Mr. Rooter

On 12-24-2011, Mr.Rooter was called to address the issue of sewage backing up into the basement. "J, " the technician, agreed with the plumber from another plumbing company sent by HSA, who came out three days before he did, that installing a clean-out was necessary in order to accommodate a larger diameter snake. A "Valued Customer Protection Plan" was purchased in order to receive discounted pricing on future services. The stack that was installed by "J" was greasy, filthy, and looked like it had been pulled out of someone else's sewer line. A few minutes after installing the clean-out and into the drain cleaning process using the snake, "J" claimed that he was unable to get the snake very far into the line. "J" said that he would ask his buddy "E" to come out to the house and video inspect the line the following morning as a courtesy. "J" said that he would deny it if anyone said anything about him volunteering his buddy to come out to the house to video inspect the sewer line (We, my mother and I, thought it was a joke, but apparently it wasn't…It was clearly a bait & switch tactic). "J" had cleaned up the raw sewage that was in the basement with cleaner and rags.

On 12-25-2011, "J" showed up with "E" to run a camera in the sewer line. It is important to note that the video inspection (which consisted of viewing only 10 feet of sewer line from the newly installed and filthy new clean-out to house-trap) was performed PRIOR to drawing up any invoices and entering into contract for work to be done. During the video inspection, "E" claimed that he could not get the camera past the same point in the sewer line that "J" claimed that he could not get the drain snake past. "E" explained the process in nonsensical statements which essentially communicated that the sewer line was clogged, but never explained why it was clogged or what it might be clogged with so close to the home's foundation.

"E" told me (my mother was away for Christmas and I was there representing her) that the only way to fix the problem was to replace the sewer line. I inquired as to how much it would cost to do that believing that it was the whole sewer line that needed replaced as the length of the repair was NEVER specified verbally. "E" made a red flag statement while explaining the situation, "Be prepared to sign away your life savings…$10, 000…" Well, that cost was too much to authorize without speaking with my mother who I called on the phone and relayed the information that I was given by "E" and "J" and she gave me permission to sign the invoice and enter into an agreement for what she also thought was our entire lateral sewer line. "E" and "J" never spoke with my mother directly about the contract nor did "E" and "J" object to me signing my mother's name which is clearly in my handwriting.

Keep in mind, at this point, we thought we had licensed master plumbers reviewing the situation and believed that their recommendations would solve the problem. They were supposed to be the professionals, right? We knew nothing at all about plumbing. All we wanted was not to have sewage backup into our basement. Even after my mother gave permission for me to sign her name to the invoice and unknowingly her rights away under the FTC (if I didn't sign her rights away, they wouldn't have done the work as I was told - my mom was not aware that there were any such forms to sign when I was on the phone with her before hanging up to get the process started), I asked "E" multiple times before I signed the invoice and associated forms if the sewer line replacement that he suggested was going to solve the problem and he kept claiming that it would. After the invoice and its associated forms were signed, "E" and "J" got shovels and started digging, then ran the video camera again and recorded our address pulling the video camera out of the clean-out and having it point to the capless housetop (from what I read online, was it even our sewer line I was looking at or was it a dummy video?).

Upon closer inspection of the invoice, the diagnosis/recommendations read "draining slow" and there was no display of what the prices were for each service performed within the contract (camera, hydrojet, replace sewer line to housetop). If you refer to the first invoice on 12-24-2011, there are task numbers possibly indicating that those are the jobs in the price book; however, nothing like that exists on invoice 105738 written on 12-25-2011. Everything is lumped together for $10, 000 - like a number that was at the tip of their tongue. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the membership pricing, which we were entitled to receive according to the "Valued Customer Protection Plan" that was purchased the previous evening, was applied.

After signing invoice 105738 on 12-25-2011 and after the technicians left, THTMA's website was checked in order to be sure we were in compliance with their stated processes, especially after just relocating back to the area from NY. On the website, THTMA specifically states to CALL THEM FIRST and that they will inform the homeowner if they need to contact a plumber.

