I called at 8:20 am and explained the toilet was backed up and when plunged the water was coming into the bath tub. I was told they would be there between 10 and 12. They refused to give me any pricing over the phone. (I later found out this is because the plumbers work on commission and so it depends on how much they can sell you.) Jarrett showed up at 2:15 pm and told me he would have to remove the toilet to snake the drain and clear the clog for $674.92. Which I thought was outrageous, but since there had been no toilet for hours, and we had waited for him for close to 6 hours we were in a bind. So, I agreed to his exorbitant pricing, which I think was his plan in the first place. He then said to really fix the problem he would have to replace a 4 foot section of pipe for $2000. And said there would be no guarantee on the original repair. He then reinstalled the toilet and flushed it about 20 times (which I now know made his temporary fix not last 24 hours). Anyway, the toilet was clogged again less than 24 hours later and when I called him, he did not return my call. I should have never called this scam of a company. The real problem turned out to be very expensive, but nothing Jarrett was proposing was going to ever fix it. He just wasted my time and money. I will also be reporting them to the BBB. They could make plenty of money doing things the right way. I don't understand the ethically bankrupt nature of some companies... read more

Called them at recommendation our drying company after we discovered we had floor water damage from a slow water leak we never knew we had to determine source of leak. They charged us $50 to tell us they couldn't determine leak location (yep, they did absolutely nothing and still charged us to say "I don't know"). read more

Chris saved the day for us. We had a terrible toilet leak that started coming through our dining room ceiling in a house that we just bought. He came out on a Saturday morning and stopped the leak and discovered that the previous owner did a ridiculous job installing the toilet which was causing the problem. He stopped the leak immediately and returned on Monday to install a new toilet. We were obviously very upset that this happened and he made us feel much better and did a great job quickly diagnosing and fixing the job. read more

Should have read the reviews first... similar experience Don't make impulse decisions. Call around before doing business with this company. Water heater drain and an hour of his time was taken by not waiting. $185.00. Despite being gouged by hooking a hose up to the heater, we still saved 1200 by doing business with another company. Attendant was kind, but we don't know believe he had our best interest in mind read more

I had a leak coming from the toilet to the basement so called Roto Rooter as we had them on 2 other emergency situations and they fixed the problems. I was delighted with William who came promptly and diagnosed the situation. He was most kind and polite and ordered a new toilet and installed it within 48 hours. I know plumbing is expensive these days but I do not think they were out of line and William was most honest in his assessment of the situation. I would highly recommend this company, I don't think it deserves all the negative reviews, even the people who answer the phone-in person-rare these days, are helpful about taking the appointment and stating when they will arrive. read more

Awful awful!!! Do not use these people. Call your local plumber. They charged $400 to clean oatmeal out of a clogged disposal in less than an hour. The invoice said they "snaked the pipe", but they never did. When I called the office to complain about the cost (as it says to do on the invoice back), I never heard back from them. Instead they had their lawyer send me a collection letter. Bad, bad folks. Stay away. read more

I Would give zero stars if that was an option! DO NOT use this company. Absolutely the worst. Zero customer service! They will not give you an accurate price before they do the work. They claim insurance will cover the job and they will bill them directly! Matt told me his estimate was $2267 for the job they did! They billed me over $3500. He stood around for over an hour telling me about his personal life, fiancé and baby. Racking up the hourly rate while his manager stood outside on his phone. I have proof on my ring and internal cameras. When I questioned the bill and the level of service they offered 10% off but would not honor the quote I was given. They did a lot of work that was unnecessary, per two other experts and my adjuster!! I offer to pay the $2267 two days after it was due (and no correspondence from them in 7 days) and they advised they already turned it over to an attorney. The absolute worst company ever!!! SCAM ARTIST!! read more

