Bob Oates Sewer Rooter & Plumbing LLC

Really well

I was at work and my sister was home. She said that everything was done professionally, the plumber, Paul, was friendly and efficient. The job was completed perfectly and we are very happy.

I can recommend Bob Oates Plumbing 100%. TJ and his apprentice came out. In three hours, they installed the new main water line. Totally professional. Great price. They dug two big holes and returned them to the original look, including one area nicely landscaped. I would hire them again without hesitation. Thanks, men!

I could not be happier with the work I had completed this week. My 1953 rambler with galvanized pipes was badly in need of a plumbing upgrade, and it was somewhat complicated by a situation involving foam insulation in the crawl space that completely buried all the existing pipes. Not only was TJ's quote the lowest one I received, he was also the only plumber I contacted who wrote up a clear and detailed bid explaining exactly what would be done and how. And I liked that the same person who came & gave the quote was the one to actually do the work. (Other plumbers seem to send their "salesmen" out for the quote, who may or may not be anywhere near as knowledgeable about what actually needs to be done. One told me all the insulation would have to be removed first; another said he would need a blueprint of the house....). TJ and Willem inspired confidence at every step. They were punctual, professional, friendly, and utterly competent, and the job (including a few extra things that came along, beyond what was in the quote) was completed in just a few days and with less disruption than I would have ever imagined. I am really grateful to have found them and would highly recommend Bob Oates (especially if you can get TJ!).

Bob Oates plumbing called me this morning as a result of an unfavorable review they received from me, via Angie's list. I had left a message over a weekend ago with them and it got lost in the shuffle of their answering service. They called me first thing this morning after reading the Angie's list review to correct the customer service perception and were here by 11:00 AM to fix a problem I couldn't. They were prompt, courteous and professional. I'd hire them in a minute for future needs. Sometimes weekend communications, regardless of the organization, can get turned around. I would say this, I would encourage followup after a weekend conversation with their anwsering service, if it's an emergency. In this case it wasn't an emergency, which is possibly why the request for service got lost. I would hire them again.

They called me promptly at 7:30 the next morning and set up an appointment for 10:00. Their guy was on time, even arrived early and had my drains cleared within the hour. He discussed the price beforehand (more expensive since they had to remove a toilet to access the drain) he was very professional and easy to work with. The job may require a more expensive fix if it happens again due to some problems with my plumbing and the lack of outside access, but this is the company I will call. I was very happy with this experience.

Project 1 the leaky toilet was fixed but the problem happened again in couple of weeks. So they came back and fixed it free of charge. Project 2 - punctual and professional but I felt that they overcharged for a simple project that involved replacing the toilet with a new one. The coupons never seem to work.

Called Bob Oates on a Saturday afternoon. We got immediate call back from Dan who gave us an estimate and a timeline of about 45 mins. When that time passed I called Dan again and he was happy to enquire and let me know that the previous job had been more complicated and that we would see someone in 45 minutes. And we did. Conner was reallly pleasant, self sufficient and efficient. He did a great job. It was cold and dark and he just got on with it and fixed the issue and ran a camera to make sure it was fixed, presenting us with a video for our records.

The sewer was cleaned out. The Bob Oates team could not get the cap off of the clean-out-access line so they cut it off. They cleaned the line and took a video, finding another problem. Two problems (1) they never put a new cap back on the access line. I asked them three times about it and (despite being assured it would get done), they did not put a new cap on. It's been about a week now. (2) they were going to send me the video but have not done so. Not putting a cap back on the sewer access line is really unprofessional.

Two guys showed up, charged me $500 for doing nothing. It turned out one sink was emptying poorly because it had rusted out; they did not inform me of this. The bathtub turned out to be fine, just had a hair catcher in the drain that slows down the water. The kitchen sink was ok but they charged me anyway. It was unethical of them to insist on charging me full price for doing nothing, also for not notifying me of the rusted out sink. They said that the company policy is that price is determined and fixed ahead of time, not charged per work done. Beware!

The technician arrived on time and after assessing the 1930's plumbing of the U-District condo, decided that the hot water faucet was just stripped. He fixed the hot faucet, wrote up a bid for bringing the sink up to current standard and charged us $0. He didn't even charge us for the service call! Thank you!!

Great guys, vey professional and conscientious.

