumber I used charged a lot and just did a shark bite fix and then explained how great he was and I could get all new plumbing for about 1/3 the value of my house. I did research and found it should cost a fraction of the cost he quoted. He basically tripled the cost and justified it by saying he was the best so I needed to pay for that. Well I found an amazing plumber somewhere else who charged me a reasonable rate and was polite and respectful.

As a note, I gave them a good review because the plumber told me if I did, I'd have a chance at getting the cost of the work refunded and that's happened to a lot of his clients. Of course, I didn't get anything free...

Laurie K.

Loved that the could come same day we called. They texted when they were on the way. Curtis my tech was masked and put on booties and was courteous, fast and gave very helpful advice so I don't have a problem in the future!

C H.

Setting: a few years back, a sub-Code, flipper-special, mid-century tract house. A gusher suddenly started under bathroom sink.
Specifically: the 1/2""i.d. copper, cold water stub, where it connects to the shutoff valve. The valve should be clamped/pressed or soldered onto the (copper) pipe stub. That junction failed. Fairly clear info, right? Anyone could look under their sinks to locate the same, without much confusion.
Not the valve itself; the connection between the valve & the incoming water pipe feeding it....l The valve cannot control that, & No magic wrench will make that valve shut off a flood when that leak happens.
Turned off water supply at the Mains (street connect valve); most houses lack a whole-house shutoff valve in the house--which most plumbers here actively avoid discussing, much less installing.
It was off-hours & a weekend--about THE Worst time anyone could call for emergency repairs...guaranteed, repairs done on weekend emergency call-outs will be Very costly. As Any big Franchise named business might suggest, RotoRooter is about The most costly bid on any plumbing job...but it was a LAST try to find help.
We have ALWAYS been A-level-DIYers, it's self-defense. But age & infirmity took over; we now must hire most work done...& finding an amazing number of astonishingly bad contractors of all kinds...just Try sifting through those, in an emergency?! Despite already collecting lists of various ones for a couple years at this place, it Wasn't enough.
These guys only came after many hours...as-in, next dark night. They were Very PC polite, & squeaky-clean grooming (read: lots of products with perfumes-fair warning!) Wore booties. Used paper mats.
Media has hyped societal issues far out of control; Misogyny, racism, etc., are still curses on society, informing too many bad decisions by society. Our family has suffered a number of them. So, I use some screen-out questions when searching suppliers, contractors, etc.
Searched close by, to reduce Potential mileage fees. Avoided ones w/names like ""AAA"" or similar. Resigned self to just know, ANY weekend or off-hours work hired done, will immediately cost significantly more.
The calls started out with a misogynist (not hired), drifted into exasperation at advertised 24/7 emergency work business that didn't even have or respond to answering machines or services. The last-ditch, cuz I knew it was gonna be too ""dear"" , was RotoRooter.
Given specific, concise description (see above), on phone, I also specified to get new valve sweated (soldered) onto the pipe. They said sure, can-do.
But at house, the 2 squeaky-clean guys (booties, drop papers, grooming) in uniforms with name tags, tried to change & charge.
Problems: ""can't sweat pipes, proper equipment not on trucks on weekends"", ""must cut that copper stub closer to wall to replace valve""(exterior wall in freezing climate?!?)(valve came off in hand; closer to wall creates worse costly problems in future). Then. The astronomical estimate, which pushed too close to $500...!?..for 1 valve like had been on it?!
Last Straw: I told them we couldn't afford their estimate. Then, the guy who seemed in-charge of the estimate, had the temerity to ask if there might be a race problem (because his partner was a shade of brown darker than the other 3 people present). Felt more like a tactic to goad clients to roll-over. I acknowledged them asking the hard question, while politely (while choking on their perfumes), asking what gave them any idea that race was any part of a simple math equation & requested type of work?...the estimate was simply out-of-reach; & they'd already excused themselves from doing the type of work I requested (THEY pulled the ""bait-&-switch""--that's illegal!)
Two days had gone by with the Mains valve shutting off water to house. We'd fix it ourselves.
Bottom line: ALL 24 hr. plumbers called, were either 1) unavailable, 2) incompetent, 3) gave gouging price estimates, &/or 4) gave inane excuses why they couldn't sweat-on a new valve, 5) seemed to expect people to just roll-over to let them do a junk-job, & pay whatever was charged.
We tried a few different valves that failed to work. Then, desperate (& smart??) enough, tried a metal plumbing epoxy (under $10 @ Homedepot)--as of now, 3 years later...still holds fine. Just followed directions, made sure to fine-sand pipe & valve ends, & well-cleaned before gluing. Let set overnight before turning house water back on to stay.
No pink toy tools in this household; this Lady uses real tools, & plenty of them, even some new ones--& fears no dirt. Gauntlet thrown down: a challenge to contractors to start actually doing decent, honest business. Plumbers, like any other service/support industry, cannot afford to assume they will get business just because folks are desperate & willing to ""settle"".
Consumers still, even in many emergencies, must shop around!