We had never experienced sewer line problems in any home that we lived in; therefore, we entered into the agreement based on the recommendation of "plumbing technicians" who we believed were licensed master plumbers (anyone can work for a master plumber in PA and Ohio with no license being required). "E" showed up before the excavation crew on 12-26-2011. We, my mother and I, explained our findings on the sewage authority's website and expressed our concerns about signing for work that the sewage authority should have been called in to assess FIRST. In response, "E" told us that their website was wrong and that we were supposed to call them first. We were reminded by "E" that the contract was already signed and paid in full, locking us into the work stated on the invoice (whether or not we needed it).

On 12-26-2011, I was overseeing the work, asking questions and reporting all actions performed by Mr. Rooter employees to my mother with photos and videos. When it was safe for my mother, she ventured to the work area to check in as often as possible in addition to receiving updates from me. During the course of the first part of the excavation, we both figured that since the basement floor was already getting torn up it would be easy to add a toilet.

"S" told me to ask "E" about installing a toilet when he came to camera inspect the outside part of the sewer line the next day on 12-27-2011.

On 12-27-2011, the hydrojetting truck came to pressure wash the inside of the sewer line for the first time. After the hydrojetting procedure was completed (10 minutes or less was spent actually in the sewer line), "E" arrived to camera inspect the rest of the sewer line. The camera inspection revealed a yellow #2 pencil, a 9-volt Energizer battery, and a clog.

Due to the proximity of the neighbor's trees to where the clog was in relation to the home's lateral sewer line, "E" said that there could be "possible root damage" as he claimed that he could not get the camera past the point identified in the yard to the main sewer line. So, because he never went past that point in the yard, "E" NEVER performed a full camera inspection of the home's ENTIRE lateral sewer line as implied from the previous invoice, which reads "camera outside sewer." The full length of the home's lateral sewer line, the part of the sewer line that the homeowner is responsible for, was supposed to be fully inspected and diagnosed by Mr. Rooter.

"E" said, once again, when explaining the situation to us was that the only way to solve the problem was to do a sewer line replacement on the rest of the sewer line, approximately 50 feet or less, for around $12, 000-$15, 000 in addition to the first invoice.

We told them, "No" and asked what other options were available to address the problem of the sewer line being clogged (research was done after the first sewer line replacement invoice and some knowledge was acquired about the different processes relating to sewer line restoration, but allowed "E" to talk.). "E" told us that there was a liquid that could line the sewer in the ball park of around $5, 000-$7, 000 that only carried a 1- year warranty. So, they wanted $5, 000-$7, 000 for a sewer line restoration procedure that wasn't guaranteed to last (it was described like the trenchless sewer technology that I see advertised by them now). Pass.

The only reasonable option that we thought we had at that time was to authorize the pipe burst procedure that "E" said would cost about $8, 000-$9, 000 and came with a 50-year warranty. "E" explained the the pipe burst procedure (actually, a slip lining procedure. pipe bursting is pulling a new smaller or larger diameter pipe into the place of the existing pipe while a machine breaks up the old pipe.) entailed inserting a 4" pipe into the existing 6" pipe that would be untouched. The $8, 000-$9, 000 price is what "E" verbally quoted for the procedure.

Getting smarter, but not smart enough….Before we signed the invoice this time, we insisted that he go get the price book and show us where the charges were coming from in order to be certain that membership pricing was being applied as per the valued customer protection plan which was purchased and paid for on [protected] from "J." "E" retrieved the price book and pointed to two jobs within the book. One of the jobs was supposedly given the membership price which was $4300. What the price is actually attached to is not defined within the invoice. The other price of another job was $5200 and it was not given membership pricing consideration because "E" said that we were getting a toilet at no charge. At the time and under stress from moving and having sewage backing up into the home, we didn't think about the relationship between "E's" verbal statements to us and what he actually wrote down on the invoices. It became clear when evaluating the invoices and the experience we had with Mr. Rooter after Mr. Rooter failed to remedy the problem of sewage backing up into the home. Basically, "E" told us that he was going to give us something that he didn't. The price difference between the actual price of the job that he pointed to in the price book and the membership price was $400; thus, he charged us $400 for the toilet he claimed in both verbal and written form that we were supposed to be getting at "no charge." The toilet was not free as the invoice states; therefore, "E" and Mr. Rooter of Pittsburgh lied on a business contract; hence, committing fraud. The lie was perpetrated in order to coerce us into entering into another expensive and unnecessary contract. At this time, everything was torn up…We were between a rock and a hard place. 

