Roto Rooter

2 Days before Christmas sewer started to back up.Called Rooter Roto Rooter.and told them that it was a mobile home and plumbing was under mobile home so they had a heads up on what they wee dealing with.First they showed up a hour late and when their employee came into my house he never took off his shoe or put on the little booties so they don't track up the house.Now my carpet has to be cleaned at $250+.Tech tried to snake through the shower then the toilet but said they could not get the snake to bend through the bends.I tried to explain where and how to get under the mobile home and where all the sewer lines were but Roto rooter employee just brushed me off and never listened.They never even look a Skirting panel to look under mobile home..Said they would have to come back out with another Tech who knew more about mobile homes.Meanwhile the price kept going up and up starting at $200 but went to over $1000 then charged me $350 for them coming out that day.and told me even that might not fix it.I NEVER got a receipt.After Roto Rooter left I get a call from their office to set up another appointment.I told the woman that I could not talk at that time because my heart was acting up(Afib)but she just kept nagging me about setting up another appointment.She didn't care about my health just making money for Roto Rooter!! I ended up fixing the problem myself for under $50!!! Now Roto Rooter stole $350 and ruined my carpet.I have contacted my Attorney and will be filling charges on Roto Rooter to take them to court.I could add a lot more to this review on just how Roto Rooter baits,switches and rips people off but I think everyone out there reading this gets the idea.

No integrity whatsoever! I would not recommend this outfit.

The service call was scheduled for 9 AM. When the plumbers arrived at 12:30 pm, they said they were held up because they had to get special parts. The plumber's response to me saying, "You guys are 3 1/2 hours late" was that he never told anyone he was going to be there at nine. He said his shift didn't start until nine.

Anyway, neither the plumbers, nor the main office wanted to actually acknowledge that we were told someone would be there at nine. No one was willing to take accountability for the 3 1/2 hours of my waste of time.

They all had this attitude like, "What's the big deal? So you had to wait a few hours!"

5/25/2019, I experienced a back-up flood on the floor in the downstairs toilet.

Roto-Rooter employees dug a large hole, but neglected to inform me they had found the original pipe, which was crumbling had been broken into by tree roots.

They proceeded to replace the (unmentioned) broken with PVC, almost up to the point of the City of Fort Lauderdale demarcation on the property, where, I have since found, they joined it to what was left of the original pipe, instead of the City sewer pipe.

Roto-Rooter charged me $437.84 for this service.

8/12/2024, I again experienced a back-up flood on the floor in the downstairs toilet.

Roto-Rooter employee No. 1 determined the PVC sewer pipe from the house was blocked and proceeded to dig *** but left with the job unfinished.

8/14/2024, I phoned Fort Lauderdale City Sewer Repairs and, upon investigation, with mechanical and electronic means, they discovered tree roots growing in crumbling Orangeburg pipe and decided it was long past time to dig.

As Roto-Rooter employee No. 2 had left the property, the Fort City Sewer Repairs workers bridged the gap and hooked up the new sewer pipe, to the 2019 PVC installed by Roto-Rooter, and filled in their side of the hole.

Roto-Rooter employees did no more than; determine the sewer drain pipe was blocked, which I'd already guessed, dig and fill in a small hole.

Roto-Rooter charged me $11,000.00 for the work which was done by the City of Fort Lauderdale Sewer Repairs.

8.16.2024, as this is totally unacceptable, I emailed Pat Swanson , Customer Service Manager at Roto-Rooter Services Co. Corporate Headquarters, and requested an immediate full refund of $11,437.84 from .

To date, 8.28.2024, nothing has been done.

I was told when I scheduled my appointment that Roto Rooter could resolve my problem. I was quoted a service fee of $65.00.

When the company representative technician came to my home he told me it would cost $567.00 to unclog an underground gutter drain. I was totally shocked at the price, however I knew that I was already going to be out the $65.00 service fee, so with good faith I agreed to pay the fee, thinking my problem would be taken care of. However, was I wrong, cost me $517.00 (-$50.00 coupon) and my problem was not fixed.

The technician left the debris that he took out of my drain for me to clean up and left.

I have contacted the Roto-Rooter Corporate Office and complained.

I dealt the the Manager, Rick at the Roto-Rooter Business and got no where. Just treated with unprofessionalism and was taken advantage of!

Edit: Had to file with BBB. RR called and said we'd get 200 back cos they quoted that up front and thatsnwhat we should've paid.

Then on BBB they said they'd give is 100! And their POLICY is to charge over 1000 extra for parts, then ask for even more for labor after you agreed on a quoted price! Then they say it's fair. Plus they refuse to take a coupon when their site says they take them!

SCAM!

First, the guy who did the job did it well. No complaints against him. My mother (senior) and I (disabled) needed our sump pumps battery backup replaced. He came out and suggested do the whole thing for $1700.

