Urgent Rooter Service

Candice M.

Dishonest, upsellers. Beware of potential scam. Decent one time, shady the next. Read this and other yelp reviews.

I contacted Urgent Rooter about 5 or 6 months ago with a clogged 2"" drain that rain under my house. The guy who came tried to upsell me to a more-expensive service (water jetting), which I understood, but ultimately I just had him clear drain with the snake. I was happy with that, and the $69 price, but my drain clogged again during the last week of December, 2015. I didn't blame the for the clog, and I called them back, thinking it would be their inexpensive service again.

The second time, the guy couldn't clear the drain, and said it was grease and bad T at the end of the house. I had two options: 1--Replace the piping T (estimated $1500), or 2-- High Tech Water Jetting, which was about $450. He said these were the only two ways of fixing it. I don't know much about plumbing, but it seemed really high, especially to replace the T. I scheduled him to come for the next day. During that time I realized, we don't really put much grease down our drain, he barely looked under our house to check out the situation, and how could a snake not at least clear a greased drain a little? It just didn't make sense -- the problem, his solution, or his price.

I looked at other reviews on Yelp, and realized that this looked like a scam they kind of pull on other customers. I contacted a friend's plumber, and he came through and cleared it no problem. Then he ran a camera down and showed me that that my T didn't need to be replaced, that most of the piping was actually new, and that there was no grease build up at all.

I then recalled Urgent Rooter and said I didn't feel I should have to pay. They thankfully agreed, but then out-and-out lied again, saying that the reason he couldn't clear the drain was because his snake was too long (40ft). That was when I knew it was a scam. I had an entire conversation earlier that day about how his snake was 70ft and went all the way through the T. And if I hadn't gone to Yelp and seen the other reviews, if I had trusted them, I would have paid hundreds, maybe even a thousand plus more for a simple drainage clearing.

My ultimate advise, don't use them, but if you do use them for cost or urgency, don't pay for anything other than the snake and only if they clear it. And get a second opinion if they say anything else.

Lisa P.

We had a clog in the drain line running from our sink. After our small auger could not quite reach we called Urgent Rooter. From reading the website and talking to the agent on the phone and from knowing exactly what and pretty much where the problem was in our drain system, we hoped they would be honest. But sure enough, the 69 dollar price immediately jumped to 119 because of the access area he said he HAD to work from. Now mind you, the most sensible access and the one that was only about an 8 foot reach to the clog, was what was going to cost 119.00. However, we also have a cleanout right outside the bathroom, entirely accessible AND yet another cleanout in a laundry area in the middle of our house. Either one of those could have been used with any standard plumber's auger. It would take about 15 minutes whichever of the THREE access points were used. But, he insisted there was only one he would use and that because of that it would cost 50 dollars more. This was nothing more than the age old plumber's trick of bait and switch. We declined to have the work done, just based on the shady dealings of this plumber. They will never receive another call from me.

Rika O.

Oh, now I see (three years later) three messages from the ""customer service""! My ""follow-up"" rating remains unchanged. The worker claimed his machine ""got stuck"" in our sewer and suggested we were somehow responsible for the machine, before bringing up the $3,000 pipe replacement job. The next rooter we called came with an apparently newer, obviously beefier, equipment and got the job done. Makes you wonder if they go around with an older equipment just so they can talk clients into more expensive solutions.

Elena Z.

We called them on wednesday because our garbage disposal was clogged up. They came the next day and quoted $700 to unplug it, but what we really needed, according to them, is new pipes, which would cost $1200. Not knowing any better, we agreed to just the unclogging the pipes for $700. The next day when it was supposed to be fixed, we got a call that the machine they need to use is stuck at another house and that they will come friday. Because of this inconvenience they would give us $100 off. The following day it was the same story. They said they will call on Saturday morning and see if the machine i available. Meanwhile, they left the wall opened and we're using a bucket to wash stuff in the kitchen sink. Finally, Saturday morning having had enough of this BS, I called another plumber, who came in within an hour and a half and fixed the garbage disposal for $89. Urgent Rooter is a rip of and a worthless plumber!!!!

Paul F.

Very satisfied customer.

I called on a online coupon, dispatch sent out a truck w/power drain clean hose and attachments showed up at appointment time. Johnny was friendly, courteous, fast an efficient. The pricing is negotiable up front if you have need of more services than the standard pipe ream with a 75 foot steel power snake..

Due to my unknown pipe situation on house I've not owned for many years, I asked for pressurized pipe blaster, and camera scope to get an idea of what was inside my pipes, which I suspected was clay, ABS and cast iron. I hate surprises and suspected a pipe joint joining cast iron to ABS from a previous owners remodel 30+ years ago. Johnny blasted away the clog within about 10 mins of setting up the hose operation then scoped it, showing me several pictures a problematic pipe joint that was my suspect, confirming a suspected pipe joint will continue to give me problems down the road.

The price was reasonable considering the unclog, type of heavy duty tool use and the camera scoping of the lines showing all clear on the lines, but also the ""sag"" areas that are prone to future problems with the old pipes.

Johnny cleaned up his operations, after the unclogging activity and took payment accordingly.

Very satisfied, and I'd use their services again.

Ross L.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!
everything in the other negative reviews is correct. they came to simply unclog a sink, (we called them by accident by clicking their google AD banner!) and proceeded to flood our ceiling and leak sewage all over the basement. Then they tried to upsell us with other services...to fix the problem they caused! Now they are lying about what happened and refusing to pay for the damage. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!

Sarah T.

First off let me say THANK YOU to Urgent Rooter!!!

So... I woke up to the most disgusting and smelly sewer water that backed up in my bath tub.

Yes, you guessed it right I had a very important event to attend and I needed to shower.

Dispite the bad yelp reviews, I decided to take the referral from a friend. The ladies at the call center was very understanding of my panic and worries. Johnny the technician arrived at my home within the hour and were very fast paced due to my hurry. He discovered a bigger issue then I thought it would be. With the camera they showed the tree roots had grown into my pipes.

With this being said yes the amount was more then what I expected. Yes, I did call a few other places for quotes. No, I didn't find a better quote or service. I personally think these other reviews are bogus. The price you are quoted over the phone applies to what you tell them is the problem over the phone. They are professional plumbers not psychics!

To show my application I made them a basket of muffins and brought it to the office :)

Michael L.

Urgent Rooter is a scam and a rip off. You can not trust them! They lie and they bait and switch. Also no manager is ever available to discuss problems and believe me they are a problem. l give them minus 20 stars

Matt R.

Great guys and very hard working. Arrived within an hour. Being realistic about the condition of my 65 year old pipes, Gary backed up his estimate with video proof of the condition of my plumbing. Unfortunately, earthquake damage and tree roots had taken a toll on my main line, which an independent plumber was more than happy to put a $2500 'band-aid' on only 2 months prior! John, Gary & Nacio replaced my entire main line, without digging my whole front yard, and I was only without plumbing for a few hours... With a lifetime guarantee! I won't need their services again for as long as I own this house, but I will confidently recommend them.

David P.

Great guys called them out and they showed up within 1 hr I had a busted water heater on a newer house turns out it was under warranty they called manufacturer and got it replaced! Techs were in uniform and very professional I would recommend to my friends and family.