Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

We had a burst pipe. They were the only ones who would show up on a Saturday. The plumber was shown where the leak was, but he took a mallet and bashed holes in the ceiling of the laundry room even though the hole was in the wall. We now have some big holes to be patched in our laundry room. He also charged about $90 for assessing the problem even though it only took him 10 minutes and he had told us that $90 would cover an hour of time. He did fix the pipe.

I consider this technician despicable. My 86 year old mother with dementia contacted Roto-rooter as one of the toilet flush valve leaked by. It was no problem but she did not know this. The technician came over and replaced the valve and CHARGED $331. She was ripped off. It is appalling to take advantage of someone like that. As a precaution, I changed the other toilet's flush on a visit. It cost me $12 and took 20 minutes to complete. I hope all Angie list members never use this company for any plumbing service.

Update (March 16, 2014): after our bad review on Angie's list we were contacted by 2 managers who really wanted to know why old customers like us would not recommend them any longer. After listening to us, they understood our issue with the cost, and wanted to retain us as a customer and as a gesture of goodwill they sent us a check for $200. We would try them again in the future. The cost is really too high $500+ for just unclogging the sink that took about 20 min!! Then he charged us only $200 spend 1h30 to redesign the pipes under the sink. We will be looking for another plumber due to the cost for the simple stuff. Also, we had to ask the technician to cover the floor with towels while he worked so it will not get damaged.. We should not have to ask. We used them for years, as they are punctual and knowledgeable, but they have become way too expensive

Expensive but they were able to come quickly as promised

On a positive note they were very responsive. However, it was extremely misleading a pricey. Their customer service as also horrible. When I contacted them they told me they didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned Angie's List.

1/24/2014 Update: After writing my original review (indicating a F for price), a representative from Roto_Rooter called and discussed this proce with me. I received a rebate check for $109. That brings the price more into the acceptable range. Thank you Roto-Rooterand Angies List! The service provider was very professional and efficient and showed up at scheduled time. The price was appalling but I needed the work done. He was at the house for maybe 20 minutes total (that includes the time to estimate) and charged me $399. Thankfully I had an AngiesList coupon for $40 off. I will definitely call around before calling Roto-Rooter again.

The whole experience was good, easy of scheduling to finding solution. The only reason I put a B in price is that it cost $195 to fix (I can only assume that is base fee) and literally took 5 minutes. But, that was better than being told the disposal was broken. And the tech did show me how to remedy myself, if situation occurred again.

Called for service in the evening after noticing rug in front of kitchen sink wet. Called Roto-Rooter servicing the Baltimore-Parkville area. Service dispatcher very pleasant and setup service within the hour. Service technician arrived in 45mins and had the problem resolved in 30mins. Tech was very respectful and knowledgable. Maybe the only draw back was the price.

They tried to snake the line all the way out to the street. They were not able to get through. The suggested that the line be replaced. I had to have the tree removed. They came out to remove roots that were in our line. They financed the cost for us. They did excellent work. My lawn was damaged with little effort to rectify it.

wanted a ridiculous hourly rate to dig up lawn and replace pipe -something like over 300.00/hour. I was left feeling that the man was incompetent and dishonest

They did a great job, they warrateed and backed the job. I would highly recommend them to others. I will use again in the future if need be.

They are still in the process of doing so.

The guys from Roto-Rooter showed up in the 3 hour window that they said they would. They took a look at the kitchen sink and asked me a few questions about what was happening. They then proceeded to clear the clog. Midway through, they discovered one of the pipes was leaking. They showed me exactly where it was leaking and told me how much it was going to cost. I told them to replace it so they did. About 4 hours later they finished and billed me. Overall I had a very good experience, even though it was a little pricey!

