Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

AWESOME COMPANY AND SERVICE! Intake call was a little iffy, so it did sort of threw me off but she got us a immediate response and appointment. Both Johnny and Jacob came out completed the evaluation and quote. They also knew I had another company scheduled to give us a quote as well due to my parent's previous horrible experience. Re: Price, we thought pricey but we don't have anything to compare it to. After discussion that afternoon with my parents, just because of the men's presentation and quick to come, we moved forward. My parents had been in this nightmare long enough. The guys came out next day, and finished project in ONE DAY!!! My parents finally had running water, no more buckets of water, shower plumbing ready to go and unknownst to us, the toilet had issue and they took care of it. No money up front either. Waited for job to be complete, to be examined and once satisfied provided the invoice!!!!! Totally recommend them. Will be having them come out to my house next for quote.

We had a clogged kitchen pipe. I called Roto Rooter Monday morning. They were able to get us an appointment that morning. Daniel came over to assess the problem. Daniel was very professional and knowledgeable. Daniel was able to get job the same day for a reasonable price! Thank you Daniel and Ty.

Daniel Gutierrez did an outstanding job in unclogging our sewer line. He kept at it and did not give up and finally broke through the blockage (over 3 hours). Well done! Of course having 30 years experience as a plumber ( with Roto Rooter ) helps! And we also got a 6 month warranty. Thanks again. Sincerely, chris riley

Really perplexing how they have such a good rating. I had a leak at 3am, scheduled the plumber to arrive promptly at 8. When I asked about pricing, the person on the line said they have no information on pricing— suspicious. They assured me that the $75 site visit fee to assess the plumbing will be deducted from the price. I was expecting maybe $150 to replace a water intake pipe to the dishwasher. The repairman arrived at 11am….. I told him my frustration about the fact that I had to book the services without any knowledge of their pricing. And I expressed my frustration that I scheduled this plumber visit at 6am and it was then 11am by the time he arrived. He even agreed that this policy was not fair and a bit predatory. I paid $500 for this plumber to replace a water intake pipe. He even took his lunch while repairing this. No sense of urgency, and no true service when you book with this company. And the worst part is all the advertising emails you get. It’s all spam and they don’t even offer a good service. I would NEVER recommend this company.

I've truly been waiting to do a review on my service. I recently contacted Roto-Rooter about a water hammer and dishwasher drainage issue I was having in a home I recently bought. My plumbing technician, Joe, was really nice and informative. (The star is for Joe's customer service (great!!). He immediately went to check the PRV at my main intake for the home. It was partially buried, so he did some digging and replaced it. He also reset the pressure and added a pressure release tank to my hot water heater. Unfortunately, this did not resolve my water hammer. As for the dishwasher, he checked it and couldn't find anything wrong with it, but he did explain that the line should have an 'S' curve in it. Joe explained to us how we should go about putting the 'S' curve in it. $1347 later and our main problem...the water hammer, is still a main problem. I actually called back after we kept hearing the hammer and another tech was sent out. Even after the second technician came out...he was unable to rectify the problem. To date there is still a water hammer, but I do have a nice and expensive new main PRV.

