Roto-Rooter Group
Reviews and Complaints

I was charged for a minor water drip in my shower. The work took about 5 minutes to change a leaky cartridge and they charged me almost $300. When I called the manager and complained, he said it was normal to double charge for the price of all parts and to add in at least one or two misc fees, along with a gas fee and taxes on all. I will tell everyone I know to stay away from Roto-Rooter because this is a totally unfair scam that they are pulling.

We had a heating element out in our water heater-a $10 part which we purchased. We turned of the water and power to the water heater, drained the tank and could not find the right tool to get the old element off. So we called a plumber. We were quoted $85 but we wanted it done on the weekend so we called roto rooters-assuming it wasn't a big difference in price since the last 8 plumbers we called were all the same. The first day the guy did not show up. The next day he showed and never gave a quote. He fixed the part and then didn't even accept the $40 off coupon I printed off the website. BTW, I had called before they sent someone out to make sure there were no "restrictions" on the coupon and was assured they would take it. The plumber refused and charged $204.95. He stated that he does not charge extra on the weekends, and that the job is usually $300 but we had the part ($10). Wow. My boyfriend did all the work and all this guy did was lend the right tool. What a joke. This company needs to be put out of business, I could have bought a new water softener for the cost to replace a $10 part. Plumbers are a joke...especially the a**holes at Roto Rooters.

AVOID Roto-Rooter at all costs!
[2/19/2011]
We called to request an estimate for sewage blockage problem
[2/20/2011]
Technician arrived to provide the 'free estimate' and charged $150 for video inspection (in case I did not choose Roto-Rooter to fix the problem.
If I contracted with Roto-Rooter to repair my sewer, then the $150 would be credited toward repair.)
[2/22/2011]
I visited village officials to learn what was required for sewer repair on my property. After visiting the village, I was told that a video inspection should include a description of where the break is and the break location should be marked on your property.
2/24/2011 - 3/4/2011]
After several voice exchanges back and forth and being jerked around by Roto-Rooter local offices in western Chicago suburbs, I was finally told by the purported national manager in Akron, Ohio, that I could pay $396 for video inspection and get a DVD. I get the ground location marked only if I actually contract for the repair services with Roto-Rooter ($4000 estimate, to start).
[Conclusion]
I'm horrified to think of what Roto-Rooter will come up with if I give thehttp://www.complaintsboard.com/new_complaint/#m another $4400. Avoid RotoRooter at all costs!

Its alledged in Massachusetts superior court that Roto Rooter sends Unlicensed people posing as licensed Plumbers to perform work requiring a license in Massachusetts. Thiers also a federal class action suit claiming the company forces the employees, Plumbers and drain cleaners to carry the cost of doing buisness buy making them purchase thier own trucks, gas and mileage. if you had Plumbing work done by one of thier Techs who was not licensed its fraud!

Mr. Rooter located at 11122 E. 47th Ave., Denver, CO 80239 was called by our daughter to our home because of water dripping into the front entryway light fixture. They arrived over an hour later and the dripping had stopped. This was not an emergency.

They asked our daughter, who has no knowledge of plumbing or drywall, if they could open the ceiling beneath the tub to find the leak and she said yes. They proceeded to take their hammers and rip two gaping, ragged holes undermining the drywall in the surrounding areas (extensive damage).

The proper method is to cut holes with a sheetrock saw to minimize damage.

In my opinion they took advantage of our daughter's lack of knowledge of plumbing and drywall and were completely unprofessional.

The cost of plumbing repairs: $195.00. The cost of drywall repairs:up to $400.00 for a grand total of $595.00.

The owner has been contacted several times and adheres to her plumbers having done nothing wrong, paraphrasing, "I'm not losing money over this." She also asked if they had to give our daughter an IQ test. Insulting and unprofessional.

On Friday 12/10/10, my ice maker line had sprung a leak, and the company I always use, had no technicians available. I did call four other companies before contacting Roto Rooter.

I knew that it was my ice maker line that had sprung a leak, but the technician wanted to perform a diagnostic, at the cost of $189.00. I explained that I knew it was the icemaker line, and he said he could fix that, but if that was not the problem then it would be extra.

He then told me I needed separate shut off valves for my ice maker, dish washer and sink. I submitted a complaint with Roto Rooter, and I did receive a call back from a general manager. I was told that they are required to bring the plumbing up to code and the cost was justified.

