Roto-Rooter

I filed a complaint (#[redacted]) yesterday with regard to a dispute with Roto Rooter of Bergen and Passaic. I am writing to inform you that I had a follow up conversation with the business owner today and we have come to a satisfactory resolution to the issue. I no longer feel the need to pursue this...

matter and wish to have the case with the Revdex.com closed.
Revdex.com:
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,
[redacted]

This customer was contacted and we refunded her $375 and she is happy + satisfied with this.Thanks Jerry D.Mgr.

[email protected]:37 AM (4 hours ago)tome In reference to this complaint, we have not been contacted by Mr. [redacted] (owner of property at [redacted] Ln, Egg Harbor Twsp, N.J.) or Mr. [redacted] (he placed complaint to Revdex.com) that there was still a problem since our 7/26/14 service...

call. When our technician arrived for service on 7/26/14, there was no stoppage, therefore no need to clean the line. The problem diagnosed was that the fill valve and flapper in the downstairs toilet needed to be replaced - which he did. Please see attached invoice #[redacted] signed by Mr. [redacted]. As stated on bottom of the invoice, the customer does have a 1 year guarantee for the stated work performed. We would have gladly sent out a technician if we were notified there was still a problem. We were not aware the customer was having a problem until receipt of your letter dated 12/15/14. On 12/27/14 (see attached office record of all communication we have had with customer), our secretary contacted Mr. [redacted] to inquire if he was having a problem. He said someone else resolved the issue. He also stated he did not understand why he was charged twice for same problem - we were also ther on 9/20/13. Our secretary explained that in September we replaced the flapper in the UPSTAIRS toilet, & installed a new tank to bowl gasket in DOWNSTAIRS toilet. Please see attached invoice [redacted], signed by Mr. [redacted]. Again, a 1 year guarantee is stated on invoice if we had to return for same repair. Thank you for your attention, [redacted], Acct rep.

Dear Revdex.com,
I am writing you in response to complaint ID [redacted]. We have found that our replacement of a sump pump at this residence was warranted. Our company received a call regarding Several issues at this home on February 13, 2015. Upon arriving we conducted our initial evaluations...

and found that we needed to make a repair to an expansion valve on the water heater, as well as replacing the sump pump . We clearly explained this to our customer and presented them with pricing option for the repairs. Upon receiving approval from our customer my technician completed the two separate repairs. We installed a 115 V 1/3 HP [redacted] Sump Pump, 1 - 1 % inch pyc check valve, and coupling. We use [redacted] pumps because we feel as though [redacted] makes some of the best pumps in the business. I can understand your uneasiness with having had a recent problem but I would like to make you aware that we provide a one year warranty on the pump installation . We also provide and 6 month warranty on the water heater repair. If you have any issues during this time please do not hesistate to contact us. It is of our opinion that the new sump pump installed in your home is a much better product than the unitthat was not working and was ultimately replaced.RegardsCalvin WGeneral Manager

[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.]
Revdex.com:
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,
[redacted]

To whom it may concern,I am responding to the case #[redacted]. The Technician Supervisor met with the home ownersto remedy the issue, The billing has been explained and the invoice has been reviewed. [redacted] is satisfied. Please call with any questions.Best Regards,Richard W

Company states: We have reached out to consumer and have decided that we will part ways with our business with him. We have also deleted the balance that was owed.

Roto - Rooter's previous response to this complaint remains the same. In response to Mr. [redacted]'s recent response - we do not have set hours in which a technician would end his work day - they work until their service calls for the day are finished. We do not have any record of either Mr. [redacted] or Mr. [redacted] calling back about further problems, nor do our secretaries recall any issues. As for being placed on hold for an extended amount of time - if customer did call - why did he not hang up & call back? If we did receive a call, we would have gladly sent a technician out for a re-check- there is a 1 year guarantee on work performed as per their 7/26/14 invoice. If a different problem was diagnosed, we would have done the repair at a discounted price. The invoice from 7/26/14 was signed by Mr. [redacted] that work was completed to the customer's satisfaction.

Consumer state: I no longer want to deal with this company and we have decided to not do any further business.

