I wrote this review on 3/16/11 and find it very interesting that it is now missing! I cannot say for certain if my experience was due to sheer incompetence or pure greed, but neither are favorable. I will never call on Roto-Rooter again in my life, and I will share my experience with anybody who will hear it.
We own a 50's home and have two very large trees around our sewer line. We were negligent that we waited until we had a slight drainage problem before contacting a plumber to clear our tree roots out of our sewer lines.
I called Roto-Rooter on 3/14/11, and Technician #1 arrived that afternoon to clear out our sewer lines. He tried for about an hour, explained we had a ""serious"" blockage and called out Technician #2 to run a camera through the line. While every other plumbing service runs a camera to check their work (in one fee, one service), apparently Roto-Rooter, though working blindly, is confident in their work and demands another $150 for you to have them check their own work...
Technician #2 arrived within the hour. He did not try to clear the lines. He only ran the camera (and never provided the DVD) and of course could not see past the blockage that Technician #1 failed to clear. He absolutely was the largest waste of $150 I have ever spent. So, while he could not see anything, and though he failed to try to clear the lines himself, Technician #2 recommended we do a full sewer line replacement immediately, to be started tonight. To the tune of $6000! It was quite terrifying, but I sent him on his way. I know absolutely NOTHING about sewer lines, but I know I would never pay thousands without a second opinion.
I called a local plumbing service the very next morning (3/15/11). They cleared the line that afternoon within an hour. Also, before the plumber started his work, he pointed out a nice crack in our interior sewer pipe that TWO Roto-Rooter technicians failed to notice. It was indeed dripping water and needed to be replaced. For $600, the local plumbing service cleared 3 ft of tree roots, provided proof of such and replaced 12 ft of cast iron pipe with PVC. For $500, Roto-Rooter provided absolutely nothing but worry and likely a crack in our pipe.
I have since confirmed their technicians work on commission. Factor in a so-called emergency, and I fear how many people they've convinced to have sewer lines unnecessarily replaced for thousands so one guy can make a commission. Homeowner's insurance does not cover these costs. It just makes me sick to think about!
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