Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

Woke up to find no hot water - ok, go check the heater and now we have a big problem - there's a steady stream of water pouring out of the upper heating element. I turn off the breaker, turn off the water valve into the heater, call Roto Rooter as they were the first to come up after Hiller and I strongly dislike Hiller from a past job. RR coordinates a tech to come out in 1 hour. I get the water drained partially so that it's not flowing any more at least and the tech (Dragan) shows up right on time. He was very friendly to work with, answered all of my questions, and showed me that, unfortunately, it's not the element that's leaking, it's behind it where the tank's rusted out (it's probably 12 years old, I've only had the house for 1 year). We decide on a new tank, he runs to Lowe's to get it, comes back and has it installed. The whole process took about 1.5 hours and now there's hot water again! Prices seemed fair according to internet and a contractor friend (new hot water heaters are expensive, what can you do), and customer service was tops for me.

I've used Roto-Rooter twice in the past week (unfortunately), but FORTUNATELY, both my technicians were incredible, faster than ANY other plumber I called and efficient. GREAT experience!

Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup in Atlanta demonstrated true craftsmanship and precision during their recent visit. Jamal, Al, and Daniel arrived fully prepared, exhibiting a clear understanding of advanced sump pump systems. They carefully installed a battery backup sump pump in our basement and walked us through each feature, ensuring we felt secure in its operation. Their thoughtful approach to flood prevention showcased both technical knowledge and genuine care for the integrity of our home. It’s rare to find a crew that balances skill with professionalism so consistently. Our foundation feels protected, and our confidence in their work is absolute.

Quoted me one price $300, then called me back to say it would be more money. and I could choose to have the problem partially addressed. I greed to pay more money, turns out the guy spent more time flirting with my tenants than fixing the problem. They had to send out another person to actually address it.

We needed a plumber to fix a pipe leak we were unable to fix. After finding a list of plumbers that advertised as servicing my area after calling the first two I discovered they didn't. I was running out of time and getting desperate and Roto Rooter was the third one on the list. They assured me they did service my area. I was very grateful. I was informed I would have a service fee of $59 plus parts. I was fine with that. The technician came out and fixed my pipe as was super nice. It took him less than thirty minutes. And then I got my bill. In addition to the $59 service fee and $26 part fee, I faced an additional $183 labor fee that was totally unexpected. I have no problem paying people for the work they do and I was very appreciative of the fact that they came out the same day and fixed the problem, but I feel it's just bad business to not be upfront with the costs. Had I known it was going to cost over $200 for the job, I would certainly have called around to other plumbers. I won't be calling Roto Rooter again.

