Roto Rooter

Review: In August 2014 I called Roto Rooter to repair an odor coming from one of our restrooms at a commercial building occupied by one of our tenants. They had a plumber call me to schedule repair. He said he had to put a smoke bomb down the pipe. I gave the ok to do so. He then called and sent over a fax for my signature to install a pipe on the roof as he said that is the problem not a leak in the pipes. I signed the agreement and sent it over.

2 days later my husband and I went to look at what work the plumber completed. The plumber wasn't even there for an hour we were told. There was no hole in the wall to see if any smoke seeped through pipes. We went on the roof and the parts that were installed couldn't have cost more than $10. We feel very taken advantage of as the plumber should have checked a little more before he automatically did a smoke bomb let alone the cost of this repair at $573.72. (If photos are needed of the plastic pipe he attached to exsisiting pipe is needed I can send.)

My husband [redacted] is a contractor and spoke with his plumber and yes he also said we were taken advantage of. [redacted] ended up speaking with the manager at Roto Rooter located here in Tucson at the phone number (520)741-0796. He was extremely rude. He told [redacted] that he can charge whatever he wants and he could've even charged more. [redacted] said what you could've charged more so you can charge what you want and the manager said yes. The manager also said it's standard practice to use a smoke bomb before checking anything else out. That should be a big concern for other that use Roto Rooter. If the plumber would've looked at the problem for 20 minutes the $350 smoke bomb charge could've been avoided. After a lengthly conversation the manager said he would reduce the invoice. [redacted] agreed. The manager said he would send out the new invoice. He sent the same invoice with a letter that we are being sent to collections.Desired Settlement: Adjusted invoice to $195 + tax

Consumer

Response:

Hello there.The Roto Rooter we used was Hoffman Southwest Corp DBA: Roto Rooter located at 3190 N FWY Industrial Loop Tucson, AZ 85705 (520)741-0796

Consumer

Response:

Today an agreement has been met. Collection agency received an approval from Roto Rooter to adjust bill to $295. Thank you!

Review: 2012 June 26 th, Roto Rooter finshed replacing underground drainage lines. While working plubing lines they damaged my water lines which are running along plumbing lines underground. 15days ago [redacted] Waters informed us about the underground water leak. We requested Roto Rooter to fix the problem as they caused the leak but they are denying.

We have provided all evidences to Roto Rooter as follows:

-Increase [redacted] water bill amounts (after Roto-Rooter work)

-Hourly water usage data from [redacted] waters (shows 10 gallons water per every hour and everyday)

-[redacted] WATERS leak check, there is no water leak from outside water meter to the inside main water valve

-3 different company plumbers findings (one of which is Roto-Rooter), found the leak is underground inside the house where Roto-Rooter replaced our plumbing linesDesired Settlement: Roto-Rooter to refund our money that we paid for the plumbing job so that we can fix our underground water leak.

Business

Response:

Good Morning,

We have instructed our customer to contact their insurance company so they can investigate this claim. We have not found any information to support the claim that Roto-Rooter caused any damage at their home.

Thanks [redacted]

Review: First of all this complaint is with the [redacted] Branch of Roto Rooters but they are not on the list. I have tried to be touch via phone call, email to the personal office as well as to the mail office and this issue was not taken care of..

First I had a drain service done September 20 and told them I had a Internet coupon for $20 off any drain service which was never honored at the time of the service or when I called to complain. The second issue was I had paid over the phone with my credit card assuming it was all safe and secure. A few days later I was checking my credit card balance online and noticed several charged made in Harrisburg with my card, my balance was zero on this card and no one else was giving this number except Roto rooters. It was over $2000 worth of merchandise purchased. I am currently in Argentina and this card was only going to be used for emergencies such as this drain problem and I had to cancel it immediately. I am very disgusted that someone on their end used my card I called the [redacted] office and wanted to speak to the manager but I wasn't able to and I left my information with a gentleman named Phil. He told me the manager would be in touch and instead I got a email from him saying no one used the card. I can't believe this delicate matter has been Taking so lightly, I am sure if that was somoones credit card there they would be just as upset as I am. I can't believe no one has contacted me to make this right and give me the appropriate discount I am entitled too.Desired Settlement: For my $20 off discount and the [redacted] general manager to be aware of the situation and a apology for not paying attention to such a delicate matter,

Consumer

Response:

The phone number for the [redacted] Roto Rooters is tel:###-###-#### and the address is [redacted] PA [redacted]

Review: Location of service was in [redacted], Virginia [redacted].

