Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Called and hoped to get an appt. today--explained that family member just had surgery and needed access to the first floor bathroom--they gave me a broad window of time for arrival, and then called back and said they would get someone there in half an hour. Only hiccup--confusion on my address (their end, not mine). Technician arrived a little late--but I was so thankful they were able to get to our house quickly--in the whole scheme of things it was no biggie! Technician was professional, knowledgeable and quickly resolved the problem. I would highly recommend!

They did a good job. There was no mess afterwards and everything went fine. He was fast, did the work in less than an hour. He was very professional, patient and explained everything.

We own a 2-flat and (live downstairs and rent out the 2nd floor.) Our tenants called one morning to report that their sink linking in about five different places. We have recently purchased the building and are dealing with some shoddy work from the previous owners. I called Roto Rooter after searching Angies list. I do have to say they came quickly and when they said they would. The plumber recommended a whole new sink system (new pipes below and new fixture above). This was probably needed given the amount of leaks. However, what I do not like is that fixing each leak was priced separately. So after running to Home Depot and buying a new sink fixture, I was charged for installing the fixture, then for the new pipes and parts and pieces, then for installing the pipes. The fixture installation and the pipes installation were both priced as separate service calls, or separate jobs! He added the two prices then knocked off $50 can called it a deal. With water leaking everywhere and no time I felt forced to take it. He finished the work in one hour. I was charged a little over $500! When it came time to my the plumber refused to use my Angies list coupon! I insisted repeatedly until he finally took it! In short, I do believe he fixed the sink properly and all has been working well. But i won't call Roto Rooter again due to the cost and bad attitude!

It went good. I had no complaints. I have used them before.

They were a name franchise and I found them on Angie's List. I was quite satisfied.

Went great. The tech happened to be the same nationality as me.... and we had a nice conversation too.

Their service was really helpful. I was pleased. He even gave advice on how to prevent issues in the future. He was there right on time.

They did the work as promised but as far as getting in touch after final payment they haven't contacted me for final cleanup in over a year after leaving my home phone and cell phone. They were very overpriced for the work they did do even though the job was done quick.One other item that I did ask for was to go ahead and have detailed photos of the project as it was being done. I never received these and I believe this is why they haven't called me back. I honestly don't expect to hear from them.

My bathtub drain is clogged so I called Roto-Rooter, they could have sent a technician over that evening but it was late and so we agreeded on the next morning between 9-11am. I received a call saying he was on his way and would arrive in half an hour . Half an hour later I received a call saying it would be somewhere between 1-2 pm and they would call a half hour before he would arrive to let me know he was on the way. He arrived at 1:15pm we went inside and I showed him how the drains would back up when we ran water. He said it was good the problem was between the tub and sink that either one of them he had to rod out would be the same price. He then pulled out the service pricing book and began apologizing saying I don't set the prices but this is the charge for this kind of service. Now I have had a drain rodded out before at another house I own so I kind of had a ball park idea of what it would be which would be $70-$100. His price was $435. each drain......... wow!!!!!! I could probably have the drain replaced for less than that. So I thanked him for his time, and told him that I would do the job myself before I paid that kind of money, and that I knew it could be done MUCH cheaper than that. He asked what I would be willing to pay and I told him I had that exact problem fixed for $70. he said that his company wouldn't go for that. So I again thanked him for his time but I wouldn't be using Roto-Rooter to fix my drain. With prices like that I'm not going to be using them for any of my plumbing needs.

They were very expensive. I would use them again.

