Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Excellent service, quality employees, more than satisfactory work!. My faucet was continually running (while shut off) on a Saturday...after making three other calls to plumbers who either do not or could not work on a Saturday of a long holiday weekend, Roto-Rooter came through and arrived within the hour. The plumber accessed the situation, found another major leak, wrote the estimate and with approval was off to fix my issues. It wasn't as easy a fix as anticipated as my fixtures were so old, extension pieces and more were require. Parts were not available at the local hardware store requiring a weeklong wait to special order. Although the water was no longer continuously running, he overnighted the required parts and completed the repair the next day. Thank you so much Roto-Rooter, you saved my day!

Excellent service as usual. Have been using local Roto-Rooter for years. Always pleasure to deal with their professional plumbing experts. Carlos was amazing!!! Quickly fix the problem Which was a great relief, his many years of experience And expertise were greatly appreciated. Highly recommend. Thank you again for the great service 🙂

Yesterday I had a bad day with my washer and garage being flooded I called roto-rooter.let me tell you the two guys that came to help us with this issue great customer service very polite told us what the problem was and preventative care for future mess. Very knowledgeable and above and beyond with the cleaning. We just want to say these two guys are recommendable. Even after a challenge they still got the job done. Juan Moreno and his helper were 5 stars service. Thanks again.

I called Roto Rooter because our sewer line needed to be snaked. They arrived within an hour. Upon arrival the technician agreed that the line needed to be snaked and said that it would cost $500. I told him that I had a coupon that was offered on RR website for $100. He went to his van and wrote up a receipt for $590. and said that he could not accept an online coupon, it must be printed. I pointed out that there was nothing stating this on the website. He eventually offered a $75. coupon that he had with him. Whatever, the initial $500. amount became $590. I paid $515. The technician did a good job clearing the line. I wasn't happy with the coupon discrepancy. I won't call RR for any future problems.

Clearing the drain cost more than twice what our local plumbing company would have charged based on cost of labor. Stated estimate for repairing just the broken y-pipe was $6,301; we paid less than $600 to have our local plumbing company to repair both that pipe and the shower drain leak. Roto-Rooter supervisor told us we needed a $16,000 replacement of our iron plumbing and his technician told us they are required to inform us of the needed work. Our local plumbing company told us the iron piping is old but in good shape and does not need to be replaced. Roto-Rooter estimated verbally $5,000 to $8,000 for a needed "lake of sewage" clean-up, then showed up the next day to do the work when we had not approved that work to be done. (Wife could hear from the bedroom above the conversation between husband and Roto-Rooter restoration person; husband made it very clear that wife must agree with estimate before any work is done.) Our local plumbing company said the leak was from the kitchen and laundry line of the plumbing and all that would be done is vacuum up about a gallon of water then put down kitty litter for the small and decreasing amount of fluid. The younger tech had a stern attitude about the work his supervisor said needed to be done (said it was their responsibility to inform us) and expressed a conformational attitude toward wife when she questioned the overpricing. The supervisor was throwing around nonsense numbers. He told us he was already saving us $2,000 on the pipe repair when the discount stated was $671 ($6,301 down from $6,972, a $671 difference). Again, our local plumbing company did the repair for less than 10% of Roto-Rooter's estimate). The Roto-Rooter supervisor seemed friendly, but his words and demeanor felt like sleight-of-hand, high-pressure tactics. In the past, a Roto-Rooter technician cleared plumbing for us at a reasonable price and was straight forward and respectful. This current experience was much, much different than that. We won't be calling Roto-Rooter again.