---------- Forwarded message ----------From: [redacted] <[redacted]@[redacted].com>Date: Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 8:46 AMSubject: Complaint [redacted]To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>Hello,I was just writing to inform you that Roto Roooter has sent us a full refund and we are satisfied with the outcome.We would therefore like to close the case.Complaint # [redacted]Thank you so much for your help in this matter.

On February 19th, 2015 [redacted] called theRoto-Rooter office to schedule a service call for a blocked drain at [redacted]in [redacted]. Our service technician Jason arrived on location and immediatelyassessed the issue as a problem with the toilet line in the second...

floorbathroom.  Jason proceeded to vacuum outall the water from the toilet and the toilet tank before he unsealed and liftedthe toilet.  After doing so our service technicianattempted to use his drain cleaning machine to unclog the drain line.  It was determined by our service technician Jason that thedrain line was frozen and unable get his drain cleaning cable past fifteen feetof solid ice. Jason explained to the homeowner Ms. [redacted] that the drainline was completely frozen and that our drain cleaning equipment was unable tobreak through the ice.  At this point ourservice technician replaced the wax ring “toilet seal” under the toilet andproceeded to reseal the toilet to the floor.  Jason then proceeded to tell Ms. [redacted] that hewas purposely leaving the water off tothe toilet because any flushingwould overflow the toilet due to the drain line being frozen below.  Ms. [redacted] agreed and understood what ourservice technician Jason explained. Roto-Rooter and Ms. [redacted] then settled the payment and Ms. [redacted] signedthe receipt with a $50 discount given by Roto-Rooter. On February 20th 2015 Ms. [redacted] calledRoto-Rooter to report that she had water leaking through her ceiling on thefirst floor and asked Roto-Rooter to send a service technician over to evaluate.  Roto-Rooter proceeded to send our service technicianJames to [redacted]in [redacted]. Upon evaluation James immediately noticed that the water to the toilethad been turned back on and the toilet was full.  Ms. [redacted] or an occupant of the home hadturned the water back on after our service technician Jason had purposely leftit off and proceeded to try and flush the toilet.  The toilet then overflowed and water seepedthrough her ceiling to the first floor. All water damage on the first floor ceiling was caused by an overflowingtoilet from an occupant of the home after our service technician had left thepremises.

Better Business...

Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me in that the work will finally be performed..  The owner did come out & repair the cement work & it is much improved.
Due to our experience with this business though, I'd be very reluctant to call upon them in the future or to refer them to anyone.
Regards,
[redacted]

rotorooter cleaned the wrong drain and have proceeded to bill me for both. I called roto rooter to deal with a drain that was backing up every time my tenants used the washing machine in the basement (a situation which I explained to the receptionist and the tech). A tech named [redacted] came out to repair the problem. The next day the problem was persisting so I called them back. As it turns out the tech had snaked the wrong drain by mistake. Apparently, the day before he had snaked the main drain and it was the "other" drain that needed clearing. He acknowledged his error but said that I should have to pay for both because the main drain needed cleaning eventually. I informed him that I would not be paying for work that I did not authorize and that I would speak with his manager ([redacted]). Ultimately, the company billed me for both visits. I received a bill for 120 (service call + work done clearing the main drain) which I am contesting, and a second bill for 110$ (service call + clearing the floor drain) which I have paid. I have yet to resolve this issue with the company, largely because the manager has not returned my calls, but rather, has lower level employees call me back who have no authority to deal with the manner. [redacted] Desired SettlementI would like the bill cancelled. If I have had to pay it to avoid the amount hurting my credit rating, then I would like a refund of the amount that I have paid (including any accrued interest).