My bathtub started slowly draining on a Saturday, by sunday the toilet was clogged and wouldn't flush. Attempted to unclog with plunging and draino sunday and monday. Requested service that arrived on tuesday evening. Up to this point there was absolutely NO water leaking anywhere, just clogged drains. the first technician attempted to unclog the drains by removing the toilet and snaking the line. after 1.5 hours was unsuccessful. Left my house with dirty prints covering the walls and dark brown water filling my bathtub. a few hours later, i realized the brown water was pooling from my toilet and began leaking through the floor and the light fixtures into my downstairs rooms. By Wednesday, all the dark brown tub water had drained onto my floor and through the ceiling beneath. The second technician comes in the next day (Wednesday) snakes the drain from the roof and was successful. Told to speak with the manager, Joe Ellis about the water damage caused from the previous technician that left the line clogged with a tub full of brown water and recently removing and replacing the toilets wax ring. Joe Ellis refused to listen to the complaints and denies any liability. Very unprofessional and very disappointed in this company. The problem should have been fixed on the first trip but due to incompetence and negligence I was left with more issues than I started with. After cleaning the bathroom left in filth, it was discovered that the toiled was never screwed/bolted down, thus creating the water to leak the way it did! We had asked the second Tech to check the toilet to confirm that it was secure and he refused stating that it was expected to leak when a new wax ring is placed on the toilet. read more

Very unhappy with them. They were 8 hours late responding to a service call- they said they'd be at my place from 5pm-7pm. I called three times and each time was told that the service tech was just finishing up with a repair and will be at my place within 30 min. I got a call at 1am letting me know they're 30 min away- 8 hours after my appointment time! After the work was finished, I signed the invoice & asked for a copy. The tech refused to give me a copy of the form I just signed- that seems very shady & untrustworthy to me. They didn't even do the job right- there's still a clog in a bath tub. There are so many other plumbers in the area that you can call. Save yourself the grief & stress and call someone more reliable. I will never call on Roto Rooter for any reason again. read more

Scheduled appointment agreeing to $59 service fee. Appointment was 8-12, showed up at 1:30 to provide price to clean outdoor drain. Was told what they quoted was the standard $500. The tech's were friendly and apologetic for being late. I asked the office manager to waive the service fee for being late and having a set price, that doesn't require a $59 service fee. They declined. read more

Walter Nurnberger Jr Probably one of the worst companies I have ever delt with. I called multiple times and finally got an appointment several days later. They kept pushing for weekend or after hours because it was an extra $100 just to show up. Upon appointment for normal business hours the technician was a "no show." Lost money from not working that day. Thanks Roto-rooter! They apologized and blamed it on another job taking too long but I would say it's very unprofessional and poor planning for a business. I'm not someone who ever writes reviews either. I have a life but this just ruined my day. Then they had to replace a garbage disposal. Probably a 300 dollar job max with a $100 dollar disposal and $200 in labor but no; it was $484 dollars. You cannot even leave a review on the Richmond website and you will see all 5 star reviews. Most likely false reviews. Steer clear of this company! read more

PLEASE read all the reviews....it is not just me that had a bad experience. I paid them 498.00 to unclog a pipe in a bathroom next to my washing machine. They claimed the job was done but then when I washed another load of clothes my bathroom flooded again. Roto-Rooter offered to fix it again for half price....Fix what again? It was not unclogged the first time. PLEASE call another plumber. I had to place stop payment on my check and call another plumber. read more

Roto-Rooter is a rip-off and run by thieves and liars. On Friday, December the 28th, I called Roto-Rooter for a clogged drain in my kitchen sink. The person who took my call explained, "For an emergency service there is a service fee of 99 dollars." I told her that it was not an emergency, and I could wait until the next day for the lower fee of 79 dollars. The plumber came the next day and went straight to work by snaking out the line. While he was working, "How much should I write the check for?" He stopped working and looked at a piece of paper on his clipboard and said, "The charge is 328 dollars." In five minutes, the guy was finished, and in ten minutes he was out the door with my check for 328 dollars. I have called twice to file a complaint with his supervisor but my calls have not been returned. You cannot justify charging 65 dollars a minute for running a wire through a sewer pipe. read more

Terible customer service. Tried several times to talk to the manager or a service tech before they came out because I had already spent money on a plumber who couldn't fix because they don't have the longer ager equipment for a clog. No one ever called me back. Then when they came to my house they did not fix the issue because they couldn't get their auger past the p-trap and instead told me I should just replace the pipe with a "L" shaped pipe (no p-trap). Gave me an estimate for around $600 (easy DIY project of about $20). Then to top it off, found out there was a clean-out right behind that they didn't even attempt. Either didn't know what they were doing or didn't want to be bothered. After I found that out, called back to inquire and again, no call back! Will not use again and don't recommend. read more