Upon closer inspection of invoice 105742 drawn up on 12-27-2011, it actually states the following: "replace outside sewer stopping 2' shy of main. bed oil pipe in gravel. additional cost 9500. prior cost 10, 000. new job total 19, 500. all cost are cpp discounted. installing new toilet no charge due to cpp membership. paying 9500 by check." Still "E" barely mustered up enough energy to put the prices for the tasks/jobs that were quoted in the right columns as the prices were written in the standard column. Unless you ask for a detailed invoice, apparently you won't get a detailed invoice. Technically, there is still no actual evidence we received membership pricing, although I am honest in saying that it was applied for one job price and not the other.

Upon the claimed completion of the contracted work on 12-30-2011, we were under the impression that the sewage backup problem had been adequately resolved as promised by the employees of Mr. Rooter of Pittsburgh. By the time we had exhausted my late father's life savings, we had expected and were under the impression that they had made it to the main sewer line; therefore, there was no way we should be experiencing any further sewage backups.

We were wrong!

After Mr. Rooter completed the projects, the sewage backed up into the basement and created a more extensive mess than previous backups due to the false sense of security provided to us by Mr. Rooter - that they had successfully solved our problem.

Mr. Rooter was called to address the situation and, in response, they sent out a hydrojetting truck. The hydrojetting truck ran pressurized water through the line, assured us that we should be fine, recommended we used Scott toilet paper (we did), and left.

One week after Mr. Rooter's hydrojetting truck came, the sewage backed up into the basement again. Mr. Rooter was contacted about the second backup, to which they responded by sending out another hydrojetting truck. The African American gentleman from the hydrojetting truck claimed that we had a "soft clog." For a "soft clog, " he had a very difficult time trying to clear it. His hydrojetting stream rose up out of the clean out approximately 3 or 4 stories like a geyser. He told us that had never happened before and that he didn't know why it was doing that. We decided to call the sewage authority to come out to evaluate the line as should've been done from the beginning. The sewage authority arrived as the Mr. Rooter hydrojetting truck technician waited around to see what the sewage authority was going to say. The sewage authority sent a camera up their main line and hydrojetted it. We specifically recall that the Mr. Rooter technician asked a sewage authority employee if the section of our home's lateral sewer line could be replaced from where Mr. Rooter's work stopped to the main. The sewage authority employee told him, No." Then, the sewage authority sent a camera up our home's lateral sewer line from the main line and couldn't make out what the blockage was. The sewage authority decided to go ahead and hydrojet our home's lateral sewer line from the clean out (where Mr. Rooter's work ended) to the main. The Mr. Rooter Hydrojetting technician said that they had better equipment and should be able to get the sewer line flowing (isn't that what Mr. Rooter advertises they can do?). Additionally, the Mr. Rooter tech said that he was afraid of getting the hose stuck in the sewer line and having to pay to get it removed. Prior to the sewage authority hydrojetting our home's lateral sewer line, the Mr. Rooter technician left.

One week after the sewage authority's intervention, another sewage backup occurred; we decided to skip calling Mr. Rooter, yet again, for a problem that they are obviously unqualified to address (recall mention of dumb-founded tech gazing in awe at the geyser spewing from the clean-out and the fact that this was their second time out after completion of work, in addition to them coming two or three times during the course of the contracted work). Instead, we called the sewage authority to come out and assess the situation. The sewage authority had arrived at our home and, as a courtesy, camera inspected the work that Mr. Rooter had completed in order to be sure that it was done properly, with the sewage authority determining that it was. The THTMA proceeded to hydrojet our home's lateral sewer line from the clean out located near the basement door at the house-trap to the main sewer line. On this visit, they did not camera to check that the line was clear; however, they did observed flow and thought that it was good to go.

