Roto-Rooter

I had a straightforward kitchen drain clog after having thrown potato peels into the disposal. The technician arrived the same day, as promised on time. I asked what a typical price would be on the phone and was told only the technician could tell me after reviewing the problem. Ok-​that’ fair. There was no service call charge. So, when he arrived, he looked at the drain, asked where the main pipe stack was, wanted to go downstairs, etc. then he said he could repair by going on the roof and snaking from there… ok, I asked the price and he said $ 419. I nearly fell over. Asked if he could do better… immediately he said he could do $ 300. WHAT??? Told him I just couldn’t do it. He left very nicely… I went to Thumbtack and found another plumber, near by and for $ 130 he had the job done in 30 minutes, never had to go on the roof… all is working fine! BIG PRICE DIFFERENCE, even just for asking RR… but still do they think we’re all that stupid???

I had a clogged sewage pipe and called Roto Rooter to fix it. The technician arrived at the promised time. It took about 40 minutes to loosen the blockage and the drain appeared to work properly. I was charged about $ 489 for the service. Five days later, my pipes were clogged again.
I did not even bother calling Roto Rooter again. Instead, I contacted a local plumber who spent 4+ hours and charged me $ 375. I have had no problems for over six months. Now I am going to call my new plumber to clean out my pipes every six months — a little preventative maintenance.
I will never call Roto Rooter for service again.

Not very proficient, efficient, or responsive. Placed service order in at 10:30 p.m. At 2;20 a.m. told tech to leave property. He had spent hours trying to repair his equipment instea of calling for back-​up. He was not particularly honest and night crew back at the office feeding me along. Manager will call you, another tech coming out to support — never happened. Hours later, I am exhausted and still looking at all this water in my basement.

I just needed an estimate. That’s all I asked for cause I wanted to know what the problem was. The guy was nice and just did a quick check. He quoted me $ 410.
Little did I know by signing the contact I was agreeing to the price. I felt so bad when I told him I did not request service (I was clear on that when talking to customer service) and just needed an estimate.
Live and Learn.