ComplaintsforRoto Rooter

• Initial Complaint

  09/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello, I believe a company has lied to me and taken advantage of me for their capital gain. I asked Roto-Rooter to give me an estimate on a toilet leak. They told me it was a wax seal and it would cost $130 to fix. They said some cleaning and rebuild would have to be done and that cost would be covered by the insurance company. I was hesitant to call the insurance company, but the Roto-Rooter employee persuaded me into calling and told me what to say on the phone. He then lied to me by saying the claim was approved. They attempted to bill the insurance company on 7/23/24 but the insurance company has denied the claim. Since then, Roto-Rooter originally told me that they would cover the cost of the cleaning and sanitation ($6,700), but I would have to pay for the repairs and rebuild. Three weeks later, Roto-Rooter called and is now asking for $6,700 for cleaning and sanitation, and $3200 for repairs. On top of that, I have a kitchen ceiling and bathroom to rebuild at an estimated cost of $17,000 which they told me would be paid for by insurance. Please let me know if there is anything you can do about this.

  

  Business response

  09/09/2024

  Please see attached document with Roto-Rooter's response. 

  Customer response

  09/09/2024

   I am rejecting this response because: A Roto-rooter employee told me they spoke to my insurance company on the phone and that the claim was accepted by my insurance company. Only after this did I allow Roto-rooter to perform the cleaning and sanitation at my house. 

  Once the claim was denied, the a Roto-rooter employee told me that the cleaning and sanitation would be at no cost to me, and I expect them to honor their word. 

  
  

  

  Business response

  09/11/2024

  **. ******,

  We will continue to contest the claim with your insurance company on your behalf because we believe the claim should be a covered loss and your insurance company should pay us for the work we did. We are NOT trying to collect this debt from you personally. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I’ve called Roto Rooter for a leak I thought I had going from my upstairs bathroom to my kitchen which it was never a leak from a pipe my shower just wasn’t installed right and that’s where the leak occurred. I was told by **** that my homeowners insurance will cover it he even talked to liberty mutual and said that the policy will cover the damages. So I let them open up my kitchen to see where the leak was and that’s how we found out it was the shower so in my upstairs bathroom they said I had water damage which come to find out I didn’t have either and they tore up my floor in the bathroom which they said would also be covered by my insurance. They also went to my basement and wanted to do the same thing which I didn’t let them do because they start talking about too much money and said it’ll be around$20,000 at that point I felt they were trying to hassle me about my money and at that point I start listening to my ring camera because they kept going outside to talk and they said they were trying to squeeze me for anything they can. So now I have a damaged kitchen and upstairs bathroom. They took several pictures and sent them to liberty mutual and they denied the claim. I also signed a contract from Roto-Rooter stating that my balance is $3,048.56 and I received a letter from the lender stating that my balance is $4,705. I’ve tried to contact them several times and no replies. I’ve called and sent emails. I fill I should be fully reimbursed because they handled my situation unprofessionally to get money out of me now I have damage to my house and on top of that I have to come out of my pocket to fix it since the insurance denied the claim. They guy **** also was very unprofessional and came to my house several times being rude to the point I didn’t want to deal with him because he lied and said everything will be covered.

  

  Business response

  06/07/2024

  Hello,

  Attached is our reply and the Encircle documents for the water mitigation claim for the homeowner. 

• Initial Complaint

  01/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had no water and called a Roto Rooter plumber who said the pipes were frozen and blew hot air at them for three hours and left with no resolution. The pipes burst the next day and my trailer park maintenance had to turn it off because it was pouring onto the street. Came back to fix that. Left the second time with still no water. Maintenance had to show up again to turn off the water. Showed up a third time and said it was new leak and suggested a very expensive fix. Water came back on for 36 hours and they wanted to come back and charge even more than the 3 days at over 300 an hour.

  

  Business response

  01/26/2024

  [BBB transcription via email]

   

  Our plumbing manager spoke to the customer today and came to an agreement that we would refund him for one of the visits made to his home. The total refund is $374.84 and the refund receipt is attached.
  
  To my knowledge, this resolved the customer’s complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  03/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ********* ******* ********** *** *********** Constituent used Roto-Rooter to unclog her basement sink. They said tree roots were the issues. Within a month, she had the same problem. She called another company who came and fixed the problem. She contacted Roto-Rooter for a refund because the invoice states it is a 90-day guarantee, but they wouldn't refund her money.

  

  Business response

  03/13/2023

  Ms. ******** called us out on Monday, January 2nd, 2023 (observed New Years Day) for a backed-up drain because her "normal" plumber was not working. We had a technician on site within two hours of her call. We ran a cable from the four-inch clean out to remove the blockage. Upon inspection we found that the line had multiple clay tile joints with root intrusions in them as well as a 30-foot belly in the line under the roadway. We recommended that she have a hydro-jet done to further clear the line of any remaining roots. Because the clean out is only four inches it limits the size of the cutter we are able to use to clear the roots from the line. The line is six inches and a jet uses high pressure water and is able to clear roots more effectively from a smaller cleanout. The line was open and flowing when the technician left and we completed the work that we said we would for the agreed upon price. A 90-day guarantee was left on the work, however Ms. ******** did not give us the opportunity to return and honor that guarantee, and she called another company. We do believe that we did everything we could to do right by Ms. ********. A warranty was left on the work and is still in effect until April 3, 2023, and we did recommend further work to prevent any future issues. 

