Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Services

We separate and compost all our kitchen vegetable waste, so we had not had to have our kitchen drain pipe cleaned in nearly 12 years. There was no blockage of shower or clothes washer drains, only the kitchen. We had cleaned out items stored beneath the kitchen sink, and removed the cabinet doors before Cory arrived. He set up quickly, using clean towels where his AC-powered snake might travel. After freeing the drain, he flushed it and cleaned any woodwork or tile where his equipment was used. My Roto-Rooter discount coupon did not apply, but Cory was able to use a $25 discount coupon online for his work. In settling the bill, he explained the 3 warranty options clearly. I chose the middle option, which warrants the kitchen drain pipe for a year, and if any other house drain is clogged within that year, the policy can be upgraded for only $100 to pay for that (those) drain(s) to also be snaked and flushed. He was able to accept a charge card for payment. Total time at our home was about 45 minutes.

We signed up for the whole house warranty. We LOVE their service, always fast, always professional. So much easier than DIY.

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We called RR on a Sunday afternoon, and they were out within the hour! Not only did he unplug the issue under the house, but he reran the snake several times to be sure the "gunk" was gone and the line unplugged. We decided to pay for a year's worth of service on the entire house, he gave us a coupon, and it was quite inexpensive (375.00)! Any plug, anytime, anywhere, and they will come take care of it at no extra cost. At the end of our year, we can renew it for half what we originally paid ($150), same deal, any plug, anytime, anywhere, no extra charge. I'm very happy with this service. We've had plugs every year for the past 15 years minimally twice a year, and each time we've rented the snake from Home Depot at over $75 a pop, and had to do the dirty work ourselves. This is SO worth it!

"Jetter" would not be available for 5 days but a tech came out within 2 hours. He said only main drains could be jetted; climbed on roof and used roto-rooter; found a 45 degree bend in the way and had to come inside and disassemble pipes under the sink. Used roto-rooter from below sink with success. Since we have the house up for sale, I bought a one-year "guarantee" covering service for all drains in the house, no deductibles. Transferrable to new owner; renewal $150 annually. He left a gallon jug of "Pipe Shield" enzymatic cleaner good for 64 drain treatments, which will last us about 6 months. A similar product (Flo-Kem 5195) is $18 on Amazon.com.

Good, removed clog and found roots to unclog via camera

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plumber David said he didn't have a supply line for the toilet so he had to go by his house to get one. After completing the job, I tested the sink faucets and one of the drain stoppers did not hold, so he failed to test them and I had to ask him to fix it. VERY expensive repair for what he did - he didn't come prepared and didn't check his work. Now several months later, one of the faucets has come loose and the stopper on the other faucet is broken. I will never call Roto-Rooter again.

I called Roto-Rooter with two very simple questions which every plumber provides, their hourly rate and their availability. It was a weekday morning around 9:00 am. Roto-rooter started by asking my name and address. I gave them my address, and then reiterated my questions about their availability and rate. Despite this, the woman on the phone, who didn't seem to be from Albuquerque, kept prompting me for the spelling of my street address, my zip code and my full name. I asked why she needed the information. She replied that they don't give quotes over the phone, but that they offered free onsite estimates. I've had it snaked several times before and it's under an hour of work, and I informed her of this. I stated that if she couldn't provide an answer she wouldn't be getting the job. (If they can't give me an hourly rate for a simple job like snaking a drain, given that their name is Roto-Rooter, I don't hire them.) She insisted on the "free onsite estimate," and at that point I told her I wasn't interested--and ended the conversation without ceremony, figuring that would be the end of it. It would have been, if they didn't call back later to again insult my intelligence. (I made two calls to plumbers I had used before, one for a furnace, the other for general plumbing. I got quick rates and availability from each and hired the one who could do it the same day. They finished the job in under half an hour, which is what I expected.) Two hours after I had first called Roto-Rooter, I received a second phone call from a different person who apologized and offered to do the work that day. I wasn't interested, I had a plumber due to arrive in minutes. She offered me $20 off their usual rate. Out of amusement, I asked what that "usual rate" was, since at no point had Roto-Rooter given me their rate. She reiterated what the first woman said, adding, "they like to leave it to their technician." What good is $20 off an unquoted price? At this point, Roto-Rooter is again wasting my time with the unprofessionalism of their business model. They called back to double down on the insult--and that's when they earned this review. The job is snaking a drain--theirs if they wanted it for an hourly rate and their availability. It's a simple job, and a simpler question.

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First man came and was unable to clear line after 1 1/2 hours. Said supervisor would come with better equipment in am. Supervisor came but did not have any other equipment. Also failed to clear drain. Said I had a broken line and would need 2800 to fix it.

Didn't make sense to me. Called Bill's Sewer service. Brought a longer snake and cleared the line for 160.00

Sent a letter to President of company asking for a partial refund. Never heard from them. VERY DISAPPOINTED.

LATER ADDITION:

Company called and credited my account for the full fee.

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The tech stuck to the estimate and did the work above and beyond what I believe he expected.  He was professional and courteous.  Now we don't use plumbers very often (4 times in about 10 years), but Rotorooter seemed to be the best in "owning" the problem and seeing it through to completion.  We had used three different companies before, and only one of the previous three met expectations without "up charges".  We would have used that company again, except this was a sewer based problem and it just seemed the name recognition associated with "sewer" may have been more up their alley.  Anyway, I was very happy with the experience and their technician.  Particularly when there were no upcharges on the work.  
It is almost as important for a company to stick to the estimate as the overall work and completion.
So I would rate them highly and definitely will use them again, even for more routine plumbing services.

His diagnosis and suggested fix were correct.  No more problems!

They were quite good and I was surprised. They came very soon after I called even though it was nearly end of the shift for the person who came. He recognized right away that it was probably a tree root problem that was blocking the drain. He had to use a special approach to do it because there was no duct to king of clean out. He had to go down through the vent pipe in the roof but he was very good with that. He was good at it and he stayed in a good mood. He succeeded in which earlier in the day I had someone else out who had not known the problem and not fixed it. They were responsive and it's not as expensive as I had expected.