I am writing to express my extreme concern and frustration regarding services provided by Roto Rooter on Sunday, May 25, 2014. I called Roto Rooter around 2 PM to report a flooding hot water heater and broken shut-off valve. I was told we would receive a call within four hours for a technician to report. I was also told that plenty of hot water heaters are in stock and this would be no problem to replace this evening. We received a call and [redacted] showed up at our house around 3:45 PM. By this time, my husband and I were actively involved in limiting the water exposure in the basement by utilizing our sump pump to drain the hot water heater and using every towel we had to soak up the remainder. The shut-off valve to the hot water heater was broken, and we had 15 people coming over for a cookout so shutting the main off to the house was a last resort.

[redacted] came in energetic and excited to help us. He did not try to diagnose the problem; he instantly said it would need to be replaced. He was highly energetic and a little scatter-brained at times. He shouted “thank you, I’m making money!” and then exclaimed “but first, you need to give me a coke!” This caught us off-guard but we were anxious to have this replaced so we provided him a cup of coke and he left to get the water heater.

An hour later, [redacted] called me frantically asking if we turned off the gas. This confused me, as a plumber should know how to turn off the gas and should have done it before he left, but I asked my husband and told [redacted] yes we did. He said he would be by in about five minutes. Ten minutes later we received another phone call asking the same thing, if we had turned off the gas. I told him yes again. [redacted] did not show up at our house until after 6 PM (2 hours later). He constantly asked to borrow our tools, our shop vac, a trash can, etc. which was unpleasant how we had to ruin some of our items. If the plumber needed these things, he should have them in the truck (which we saw later, he did have his own shop-vac in the truck). Using the help of my husband and his friends (in the middle of our cookout), they removed the old hot water heater and brought in the new. This was when we realized [redacted] was very unexperienced and did not know what he was doing.

The first thing we told him at 3:45 PM was that we needed the shut off valve to be fixed so we could have water to the rest of the house since we had guests over. This never happened, therefore our guests could not flush all night. He did not know how to sauder the copper wires together to get the water in to the tank. He removed this several times then finally at the end of the night just put a PVC pipe in. He did not know how to put the hood on the top of the hot water heater and almost tried cutting into our HVAC system for whatever reason. It is a good thing my husband was down there to stop him. In the mean time he demanded another coke, did not hook the gas line up correctly, never installed the shut-off valve, never installed the hood, and did not install the suspension tank (which, the plumber told us today could have resulted in an explosion).

I spoke to [redacted] around 9 PM gently expressing frustration and asked if he could call another plumber to come assist if this was causing trouble for him. He immediately got defensive and started blaming traffic and other factors for why this was incomplete. I left and asked my husband to go downstairs with him. Finally around 11 PM my husband told him to stop and leave, that this was extremely unpleasant to have him here this late. He tried getting us to sign the paper saying the job was complete and we said no, we would sign and pay when it was complete. He said he would come back in three days to do the valve and I said absolutely not, we did not pay a premium to have it half done and god forbid we would need to shut the water off for any reason, we wouldn’t be able to. He then asked me “Why would you need to shut it off?” I thought this was extremely rude and argumentative. He accused us of refusing to pay which is NOT the case, we would NEVER not pay for a service; however we were EXTREMELY uncomfortable at this time and so aggravated we were not going to get stuck with a half-done job. I called Roto Rooters around 10 PM to express my concern and request another technician to come out and to have a manager call me. I was told a manager would call soonest (that never happened). My husband called around 11 PM and was told a manager would call within five minutes. He followed up again at 11:30 PM and was told they would let the dispatch know to have a manager call us; that never happened. We finally went to bed around 12:30 AM absolutely disgusted and disappointed.

I received a phone call around 7:45 AM by an unpleasant person advising someone would be by soon to fix. I asked if it was an experienced plumber (I was half asleep, probably wasn’t as nice as I could have been) and he laughed and said they all were. I told him that I disagreed and to please have their most experienced plumber come by and to have a manager call me. The manager never called. When [redacted] and his partner arrived, we told him we would not let him in the house until we spoke to a manager.

[redacted] and his partner said everything was done poorly. The gas line he removed by a flick of the wrist, the suspension tank was never installed, the plumbing was extremely bad, etc.

