Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Services

They come on the weekends and are quick, reliable, and polite. They are also good at communicating. However they will charge you well over a hundred dollars even if the fix is a simple button push. In my experience they do not try do get to the root cause of a problem. It’s mostly about quick money for them. They definitely will not try to save you money.

First, they said they’d call ahead. They didn’t. Second, they charge around 2.5 times more than any other plumber. Of Course they don’t tell you that up front.

We had a clogged drain and they came out and snaked the pipes. The repairman was very nice. Pricey, but it was late at night.

WOW! WOW! WOW!
I called and got a very nice tech out on a Saturday. He said he was scheduling another tech with a camera to come out on the following Monday. No call. Then on Tuesday afternoon I missed a call from Illinois which come to find out was a tech on his way to the house. When I called to let them know that I was not home since there was no appointment I was told that they would try again later. 7 calls and one disconnection later I am still completely lost as to if or when these folks will ever show up. If this is a franchise then corporate needs to jerk the license and sell it to a more organized and professional local company. Sorry to see such a great brand go so far down the toilet. Maybe they can try to root it out… Lol

Don’t bother with them. Made an appointment and they did not show up, not even a phone call to say why either.

Got home last night after a week long trip only to find out the water heater was leaking from the top. Called Roto Rooter immediately and they scheduled an appointment for first thing in the morning. Lenny was our plumber/​technician, and he’s a rock star. He took a quick look, realized that the water heater needs to be replaced. We were still under warranty, so he called warranty company, got the replacement approved, went by the store, got and replaced the water heater, all in a matter of 3 hours.
Great job Roto! Great job Lenny!

Isaac is the best!
Roto-​Rooter scheduled an appointment for me at my earliest convenience, and Isaac came out to the house and quickly helped me solve a plumbing issue. He was courteous and professional and I would gladly ask him to help me again for any future plumbing issues. Thank you!

I had an emergency plumbing issue tonight, and after calling three other companies, Roto-​Rooter was the only company who could send somebody right away. I had a main line clog and my living room was flooded. Peter came out and was awesome! It’s nice when somebody shows some compassion to your situation. Peter did just that. He also put me in touch with their new restoration dept. Torres and Mark came out within a few hours and got everything cleaned up. Still have a process to go with insurance and new floors, but I am most impressed with the customer service of this entire company. From the dispatcher to the restoration, just awesome!!!

I believe I paid far too much for the service I received from Roto Rooter. They charged 248.00 to cut and cap off two ¾ inch water lines that took the plumber about 10 minutes. It’s no wonder they make such a big deal out of no trip charge and no service fee. They really stick it to you on the repair rates. Even though they say if you don’t agree with the price they will just leave and not charge you anything I guess they think you must have another day or two to wait for another plumber. Not!

After having a disappointing experience with Roto-​Rooter Sunday, I decided to post a review as well as call the company. I received prompt, courteous, efficient service and was contacted by email and then by phone. They took my concerns seriously and listened to my complaints, and then offered to make things right. I am more impressed with them now than I was Sunday, I can tell you that, and am very appreciative of their effort to make things right.

Big thanks to Jerome, Ben, Issac and Victor. (I hope I got all the names right) They replaced a main sewer drain at our house. Very fast! The only thing we waited on was the city inspector. If only there was a Unilocal for city inspectors!
Seriously, very professional and courteous group of guys.

Lenny kicks ass!
Had an insurance claim for a pipe leak in our master bath vanity. Original plumber assigned by insurance determined the «problem» and sawed off a water line and capped it to «stop the leak» and fix later when insurance approved their $ 1400 estimate.
Turns out insurance only covered taking out the vanity and repairing water damage and replacing with new vanity, so now I’m stuck with finding a plumber to fix the actual problem.
Called Roto-​Rooter in the evening and receptionist was very helpful and set us up for next day service between 8a-​10a window. I was called at 8:30a to tell us someone was on their way in half hour.
Lenny showed up and looked at the issue and found out that there was a separate leak at the line faucets and didn’t understand why the other water pipe going to the garden tub (which we never use) was cut up and capped. He fixed it all in record time and about $ 1200 less than what the insurance plumber was quoting.
People, if you’re bitching about pricing, then you should YouTube how to fix your own shit… You’ll save a ton. However, if you want it done right go to someone that’s insured and bonded… Money very well spent!
Plumbers are always in demand, so get a fucking grip and wait for them if you really need the work done. We all know plumbing is serious business so treat it as such, or live with the leaks and feces clogged in your toilets.
I’m calling Roto-​Rooter for any and all plumbing from now on.
Call them. Now.

What crooks! They promised me a time of 2 – 6 pm on a Sunday for a service person to come to my house to replace the garbage disposal. At 2:40 pm they call me to tell me they can’t send anyone today it has to be Monday Morning. Which of course doesn’t work for me as I work, and if they had told me that 8 am when I called I would have been able to make an appointment with someone else. I said these exact words, ‘This is my first time using Roto-​Rooter, and I would have thought your company would have kept it’s word.’ I heard a click liked they tried to hang up, but I could still hear them on the line. I said ‘Hello?’ Then they really hung up. Needless to say this is the last time I ‘try’ to use Roto-​Rooter.