1. I believe that we were not "billed correctly" on the recent installation of the water heater in our home and that you owe us both an apology and a refund of $ 169.19. 2. Your bill shows: Labor $ 950.00 to remove and replace (R&R) water heater + 100.00 to R&R a portion of the old gas line with new line & cut-off value sub-total $ 1,050.00 + 120.00 for City of San Antonio Water Heater permit fee sub-total $ 1,170.00 Parts + 716.87 (not identified or itemized) Other + 59.14 (not itemized or itemized) [sales tax? Or maybe "Shop Supplies", which I think is much too high]] subtotal $1,946.04 less discount - 120.00 [I'm not sure what your man will attribute this to.] TOTAL $ 1,826.01 Total that I was billed on my Visa card. 3. My calculations look like this: Labor $ 950.00 to remove & replace water heater plus dispose of old water heater/parts. Parts 716.87 water heater, gas line, water line, turn-off valves. Shop Supplies 25.00 Sub-total $ 1,691.87 4. Now, this is how I justify MY VERISON OF THE BILL: (A) You and/or your employee tried to collect a $120.00 "City of San Antonio Permit Fee" when you had legal NO RIGHT to do so. A honest mistake or rip-off? {I brought this to the attention of UC's inspector when he showed up unannounced at 8:30am this morning. He had been told that you would notify me of his pending visit.} (B) You can absorb the cost of the UC Permit fee as a business expense because of the above incident. (C) I want a 10% refund of $169.19 for numerous reasons: (1) Mainly because on three different occasions your people were told that I wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater only to have a 40 gallon installed. I had told the female person answering your telephone on two occasions that we wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater. The first time was when I first called Roto-Rooter to see about having ours replaced as quickly as possible as it was leaking all over the garage floor. In a few minutes, she called me back wanting to know if I was the person who had just called in a service request. DUH! I then repeated all my information and restated the fact that we wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater. I distinctly remember this because I remarked to my wife that I could not understand why people do not listen and write down the information as it is given to them the first time [except this the nice verison of my remarks about your employee]. I later told your plumber when he was first here that I wanted a 50 gallon gas water heater. It wasn't until he had torn the cardboard box off the heater that he mentioned something to the effect, " ....40 gallon heater...". At this point I told him to stop everything! Needless to say, I was "slightly" upset [to put it politely]! What to do now? Your man said he did not hear me nor did your 'phone answering' lady say anything to him regarding a 50 gallon heater. After talking for several minutes, I decided that he could proceed with the installation with the following conditions which he agreed to: a. I was not to be charged the $120.00 City of San Antonio Permit fee, and b. I was to be given a 10% "across the board" discount because of the errors and frustration created by Roto-Rooter and its employees' errors. (2) Should I have gone to one of the large home improvement centers, as a military retiree I would have received a 10% discount on all items purchased. c. After the installation was completed, I looked on the internet (consumeraffairs.com) and discovered that research by top Bath & Plumbing Companies on ConsumerAffairs did not have anything good to say about Bradford White water heaters. The website had a very, very poor rating of Bradford White water heaters. Under an article 'Consumer Complaints & Reviews', with the two latest entries being Jan 2015, revealed the consumers' Overall Satisfaction Rating for Bradford White, based on 46 ratings out of 51 reviews, to be: 5 stars 2 reviews for 4% 4 stars 2 reviews for 4% 3 stars 1 reviews for 2% 2 stars 3 reviews for 7% 1 stars 38 reviews for 83% But your employee stated that Bradford White was the one your firm used all the time. Should he have said, " It is the cheapest"????? d. We are a "return" customer to Roto-Rooter (two previous service calls). And maybe you would like to kept it that way. PS: The UC City Inspector said work was done correctly; but I'm pissed because I think that I got screwed over the price for the entire job and that I may have got stuck with a CHEAP water heater. MICHAEL ALLUMS UNIVERSAL CITY, TX 78148