In order to address the regular frequency of sewage backing up into our basement, the sewage authority employees decided to make an appointment to clean out our home's lateral sewer line using a camera to make sure that any blockages were cleared and to be sure that no additional work on our home's lateral sewer line was necessary. In a letter to Mr. Rooter of Pittsburgh, composed and sent on [protected], it stated that the township was coming out to assess the situation in addition to conveying exactly what frame of mind we were and are still both in. We were and are angry and extremely dissatisfied to have paid $19, 500 for a sewer line replacement/sliplining process that was supposed to be done up to within 2' of the main according to the contract but wasn't and $200 for a 5-year "Valued Customer Protection Plan" for the main purpose of receiving preferential pricing that there is no evidence that we received, and then find ourselves no better off than we were BEFORE signing the invoices and the forms that forced my mother to give up her rights under the FTC to have the "emergency" work done…We still experienced the emergency! I would hope that the FTC would agree that a business who makes people sign their rights away in an emergency and performs UNNECESSARY work which fails to prevent the emergency from reoccurring is a serious problem…A breech of contract.

Mr. Rooter didn't do anything to solve the problem in which they were contracted to solve. Apparently, upon receiving the email sent on [protected], "E" decided to show up at the house the following day just a few hours before the sewage authority arrived to do a camera-assisted clean out. First of all, we don't recall calling or receiving a call from "E" or inviting "E" to park his van in the back of our home (they advertise that they don't park in your driveway, but they did without being invited to) - I'm sure that if I searched phone records, I would be able to confirm this statement. In fact, we didn't even know anyone was on our property. That is, until we noticed a man walking across the porch, and then peering in the windows like a "Peeping Tom." It took a few minutes to realize that it was "E." We opened the door to find out what he wanted. He wanted to sell us a $5, 000 back flow preventer, claiming that it was the only way to prevent sewage from backing up into the basement again. At that point, we informed him that the township would be here in a few hours. We followed him to the back to be sure he got in his truck to leave and did not touch anything (based on reviews we found online, people have reported Mr. Rooter employees tampering with evidence). "E" spent quite a bit of time walking around talking on his cell phone before he finally left. After the sewage authority had arrived to camera inspect and clean our home's lateral sewer line (of grease), they determined that everything was fine. Since the SEWAGE AUTHORITY cleared the grease out of OUR HOME'S LATERAL SEWER LINE, the line that WE are responsible for and that Mr. Rooter was contracted to restore flow to but didn't restore flow at all, there have been NO SEWAGE BACKUPS in 12+ months!

Furthermore, we are extremely unhappy with the fact that the concrete slab in front of the outside basement door has a crack running where the old concrete meets the new concrete. When they first did it, it looked fine; however, after it dried, it cracked. The remainder of the concrete slab should've been jackhammered and re-poured as it was obvious that no bonding agents were appropriately applied.

Another thing that we are not happy about is that the drain for the basement shower was moved from its original location, making it hard to find a new shower base. All we had to do in order to use that shower, prior to excavation, was to replace the plumbing. Now we would have to worry about moving the drain or custom forming the shower base. Access was needed to a shower because the bathtub is very difficult to get in and out of due to a mobility-related disability.



In conclusion, NONE of the work that Mr. Rooter did contributed to solving the problem of sewage backing up into our basement. Mr. Rooter engaged in the following behaviors during our experience: high pressure and misleading sales tactics; breech of contract; and the inadequate completion and delivery of services.



To date, they have continued to victimize us - this time for reporting the truth! Our side of the story is consistently told every time, but theirs isn't…In communication with the BBB, Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Pittsburgh informed them (remember the invoice read a diagnosis of "draining slow") that there were massive amounts of grease in the sewer line (there were about two or three areas in the sewer line where Mr, . Rooter removed grease and one area where the township removed grease which was against where Mr. Rooter stopped work short of the main sewer line) to sending a photo claiming that a drain cleaning machine made the holes in the solidified grease (yes, the hydrojetting machine that was in the line unaided by a video camera for less than 10 or 15 minutes max - they spent more time setting the equipment up. maybe if the hydrojetting process was performed longer (like the 6 hours roto-rooter spent cleaning out some other person's line of grease in an article found online), it would have eventually started to break the grease up and move it along but that would've taken time and doesn't cost as much as a "dig" or "replacement/restoration" product) to claiming that the line was completely blocked and that the matter would be settled in court|. Really? They went from the diagnosis of "draining slow" on the invoice all the way to claiming the sewer line was completely blocked". If the sewer line is draining at all, even slowly, then it isn't completely blocked.

