Mr. Rooter

Whatever you do, do not contact thus company for any reason. On 2/11, my main sewer line backed up. My usual guy wasn't available, so I called Mr. Rooter. I told Christine, the receptionist, that they would need at least a 50" snake, with a 4" cutter. Jason, who according to his card is an "Underground Utility Manager", showed up with an assistant, shortly followed by two other guys who just happened to be in the neighborhood. I took them downstairs and Jason's 1st order of business was to try to sell me a $500 power wash. I let him know #1, that was too much, and #2, that has no affect on roots. It might blast debris through them, but not remove them. They got ready to snake, and I left them to it. I was called back down shortly after by Jason, who showed me the snake head and told me that it was bent. They said it hit something in the drain. As "a courtesy", they ran a camera. I was there, and had 4 plumber guys staring at the tiny screen pointing out this and that and telling me that the clay pipe had collapsed. Why would I question them? They're professionals, right? They then informed me it would be $5000 to dig up the yard and fix it. They tried to get me financed, and I was thankfully declined. They left. I sent emails off to many other companies trying to find someone that would work out payments. One of them contacted me back, and pretty much said (without really saying) that Mr. Rooter was scamming me and to please let him just snake my drain. Which I did. And surprise surprise, my drain is fine. They even showed me some of the roots that had come back with the claw. After reading Better Business Bureau complaints, this is a common practice with Mr. Rooter. Several people have described the exact same scenario. Some are even worse, with digs started and not finished because they wanted more money. Stay as far away from this company as you can.