This is absolutely the WORST experience I have ever had with any home service. I am disgusted with Roto Rooter’s lack of concern for our well-being, safety, and for the integrity of their work and their word. I am SHOCKED we had to pay for labor when the labor we received was more than less of sub-par I can’t even find a word to describe it. The fact my tank could have exploded in the middle of the night absolutely disgusts me. I am expecting this to be escalated to the highest level to be reported and we need to rectify the amount we were charged for this incredibly terrible service we received. Our cookout was ruined, our night was ruined babysitting [redacted] and making sure he didn’t mess anything else up, and we were up all night worried something worse would happen when [redacted] left. Roto Rooter’s disregard for our satisfaction and safety is truly concerning.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded for everything with the exception of the hot water heater. I think labor charges are unacceptable due to the extreme disservice we were given.

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to inform you that we have spoken with our customer at length in regards to this service call several times and fully explained our conditions of doing the repair. This was agreed upon prior to us completig our repair. We informed them that we would give them a $300 discount off of the original quote and also provide $600 worth of FREE service as a good faith measure to address their safety concerns. I also personally spent an hour on the phone with their home warranty company in an effort to help them get reimbursed on a warranty claim. We will not issue any additional refund in regards to this service call.

[redacted] General ManagerRoto Rooter Services Company

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: We called Roto-Rooter to repair our hot water heater. The repair man had not even looked at the water heater but strongly suggested that we purchase a brand new heater. We declined until he looked to see what was wrong with the existing water heater. After 20-30 minutes, the repair man told us it was one of two things - the one repair would cost $200+; the other repair would cost $700+. Again he brought up replacing the hot water heater at a cost of $2500. We declined the new heater. After 2 hours of trying to repair the hot water heater (including setting a small fire), the technician told us the water heater was not-repairable and if we wanted hot water, we'd need to purchase a new one, which would now include the attempted repairs plus the cost of the new heater. We declined the repair costs (since the heater was not repaired) as well as the new heater. We contacted a new contractor who came out the next day.

The new plumber (new contractor, not Roto-Rooter) discovered that the previous plumbing technician had set a small fire (flare-up), sprayed some sort of adhesive spray to the water heater parts and had tried to repair a propane gas water heater with LP gas parts. We contacted Roto-Rooter and their Service Manager, [redacted] came out that day and looked over the situation and spoke to the new plumber. [redacted] agreed (in the presence of my husband, myself and the [redacted] plumber) that his Roto-Rooter tech had not corectly installed the new parts - the tech did try to use LP gas parts on a propane tank which caused a flare up and made the "old" tank unsafe for us to continue using. [redacted] asked if he could take the old parts with him and promised that he would be back in touch with us within a week. [redacted] has never called us; never responded back to emails or voice mail. He has taken the parts - which I am sure are now destroyed - making it very hard to prove our case, should we wish to go to litigation.Desired Settlement: We believe that even though we refused to pay Roto-Rooter for the parts and labor of the supposed repairs to our water heater, they are the direct cause of us having had to purchase a new water heater. In our minds, they owe us the difference between the $2500 water heater and the $900 repair. Although they were not at fault for the initial cause that made the water heater stop working, they compounded the issue for us by making the water heater unsafe and not useable. Forcing us into purchasing a new water heater - which they had been pushing for all along.

Business

Response:

Good Morning [redacted] and Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC,

I am writing you in response to the desired settlement of a complaint at your home in [redacted]. On December 26, 2012 my technician [redacted] came to your property to provide a free estimate to repair a water heater that was not working properly. Upon arriving [redacted] looked at the unit and offered two potential solutions to the problem. The first option was to replace the thermocoupler and gas control valve of the unit for approximately $964.20 if that would not work the option of replacing the entire unit was proposed for $2011.41 this price would include parts, labor, inspection fee , and warranty. Our technician [redacted] did attempt to make the initial repair but did not have the correct parts and therefore could not even attempt to start the water heater. Meaning we were unable to test the water heater which would mean we could not have caused a small fire . I have spoken with our plumbing manager [redacted] and he did meet [redacted] at the property to access their claim of damage to the water heater. [redacted] saw the water heater was not working and a [redacted] plumber was on site in the process of replacing the water heater. [redacted] noticed that there were scorch marks on the gas valve of the old water heater unit. During this process [redacted] took the old thermocoupler from the unit which appeared to have a bluish color paint on it so he could inventory our technicians vehicle to see if he had any paint that would possibly indicate that he had in fact attempted to cover up a small fire with this paint. [redacted] did not find any evidence to support that claim. We have no way of conclusively stating that our technician damaged the existing unit that was called in for service . Therefore at this time we cannot assume responsibility for something that was possibly the very reason we were called out. Gas water heaters are equipped with safety measures to protect from fires, explosions, etc. It is very possible that this problem with the water heater was the very reason we were called out initially. We understand that this is an unfortunate incident and situations like these are not ideal for anyone but we do not feel as though we had anything to do with the unit needing to be replaced. I have also attached a copy of our estimate for your review.