A very poor job was customer guarantee was not kept. I paid them to go out and fix the toilet and kitchen sink. They offer a 30 day customer guarantee. The kitchen sink was still draining very slow after they looked at it. The technician did work on a pipe out side which he said was the root of the problem. I am not sure if that is true, however the water draining issues still exist. After a few conversations and asking to speak to the head manager and different people there telling me the are the head manager, finally one guy said we are not going to keep the stores guarantee or go back out and do what I paid them to do. I asked for a refund and he said no.Desired SettlementI want a full refund.Business Response To whom it may concern,On Saturday, November 14th, 2015 our technicians were dispatched to assess a toilet not draining at the owner's rental property. Technicians were able to deduce a main sewer line blockage from a clean-out found in the left yard of the house by the water exuding from the clean-out. They found a leak on the right side of the house from the protruding kitchen drain line. Technicians reported water standing in the kitchen sink as well as food which appeared to be macaroni and cheese, indicating a back-up in the kitchen drain line. Technicians verbally communicated via phone to the owner that the main sewer line needed to be unclogged, which could possibly remedy the issue with the kitchen sink line. The owner then approved the estimate of $178.00 to unclog the main sewer line only. The work was performed and technicians reported paper, feminine products, paper towels, and roots found in the main sewer line. The owner was contacted again by phone to report that the main sewer line was unclogged, but that the kitchen sink line back-up had not been remedied, at which time the technicians were extended a discounted price of $58.00 additional charge to clean and unclog the auxiliary line, the owner refused to charge and the technicians did not service the kitchen sink drain line. A guarantee could not be given as our guarantee only covers residential properties when we find roots to be the only problem, the rental nature of the property and the feminine products in the line disallowed us to guarantee the work. The owner then paid $178.00 with a credit card over the phone and technicians exited the property and submitted the invoice for processing.On Tuesday, November 17th, 2015 our office remitted a copy of the paid invoice XXXXXXJD2 to the owner via email.Several days later the owner contacted us again by phone citing a warranty for the work described above, a warranty that was not extended due to the feminine products and rental nature of the property. The owner did not provide contact information for the tenants, disallowing us to perform the service call as we must ensure that someone will be on site when we arrive and for the duration of our work. Our Field Supervisor (who took the call mentioned in this paragraph, not the original service call, as he was temporarily assigned to the role) explained that we need tenant information to ensure that someone will be on site when we arrive per company policy. At that time the owner requested management, which was misunderstood by the Field Supervisor as a request for himself, as he is the authority over field operations. At this the owner became enraged at the accused lack of service and verbally abused the field supervisor with profanity and disconnected the call.Some time later in December, 2015 the owner again contacted us by phone citing the warranty that was never extended and to express his dissatisfaction with our service. The manager who took the call was one of the technicians on-site at the original service call and explained the situation again to the owner, detailing the reasoning behind cleaning the main sewer line to remedy a clogged toilet and why that may or may not remedy an auxiliary line such as the kitchen sink or bathroom sink. At that time the owner again became enraged and demanded the money he paid for the main sewer line to be unclogged citing the backed up kitchen sink which he previously denied service to as a reason.In respect to the aforementioned proceedings, we feel no reasonable obligation to refund any payment to the owner but do wish to continue extending our expertise.Consumer Response I would like a refund!!! I see from the statement they provided some of their details are incorrect. More importantly the job that I paid for was poorly done and I am not paying for what I didn't ask for. Why offer a guarantee when you wont honor it and instead keep hanging up the phone. (childish) The rep I spoke to one Saturday about the terrible service said he was the boss but spoke poor English and my Spanish is not good, and kept hanging up.Refund my money in full!

Jesse was my service guy. Nice, good manners, explained everything. I just needed a faucet replaced in my tub. Simple enough, however, it cost me $350.00 and that was with a coupon. I could get new tires for that. Here's the thing, I'm not a plumber, I can't do the job, none of my friends know how to do it either so I have to pay $350.00 for someone to do it. So I did. I asked Jesse...."why so much?"...he said thats the fee in the "book"......ok....maybe the book needs re-adjusted. He was at my house for a few minutes, left to go get the part, came back and put the part in the faucet.....maybe a total of an hour, hour and a half tops. That's a lot of dough an hour. Jesse was great! Glad the leak is fixed so I don't get a huge water bill from TMWA to go with the huge bill from Rotor-Rooter. The flip side to this is that I called a handy man that could do this job for $100.00, but it was cash only, no credit card......and no guarantee. So, there you have it. Let me finish by saying, I didn't get a new faucet, just the part that went into the faucet........ugh!","neu-1