My dad called roto rooter to investigate a leaking toilet flush valve that his friend installed. The roto rooter guy came and only stayed for 10 minutes or so. He told my dad that we needed another toilet because he couldn't get it to stop leaking. My dad got another friend of his to look at it, and it turns out that the tank to bowl gasket that came with the flush valve was defective. My dad's friend was easily able to install another gasket and fix the problem. Do not use roto rooter, they are ripoffs read more

I appreciate Roto Rooter for helping us out today. The office staff are very professional ladies and were sympathetic to our situation. A tech was dispatched and arrived a few short hrs later (on a Fri), and while the final news wasn't good as far as our plumbing (need sewer line replaced - 50s built home), he was able to unclog the clog. Clog meaning: I flushed the toilet and the bath tub gurgled. I flushed the toilet again and it gugrled, the bath tub gurgled more, then water seeped onto the floor from the bottom of the toilet (clear water, thank goodness). I went in the kitchen to wash my hands and the water didn't drain. It was bad! On top of all that I had just started a full load of laundry. Evan (tech), was great to work with. He was honest, patient, and professional. I trust him to lead the charge when it comes to replacing our sewer line. He explained the whole sewage replacement process in detail and repeated it all again when my husband came home. I look forward to working with them again soon and not having to worry about our plumbing again with this little old house. read more

The technician was masked and got my kitchen sink unstopped in 20 minutes. My beef is that the charge was $359. That's a very high hourly rate but they charge by the job. That was about double the charge from a previous incident but that guy was booked for a week. read more

They took advantage of my vulnerability and lack of knowledge. I feel so violated. They charged me $700 for a simple job that took the guy 20 minutes to accomplish. When I called the manager and asked if what they charged me was fair he took $25 off my bill. But that was about it. Never will I call them. Had great experience with White Glove company. read more

I had them come out to fix a leak in my water line on a Monday and they ended up cutting a section of my pipe and saying the actual valve that was leaking was replaced when they replaced that pipe. I then had my warranty company come out to look at the same leak only for them to inform me that the section of pipe Roto-Rooter replaced was still showing a leaky valve! I then called Roto-Rooter to let them know they didn't repair anything and they said my $508.10 was not going to be refunded because I didn't allow them to come back out and repair what they said they already repaired. This is unacceptable and I am out here to warn you do not call them for nothing!! They are robbing hard working folks and on top of that I am a disable veteran they cheated out of money I don't really have. read more

I called and had service on Wednesday. They were there 5 minutes while I spent 2 hours elbow deep in TOILET water. They'got the basic clog' and suggested I get a new toilet? That cost for their 5 minutes was $199.00??? So, 8 hours later- the toilet is clogged again..... WTF I call and ask them to come back and re-do it... They said NO -it was going to be another CHARGE....UM NO.... will NOT recommend them ever, RICHMOND VIRGINIA read more

I would give them ZERO stars but it's not an option. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT Use THEM. Ripped off. They pulled the toilet, put a camera down my pipe 16 inches, said there was a rock. Charged me 700 dollars and left. They said they could come back and run water through the pipe for 1600, no guarantee, or break the floor for Another 4000 Dollars. For a grand total of $6300!!! WRONG. we pulled the toilet and snakes it out with a clothes hanger. On top of it the workers, owner and receptionist were EXTREMELY RUDE! Avoid at all cost. read more

The inspector saw a small amount of water in my crawl space so I had both Roto Rooters and another company check it. The technician from Roto Rooters named Craig was very honest and told me there is nothing wrong because the water is just small amount and has dried already... I had them calked The other company recommended thousands of dollar of services for my less than 2 year old home... read more

We asked the company to clean one 8 foot exterior drain pipe connected to a gutter downspout - $490. I could have the entire drain pipe replaced for less cost. I can't imagine anyone would pay such an exorbitant price. The most expensive/superb plumber in Richmond has offered to take care of this issue for dramatically fewer dollars. read more