It started out good. I called on September 2 2016 and the first guy came out named Paul. He was good, professional and knew what he was doing. He used a camera and quickly found the problem (roots in pipes) and then he left (1 hour). The blocked pipe is under the foundation and about 2 feet away from the exterior wall. Then John (project manager) shows up to do paper work and leaves (30 minutes) after telling the job is $4700.00 and took a check for a little bit over half the cost. Sept 4, three diggers took turns and dug a hole for 3 and 40 minutes. It started to rain and they left. I got out my tarp and covered the hole to stop it from filling in with water. Sept 5th plumber takes out the bad pipe and puts in new pipe (1 hour 35 minutes). Sept 6 john calls and says he has bad news. house shifted and pipe is flowing backwards and will cost another $1400.oo to fix. $6200.00. John agrees to take off 10 percent bringing down to $5580.00. Sept 7 another 3 hours and 25 minutes. John calls me and tells me he has more bad news and the cost is going to go up. Later on he calls me back and tells me that they will not charge me extra, that they could just not do that to a customer, that its not just right. Sept 8 nothing Sept 9 nothing. Sept 10 7 hours and 25 minutes. The plumber ties my tarp several feet above the hole for shade. This is Texas and the temps were in the 90s so I don't mind, if it makes them more comfortable. Sept 11 another 3 hours and 10 minutes they fix the pipe and tell me they are done. I check and have my wife flush and water comes out of a different pipe that their tool punched a hole in. I call John, two guys return and fix it in 15 minutes. Sept 12, two guys show up and lay down plastic in the hole (5 minutes) Sept 13, John and inspector show up. Inspection failed. another hour of work. Sept 14. John pulls up and sits in van for an hour. Does not get out. Calls and said secretary forgot to reschedule inspection. Sept 15, nothing Sept 16, nothing Sept 17, nothing Sept 18, nothing Sept 19, Inspector (8 minutes) Sept 20, 3 hours and 15 minutes to fill hole. One of the workers takes down my tarp and takes it with him. I call John and he tells me he will get if for me. They leave a ladder at my house. Sept 21 nothing Sept 22 I meet with John and pay him the rest of the money $6200.00 minus 10 percent for a total of $5580.00. I showed him a picture of the worker that took my tarp. Sept 23 nothing. Sept 24 John picks up his ladder but did not return my tarp. I call him and sounds surprised that the tarp was not returned even though he told me he was going to return it. He tells me he is with the guy right now and started getting on someone. Tells me that it will be returned to me tomorrow. Sept 25. Still missing my tarp. Sent John a text message at 3:09 pm. At 4:07 pm John sends me another text saying "He's coming it will be there today". Both Checks that I gave John have cleared. If you calculate how much time was spent on the job 24 hours and 40 minutes it would have cost me $248.00 an hour if I gave them $6200.00, With them taking off %10 it cost $223.00 and hour. Plus calculate in my tarp at about $45.00. I put all this in here for you to decide if this company is worth it. Plus taking my personal property could have been an honest mistake but they were made aware of it right away and should have fixed the problem right away. Right now its 6 days later. Sounds like he is on the way. we will see. When it came to the people doing the work I never had any issues with them. They were hard workers and were professional when I talked to them. The whole project cost me $5580 for a total of 17 days with 24.40 hours of work. The cost seemed high to me and the project seemed to take longer than I expected but they fixed the problem. Update. September 26, 2016. Instead of brining back my tarp they bought me an new one. My original one is all I wanted back, but I guess that was not possible so I have to give them credit for getting me a new one. I've upgraded the rating from 2 stars to 3 stars.