Review: We hired them to do a job at my parents house. They gave an estimate and told us that it should only fluctuate by $1,000.00 maximum and the job would be completed in a week. They also promised to put evrything back together and redo drywall. It has been almost three months, the drywall was not put on. The sinks were not put back. I have tried contacting the technician many times. He does not answer phone or return calls or voicemail messages. They did not do everything they promised to do, but still charged the same amount.They also never gave my parents copies of the paperwork, which they needed to apply for a state grant.Desired Settlement: A copy of the paperwork. An itemized description of work done and cost of work. If possible, for them to finish the job, do the drywall and put sinks and showers back together.

Business

Response:

I remember this customer this customer well. We gave all related paperwork to the home owner at the time of service. The daughter asked if we could meet her with another copy of the invoice, but she never called to confirm the appointment and never called back to reschedule so we mailed everything to the home owner. On the invoice, the home owner signed, it clearly stated the break down of the charges, and that the drywall being replaced was not part of the cost to do the work. that we could do this additional work but at an additional cost. I would be happy to resend another copy of everything to the home owner, or hand deliver if they can make a reasonable effort to meet. I can also send a copy to you as well if you would like.

Business

Response:

In the attachment I included both invoices, there was too much information for one invoice so that’s why theres two. They signed both. I also attached a copy of a break down I made, which is just a clearer copy of whats already on the invoice. I assure you copies were handed to the customer at the time of service. We had multiple employees on site, one of which spoke Spanish to make the home owner more comfortable. We did have an appointment to meet the daughter, I spoke to her several times on the phone, but it was often a hit or miss. We asked her to call us when she at her father’s house, cause my tech who had a second copy of everything only lived 10 mins away. We never heard from her. So we went ahead and mailed everything to her parent’s house. I’m more than happy to send a third copy if she would like. We are plumbing contractors, we don’t usually put drywall back, which is why the invoice they signed clearly says it doesn’t include drywall. I’m thinking maybe they got us confused with another company that I know gave a higher bid. We can subcontract someone to do the drywall patching for them , but we would have to pass this expense on to the customer. As it was, there was a lot of issues with the job , none were the customers fault, there was issues with what the city told them. This took a lot more of our time, and some additional cost. The cost for the additional time was never charged to the customer, we wanted to just help them get there water on. But if it helps them out. After they get the drywall repaired, and painted we can come out and put the vanity back for them at no charge. This would be labor provided only. No material supplied. If they like us to get them an estimate for someone to come out and have the drywall repaired I can, or after they get the drywall patched I can be contacted about setting up a time to put there vanity back and hook the sink back up. Please let me know if there’s anything else you or the [redacted] family needs. Thank you, [redacted]Branch ManagerRotoCo Inc.Roto-Rooter Plumbers&Restoration[redacted]

Review: On Saturday, October 4, Roto Rooter dispatched a technician to my home to clear a clogged slop sink in my basement. This is the sink into which my washing machine drains through a plastic tube. During his repair, the technician removed the drain tube from the sink and, unbeknownst to me, never replaced it. Later that evening, I ran a load of laundry with the plan of putting it in the dryer the next morning. On Sunday morning, October 5th, I went in my basement to find extensive water on the floor, completely soaking the carpet, staining the sheet rock and damaging items that were on the floor. I went into the laundry room and noticed the tube had never been replaced, resulting in the water from an entire large load of laundry draining directly onto the basement floor. I immediately contacted roto rooter to tell them what happened and to see what they would do to rectify the situation. I was told that there was nobody we could speak with at all that day and the call would have to wait until Monday. Given the fact that I had standing water in my basement as a result of their negligence, I pushed in every way possible to try to get them to put me in touch with the branch manager and/or the franchise owner, but was stonewalled at every turn. At one point, my wife, in speaking with roto rooter dispatch, was given a phone number and was told it was the number for "roto-rooter corporate". When she called the number she was dispayed to learn that the number was just another number to reach dispatch. When she asked the person who answered the phone at that number for the actual number for corporate, she was given a different number, which, when dialed, turned out to be a phone sex line! Every other attempt to contact a manager has been denied, although roto rooter did take it upon themselves to provide the technician with my mobile number (which had been provided to the manager in an e-mail). The technician called me at 7:55 AM today to deny taking the tube out.Desired Settlement: I spent yesterday pulling up damaged carpet bagging up damaged items for trash. My expectation is that roto rooter pay to have a company like Serv Pro come to myself and spray mold inhibitor. I also expect roto rooter to pay to replace the carpet that had to be removed.