We noticed that our basement sink was backing up and would not drain. I looked on Angie's List and saw that Roto-Rooter had good ratings and since they are a national company as well we decided to call them. On Friday 7/27 we had Jonathan come out and attempt to clear the drain. He was not able to clear it as he ran into mud about 5 feet in. He informed us that he could not clear the pipe and would not charge us for it (which was great to hear). He also informed us that he would set up a time for someone else to come out and put a plan together to fix or replace the failed pipe. He asked for our schedules and we decided together that Tuesday 7/31 would be the best day. We requested an early morning appointment. On Monday 7/30 I called Roto-Rooter to verify the Tuesday appointment and was told that someone would be at my house between 8am and 10am. On Tuesday 7/31 I got a call from Roto-Rooter about 9:30am or so letting me know that the tech was running a little late and that he would call back when the tech was on the way. At 10:15am I got another call saying that the tech was just finishing up his job and that he would be at my house by 11am. By 11:25 I called Roto-Rooter back as the tech was still not there and they informed me that he was in front of my house, which he was. When Ron came up to hte house he introduced himself to me but did not appologize for being late. He spent about 2.5hrs furhter diagnosing my problem. He informed me that they would most likely have to tear up the floor and run the laundry pipe to the main sewer drain and provided an estimate of $3922. We agreed and put 50% down and were told that the people doing the work would be at the house on Wednesday (8/1) at 8:30am. He also added that he would be there the whole time the work was being done. Matt and Jesus showed up at 8:30am on 8/2 as promised. Ron also showed up and the four of us decided that there was no need to tear up the floor and they could tie the laundry line into the kitchen line and that would be the most cost effective option as they would only have to tear into a wall. I agreed with that solution and they proceeded with the work. Ron left at that point and never returned. Matt and Jesus performed the work and it was finished successfully and passed city inspection. When Matt came with the invoice they were asking the full $3922 and we would owe the additional 50%. I indicated that the estimate included the tearing up of the floor and removing concreate and replacing that concreate and since they didn't do that work that I should not have to pay full price. They agreed and discounted the service by $450 so I paid a total of $3472. That also included a 5 year warranty on parts and labor and a 1 year warranty on the flow of the pipes. I noticed later that day when i did laundry that there was water leaking from the S-trap of the sink due to it not being tight enough, something that i am going to fix myself. Overall I think that they did successful work but I would have liked an appplogy for being late on 7/31 and I would have liked for them to have come in less than the estimate without me having to ask for it. Next time I will bid something like this out and may or may not choose Roto-Rooter again

He was great job. He got the job done and we have had no problems since.

I called Roto Rooter after exhausting all other options. I first called the Scottish Plumbers and Hannah Plumbers which both had 24/7 service. However Scottish Plumbers (who I called two different times) went to what sounded like a personal voicemail both times. Hannah also never answered. However, Roto Rooter answered right away. The receptionist (a woman) quickly and efficiently set up an appointment to send a plumber out and gave me an estimate wait time of approximately an hour. After approximately an hour in a half (maybe two hours) our plumber Felix showed up. After letting him in the house he checked out the drain and then filled a form with the estimate. We used the Angie's List coupon for $40 off any drain cleaning and he immediately honored it. We signed the form and he began his work. He first went to the van and got all of his equipment (basically a large and powered drum auger which he set up first in front of the bathroom sink). After feeding the cable down the pipes he came up with a huge amount of disgusting stuff which was left by the previous owners of the house. He then fed the cable down the pipes of the bathtub and came up with the same disgusting stuff. After finishing "snaking" both drains/pipes Felix then spilled the Roto Rooter drain cleaning fluid (an enzyme instead of the normal caustic chemicals according to Felix and to the bottle). Afterward the drains drained perfectly. Though we thought the price charged by Roto rooter was a bit excessive the job was done completely and well. And their work is warranteed for six months. Felix was very professional throughout and offered us a lot of good advice about keeping the pipes clean along with other things. We would use Roto Rooter again if needed.

We had leaking water in a downstairs bathroom, the source of which turned out to be a burst pipe leading down the wall from the kitchen sink above. Researched on Angie's, called Roto-Rooter at 7 p.m. and Kamal from Roto-Rooter was at our house before 8 pm. Job completed by 10:30 and we are happy customers. Lots of sawing and carpentry involved to remove bathroom mirrors, lighting and medicine cabinet and the saw open the wall, all done quickly, neatly and he also helped put it all back up after. We were very pleased, highly recommend.

Horrible experience, see above.

Saturday morning I walk down to our basement and see that sewer water is coming back up from the floor drain as our washing machine is draining into the catch basin. To compound things, we had a home showing that day and an open house scheduled for Sunday. I called roughly around 9am after finding them on Angie's List. By 10am, the van was pulling into our driveway and by 11am they had finished the job. All this on weekend, I have to say the response time was incredible. As for the job itself, the technician was able to quickly determine that the drain under the house was clogged, versus the drain from the house to the 'street'. We had him do the house to the 'street' line as well as a precaution. It was a good thing we did as he said that was getting clogged as well. Before he began the job, he made me fully aware of the charge, which is always nice knowing what you're about to spend. Overall, great service and A+++ on responsiveness. I highly recommend them and will be my first responders should I have a plumbing emergency in the future.

They are wonderful. I am satisfied with the services.

I will use them again in the future if required.

