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Report: #1149859

Complaint Review: Roto-Rooter - Bergenfield New Jersey

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  • Reported By: Joe Gioia — Wayne New Jersey
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  • Roto-Rooter 2 Lake Street Bergenfield, New Jersey USA

Roto-Rooter Careless Disregard for Customer's Property/Concerns Bergenfield New Jersey

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I used Roto-Rooter from the Bergenfield, NJ franchise twice before my last experience and not had a problem.  Last week, I had a technician come to check a problem with the sewer line from my house to the main sewer line in the street.  Instead of checking the line through the cap to the sewer line in the basement, he checked it through the service bathroom on the first floor of the house.  This involved the technician removing the toilet from the floor, something that a previous technician did several years ago.  This particular technician had a difficult time accessing the sewer line and finding the problem, which ultimately was that roots had infiltrated the line and there was a breach in the line resulting in the technician finding dirt there.  The problem is that unlike during the previous visit, this technician did not use a padded drop cloth to lay the coils of his snake/auger upon when he placed them on the floor.  This technician laid the coils on the unprotected tile floor of the bath and on the hardwood floor in the hall outside the bath.  While he was trying to find the problem, the technician was getting frustrated.  I heard the coils hitting the floor as he was linking them and exchanging them.  When I went to check on him, there were roots, soil, and dirty water all over the floor.  The shade on the window, which is expensive, was pushed up and I could see that the technician had laid the palm of his dirty hand on the shade and soiling it, instead of using the cord to raise the shade.  The tech’s work caused dirt and soil to splatter all over the bathroom.  He did not wear gloves or protective shoe coverings as he was touching things or going back and forth to his truck tracking the mess from the bathroom through my hall.

When the tech was done, he helped clean the bathroom, but I still had to clean it after he left.  He did not have a tool to remove the sticky substance that is used to seal the toilet to the floor that was then all over the bathroom, including the shade, and I had to give him a kitchen spatula, which I continued to use after he left.  When I pointed out that there were cracks in the floor tiles where he had laid the coils, the tech’s response was that it really wasn’t serious.  When I mentioned the soiled shade to him, he said it could be easily cleaned.  In fact, the shade could not be cleaned easily and now I have to get a professional shade cleaner who can’t guarantee the soil can be removed.  When I called the franchise office after the tech left to express my concern, the woman I spoke with took my info and said someone would return my call.  I called 24 hours later and the gentleman I spoke with had no idea that I was to receive a return call.  When I told him my concerns, and that my previous experience was that the tech used protective drop cloths, the man’s comment was that they don’t use them anymore.  He said that he was not at my home when the tech was performing his work, and that he would arrange for a conference call at 8 a.m. the following Tuesday after the Memorial Day weekend between him, me, and the tech.

 At 7:45 a.m. that Tuesday the tech called but he was unaware that there was to be a conference call.  I explained to the tech that I felt he did not use precautions and disrespected my property.  The tech seemed unconcerned about my own concerns and said that he did the best he could to fix my problem.  He conveyed that collateral damage was a natural outcome of the nature his work and not his carelessness or disregard for my property.  He said he couldn’t talk because he had a job to go to and subsequently hung up.  I called the franchise office and the woman I spoke said that there was no one there to take my call and that someone would call me later in the day.  I called the customer service number I found on the Internet and they referred me to franchise administration in Iowa.  The woman I spoke with in Iowa told me that she would direct my concerns to the franchise office and have someone call me back.  At this point, I am just getting the run-around.

 I believe that no one at Roto-Rooter truly cares about the customer and $550 later, all that matters is that they found the problem.  Interestingly, when I had a plumbing contractor come to my house to give me an estimate on replacing the sewer line, he said the Roto-Rooter technician should have checked the sewer line through the sewer cap in the basement and not through the toilet.  He said that the probably went through the toilet because the sewer cap is usually difficult to remove and most techs don’t want to be bothered with it.  If that’s the case, then the tech should have used greater care in performing his job and not disregard my property or my concerns in such a casual manner.  Bottom line is that I won’t be using Roto-Rooter again.  

           

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/27/2014 07:27 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/roto-rooter/bergenfield-new-jersey-07470/roto-rooter-careless-disregard-for-customers-propertyconcerns-bergenfield-new-jersey-1149859. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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