Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Roto-Rooter's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  Roto-Rooter

  2125 Montana Ave Cincinnati, OH 45211-2741

• 

  Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

  3603 Metro Pkwy San Antonio, TX 78247

• 

  Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup

  6356A Corley Rd Norcross, GA 30071

  
• 

  Roto Rooter

  220 Demeter St East Palo Alto, CA 94303

• 

  Roto-Rooter Services Company

  175 Maple St Stoughton, MA 02072

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/24/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  12/11/22 - Sewage overflowed into our basement & we called Roto Rooter for cleanup, mitigation & sanitation. Their field tech Brandon H******* was very dishonest & used switch & bait tactics with RR's pricing. First, he talked us into agreeing to their financing with ********* Bank & never mentioned the $29.00 sign up fee. Second, he told us that all of our correspondence had to be conducted through his personal ***** account since his RR email account would not accept outside emails. Brandon quoted us a rough estimate but we had to figure out if our home warranty would cover any of it or if this was an insurance claim. He assured us that it would be covered and set us up for the ********* financing just so we could take the insurance check & pay off the ********* bill. Clearly RR must get kick backs for signing up customers for a ********* account. Throughout several days, Brandon tried to "coach" us as to what to say or not to say to our insurance company, making the whole process seem very dishonest (we were up front & honest with our insurance company). Next, he dragged his feet supplying us with a detailed invoice. Brandon claimed his colleague Eric W******** had our invoice. Got a hold of Eric only to find out he had given Brandon all the detailed info & pricing of our invoice. Clearly Brandon wanted to ensure the full $20K amount would hit our ********* account before our insurance company got their eyes on the bill and that's why RR dragged their feet supplying our bill. When our insurance company finally saw the bill, they informed us we were grossly overcharged. We sorted through the bill line by line with RR finally revising the bill, cutting off some $ they knowingly overcharged us for. Unacceptable. They then claimed that they could charge whatever they want for insurance claims and admitted that their pricing is above average for insurance claims. There is still a $3K discrepancy, insurance claiming we were overcharged for.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/26/2023

  On 12/11/2022 Field Supervisor, Brandon H******, was dispatched to the ******* property. Upon arrival Brandon discovered that sewage overflowed and affected the basement of the dwelling. Brandon proceeded to talk about the different ways to get the sewage mitigated. After talking to the ******* they decided to open up a ********* account to pay for the mitigation and get full reimbursement from their Insurance company. After all of the paper work was signed, Brandon dispatched the mitigation team that very same night. The team finished the mitigation work a little after midnight the next morning. The ******* signed the additional paperwork, including the Certificate of Satisfaction, when the mitigation work was completed. The ******* became very unpleased with the situation after talking to their Home Owner's Insurance adjuster. After weeks of negotiations Roto Rooter and the ******* came to an agreement of  $17,540.81

   

  Attached is the complete file for the account which includes signed invoices and pictures. Also attached are the signed ********* sales slip along with the refund. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/24/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Absolutely horrible company! Not only do their employees not know how to drive (the one going to my office passed someone in a school zone), but they are price gouging! There is absolutely no reason why snaking of a drain should cost me $500. Then when I mentioned how expensive it was they didn’t offer to work with me at all. I reached out to give a bad review and the manager called me (manager of the escalation team) and he was SOO rude! I told him I could have bought a snake for less than that price and he said well you didn’t. And when I mentioned the price he told me that I didn’t ask for a discount and that’s the price I get. He also mentioned he and the team mate are veterans on several accounts, and basically feel he can charge that price and belittle women because he is a veteran (my spouse is a veteran so I have 110% respect for people who go in service, but it’s no reason to talk down to someone) then he states that I need to stop giving him so much information and just answer the questions he’s asking me. I own my own company and I’m telling you this guy would be FIRED at the lack of respect for clients. I would never refer them to anyone, and also if the tech was a veteran, he should have more respect for the laws and not pass vehicles in a school zone! He could kill someone. I asked him if he knew he did it and he said I didn’t know that wasn’t allowed.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/01/2023

  *** ********* invoice has been scanned in, showing acceptance of the quote for service, in addition to the signature of satisfaction.  *** ******* was charged fairly based on our job flat rate pricing for the commercial rate for clearing the main sewer line from a cleanout access. The attached handwritten invoice does reflect a web discount of $75.00 off that does not appear to have been applied, and the credit has been issued (also attached). Unfortunately we are unable to provide a full refund because the pricing is in line with our company standards and pricing format. We also have reviewed the technician GPS records and coached him with regards to the driving concerns that *** ******* had.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/01/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.

  -rude and disrespectful behavior from management

  -getting hung up on by the "escalation manager."

