Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Had a great experience with Roto-Rooter. John, Jesse, and Will showed up quickly after I called and got right to work. They were extremely helpful, professional, and efficient. Not only did they resolve the plumbing issue quickly, but they also helped with some water mitigation efforts to prevent further damage. Really appreciated how fast they responded and how helpful they were from start to finish. Highly recommend!

Great service. They come anytime in an emergency situation an I'm happy with service.

Jason did a quick and efficient job despite difficult situation and poor estimate work.

I was very impressed. Response to my request was within a day. Came out on Saturday. Technician was at my house 1/2 hour earlier than stated. Inspected our system, and made a recommendation of what should be addressed. Addressed the issue on site that day. Very professional and personable. Would definitely work with them again!

They were early and efficient.

I will never ever use this company again. I initially called to have them come to my location on a Wednesday evening. They were suppose to show up at 4 pm but did not show up until about 5:30 pm. The plumber looked (for less than a minute) at the bathroom that was having problems. Then asked where the basement was. We went to the basement. He then said an entire pipe needs to be replaced. He then gave me an estimate of $960. He said this would include the replacement of a pipe that was about 6 feet long and the cleaning out of the pipe. He then said I needed to put down a deposit of $240. I put this deposit down. He then said that he was going to return the next day at 11 am to complete the job. So the next day comes and as expected he did not show up until 12:30 pm. I had to contact the company to see what was taking so long. Upon arrival to the residence, he then looked at the pipe in the basement. He then said the main sewer line needed to be replaced. He initially said the estimate could be around $25,000 to $13,000. He then made a few calls and got the quote down to $5,500. I then asked him if he could could just use a plumbing snake to clear the clog. He used the plumbing snake on the bathroom toilet pipe and the basement pipe. The problem was resolved. This resulted in a total of $760. I basically paid $760 for someone to use a plumbing snake on my clogged pipes. He then provided me with some type of shady excavation proposal that amounted to $4,500 if I was interested. I declined. Today, I received a call from the same plumber at around 9:38 am but I blocked the number. I'm betting he was trying to lower the number on the proposal that he gave me. I will never use this company again. If I get a clog again, I will by plumbing snake for $25 and save the hassle.

Main issue was resolved but there was another drain that was causing part of the problem that is still an issue. Very expensive for less than an hour of work.

They did a decent job. They could come if I needed them right away and made the cost a little less.

unknown

The plumber (Seth) was a very professional young man (very surprise to me since he was so young) He knew pretty well what to do, looked around for what could be creating the leak before breaking the wall.  I'm extremely satisfy, price a little high but I didn't really care much because the service was on timely manner and did a great job.

Roto-Rooter assessed the problem, gave me a reasonable estimate, did the repair, showed me the problem on camera, and when it was finished, the bill was actually about $50 less than the estimate because it didn't take as long to fix as he had thought.

It went well! I called in the afternoon and they could get me in the next morning! The lady on the phone was nice and professional. They called prior to arrival, which was on time. They thoroughly cleaned the main drainage pipe, which was found to clog due to multiple valleys in the pipe. They cleaned up after themselves too. Would use again!

unknown

My tenants had been having trouble with their drain line for a couple weeks.  Called several plumbers in my area and either they weren't able to come for sveral days/week or they just never returned my telephone calls.  The clog became worse and my brother told me to try Roto-Rooter.  A company he work for always used them and he stated that they were great.  So, I gave them a call and they were here in about 2 hrs.  The technician Dan was very polite and professional, and it only took him a minute or two of looking the situation over to figure exactly where the problem was.  He found the entrance of the tree root and cleared it.  Works great now!  Thank you Dan!

unknown

Called for service at noon on a Saturday and the technician arrived by 2:30. He was courteous, told me the price which I thought was a bit high but it had to be done. He did honor the Angie's list coupon. He had to run the snake through twice. He cleaned up around the sink area and he was finished. I would definitely use again if needed.

The actual repair went well. My complaint is with the pricing. Once the plumber arrived he explained what the problem was and then wrote up an estimate/quote. $367! Talk about sticker shock. I didn't feel that I had any choice because it was a Saturday, I had a leak, and I assumed that the work he had described would be required regardless of who did the work.
To my surprise, he spent no more than 30-40 minutes replacing the valve. A simple repair to replace a $20 part. I was still forced to pay the $367. Let me repeat, he spent under an hour, replaced a $20 part and then charged me $367!  I paid it in full but was not pleased.
I contacted the Roto-Rooter customer line and they connected me to the local contractor. His stance was that I had signed the agreement to pay the quote, my stance was that I had been mislead to believe that the job was much more complicated than what it was. The paperwork I signed was very vague, basically saying the valve would be changed, so technically they did they job I contracted for but, again, I was lead to believe it would be a more complicated job. I understand a quote needs to take into account the worse case scenario but I do not feel it is unreasonable to expect a revision in a situation such as mine.
When I talked with the office manager it was apparent to me that he did not see any problem with the pricing. When I asked him to break down the price for me he wouldn't do it. I was curious how much they charged for the part (I priced it retail at around $20) and labor.  I will add that when I called to hire Roto-Rooter there was no mention of travel costs, a Saturday premium, etc. To be clear, the manager never said I was charged for those but that was one reason I wanted a breakdown of the charges. After some discussion he offered a 10% rebate ($37) which I thought was ridiculous, after further debate he finally rebated me 20% ($74).  This means I still paid $294 for less than an hour of time and a $20 part. Ludicrous! 
I will never do business with them again for a two reasons: 1. I think their pricing policy is deceptive and while I don't like to think the plumber intentionally meant to cheat me it is, indeed, IMO what happened. 2. Perhaps more problematically is the attitude that I encountered. It was obvious that the manager did not see any problem with this deceptive process and cheating his customers.