I would NEVER under any circumstances call these guys again. This was by far the worst experience I've had with a plumbing company or contractor and I've been managing rental properties for over a decade. MAKE SURE you read ALL the negative reviews they have before you even think about calling them yourself. There's a striking consistency to the bad stories! Our tenant called Bob Oates Plumbing the day after Thanksgiving since we had a main line backing up. They said it would be $450 if there was a clean-out plus a $100 emergency fee to FIX the problem. They came out, didn't fix the problem, and charged $605ish after tax. My tenant didn't know better so she wrote them a check. Andrew from Bob Oates told me that there was a break in the main line 7' deep under the concrete walkway in the front of the house and it would be nearly $7k to fix "because there is so much digging." I called Action Jackson for a second opinion. They said they would come out for a "possible hydrojet" and it would be a $125 service call fee if they couldn't fix it by hydro-jetting the line. They were out within a few hours - no emergency fee, no "holiday" fee, no charging me for something they couldn't do. Over the phone the guy said that it was definitely a break in the line, about 4' deep (humm!? That's three whole feet shallower than Andrew from Bob Oates said it was!?) and would be under $3k to fix. Guess who I hired!? They got it fixed the next day. I called Andrew on Friday night to ask why he'd charged my tenant so much to NOT FIX ANYTHING. He said that's their policy because they ran something down the line. It was 100% their representation to my tenant and to me that for $605 they would fix the problem. While we were on the phone, Andrew admitted that he had OVER-CHARGED my tenant by $100. I told him to return the check to her and then get payment from me, since she shouldn't have been paying it in the first place. He said he would. So, Monday comes around and John P. the general manager sends a snippy email to my tenant saying he's absolutely not going to return her check. I called and spoke to Reya, who told me, in no uncertain terms, that she would be sure the check was returned and that she would email my tenant to confirm. She never sent the email. Then I spoke with John P. myself. And if I didn't understand what "man-splaining" was before, I certainly do now. I don't know if he treated me extra rudely (gee, thanks for the consideration!) because I'm a woman, but this guy was an absolute jerk. He told me that "nobody in Seattle" would come out and assess a situation for a $125 service fee (note above - ACTION JACKSON DID!). He told me he'd worked for over 20 plumbing companies in Seattle (I'm wondering - is that because he got fired from them for being such a jerk to customers?!) and that not a single one of them would come out to assess a plumbing situation for a service fee. I asked him about the over-charging and he said that one of his guys hit the "wrong code" on the invoice. I truly think they were trying to take advantage of my tenant. Then I asked about why they said the break in the line was 7' deep when it was really 4' deep. He said it "must have been a problem with the equipment" - seriously, dude? Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice? I write you a review. Apparently he didn't like talking to me because he HUNG UP ON ME. Before he did, he said he'd return my tenant's check, and send her an email confirming. Guess what? He didn't do it. Instead, he sent an email saying "However, I will hold the check that your tenant gave to us and not deposit it until we receive your check in the mail. We will then be more than happy to send the check back to your tenant." SO - he wants me to SEND HIM ANOTHER CHECK FOR $500 When he has REPEATEDLY lied to me, made promises he obviously has no intention of keeping, and is now trying to extort my tenant. Why in the world would I send this guy a check for $500 when they could just decide to cash both checks and not send my tenant's check back to her? They're really the worst in the business. Under no circumstances would I call them ever, ever again. Literally everyone I've spoken to at the company has lied to me at least once, they over-charged for the service call, and dramatically inflated the scope of the repair needed so they could over-charge me on that. Had I not been smart enough to call ACTION JACKSON I would have been out an extra $4000.

They were on time and completed the work in a professional and timely manner.

prompt initial response and diagnosis.Advised of conditions as work progressed. Finished ahead of schedule.

The technician was knowledgeable, prompt, skilled and easy to talk with. I will hire Bob Oats Plumbing for future work.

Casey came out to help us. He arrived on time and was polite and friendly. He was showing/teaching me the issues and process to fix it. I will ask him again for any plumbing issues.

They replaced it with a new facuet. Very well done, very professional

Quickly and efficiently

Great. Got it unplugged

The Bob Oates plumber arrived on time and successfully cleaned the drain. However, the price I was charged for the service was nothing short of highway robbery--a whopping $275 for about 15 minutes of work. I panicked because there was dirty water and gunk all over my floor and thought it was a much more substantial repair job than it turned out to be. Bob Oates took advantage of my panic and naivety to fleece me. They made a tidy profit off of me today, but I'll never hire them again and will make sure all my friends and family know what kind of people they are.

The team inspected our sewer again prior to beginning their work. As I understand, they replaced our original clay pipes with the pipe bursting method and relined the remainder of the line from the sidewalk to the main. Their work, safety barriers, cleanup, and concrete repair was all top notch.

rooter was not successful, but hydrojet worked. I was disappointed the roto-rooting didn't work and it cost me more to have the hydrojet. The drain works well now.

He was great!

When I scheduled I told them I'd determined the clog was past the P-trap for the bathtub, and that there was an accessible clean-out point on the pipe they could use to get to the clog. The person they sent only tried briefly to open the clean out with a pipe wrench before giving up on it and snaking through the bathtub drain. Instead of reaching the clog he sent his power snake up the vent, and eventually broke it. I assume I still have a chunk of snake in my vent. Then he left me poorer and still with a clogged pipe. When the weekend arrived and I had time I borrowed a large crescent wrench from my friend, put a pipe on it as a breaker bar, opened the clean out and used a hand snake to remove the clog. It took me about 20 minutes to do it the right way vs. an hour and a couple hundred bucks for them to fail to do it the wrong way. And I probably have a chunk of snake stuck in my vent forever.