I was charged for a minor water drip in my shower. The work took about 5 minutes to change a leaky cartridge and they charged me almost $300. When I called the manager and complained, he said it was normal to double charge for the price of all parts and to add in at least one or two misc fees, along with a gas fee and taxes on all. I will tell everyone I know to stay away from Roto-Rooter because this is a totally unfair scam that they are pulling.

Too bad you can't trust Roto-rooter to clean the pipes. Instead of pulling a tree root ball out (as past plumbers had), the tech tried to push it down the line. The tech even stated (to me and district) he ran the full 110 feet down the line. After giving him a check, he added "No guarantee until video inspection done." on the invoice. No comment of why or any problems he had. First washing machine of clothes, the line is still backed up. Calls to the local and district offices. Even with a video showing the root ball and a transponder showing it at 97-1/2 (2-1/2 feet short of the main). Roto-rooter still would not come out to redo the job unless I paid a second fee. Had to hire a 2nd plumber to redo the sloppy job. He snagged it with the blades and pulled the 2 foot long root ball out. I even got a discount because he had just finished another botched roto-rooter job one street up. I'll never call Roto again!

On 8/19/2008, we called Roto-Rooter to investigate a leak coming into our garage. They determined the mainline into the house had broken. They dug a trench at the outside wall of the house and replaced bad sections of pipe. The cost was $540.

Two days later, water resumed spilling into our garage. Roto-Rooter came out again, dug a hole in the same place, said the previous technician had done an inadequate job, and patched it up at no charge. (We did not receive an invoice of this visit. However, we tipped that technician with a check, suspicious of why we would not be given an invoice. That check has been cashed and we have record of it at our bank. The tech did the work by himself.)

One month later, on 9/11/08, water again began leaking into our garage. Once again, Roto-Rooter was called to make the repair. (Their own technician said he didn't believe the previous technicians were qualified to make the repair.) Whatever the case, they destroyed our new landscaping, dug a hole in the exact same place, and fixed the problem under warranty.

Then on 7/28/09, water again began leaking into our garage. We called Roto-Rooter again. The technician diagnosed the problem and immediately said the work would be covered under warranty. I gave him permission to dig a hole and repair. After digging a new trench in the exact same place, destroying our landscaping again with a large tractor, I happened to walk outside to ask them about progress. The busted pipe has already been removed, and the technician said the problem was not under warranty, even though they had already began repair work. I had no way of verifying this claim. The trench they dug was the exact same trench before. They then informed me that this would continue to happen unless I installed a new kind of pipe. (I was not told this on previous visits.) I paid $650 (invoice 214195) for this repair. At the time, I wanted to call another service, but felt pressured to use Roto-Rooter because the problem had to be fixed and the hole was already there.

Two days later, water began leaking into the garage again. I called Roto-Rooter. The tech determined that the hole they drilled into the garage needed to be sealed. This hole was created a year ago by their own technician, who apparently didn't patch the hole to prevent water from spilling into the garage. The tech at the time we would not see any problems with it. There was no charge for this visit. Roto-Rooter has refused thus far to hear out my complaints in an in-depth manner. Diane, their rep, has called, but she is clearly not interested in understanding the history. They won't even apologize for the first two visits! They refuse to honor their warranty.

Corporate Roto-Rooter says they have nothing to do with it. Whatever!

Roto Rooter trains Services Techs well. Their employees at a regional call center are taught not to give prices. This is so the Tech can sell you at your home. You as the consumer are in a tough situation: you have sewage all over your floor, most likely have taken time off work, and have concerns about health issues for your family. To encrease the number of sales, usually, they will try a couple sales tricks to preasure you. Like assumptive close, "Sign here and I will get started" or "do you want me to bring my tools through the front door or back door". Or choice close, "do you want service a or service b". So, you go ahead and pay what ever is asked. To my knowledge Roto-Rooter is the MOST EXPESIVE pluming service to use in most cities. In the city I live, they have had three recent price increases. (PS: The Tech's pay for their own tools, van, and gas) In short, get an estimate up front for basic services. Or better yet, call three plumbers at the same time. Best of luck and dont be afraid to say, "NO!"

Roto-Rooter had the worst service ever! The plumber busted the outside wall of my house using a hammer to get into the pipe that leaked, cut the pipe, capped it off and charged me for $500! To top it all, he said that the company will not be resposible for repairing the damages he had done! I was so mad! If they don't settle this, I might end up going to a small claims court!