He looked stuff up on his phone and gave us a qipuote of $2000.We agreed to that. He called before he was scheduled to install it and said he hadn't found one yet and didn't wanna get a cheap one at Lowes of Home Depot. Another day or so he said he got one but was more money than he thought (which is hard to believe in his profession he wouldn't know the costs) and didn't wanna say the price til he came back. We insisted on knowing beforehand.

He said $2500. We said never mind and he said $2300. By then we wanted it done so we agreed. He gets here with the paperwork and says it came to $1980 and was charging us $2000 afeterall, but said that's only $20 for labor.

He asked if we'd pay an extra $200-300 for labor. We agreed to $2300. Wouldn't apply the $75 off coupon we had. We got the model number (one whole part with main and backup as one).

Looked it up online at stores nearby. That exact model is listed for average of $830 or so. At Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes and the supply place in Jessup he said he got it from. Called a supervisor and were told that's just the markup and basically "that's just how it is." You're gonna mark up a part over a thousand extra dollars?!

And then guilt us into paying even more for labor because you guys can't pay your employees better but will rob customers by overcharging for parts?! I would never recommend this company to anyone!

My sister Ronda Fortener called Roto Rooter with a line issue out to her septic tank and asked for a snake to be clear it out. When that failed, they proceeded to tell her she had a major problem.

My sisters husband recently died and she has been a homemaker since she was 17. She does not work and hasnt for years. They told her they could get her approved on her dead husbands income for a $16,000 job where the money would be borrowed in her husbands name. They actually listed him as the customer and THEY listed and signed his name at the bottom of the proposal.

So they told her they could get the loan approved on her dead husbands last year income. Really???

After speaking to her son and me, I told her something was wrong. Another plumber came out and cleared the line for $250 which RR said they could not clear it and charged her $400.

This was all done yesterday, Friday Nov. 24.

So, she called and told them the oroblem was resolved and she did not want the job anymore and to not charge her for the application or start the job.

They proceeded to send her the signed documents how she cannot cancel and she would be in violation of a dead mans application and contract.

My son is a lawyer in Cincinnati and has not been contacted yet but taking advantage of a recently widowed woman would be an interesting story, dont you think. I would expect a response immediately and her $400 back on the money she paid that solved nothing.

Ticket number 2552**** 11/24/2023

PROPOSAL CUSTOMER Steve Fortener

6343 Durban Rd

Kettering OH 45459

The company sent someone to replace an upstairs faucet. While he was at my house, I cleaned the kitchen (running water and wiping down counters).

When he left, my kitchen faucet water pressure was low. I called him back a few days later to address the issue. He refused to consider that something he did may have created the problem.

He told me how to fix the problem: "I can't do the work for free, and I'm sure you don't want to pay me."

This is my third and final time experiencing terrible customer service, dealing with poorly-trained plumbers, and observing greedy operating practices. They would rather lose a customer rather than genuinely try to help someone.

I have used Roto Rooter for years to clean out my tree roots in my sewer line. Two weeks ago a service tech backed into my tree canopy and when he realized it, he pulled forward breaking off my tree at the base.

I have spent 2 weeks trying to get an answer from someone about taking care of the tree that they left there and replacing it. I have gotten the run around from everyone until today. I was told that the owner didn't want to deal with me and to refund the money for my sewer fixing, and good luck to me on finding another company that will help me when I need it done again. This was passed onto me by a woman at the office, who tried to look for a tree for me, but at this point I was already upset and said I wanted the refund.

She was nice in the beginning, however she was not today. I also spoke to a different in the office when it first happened and she was never nice to me about it.

The service guys tried to cover up their mistake and didn't even tell me right away. Never have I ever felt like a piece of trash instead of a client from a major corporation.

In 2008 Roto-Rooter relined our sewer from the house to the street with their new type of lining that was guaranteed for 50 years. We were told that we would never have to shake the sewer line again.

In two years, the line had to be snaked because of tree roots growing at the openings. We were then told by the representative who came to our house that the company did not know at the time of installation that the lining material would shrink, letting roots grow in the sewer line. We were told by Roto-Rooter's representative that they would come to our house every two years and snake the line for free. They have honored their promise every two years until this year.

The supervisor told us today that there was only a five-year guarantee, and they were only doing it before to be nice. He stated that they have already spent too much money doing this, and they would no longer honor the guarantee. They feel since the people we spoke with are no longer working for the company, the past guarantee does not need to be honored by them. We were not aware that the change of personnel at a company voided its promises and warranties.

Obviously, Roto-Rooter is not a company to do business with.

Having looked on the internet, I now see how poorly they are rated as a company on all levels. Beware of doing business with Roto-Rooter in Columbus, Ohio!!!