- 1,000 stars??? is that available? Here is the timeline of events that occurred for my parents. You tell me.... do you really want to give $ to this business? If you don't want to read the fine-print below, here is a synopsis: Roto-Rooter came to deal with a clogged toilet... and they left creating a nightmare of a sewage situation. They "fixed" the problem at hand, but ruined a pipe (THE MAIN SEWER LINE) which caused leakage that damaged the structure of their home.... not to mention a truly unpleasant situation for quite a few days. UGGGGHHHH! My folks have been trying to get remediation from Roto-Rooter Corporate... forget-about-it... these people could CARE LESS. DO NOT.... I repeat..... DO NOT service these people. Unless you want to risk the possibility of dealing with serious crap (sorry, pun intended). Roto-Rooter Time line summary: Thursday, December 11, 2008 Roto-Rooter arrived about 8:40am to clean downstairs toilet clog. After examination another technician was called. Toilet was removed and a machine was brought in and used. There was a lot of adjustment to the "cutter" end of the cleaning device. Eventually the water was flowing freely. We were not notified at this time that this was because the main drain pipe in the crawl space was broken by their tool. Roto-Rooter billed me $497.41 and noted on the bill that this was only guaranteed for 30 days "because it was hard to go thru." Thursday, December 18, 2008 Home Preservation Service came around 1:00pm for their winter checkup. They noticed a bad smell coming from the crawl space. When they investigated they discovered that the main house sewer line was broken and the sewage was just being dumped in the crawl space. We immediately called Roto-Rooter to repair the break they had carelessly created the week before. Cesar Palacios from the Roto-Rooter Services company (1830 Bayshore Highway, Burlingame, California, 94010, 650 642 6128) came around 3:00pm and looked at the break. He said Roto-Rooter could fix it, but only after the sewage had been cleaned up a disinfected. He recommended "Water Damage Experts" to do the cleanup. We immediately called the "Water Damage Experts," and they said they couldn't come before the next morning. THANK GOODNESS they were scheduled to come only days after Roto Rooter made their mess... if it had been weeks or months, our house would have been permanently damaged. Friday, December 19, 2008 "Water Damage Experts" came and looked at the required cleanup and removed the sewage, fumigated the crawl space and added biocide and active earth to cover the infected space. When they were finished they called Cesar Palacios at Roto-Rooter who came and repaired the broken drain pipe at no charge. Tuesday, December 30, 2008 Sent a letter with the "Water Damage Experts" bill to Pat Swanson of Roto-Rooter. Pat is listed as the person to direct "service issues" inquiries toward. Monday, January, 12, 2009 Enrique Jaime called (408 739 4979 ext 24316) while I was out of town and wanted copy of the letter which I had sent to Pat Swanson. Friday, January, 23, 2009 About 9:10am Jean Martinez from Roto-Rooter's Sunnyvale Office (183 Commercial Street, Sunnyvale, California, (408) 739 1648) called. He claimed that the fine print on their contract absolved them of any responsibility for damages and they would not pay for the cleanup. I told him this was unacceptable since it was their carelessness that caused the damage and their advertisements claimed that they were "licensed and insured." Additionally their advertisements claim "No Hassle Guarantees." As a result I was not going to accept their decision not to take responsibility. He said that he would talk to his manager and get back to me by Monday, January 26, 2009. Wednesday, January 28, 2009 Cory Severson (the Bay Area representative) called back to say they are only willing to pay 1/2 of the expense. We told him that's unacceptable, given we trusted Roto-rooter to solve the problem WITHOUT causing damages. The damages should be paid by the service provider, no ifs ands or buts. It is shocking that a business feels it is acceptable to even suggest payment of 1/2 the damage price that was incurred by THEM. We will be contacting 7 on your side, the Mercury News, etc, etc. If anyone has any other outlets we should pursue, please send me a personal message.

