Frugal Rooter

I made an appointment with Frugal Rooter/​Plumberologist because they had sponsored my son’s T-​ball team. I didn’t check the reviews. My mistake. My appointment was for 3pm (they said they had nothing later) for a small repair of a ball valve for my backyard hose connection. Easy right? Not so much. First they showed up 1 hr late, and he the tech seemed out of it. I explained I had an appointment in an hour and must leave. He assured me it would just take a second. Second, the technician wanted to go through my house, no reason, since it was in the back. I thought he might want to get eyes on target. After looking at it, he said he needed to go inside. I said hold on and started toward my deck to go around and unlock the patio door. He started to follow me. I said for him to hold on, as I have a dog I needed to secure. I let him in the patio and IMMEDIATELY he started talking about cutting a hole in the wall. Seriously? To replace the handle on the spigot? I countered that I just needed the piece he made a laborous excuse about how they don’t make them universal, they are patented and without having the piece, he would have to cut the wall. We started back to the front and he asked if we had the pieces, I told him, maybe my husband did in his tool box. He asked if I would look, so I proceeded into the garage to check. I look up and here is the technician in my garage beginning to root through my husbands tools. I was very uncomfortable and said so. He then said he would make up an estimate. I go back in the house to call the company and he goes to his truck. I call the company to complain and IMMEDIATELY get cut off by the woman answering the phone. I said, um, hold on and expressed my displeasure. She asks if someone should call, I said it would make no matter, because my decision was made not to use them in now or in the future. To top matters off, I go to the front to pay the service fee and the technician begins to tell me how my pressure is too high. What? Why did he concern himself with this? He was there to correct a handle on a spigot and provide an estimate on adding another outdoor faucet. I got the distinct impression that he was trying to get more work than was needed. The other technician looked obviously uncomfortable with the senior technicians behavior. Terrible service.

I called this company about 3 weeks ago to schedule an estimate. two guys came out two weeks ago. One was a journeyman and the other was an apprentice of sorts. they had just come from Woodbridge and they smelled like they had smoked a full carton of cigarettes on the way but their eyes looked like it could have possibly been something else??? I showed them what I wanted the estimate on and they couldn’t leave me with an estimate because the main guy needed to get some information as to the cost. Here I am exactly 2 weeks later and no estimate. I can’t help but think that had these individuals been professional and followed up with an estimate I may have had the work done which could’ve resulted in a dry basement during the hurricane. I do blame this company for my very mild water damage. I had received an e-​mail with a coupon for any sump pump work done during hurricane season hence the call and request for an estimate. This company is a total waste of time!

Buyer beware. Unlike most plumbing services that charge by the hour, this one has a flat rate for services performed. That may initially sound OK, but then I was billed over $ 600 for about 2 hours of work on my water heater.
My unit was still under warranty, so the plumber replaced a number of things whether they were broken or not. Then I realized each time he replaced something, this was an additional flat-​rate charge.
Also, the initial estimate was almost $ 200 less than the final charge.

The call center is great but their actual plumbers can’t seem to show up
Called last week to get our kitchen sink looked at. Spoke to a GREAT call center rep on the line. They scheduled something from 4−6pm. Waited till 6… then 7… and they called to tell me that they will show up at 8. Waited till 8… nothing… then 9… and then they informed me that they won’t be showing up till 10. We reschduled for a few days later.
Waited a few days later and they said they will show up from 4−7pm. Waited till 7… then 8. then 9… then 10… then 11. This time, no calls, no show. Again.
But when I call into their dispatch, their call center people sound awesome and very friendly. Problem is that it ends there.
Good luck

Absolutely horrible. a $ 4000 water main replacement job turned into $ 5500. Even though in the contract it says they will dig and replace the water main, they didn’t say how, but that they would. Then they come and say they need to subcontract a boarar ($ 800) he couldn’t do that job apparently. Then $ 700 for them to trench it when it was already part of the contract. They left my yard looking like a warzone and in the city of manassas they have to replace the sod they disturbed as it is city of manassas code. They did not do it. I filed a super gurantee for my work and a bbb complaint! Absolutely horrible! RUN don’t walk away from frugal rooter! You will be paying more than those who actually give you up front costs!

It finally happened; our sewer line collapsed! We were the last house in our immediate neighborhood to have the old school sewer line. We got estimates from 3 different companies, including Roto Rooter. Although Frugal Rooter was not the cheapest, they promised the best service and were the only company that offered to go out of their way to save the tree in my front yard. Removal of the tree (a large maple) was estimated at $ 1,000. After the savings of not removing the tree Frugal Rooter ended up being the best deal. And the promise of the work being done by the actual company, with a guarantee, was important to me.
They also worked with me on the payment as I didn’t have that kind of cash available on the spot.
Robert was awesome from start to finish! He was very communicative about how things were progressing. Although, it did take a couple more days than was originally estimated, Robert saved my tree! That was totally worth the extra couple of days.
I have always called Roto Rooter for my plumbing needs and honestly, you never know who will show up at your door. Some of their technicians are great but too often they are idiots. I felt comfortable with Frugal Rooter. Robert was an honest guy and I didn’t feel that as a woman he would try to get one over on me and charge me more than was necessary.
When I originally called Frugal Rooter they sent someone relatively quickly to give me a free estimate. Some other companies I contacted wanted to charge $ 100 just to give me an estimate!
I can recommend this company without hesitation. They have won my future business; although I do hope that my needs will be limited :-)

If there is an option for zero star, I will vote for it. DO NOT, DO NOT use their service. They replaced my garbage disposal a year ago for $ 359. There are 2 people coming in (1 certified and 1 trainee). The sink is leaking on the next day. I called, and another guy came and fixed it with no charge.
A year later, the water started to drip and drop. Unfortunately it is already pass the one-​year warranty. I called another plumber and was told Frugal Rooter did not put the bolt (on the ring) to hold the garbage disposal with the sink. That plumber only charge me $ 110 to reinstall the entire disposal, since the disposal itself works fine.
Frugal Rooter is OVERCHARGED (since the disposal itself cost less than $ 100), and they did not even do the work that they supposed to do.
DO NOT CALL THEM.

Had my water heater replaced in an emergency following my old water heater tank leaking and causing a mess in the house.
I called after-​hours to report the original problem. Someone answered right away, and I was able to schedule an appointment for the next day without a problem. Frugal Rooter provides 2-​hour service windows in which they come by to perform work.
However, within my service window, I received a call that the plumber who was assigned to my place had some sort of emergency and whether it would be possible to reschedule the call until tomorrow. I stated that this was not possible, and another plumber was able to come over (albeit outside the original service window time) to take care of the problem. Fortunately, I did not get charged the «emergency/​after-​hours» rate for this service.
They had to come the next day to bring the replacement water heater. To accommodate me they were able to move my appointment to the first one of the day, and came right on time to install the replacement water heater.
They get –1 star for not coming during my originally scheduled service window, and –2 stars for not putting a drain pan under my water heater, which is actually a violation of VA Plumbing Code, and not offering to correct that free of charge. In fact, after I called and asked about it, they said they would call me back with a quote for adding the drain pan and never did.
Their reasoning is that one was not already there, but quite frankly I don’t understand why putting a $ 10 metal pan (just look on Google Product Search) under a new water heater that’s on the same level as finished living area space isn’t standard procedure.