Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

The overall experience was average. They installed a part that wasn't necessary and charged me for it. They charged too much. I would not use this provider again.

We had a clogged pipe that was causing our basement toilet to back up into our basement shower. It was not an urgent repair, since we rarely use the basement bathroom. I called Roto-Rooter on a Saturday morning expecting to set up an appointment for the next week. They told me instead they could have someone out today (great!), and gave me a time, 2pm I think. They called me before 2pm to tell me they were running late. Then they called again, and again, all the way up to 7pm. Since I have small children to put to bed, I had to tell them it was now too late, and we'd have to reschedule. They told me they don't charge any more for nights and weekends, so we rescheduled for Sunday morning. A man showed up around 8 AM on Sunday. He was young and extremely shy and tentative. His demeanor did not scream "competence" and I seriously considered sending him packing. I asked how long he'd been working for Roto-Rooter, and he answered, "A year". I decided to give him a chance to at least see what he would recommend. I explained what was happening to the best of my knowledge. He poked around. He told me he'd need to remove the toilet and use the roto-rooter tool from there towards the evacuation pit, and it would cost over $500. That gave me pause. I asked how he came up with that number, I asked to see a rate sheet. He showed it to me. I started getting more involved in the troubleshooting to figure out exactly what was causing the blockage to see if I could somehow avoid the toilet removal. We went and took a look in the shower where water was backing up from the drain. For the first time, I noticed what looked like a lot of lint on the shower floor, and told him I thought it was washing machine lint, and perhaps the clog was further down the line beneath the slop sink where the washer drains. He looked in the evacuation pit, questioned whether things were installed there correctly, tried to tell me I didn't have the right kind of pump (even though it does the job and has been doing it for years). No better ideas materialized, and I resigned myself to paying the $500. He went to get his roto-rooter. When he returned, he presented an idea to attempt rooting from the evacuation pit instead of removing the toilet. That would only cost $380. In hindsight, that seems so obvious it's hard to believe he didn't suggest that first. We did it that way, it worked, and I paid the man. He left a mess behind: left the top of the toilet sitting on the floor, didn't put the bolt covers back on the toilet bolts, left the rugs out of place from where he'd moved them, left the metal plates askew over the evacuation pit, and left dirt on the floor. To add insult to injury, and although I told them about the Angie's list coupon in advance, I forgot to give him the coupon, he either didn't know or didn't remind me, and I lost $40. That's my fault, so I don't hold them responsible for that. I won't ever use Roto-Rooter again. Update April 9, 2012: Upon reading this review, Roto Rooter called me. They apologized for my experience and offered to credit me the $40 for the Angie's List coupon that I forgot to show the plumber. I thanked them and told them I would update my review with this information.

Overall it was an excellent experience. Within hours of my call they arrived, assessed the problem, gave me a price, and fixed the problem. The only reason the price was graded as “C” was because who wants to spend $7,000? It was a “fair” price given they had to dig up our parkway and replace a section of the drain pipe. They got the worker's permit and happily financing was available. I will use them again when I can afford to replace my basement bathroom drain. They did a great job!

My kitchen sink was running slow, and I noticed water under the sink. I called Roto Rooter and they said they could have someone there in a couple of hours. They called later and said he would be there in 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Subi came and removed the pipes under the sink, rodded the drain with a big power rodder, replaced the pipes with new and cleaned up. We went downstairs and checked for leaks and that everything was OK. He was a very nice guy, very knowledgeable, and very professional. It was a little expensive, but he sure had a lot of equipment and parts on that truck.

I called and was told (to my surprise and delight) there is no service charge to show up! The rep would show up and give an estimate which, at that time, we could accept or not. Unlike another plumber who was not open on weekends, and a second who couldn't arrive until tomorrow and would charge $79 just to come over, Roto Rooter gave us a two hour window right away for same-day service. I received a confirmation email and phone call telling me the plumber was en route. The phone rep was kind, listened, and actually fun to talk to! She was also efficient. Bill, the plumber who arrived, evaluated our problem and fixed it right away. He was clean (protective footwear and cleaning the sink, cabinet floor & floor afterwards), polite, knowledgeable and most importantly to us, got our pipes cleaned out so that we can wash dishes again! The icing on the cake was that Angie's List offered a $40 coupon which reduced our bill from $380 to $340.

It went very well considering this happened 4 days after we moved in to our new home. They responded extremely quickly and work was done on the next business day. From estimate to completion I would highly recommend Al and his crew. Extremely polite and professional and work is guaranteed for 5 years. I hope nothing else goes wrong along these lines but when I need a plumber for anything else, I would definitely use them again

The customer rep dispatched a plumber in a very timely manner, the plumber was very professional and knowledgable. He found out what the problem was and gave us our options. He encouraged us to pick the one that worked best for us not which one was the most expensive.