I have now had Roto Rooter come out 4 times this year (although there were only 2 problems, and only 1 was fixed). First, Roto Rooter is very responsive. They accommodate your schedule and get out very quickly. Their technicians are all very nice and pleasant to work with. So why 2 stars? Let's start with my first problem in January. I had roots in my drainage pipe leading from my sump pump to the street. The first person came out, worked on it for a couple hours, then left saying he had fixed the problem. Problem was not fixed. I emailed a manager who sent another technician (who told me he is one of the top level technicians they have) who fixed the problem. Although I was greatly relieved, I should not have had to go through contacting a manager to get someone to do what I had already paid for. Next, my sump pump broke and my basement flooded. I needed someone to fix the pump. That's all. 2 technicians came out and tried to snake the drain (I told them that wasn't the problem). After being here for an hour or so, they told me that the sump pump was broken and that they couldn't do anything (when I first called for help, I told them my sump pump was broken and to send someone to fix it). They said someone would come by tomorrow to FIX the pump. Wasted time. These same technicians called the remediation/restoration technician who wanted to charge me $3,000-$5,000 to drain the water out of my basement. This did not include drying anything out or dealing with any mold, just pumping water out. I said "No thank you" and got all the water pumped out with my hose and $50 back up pump. The next day, another technician came (sent by the first two) who was supposed to fix my pump. All he did was check for electricity going to the pump and pulled up on the float switch and told me he "assumes the pump is broken." This assumption was made without even touching the pump or making a physical inspection (the pump is at the bottom of a pit and he never disconnected or touched the pump). Basically, all he did was do what I already had done. Then he wanted to charge me $1700 for a replacement pump (got it elsewhere for $450), and charge me $789 to install it (I installed it myself in 30 minutes a few years ago and have zero technical training or background and found someone else who will install it for $280). When I contacted a manager about being charged $125 for the "inspection" I was told that the technician charged me for less than an hour's time as if that justified the charge when he basically did nothing. Again, I think Roto Rooter can help if you're really in a jam, but you will be paying a lot more than you need to and will deal with people who are just looking for the big pay off rather than the cost-effective fix.

Unethical Practices and Incompetent / Bad Actor Technicians Our recent experience with Roto Rooter has been extremely disappointing, highlighting severe unethical behavior and unprofessionalism within their organization. One of their technicians came to fix our garbage disposal and said that he preferred payment in cash. Without our knowledge, he documented that we went with another provider. Despite purportedly "fixing" the garbage disposal, he damaged it. It started leaking shortly after, flooding our cabinet and causing significant water damage to our wooden kitchen floors. When we reached out to Roto-Rooter for help, they refused to assist, citing the absence of an invoice. This was despite the fact that they should be held accountable for the actions of their employees under agency law, where a company is liable for the acts of their employees under their scope of employment. After speaking with two managers, we were repeatedly told that nothing could be done without an invoice and they informed us that many clients try to "scam" then with these types of complaints. What a wonderful position for a customer to be in -- damaged property by a Roto Router technician and the company saying they will not do anything to resolve the damage caused by their own tech. Also, the technician in question conveniently left the company shortly after servicing us, further raising suspicions about Roto-Rooter's hiring practices and internal controls. It appears that this behavior is part of a broader pattern that Roto-Rooter condones--unethical company practices, hiring bad actors as technicians and leaving the client with hundreds of dollars in damages for which the company itself is liable. *** I strongly recommend avoiding Roto-Rooter and opting for a trusted local plumber instead. Our experience with Roto-Rooter has been marred by unethical practices and incompetent technicians that ultimately left us with further damage and a hefty bill.

I called roto rooter to schedule a visit to fix a water heater leak. I knew what needed to be done, as it was leaking from the pressure intake valve, and the pressure of the water coming in was 100 psi, above code, and before even heating. I told them I wanted an expansion tank and pressure regulator (latter code if you have an expansion tank). He arrived, disagreed with my diagnosis, which is perfectly fine, and I asked him for a quote to fix it. He told me he will have it by end of day. No quote. A week passes, no quote. I track him down after a few calls to Roto Rooter San Mateo, (i even got his cell phone number), and he said he will get me a quote. Never even gave me a courtesy of a call back. As I just moved to the area, and looking for my reliable plumbing company, they failed- which means they lose out on about 30 years of plumbing work, because I don't like trying to find new contractors every time. Another negative is that when you call, most often, you get routed to a call center, which then routes you to San Mateo. Took me a while to realize I didn't get San Mateo directly. Another time they routed me to NY! Last time, I got San Mateo directly and the person was surprised when i asked to be transferred to San Mateo. I will say one thing though- everyone on the phone is nice and pleasant. The plumber was professional till he failed to return a call despite multiple times ensuring me he would. Or even provide a quote. With regards to Pat's reply below, before I even posted this review, I had already called in and informed them of what happened. They apologized and told me they would look into it. That's why I said everyone on the phone is nice and pleasant. Because they were when I called to report dissatisfaction. I wish them best figuring out why this happened. To me its pretty clear- The plumber they sent dropped the ball.