Consumer

Response:

I filed a complaint (#[redacted]) yesterday with regard to a dispute with Roto Rooter of Bergen and Passaic. I am writing to inform you that I had a follow up conversation with the business owner today and we have come to a satisfactory resolution to the issue. I no longer feel the need to pursue this matter and wish to have the case with the Revdex.com closed.

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,

They came within an hour after I called. He unclogged the line without any problems. The person who came was polite and courteous and left no mess for me to clean up, and he did check to make sure the drain was clear before he left.

Review: I am filing this on behalf of plumbing services requested of Roto Rooter for my Girlfriend [redacted]. In the cold weather she had a sewer drain freeze and I recommended calling roto-rooter as we thought this issue was a clog. A roto-rooter plumber came in, lifted the toilet and snaked it - and found that he thought the pipe was frozen. In putting the toilet back he didn't replace the wax seal, and my girlfriend specifically mentioned this, I had asked her to ensure that. There was water leaking around the toilet when I visited the house next, and water in the toiler and water in the bathtub on the same drain. The water to the toiler was turned off. We called roto-rooter again about this and they sent someone to work on the toilet seal.....a new plumber came and fixed the seal, and all seemed fine. However shortly after this we looked into a room downstairs and the floor and drywall were imminently wet. It appears that in lifting the toilet or in the water that was leaking the night before the ceiling had gotten wet, or perhaps slow leaking from the bathtub or elsewhere.

Again we called roto-rooter, their plumber came to check this - he took photos and cut a hole through the ceiling and was taking this back to show his manager. Now the overall manager is very tough to get ahold of, but he called my girlfriend even though I had given my number as well and said that roto-rooter will not cover this. It's very strange to me that it's acceptable to have a plumber lift a toilet and fail to replace the seal, and charge in excess of $300 for this work and then not own up to the leak. He is very pushy on this and trying to convince my girlfriend that this is her fault, and it gets tougher and tougher to reach him. Earlier the person on duty put me through to the managers voicemail, now I get put immediately on hold if I call and the manager is non-reachable. Jason who replaced the toilet flushed it after doing it, before turning water off.Desired Settlement: Fixing the drywall and insulation properly in the room that was damaged below the tiolet....

Business

Response:

On February 19th, 2015 [redacted] called theRoto-Rooter office to schedule a service call for a blocked drain at [redacted]in [redacted]. Our service technician Jason arrived on location and immediatelyassessed the issue as a problem with the toilet line in the second floorbathroom. Jason proceeded to vacuum outall the water from the toilet and the toilet tank before he unsealed and liftedthe toilet. After doing so our service technicianattempted to use his drain cleaning machine to unclog the drain line. It was determined by our service technician Jason that thedrain line was frozen and unable get his drain cleaning cable past fifteen feetof solid ice. Jason explained to the homeowner Ms. [redacted] that the drainline was completely frozen and that our drain cleaning equipment was unable tobreak through the ice. At this point ourservice technician replaced the wax ring “toilet seal” under the toilet andproceeded to reseal the toilet to the floor. Jason then proceeded to tell Ms. [redacted] that hewas purposely leaving the water off tothe toilet because any flushingwould overflow the toilet due to the drain line being frozen below. Ms. [redacted] agreed and understood what ourservice technician Jason explained. Roto-Rooter and Ms. [redacted] then settled the payment and Ms. [redacted] signedthe receipt with a $50 discount given by Roto-Rooter. On February 20th 2015 Ms. [redacted] calledRoto-Rooter to report that she had water leaking through her ceiling on thefirst floor and asked Roto-Rooter to send a service technician over to evaluate. Roto-Rooter proceeded to send our service technicianJames to [redacted]in [redacted]. Upon evaluation James immediately noticed that the water to the toilethad been turned back on and the toilet was full. Ms. [redacted] or an occupant of the home hadturned the water back on after our service technician Jason had purposely leftit off and proceeded to try and flush the toilet. The toilet then overflowed and water seepedthrough her ceiling to the first floor. All water damage on the first floor ceiling was caused by an overflowingtoilet from an occupant of the home after our service technician had left thepremises.