I know there's a lot of chicanery that goes on with positive online reviews in general, and we tend to believe the negative more than the positive, BUT... I have to tell the world about my experience with Roto-Rooter. This is ESPECIALLY so because I tried like HELL to not use them. My wife and I have been terribly "under-water" with regards to our home/debt after having been flooded a few years ago. So it is incredibly important that we downsize our living situation and sell our current home, which is now on the market. So you can imagine my frustration when, only two weeks into our home being listed for sale, water began seeping into our living space from our A/C condensate drain line. When my regular handyman was unable to successfully snake this clogged drain, he recommended I call Roto-Rooter, so with much hesitation, I e-mailed them to set up an appointment. When the technician called me, he quoted me a price over the phone that I didn't like, and they needed to schedule me for a day a few days out (which I also didn't like), so I thought I should try some other options, first. I made NUMEROUS calls and e-mails to both HVAC specialists and plumbers in my area, checked my neighborhood forums/social media sites for recommendations, and eventually began pleading on Craigslist for someone to come and help me. To begin with, 90% of the "master plumbers" I had contact with argued with me that my air conditioning condensate drain "can not" drain into my sewer line (it does) (RED FLAG #1). Then, when I mentioned I had contacted Roto-Rooter prior to them, they almost Universally insisted they could do this job for between $50. and $100. (RED FLAG #2). Fine, I'd say, "When can you come?". "Oh, well... I don't know, I'm really busy..." (RED FLAG #3). After a couple of weeks of playing whack-a-mole trying to pin down a shade-tree "Master Plumber" who could come snake out my drain, I finally had to bite the bullet and request Roto-Rooter to come out, after all (who knew that in 2016 it would be so darn difficult to have a simple drain snaked???). To my amazement, their technician, "Bo", showed up at the very beginning of the arrival window, smiling, and very eager to help. He was friendly, and not surly or dour like most techs I've hired over the years. Unlike my typical experiences with plumbers, he didn't complain and whine even after I presented him with his first challenge (that my drain is in an awkward and difficult-to-reach spot). He jumped right to it, and even worse (better?), after he had worked for a while and then learned that it wasn't THAT drain at all but ANOTHER drain on the same "tree" (after already spending so much time and energy to snake that particular branch), he DID NOT try to up-charge me, deride me (for being incorrect), or anything else of that nature. What he DID do was HOP TO IT and began doing basic plumbing work that I in no way asked him to do or that he agreed to do. There was no drawn-out discussion of what "needed" to be done- he was machine-like in that before I even knew it, he was DOING IT. He bent over backwards to get the problem fixed, period. He even kept insisting, afterward, that he clean up the nasty mess that was an inevitable result of pushing out a large clog of grease, but I assured him that I wanted to do it, myself due to the extra work he already incurred upon fixing my issues. He insisted three or four times before finally giving in to my wishes. When I surprised him with a Roto-Rooter coupon (which I was eternally grateful to have been offered and desperately needed), he did not flinch, "hem" or "haw", and immediately adjusted my total. Keep in mind, he didn't up-charge me for basically snaking extra lines that I didn't ask for, but needed, so this coupon was subtracted from my INITIAL QUOTE. I was only angry with myself for [a] not having had Roto-Rooter and "Bo" out sooner, and that [b] I didn't have a larger tip to offer Bo. Bo also assured me that if the problem wasn't fixed, I wouldn't be paying for it (or would be refunded or the amount adjusted), and for the first time in my life when talking to a technician/contractor, I didn't doubt that for an instant. I NEVER would have thought that I would be writing a review- let alone a positive one- for a corporate "chain" type of service provider, and yet, here I am. In fact, I believe this is my first Yelp review, ever. My take-away from all of this is that it's REEEEEALLY easy for some shade-tree handyman/"plumber" with a truck and a free ad on Craigslist to talk smack about their more professional competition, but then not have to "put up or shut up". If, after reading my review, you STILL want to go "cheap" by trying someone you don't know in lieu of relying on a long-time, PROVEN company such as Roto-Rooter because of price alone, then good luck to you- I know I've learned a VERY valuable lesson today!

I am giving them two stars mainly due to their management. The crew that did the work were nice and should get four stars but after dealing with the front office I dropped this down to two stars. So, we had our plumbing back-up late at night. There wasn't any sewage coming up but our bathtub on the main floor was filling up whenever we ran a faucet and the toilets would not flush. This was after we had a nice ice storm during the day and nobody would come out that night. I initially thought it was frozen pipes but things checked out under the crawl space. I called the local plumbers first and they couldn't make it out until late the next day. Roto-Rooter was able to come out first thing the following day, which they did and quickly found the problem. Turns out our outside cleanout was at an angle and full of mud (somehow it got disconnected from the main line). This required a dig out and replacement of a section of the main line and cleanout valve. After seeing the reviews here I should have called around after getting this news. I went ahead and scheduled the job for the next day at their quoted rate because we needed this fixed. The crew came out and did a great job. They were able to get to the problem area and replaced the section of the main line and cleanout. The cleanout snapped at the T fitting it was connected to. It was full of roots leaving only a 2 inch or so opening (amazing how the line was working at all). They also ended up pulling 4 or so feet of roots out of the line as they were growing up into the house. I was having financing lined up for the payment and it was set to come in within the next 3-5 days. The quote I was given had options for cash, check, credit or net 10 days to pay. It also had language about how they charge an interest fee for unpaid balances over 30 days so I figured I was good getting the financing in under the 10 days. After they were done with the job I informed the workers how I had the financing in play and they said just to call the office and inform them. Not long after they left, they called back and said they needed the money now. I gave them the information from the financing company and we were good. Then a few minutes later I get a call from the Manager. He said they do not extend credit to residential customers and needed either cash, a check or a credit card. I ended up having to give them a credit card number. Nowhere did it say the Net 10 Days is for commercial customers only and I have yet to receive a final bill from them. I noticed the other day while getting my front yard back together that the cap on the cleanout wasn't glued (plus they left it sticking 2 feet out of the ground instead of somewhat flush). They had to send someone to come back and cut the cleanout down about a foot and glue the cap on. This job was going to have to have been done eventually as those roots were running wild and our cleanout was broken. Now I know to check this cleanout now and then and hopefully next time it won't be an issue where the jobs needs to get done ASAP (not having flushing toilets with two kids isn't a good time). I will also be sure to call around after getting a quote no matter what the urgency and check out reviews here!

