Rescue Rooter / Jack Howk Portland

It was 11:30 at night and all of a sudden none of the drains in the house were draining at all. I had used Rescue Rooter in Wilsonville six years ago, but that shop had closed so I called their Portland-area main number. They said they could have someone out within an hour at no charge for the visit. I would get an estimate and could decide if I wanted to have them do the work. After I hung up, it hit me that one of the things they said in answering the phone was “Jack Howk Plumbing.” Oh no….that company had an awful reputation and was written up in the paper for things like outrageous pricing and high-pressuring little old ladies. But I absolutely had to have the drains fixed by morning, and I figured I could always decline to have them do the work and call another company (if I was willing to stay up all night). The plumber who showed up was great. He spent a good amount of time helping me dig around shrubs in the flower bed in the dark, looking for the clean-out pipe. I felt the estimate he gave me was fair …. This kind of emergency job is almost never inexpensive and, after all, it was the middle of the night. (Another “rooter” company said that they automatically charge at least $300 for overnight service calls, and Rescue Rooter cost $225.) He was successful in quickly clearing the clog and I have a 90-day guarantee in case things stop up again. I have no way of knowing if all the bad apples who were previously at this company are gone now. But I was happy with the service and would use them again.

The employee was friendly and informative. I felt their ad was misleading. $50 discount on overblown price.

Needed someone on the weekend, and they responded quickly. Would use them again.

Other than the annoying price negoiation I had to go through, he did a good job.

Both times, it worked out really well. They're a 24-hr service. the valve problem happened in the middle of the night & they were able to come out & stop water from coming down the walls & fix the issue so we had running water by morning. In August a tech came out in the morning & was able to fish an obstruction out of the toilet because it wasn't flushing properly. Both times, the contractor did a good job of finding & fixing the problem. We were very pleased with their service.

Everything has worked great since they intalled it for me. No complaints at all.

Summary: The plumber left the area of the first repair a mess. He did not clean up the materials he cut out in order to reach the pipe. I cleaned and vacuumed after he left.He was rude to me over the phone, as was his supervisor, seeming to push me into a corner of “you said, I said,” not wanting to repair the damage the plumber had done. They wanted to charge me $500 plus $250 for 2 small repairs. The last repair took approximately 3 minutes between phone calls.The plumber whined to my renter who was there during the follow-up repair. She told me she had to remind him to remain professional.I checked with another plumber after the fact whose estimate for the work was about $350. The dispatcher had told me I would receive a follow-up call to see how my experience went. Not surprisingly, no follow-up call came.

They tried to get a manager to talk us in to it. My husband was pretty unimpressed. We got the job done for $300 less than they quoted. No, we will never use them.

.Went to the local hardware store and rented an auger for $58 and did the job ourselves.

Please see above. Overall, completely incompetent service.

I was very displeased with them. I had to have the problem fixed by people that take care of my heating system. Rescue Rooter did not provide any help for the cost. I didn't even call them back on it. I just called the heating people and had them come and fix the problem. I will not be calling Rescue Rooter again. I had thought they were pretty good, but the guy was like a bull in a china shop. I know that the ductwork right under my dam is like a little web. It's hard to get around. I would have thought he had enough sense not to crawl over it. I don't remember how much we spent with them. The issue got resolved because I called in the heating people and they reconnected the ductwork to the vent and he screwed it down so that it can't get loose again.

This was the second time I had to call them. The first time they told me that the line was sagging and they replaced the line and replaced the drain line due to tree roots, they dug up a portion and replaced it out to the sewer in the street. The second time they told me part of the line was sagging and dug up and replaced the line to the point they dug it up before. Generally I consider it a bad experience because I had to pay so much. The first time out was about the same price.

The work itself is not the problem. It was the total lack of response from management and supervisors once they had been paid in full for the job that is totally unacceptable. I found out that my homeowners insurance would cover costs for excavation and repair of same that had to be performed to access the sewer line. I requested an itemized bill from the field supervisor on May 27. This was when the nightmare began. He refused to work with my insurance company....telling them "we don't do that" when asked for the itemization again, in early June. I finally got help (thanks to one of the conscientious plumbers who worked on the job) from one of the managers. This bill did not really break out the labor costs as requested......so I finally got ahold of the assistant manager at the end of June (more than a month later, having been put off day by day by day). In doing the itemized bill, he "discovered" that I had been overcharged $3,000.00 and had that refunded to me. Meanwhile he was to have a completed itemization emailed to me. After about 8 to 10 phone calls over many more days (and yet another holiday weekend!) I finally got him to specify how much labor was allocated for the excavation, and received that on July 6. My insurance claims person talked to the assistant manager this morning, and he told her "if we had known it would be an insurance claim, we'd have done things much differently." (???) The itemized bill also included the charge for the water heater............which was supposedly "thrown in" (per the field supervisor). I had to have NW Natural people out twice because of it....once for a leak in one of the connections, and once to relight the pilot light on the furnace, which they had neglected to do. I would never recommend that anyone do business with this company. It has caused me such stress, and money in interest charges, waiting for them to get this information so I knew how much to borrow from my credit union to pay off the high interest loans I had to arrange for at the last minute. ******UPDATE****** This is an update of a prior report on Jack Howk Plumbing. It took me almost 2 months of wrangling and delays, but I finally contacted the General Manager, who came to my home on July 18 to look at the work that had been done. He agreed that the charges were a "little excessive", and promised to get back to me in two days, which was done. Their offer was of another $5,000 refund (there had already been a voluntary refund of $3,000) and new water service from house to meter. This work was done over the past two days, and the refund check was delivered to me this afternoon by an employee of the company. I am satisfied that the General Manager was responsive. I think that with the refunds and the additional work done it probably brought their total down to within $2,000 or $3,000 of the estimates that I had gotten after the fact, (site unseen). I do regret that it took so long and caused me such stress and unhappiness, and would hope that all their employees are taught to be more responsive to the customer, and in a timely manner. I have upgraded their rating from F to C. It would be better had I not had the battle I did. I have certainly learned a lesson about getting estimates. No emergency is that great unless the place is actually on fire!!