I was rather disappointed in the follow through of the agreed upon job start time. The technician who came initially on Monday morning told me the job would be started later that evening. I asked him to call in and verify that indeed there would be no problems in meeting that schedule. He made a call and said ?Julie? would be called and a permit would be purchase. Once I signed the contract for the work they promptly forgot about me. It quickly became apparent to me when I had to follow up and call the Roto-Rooter office Tuesday morning to ask for a scheduled start time that the work would not go as smoothly as I?d been told by the technician on Monday. I was told that a ticket had not been started for this job yet and was asked if it could be scheduled for the following morning (Wednesday). After working with Virginia all day she was able to get a crew out late Tuesday afternoon, around 3:30 pm. Certainly for the $5,000.00 that was charged to do the work, I would think that Roto-Rooter staff would not make a commitment that could not be met. As a result of this I had to take additional vacation time that had not been planned. I?m sure that any customer would agree that the cost should reflect the full quality of service which is not limited to the actual labor performed. For the fees that they are charging and the website claims that are made, this Chicago area business provides very poor customer service and very inflated prices for that service. Maybe they charge higher fees to compensate for business lost from p***** off customers like me. Not once did they offer to adjust their fees to compensate for my whole day spent calling them to see when they would arrive at the site. All I received to compensation for my day lost was a 25% coupon discount for the next time I needed work from them. Guess what? I will never use that coupon and I strongly recommend that no one use their services. Do not believe anything Roto-Rooter tells you or what their website claims. Believe me when I have discussed this situation with my friends and coworkers every one of them said that a adjustment in fees would have been a good business decision to make. UPDATE: June 13th 2012 - I received a message yesterday from ROTO ROOTER asking to call "Nicole" to discuss this posting. I might add thanks to Angie?s List for getting their attention on this matter. Unfortunately nothing came from the return call that I made today. In my conversation with Nicole I was told that if I had wanted a reduction in the rate that was charged in spite of their inability to meet their time commitment. I should have specifically stated that I wanted a reduction in the amount charged, in Nicole?s words: ?It would be insulting to some customers if ROTO ROOTER offered to reduce their charge without the customer specifically stating that a reduction was in order.? Well, let me tell you this; I think it is more insulting to a customer to call them after the fact and then tell them that it is the customers? fault that they did not get a discount because the customer should always ask for a discount otherwise none is given. I guess this practice of reducing a service charge due to the businesses poor performance is not applicable to ROTO ROOTER. ROTO ROOTER please do me a favor and not have any more of your ?Customer Service? employees call me again to waste more of my time. You know what I paid for your service and if you are comfortable accepting the money that was paid for exceptional service while providing less than poor service I guess that is your decision. To future customers of ROTO ROOTER ?Be aware of ROTO ROOTERS practices.? UPDATE: June 15th 2012 - I received another call from ROTO ROOTER today. I initially hesitated to return the call but after thinking about it I felt that it would be rude of me not to respond. I talked to Chris at ROTO ROOTER this time and after a brief discussion I was informed that the application of the 25% coupon that was given to me for future services could not be applied to the original amount. As explained to me by Chris it was due to the discount being too ? huge? for the work that was performed. My only response was if 25% is a huge amount how large would you call paying 100% of the bill? The offer to compensate me for my time and troubles was $300.00 (6%) I asked Chris to put himself in my shoes and think about what would be a fair amount for his time and troubles. I also asked him not to answer the question but just think about if I was right or wrong. I gave him my credit card number and asked him to credit my account with whatever ROTO ROOTER thought was appropriate. I also asked that I not be called again since I have invested an extreme amount of time and money on this issue. UPDATE: June 18th 2012 - A $300.00 credit was issued by ROTO ROOTER on my credit card.

They were very efficient and very honest. They did exactly what they said they were going to do. I am very pleased with all of their services. They never go over the estimate which they give me and as a matter of fact it during their last visit it was lesser than the estimate.

Our sink was not draining, and my husband was unable to free it using his bag of tricks. I called Roto-Rooter and they were able to respond in an hour! We were given an estimate, and since we were in a fix, we didn't bother getting another. The work was done effectively and professionally. I would certainly call them again.