We called them into our Newmarket Ontario business to evaluate a plumbing problem, 2 toilets not draining properly. Offering a free estimate, they sent in their franchisee who checked things out and charged us $100.00 plus taxes when we refused his estimate of close to $400.00 to simply change a toilet (and that did not include the toilet!)

We called head office and they supported his fees.

AAfter checking out complaint forums (we should have done this first) we discouvered this is typical. They over charge for what they do.

Forget about using these guys! Try a local independant pumber and use references.

Our condo association called out Roto Rooter to snake out a clogged kitchen pipe. They came and did the job, however, we discovered weeks later that the equipment that they used had created two large holes in one of the kitchen pipes. Water had been flowing freely through the holes and into the walls and insulation for four weeks. We had a second party plumber come out to fix the damage and his professional opinion was that Roto Rooter had caused the damage and estimated the damage at around $15, 000. We submitted a claim to Roto Rooter for the damage and they responded with a boilerplate letter concluding that they were not liable. They provided no reasoning for their claim of nonliability, unsurprisingly, since there was no other rational explanation for the damage. In addition, their charges for the work done were between about 2-10 times more than second party plumbers. For example, the Roto Rooter's work to snake the pipe was $360 and we had another estimate for $160. Roto Rooter also estimated $1600 to find and repair the source of the leak and the second party plumber estimated $175. All in all, it has been a nightmare dealing with Roto Rooter and in my opinion their denial of the claim is fraudulent and in completely bad faith. Avoid Roto Rooter at all costs.

Northern Virginia Rotorooter really knows how to "bend over their customers, " instead of taking care of them. They think its perfectly reasonable, to charge you $410 for twenty minutes of labor, with no parts. That's right, snaking a pipe that has a small blockage in it. Avoid these scammers, as all the other plumbing companies I talked to were disgusted by this.

In addition, their management "sleeps well at night' with this amount. They also refused to take my calls for five days.

Roto Rooter not only did not fix a slow drain problem, they had left damage and will not acknowledge or offer to fix. Monday July 12th, Roto Rooter had been contacted via their website to service a slow bath tub drain. The service was scheduled for Friday, July 16th between the hours of 12-5pm. The first plumber that came out tried for approximately 15 minutes to fix the drain but claimed he had a "crease" in his drain snake and another plumber with "more experience" would have to be dispatched out. I took a picture of what this plumber left behind which was approximately 2 inches of dirty black smelly water left in the tub that was not draining at all. This was also all over the walls and floor. The second plumber showed up about a hour later and tried to work on the drain for about the same amount of time and gave up too. (The switch plate for the pipes is in my kitchen...they didn't look for this and I wasn't aware until another plumber from a different company found it.) Before Roto Rooter showed up it was a slow drain. Now I was left with a mess that wouldn't go down at all. I also noted that my bath mat which was also ruined had been moved around, which in turn ripped up the enamel on the bottom of the tub. The plumber tried to cover that up by placing the mat back on a spot where the enamel was now missing. This piece of the enamel was nowhere to be found so it was obvious it was taken with the person. A 2nd company came out after service hours for a emergency plumbing repair. This was fixed the first time correctly by 1 plumber. He did have to work a few hours fixing the pipes behind the wall and said that Roto Rooter knew this...they just didn't want to do it. When Roto Rooter was contacted by email about the damage they (Pat Swanson-Customer Satisfactions Manager) said a manager would be in touch. Dave Harris called and asked to see the pictures again which had already been sent to the corporate office. No response after this. A second letter was sent to the above mentioned and Jeff Schnabel (General Manager-Denver) called and asked me why I was still contacting the Corporate Office with this complaint. I have saved this voice mail. His call was returned and his response was "What do you want from Roto Rooter." I said for starters an apology and also the fact my tub is damaged to be acknowledged. His remark was "Sorry from Roto Rooter...is that good enough?" I have saved this recording as well for future use. Roto Rooter acts like they care about the customer but when it comes down to it, they don't. Consumer BEWARE!