Regards,

General Manager

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Roto-Rooter did not, in good faith, even attempt to resolve this issue with us. We were told by [redacted] that he would speak to the technician and to his boss and would contact us. This NEVER happened - even though we contacted [redacted] multiple times. Our issue is not compenseation as much as it is a response to our complaint. To have to register a complaint directly with the Revdex.com to even receive some sort of explanation or acknowledgement of our complaint is very poor customer service. At this stage and without the damaged pieces, we now have no legal recourse. This is, of course, what Roto-Rooter wanted all along.

We shall certainly make sure to let others know, verbally, online and through any other means possible, of the poor customer service and workmanship provided by Roto-Rooter and of their refusal to even acknowledge mistakes made by their technician (a plumber who doesn't know the difference between a propane and LP gas water heater????). We hope our comments and opinions have as much of an impact on Roto-Rooter as it had on our water heater.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

I would like to apologize that [redacted] did not correspond with you to your satisfaction. I have addressed the matter with him directly and reiterated the importance of proper follow up and feedback that we owe to our customers . I can assure you we do not make it common practice to fail to live up to our companies solid reputation that has taken decades to build. Our goal is to retain customers and build relationships through positive service experiences and ethical practices. It is obvious to me that we have failed to provide a positive service experience and that is something I wish we could change . I can assure you that our company stands behind our mistakes when applicable and we will do what is right and fair for our customers. Unfortunately the situation with your water heater was inconclusive. We cannot assume responsibility for something we cannot prove we caused. We have also addressed our technicians mistake in thinking gas parts could be universal in a repair of this nature. I appreciate your feedback and I will make sure that every person involved in this service call will not make such mistakes in the future. I would like to send you a $100 coupon for future use for any plumbing or drain cleaning problem in the future.

Regards,

Review: on Monday August 17 at 2 pm, I had a sewage overflow in my basement, I called Roto Rooter . They came, changed the pump and talked to me about the necessity of taking down the tiles covering the area where I happen to have a wet bar. They called my home insurance , placed the claim and made me sign an authorization for payment without telling me how much this would approximately cost. They sent four technicians at 7 pm same day who took down the wet bar and tiles covering the area . They left 4 machines: Then they put on a dehumidifier, two fans, and a hydroxyl generator -an odor counteractant -(there was no bad odor). They also sprayed an anti microbial. They left these four machines in my basement from Monday August 17 , 11.30 pm to Thursday August 20 , 9 am, when a guy came and took all the machines. They sent an invoice of $ 6175.90 to the adjuster. The adjuster called me sand said that my insurance can only pay me $10000 for the whole claim. Roto Rooter are wrongfully charging me 4 days for the machines while they were in my basement only 2 days and a half day. According to their invoice, the charge for these 4 machines alone is $2000. They are also charging me$ 532 for water extraction while there was no water at all when they removed the tiles and the bar. They did NOT extract any water whether before taking down the bar or after. There was no water after they took down the tiles and bar; only traces of wetness !!

In the bathroom they only removed the tiles without detaching the toilet seat. And they are charging me $215.40 for supposedly detaching the toilet and resetting it!!! Another lie is that they are charging me $ 186. 20 for an emergency service call -after business hour, while I called them around 1.30 pm. Anyway their invoice is full of lies . They are taking advantage of me through my insurance. Now the maximum claim I can get from my insurance is $10000 and the contractor's estimate to rebuild my custom made wet bar and put tiles back in the area is $11, 290.

I cannot pay the $ 6175 invoice they are wrongfully claiming. I do NOT have that money and they did NOT give me the slightest idea about the cost before making me sign an authorization for payment. I feel they rushed me into that and did not give me a chance to know how much my insurance can pay. They took advantage of me and their lies in the invoice about the charges are the best proof of that. I can provide the invoice if needed.Desired Settlement: I can offer to settle this by paying $3000 only.

