Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had a city sewer line back up into my basement on 12/15/23. Roto rooter came out and provided services including anti-microbial spraying and MINIMAL content removal as the ~200 sq. ft. basement was unfinished with zero standing water left once the city flushed the lines.I subsequently discovered that market rates predicted a charge of around $894 while I was charged $2800.Since the incident happened on December 15th of 2023, I have tried repeatedly and on many, many occasions to get accurate and honest information regarding the billing of the cleanup.I was told that there were "clerical errors" in the billing and that the employee who overcharged me is "no longer with the company" and after much back and forth was offered a refund of $1400 - half of what I was charged, still forcing me to pay WELL ABOVE average market rates for this type of clean up.***************************** who purports herself to be the manager, and agreed on a recorded line to refund the $1400, continues to say that the money will be returned to me but continually fails to actually refund the funds.Do not do business with these people. They continue with deplorable business practices with absolutely no remorse for scamming, de-frauding and even theft from customers.

  Customer response

  03/18/2024

  The company finally refunded me the agreed upon amount. And while I do not agree with their completely unethical business practices, outside of an official investigation into their business, from my perspective the complaint can be resolved. I will never use their business again. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I had a sump pump failure with flooding in my basement (4/5/2023). To their credit, *********** was able to come out very quickly. However, I feel that I was grossly overcharged for the service. I had a new sump pump ($200) installed and a new check valve put in. Nothing else was done as when the sump pump went in, it drained all the water in the basement. I was charged $1,073. My basement was flooding and filling quickly so I paid it but I asked the tech if I would receive a bill with the cost breakdown and he said I would. I did not receive a cost breakdown.I contacted Roto Rooter on 4/6 and asked for an itemized bill and was put on hold for 30 mins. After getting back on the phone all they said was that they would talk to the tech and get back to me with the Itemized bill.It is now 4/18 and have received no word from Roto Rooter. I called to inquire on 4/17 and they again said they will "get back with me" that afternoon. As of today (4/18) I have heard nothing. My sump pump and check valve is extremely loud and thumps the floor in my home. Not happy with the service and the responsiveness of customer service.

• Initial Complaint

  11/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Had a tech come out end of September and he provided service by using the roto rooter on the main line heading towards the street and also heading into the house. He assured me that the lines were now clear and would not have blockage issues for at least 6 months. I had him double check and he again assured me the lines were clear. He left and I used the bathroom and it was instantly backing into my basement again. So, not 10 minutes later I had to call him back to look at the pipes and properly do the job. He came back and we flushed the line again and did not have a problem that day. A week later I had water in my basement again. I called roto rooter to send out a different tech. The second tech worked on the main line for a long time with the roto rooter and he specifically said that there was no way this line was clear a week ago. There were so many roots grown in that he was unable to get the line roto through any portion of it. He stated that my only option was to use the hydrojet. I talked with him about how the first job was never really done and I would like to have the amount for the first job that was not performed refunded or taken off the bill for the hydro. He stated that he could not do that but that I could talk to the manager, Monday. I called first thing Monday and was not allowed to speak with the manager mentioned but I did speak with another manager. She listened to my story and assured me that after an internal investigation she would get back to me within 48 hours. I had not heard back from her but figured I would give her a week to be courteous. I called back the next week after still not hearing back from her. The office rep who answered the phone went to see if she was available but I was told she was not. I left my name and callback information. Did not hear anything else from the company so I called back again week after week while the manager is in office and wont take or return my calls. Still no resolution or communication.

• Initial Complaint

  07/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I called Roto-Rooter on 6/16. At 3:30 pm, a worker came with a drain machine. The worker started working at $434. It was our initial contract invoice. Around 5 o'clock, the worker's work was stopped. The reason is that the distance from the entrance to the sewer pipe in his house is roughly 100 feet, but the worker brought an old machine with a 75ft cable. So he needed a drain cleaner machine with a 100ft cable, and the drain wouldn't open. The worker said he needed to work with another machine (Hydro jet), which was $1364, and I had to down-pay half of it(around $700). If I cancels the contract, I am subjected to pay a $217 penalty, which is half of the $434, as a condition of canceling the contract. I was stunned, lost mind for a moment, and had to agree to use the hydro jet machine. Still, Unclogging the sewer line was desperate, so I paid $700 down in cash. The next day, 6/17, at 9 am, two workers brought a hydro jet machine and started to work. As soon as they inserted the machine's nozzle into the sewer and sprayed high-pressure water, the filth flowed back into the toilet in the basement. I panicked and informed the worker that there was backflow in the bathroom. I started to remove the backflow and the filth. The worker stopped their work for more than 30 minutes while I cleaned the bathroom. When I was about to remove the most dirt, the workers called a filth-removing worker without saying anything to me. The filth removal worker did not have much to do since I removed most filth. Then, they charged an additional $500 for water extraction. When the dirt was taken care of, the workers resumed their job and told me they needed to charge him $250 hourly after 12pm. The work was finished at 12:15 pm. The $500 water extraction fee was charged without approval and explanation. I do not understand why I need to pay $500 because they needed it due to the backflow from using the hydro jet. The $250 additional hour charge is not acceptable since they left 12:15pm.

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