I called Roto Rooter to help with my clogged shower drain after I had tried a few non-commercial plumbers but they couldn't come out that day. The man at the main number refused to quote me a price over the phone (this should have been my first clue) and said he would call me back to let me know if a tech could come out. About 30 minutes later a tech showed up at my door, no call or anything. I was pretty desperate at that point and felt bad turning him away so I let him in. He had a very thick accent which was very difficult for me to understand and I thought he quoted me $79 (which I thought was kind of a lot to snake a drain but I gladly agreed just to have it taken care of). He hooked up his electric snake/auger and in less than 20 minutes (and with VERY little work on his part) had removed a very large clog. When I went to write him a check he told me the price again, TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY NINE dollars! I just about had a meltdown! $279 for TWENTY MINUTES of work! Had I been able to understand him initially I would have never in a million years allowed him to touch my drain for that outrageous price! That is straight up shady, highway robbery pricing! He finally agreed to take $200 (the fact that he is able to "adjust" the base price at his own discretion was somewhat shady too) and I sent him on his way (after he had tried to sell me a small $30 bottle of drain cleaner!!!!!) The best part of the whole story is that my drain was not even fixed! I woke up the next morning, showered and had water up, over my ankles by the end. I called the local Roto Rooter office and spoke with a manager. By this time I was completely outraged by the astronomical prices, the shoddy work and the overall experience. The manager informed me that Roto Rooter is a "middle of the road" priced plumber service....uhhhh, whose road are we talking about?! $279 is beyond insane for less than 20 minutes of work! The manager informed me that they charge $279 whether they are out for 15 minutes or 4 hours. That is the dumbest business model I have ever heard of. Had I known that I would have kept the first guy there for 4 hours to get my money's worth! And, the fact that they will not tell you that over the phone when you call is very concerning!!!! They sent a very nice second tech out to fix the problem again for "free" (damn right for free, I am never giving them another cent of my money). At this point the drain is running fine but I have the worst taste in my mouth from this whole experience. I will NEVER use this company again and I have told everyone I know my story and warned them to never use them either. No one that I have told about this experience can believe how expensive this was, again, complete and total highway robbery for a shoddy job!

Roto Rooter, Nashville plumber did not correct issue. I was unfairly charged full amount. Now I am unable to get in touch with office, and have called 10 plus times. John, Roto Rooter serviceman, was dispatched to my (rented) house on thanksgiving. He was here for 30 minutes. We had a clogged toilet, kitchen and bathroom sink. He was able to snake the toilet and clear that clog. He claimed that we needed to open up the wall between the bathroom and kitchen in order to install venting and new piping, in order to fix the problem clog with those two areas. I suggested that he try and snake through the kitchen, but he said that the issue was more complicated than that. As it was Thanksgiving, I didn't want to keep him longer. I also noted the time was 12 noon. He mentioned on the way out the door that he was off at noon and that we were the last house before he was off for the holiday. I understand he wanted to be with his family, but we were led to believe that he didn't complete his job because his day ended at noon, and as it was that time, he was not obligated to complete his repairs. Thus he didn't complete the repairs. He charged holiday rates for snaking the main line, and as I was in the midst of cooking, I paid and left it at that. We had to undo all of our plumbing under sinks in order to use the sinks without backup, and let the used water run into buckets under the sinks in order to host our family that day. The next day my landlord sent out another plumber to complete the repairs. It took him a total of 10 minutes to do so without having to knock down a wall. All that it took was opening up a valve between the kitchen and bathroom walls and snaking that line: Exactly what I proposed to John the day before but was told, "It is more complicated than that." I have tried on at least ten occasions to contact the Roto Rooter office and speak with someone who can address my concerns- and have been unable to talk with either managers, Drew or Danny. I have spoken to Charles at least 5 times, a lady at the office twice, and another gentleman at least three times. I believe I am due a partial refund for this amount, as the service was not completed. I have left my number all times that I have called being told that the manager is "on the other line" each and every time or "out on a call." I am tired of the runaround, and believe that businesses should operate fairly and not steal unrightfully from their helpless customers. Their serviceman was in too much a hurry to get home for the holiday, and didn't even explore ulterior options to remedy the clogged drains. He simply said the issue required another person to look at it. This is bad business. The fact that I can't even discuss this with a Roto Rooter manager, is inexcusable.

