Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Service guy wanted $800 just to install a toilet!!!

TL;DR - Do not use Roto-Rooter for any drain services. Employees work on commission and will sell you unnecessary sewer line repairs using scare tactics. Sewer line cleaning was insanely expensive, they didn't put all the floor drains back together fully, and sewer line needed to be cleaned by a 2nd company because it was not fully cleared. Story: Our sewer line backed up on Sunday, February 26. As it was the first time experiencing something like this as a homeowner, I panicked and called the first number I could find with good reviews. That happened to be Roto-Rooter. I will start by saying that I am thankful that they came out on a Sunday and cleared my sewer line. That is where my appreciation ends. Once the sewer line was cleared, they brought out an 'excavation field supervisor' with a camera who scoped our sewer line. He had me watch as he did it, showing me where my sewer line was supposedly broken with a 2in offset. He continued to show me other areas where there were supposedly cracks, roots, and other things that he told me needed to be addressed. I was told that this was an emergency and that the entire sewer line needed to be replaced due to the broken section. The project would require excavation of the yard to access the broken pipe and insert a liner and would cost $17,000+. I got a 2nd opinion the next day. I was told right away that my sewer line was NOT BROKEN AT ALL and the supposed broken section was actually concrete slurry on the inside of the pipe, likely from when the pipe was installed. The 2nd company cleared the concrete slurry from the pipe and provided me with a video, all for ONE THIRD of the cost of the original sewer line clearing by Roto Rooter ($700 for two lines). The 2nd company said my sewer pipe was fine and didn't recommend any repairs. I sent my copy of the sewer line video to a 3rd company and they agreed - my sewer pipe was in "great shape" and did not require any repairs. The Roto-Rooter employee who scoped my sewer pipe was either incompetent or malicious. How did he not know that the mass in my pipe was actually concrete slurry? The top of the pipe was still flush, indicating no offset. If he did know it was concrete slurry and not a broken pipe, he was purposefully trying to sell me unnecessary costly and disruptive repairs.

They came out to clear a pipe in one of my duplexes. The drain had backed up, and I had water in the basement, AND I was out of town. Such a nightmare situation. I called them from Texas and they did send a crew out, and they got water flowing through the pipes again. It cost a pretty penny – $430 just for the cleaning. Here's the deal: they didn't actually clean the pipes. They broke through the mess of tree routes that I had growing in the sewer just enough to let water flow through. Fast forward 10 more days and I had the same issue. They came out because it was "guaranteed," and repaired it again. 10 days later, the SAME THING happened, they send a crew, and then they sent their video guy to "take a closer look at things" because it's had so many issues. The video guy was very kind, and he snaked the camera down there. It got stuck at one point and he basically said "Okay I can't even get the camera past this point it must be broken." We went outside and he found where his camera was, and it required ripping up the street to get to the repair. He said it would cost about $15K to fix, and they could do it in the next 2 days. I trust Cichy's a ton with this kind of work, so I called them. They were too busy to come out, but they told me to call Drain Busters and have them do the video. Drain Busters does cleaning & video, but NOT pipe repair. They said that cleaning the drain properly will take care of the roots. You don't need to rip the street apart to deal with roots. He did find a small crack at the top of a pipe that could eventually (10 years) need to be fixed, but I don't need to shell out that much cash right then & there. Don't use Roto Rooter for anything! Their goal is selling you on big ticket repairs that you don't need. They are a nightmare. Use Cichy's for digging / major repairs; drain busters for video & cleaning, and if those guys are too busy, Ron the Sewer Rat is another good company.

They are predators. I paid then $150 to clean main line and when that did not help they told me I needed to pay an additional $630 to remove the toilet and clean that line. Then the told me that I needed to pay an additional $4400 because there were roots in the line and it needed to be replaced. They told me that they could not clear the roots because that would cause the pipe to collapse and if the roots are not cleared I could not flush toilet paper. They said I could file a claim with my insurance company. I had to plead with them to simply cut the roots which I had already paid them $780 to do. When I finally got them to do this the pipe never collapsed and three months later the system is still fine.

Job was done properly, but they really gauged on pricing - compared to other plumbers. Be very careful with them.

I went terrible. They said that they would come between 10:00 and 2:00 and call ahead. They called but said they can't come until tomorrow. When I asked why they took my appointment they had no answer. Their phone skills also were terrible. I tried escalating to higher supervisory levels and still got no satisfaction. I will never use them again and hope that other people also DO NOT USE THEM!!!!!!