On X-X-XXXX Roto Rooter came to unclog my sewer drain. My toilet is still leaking today X-XX-XXXX and I need to hire a plumber.On X-X-XXXX Roto Rooter came to unclog my sewer drain. My toilet is still leaking today X-XX-XXXX and I need to hire a plumber.When the workers arrived on X-X-XXXX they could not find the appropriate sewer trap so they removed the basement toilet. When they put the toilet back into place they didn't reseal it which created a new leak. They returned the next day and still failed to correct the leak they created. They returned a third time with someone new (I assume a supervisor of some kind) and sealed the toilet but created another leak in the connection to the water hose. The leak has caused water damage to my basement floor. I called them a 4th time to come back to fix their mistake and they have not returned. I was informed that their work comes with a 60 day warranty so I don't know why they didn't return. I plan to hire a plumber to fix the mistake. I would like to be reimbursed the [redacted] I paid on [redacted]Desired Settlement[redacted] reimbursement for the check I wrote on [redacted]Business Response Our company at Roto Rooter was called to the residents for an washer line clog and pouring onto the floor . Our service technician discovered that the residents home had a back up in the main sewer system causing the wash machine drain to overflow onto the floor. Therefore causing water to be pressurized making the water come out from under the toilet in the basement therefore causing the toilet seal to break which is a common problem when someone sewer line is backed up. The residents of the home did not know where the assessable clean out was to clean the main sewer system properly. Roto Rooter no choice but to pull the toilet and run our snake to unclog the sewer system. During that. Roto Rooter unclogged the blockage area. Customer service was restored. Our company at Roto Rooter honors our warranty if the sewer system would back up again for free. Roto Rooter was called back out there for the same issue. The owner of Roto Rooter went with the service technician at the residence. The manager of Roto Rooter look for the main sewer Inthe residence home . After countless time and labor Roto Rooter did fine the main sewer line cleanout was under the stairs filled with debris and personal items.Roto Rooter removed the sewer Andnoticed building material that were causing the house trap to back up. The residents home was in run renovation during the period of the sewer main being cleaned. Roto Rooter did explain to the homeowner at the sewer main backs up again that a fiber-optic camera would have to be placed into the sewer main to see what was causing the backup. After unclogging sewer system and relieving the pressure Roto-Rooter remove the toilet and placed a new seal and bolts as a precaution so the Toilet don't leak . This part of the job description was never charged to the home owner . Roto Rooter tested the sewer system and check for leaks and backups. The homeowner did witness the running of water and check out the system before prior leaving. The manager at Roto Rooter did suggest if you should back up again we would come out for free and run the cable and the fiber optic camera for free if needed . The homeowner was relieved that we found the clean out in case of future backups .Roto Rooter was called back out there to the residence again for the toilet leaking water. Our service technician had investigated there was no leaks during a recall. Could be a possibility that the main sewer system had a temporary clog causing pressure to the sewer system making the water temporary leak out from under the ball on the toilet. During that time our service technician check the sewer system for adequate flow. And very sorry for the misunderstanding and the problems that are occurring. At Roto Rooter we will always honor our warranty program as you can see we have for you . Our company was hired to unclog the sewer system and honor the warranty . Roto Rooter do not guarantee the sewer would not back up . I would be more then happy to come to your home and use our fiber optic camera to check any issue that could be causing A restriction of flow in the main sewer system for free . We value our customers satisfaction so we would like to keep your warrantee on file in case of a back up which could occur. Roto Rooter will be sending you gift card for one free service in case of any back up in your residence.Thank you and sorry [redacted]