When it was clear we had a problem we called RotoRooter and they were very responsive. Over a period of ten days they found two problems, handled both as quickly as possible (a holiday weekend was included which affects getting permits). They used a sub-contractor, A.W.S. Construction Co., for the street work and they were also quite good. Ours is an older home (60 years) so these problems were not entirely a surprise. RotoRooter went out of their way to handle the problems with the least amount of disruption to us, to show us the issues through the video inspection and again when they exposed the pipes. A very expensive problem but we feel confident that the breaks were repaired properly and that we will be free of problems for a long time.

My overall experience was F. I will never use them again.

They were a little pricey but they did a good job. It was a 15 minute job and it cost me $120. I reminded them about the Angie’s List discount that was listed, and they said that the discount was included. I guess if that’s the case, then that’s the case. It seemed a little expensive to me but the work was well done. The person who came out was very good, quick, polite and professional. Their punctuality was very god.

The service technician came the same day and on time. I was having two repairs done at once - rodding a slow drain and replacing the equipment in my toilet tank. I had mentioned that the tank had been running continuously intermittently - it was not running when the service person arrived. The service was very quick - an hour and fifteen minutes. There was some confusion over the price and Roto Rooter actually sent me a refund check for the amount I felt I'd been overcharged. I have had no issues with the service and consider the job complete and done correctly.

When they were digging, they had to pull out some shrubs from a garden bed. I was fine with that, but I asked them to pull back and preserve the sod. They said they couldn't do that. When they left, they simply pushed the overturned earth back roughly into the trench. They said it should be mounded to allow for settling, but there no effort to smooth it out. They also just left the pulled out shrubs in the middle of the yard for us to remove. Now there is a hole developing where one of the shrubs had been. It's an unsightly mess and the hole could mean a twisted anke if someone were to step in it at night. Our neighbor just had a similar issue. They contracted with a different sewer service (Park) which was substantially less expensive and did a more extensive line replace than Roto Rooter. They carefully peeled back the sod, and when they were through, raked displaced earth smooth, and replaced the sod. So, I give Roto Rooter an A for efficiency but a D for workmanship and C for price. That gives them a C+ Average. If there's a next time, I'll call someone else.

Roto responded quickly, came out at the time promised, completed all services, followed up. They aren't cheap - they're good priced, but you get what you pay - no tricks, precise estimates, good workmanship. We just moved into our newly bought house (1 week after move) and downstairs bathroom clogged up while I was in the shower. I called roto, they came out same day and unclogged. They told me I don't have a clean-out and gave me a quote $3600. I was shocked at how expensive it was but that's the price. The house is old and all new houses have one. AHS insurance wouldn't cover any expenses if the cleanout is not installed. They stuck a camera into the line and showed me the sludge collecting in the drain. I waited till the fall, had 3 more clogs and finally called on Roto again. They cleaned and unclogged again, installed the clean out (excavated, got permit, camera-ed the line). Marcen explained everything along the way and once I gave the go ahead, took care of everything. The price didn't include jetting, so after looking at the line, they convinced me to jet. I did. Now i hope that nothing happens for the next many years. Warranty is 1 year. Assuming we maintain the line, all will be well. Thanks, Roto.

In calling the Glenview location to set up an appointment, I was told there was a serviceman in the neighborhood and he could come right over. He did, and rather than have to wait a day or two for an appointment, my problem was solved in less than two hours. The bottom line: a prompt response with a professional result.

The drain in our basement was backing up. I called Roto-Rooter and they had someone out to my house within the hour! Mark gave me an estimate before he did any work to make sure the price was okay. We had our main sewer line rodded and root killer put down the drain as well. Our plumber, Mark, made sure to go over everything he did before he did it. He made a recommendation to have a clean-out station put in but he was NOT pushy at all...just offering some advice for the future. He made sure (a few times) that no water came back up the drain once he was done. He was one of the nicest people I have come into contact with and was very thorough. I would highly recommend this company!

Subi (I think was the gentleman's name) arrived promptly and greeted me with enthusiasm. He removed his boots - A+. I showed him the 2 toilet's that were having the problem and he immediately went to work on giving me an estimate to which he kept down to the last penny even though he had to run out to the Home Depot during rush hour to get a part. He never complained or seemed annoyed. I was completely happy and satisfied with his work, price and the small mess he left for me to clean up. He worked hard and it was worth it. Not sure that $321.00 was the exact amount but pretty close for 3 plus hours work.