Don’t call these people — We will never use Roto Rooter again. They charge unbelievably exorbitant pricing for two hours of work. When the workman showed up, he said it would probably be around $ 375 — ended up at $ 511. Try anyone else first.
They called us back — asked what went wrong — they reimbursed us some of the cost.

Things work a lot differently in Texas then they do back home (NC). For instance, we have learned that in Texas you would call a plumber if you need help unhooking an old gas stove and hooking up a new one. This is exactly what we needed to do so my husband called Roto-​Rooter yesterday to see when someone could come out. Lucky for us, they said they had availability today and quoted us a window of 9 to 11 a.m. Unlucky for us, they apparently do not know how to tell time. Nor to they understand the simple principal of customer service.
We were up and ready early in case the plumber showed up right at 9. We hung around the house until 11, no plumber and no word from Roto-​Rooter. 12 p. m — no plumber…1 p. m — no plumber. At 1:30 my husband calls in to see what was going on and was told that they were running behind. Ok, it would have been nice for you to let us know that. 2 p. m — no plumber, 3 p. m — still no plumber… 3:30 pm we get a call from Roto-​Rooter promising they have not forgotten us and that someone would still be coming out but they couldn’t give us a specific window. My husband informed them that we needed to run a couple of errands (like eating lunch/​dinner since we don’t have a stove to cook on) an asked them to please give us a call 20 — 30 minutes prior to the plumber arriving so that we can make sure we are back at the house. They said no problem.
We went out had a late lunch/​early dinner and popped into Ikea. Around 5 pm, Roto-​Rooter called my phone (despite having spoken with my husband several times and being told that his number was the primary number) and left a message asking me to call them back. I didn’t have my phone on me because again, they were supposed to call my husband, so I didn’t get the message until 6:30. When I called them back the guy I spoke with was slightly rude, he informed me that they were calling about the service we requested but it was too late to have someone come out now. It was almost as if they were mad that we left the house. Apparently the plumber had showed up to the house while we were out and was upset that we weren’t home.
First of all, if you quote a window for a customer then you really should be there during that window BUT we are reasonable people so we understand that shit happens. If you aren’t going to make your window time the the very least you can do is call us to let us know! Second, it is completely unreasonable to expect that people continue to sit around their house waiting when you are 7 hours past the window time. So don’t get pissed at us because it was our time that was wasted first.
In the end, its our bad for having booked an appointment with Roto-​Rooter. If we would have looked at Unilocal then we would have known that this company is not one to waste your time on. It is also our bad for counting on a chain type plumbing company instead of supporting a local pop shop. On the bright side, I guess it all worked out because having now read the other reviews, we would have probably overpaid significantly for their services and now we can put our business with a more deserving local company.

We had a problem with our hot water heater’s pilot light. It would not stay lit.
Our service tech, Carrie, showed up on time (actually faster than we had anticipated). He fixed the problem within an hour and was on his way. Before he left, however, he gave us great feedback regarding the problems, possible solutions for the future should this happen again, and a warning about Texas laws changing soon in regards to hot water tanks. Great service and very informative, will definitely call them again!

In a matter of minutes, we had water all over our bathroom and bedroom. Roto-​Rooter (Jacoy Barber & Mark Torres) came out that day (Sunday), talked to our insurance company and performed the work needed to mitigate the problem. They came back daily to check on the equipment and progress and after everything had dried up, they removed their equipment and their job was done. They were very professional and courteous and accommodating to our schedules.
The only complaint I have is when the plumber came out (the first step of the process). I feel like he was «killing time» and the final bill seemed a bit high.

The technician was open and honest. He gave me dome training to do it myself. I tried and had to call back as It got to complicated. The technician came back the next day and got my water heater up and running in one hour. I am glad I called them back.
I had a great professional experience

NEVER use these people. Waited all day for them. They show up at 8 pm then have the nerve to charge after hours fees for all of their services. They did not tell us there was an after hours fee and they were the ones 5 + hours late. They also charged us an emergency fee… this was in no way an emergency.
On top of all this, they couldn’t find our leak. We hired another plumber who found the issue and fixed it for a reasonable price within an hour.
I repeatedly asked how much things would cost and was given the run around and told not to worry because our insurance would definitely take care of it. Believing them was stupid on my part.
When we called to discuss outrages charges– such as $ 50 to sweep a floor that THEY — got dirty, it took 2 months to finally speak to someone.
Finally, they just did work to our house without asking and then charged us for it.
This place is awful! STAY AWAY!!!
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All I can say is do not call this company.
First of all, they did not come when they were suppose to.
When technician came (next day) he didn’t even bother to check the problem before saying it needed to be replacement. He did not make any attempt to get it working.
The price I was quoted for the job was outrageous (more than double what other companies charge).
Since I declined the repairs, the technician made threats to file a complaint with the city of Austin because my wiring was not «up to code». A little strange, since this wiring passed inspection and it worked for me for the past 14 years. What a jerk!
Called a different plumber. The problem with the water heater was not the electrical wiring, but calcium built up on the heating element. Cost to replace the water heater with a new one is $ 900, not $ 2400 like Roto-​Rooter wanted. The garbage disposal replacement cost is $ 100 (parts & labor), not $ 370 that Roto-​Rooter wanted.
Do not trust this company. They will rob you blind.