First off, the Roto Rooter company that I called isn't even listed on Yelp, so this review may not apply to this location. I did a Google search for the location I called (their number begins with 474-XXXX, and they are listed in the Yellow Pages) as that is the number I called, and this review is for them. Horrible and uninformed dispatchers. I called this morning for a minor problem--the bathroom sink wasn't draining, and that was causing some brown muddy water to back up in the bathtub. The dispatcher told me "I have an opening at 7:00 tonight," to which I said "I'll take it." The dispatcher told me that someone would call me about a half an hour before they come. So at 7 p.m., as dinner wraps up, I stand by, waiting for the plumber. 15 minutes goes by, then 20, then 30. Finally, I decided to call Roto Rooter back, telling them that no one had arrived or called, and I wanted an approximate ETA. "Katie," the dispatcher who answered the 474-XXXX line, told me that "7:00 was the earliest, and that the window for service was between 7 and 11 p.m." Well, WTF, people--this was the first I had heard of a 'time window.' The initial dispatcher never mentioned ANYTHING about a time window--they just told me I had a 7:00 appointment. When someone says 7:00, I expect them to be there at 7:00, or I expect that the dispatcher is knowledgable enough to tell me that there is a time frame. Seriously--did these people think that I have nothing better to do than to sit around, waiting for a plumber who might not show up until 11:00 at night?! And then, if that is when they show up, do they think I have nothing better to do than to wait around for the service--who knows how long that would take? Steer clear of the Roto Rooter listed in the Yellow Pages.

This was a mixed bag. I called these guys for a project to unplug the pipes that run from my gutters to the street. I have not done this in the three years that i have lived at this house, and I don't know when the previous owners did this, so admittedly this was likely a tough job. The good: It was easy to schedule an appt (with a two hour window of time, 8-10), with a promise to call 30 min ahead of time. Got a call a few minutes after the window ended indicating the tech was delayed, and they would call me 30 min before he arrived (I am okay with this since they called to let me know). Jay arrived about 11. He was professional and efficient. He indicated the job may take two hours and he was done in 1, highlighting that this work was covered by a warranty. I liked that. The bad: A few days later I ran some water from the cleanouts and all three pipes were still plugged. It would have been easy to check this before the tech left and I am a little surprised that it was not. Roto-rooter was good enough to send another tech to honor their warranty and tried for another hour. This time I ran some water while he was here and was able to confirm that they still are plugged. He suggested a return trip with a camera (to see what the problem is) and was going to discuss this with the first tech. Because I only paid them for an hour it seemed fair that he only spent one more hour on the job, but my pipes are still plugged. It is two weeks since the last visit and no word from Roto-rooter on next steps. So my issues here are: 1) Before the first tech left he should have ran some water through the pipes before declaring the job done. 2) I would like the company to be a bit more proactive on fixing my problem.

Be aware! Do not use this service. Call any local plumber for reliable and honest work. These people came for a tankless water heater flush. Which I was quoted $100-$150 by two other plumbing companies. TLDR - $790 and started the work with asking my housekeeper to sign off when I wasn't even home. I told customer service I wouldn't be home but my house cleaner was so he could look and get me a quote. He even called through the housekeepers phone to speak to me of which I said let me know how much I'll be home shortly. When I arrived the work was underway - I'm doing other things, I realize we are still waiting not really sure what he was doing (not realizing he was doing the flush already) and come to find out he quoted my housekeeper $790 to flush out the water heater. Had her sign and started the work. Are you kidding? Then he lied to his supervisor. Said the house keeper led him to believe she was the owner and that she never called me where he spoke to me and I told him I'd be home shortly (I have bank witnesses!) blatant lie - the supervisor Peter also said no calls with customer service were recorded because there are no calls since I did a e-request - I have the call log on my phone where they called multiple times trying to schedule this appt and I told them I wouldn't be home but would be okay to get a quote. $790!!!!!!! These people were manipulative and then tried to gaslight us when I physically have receipts and their answer was "we will bill the housekeeper and you can figure it out." Please - call your local plumbing service. These people will rip you off if they have the chance. Ilha or Ilya was our plumbers name. He was barely 18 years old and I get was covering his rear but a total liar.

