I called RR to get a "snake" job (my sewer line was clogged). Got charged $245 dlls. Technician only went around half of sewer line. Technician spent around 1.5 hour trying to get through the entire pipe. He was unable to and showed me with his camera how there was a blockage at around 60" but he did not determine if it was a broken pipe, but stated it was a "bad pipe". I had a camera inspection from another company and had the blockage at 68', "which might be roots because there is a tree nearby" they stated, also claimed that the snake that Roto Rooter used SHOULD have gone through al the way, which they wonder why they didnt. I called roto rooter back and they said I was under guarantee, and they sent the same technician back. When he came he said it was not guarateed because "I had a bad pipe" and I needed a knew one, he gave me their excavation guy's number. He asked for my invoice and since I did not have it, he said he was going to take a look at it and call me first thing in the morning. I also called their office to be sure this was going to get addressed. I had no phone calls from anybody next day, and then I called in the afternoon asking what was going on, and they said we'll call you back. No call back. I just called them and my invoice says "Jetting job". I asked the dispatch lady why it said that, and she responded "I dont know, is this commercial?" I said -No...and she went quiet. She did not understand why invoice was charged as a jetting job when I actually ha a snake job.. I called another company to unclog my line for $99 ($99 rooter), they did a camera inspection and my pipe is IN PERFECT CONDITION. RR Manager called me back today and said "I can give you the $99 charge that you got from the other company, but not for the $245 we charged you". I submited a claim via Better Business Bureau, and hopefully this will get addressed properly. NEVER USE THIS COMPANY, THEY DONT CARRE FOR YOUR MONEY OR FOR SERVICE!!! I HOPE THEY WILL BURN IN HELL!!!

I needed to have out dated gas line valves replaced in the basement connected to my water tank and furnace. After services rendered the water tank began to leak. The leak wasn't visible till hours later due to it being a drip of water from the front area from one of the legs...hours later a puddle has formed under the tank. I was not there watching, but I did hear a few very loud bangs. The service guy broke a piece of piping connected to the water tank pipe and had to go to home depot to purchase an extra piece. The same pipe that the service guy fixed the broken piece and valve on is now not parallel ……it’s slightly concave. If the pipe needed to be cut down or a threaded piece screwed in further……..it should have been done, poor workmanship. This pipe is adjacent to the very leg that leaks in front. Contacted customer service about the leaking water tank and they sent out the same service man. I showed him the water tank that is now leaking………..he did agree the tank didn’t leak before. He took a look at it and thought it was odd that the tank leaks from the front of the leg, not the bottom; the tank was dry inside as well. I showed him the pipe and he said that was normal. He explained that when the gas gets turned back on it should stop leaking, metal reacts to hot and cold and sometimes they leak. The gas guy said the same thing when they turned the gas back on, but the tank has been leaking to date since 8/28/09, the gas was turned back on 8/31/09.
The pipe was parallel before services were done and my tank did not leak. The tank is not new, but it has been very reliable and with no signs of malfunctioning due to rust at the bottom as most due with age. It leaks from in front of a leg not the bottom. Something happened during servicing on 8/28/09, the tank worked flawlessly before and now it must be replaced. I feel very strongly that any company that damages your property should be held liable, as anyone would.
My husband and I have attempted a resolution with them with no success, all they will offer is to come back and fix the pipe properly……That doesn’t fix my initial problem of a now leaky water tank. We have experienced enough financial damage and are not interested in their services, will find a reliable company to fix it properly. We would however be interested in a partial refund to cover some of our cost, we paid them $600.00 for this mess and would be happy to recoup half back.
I came into this with a fully functional water tank, something happened during service cause now it leaks. You can be the best in the business and can have a bad day or something may go terrible wrong, accidents happen. I called Roto Rooter because I felt I could trust a reputable company to do the work, at this point I'm not comfortable that I made the right choice and truly wish I could have had my husband do it. The parts cost was under $40, I was charged $600.00 for a now warped looking pipe and a leaky water tank. Based on my experience at this point I wouldn't call Roto Rooter again, nor recommend them to anyone...I fell as if I wasted $600.00 and now I must dig deep in my pockets to fix the damages.
Roto Rooter does not care about customer satisfaction or the quality of their work, they will take your money and run…..leaving you to fix the mess.
Beware of Roto Rooter is an understatement!

I called Roto Rooter for plumbing help with unclogging a drain. They refused to give me an estimate over the phone. When they arrived, they performed the service which took less than 15 minutes. They then proceeded to charge me $350. I have since gotten estimates over the phone from other plumbers who said their rates ranged from $85 to $120. When I called Roto Rooter Corporate, they did nothing to fix the problem and claimed that $350 was a perfectly acceptable rate. DO NOT use them - they are dishonest and overrated!

On the morning of January 21, 2009 my wife and I noticed water backing up in the bathtub and shower. The washing machine was running at the time. We tried flushing the toilet and that overflowed. This indicated a main drainage blockage.

Thinking that this would be a simple unclogging of the main drain from the cleanout plug with a snake, I called Roto-Rooter and placed a service call. I told them my wife would be home and to call me if there were any problems.

About 10:00 AM I received a call from my wife telling me to come back home because the plumber couldn't find the clean out opening for the sewer drainage. My wife told me the service technician said that if he had to clean out the line by removing the toilet it would cost $2500. I thought he was just joking. I should have thrown him out of the house when I came home.

