Roto-Rooter Sewer & Drain Service

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I am glad I will no longer do business with Roto Rooter.  The camera and drain were mere "suggestions". His tech was rough with his equipment. I ended up getting my own drain snake and was able to clear the clog on my own for less than what it would have cost me to have them or the competitor come out. The amount they were charging for the camera and downspout was more than what I could ever afford.  Coming out less than a week after you clean the drain should warrant a "no charge', it means you didn't do your job properly in the first place. No message was ever received on my phone, my husband had to CALL and be told that no one would be coming.   The comments given by the business owner are uncalled for, and highly unprofessional.  I seek no other resolution to this complaint, other than to know not to trust Roto Rooter, no matter how long they have been in business.  
Regards,
[redacted]

I was very pleased with the service. The service guy was very polite, cleaned up after he was finished and explained what he was doing and why. He also explained what I might expect in the future. I would recommend this company to anyone who expects and wants great service from knowledgable people. It was a reasonable price especially given I needed emergency service on weekend. ","pos-1

Review: Called Roto Rooter out to clean a drain and try to figure out if there was some kind of plumbing problem, as my tenant complained of water in the basement. The guy they sent out said he couldn't open the floor drain, splashed around in the water for a bit, and left after only 10 minutes. Roto Rooter called to say they couldn't drain the water, as the floor drain was cemented over. I stated that since they couldn't do the job, I would hope I wouldn't be charged. Later that day, [redacted] from Roto Rooter called and said I would be charged for a cleanout, because while the worker was in the basement, he did clean out the stack. They charged me $165. I had not authorized such a clean out, but it's an old house, and I let it go. Later, after we still had no resolution of the basement water issue, I asked a water proofing company to come out and help me figure out where the water was coming from. I assumed it wasn't plumbing or sewer related, since I assumed that Roto Rooter would have noticed that if it was. Immediately the water proofing guy saw that the problem was an uncapped SEWER pipe in the far back of the basement. The water in the basement had raw SEWAGE in it. We had the problem corrected immediately, by a fantastic, licensed plumber, and while he was there, he cleaned the stack. It took him more than an hour. Roto Rooter guy was only in my house for 10 minutes. The plumber brought heavy equipment with him into the basement to do it. My tenant said that the Roto Rooter man brought no heavy equipment with him into the basement. The plumber charged only $175 to do an actual, thorough cleanout of the sewer stack/line. My complaint is that I paid Roto Rooter to do a job that they did not, could not have done in the time that man was there. Also, that a man from Roto Rooter did not recognize raw sewage in a basement, or never thought to look for an open drain. So my tenants continued to live in a house with this in the basement until I finally got to the bottom of the problem, with some REAL experts. This was a health hazard, and I relied on the expertise of Roto Rooter to help me fix this situation, and they have no expertise at all. Finally, they have a receptionist working there, Carol, who is one of the rudest people I have ever had the opportunity to speak with. She actually hung up on me after stating that she would not be refunding my money.Desired Settlement: Give me my $165 plus tax back.

Business

Response:

December 3, 2013

Attn: [redacted]

ID [redacted]

First I would like to apologize for the late response but I have had double bilateral knee replacement and still in therapy and have not achieved full recovery.

I will try to keep this as brief as possible. There are a few differences in the letter than what really happened. First the tenant she spoke about is her daughter and from our understanding this sewer back up had occurred well before the service call had been placed. [redacted], not [redacted] cleaned the main house trap and that took care of the sewer back up. [redacted] thought that the floor drain could have been cemented over and could not locate it because of the sludge that was on the floor or find any indication were it would be. Our company is not responsible for any type of cleanup that could be involved. Once the basement was professionally cleaned we would have gladly came back to locate the floor drain.

I myself explained this to [redacted]. I also had an indication that the board of health might have gotten involved with the living conditions at this property.

[redacted] called back quite a few times in one day, weeks after we were at [redacted]. I tried to explain the situation again but seemed to have turned a deaf ear. [redacted] called several times in one day and I did hang up on her. She was loud, kept talking over me and I could not get a chance to reply. She did not understand or did not want to understand. Sometimes you have to draw the line when you can see the state of mind is being challenged or the customer tries to take advantage of a service company.

In conclusion, I am electing not to give [redacted] a refund. Also, [redacted] was asking for $165.00 plus tax. Our company had only charged $160.00 and no tax.

Thank you,

Roto-Rooter