called roto rooter because water was backing into the house from the toilet and tub! when tech shows up he tells me my main line is clogged and he needs to snake it. ok no big deal right? WRONG! he tells me it will be $225.00 to snake it and an extra $125.00 to dig the hole to get to the pipe. i ended up digging the hole to save myself $125.00 and he snaked it about 85-90 feet out cleared the clog and set me up with an appointment the following tuesday to have a camera run through the pipe and see what was going on. tuesday came around and the camera guy never showed up and 4 days later the pipe clogs back up! so i call roto rooter about 12pm on a sunday they tell me a tech will be out in an hour..doesnt show until 4pm! as soon as he gets there he tells me he's going to come back in the morning because it was drizziling and he didnt want to get him or his machine wet!? i convince him to stick around a minute to see if the drizzle stops and it did 5 minutes later. 25 minutes later he tells me he ran his snake out twice 100 feet both times and couldnt clear the clog! the next day the camera man finally shows up to run the camera and of course couldnt see anything because the pipe is filled with water. he tells me i need my whole main line replaced and gives me an estimate of $5000.00 (yes thats 5 thousand dollars)! so the next day i went to home depot and rented a snake for $52.00 and ran the snake out 85 or 90 ft and i hit the clog! after 5 minutes of toying with it i got the clog out and water is draining fine and havent had a problem since! THANK GOD! but do yourself a favor and stay away from ROTO ROOTER!

WE called the 800 number a year or so ago for Rotor Rooter to fix a few problems we were having in our bathroom. A older gentlemen arrived and my husband went into the bathroom with him to show him what needed repaired. Well, I guess in conversing my husband mentioned he did some auto mechanic work. The next thing I know, the Rotor Rooter employee comes out and informs me that since my husband fiddled around with car repair, he should be able to fix our bathroom. The man left and did not do a thing. My bathroom is still not fixed.

Residential house drain needed blockage cleaned out. Called Roto Rooter at about noon. Wasn't told how many down the list I was. Didn't arrive until after 5:00. Worked for a bit over an hour, and told me he went in 105 feet, which was the limit of his equipment, and couldn't clear the block. He called for a pressure water jet truck for the next day, and cut my $308 bill to $180. What a bargain. Next day, the pressure water jet truck showed with a camera. Cleared the line easily. No roots, just buildup plus what the first truck loosened. Charge was another $550, for a total of $730 for a simple blockage that actually flowed, but very slowly. It turned out that it did not need the force of a pressure jet, only a mechanical router that would actually reach the city line. City sewer easement is on the other side of the street, so line distance from cleanout access to city line is about 140 feet. Trucks apparently don't carry that cable length. This is old residential. Submitted a survey complaint online to Roto Rooter, which was of course ignored. Talk about severely gouged because they don’t carry the equipment to handle residential lot sizes, and they don't tell you that when they see the location, either, of course.

Dealing with the Roto Rooter in Northern Virginia has been an absolute nightmare. We called them to fix a faulty water heater and the technician said we just needed to fix a part. We trusted his judgment, had the part fixed, thought all was well. Wrong - water kept leaking without our knowledge until a few days later we noticed signs of water damage on the ceilings and carpet of 3 floors of our townhouse (water heater is on 3rd floor). Called Roto Rooter back and this time the production manager, Ron Shifflett, came along with the technician. Immediately the manager said the technician should have put in a new water heater in the first place and told us the admin office would contact us to straighten the issue out. We said, fine, they put in a new water heater, and left after getting our money.

Now we were left to deal with the damages to our home, spending a LOT of $$ to dry carpets/dry walls/ceilings, painting, putting in new carpet - a complete nightmare financially and otherwise. And we NEVER heard back from Roto Rooter regarding the mistake they made - no compensation for the botched job whatsoever, they won't take our calls or answer our emails. Tried reaching their General Manager in Northern Virginia, Calvin Williams without so much as an acknowledgment. When we finally heard back from the Production Manager, Ron Shifflett, he says the reason for the leak was the water heater pan was too small - not even a sensible argument - and refused to acknowledge what he himself said while doing the job, which was that the severity of the leak was the technician's fault for not replacing the water heater when we called them the first time.

If you are in the Northern Virginia area, do yourself a favor and DO NOT use Roto Rooter. If their technicians mess something up they will deny it, take your money and run. Don't trust them. I learned the hard way.