. This project started the first week of February when the drain was running very slow. They sent a high-pressure hose specialist to run a snake to clear the line. The snake used was quite large and muddy and ultimately, nothing would drain. One mess to clean up. Charge was $560 less 10% senior discount. Then they sent a camera specialist and found he couldn't see anything. Surprise. With a collapsed line, how could he? We let our main concern be known from the beginning: Be sure the rain water would drain away from the house. We didn't want water in the basement. Contract was written to replace the sewer line for $5600.00 less the previous $503.00 but no senior discount. We paid half down and the next morning the 3 man crew showed up at 8:30 a.m. and waited until 11:20 a.m. before they could start because "Miss Utility" didn't show up until then and finally marked the gas line, electric and water lines. One man worked the small backhoe and the other two stood around waiting to lay and connect pipe. They did not have shovels or rakes and worked only on the line. This went on until well after dark BUT we did get the line connected and for the first time could flush a toilet. Balance was to be paid when completed and we wrote the check. The next morning when we could see our yard was the beginning of the nightmare. It looked like a violent storn at sea. Holes, swales, and straw strewn everywhere. We called the office and they sent two young men to appease us. Called again but never got a call back so we stopped payment on the check. The clean-out closest to the house was below grade and the clean-out closest to the county hookup was a foot too high and crooked. A long ditch traversed the noth-south line of the new sewer and the area closest to the house had a deep hole that I went into up to my knees. They could do nothing but add two wheelbarrows of dirt near the house. It was like putting a cup of sand in a bucket.. After more calls and a week later another man was sent but he said it was a mess but he couldn't do anything because his equipment wouldn't fit in the area. We called the manager and he told us it was out of his hands because we signed for the completion of the project. When we told him we were seniors and couldn't possibly move all the dirt that needed to be moved, he congratulated us on our age. Also, he reminded us that he already had sent someone and that costs him money. It was left as he would have "someone" contact us. In the meantime our attorney told us to settle the debt and that we should never stop payment because they could bring criminal charges. We called the office and gave them a credit card number. And now we wait. Weather not permitting, it sat like that until the first week in May. The grass was growing where they threw seed and straw but there was no taking a lawn mower over it. Any cutting had to be done with a weed whacker. Finally, just before the rains came again, another two man crew came with a small backhoe and removed the large roots broken during excavation, pulled dirt into the ditch and trying to level some of the areas that were particularly high. Again they seeded but the clean-out closest to the house is still below grade and the other is still crooked and high. In order for it to be the way it was will require a landscaper with a grader and lots of hard work. There were 3 lessons learned: 1. Never sign for completion of a project until you can SEE what has been done and you're happy with it. 2. Don't stop payment on a check in Maryland - just don't sign completion or pay for it until you're happy. 3. Never use a company that is not local. After the job is done in their eyes, they don't want to return because of the cost. In all fairness, the two young men sent the first time, the second man sent who could not do anything and the last two men who came out, were all apologetic and respectful. Just limited as to what they could do.

Basement utility sink backed up. Roto Rooter cleared it and then ran camera to tell us that the pipe 'had no bottom' to it and needed replacing. As it turned out, the bottom was not missing. Miss Utility marked utility & cable lines but the first thing Roto Rooter did was to dig down 9 ft x 35 or so ft. to reach old pipe, cutting the Comcast cable line & leaving us with no TV, phone or Internet for 2 days! They denied that they cut it. Their first county inspection of the work failed, leaving the whole exposed for 2 more days and rain. When it finally passed, they proceeded to fill the hole, collapsing dirt onto the electrical lines which pulled the electrical box from the house, taking the siding with it! They continue to claim this is not their fault!! Contract states they are "not responsible for (a) personal injury, property damage or other damage or loss to you or others arising out of our work, except to the extent caused by our negligence". . . etc. Not following the Miss utility lines is negligence in my view.

I called the Olney Rotor Rooter to ask prices for snaking out a bathroom sink. They said a technician would come shortly and give me an estimate. The technician arrived promptly and quoted a price of $399.00 to snake out the sink. It is a straight-in connection and easy to access. I asked him to tell me how much to do a second bathroom sink, he looked at an almost identical installation and quoted $399.00. I asked if that was for the two sinks and he said, no, that is for each sink! Really, $798.00 to snake out two sinks! I said that is rediculous and would not have the work done. He then offered me a 25% discount if I did it right then. I sitll said no and said, he needed to leave. On the way to the front door he said, OK, $300 for the two sinks. I said, no thanks and opened the door. As he left he looked back and said, and quot;if you ever need a plumber again, do not call Rotor Rooter!and quot; I assusred him that I never would call them again. How could I trust a company that quoted $798.00 and came down to $300 all in a matter of minutes. I feared they would break one of the connecting pipes and jack up the price again. Not a very trustworthy company and not on I choose to do any work in my house.