In the middle of a polar vortex, my bathroom sink drain backed up into my tub. I was concerned that my sewer pipe was frozen. I called Roto-Rooter as they had good reviews on Angies List and offered 24/7 service. Their technician Tim got to me in about five hours. By the time he arrived, the problem seemed to have resolved (perhaps due to turning up the heat quite a bit.) Tim checked things over carefully and was very informative. I was impressed and appreciative.

All clear. Both the imager and the operator were courteous and professional.

The tech came, did the work and left. Courteous and efficient.

Very well. Very prompt and efficient. Good about coming out on the same day. Will definitely contact them for any future plumbing issues I have.

Technician was prompt, friendly, courteous, and efficient. Have relied on Roto-Rooter for service for years now. Seem to need to call on them about every 2-3 years. Will definitely call them again.

Quickly and professionally. A follow-up video recording of the line was promised and delivered by a different person a few weeks later.

On time and job done well, but expensive.

It went well. They arrived the same day and snaked out the drain line to perfection. A man stopped by for a pre-visit to evaluate the situation. The technician arrived shortly after and even helped move the clothes washer out of the way as well as move it back when he finished. I was even able to use a coupon that I found on-line to decrease the cost by $50.

very well. i screwed up the appointment and they accommodated my schedule. also appreciated their thorough clean up after.

Scheduling didn't go as expected. I got several calls to tell me that they were running behind and would call me again to let me know when and if they would get to me that day. They did get to me near the end of the day. I needed two faucets installed (customer provided). I was not prepared for the cost. It was $788 for two faucets (labor only) and he was done in less than 40 minutes. He noticed that the sink was leaking because the seal between the sink and the counter had broken. Did he fix that? NO. He did point it out. The faucets were installed and they work, but they were VERY expensive and I can't understand the pricing. If I had turned him away based on the pricing, I would have owed a fee for his drive to the house to tell me that he was going to basically rob me. It was bad. We won't make this mistake again. ROTO ROOTER is not a good provider.

It did not go well at all. They helped me as much as they could (they said), but I still am having problems. My basement still floods, and my house still stinks like sewer..I don't know what I am going to do......

After going through all info with customer service told oh no we do not service Lindstrom

Just had Josh #4348 do an inspection of my line out to the city line. He was professional, on time, and friendly. He made sure I didn't have any unanswered questions. This is the 3rd time I've used Roto-Router at this address. Each and every time I've been satisfied with the service I received; highly recommended.

fine-we had work area cleared. Guy went right to work. Problem solved in about 15 minutes. Gopher was cheaper, but they all seem to have a flat rate.

The issue was just a minor clogged issue, at least that's what the technician said. i think there are too pricey for the same type of job and level of service that you can avail from other company. My suggestion is to look around first in Angie's List reviews, and consider those that will give you the best value for your money. I have been using Angie list for company reviews and so far most of the company we hired last time did a great job and competitive price. Unfortunately, on this one I completely forgot to shop around first. Lesson learn.

The plumber came out to "fix" my problem. A seal was leaking. The plumber took a short cut and just tightened it with a wrench... 2 mins of work for $300 plus. Guess what??? It started leaking again because he didnt fix the reason the seal came loose in the 1st place. I called them to fix it correctly this time, but they wanted to charge me another $300 plus!!! TO FIX THE SAME PROBLEM HE DIDNT FIX THE 1ST TIME!!! I got my handy man (who I should have called 1st) to fix it 100%. This place was a joke. Go with a plumber that doesnt work for a big company, he will take pride in his work and not take short cuts like this company.

The plumber did a great job. He was finished in 30 minutes

I discovered a leak in the laundry room on Wednesday evening and called around to get a plumber to come out and correct the problem. RotoRooter scheduled an appointment for between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Friday, and I arranged to work from home on that day in order to let him into the house. At 2:45 p.m. Friday I called to find out what had happened to the plumber and was told that all of their plumbers were still working on jobs taken even earlier in the morning and that they would have to reschedule for Monday or Tuesday. I will now try to find another plumber late Friday afternoon because RotoRooter overbooked and apparently treats a four-hour commitment window as giving them four days to get to a job that I scheduled with the expectation of some response. This is a slipshod, unprofessional way to run a company.

Had service scheduled four days for plumbing estimate/repair. Never showed up, nor called to cancel. Scheduled to have an estimate/repair today from open window of 8am to Noon, I took PTO from work to stay home for the services to be rendered . Never showed nor received a call/update from company that they would be late. I inquired after the window eclipsed to see if someone was still coming out and was told that they were, "too busy" today and had to cancel. Asked to be connected with manager and he refused to apologize and proceeded to talked over me.