Emergency service needed--No water at all for all tenants in a 4-plex!! My credit card was charged $650.00 without a written estimate or explanation of service!! We had an exterior water leak on our property side of the water meter at our investment property. We called Roto Rooter at approx 7:30PM on a Wednesday to explain the emergent situation with our tenants not having any water. We chose RR because they advertised 24/7 Emergency Repair. The technician showed up at 9PM, looked at the broken plastic pipe and said he "didn't have the parts in his truck" and that the "parts stores were closed". Long story short- he couldn't fix it that night, but we'd be on for "first thing 9AM". Ok, understandable. Told the 4 units of tenants "we're very sorry" but the line should be repaired early the next day. According to the technician it shouldn't take very long to repair. Simple break and easily accessible (I have a pic to prove it). Next morning at 9:21AM, tenant calls me and said "no plumber yet". I called Roto-rooter to get an ETA. Should be there by around 9:30AM. Call from tenant at 10:15AM, still no plumber and no water. Called dispatch who put me through to the technician. He said he was almost there. Now 10:30 he arrives and gives me an estimate of $650. He took my credit card info, I assumed to start the work. At 12:28PM, tenant calls and says no plumber on site and still no water. I call Roto Rooter who contacts the technician. Sounds like he is working on the job?? He says it should be any minute now that it should be fixed. Awesome-I asked him to call me as soon as he finished so I could let the tenants know. He agreed. Over an hour passes. At 1:43PM, I text the tenant to ask if she has water--Nope! And no plumber there! I call Roto-rooter again. This time I'm told that the guy that was there at 10:30AM was the "camera guy"?! I checked my credit card and sure enough, I was already charged for work that still isn't completed! And I still did NOT have a written estimate or receipt emailed to me. Now, I was worried. Was I just scammed? I asked to talk to a manager, since the dispatchers couldn't explain why I was charged, what I was charged for, and why I'm being told the plumber will be there, but still hasn't arrived. I was transferred to the dispatch manager. I was told there must have been a misunderstanding, that dispatch doesn't know about plumbing charges (understandable) so they couldn't tell me why I was charged and what I was charged for. By now it's 2:30PM, now I'm told the plumber is just finishing up at another job and cleaning up. He should be there between 3-3:30PM. I call at 3:50---No plumber!! Now I'm worried it'll be another whole day without water, since it's getting late. Do I say "forget it" and take my chances with someone else? But they already charged my card! I call back to dispatch and was told the plumber is 15 minutes away. Ok, so now he should be there by 4:05. Finally, at 4:23PM I get a call from the plumber. Thank goodness! He is onsite! However, he has to run and get a part. He assures me that water will be flowing by 6PM. It's now 6:18PM and no water! I AM DONE! I've been charged $650 for a job that isn't even completed and we're going on 24 hours post emergency--tenants with no water. I just called Roto Rooter-surprise! Nobody knows anything! They are texting the plumber. Plumber called me back at 7PM to say water was fixed by 6:30PM. Still no written estimate on what I was charged for and no receipt. I just emailed the customer service manager and will be calling them today. I WILL be disputing the charge with my credit card company since $650 for a 2 hour job (4:30PM arrival-6:30PM water) which includes a "parts run" is ridiculous. We're on the third day now and STILL no written estimate or receipt.

We had a sewer line backup, so called Roto Rooter to clear the line and identify the cause. They came timely and upon opening the cap, confirmed a backup. The backup was cleared within 2 minutes of starting, as the entire issue was within one foot of the sewer line stem. The technician on scene had no camera, so she left and a few hours later, another technician came and put a camera through the line, confirming no issues all the way to the street, other than within 1 foot of the stem pipe. The original technician had confirmed yellow plastic in the line next to the stem with her phone camera, but due to lack of experience, didn't know what it was. I was told that the pipe had broken and shifted at the junction of the mainline and stem, and would be $2500 to fix. Not knowing any better, we proceeded in the process, and Roto-Rooter was supposed to come at 8am the next morning. They did not. About 2pm the next day, I called and was told they couldn't find the invoice number and would call me back in 5 minutes. I received a voicemail about 3 hours later, informing me that the plumber did not come out, but they sent someone to dig a hole. I then went on google, and within 3 minutes, identified the issue was that the knockout plug that is used when the home was built to test the integrity of the pipes, was not fully knocked out. This is not overly common, but easy to diagnose based on the backup originating at the stem (where the knockout plug would have been located, the "broken pipe" being yellow in color vs white like the rest of the piping, and confirming no other issues). The next morning, I went to the property, reached my hand in and pulled out the rest of the knockout plug, fixing the issue. This should have been done as part of the $405 originally paid to clear the line. At best, the Roto-Rooter technician who inaccurately diagnosed the issue was uninformed, lacked expertise and was negligently incorrect. At worst, it was an attempt to fraudulently overcharge and over-repair, given this was really a 2-minute fix at no cost or damage to my property. I would suggest working with an experienced and informed plumber, not Roto-Rooter as they send out poorly trained and uninformed technicians in an attempt to cut corners. They are now attempting to charge me $1,650 for an issue they did not correctly diagnose and did not repair! These discussions were with Steve Smith, Excavation Manager, who I felt was very rude and lacked the willingness to discuss and hear reason. UPDATE: I received a call from Tim Crockett, who is the Master Plumber. We had a nice conversation and he understood the issues at hand. Ultimately, we resolved the issues, which I appreciate and has restored my faith in his handling of Roto-Rooter.