The office staff was very courteous, responsive and quick to respond last week when I called in a panic. Evan was great to work with and found the problem quickly. Tree roots were detected and his camera pinpointed the area precisely. The problem was resolved soon after and I would recommend Roto-Rooter for any future plumbing needs. read more

Absolutely great service. Kemar Mccleary did an excellent job. He explained everything very well and got my entire house plumbing working again (all the toilets were backed up due to a blockage in the main line. Would recommend! read more

I'm giving 2 stars for the receptionist's service and the speed in which the technicians arrived. It went downhill from there. My washer was overflowing in the rinse cycle. My last plumber charged me $160 to snake it every few years but he has since retired. These guys showed up and one put on booties but the other guy tracked mud on my carpeting and seemed put out to have to go out the back door and got get booties in the pouring rain. After some careful checking they did decide it was just pipe behind the washer and snaked it out. They charged a fee of $255 and left behind water all under the dryer, wet rags on the floor and the mud tracked into my carpeting. First and last time for me to call them! Ever. read more

We called roto rooter to help with a clogged drain in the tub. The technician, Jack determined the old pipe connected the tub drain to the main sewer was clogged. He said he would have to replace the section of pipe to correct the issue.In total the repair cost me $998. Basically he replaced a 4 foot section of pipe with PVC. I was charged $138 in parts and $850 in labor. A month later, I had my plumber come in to fix a leak and asked him about the repair Roto Rooter performed and told him what I paid. He was outraged and agreed they over charged for the work, and estimated he would have charged no more than $300. I contacted Roto Rooter and spoke with Joe the Operations manager. He basically said the reason it cost so much was because he has a large overhead and yes it would have been significantly cheaper had I just called a plumber instead. I certainly understand overhead of a large company but the repair did not justify the cost. Bottom line. Joe offered no resolution other than he would give me a discount on follow up repairs identified by Jack. Really Joe. Roto Rooter is a rip off and I would never use them again Buyer beware. Call you local plumber first. These guys will fleece you for everything you have. read more

I called Evan on a Saturday around 4pm as he was finishing up another job. He was willing to come by as soon as possible to unclog our kitchen sink/disposal. He arrived earlier than expected and quickly snaked the line. In less than a hour, we were back in business with a fully functioning kitchen sink. Very pleased with the service! read more

I'm happy that some people were satisfied with this company and had good experiences, but I am not one of them. We scheduled an appt online from 8-12 but did not receive any kind of confirmation. Called and asked about it and they bumped it to 9-1. Ok, no problem. Woman on the phone says that there is a $49 service call fee. Ok. No problem. Guy shows up and says that because the dishwasher isn't leaking at the moment, there isn't anything he can do. I explain that it leaks at really random times regardless of whether we run it or not and show him where it looks like it may be leaking from and where the water puddle forms. He tells us to run it anyways. No problem. We also point out the water damage on the floor in the room directly behind the dishwasher. He says that there's still nothing he can do about. Between us trying to explain and figure out what's going on, his phone is ringing and he takes the calls. Clearly there is nothing he can or will do so he tells us to take pictures or videos when it happens again even though we told him that it is completely random. It also sounded like he expected us to leave water just on the floor until we could call for them to come back. After a whole lot of NOTHING he charges us $188!!! We're livid but I try to be the voice of reason and explain that he literally did nothing and that the person we spoke to on the phone said nothing about the contractor or whomever charging in order to get paid. He tries telling us that they do this all the time (not explaining all the fees). WTF. Just shady all around. Save yourself the headache and shop around. Hell. Thumbtack has better contractors/companies. Will never call or recommend EVER! read more

I am very pleased with their work. The plumber was friendly and professional. He showed up on time and cleaned up after the job was done.

The customer service, scheduling process, and technician visit were all top notch experiences. Having water back up into your home can be such a stressful experience, everyone at Roto-Rooter in Henrico, VA was so easy to work with. Out technician, Keith, was excellent - so friendly, honest, and quick at the work. The problem was fixed the first time, at a fair price. I will definitely call Roto-Rooter and ask for Keith next time we need help. read more

Plumber was on time. Told us what the job entailed and got it done. Efficient and clean. Nice work.