  -being told he could behave that way because he is a veteran

  -very sexist, asked me why i didn't just do it myself

  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ******* *******
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/06/2023

  Unfortunately, there is nothing further we can do for *** *******.  The pricing for the job is in line with our flat rate book price for her service, and we have refunded her the coupon that was not applied at the time of service.  We are unable to do anything further, and have explained that to *** ******* on more than one occasion.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/21/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 4/15/22 Roto-Rooter came out and unclogged our house sewer drain. On Tuesday, January 10, 2023 we experienced sewage backup again and called Roto-Rooter. They came out the same day and inspected the line. Mike, the tech, said the clog was covered under warranty from a previous repair, that he would have a camera come out and most likely they would have to water jet the clog. No one called or showed so on Thursday Jan 12, we called and spoke to customer service at the ###-###-#### and was told we were in the system and that someone would call. We called on Friday, Jan 13 at 9 AM to ###-###-#### and was told someone would call. No had called by 4:35 so we called ###-###-#### and were rudely told "yes, you are in the system, we will get back to you". 7 days go by and no call, so we called Friday, January 20 at 2 PM to ###-###-#### and spoke to Brittany who told us someone would call us back, I asked "Today?" and she said yes. No call. So 11 days later we are still dealing with a backed up sewage which is a health hazard to our family. We do not know why we are being ghosted, the first repair was close to $7,000 - it is a upsetting that a company would knowingly let us live in a house with backed up sewage into the house for over 11 days.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/30/2023

  The customer had a spot repair excavation in April of 2022.  They called back in January of 2023 due to additional issues with their line. We have opened a work order to get a camera in the line so we can jet it at the customer's request.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/19/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The transaction occurred on 12/20/22. We paid $9747 total. We need to have a form filled out by the technician in order to get reimbursed by insurance, they told us it would be no problem to get it filled out while we were still deciding to hire them. We were going to have additional work done, but only chose to get the $9747 job done. After hearing this, they charged us the total amount before even finishing the job (which was fine because they completed it) but they stopped contacting us afterwards & have completely ignored our request for the from to be filled out. We also requested they put 2x4s on the ground while they excavated our main sewer line, they refused & completely ruined our lawn. When we contacted the technician regarding this they completely ignored us.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2023

  We have made attempts over the last few weeks to reach the ***** family to confirm they have received the service line verification form. We have sent the information to ********************* and have not received any responses.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/18/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I called Roto Rooter on 10/15/22 to do a job a my secondary house. They came out to the property to unclog a toilet / sink drain, they were suppose to do a job. I had a relative home at the time of the service. They exlained to him what was going on, so he called me for them to explain to me what was going on. They told me they would snake and try to clear the drain, the toilet worked for 3 flushes before it backed up (it was doing this previously). They charged me $567 for this. I called them back the next day, which was Sunday. They couldn't get noone out until Monday. When the new tech came out monday they refused to clear the drain without additonal money.
  I am going to attach the email I sent to their Customer Manager, and I never got a repsonse after 4 attempts. This email detail everything going on and what happenend. It has been 2 months an noone has gotten back to me yet for my refund, after a manger promised me a refund. I have called an been given the run around for months. At one point I was texting a manager and he stopped responding to me and never responded back. I am attaching the screenshots ass well.
  
  The emails were sent on 11/5/22, 11/9/22, 11/11/22, 11/27/22. This is suppose to be their corporate email for complaint. The email is to long to copy and paste, so I am attching it in a word Doc.
  
  Please review the attachments, they contain all the information.
  
  Thanks,
  ******

  Business Response

  Date: 01/23/2023

  I had spoken to ****** and submitted for the refund in November. After looking into the refund it had never been processed. A check was written and mailed out 1/23/23.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/27/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** ********
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/18/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Roto-Rooter of ******* completed work in my crawlspace to install a new sump pump and ensure proper water drainage in late June 2020. The cost to complete that work was $6,900 and I spent another $2,000 with them to clean up the issue with all of the water damage/drainage. The work they completed did not solve my problem and the sump pump never worked - I continued to have water issues in the same space. I called 4 times over the last 2 years and no one would come out to review.
  
  The latest time was the worst in terms of storm run-off into the crawl space and I pleaded with their corporate office in ******* to have someone sent out. The local office delayed for 10 days until I called corporate again - someone finally came out on January 18th 2023 and said the warranty on the work ran out after a year and that there was nothing they could do. He said the sump pump was incorrectly installed, but that they would have to charge me to fix it. They even charged me another $181 just to visit. I now know they didn't want to come out because their original work had a warranty of 1 year and they were letting it run out without fixing the work they completed.
  
  At the end of the day, I spent $8,900 to have nothing fixed - and they are not willing to do anything to help the situation they caused. They are literally taking my money and running without attempting a fix.
  
  Please let me know how you can help.
  **** *********

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2023

  We are working with **** to get his issues resolved and plan to begin possible repairs or corrections on 01/24/23. **** has direct contact information to managers in the branch to communicate any possible further issues.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/17/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Upon finalizing the service that was performed, we asked for a detailed breakdown to the supervisor after we was charged 2900.00 to install a clean out. They dug a 3x3x1 hole to reach the leaking pipe. The time to install took right about 1hour. After digging, the waste water was thrown in the front yard instead of dumping in the septic tank right next to the work they performed. We’ve asked for the breakdown several times, paperwork not properly filled out. Left numerous areas blank. Please advise.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/17/2023

  Called customer did give him a break down on labor parts and tax and total also gave customer 400.00 discount. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/13/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I scheduled an emergency plumbing appointment and was given a window of 6pm to 10pm. The technician did not show up. I called in at 9:30pm, and they said they tried to call me multiple times. However, nobody tried to call me; in fact, I requested to be texted; no text, and no missed calls; they directly lied to me. They tried to tell me they will need to reschedule for next day; but the problem is that they lied, and they had me wait here the entire night; which ruined a lot of work related appointments (i work all hours of the night). This costed me time, money, and created a major problem; as now more time is wasted because I have to find a different company to come out here. It's a major mess and a major problem.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2023

  Thank you for your feedback. We look forward to any opportunity to improve and this information helps us to do so. We have made a few attempts to reach you, I’m sorry that we have not been able to make contact to discuss the matter personally.