We have had an ongoing pipe issue that was initially repaired by Roto-Rooter's San Antonio office in July of 2011. Their PVC repair job failed, admittedly past the one year warranty, and we had a different repairman from this company come out. What upset us is that he told us that the initial repair work was a "temporary fix," and that it wasn't meant to last more than a year or two. The plumber who did this work never mentioned this concern to us; had he done so, we would have put the $700 we spent toward a more permanent fix. A month after the second house call, the pipe began leaking again--all issues have been with the part put in by this company--and we had yet another repairman come out while I waited for a call back from a manager. This time, we got a more permanent fix, but most of the job was unnecessary, as the plumber did not even turn the water on to check for the direction of water flow before diagnosing the problem. This resulted in another bill, this time $600, that partially paid for repair of a pipe that was capped off by SAWS over two years ago. So, now we have a lovely pipe that will direct water to a dead end, likely causing a leak down the road for us. When I called the manager this time, I didn't expect a call back, as I never got one with the previous request. Surprisingly, Walt called me the next day: not within the few hours promised by the operator, but better than never. I frankly told him that we would not be satisfied until a manager comes to our house and has a face-to-face discussion with us, a reasonable request of a company dependent on house calls. He laughed at me. When I asked why he laughed, he told me it was because he is not a plumber, to which I responded that, when he comes out, we will talk business, not plumbing. I am still waiting for a follow-up call from him. Maybe this review will lead me to win Roto-Rooter's $500 service refund sweepstakes so that I may put that money toward hiring a more professional plumber in the future.

They charge $1336.00 per a simple plastic splice ¾ pipe repair for a 30 minutes work, and their $69 service call is just a hook to trap you. Called Roto-Rooters because a small leak on an outside faucet. They quoted me a service call fee of $69 over the phone. The next Tuesday morning tech show up to the house. He could not look at the work needed unless I signed a contract for at least 1 hour minimum for $336.00. I wanted get over this leak and decided to pay for $336. 15minutes after I signed the contract, the tech told me that he found the small leak, it was a plastic splice at the ground level. He also told me it will cost me an additional $900.00 to repair it plus about $60 on parts on top of the $336 I had previously agreed. I told him that that was excessive for repairing a plastic splice and glue back together. I had already paid him for the minimum one hour work $336 and he had work on it less then 15 minutes. He informed me that the one hour work only included finding the leak and not the repair. He pretend he was doing me a favor. I told him "no thanks" and just paid him the $336 for less then 15 minutes looking and not doing any repair. Few Minutes after the tech left, I was on my driveway, and a white plumbing van (licensed plumber) drove in front of my house. I signal the driver to stop and ask him to give me an estimate to do the repair. He look at it and said "I do it now for $60.00" (including the part). It took him 16 minutes to replace the splice and he told me to wait 1 hour for the glue to dry before I reopen the main water supply. He also give me his number if I needed any additional repairs. So the simple job could have being done By Roto Roter in less then 30 minutes including finding and repair and the Root-rooter tech wanted $1336 + $60 on parts using their billing scheme. A brain surgeon probably make less then Roto-rooter.

