My email to RotoRooter...
On Friday, my wife and I found that our downstairs toilet was backing up and almost overflowing and our sinks weren't draining quickly. We called Roto Rooter and they sent out a technician. The technician (Fritz) came in, snaked the toilet, tried to sell side work to my wife (offered to clean out our sinks 'off the record') and then left after about 10 minutes. He charged us $177 and insisted on my pregnant wife going to an ATM and getting cash instead of a check. She declined and wrote him a check.
On Sunday, our downstairs toilet overflowed into our living room and our washing machine upstairs overflowed into the ceiling and into the same living room downstairs through a light fixture. It poured onto our brand new couch and my laptop. The toilet overflowed onto the hardwood floors outside of the bathroom.
We contacted Roto Rooter again and another technician (Scott) arrived and immediately diagnosed the issue as the main sewer line and proceeded to clean it out. He noted that the last technician should have checked the basement as it was readily noticeable that our main pipes were leaking into our basement as well. Scott did a tremendous job and I wish he was the person who came out at first. He charged us $347 for the main line clean out and we purchased the $50 Pipe Shield product as well.
We would have gladly paid to have our main line cleaned on the first visit, but I do not feel that the first technician did the job right and caused us an extremely hectic weekend. I have to have an electrician come in to make sure our ceiling light fixtures aren't damaged, my laptop requires repair, we need to have our couch cleaned, we ruined some good towels mopping up the grey/black sewage that backed out into the house and we have no idea of the mold problem that may occur because of the water penetrating into the ceiling and through the hardwood floors.
We would like to know what can be done to fix this issue? At the very least, we do not think we should be financially responsible for the initial $177 visit. I have called and left a message at the local department, but have not heard back.
On Sunday, our downstairs toilet overflowed into our living room and our washing machine upstairs overflowed into the ceiling and into the same living room downstairs through a light fixture. It poured onto our brand new couch and my laptop. The toilet overflowed onto the hardwood floors outside of the bathroom.
We contacted Roto Rooter again and another technician (Scott) arrived and immediately diagnosed the issue as the main sewer line and proceeded to clean it out. He noted that the last technician should have checked the basement as it was readily noticeable that our main pipes were leaking into our basement as well. Scott did a tremendous job and I wish he was the person who came out at first. He charged us $347 for the main line clean out and we purchased the $50 Pipe Shield product as well.
We would have gladly paid to have our main line cleaned on the first visit, but I do not feel that the first technician did the job right and caused us an extremely hectic weekend. I have to have an electrician come in to make sure our ceiling light fixtures aren't damaged, my laptop requires repair, we need to have our couch cleaned, we ruined some good towels mopping up the grey/black sewage that backed out into the house and we have no idea of the mold problem that may occur because of the water penetrating into the ceiling and through the hardwood floors.
We would like to know what can be done to fix this issue? At the very least, we do not think we should be financially responsible for the initial $177 visit. I have called and left a message at the local department, but have not heard back.