Business

Response:

[redacted], Water Restoration Manger, spoke with the insurance adjuster and the homeowner and we came to an agreement that the homeowner will pay $3,000.00 and we will accept that as payment in full.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Review: This concerns a replacement of of a sewer line and trap that runs from my home to the sewer line in the street. I had been having problems with sewer water backing up into my basement for years. I always called this same Roto Rooter business to come and snake out the sewer line to unclog it. In all, they have been to my home at least 15 times in the last 23 years on service calls. This problem of the water backing up into my basement happens every 12-15 months on average, sometimes sooner. In August 2009, Roto Rooter came to open the line because of a clog. They determined that the trap line was broken. I agreed to have the trap dug up and replaced at the cost of about $4,500. This trap is located under the driveway of my home and I had the additional cost of having to have the driveway dug out and replaced. I was told to wait until 4-6 weeks after the new trap was installed to repave my driveway so that the ground would have time to settle. I waited 8 weeks. About 3 months after the new trap was installed, the ground sank and the trap sank with it and part of the driveway also sank. As a result, I still have the same problem with water backing up into my basement. I have had Roto Rooter from Newark, De. EVERY time I needed service. They will always come and unclog the trap and they always try to charge me for it. I have had 2 occasions when I complained to them and they waived the repair fee. But most times I have to pay it and its around $425 at the present time. I have called them well over a dozen times and asked them to send someone to look at the trap and see what the problem is and repair it. They did send a person about 2 months ago. He was totally unaware of what is going on here. He said he would report his findings to his supervisor and they would be giving me a call for an update. That call never happened. I called them 6 times since then and every time I was told the person handling my issue would call back. They never called. I want this problem fixed once and for all. I should not have to deal with water backing up into my basement due to a bad job of replacing a broken trap line.Desired Settlement: I would like Roto Rooter to replace the trap line and make sure that this water back-up problem is solved once and for all at no cost to me and pay for the replacement of my driveway that will have to be dug up again.

Business

Response:

Hello, I've been the RR General Manager at the same location but I never rece a letter at 1001 Dawson Drive Newark. I have strived to maintain an A+ rating.

This customer received a refund check in the mail last week.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Review: Replaced sump pump with one I purchased.new one was not pumping water out when they left. Told us it would take about 2 hours to empty. If not, they would have to dig up yard to repair line to street. By next morning still not working. Called another plumbing company for second opinion. Found roto rooter put in check valve backwards. Fixed and dye tested pump. Line discharged to street. Called roto rooter to complain and was told we should have called the 2 workers back for repair.are good workers but can make mistakes. Charged $[redacted].** which was outrageous. We believe it was a deliberate mistake to have them return for major expensive and needless work to dig up line to street. Technicians were[redacted] and [redacted] on April 2, 2015. Without a second opinion we could have incurred thousands of dollars of unnecessary work. What a ripoff!Desired Settlement: We are willing to pay the service call and parts charges, but to pay $[redacted] for installation that was beyond inferior is unethical.

Business

Response:

We are in receipt of the complaint filed. Roto Rooter warranties all of our work and this job was under warranty. Unfortunately, the customer did not call us back out to discuss the issue of the pump not working, but instead called and got an opinion from "another company". It was that "other company" opinion that Roto Rooter had installed the check valve backwards. We would have at no charge come back out and checked into that situation ourselves, but we were not given that opportunity. We performed the install work requested by the customer, tested the pump and saw water slowly being pumped and that it would take approximately 2 hours. It was all working properly at the time. We would never have deliberately made a mistake. We stand behind all of our work and if a customer is ever dissatisfied with the technician on-site, we offer our General Manager to visit the site and work directly with the customer to rectify the situation.

Review: Replaced sump pump with one I purchased.new one was not pumping water out when they left. Told us it would take about 2 hours to empty. If not, they would have to dig up yard to repair line to street. By next morning still not working. Called another plumbing company for second opinion. Found roto rooter put in check valve backwards. Fixed and dye tested pump. Line discharged to street. Called roto rooter to complain and was told we should have called the 2 workers back for repair.are good workers but can make mistakes. Charged $[redacted].** which was outrageous. We believe it was a deliberate mistake to have them return for major expensive and needless work to dig up line to street. Technicians were[redacted] and [redacted] on April 2, 2015. Without a second opinion we could have incurred thousands of dollars of unnecessary work. What a ripoff!Desired Settlement: We are willing to pay the service call and parts charges, but to pay $[redacted] for installation that was beyond inferior is unethical.

Business

Response:

We are in receipt of the complaint filed. Roto Rooter warranties all of our work and this job was under warranty. Unfortunately, the customer did not call us back out to discuss the issue of the pump not working, but instead called and got an opinion from "another company". It was that "other company" opinion that Roto Rooter had installed the check valve backwards. We would have at no charge come back out and checked into that situation ourselves, but we were not given that opportunity. We performed the install work requested by the customer, tested the pump and saw water slowly being pumped and that it would take approximately 2 hours. It was all working properly at the time. We would never have deliberately made a mistake. We stand behind all of our work and if a customer is ever dissatisfied with the technician on-site, we offer our General Manager to visit the site and work directly with the customer to rectify the situation.