Saw Mr. Rooter on HGTV and read the great reviews on this site. Had a leak on the ground floor that occurred only when using the plumbing on the third floor (not the second floor). Called in this company expecting that they'd have the experience and equipment to identify the problem quickly, so they could give me a quote for a fix. I was flustered by it and would have accepted any quote on the spot. Instead, George said that a full diagnostic was required for a $180 charge. If he had to cut a hole in the drywall that would be another $90. I understood that my explanation of the problem wasn't sufficient but he could have figured out the location of the leak by flushing 2 toilets. Instead, he spent 1.5 hours of his time and mine (I had to help of course) identifying that the leak was exactly where it was first identified. The bathroom on the ground floor was also left a sopping mess for which I apologized to the tenant. After this point George turns to me and says he can fix the leak for $1400-$1700 if i open the wall for him. This price dwindled to about $600 after about 30 seconds (this was the minimum charge for a ‘best case scenario’ situation). He did reference his pricing book during this time.
Had George come in and provided the expertise and professionalism to fix the problem for even $2000 I would have hired him on the spot. But instead I felt like my time was being wasted, that my input wasn’t valid, and that I was being nickled and dimed. So I paid the $180 and thanked him for his time. The fix eventually involved 2 hours to open the wall section and a $6 rubber cap.
