ComplaintsforRoto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service

• Initial Complaint

  06/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Roto-Rooter of *****************, ** recently sent out a plumber (*******) for my leak in the crawlspace (for my bathtub faucet/drain) beginning of June 2024. He did not spend long at my home and told me that he had to do an estimate of the work and would send me the estimate via email (usually they write up the estimate in their van and then proceed with the home-owners decision). Two days go by, two phone calls to Roto-Rooter as well, and I get no response. I use a home warranty plan, not that this should have any effect upon the plumbing business and their estimate. But the fact that I use a home warranty plan appeared to change the plumber's intent to fix my leak; this was when he decided to leave and do an estimate via email. I feel that he/they (the business) intended to milk the leak via the home warranty company for as much money as possible. I want to make sure that other residents know what they did to me prior to deciding on the use of this business for their own plumbing issues. In the past (even though I let this go and chalked it up to bad record-keeping on their part...), within a three month time-frame (Sept and Dec 2023), they replaced the insert to my bathtub faucet twice. Also note that this may have caused the leak that I recently called them for. The bottom line is that I will never use the business again.

  Business response

  06/13/2024

  We apologize for the misunderstanding and lack of communication.  Our plumber was under the impression that the homeowner wanted us to work directly with the home warranty company to do work and receive payment. We do not normally work directly with home warranty companies for payment, which confused the plumber, and he wanted to clarify our policy before submitting the estimate.  Unfortunately,the plumber dropped off the estimate to the office and the situation was not communicated well with the staff and he was off the next 3 days.  Poor communication on our part led to a lack of follow-up and when the homeowner called on Saturday, our customer ********************** representative was not aware the estimate was in the office.   In hindsight, he should have given the homeowner the estimate on site and asked him to contact the office to clarify before starting work.  The whole issue could have been resolved with better communication and coordination on our part which has been addressed.  We hold our plumbers to a high standard and every single one of them operate with a high degree of integrity and never once did the thought of milking the homeowner enter anyones minds.   

  Customer response

  06/14/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Our pipe burst on Christmas Eve and someone came out the following Wednesday looked at it for five minutes and then says oh i have to pick up a part from ********** disappears for almost an hour. Turns the water back on the pipe is still flooding the house. Proceeds to pretend to look under the house and then goes all of your pipes need to be replaced. Tells me they'll send us and estimate Thursday so they can start work on Friday. Don't receive anything from them until late Friday. Call them following Monday only to have them tell me they are booked until the following Monday. They charged me over $1,000 to fix absolutely nothing. $16 of it was in parts the rest labor. What labor he spent most of his time at *********** I feel scammed and will not be using their service in the future. Went with another company that will be charging me less and actually will be fixing something. I don't know what kind of shady business you guys are running but will definitely tell people to stay far away from you guys.

  Business response

  01/12/2023

  The customer was given prices before we started. We explained that we could repair the break, we could see, but there may be more breaks, we would not be able to know until we pressurized the piping. After making the repair the customer requested that we stay on site until the glue dried at the continued rates. After making the repair and turning the water back on there were several additional breaks. We did get an estimate to re-pipe the broken piping it was scheduled to be done on Jan. 9th and the customer called in and cancelled. 

  The work was done per our standard operating procedure.

   

  Sincerely,

  *********************

  Customer response

  01/12/2023

   
  Complaint: 18690171
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  Nobody actually looked at the pipes to see how many breaks there were so estimate could not possibly be accurate. I don't appreciate paying for your empoyee to take trips to *********** You guys are scammers. Why don't you already have the appropriate equipment required to do a job 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

  Business response

  01/20/2023

  It is still our stance that we explained everything to the customer and performed the work they requested. To settle this matter we are willing to offer a $300 refund for no other reason than good faith. We would also need the customer to agree that this would be a final and agreed upon settlement.

   

  Sincerely,

  *********************

  Customer response

  01/29/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I don't feel like this will ever be resolved to my satisfaction so I'm just choosing to let it go and will be wiser in knowing to never use this company again. Now I know you're crooked charging customers for not even completing a job and just coming back with the same generic response saying you didn't do anything wrong.  
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Roto rooter price gauges people. My mother had a leak in her washer. She called Roto rooter for help. Roto rooter came in set up dryers and left. They sent her a **** for nearly $9000.00 for 3 hours of work. They claim they removed Sheetrock, roofing and plaster but they did not do any work at all. Now they are trying to stick an elderly disabled woman who is sight impared with a $9000.00 **** for work they never did. They attached photos of someone else's home claiming it was my mothers home.

  Business response

  01/19/2022

  This does not appear to be an issue with our business but with a Roto Rooter business on the West side of the state. There is nothing I can address since this is not my business the complaint is with.

  Please attach this to the appropriate business. SIncerely, *********************

  Tell us why here...

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