Hometown Rooter Plumbing

These guys are great. I had a plumbing backup the second day I moved in my house. Hometown Rooter was dispatched by my home warranty company and they were there by 8:00 a.m. the same morning. The owner, Ken, was helpful and goes the extra mile. It turned out my issue was not covered by my home warranty but he helped me navigate insurance and most of my repair was covered. The foreman on my job, Dan, was a great guy to work with and always kept me informed. I always got notification of arrival and departure times, and they left the area cleaned up, covered, and safe every day. The two laborers on my job were courteous and friendly. I wouldn't hesitate to refer Hometown Rooter for any plumbing job.

I obtained their services via my Home Warranty for some repairs on two sinks and a toilet to address minor leaks and other items. The technician was courteous and promptly resolved each of these work items without issue.

DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY!!! Hometown Rooter was sent out to our house by our home warranty company (we did not have a choice) to address a bathtub faucet issue. At the time of our claim our faucet was dry, not working, but DRY. Hometown Rooter came out messed with the faucet, said there was nothing they can do, charged us $75 and BROKE it - the faucet began leaking after they left and is now a all out stream. We actually have to keep the main water line off in order to stop the water in the tub. I called, expecting them to get back out to fix it, but it has been 3 days and they are NOT EVEN RETURNING MY PHONE CALL. Seriously, I'm at a loss for how incompetent this company is and why the home warranty company uses them. Save yourself a headache and frustration, do NOT call this plumbing company.

Review: Plumber came over to fix a clogged toilet. Told him I was not sure what was causing the clog and there maybe something stuck in there like a foreign object of some kind.

Plumber said okay and proceeded to use his hand operated "snake" to unclog the toilet. The snake got stuck after he used it for a bit and he was no longer able to get it out. He then gave me 2 options. I either pay him "$500 - $600" to replace the toilet or I have to pay him $100 for his "snake" which he can't get out of the toilet because he will have to leave there.

This is extortion plain and simple. I was so frustrated, I wasn't planning on replacing a whole toilet and just wanted him out of the house at this point. I paid the $100 and now I have an unusable toilet with a "snake" sticking out of it.

This is not how you do business. This would be the same as taking your car to the shop to get fixed and then the mechanic breaking his tool while fixing your car and charging you for it. Unbelievable!Desired Settlement: I want my money back and an apology for how this service call went.

Business

Response:

This was a home warranty call that was a clogged toilet. tech did verify that the toilet was indeed clogged and attempted to auger the toilet. We were fully aware that there was most likely a foreign objet clogging it. Unfortunately whatever the foreign object that was clogging it was too hard to break and was apparently stuck in such a manner that it was unable to be pushed through. With this being a warranty call any foreign object clogging a drain it is deemed as abuse with no farther coverage. We did follow guidelines for the service call which resulted in a denial of coverage on the toilet. The customer also filed a complaint with the credit card co. and I did not fight the charge back of $100.00 for the cost of the auger , so they should have already had a $100.00 refund to their credit card.

Review: As a new home owner, there is a lot I am learning for the first time. One night I came home to a leaky hot water tank which I immediately called into my home warranty. They set me up with Hometown rooter. the guy who did the service call, I believe his name was Mark, was very nice guy and pleasant, he just seemed a little flustered because he said he was very busy that day, which I fault no one for. I then was asked to sign for out of pocket expenses. I inquired about this because I was under the impression I pay my deductible only, and he said that he didn't know he's just the plumber and that all he knew is that I owed the money. So I wrote a check thinking I'd take it up with the home warranty. (Which I later found out I won't be getting reimbursed for the money) anyways, my main issue is that when the plumber left, he drove into my yard and over a 2 ft garden fence I have around the perimeter of the yard smashing about a 20ft section of it. I have called 4 times since the day he was here to let them know this has happened and left messages every time. They have yet to get back to me and I'm assuming they are avoiding this situation and I do not appreciate this. I get that accidents happen, but they let me easily write a check for "out of pocket" expenses, yet now have trouble getting back to me because their employee broke something on my property. This is not good business.Desired Settlement: idealy I would like refunded for all out of pocket expenses and only pay the deductible which is $75 dollars, I was charged $544. I need to fix my yard now, and replace the fencing and lighting that was run over. I have pictures of the incident as well as a neighbor across the street who had witness it happen when the plumber left in case any proof is needed. This would be a total amount of $469 refunded back to me from the bill for the damages. Thank you.

Business

Response:

As far as the out of pocket expenses there were some code items and permit that were not covered by their home warranty. These were the items that they had to pay for, as far as warranty coverage on the policy that they have are between them and the warranty co., we do not make the determination of the coverage the warranty co does. I have spoken to the customer and have agreed to pay for the decorative fencing that was broken.