As I told the plumber, I got a little overzealous cleaning out my fridge and trying to use the disposal. Kitchen sink backed up in a big way. It did not respond to grocery store products or my swearing. My call was answered promptly and I was told a plumber would be out in approx 1 hour. Unfortunately that became closer to 2.5 hours. (my biggest criticism) The company did, however, keep me updated by phone (2 calls along the way) alerting me as to the timing. I remain a little suspicious as to whether or not they truly believed someone would be here that quickly.The plumber was very professional. He put his shoe coverings on as soon as he stepped foot in my house, assessed the situation, gave the the (flat-rate) price quickly and performed the service quickly as well. He demonstrated my newly cleared pipes/drains and gave me a few tips -- including a recommendation for a product to keep the drains cleared. While his company does sell this item, he did NOT try to sell it to me. I can't tell you what a relief that was. He also, without hesitation, accepted my Angie's List coupon. (Hey, $40 is $40.)

I was very happy with roto rooter. On Easter Sunday I decided to do some laundry and water started pouring out of the shower drain. Unfortunately there was a crack in the base of the shower and water started pouring out everywhere creating a huge mess! We did a search for plumber and found the Naperville roto-rooter number and called them instantly. It was about 8 pm on a Sunday night and roto-rooter came within a hour of our call. The drain leading out to the house was clogged and they had to clear the pipe. They were fast and efficient. We also were not charged extra for it being a holiday in addition to it being a Sunday night. We had a great experience with roto-rooter and would recommend them!

Roto-rooter sent out competent individual to perform the work. I was surprised at how articulate he was and performed well as a salesman. I was happy with the speed in which they responded and professionalism displayed. I was unhappy with the price, but did no comparative shopping to see what others were charging. I was able to use an Angie's list coupon for 40 dollars off the entire job.

After a video camera inspection of our sewer line, Roto Rooter's tech provided an estimate for hydro-jet cleaning of our line. I scheduled the tech to come out today. First, I got a call asking if he could come early. Then, I got a call that he would come in 15 minutes. 45 minutes later (and more than 30 minutes after the original appointment time), I called them and was told he would be at our home in 10 minutes. When he arrived, he told me the price would be double the estimate originally provided by the tech who did the video inspection. I called RR's office, and was told someone would call me back. No one did, and after 30 minutes, I told the tech to leave. More than an hour later, still no call back.Perhaps they are so mired in the stuff they clean out of sewers, they can't help but act like that stuff. FOLLOWUP: AFTER MY ANGIE'S LIST POSTING, I GOT MULTIPLE CALLS FROM JENNIFER, JOHN PRITCHETT, AND APRIL KALINOWSKI FROM ROTO ROOTER, APOLOGIZING FOR THE PROBLEMS THAT I EXPERIENCES AND OFFERING TO PERFORM THE SERVICE AT MY CONVENIENCE AND AT THE PRICE ORIGINALLY QUOTED. AFTER EXCHANGING MESSAGES FOR A DAY, I FINALLY MADE CONTACT WITH JENNIFER THIS MORNING AND INDICATED THAT WE COULD DO THE WORK ON SATURDAY. JENNIFER ALSO CALLED ME BACK TO ASK ME WHO THE ORIGINAL TECHNICIAN (WHO PROVIDED THE ESTIMATE) WAS, IMPLYING THAT HE HAD DONE SOMETHING WRONG, BUT THEN TOLD ME THAT SHE WOULD CONFIRM THE SATURDAY APPOINTMENT SHORTLY. LATER, I RECEIVED A CALL FROM JOHN ZAGLOUL (THE GUY WHO NEVER RETURNED MY CALL LAST WEEK) TELLING ME THAT THERE WAS NO WAY THEY WOULD DO THIS FOR ME AT THE ORIGINALLY QUOTED PRICE, DESPITE HAVING HAD THREE PEOPLE IN HIS ORGANIZATION TELL ME OTHERWISE UP TO THIS POINT IN NUMEROUS CALLS TO ME AND TO MY SPOUSE. HE ASKED IF I HAD THE ORIGINAL QUOTE IN WRITING--WHICH I DID NOT--AND THEN SUMMARILY INFORMED ME THAT HE WOULD NOT AUTHORIZE THE WORK. HE WAS RUDE, UNAPOLOGETIC, AND ARROGANT. THEY WILL NEVER HAVE MY BUSINESS AGAIN AND SHOULD NOT HAVE YOURS. 5/1: Head of the Chicago office called to apologize, and explained that the issue was the concern that the service that they were to do could flood my basement. Interesting: had I been willing to pay more, apparently they would have proceeded to go ahead last week, and that the service that were offering still to provide as recently as Monday now is not in my best interest. Funny how the story changes, but never to the advantage of the customer. (PS--They were willing to provide a service that I didn't need for free, but since it wasn't a needed service, I've declined. No reason to have Roto-Rooter waste more of my time.)