A reliable plumber is essential for maintaining a safe and comfortable home or business. Recently, I hired a plumbing service for a leaking pipe and drainage issue, and the experience was extremely positive from start to finish. The company responded quickly to my call and scheduled an appointment without long delays, which immediately showed professionalism and good customer service. The plumber arrived on time, fully prepared with the necessary tools and equipment. After carefully inspecting the problem, they clearly explained the cause of the issue and the repair process. I appreciated the honest communication and detailed explanation because it helped me understand the situation without feeling confused or pressured. The plumber worked efficiently and handled the repair with great skill and attention to detail. One of the best parts of the experience was the quality of workmanship. The leak was repaired properly, and the drainage system was cleaned thoroughly to prevent future problems. The plumber also checked nearby pipes and fixtures to make sure everything was functioning correctly before finishing the job. Their professionalism and experience were clearly visible throughout the service. The customer service was excellent as well. The staff were polite, respectful, and careful to keep the work area clean during and after the repair. The pricing was fair and transparent, with no hidden fees or unexpected charges. Many homeowners value reliability and honesty when hiring plumbing services, and this company delivered both. Overall, the plumbing service provided fast response times, professional repairs, and outstanding customer care. I would definitely recommend this plumber to anyone looking for dependable plumbing solutions, quality workmanship, and a stress-free service experience for their home or business.

This is the second review I am writing for this "company". The first was written on their website, after looking for it there, guess what, GONE!!! Only 5 star reviews on their website. They hide the truth from customers. They came out and quoted me around $500.00 to fix a leak. The technician, George never even turned on the water to inspect the leak. He just started ripping things apart and starting over. He then calls me and says my water heater lines are crossed and he can charge me a discounted rate since he is already there. I forgot to mention I am an out of state homeowner who uses the property as a rental. About a week and a half later, I receive a call from a General Manager telling me I have an outstanding balance of $600.00 for other work. I immediately voiced my concerns to the GM who says, I'll send you a picture of the work that had to be ripped out. He does send a picture, not of anything that has any distinguishing features resembling my plumbing but just a pipe laying on a background I don't recognize. Could be anyone's plumbing??? Shady, to say the least. They also broke a valve I had just purchased and conveniently want to charge for another one. When I ask for the parts back, they say, they broke the valve and used the other parts in the job, did they charge me for the parts again? YES!!! Total ripoff, all the way to the GM. DO NOT use this company. They probably write their own 5 str reviews to dupe the public.

I had (unexpectedly) great experience with the company (technician Darrel). My kitchen sink was not draining water and after contacting home warranty they sent their contracted company who after running a snake was unable to unclog it and said that it was most likely a broken pipe in foundation, which repair could cost ‘thousands’.. You can imagine the amount of stress it caused- and it was day before thanksgiving. I spent two days trying to find different companies for their opinion and i came across this company. Darrel came same day -on Sunday afternoon- and what i PARTICULARLY APPRECIATED was that he said that if trying to unclog it by running a snake would not work i would not be charged for that. That showed me that he understood my concerns and was focused on moving the work- getting results and not just trying to charge me for inspection regardless of the results. And it turned out there was no broken pipe (thank God), he inspected the pipes with the camera and the overall experience was better than i could expect in this situation. Darrel was very professional, i could tell he was trying to understand what the problem might be, went outside to orient himself in terms of where the main line is, opened and checked the outside outlets. Overall very professional and i could tell- HONEST approach. So i hope this review helps someone else in similarly stressful situation to chose the company /technician that is focused to help.

We've been having issues with our water softener lately and so far it's been a trip and a half. Roto is now the third company we've called in this string of happenings. The first was a local plumbing company (Call George - which didn't do a bad job but helped diagnose the softener issues about a week ago) The second company (original installers - ONIT Water) came today to inspect it and what a nightmare they've been. Never EVER would i recommend them, even to my worst enemy. After coming home from work (I work outside in the heat) ONIT not only left our water off but the shutoff cap was off and tool still laying on the ground. I look up 24 hour emergency plumbers and Roto Rooter pops up. I call them and they hook us up with Josh. Poor Josh comes in around 8:30pm super informative about everything and kind. Not only was he not judgmental about our utter lack in plumbing knowledge but super informative on various questions as well as calming other concerns. (Even checked our pressure, which CG told us was an issue) and showed me how to turn the water off and on. Thank you to Josh and his quickness and kindness. I'm glad he also got a new tool out of it too (lol) We'll definitely be using Roto or Josh to help with a third opinion and hopefully resolving some of these issues in the future. I can finally relax after this week long escapade knowing that there's someone super reliable to help!