They were friendly and went to work right away. They cleaned up after themselves. They gave us several different options to fix the issue, and in the end their estimate was right on. Jared Morris was the repairman that came out to fix the problem.

I had used them several years ago with no problem. I needed someone right away, so I called them, and they responded quickly. The drain technician arrived promptly, gave me an estimate, and did a good job of cleaning the drain. However, I live in an older home built in 1927, and he spent a lot of time telling me about all the things that could go wrong with my plumbing. I felt the service call turned into a sales call! In fact, a Rescue Rooter "supervisor" soon showed up to provide me with an estimate of other things they could do for my plumbing, including a whole-house filtration system. They were very prompt but seemed a bit high-priced. I must say, the drain is running well! Mainly, I did not appreciate the high-pressure tactics they used to encourage future business. That would keep me from calling them in the future.

They were great, easy to deal with and their workers were very nice. They were here for almost a week. They were clean, neat and very professional.

They do excellent work. They are very nice. I think they are a bit expensive, but they do top notch work.

We had a sewer backup so it was an emergency -- I called Jack Howk Plumbing who I had used before. Their trucks now say Rescue Rooter. We went ahead with diagnostics then received an original estimate after the camera work. I believed this was a detailed which included interior and exterior work and total was approximately $27,000 total which was broken down as 18,000 for exterior and 9,000 for interior. Exterior detail: This was to saw cut and jack hammer sidewalk, excavate to 10ft, replace sewer line from 6” outside building to curb. Excavate two holes at 10 feet to burst new pipe, install ¾- crushed rock in holes to bottom of concrete pour, haul away excavated material, install new concrete. Interior detail: saw cut concrete, remove and hand dig to 9ft depth. When negotiating to pay the deposit we asked for a not to exceed number in the contract and documentation detail so we could get a check cut. In the interim a new work order was created and taken directly to the site for approval and the new work order was for an additional $10,000. We had told the accounting department that the site super was not authorized to sign for such a large expenditure which is why we needed additional docs and the not to exceed number. We called to schedule a meeting and were presented with yet another breakdown of costs that now was valued at almost $42,000. When reviewing the new invoice related to the $27,000 we were told that there was work not on the original order. At this point we stopped all work and started getting information from other contractors, from internet sources like Angie’s List, the international pipe bursting association and the library. When I figured out they were charging us over $230.00 per hour/per laborer to dig a hole by hand all my flags went up. To be clear, I was prepared to have to pay a premium for the emergency nature of the work and this far exceeded any degree of reason. In summary -- this is no longer a locally owned or controlled company. I felt like they were unethical, going straight to the site when others had asked for more info and a not to exceed number, I think they gouged us because of the emergency nature of the work, I think they were extremely unprofessional in the communication between the first and second and third work orders. Resolution was a negotiation for them to drop their price to a nice round incredibly high $30,000.

We had a sewer backup so it was an emergency -- I called Jack Howk Plumbing who I had used before. Their trucks now say Rescue Rooter. We went ahead with diagnostics then received an original estimate after the camera work. I believed this was a detailed which included interior and exterior work and total was approximately $27,000 total which was broken down as 18,000 for exterior and 9,000 for interior. Exterior detail: This was to saw cut and jack hammer sidewalk, excavate to 10ft, replace sewer line from 6” outside building to curb. Excavate two holes at 10 feet to burst new pipe, install ¾- crushed rock in holes to bottom of concrete pour, haul away excavated material, install new concrete. Interior detail: saw cut concrete, remove and hand dig to 9ft depth. When negotiating to pay the deposit we asked for a not to exceed number in the contract and documentation detail so we could get a check cut. In the interim a new work order was created and taken directly to the site for approval and the new work order was for an additional $10,000. We had told the accounting department that the site super was not authorized to sign for such a large expenditure which is why we needed additional docs and the not to exceed number. We called to schedule a meeting and were presented with yet another breakdown of costs that now was valued at almost $42,000. When reviewing the new invoice related to the $27,000 we were told that there was work not on the original order. At this point we stopped all work and started getting information from other contractors, from internet sources like Angie’s List, the international pipe bursting association and the library. When I figured out they were charging us over $230.00 per hour/per laborer to dig a hole by hand all my flags went up. To be clear, I was prepared to have to pay a premium for the emergency nature of the work and this far exceeded any degree of reason. In summary -- this is no longer a locally owned or controlled company. I felt like they were unethical, going straight to the site when others had asked for more info and a not to exceed number, I think they gouged us because of the emergency nature of the work, I think they were extremely unprofessional in the communication between the first and second and third work orders. Resolution was a negotiation for them to drop their price to a nice round incredibly high $30,000.

