RR Plumbing Roto-Rooter

Do NOT trust these guys!!! They will say anything to get you to spend more money, even lie. I am a single woman and they lied and told me I had mold when I did not, just to make money off me, then told me to lie to my insurance and tell them I didnt have mold,
Do not use these guys, you will regret it! They will take advantage of anyone just to make a buck, disgraceful! !!!

So the manager feels bad about my experience with RR Plumbing, and offers to send his «special technician» to my apartment on Wednesday night at 6:30, on the dot. I get an email from RR telling me that the plumber would arrive between 6 – 8. I called at 6:30 when there was a no show and was told 7:30. It is now 7:45 and RR has no idea when the plumber will get here. Way to rectify the situation!

Called them for a simple snake job. Was given a 11 AM — 1 PM window. Technician didn’t arrive until 4:30 PM and arrived with an attitude. Quoted us $ 300 for the job. When we told him we had a $ 40 coupon (which has no exclusions and specifically says is good for any job), he said he would have to charge me $ 419. When I asked him to explain, he said $ 300 was «his» price and that this was standard procedure. Needless to say I kicked him out of my house.

*****UPDATE: As you can see from the comment below, I received a response regarding my review from Pat Swanson, Customer Service Manager at Roto-​Rooter. We corresponded through email and a formal complaint was submitted on my behalf to the General Manager in New York, Anthony DAlessandro. I was told someone from his management team would call to resolve the issue. I received a call from a gentleman named Ronald. NO RESOLUTION was offered. An explanation was given that regardless how long the job took, the flat fee rate to unclog a toilet was the amount I was charged — $ 529 plus $ 24.30 for parts plus $ 46.95 for tax for a total of $ 575.95 – ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS! I didn’t need another explanation, I was clear on what the fee was. What I needed an explanation of is WHY the price is so freaking high!!! As i mentioned in my initial review, I’ve had this job done in the past for $ 49.99 but unfortunately my guy wasn’t available and Roto-​Rooter was there to take advantage of the situation. I guess that’s how they manage to stay in business for so long. My advice… shop around if you can, call ANYBODY else but them… STAY AWAY FROM ROTO-​ROOTER. Hope this helps.

These guys are the worst! They charged me $ 300 to unblock a toilet. I am partly to blame I should have done my research. You can get other plumbers who will do the job for like $ 50. Other than the price the wait was a joke. We scheduled them to come the following morning to insure we could only miss a small portion of work. After waiting till 9:55am in our 8 – 10 slot we called dispatch who told us they would only be sending someone in the next 4 hours. Reluctantly I agreed, they said the plumber would phone 40 minutes before arrival to allow time to get home. He also told my wife that she would have time to get home if she was out shopping. Which is totally sexist, my wife is a career woman, she doesn’t just go shopping during the day. Next I get a phone call at 1:30; the plumber is at your door, no warning nothing, I drop everything and travel across town from my office. On arrival the plumber takes a look and say $ 215. I ask why so much and he assures me this is the going rate and that he doesn’t set the amount. Again I reluctantly agree. He does all of 3 minutes work and then begins writing up my bill. Suddenly it’s $ 315, i argue this is different to what he said earlier, he says I am lying and that I should just pay it and soon I will have forgotten about that money. I tried to phone rotorooter but get no answers. Again he puts pressure on me and says thats the going rate, he also shows me some home made looking price list. Eventually I have to pay him. I leave with a really bad taste in my mouth. I get back to work only to have my wife phone me frantically. Apparently the plumber left his keys in our apartment and I must travel all the way back across the city to give them to him. Obviously my hourly work is less important than his and my wage much lower. Again I do so reluctantly.
If you have plumbing issues use a Ma and Pa business where you can actually come to an agreeable price. These people don’t care about the customer at all!
NEVER USE ROTOROOTER

Called 212−675−4191 for an appointment, to get an estimate. When we didn’t get a call on the estimator’s ETA, we called to be told RR couldn’t make it and wanted to reschedule — 3 hours later.
Called back another day and made another appointment. On that appt. day, we were woken up by the very snippy dispatcher stating our appt was for one time, when we had an appointment for a completely different time. But, when a knowledgeable person showed up we felt we were progressing and asked for a written proposal by email and provideded our address.
When it wasn’t received in 11 days, we called again to be told they didn’t have our email address and was quoted a price $ 400.00+ higher than the oral price provided.
At this point we did not feel comfortable dealing with RR.
What has happened to this company?

We called RR on a Sunday and the time it took to have a service tech. at the house was good. The office called the house twice to update on the time it would take for the serviceman to be at our house. The service was very good and the serviceman was polite and went over all the issues with us. The price was a bit high but Roto-​Rooter is a name you can trust. I would call on them again.

A workman came in to clear a drainage problem that I paid for and was supposedly corrected a week before. The technician said that he found the problem and cleared it up. He then told me that I had another, serious problem, that should be corrected before it rains. This would result in a very hefty cost. I signed a contract. Several hours later, I called the telephone number listed on the bill. I told them not to go ahead with the work since I wanted several days to get additional bids. They assured me that they would inform the workers not to proceed. The following day, I attended a funeral. To my horror, I found that the workers had come, entered via a tenant and proceeded with the job. They said that they had not been informed that they were not to proceed. I have spoken to a supervisor who said that he will investigate. He also told the workers not to complete the work unless I paid additional money, on the account. I am outraged! Even though they made adjustments to the original bill, I feel that I have been «had.» I feel that my right to blackout or suspend a contract, on the same day, have been violated. I don’t even know if the job was necessary and/​or overpriced since they came in and performed the job even though I called and asked them not to proceed.

schemers!!! i needed a gas dryer to be installed into an already existing unit. the plumber they sent over was beyond rude and then tried to charge me over 300 just to connect an existing pipe to a new dryer. when i had another company, licensed as well, come in for the same exact installation charged me half as much!!! do not trust calll anyone but them!!!

I had a problem with my main sewer line being clogged and debris going into the air vent. I made an appointment on-​line and the technician called when he was on his way. He arrived on time and the entire job tookk less than 2 hours. He kept me informed of the progress of the job and paying by credit card was a snap. He cleaned up the work site and did not leave until everything was checked and running properly. I would recommend Roto-​Rooter for any of your plumbing needs. Thanks guys!!!

Two Roto-​Rooter visits for $ 600
In September Roto-​Rooter came to fix my ‘running toliet’ which woud not flush for $ 250. The person who came was nice and professional. He said that the flush mechanism was broken. My toliet worked for a while (it flushed) but soon started began to «run» again. I sent an email of concern to Roto-​Rooter but received no response. Then this weekend it clogged. We tried to plunge the problem away, but we had no success. So again I called Roto Rooter. The nice professional that came this time said that the first guy had not replaced a rubber part which was why it continued to «run/​leak» again and that was likely part of the reason that it clogged also. $ 385 later, he unclogged the toliet and replaced the rubber piece that the forst guy should have. Now, over $ 600 later I have a toliet that works. I think Roto Rooter owes me a refund??? Why didn’t the first guy complete the job? $ 600 is an outrageous amount of money. Please reply! Unhappy customer

Not sure which branch we called, but we had a coupon and they said that it only applies to repairs so draining a tub doesn’t count. All in all, for about 15 minutes of snaking, they charged us $ 475. I think we were definitely ripped off. That is a whole lot of $$ for a drain clog. Live and learn.