  We wanted you to know that we have investigated the matter and have taken steps to make sure we will improve in the future. Should you need our services in the future, please call us and see how your feedback has made a difference.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/12/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In November, 2022, my home experienced water damage. I contracted with Roto Rooter for water mitigation at my home. As a military family, we had hired plumbers from Roto-Rooter when we were stationed in other areas of the country and chose them for this reason. A mitigation specialist from Roto-Rooter assessed the damage and told me that it appeared that the job should not exceed $2500. He assured me that it should be no more than this amount and told me that if it exceeded this amount, the company would call me FIRST and let me know before proceeding. I asked for the quote in writing and received an estimate that contained a range of $2200 - $3400. When Roto Rooter completed the job a few weeks later, they sent me a bill of $4330. This was significantly more than I had agreed on. They did not communicate during the mitigation process to inform me that the job would exceed their quote. I believe that their prices increased once they discovered that my tenant had a renter's insurance policy. Roto Rooter was paid $3330 for the complete job (which was the top of their estimate range), yet they are currently billing me an additional $1000 and threatening to send the balance to collections. Ojay, the supervisor in the ****** area says that my tenant's insurance company was "happy" with the estimate and had no problem with it. It appears that he forgets that I am the owner of the property and that we had negotiated a certain price. This is unethical for the following reasons: They sent me an estimate with a range of $2200 to $3400 to complete the job. Roto Rooter did not communicate with me once during the job to let me know that their price was increasing or to give me an opportunity to decide if I wanted them to continue with a job that exceeded their highest estimate. They are seeking $1,000 more than the highest end of the estimate range that they provided. We agreed upon a price and I ask that they honor it. They should accept $3330 as PAID IN FULL.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/16/2023

  Spoke with customer, advised that we would no longer be pursuing for the $1,000 in question.  Provided an email stating such as requested by the customer.  Customer is satisfied with the resolution.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/12/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I thought the pilot light was out on my hot water heater. My boyfriend usually would address these issues but he is out of town. I called Roto Rooter and asked if they could re light the pilot. They advised that they could but it would be $107 to come to my home. If they did the work the fee would be waived and applied towards lighting the pilot. The rep was a bit cagey about the total cost but made it seem this would be price for pilot. When technician arrived at my home he advised me it would be$392 to relight the pilot. I thought it was completely outrageous but I agreed as I was in a bind. He drew up paperwork which I signed regarding labor for re lighting pilot. However once he opened the door he determined the pilot was lit and just needed adjustment. He then proceeded to still charge me $392 for job. When I spoke to my boyfriend that evening he indicated that technician did nothing but raise thermostat on water heater. There was no labor involved and then proceeded to charge almost $400. I promptly put a stop payment on check this morning. We called the company and explained. They will not budge saying they are entitled to this $$ if they touched thermostat. I will gladly pay them the $ 107 or even $150 for their time but $392 is unethical price gouging. They offered a $75 discount after we called but we declined . Their local New Haven Roto Rooter branch came to my home.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/13/2023

  Spoke to customer, and explain that she was Quoted correctly for the service she had done. I asked if she was aware of the pricing and the labor details that were written before the job was done and she responded with yes and signed the agreement. Customer states after the work was done that tech did not re light the pilot. but Once the job was done with the job tech wrote in detail on invoice  "customer states that the gas was turned off by the gas company and they re light the water heater but it went out"  Tech also wrote that  customer may need a thermocouple but that will be added cost. All this was written and signed at the end of the work by Customer and customer confirmed she has a copy of invoice. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/13/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  I have a copy of the invoice  attached which states that i signed off on LABOR to RE LIGHT PILOT. 

  When the technician opened the water heater door he discovered that the pilot was indeed still lit. That it merely just needed an 'adjustment'. He did not explain what an adjustment meant.

  He then proceeded to charge me the original $392 quoted to re light the pilot which I payed by check because i thought he may have actually performed some legitimate labor. 

  However, when I spoke w/ my boyfriend that evening, (he is out of town and very familiar w/ my water heater) he informed me  that the technician did nothing more than turn a dial on a thermostat. There was zero labor involved and then proceeded to charge me nearly $400.  THIS IS UNETHICAL PRICE GOUGING.

  Again, I am certainly willing to pay  $150 for his time but $392 to turn up a thermostat is completely UNETHICAL. That is not what i agreed to.  

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ******* *******