Hey Roto-Rooters, have you heard of something called customer service? No? Well, it's shows. I originally dealt with them back in May of last year when they rooted out my bathroom after I was having some plumbing issues (home ownership is overrated). So I called them first since I was praying for a clog... please please please let it be a clog. Anyway, my BF was with the plumber and they were in my crawlspace where they took their devices and rooted it out from the pipe under the house that drains directly from my toilet. He even showed my BF where the issue was after looking around down there and using his equipment... some roots had grown into my drain line from the tree in my front yard (dandy) and the job was going to cost a couple thousand dollars for them to do it. FANTASTIC. So they charge me about $350 for rooting out the toilet and sealing it. I called Hiller and luckily they quoted me MUCH better rate. Definitely go with Hiller. Fast forward to 2014 with the biting cold weather. I was in the crawl space checking the pipes for leaks since it had been so cold and I heard running water coming from the pipe coming out from the bathroom. I walk over and see water in a large pipe along with some toilet paper residue that has gotten built up. I ask my stepdad to come look at it (cause I know nada about plumbing) and he tells me that whomever was working on my pipes from LAST YEAR never sealed back the pipe from when it was worked on. While nothing is broken, they just never replaced the cover on it. Fantastic. That's a lot of sewage under my house. So I call Roto-Rooters to see if they could come and put the cover back on for me. The lady I spoke to was very rude and nasty. Among the things she said to me were : "This was back in MAY and you just now notice that?" "The service you got WAS NOT guaranteed" "Our employee didn't root it from under the house, he went in from the toilet" I told her I had a witness WHO WAS WITH THE GUY when he was under the house rooting it and she basically called me a liar. She then told me she'd speak with her manager about it and get back to me. She also offered to e-mail me her invoice with the work and I said that would be great (over 24 hours later and I've still got nothing). Overall she was horrible to talk to. Don't waste your time or money with them.

The past two weeks have been a nightmare. Do you know what has NOT been a nightmare? Roto-Rooter. During the storm a few weeks ago our finished basement flooded, bad. We couldn't keep up with the water and felt helpless. I called Roto-Rooter right away and within an hour Drew was standing at our front door. Mind you, this was like 11 pm and we have never used their services before. At that point we had no idea what we were dealing with, but we knew it was not great. After agreeing on a price to get the water out, we gave him a deposit and they started to pull water out of our basement, all 1500 gallons of it. The crew packed up around 4am and put in some filters and dehumidifiers. The next day a RR plumber was at our house and identified the issue. Unfortunately insurance is not covering the damage, which was a major blow. We got back in touch with Drew and told him the situation. He helped us work through a pricing structure for remediation. They also gave us a filter for upstairs. We have a 20 month old and we were very worried about potential health implications from the water. They closed off our basement to prevent the air from circulating upstairs. Then they gutted it, cleaned the floors, studs, etc., and sterilized whatever we could salvage. We lost two dumpsters worth of stuff (floor, walls, couch, tables, kids toys, etc.). It has been incredibly stressful and thankfully they have been extremely helpful and responsive. My husband would have a question, Drew would FaceTime in to talk in through. We also used a RR plumber to fix the pipe problem. We had a slight set back from Saturday's rain (not related to RR) and RR was back at our doorstep in no time. Drew sent a team member who was familiar with our house who immediately got to work. We're still digging through this nightmare, but we would not be where we are today without the help of Drew and his crew. I highly recommend giving them a call if you need help. I seriously don't know where we would be without their help!

I hired roto rooter for a major plumbing issue in January 2017. Everything in my house was flooding. They came and said I had a broken pipe and it would cost me $5000 for them to cut a hole in my concrete and replace the pipe. I paid them without any question. Considering this is a large company, I expected the job to be done right and not have any issues. They never replaced the concrete and verbally told me that they would come back when it was warmer. I had a similar flooding issue less than 8 months later. They sent someone out who told me that it was an issue with my main line (and was very rude about it), but a different issue and he would get me an estimate. I spoke with the manager and explained that I don't want an estimate, but an explanation of how this could have happened 8 months later. A second guy came out and said it isn't an issue with the main line, that it was the washer line and it was at least 20 feet of roots that had blocked the line. I was confused because how could 20 feet of roots grow in less than 8 months and why this problem couldn't have been diagnosed initially. They proceeded to give me the runaround with the concrete in the garage. And had the audacity to send me an estimate for their second "necessary" repair of $3800 which involved them busting up concrete IN MY HOUSE (which they did not plan on replacing) to gain access to this pipe and fix it. I refused this, obviously, and upon doing a ton of research, I found that Roto Rooter is in the habit of making outrageous estimates that DON'T address the primary problem. I had a second opinion and my problem is FIXED and did not require any excavation or ANYWHERE near $3800 of repair. Also, the concrete is intact AND he replaced the concrete that they promised they would do. DO NOT PROCEED WITH ROTO ROOTER WITHOUT A SECOND OPINION. I WAS VERY NAIVE AND TRUSTED THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE A BIG COMPANY. BUT THEY DO THIS ALL THE TIME.