The techs are pressured far too hard to upsell for things you really do not need, and the initial price quote is ridiculously high. The tech who serviced my line was a good guy, who did what I asked him to, but it was clear he was under enormous pressure and scrutiny to jack the sale up as far as it could go.

Rescue Rooter's plumber took one look at the bathroom sink and told my tenants he could not clear the drain without tearing into the wall behind the sink since the joint that was plugged was behind the wall and his snake couldn't get past it. My tenants, who had just had a baby, called me in a panic with this report. I called another plumber I know (who does not want more business so I'm not adding his name here) who told me "No way - he's trying to rip them off". I sent out the 2nd plumber, who cleared the line AND repaired the hole in the pipe the tenant had made trying to snake it himself, all for a total of $80.00 ! Obviously Rescue Rooter is a ripoff and believes in making more work for themselves than actually exists!

Jack Howk is now Rescue Rooter of Portland. See my full report under that company.

What a miserable experience. First, we had Chris come out to take a look at everything. He grumbled the entire time about how the home warranty doesn't reimburse them well. He fixed one of our leaking faucets, then told me that a second wasn't covered (turned out it was, he just hadn't called to ask) and a third he handed me a piece and told me to "go to Home Depot and get a new part" and install it myself (also should have been covered). He also tracked a bunch of dirt into the house and didn't clean up after fixing the sink. Chris took a quick look at the toilet and decided I had roots in my sewer line -- and scared me into thinking this would be a $15-20k repair. I told him that we had a sewer scope as part of our inspection two months ago, it came back clean, and none of our other drains or toilets are having problems. He still insisted that roots must be the issue, so after much debate he finally said he would have "a friend of his" come out and camera the line and that I should "expect him to try to sell you a new sewer". That didn't inspire confidence that I would be getting a fair and honest assessment of my problems. I never got a call for the sewer scope, and had to contact them two times before someone came out. Justin from Rescue Rooter finally showed up, scoped the line, and found nothing in the line that would cause the toilet problems we're experiencing. Justin said the toilet body was old and needed to be replaced; he doesn't do that replacement himself but would have someone come out to do that. I called Rescue Rooter to set up that appointment (as came to be typical, they didn't call me). They told me to go to Home Depot, identify the toilet I want, and then they would come install it. I went to Home Depot and called on Monday to set up the installation, and they told me that they didn't have a record of any official estimate for the toilet replacement -- so they would have set up an appointment for Wednesday to re-evaluate the toilet again. They never showed up on Wednesday. So I called and rescheduled for Friday, and Matt came out and said my toilet was in "working order". I kept asking him how an incredibly slow toilet that takes three flushes to get everything down qualifies as "working order", and he said that technically all of the water clears out of the bowl so it's not broken. So he told the home warranty people that our toilet has "no mechanical failure" and then wrote up an estimate to have Rescue Rooter replace the toilet for me -- with a discount if I had the work done today. Maybe they make more money charging me for the replacement instead of the home warranty people? I don't know, but the contrast of "it works fine" next to "since it doesn't work, here's what you should pay us to replace it" would be pretty funny if I wasn't so frustrated by the experience. I am done with Rescue Rooter and having a different company come out to do a second opinion. I would NOT recommend using them.

This was a deeply frustrating experience. Keep in mind that I dealt with multiple representatives of this company on multiple days on a variety of tasks, so my impression isn't just a one-off judgement. It appears that they operate on some sort of commission type financial model where each representative is strongly motivated to sell as much billable services as possible. They're priority isn't (just) fixing your plumbing problem. This is common, of course, but in this cause it got totally out of control. You can see from some of the other reviews here that there is a pattern of this problem with this company. I would never let this outfit near my house again.

They videoed the sewer and told us the roots of a Hydrangia bush had invaded the line.(9ft. down in depth??) They said the only thing to do was replace the sewer underneath the house because it would be too risky to snake the line. The roots might make it colapse. They gave us an estimate of $19,000 to $20,000. I got a second plumbers video and opinion and he said it's just a bad clog. We rented a snake($65.00) and cleared the clog! No damage to the sewer after videotaping it again! Rescue Rooter is an outright bunch of LIERS, Don't ever call them for any work!