Called to ask for pricing and availability to clear main sewer line. Suspected clogged line after sewer backed up into house. Courtney answered the phone and said it would cost $60 just to have someone show up and provide an estimate. I asked for a general idea of the typical cost to clear a sewer line and she said she couldn't give me any - I had to have someone make an estimate. I asked for hourly rates, and she said they don't use hourly rates, it's all a flat fee based on the estimate. I said that I was looking for some way to evaluate my out-of-pocket cost using Roto-Rooter vs other plumbers, and asked for any information she could provide. She said I'd have to pay to have an estimate, and then go from there.
I can't see how visiting my house is going to put a plumber in a position to quote a FIXED COST job (unless he's going to actually get into the lines with a snake or camera) when they can't even provide budgetary guidelines based on a phone interview. On the other hand, I can see how paying $60 up front will create a ton of leverage for the guy to talk me into all sorts of costs once he's in my basement with his equipment in my pipes..."I see your problem, it'll cost $300 but you've already paid $60...I can be done in 10 minutes and you're back in good shape...OR you can schedule another plumber to come out tomorrow for $150 and wait until then to flush your toilets...."

The receptionist who answered the phone was not well informed.  I was told that a toilet replacement quote would require a trip to my home at a cost of $59.99.  I was informed that if I chose Roto Rooter for the job, my $60 would be credited.  I questioned this service fee and was told they didn't know the reason for it and that no one was in the office to answer my specific questions.  When I asked how long a toilet replacement would take, I was initially told "all day."  When I questioned her again on how long, she consulted another woman, and then I was the told 4-5 hours.  This company obviously doesn't train the office staff that books their appointments.  I called three other plumbers that day, all told me 1-2 hrs. for the toilet and all gave me their hourly and service rates.  I would expect a company that markets themselves as expert plumbers to be able to quote a basic service like a toilet replacement.  Also, because a trip to your home is mandatory, if you're obtaining quotes, you'd be out $60 bucks if you didn't choose RR.  I also lived down the road from them.  I would NOT recommend this company, when there are many others that know how to quote a basic job without the high pressure tactics of charging you $60, unless you chose them.

Never call this company!
I own a small business in Harrisburg and the toilet clogged early morning on Sunday July 27th .  I could not get to the store so I called around for a plumber to come out.  When I called they said the call to come out would be $90 dollars and they would find out what the problem would be.  I found that reasonable.  They also said they would come between 1-3pm.  At 3:34 PM (34 minutes late) a service tech comes to my store and started making inappropriate conversation with multiple employees.  This included asking one employee her age and when my MINOR employee responds "17" he says "oh... almost legal"!!!!
According to my staff he spend a total of 5 minutes on the toilet and spent the rest of the time sexually harassing my staff!!!
When roto rooter called my husband for payment (I did not know about his behavior) they then said it was $250.00 dollars!!! huh...you said $90 to come out.  not $90 for the phone call and then another $150 for 5 minutes of work on the toilet.  
I then find out from my staff everything this service technician did, I called Roto Rooter to complain.  I would have just sucked up the ripoff of $250 dollars but the harassing of my staff is uncalled for!  I explained everything to the staff member at Roto Rooter and tell them I would like to speak to a manger or the owner about this behavior.
  TO DATE:  Nobody has called ME!!! WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE...If I acted like this to my customers, I would not have a business.  Don't hire them unless you like: getting harassed, feeling uncomfortable, being ripped-off, and getting horrible customer service!

I had an appointment to have a kitchen sink drain installed on 6/27/2014 anytime after Noon and that company (Pronto Plumbing) called in the morning and cancelled.  I took the day off from work and called ROTO-ROOTER and they were able to send out a plumber (Mike) within the hour.  The estimate seemed high ($300-$400) but I agreed to have the work done.  The work took under 1 hour and Mike adjusted the price and with using the Angie List coupon ($30) my final price was $195 which was acceptable with the quick response.  Very good experience and I will use them in the future!

My technician, Kurt, arrived promptly at the scheduled time. He was polite and professional. He looked under the sink and had to cut the pipe in order to get the snake into the drain. He kept me informed on what he needed to do and what the outcome might be. Unfortunately his snake was not long enough for the 90 feet of pipe so he needed to run the snake in the line backwards from the basement. After much snaking he finally got the clog free, 40 years of build up, the sinks are now draining and I am very pleased. He even had me run a load of laundry to make sure that drain was clog free. When he was done he cleaned up any debris he had left on the floor or in the sink cabinet. He was a very nice young man and if I ever need plumbing help again I will definitely call Roto Rooter and request Kurt, he was great!

Drains open and functioning

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The technician was very nice to work with.  He was excellent. Scheduling was great and he called me to ask if he can come earlier than what I requested. I really liked that.