I had a very slow draining toilet. The guy charged me $300 to snake and then another $300 to remove the toilet. He ended up having to dig out the pipe in the back and found out that it had a huge hole in it. He said it would be an additional $1600-1700 to replace the pipe depending on the parts price (it was max 3-4 feet of pipe). I recently had french drains put in and he suggested that the guys who installed the french drains put the hole there. But it was pretty clear that it was just an old pipe that was rotting away. I had a contractor come out and look at it, he fixed it for $300 (vs 1600!!!). He also mentioned that the toilet was disconnected from the pipes under the house and that it probably happened when the plumber (roto rooter) snaked it and that they should fix it. He also showed me pictures of what the problem was. It was obvious that the toilet was not connected and toilet paper was falling out. The same guy (from roto rooter) came back out, said that who ever told me that was a liar. And he showed me pictures of completely unrelated things and told me that it was probably the toilet upstairs that was leaking. That was obviously a lie because the pictures he showed me would have just been small leaks but wouldn't have even been big enough for toilet paper to go through. Overall, I will never use this company again. The guy was very pushy. He didn't explain things well. When he was telling me what needed to be fix I felt cornered in my own house. Especially when I told I was going to look something up before I decided whether or not I wanted to get it fixed, he just stood over my while I looked at stuff on my phone. I felt like he was putting his gloved hands that he had just used to work in the sewage all over my house. I know having something as crucial as plumbing sucks, but don't be afraid to get multiple quotes even if the plumber is staring you down making you uncomfortable.

I was up septic tank creek without a paddle. On a Sat. morning. I know the discharge pump is out (overflowing above the tank). Go to check the circuit breakers, still on. Try the outlet, and the pump wires dis-generate at the outlet. Not a good start to the weekend. I could guess, with luck, just a plug replacement on a pump over 15 years old (and I had a Lotto ticket with 1 set of numbers too....). Start to call, as I have to have this fixed this weekend. I work 60 miles away (weekday is missing work with no PTO), I have 4 others in the house, school starting after the weekend. So after getting the call us on the weekend alphabet search via yellow pages, RR takes my information. I was very surprised as I was thinking this is a septic sump pump. Not a clog. I get a call from Roger (385), the tech on call. He is concerned he cannot be there until noon. I was not expecting too much help, but someone to verify my pump died on Sat was much better than me missing work on Monday. From our conversation he brought a small pump. Now, I'm going to watch repairs, DYI or call someone. He arrived and we went to it. Ruled out the frayed cord (which I suspected, much like willing powerball). Eventually get to the septic pump. I had tools to get it disconnected, RR had the contacts to open a location to get a pump. And there is a lot of interaction with Roger I left out, I think something to share is the pump costs about $900, I knew it. Of course as we are doing the work, we are talking. My goal was to finish the job over the weekend. I never stated it, We had time time to talk while things were pumping. End result I gave him 2 water melons from my garden. And called his boss (he was on the phone). He said he would give the message to Danny (and would ask Roger where is his part of the melon). Over all, a very good experience.

Our favorite plumber (Ryan @ R.E. 615-878-6265) who is extremely ethical, economical, and great was not available, so our backs were against the wall since our demo guys were coming the following day to prep for a bathroom remodel. So, we called a half dozen plumbers with great Yelp ratings but nobody was available. We finally called Roto-Rooter to do the job which was simply to cap off water lines to two bathroom sinks and a shower. I repeatedly asked them for their hourly rate and they refused to tell me. I just wanted a ballpark, but 'no' was the answer. They said I would have to pay $90 for them to come out and give a bid. If I proceeded with the work, the $90 would go towards the bid; if I passed on their work, I'd owe them $90. Okay, no big deal, but I don't remember any service provider unwilling to give their hourly rate over the phone so this really bothered me. But I had them come out anyway because otherwise we'd lose a week on our project. The Rooter guy looked under our sinks and at the shower, then gave me the price of $485. What?! Wow! Extremely high for the simple tasks!!! But we had to go with it, otherwise we'd forfeit the $90 service call and lose a week on our schedule. He did a good job, but it took just 90 minutes which included a round trip to Home Depot for about $5 in parts. That means he worked for $320 per hour ($480 / 1.5)!! My main plumber, Ryan works for a SMALL FRACTION of that!!! So, we were left feeling totally Roto-Rootered. NEVER AGAIN!! (And, come to think of it, anyone out there going to medical school really ought to drop out -- just work for Roto Rooter at $320 an hour which is nearly the salary of a brain surgeon!)