Rescue Rooter reviews and complaints

I am a former ARS Rescue Rooter employee. I answered an ad in the want ads looking for a plumber position. I'm a licensed plumber and needed a job so i applied. Got an interview and got hired. This company doesn't pay by the hour here in Las Vegas, NV. They pay on a commission based system called "Comission Units" aka "CU".
For example: If I replaced a toilet and charged the client $850 (yes this is an actual cost they charge) then I would make 1.5 CU's. When you first start with the company, you start out at @ $20 per CU. So in the case of the toilet i would get paid $30 plus the ten dollars for going to the call. Regardless of how long it took me to do the work, I would make $40 in this case.
Some people might not think that's too bad. After all this rate is $20 per hour right? WRONG! We (the plumbers) are dispatched to calls that are primarily "cold" calls. Meaning someone ( a telemarketer) from our office called the client without warning to schedule a "free health and safety inspection".
When people hear "free" they usually say yes. Everybody wants free stuff right? The objective of the "free Health and safety inspection" is to get a plumber in the house to find stuff to fix. Even if it doesn't need fixing.
The position I applied for was a plumber position, not a salesman position. But the problem with this is if I didn't sell anything then I didnt get paid anything. Again, they pay for sales not by the hour.
Another example: Let's say your water bill is through the roof and you notice a wet spot in the yard. Call Rescue Rooter and a couple guys show up ( a plumber and "supervisor"). They go through the process of isolating the source of the problem and tell you that your main water line is leaking. First thing people ask is "ok, How much?" This is when the "supervisor" and his plumber retreat to their vehicles to "work on the numbers".
Now when I first started with this company, I had responded to lots of main line leak calls. When it comes to being paid to do the work, I would be asked by my "supervisor" how much I wanted to make. Looking at the yard it would take me a day to dig the new line and install it. Then half a day to come back and backfill the yard after the inspection was done. So I would say "$600". So that number would be placed into the bid process and a number would would be generated. The general going rate was between $4000 and $6500 depending on the size and difficulty of the job. Usually the client would say ok and sign the work order. Obviuosly we dont tell the client how much the plumber gets paid.
Now jump forward to a few months before I quit working for these rip off artists. Remember when I explained the pay structure? The CU system and how I would get compensated? Now I find myself on a main line replacement. The total bill we charge the client is still between $4000 and $6500. The work is still just as time consuming and difficult. However one thing has changed dramatically. Instead of getting a lump sum of $600 to do the work (which normally took 2 1/2 days total), now Im getting 14 Cu's and nothing more. And if I wanted help from another plumber to get it done faster then we have to SPLIT the CUs! 7 CUs each! So I would get paid approx. $140 to do 2 1/2 days worth of work!
That's not just the only thing. They raised the cost of almost everything to the client and cut in half what they pay the plumber to do the same work.
An average day worked at ARS here in las vegas starts at 7 am (morning meeting) and ends some time @ 8 pm. Again they don't pay by the hour. They do this to avoid paying overtime. They are overworking the staff and placing unnecessary stress on the employees because they can. Because there is no law that says they can't. I am interested in joining a class action suit against ARS of Nevada. There is already one currently in California.

Yes they do, and Ray Olson is the worlds worst GM

I called Rescue Rooter because they were the only 24 hr plumbing company that answered the phone at 11:00 p.m. I had a leaking water heater. Over the telephone the operator, who answered the phone, said the only thing they could do at this time of hour is shut off the water. I told the operator I will wait until morning. I am not going to pay a service fee for this. The plumber came out and said he could repair the pipes to keep it for leaking but he was not sure if it will hold more than 30 days. Okay. I was okay with his answer. I just wanted to get a few more estimates on how much a new water heater would truly cost me. He said it would cost over $1, 500.00 for a water heater. When he put the pipes on the water heater, one of the pipes was bent and the water still flowed more than ever. He told me he would have to replace the whole water heater. He had the audacity to charge $295.00 for nothing. He not fix anything and made the water flow worst than before. I called the manager and of course he was not willing to just charge for the service fee of coming out. He is suppose to credit me just $95.00. So they stole my money and I had to have another plumber come out right after this company. This company came out, changed out my water heater, replaced the pipes, strapped down my water heater so that it's up to code, fastened my pipe which runs from the roof for such a reasonable and fair price. This lesson to this story is do not call a 24hr service especially Rescue Rooter. If you can wait until morning to get a reputable company that is honest and stand behind its service, please do it. This company is a rip off and take advantage of women.

I keep receiving Postcards from Rescue Rooter stating I currently have a $30 water Heater Inspection & sediment Flush _Rebate Credit_ with them that will expire on Sept 30. I have never done business with them, and feel it is a deceptive Ad designed to get someone in the door to make a profit when they are inferring that an existing Credit will pay for a service. (reminds me of the Nigerian scam that claims you will get money, but wants to to send money first...)

This company has always ripped off the consumer. The reason I left was due to the water heater inspections. The inspections are used to get more money from the customer. The same can be said about the free plumbing inspections. At the end of the day these guys would meet back at the shop and brag about how bad they overcharged the customer. As far as the overhead is concerned ask them about the 30 dollar charge the consumer pays to cover that. They call it a T.O.S, which is a charge on the invoice for gas and operating cost. They charge 280 for a main line 176 for other drain lines 999 to replace a water heater 5000 to replace a main sewer.

I'm inclined to agree with the complaint, vs the defenders. Here's why:

I received in the mail today, a "Water Heater Safety Notice" from this same company.

1. They are not a public health or safety commission - so right away the notice is misleading.

2. The "special offer" for an inspection and flushing of the water heater was TWO HUNDRED dollars! (minus a $50 "rebate") pfffffffffttt !

Anyone who's not completely invalid can inspect and flush their own water heater. It's a crime that this company would think to "sell" this service at such a high cost (especially in the current terrible economy). Thumbs way down to this bunch of creeps at Rescue Rooter.

I would not use Rescue Rooter again, and would not recommend for anyone else. We had a leak in the sewage pipe, and toilet overflow. The service personnel said it would take 1-2 hours, he was done in less than 10 minutes and charged $380. A week later, we had the exact overflow again in the toilet and they came out again. The clerk could not find anyone to be available on the same day so they came out the next morning (even though she said someone would be at our house within 2 hours). No call or message that they could not make it.

The new technician found one of the pipe was clogged and said the previous cleanout forgot to flush the second pipe, WTF? For $380 and he did not complete the entire job! They snake the camera into the pipe and found roots in the cemet pipe. New quote for $2900 to dig 6" inches into the ground to repair so we decided to call another plumber company to inspect. The new company agreed with the findings but quoted less than $1000 to fix. These guys should just try to rob the bank!

Yes, how much should you have been charged? Could you have completed the repair yourself? Do you work?, Can you justify the prices your company charges? Does it cost McDonalds $2.99 to make a Big Mac? Because you feel you shouldn't be charged what you were does not mean you're right, Remember, you didn't have to sign the invoice.

Tricia how would you know what a plumbing job should cost? Do you know what insurance, overhead, liability ins., tools, trucks, training, disposables, etc. cost? If you didn't like the price the gun to your head was in your head. Quit bad mouthing hard working plumbers and companys and fix your own plumbing!

You couldn't just shut off the water for 24 hours? There's no 24 hour convenience store you can use for the restroom and/or drinking water? Not even close enough to justify $1000?