We had a very unsatisfactory experience with this company. The technician came to the home and attempted to unstop the drain with a 50 foot snake. He told my son that he could not use a longer snake because it would damage the pipe. After charging us $99 for this visit (which solved nothing)- he suggested that we contract with them to have the line jetted (to the tune of an additional $600). Instead of paying that ridiculous amount of money, we went to Home Depot the next morning and rented a 75 foot snake and took care of the problem ourselves. We will never use them again. read more

Recently called Roto Rooter to unclog a toilet. They showed up, and took 5 minutes to unclog the toilet with an auger which I could have purchased with the $40 trip charge. Then they charged an additional $199 for labor. What labor, 5 minutes of clearing the toilet. Next time I will check ratings, but since my son only has the one toilet I was anxious to get it fixed. They charge too much, and I had to wait hours for them to show up. I would give them no stars, but one is the lowest. read more

Given option for thousands of dollars of repairs by this company or likely found my own solution for $40. You decide. My basement was back-flowing a bit of sewage (twice in six months). I scheduled this team between 12-2pm for a $45 visit fee. At 2:30pm, no word so I called and was told they would be onsite that day. I received a call about 4pm and the plumbers showed up. They said they could put a camera in the pipe and that would cost $250. Seemed high to me but I needed to know what was going on. They ran the camera through while I looked. Appeared to be a tree branch in the line. Was told it would be another few hundred dollars to pinpoint the location of the branch. Was told it "likely" was the cause of the backflow issue. Was told it would be $3,000 - $6,000 to remove the root depending on where it was. If it wasn't going to fix the problem for sure, I didn't want to do it. They warned me it could get worse. I agreed, but passed on any commitments until I did more research. Ended up paying around $350 for that information. Right after, I googled and found RootX, which appears to be a $40 solution to getting rid of the root. Yeah, I think I'll try the $40 solution first. FYI, I then found pipe camera rental at Home Depot for $150 for 4 hours. In a nutshell, glad I waited and did my research. Felt this company could have laid out some options for me a bit better. Surely they knew it was at least worth trying $40 RootX before investing thousands of dollars in digging. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and maybe plumbers don't like using RootX - but the reviews are good. Due to rushed nature of plumbers and lack of options given I'm going to look for a different plumber next time. read more

Total rip off company. Charged over $600 for less than an hours work. Said the $680 is there minimum fee. Please don't call these guys they will rip you off for drain cleaning. read more

We scheduled an appointment on Friday for a Monday service call. I specifically asked that someone come out at the earliest appointment time of 9am, as we are coordinating several schedules between homeowners and realtors. We waited over an hour, when I called the office at 913, we were told he was en route and would arrive no later than 10. It was 1015am and he still hadn't arrived so we cancelled. This is infuriating as we have a very tight timeframe to receive our quotes. Very unprofessional. Will NEVER use this service again!! read more

Our water was backing up into the tub and toilet anytime we used the water. We called one company and scheduled an appointment for the next day. That company called us the morning of our appointment and cancelled. We then called Roto-Rooter to do the job. They came out the same day and we were able to use our water that evening. They worked well after dark to make sure we had use of our plumbing back. Super great service and we could barely see where they had to dig to replace the line. Looked great after they left. All I had to do was throw grass seed down. It was an expensive repair but all work and parts came with a great warranty! Service was super fast and professional. Worth every cent!! read more

I called Rotor Rooter after hours because they were one of the only plumbing services that answered the phone 24 hours. They sent someone out first thing the next morning (even before they had originally estimated). Evan was professional, did a quick assessment and fair estimate. Even after the actual work took a little effort that he originally planned, he held firm to the original offer. He also explained exactly what was going on with my plumbing, did a very thorough assessment under the crawl space. Very happy with the work and price. read more

My mother had a clogged bathroom sink. Two companies had already come out to fix it but with no success. The second company said she needed someone to come out that had a jet to clean out the pipe. We called Roto-Rooter and specifically asked if they could jet a bathroom sink and were told they could so we set up an appointment. The technician arrived and told us he could not jet the sink. He used a snake in the pipe which two other plumbers had already done but could not fix it. He put an enzyme in the sink and said if that didn't work the pipe would have to be replaced for $400-500. He charged us $140 and left. The pipe did have to be replaced but we found a plumber that did a great job for $200. We will not call them again. read more