Instead I took him down to the crawl space beneath the house and showed him the main drainage pipe and back cleanout. The outside cleanout is located outside on the lawn against the house all you have to do is follow the pipe. Granted some dirt covered it but 30 seconds and a shovel would have unearthed it. I live in a new subdivision in a $160, 000 house so PVC pipes and cleanouts are standard plumbing equipment in these types of homes. Any plumber or service technician with a job of cleaning drainage pipes should know this.

I went back to work thinking that everything would be cleared when I returned home. That evening I was taking a shower and water started to backup. I asked my wife didn't the Roto-Rooter service technician cleanout the main drain. She told me that his plumbing snake got caught on something and could not get pass a certain point. He was at my house for over two hours and never completed the job but took the $225 check. I should have stopped payment.

Later that evening I called Roto-Rooter and placed another service call. The second technician arrived within an hour of my call. He came into my house looked around the bathroom and explained there may have been some air left in the system as a reason for the backup. He never once looked at or attempted to clean out the main drain. He left after 15 minutes and said, “It appears that Bob (the previous technician) has done what he was supposed to do".

I read him the receipt that was given to my wife, which mentioned a blockage, and he said he doesn't have a camera to see what is in there. He said someone would return with a camera tomorrow and that the service technicians with the cameras only work during the day.

I had to call Roto-Rooter back myself and place another service call for a camera technician. I specifically told them to have the technician call me when he arrived. I received a call about 1:00 PM from Bob stating that they had videoed my line and discovered a fence pole stuck in my drainage pipe. By they way, Bob had somehow gotten access to my fenced property, I thought I had locked the gate? He gave me a $2368 estimate to replace the drainage pipe.

I immediately asked for something in writing to keep on record for this ridiculous claim. He supplied it. He also wanted an additional $275 to make a videotape if the company that installed the fence wanted proof.

I called the fence company and the owner explained to me that in the company's entire history of putting in fences they have never hit a drainage pipe. He said all gas and water lines are clearly marked before any digging is done. All the holes dug are inspected before any cement is poured and post are placed in them. He also said he would pay for any damages occurred if this did happen. He would just need a copy of the videotape for his insurance company.

Now back to Roto-Rooter. I called them the next morning and demanded that they send out another technician since they didn't have a tape to show me what they were talking about. They agreed.

The next day at 11:30 AM I received a call from another Roto-Rooter technician who said he had arrived to inspect my drainage line with a camera. We went into my crawl space where I discovered that Bob the first technician had spilled sewage in my crawl space. Anyway the technician inspected my drainage line and absolutely assured me that there was not a fence post in my drainage line. I asked him this three times and he assured me that the only thing blocking the drain was tree roots and toilet paper. I asked him, if he could clear out the drain and he told me that he only had a camera. I had to call back Roto-Rooter to have another technician with a snake come back out to unclog the line.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. I called the 800-GET-ROTO and was told that my warranty had been voided because of the fence pole in my drainage pipe. I told the person taking the call that you cannot warranty something that was never fixed and my money should have not been taken if the technician was unable to fix the problem. I also mentioned that the second camera technician told me he was 100% sure there was no pole in my drainage pipe. There was thirty seconds of silence. I was then told that they could not send another technician without me paying for it. I asked to speak to a manager.

After several calls I reached the Branch Manager Mr. Charles Bentley. All he did during our conversation was support everything that Bob and the first camera technician said. When I told him about the findings of the second camera technician the Branch Manager Mr. Charles Bentley said, “he was using a larger diameter camera and was not able to go back far enough to see the post". I then told him what my fence contractor had told me and he just kept on insisting that a pole was in my drain. He wanted to charge me $275 to have a technician come out to use a camera on the line. Now I was 100% sure I was being scammed. I said no and hung up.

Later that day on Saturday January 31, 2009 I called Wright's Plumbing in La Vergne, Tennessee. They arrived at my house about 3:00PM. They dug up the outside cleanout in about 1 minute. Ran the snake into the drain for about thirty minutes and only encountered guess what, tree roots and toilet tissue. I ran all the sinks, tub, and shower and flushed the toilets several times. Since the cleanout was off they showed me water running into the sewer from the main drain. It flowed like a swift stream. I paid them $250. They screwed the cleanout cap back on and were gone. The whole process took less than an hour.

This issue has not yet been resolved because I now plain to take civil action unless Roto-Rooter gives me back my $225. I will find out what their corporate headquarters has to say.

Two months ago our plumbing backed up. We called Roto Rooter to clear the line. Although we had a guarantee, Roto Rooter tried to charge us. Two days ago, our plumbing backed up again. Roto Rooter came out and supposedly cleared the line. We asked how much to scope the line. They said $99. We said no thanks. They offered to do it free. When they scoped the line, the scope could not clear the line they had supposedly cleared only two days ago. Eventually it pushed through. The person who scoped the line said there were a few small roots in the line, and that their solution would be to put in a new additional cleanout in the yard for $3800. We said no thanks. This morning our plumbing backed up again. Roto Rooter said they'd be charging us because of the few small roots they had found in the line, adding that they were not going to guarantee their work from only two days ago because of these few small roots.

Don't waste your money. These people are con artists.