First I should say that this is a very flexible company. I had orginally booked them to come to my home the evening of the closing of my condo, but the clsoing went over, and I had to cancel. They booked me for the next morning immediately (a Saturday am). Several plumbing companies had told me at this point that they do not work weekends because they were union, like people don't have plumbing issues on weekends. The plumber, Taib, arrived at my home within the prescribed window given to me. He did a thourough inspection, and gave me an estimate based on the work he had projected. He even helped us pick out some faucets at home depot since he had to go there to pick up some parts. When he got back, he got to work immediately. I must say he worked extremely hard, and explained everything to me, which was helpful. He also gave me some advice on some things that may need to be replaced in the future which I appreciated. I would say Taib was worth the cost for the excellent job that he did. My condo is extremely old, and had a lot of plumbing problems. I feel fortunate to have gotten such a good plumber on a weekend. I will definitely use this service again, and request this specific plumber, well worth the money.

Not happy with them at all. I called because my renter was hearing a very loud noise coming from the sump pump, which was brand new by Roto Rooter a couple of months ago. Roto Rooter knew that my renter would be there to let him in and that I was the owner and will be responsible for paying the bill. Well, they showed up today at the home and no one called me, the owner to let me know the situation or whether or not it was covered under the warranty, which it should have been. I feel like they took advantage of a woman and their disrectfulness of me, the owner. I called before 5pm today and no one picked up the call. They are supposed to close at 5pm. I will need an explanation, a copy of the bill and to talk to a manager directly.

I called RR on a sunday am and the plumber was out to my home in 30 mins. He fixed the clogged kitchen sink in less than an hour. I was shocked at the pricing. $330.00 for the sink!!! $52.00 for the bottle of drain cleaner!!!!!!! How can they charge that much for a bottle of "RR" Drain-o?? Roto-ripoff! Outrageous pricing but I had no choice b/c I needed it fixed right away and could not shop around for estimates. I used a RR website coupon for $40.00 off. My total was $346.81. The service was good, the plumber was nice but the pricing is sky high, so I am giving them a D and will not use them in the future b/c it is not an affordable option.

I had no idea how to cap it, so I panicked and called Roto Rooter. They dispatched a team from Chicago to my building. Although I did have to wait for 1 hour until they arrived, I was appreciative of the fact that these guys were working on a Saturday. Anyhow, Roto Rooter's plumber, Eugene, told me what he could do to help solve the problem, gave me some options, and started the work. I was impressed by his calm demeanor, knowledge, and overall ability. He truly helped me out of a bad situation. Roto-Rooter isn't always the cheapest route to go, but on a Saturday "full off water", it was VERY helpful. I would not hesitate to call Eugene again to work on any of our plumbing; he was a gem!

Please see above report !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sewer water backed up in my basement. The roto rooter man came and saved the day. Thank you.

Main drain backed up on a Sunday morning. Roto Rooter was there by the afternoon. Cleaned out the drain, scoped with a camera and found a broken part of the pipe, which meant the water and everything else was seaping into the ground under the house (bad).Returned early that week to open a hole in the basement floor, replaced the pipe and replaced cement. Great job, little pricey (but that's not necessarily exclusive to RR), would recommend!

Late saturday night, I discovered a running water source in my detached garage that i didnt know existed. the pipe had come apart somehow and water was flowing out into the garage. i managed to temporarily stem the flow and arranged for roto rooter to come out the next day (sunday). the technician was arrived at the end of the time window and was able to stop the leaking and also installed a spigot so i now have a hose connection in an area where i always wanted one but which would have been very expensive to have installed. The pricing is a little high but the experience was very satisfactory. There are coupons on the web site to reduce the cost.

I developed a clogged toilet and, after repeatedly using the plunger, it still overflowed when I flushed it. I called Roto-Rooter of Elgin and they came out within 2 hours. The "technician," Leonard, used his power snake to attempt to clear the obstruction and, when that didn't work, he removed the toilet from the bathroom, took it outside, and used the snake and the water hose to clear the obstruction, which had been wedged hard inside the toilet. Instead of replacing the toilet (the bowl of which was now severely scratched due to the vigorous use of the snake), I decided to replace the toilet. Suspecting that I would be overcharged if I bought a replacement toilet from Roto-Rooter, I made a quick run to Menard's and purchased a new toilet. By that time, Leonard had called for back-up and, when I arrived back home, his colleague Luigi had joined him. Between the two of them, they installed the new toilet. The service call lasted for 4 hours and they had the nerve to charge me $800.00!!!! The next day, I noticed a subtle dripping sound while in the bathroom and discovered that the floor behind the toilet was wet. I wiped up the water and put a pan behind the toilet to catch any more water. I little while later, I went down to the basement and found that water was dripping from around the sewer pipe connecting to the toilet. I called Roto-Rooter back and, a couple of hours later, Brad arrived. He was able to identify the improperly-installed toilet tank, fixed it, and stopped the leak. Because the original work the day before was under warranty, the second service call was free. I won't be calling Roto-Rooter back for future plumbing problems. I feel that I was totally ripped off by paying as much as they charged me for, basically, replacing the old toilet with one that I provided! Since this incident, I've been referred to a friend-of-a-friend who knows plumbing who would have charged me $100.00 to replace the toilet. I'm calling him next time!