  Customer response

  04/11/2023

  [BBB transcription via email, see attachments]

   

  This is ***** ******** and I am responding to the email sent by Roto rooter .

  What the company says is partially correct . The two worker that come didn’t stay for more than 30 minutes and informed me that they were doing a 100 feet to the street cleaning . Which now I see on the  email it says only 40 feet . The bill the workers provide me with it clearly stays they used a 4” clean out up to 100 feet . Also they recommended a sewage company to come and clean the mess they left so I declined and cleaned it myself as I don’t want to pay anymore money . On Saturday morning 2/11/2023 I woke up to the same exact problem and basement flooded from the same issues, so I decided not to call them as they clearly had not done the job right . So I called I read ***** ***** ****** *** * Who came promptly , just one worker , worked non stop for about an hour , cleaned everything , so I don’t have to , and charged me $275 because it was weekend emergency rate , otherwise he said it would $175 . A much more competitive price than the outstaring $490 for 30 minutes and got getting the job done . Since ***** ***** come we haven’t had anymore issues . ***** states they were tree roots which don’t grow in one month since , we had only had to take care of this issue once before in 14 years that we have lived in this house .

  So my response is no I don’t accept their purely, I don’t ever want to have them work in my home again , I have lost trust in their professionalism and overpriced rates and I would like a full refund for a job not done as it was supposed to .

  Thanks 

  ***** ******** 

  
  

  
  

  Customer response

  04/12/2023

  [BBB transcription via email]

   

  Also I forgot to mention two things , when I called roto rooter and asked to speak to the manager,  they refused to let  me speak to the manager saying the manager would give me the same reply , so I was never allowed to speak to the manager despite asking several times  . The ***** ***** worker told my ex husband, who had stopped by ,that he found a big obstruction at 60 feet , so it seems that they didn’t go all 100 feet as stated in the bill .
  There is a correction I put 40 feet but I meant 30 feet as stated in their email .
  Thanks
  *****
  

  
  

  

  Business response

  04/12/2023

  Ms. ******** did speak with the general manager who explained to her that the work was still covered under warranty and that we would have returned to honor that warranty had she called and given us the opportunity. She was unhappy with the response she received from the general manager and insisted on speaking with someone else to try and get a different response. As previously stated we did recommend further work and informed Ms. ******** of the issues with her line. We left a 90 day warranty on our work, which was initially performed on January 2, 2023, a federally recognized holiday. When the issue occurred again 40 days later Ms. ******** could have called us and we would have happily gone back out at no cost. Instead, Ms. ******** made the decision to call and pay another company and not inform us of any issues until after doing so. 

  Customer response

  04/12/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Roto rooter didn’t do the job properly and therefore I had to call someone else on a Saturday morning 2/11 as an emergency with the exact same issues . In the bill I submitted yesterday to ****** it clearly says they went 100 feet however in the text it says 30 feet. ***** ***** ******* found a big blockage at 60 feet with tree roots. Tree roots don’t grow in one month. Roto rotter had 2 workers who spend no more than 30 minutes there , left the sewage mess behind and charged an astronomical amount of $490 on a regular week day. ***** ***** had only one worker for over one hour , cleaned up everything and charge me $275 for being an emergency on a Saturday , otherwise their price would have been $175 . Roto rooter suggested and encouraged I have a jet afterwards , I had tree roots  in the past 14 years only once a tree root issue before and we have never been encouraged to do a water het treatment because there is no need for it and they job had always held up for many years . My standard plumber doesn’t do this type of jobs as he doesn’t have the appropriate machinery . So considering the whole situation I do not trust roto rooter to be professional enough to ask them to come back and handle there same situation they should have taken care of the first time . Also when I called the roto rooter office and after speaking to a gentleman whom I do not te recall his name,  I had asked to speak to the manager and he was steadfast not to let me speak with the manager as he would say the same reply as him. So I was never allowed to speak to the manager. So considering all these issues , no I do not accept their response and I do not want them working at my home anymore as trust has been broken at this point .

  thank you 

  ***** 

  

  Business response

  04/17/2023

  Ms. ******** agreed to the $490 charge before the work was done, she had the option to decline service and call her normal plumber instead. We are a company that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with no extra charge for weekends or holidays. We were at Ms. ********’s home on a federally recognized holiday, New Year’s Day, and performed the service we said we would for the agreed upon price, and left a 90 day guarantee on our work to return if the issue were to happen again. In regards to the 100 feet versus 30 feet claim, we did snake out to 100 feet, and within that 100 feet of pipe there is a 30 foot section that is bellied which is noted on the invoice. I believe that is what is causing the confusion over how far into the line we went. The invoice clearly states we went out 100 feet and that is accurate. As stated previously Ms. ******** chose to call and pay another company instead of having Roto-Rooter come out and fix the issue under warranty at no cost. Ms. ******** did speak with the general manager, ***, who has the final decision on customer complaints. 