There were two parts of the Roto-Rooter experience that should give you pause. First, they set service times nationally -- and the national office has little concern about honesty or customer service. Second, when discussing possible further repairs to eliminate problems, they dramatically up-sold/up-priced things. The service on the drain problem was professional and quick, leading to two stars. The rest was classic one-star service. The appointment was set for 7:30-9:30. At about 8am, the scheduler called to say the technician was running late. At 10am she called back to say he would be there in 30-40 minutes. It seemed obvious that they had simply slotted somebody ahead of my time. When I queried the dispatcher, she just said multiple times "I'm sorry." When the technician arrived at 10:40, I said you are very late. He replied, "I don't know anything about that; I just got the call 20 minutes ago." Because I had to leave in half an hour (something I had told the schedule early and often), he quickly did the job. That was good. He then asked if I had ever considered repairing the 'tree root in the sewer line' problem. I said that I had the last time Roto-Rooter had come. They gave a verbal estimate but never followed up with the written estimate they promised. We let it slide, but I asked the current current technician to provide an estimate. Instead of just repairing the problem, he left an estimate to completely replace the line at about 2.5 times the verbal cost estimate of two years ago. It was a long, bad day. Think twice with Roto-Rooter.

Drain backed up on a Saturday afternoon. Water on the floor and afraid to use the sinks, toilets, etc. I called the plumber who installed my fixtures -- no answer. I called the plumber who did our backflow testing -- no answer. I called "Wizard" a 24/7 plumber who returned my message after 15 minutes and said someone could be out tomorrow. I was so relieved that Roto-Rooters were actually opened and answered my call. They took down my information and promised someone would come out between 4pm and 8pm (it was currently 2pm.) The operator said it had been a crazy morning and everyone was busy. Not great but still the best offer so far. I was worried about what to do at 8pm if no one showed up though. I got a call at about 2:30pm from a really nice sounding guy saying he was on the way and would be there in 30 minutes! As it turned out, I had managed to reach an individual (not a company) who was immediately available and already on his way so I canceled the Roto-Rooter guy. If I'd known they would actually be available in 30 minutes, I would have waited them. The cancellation process wasn't hard although I felt a bit guilty. Given the ease of reaching them on the weekend and the speed they actually dispatched, I would definitely keep Roto-Rooter in mind for future emergencies. PS: The operator said that Roto-Rooter provides on-the-spot estimates and you don't have to accept, although, obviously, in an emergency situation, you don't have a lot of choice.

Called Roto-Rooter to fix clogged sink in bathroom and it was fixed however price that was agreed was extremely overcharged from what we initially agreed on. From 390 for sink backed up we went to 610 in blink of an eye. Just mentioned that toilet is not flushing and guy charged additional 200 for assessment that we need new toilet. Now on service: 1. We did receive heads up call almost 1:30 before arrival saying that technician will be here in 30 min. 2. Technician didn't wear any shoe protection entering carpeted apartment 3. If I didn't lay out towel in front of the sink we would have fleeces, hair and other gunk on our carpet (we rent and there is carpet in front of the sink ugh ) 4. That same towel went to garbage after he was done, no way in hell that I'm washing that thing. 5. Without quote and clear explanation what would be done technician "snaked" our toilet and chugged that up to those 200+ with recommendation that we need new toilet. 6. This is not the first time I'm calling Roto-Rooter and having this kind of experience (prior to this I had another intervention that ended in overcharging) 7. My sink siphon was broken by the same guy who charged me for it afterwords. I don't have enough time to continue writing so there you go for now. I would not recommend this company to anyone, unless you like being overcharged and deceived.