T.C.R. Rooter & Plumbing Repair

When we went to the home the customer was advised that in order to locate a leak on the domestic hot water system it is much more efficient to have the hot water heater on which allows us to pinpoint where the leak is by infared temperature readings and by sound. We also verify that the leak...

is not just the T&P valve releasing when it is under pressusre. I am not sure if or why our office staff or technician would tell the customer that we wanted to cut open a wall when there was not any water evident in the home. As far as the water shutoff this home is serviced by a private water company and it is against their policy to allow anyone to shutoff the water at the meter, they require one of the technicians from their company ([redacted]) to shutoff the water at the meter. It was obvious from the homeowner that she was not comfortable with my technician and I understand her not wanting him to continue with the work. We originally charged for one hour of diagnosis time but we had issued a credit over thirty days ago for the charge so the customer was not responsible for any charges for the work we did.

I made an appointment with T.C.R. Rooter to service a septic drain line clogged with roots. The septic certification was delaying the close of a property I was selling. The day prior, I hired a backhoe operator to locate and expose the septic tank and pipes. T.C.R. Rooter determined that 40 feet of drain pipe required replacement. Knowing time was of the essence, they quickly quoted me $4000. Anyone with any knowledge of plumbing labor and materials rates will grasp that this was a staggering overcharge, about four times what a high price would have been. My buyers were on site, angry, and threatening to walk, so I agreed. This was predatory, egregious, and shameless. T.C.R. was aware that I had no opportunity to hire another plumber and took advantage. The buyer paid and I was required to take a cashier's check for $4000 to my title company immediately, made out to the buyer. I don't believe there was collusion. The property was then able to close escrow that afternoon.

TCR Rooter is a perfect example of how not to run a business. My wife and I purchased a house in May of 2016. We had TCR come and do some very basic plumbing work the same month. Re-setting/waxing wobbly toilets, fixing a improperly installed shower drain, replacing o-rings on leaky fixtures, and insulating some exposed water pipe in a crawl space. The original quote we received from TCR included some other line items that were things found during the inspection period but were easy enough to do myself and were already done by the time TRC showd up to perform the work. I discussed with the tech what was already done and what needed to be done still. The three guys they had on the job did the work, but strike 1 was the absolute disaster of a mess they left behind. They left without going over any work that they did and didn't even say a word to me. Just got in their trucks and left. After checking out the work that was done, I discovered old crappy tools covered in 30 year old toilet wax left on the bathroom floor, nasty old o-rings left in the shower, water from who knows where everywhere. I was a little angry but just chalked it up to forgetting to clean up. Strike 2: (and this is a major one), one of the toilets that was re-waxed and set was done incorrectly. The house sat vacant for another week while my wife and I prepared to move in. Well on move in day what do we discover? A toilet that has been leaking from the sewer side from the upstairs to the downstairs for a week. At this point I am madder than a wet cat and immediately call to have someone fix it. The after hours plumber came and reset the toilet with a new wax ring at no charge, but didn't mention anything about the water damage that was caused in the downstairs bathroom ceiling. At least it's fixed at this point. So time goes on and I don't get an invoice from TCR. Obviously I'm not clawing to pay them for this disaster. Three months go by (it's now august 2016) without a word and then I receive an invoice in the mail. Strike 3: The invoice includes all the line items of the original quote (half of which were not performed by TCR), and there is nothing about the damage that was created to the ceiling. Not only that but each line item isn't even itemized. Every line item of work says $0.00 and at the bottom there is a line item for parts and a line item for labor with seemingly random values that totaled over $1000. Strike 9? I call to get a proper invoice, tell them they're trying to charge me for work that wasn't even done, and that I had to fix the ceiling after they royally screwed it up. It took them almost a week to come up with a new invoice (after sending me an invoice for a different job). This invoice was still not itemized and didn't show a credit for the damage. I finally got another invoice a while back, but considering all the above circumstances, I may just wait another 3 months before paying. After all, they seemed ok waiting to send me a proper invoice. I guess they don't want their money all that quick.

For the love of whatever you believe in, do not hire TCR rooter for any plumbing needs.