I called RR to get a "snake" job (my sewer line was clogged). Got charged $245 dlls. Technician only went around half of sewer line. Technician spent around 1.5 hour trying to get through the entire pipe. He was unable to and showed me with his camera how there was a blockage at around 60" but he did not determine if it was a broken pipe, but stated it was a "bad pipe". I had a camera inspection from another company and had the blockage at 68', "which might be roots because there is a tree nearby" they stated, also claimed that the snake that Roto Rooter used SHOULD have gone through al the way, which they wonder why they didnt. I called roto rooter back and they said I was under guarantee, and they sent the same technician back. When he came he said it was not guarateed because "I had a bad pipe" and I needed a knew one, he gave me their excavation guy's number. He asked for my invoice and since I did not have it, he said he was going to take a look at it and call me first thing in the morning. I also called their office to be sure this was going to get addressed. I had no phone calls from anybody next day, and then I called in the afternoon asking what was going on, and they said we'll call you back. No call back. I just called them and my invoice says "Jetting job". I asked the dispatch lady why it said that, and she responded "I dont know, is this commercial?" I said -No...and she went quiet. She did not understand why invoice was charged as a jetting job when I actually ha a snake job.. I called another company to unclog my line for $99 ($99 rooter), they did a camera inspection and my pipe is IN PERFECT CONDITION. RR Manager called me back today and said "I can give you the $99 charge that you got from the other company, but not for the $245 we charged you". I submited a claim via Better Business Bureau, and hopefully this will get addressed properly. NEVER USE THIS COMPANY, THEY DONT CARRE FOR YOUR MONEY OR FOR SERVICE! I HOPE THEY WILL BURN IN HELL!

I needed to have out dated gas line valves replaced in the basement connected to my water tank and furnace. After services rendered the water tank began to leak. The leak wasn't visible till hours later due to it being a drip of water from the front area from one of the legs...hours later a puddle has formed under the tank. I was not there watching, but I did hear a few very loud bangs. The service guy broke a piece of piping connected to the water tank pipe and had to go to home depot to purchase an extra piece. The same pipe that the service guy fixed the broken piece and valve on is now not parallel ……it’s slightly concave. If the pipe needed to be cut down or a threaded piece screwed in further……..it should have been done, poor workmanship. This pipe is adjacent to the very leg that leaks in front. Contacted customer service about the leaking water tank and they sent out the same service man. I showed him the water tank that is now leaking………..he did agree the tank didn’t leak before. He took a look at it and thought it was odd that the tank leaks from the front of the leg, not the bottom; the tank was dry inside as well. I showed him the pipe and he said that was normal. He explained that when the gas gets turned back on it should stop leaking, metal reacts to hot and cold and sometimes they leak. The gas guy said the same thing when they turned the gas back on, but the tank has been leaking to date since 8/28/09, the gas was turned back on 8/31/09.
The pipe was parallel before services were done and my tank did not leak. The tank is not new, but it has been very reliable and with no signs of malfunctioning due to rust at the bottom as most due with age. It leaks from in front of a leg not the bottom. Something happened during servicing on 8/28/09, the tank worked flawlessly before and now it must be replaced. I feel very strongly that any company that damages your property should be held liable, as anyone would.
My husband and I have attempted a resolution with them with no success, all they will offer is to come back and fix the pipe properly……That doesn’t fix my initial problem of a now leaky water tank. We have experienced enough financial damage and are not interested in their services, will find a reliable company to fix it properly. We would however be interested in a partial refund to cover some of our cost, we paid them $600.00 for this mess and would be happy to recoup half back.
I came into this with a fully functional water tank, something happened during service cause now it leaks. You can be the best in the business and can have a bad day or something may go terrible wrong, accidents happen. I called Roto Rooter because I felt I could trust a reputable company to do the work, at this point I'm not comfortable that I made the right choice and truly wish I could have had my husband do it. The parts cost was under $40, I was charged $600.00 for a now warped looking pipe and a leaky water tank. Based on my experience at this point I wouldn't call Roto Rooter again, nor recommend them to anyone...I fell as if I wasted $600.00 and now I must dig deep in my pockets to fix the damages.
Roto Rooter does not care about customer satisfaction or the quality of their work, they will take your money and run…..leaving you to fix the mess.
Beware of Roto Rooter is an understatement!

On 8/19/2008, we called Roto-Rooter to investigate a leak coming into our garage. They determined the mainline into the house had broken. They dug a trench at the outside wall of the house and replaced bad sections of pipe. The cost was $540.