  Customer response

  04/17/2023

   I am rejecting this response because: as I have stated they didn’t do the job I paid for . Job poorly done and therefore I had to call someone else to do the job properly a second time within one month . I would not call them back after the first time fiasco then or now for any job. 
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Problem occurred August 9th in the evening. The team from Roto-Rooter came out August 10th to mitigate the damage. I was promised that the work they were doing was fully covered by my insurance Which they reviewed, and they began work immediately. I dispute the final charge of $10,000 because the company knew it was not covered by insurance but misrepresented this information to me. The only resolution the company has offered, is for me to argue with my insurance agent. The problem I had was a toilet on the second floor that leaked from the bottom and came out through the kitchen via my drop ceiling. I was charged $495 for a soft clog removal. I understand my insurance does not cover this and paid up front. I was charged $3285 for pipe descaling. I understand this was also not being covered by insurance and paid up front. I was charged $10,454 labor for water cleanup/black-water. In the process of cleaning up the water, the team ripped out the floor in the bathroom including the sub-floor and the carpet. The toilet was removed then reset temporarily on shims. The kitchen drop ceiling was all taken out and the plaster ceiling under that was also removed. The laminate flooring was scraped up from the floor leaving a black sticky residue. The light fixture was removed from the ceiling and not replaced. The carpeting on the four steps from the back door to the main floor was also removed. The basement vanity sink and built in bar were ripped out and trashed. The company assured me that all their actions were covered by my insurance policy which they reviewed. The company started the project right away stating the water damage needed to be removed. There are pictures of the before and after. According to the insurance adjuster, there was no need to rip out either floor or the ceiling in the kitchen or the bathroom. The damage claimed by Roto-Rooter was unrelated to the clog. The adjuster also stated the team knows to wait for their review before starting any demo.

  

  Business response

  09/06/2022

  *******,our restoration sales person was on site at **************************************************** on August 10th 2022 to assess the water damage at this residence. After inspection, it was determined that this was a main sewer clog. After taking showers, flushing toilets, and running water in the house, it filled the main sewer line, the sewer stack to the point that the pressure in the sear line caused the sewer water to push out from the ****** and wax ring from the second floor toilet. This caused the sewer water to affect and saturate the bathroom floor. It ran down into the ceiling, kitchen and into the basement through the wall cavities. When sewer waster has affected any material, it is important to remove the affected materials, clean, sanitize, and dry the areas to eliminate any further damage and bacteria from the sewer as soon as possible. After discussing this with ********************* (homeowner), she wanted to move forward with Roto-Rooter and filing an insurance claim. The homeowner signed our invoice agreement for ****** dollars. When the work was completed, the invoice was $10,454.29. **** talked to the adjuster on August 12 (***************************), and she requested a copy of the plumbers report. This was emailed to the adjuster on August 18. We emailed the invoice, pictures, and documentation to the adjuster on August 19. We also called and left a message with the adjuster the same day with no call back. August 22nd, we called and left a message with the adjuster and the adjuster called us back the same day. She said they were paying for the basement only. I explained to the adjuster that the sewer water came from the second floor and affected the materials running down from the kitchen to the basement. After further discussion with the adjuster, it was apparent that she was not going to look at this again. At this point, I talked to the homeowner and advised her to contact her insurance agent and explain to him the situation and see if he could contact someone to help her with her claim. I told the homeowner to have the agent contact me (****) and I would explain the damage to him. On August 22, the agent called me. After calling and explaining the situation, he suggested that the homeowner call and ask for a re-inspection.I called the homeowner on the 22nd and suggested to her that she do this and to let me know when that day for the re-inspection was set and I would be there to go over everything with the adjuster. At this point, the homeowner was upset with the insurance companys assessment of the claim. The homeowner called the insurance company, requested a re-inspection, but it was denied. I spoke with the adjuster again, and she wanted me to send her an invoice for the basement cleaning only. I emailed that on August 23, and the total for just the basement was $6,370.27, leaving $4,084.02 still remaining from the original invoice. Due to my conversations with the adjuster, it is apparent that any further discussions will need to be set forth by the homeowner, who is the policyholder. I suggested she call and ask for a supervisor and if they are willing to discuss the claim with me, I would be more than happy to do so. At this point, I have not heard back from any party from the insurance company. 

   

  ********************;

  ************

  Customer response

  09/07/2022

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and I understand by Roto-Rooter's explanation that the situation will not be resolved to my satisfaction through no fault of theirs.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