The plumber was on-time and ultimately he did fix the problem so from that point of view, a C seems like a fair grade. The plumber seemed to know less about plumbing than I did and spent a lot of time talking to himself out-loud about how he might proceed with this problem. Ultimately he needed to snake the drain (this should have been obvious from the get go). What should have been a 45 min - 1 hour task took 2 hours as he struggled to figure out how to get the machine setup and tape parts to the snake which had been falling off. The price for the job was fair compared to other plumbers who have completed this service for us. >>>>>>>>>>>> UPDATE AFTER POSTING THE REVIEW >>>>>>>>>>>> Based on this review, I received a call from the manager of my local Roto Rooter office. What I found impressive about this was not the offer to compensate us for our bad experience but what I perceive as a genuine desire to improve the quality of their technicians. Based on that I have updated the overall experience to a B and am open to giving them another opportunity in the future.

I experienced a sewer line backup which caused sewage draining from the house to rise up from the basement drain and pool on the basement floor. I made a web appointment with Roto-Rooter, and a plumber arrived at the exact day and time which I had specified. The plumber explored various alternatives for getting the snake into the drain pipe, and found a solution (located a hidden cleanout) which allowed for the drain to be cleaned for the cheapest possible price. I credit Roto-Rooter for not trying to sell us an expensive job (like adding a new cleanout pipe or removing the toilet) that we didn't need. The sewer line was snaked quickly. The plumber left the floor rather messy, but maybe he didn't consider cleaning up to be a high priority when there was a pool of sewage sitting on the other side of the room. The price we paid was horrible -- we essentially paid $440 for one hour of labor and the use of the plumber's tools. I guess this is the price you pay for nighttime service, as we know other plumbers who would have done the job for less than $200.

Overall the services were very good. He was very nice.

They were polite, on time, professional and efficient. They did fine and they were patient when figuring out a solution to make it work. They came on time and did all the work within an hour and a half.

They didn't solve the problem. They created more damage and they didn't want to reimburse me for their mistake.

Services were performed on the weekend of a major holiday. But the company responded and cleaned out the drain within an hour of my call, and in time to save my dinner party planned for later that same day. Serviceman also helped me clean up the water in the basement. Price was a bit higher than I'd ordinarily expect for something like this, but considering the timely response and weekend date, was appropriate.

I was putting in a stampted concrete patio and needed to get my cracked hosebib fixed. My husband called Roto-Rooter. We called other plumbers who had better ratings on Angie's List but they weren't able to come out immediately but Roto-Rooter could. They sent out a plumber the next day and he arrived on time and was dressed in a Roto-Rooter uniform. He did an assessment of the problem and gave us an estimate and we were able to use a coupon (but we didn't produce that until after the estimate). We agreed to the price and he got to work. He had to access the hosebib from the basement so he had to go in and out alot which is understandable but I would have preferred for him to use shoe covers, which he didn't. After putting 4 large holes in my wall and ceiling (2 in the wall and 2 in the ceiling) he finally found the pipe and replaced it. I didn't realize that hosebib pipes are almost a foot-long and the entire length has to be replaced when something goes wrong. The hosebib now works fine but I have some holes to fix. Our front hosebid also has to be replaced (shoddy work by the builder because I'm obsessive about winterizing). We were given an estimate of another $400 but after he needed to go to a local hardware store and purchase the faucet because he only had one with him. Between the inevitable holes I imagined in my drywall and brick-front and the time, I said no way. If I had an emergency, I would use them again but for this type of work, I'm going to go with one of those A+ plumbers on here.

The Project Manager, Ken Seiderman, put together an awesome team--Thomas, Steven, and Al--who worked diligently; rendered great customer service; and performed outstanding work at my home. It was a very humbling experience to find a company that is not out to take customers' money but provides the services it proposed to do in the contract. I must add that I had first sought the services of MidAtlantic Waterproofing Company that proposed to do the exact work RotoRooter did but at three times the amount that RotoRooter proposed. At my first meeting, Ken Seiderman came prepared with a presentation and walked me through each phase of the work to be performed. The project went just as Mr. Seiderman explained; the finished project is spectacular; and I am so pleased with the job well done. I strongly recommend RotoRooter for plumbing and waterproofing projects. Cudos to Mr. Seiberman, Al, Thomas, and Steven for a job well done.

Overall it was a bad expierence, being lied to and then not having your call returned is unprofessional. Call a local plumber and get a quote over the phone.