Two days later, water resumed spilling into our garage. Roto-Rooter came out again, dug a hole in the same place, said the previous technician had done an inadequate job, and patched it up at no charge. (We did not receive an invoice of this visit. However, we tipped that technician with a check, suspicious of why we would not be given an invoice. That check has been cashed and we have record of it at our bank. The tech did the work by himself.)

One month later, on 9/11/08, water again began leaking into our garage. Once again, Roto-Rooter was called to make the repair. (Their own technician said he didn't believe the previous technicians were qualified to make the repair.) Whatever the case, they destroyed our new landscaping, dug a hole in the exact same place, and fixed the problem under warranty.

Then on 7/28/09, water again began leaking into our garage. We called Roto-Rooter again. The technician diagnosed the problem and immediately said the work would be covered under warranty. I gave him permission to dig a hole and repair. After digging a new trench in the exact same place, destroying our landscaping again with a large tractor, I happened to walk outside to ask them about progress. The busted pipe has already been removed, and the technician said the problem was not under warranty, even though they had already began repair work. I had no way of verifying this claim. The trench they dug was the exact same trench before. They then informed me that this would continue to happen unless I installed a new kind of pipe. (I was not told this on previous visits.) I paid $650 (invoice 214195) for this repair. At the time, I wanted to call another service, but felt pressured to use Roto-Rooter because the problem had to be fixed and the hole was already there.

Two days later, water began leaking into the garage again. I called Roto-Rooter. The tech determined that the hole they drilled into the garage needed to be sealed. This hole was created a year ago by their own technician, who apparently didn't patch the hole to prevent water from spilling into the garage. The tech at the time we would not see any problems with it. There was no charge for this visit. Roto-Rooter has refused thus far to hear out my complaints in an in-depth manner. Diane, their rep, has called, but she is clearly not interested in understanding the history. They won't even apologize for the first two visits! They refuse to honor their warranty.

Corporate Roto-Rooter says they have nothing to do with it. Whatever!

We had a simple clogged floor drain in the basement and called Roto-Rooter as my 64 year old husband had recently had knee surgery 3 days before discovering the problem. The service tech arrived and had my husband sign for repairs to fix a slow drain (ie use a snake to clear it...10 minutes of work at most) I looked at the paper and saw a price of $395.77. I went out and told the tech to leave as he hadn't started to unload his truck. He told me that it was a fair and standard price. I told him that I wanted to call another company. He showed me a paper and told me that was the price that he charged for unclogging a floor drain. I told him to leave and then he said that he was already there and would discount the price by 25%. At this point, I said to go ahead with the work but still feel overcharged. The final bill was $259.50 for 10 minutes of work. He said that he gave me the "discount" in exchange for no guarantee. I feel that this company overcharges and takes advantage of senior citizens with health problems. I will never use them again for anything.

A serviceman was confirmed to be at my home between 5 - 7 p.m. At 7 p.m. I was called by dispatcher to say he was running late would be wrapping up his current job and heading to my home (approximately 20 minutes away). At 8 p.m. when no one arrived, I called the dispatcher who apologized and said they would call me when he was on his way. At 9 p.m. he was a no show and it was time for me to get ready for bed. I again called the dispatcher and told her to cancel the order and how dissatisfied I was with the service. I stayed home from work to wait for someone who never showed.

"Thank you for scheduling your service with Roto-Rooter. One of our customer service professionals will process your request for service.

You will receive a call on the day you requested service, Tuesday, Apr 28, to confirm an approximate time that the service technician will arrive.

Order ID : [protected]"

Roto Rooter trains Services Techs well. Their employees at a regional call center are taught not to give prices. This is so the Tech can sell you at your home. You as the consumer are in a tough situation: you have sewage all over your floor, most likely have taken time off work, and have concerns about health issues for your family. To encrease the number of sales, usually, they will try a couple sales tricks to preasure you. Like assumptive close, "Sign here and I will get started" or "do you want me to bring my tools through the front door or back door". Or choice close, "do you want service a or service b". So, you go ahead and pay what ever is asked. To my knowledge Roto-Rooter is the MOST EXPESIVE pluming service to use in most cities. In the city I live, they have had three recent price increases. (PS: The Tech's pay for their own tools, van, and gas) In short, get an estimate up front for basic services. Or better yet, call three plumbers at the same time. Best of luck and dont be afraid to say, "NO!"