At the claimed completion of the sewer line work, we were told that we should have no problems for 50 - 100 years, but the sewer backed up repeatedly for about 3 weeks. Mr. Rooter advertises that they can remove years of grease accumulation from a sewer line with the hydrojetting process (we wish we would've called A1 Sewer Cleaning Specialists and avoided this nightmare all together because if they don't clear the line, then they don't charge - camera inspection is an additional fee but that is ok because it would still be cheaper and more effective!). Mr. Rooter advertises that they fix the problem right the first time (we had the same problem and no resolution, so they don't do that). Mr. Rooter Plumbing prides themselves in delivering "World-Class Customer Service" and claims to "have customer service down to a science:" we believe they better retest their theory because it either isn't getting implemented or it is a faulty process."

Stay anonymous when you try to warn others because the reality is that they probably won't move forward with you in an honest, respectable, and reasonable manner and, in our case, may attempt to punish you into silence and prevent you from speaking about the details of your experience.



Be very careful and have lots of witnesses, take lots of photos, take lots of videos, and never ever leave them unattended at your home!

On 12-24-2011, Mr.Rooter was called to address the issue of sewage backing up into the basement. "J, " the technician, agreed with the plumber from another plumbing company sent by HSA, who came out three days before he did, that installing a clean-out was necessary in order to accommodate a larger diameter snake. A "Valued Customer Protection Plan" was purchased in order to receive discounted pricing on future services. The stack that was installed by "J" was greasy, filthy, and looked like it had been pulled out of someone else's sewer line. A few minutes after installing the clean-out and into the drain cleaning process using the snake, "J" claimed that he was unable to get the snake very far into the line. "J" said that he would ask his buddy "E" to come out to the house and video inspect the line the following morning as a courtesy. "J" said that he would deny it if anyone said anything about him volunteering his buddy to come out to the house to video inspect the sewer line (We, my mother and I, thought it was a joke, but apparently it wasn't…It was clearly a bait & switch tactic). "J" had cleaned up the raw sewage that was in the basement with cleaner and rags.

On 12-25-2011, "J" showed up with "E" to run a camera in the sewer line. It is important to note that the video inspection (which consisted of viewing only 10 feet of sewer line from the newly installed and filthy new clean-out to house-trap) was performed PRIOR to drawing up any invoices and entering into contract for work to be done. During the video inspection, "E" claimed that he could not get the camera past the same point in the sewer line that "J" claimed that he could not get the drain snake past. "E" explained the process in nonsensical statements which essentially communicated that the sewer line was clogged, but never explained why it was clogged or what it might be clogged with so close to the home's foundation.

"E" told me (my mother was away for Christmas and I was there representing her) that the only way to fix the problem was to replace the sewer line. I inquired as to how much it would cost to do that believing that it was the whole sewer line that needed replaced as the length of the repair was NEVER specified verbally. "E" made a red flag statement while explaining the situation, "Be prepared to sign away your life savings…$10, 000…" Well, that cost was too much to authorize without speaking with my mother who I called on the phone and relayed the information that I was given by "E" and "J" and she gave me permission to sign the invoice and enter into an agreement for what she also thought was our entire lateral sewer line. "E" and "J" never spoke with my mother directly about the contract nor did "E" and "J" object to me signing my mother's name which is clearly in my handwriting.

Keep in mind, at this point, we thought we had licensed master plumbers reviewing the situation and believed that their recommendations would solve the problem. They were supposed to be the professionals, right? We knew nothing at all about plumbing. All we wanted was not to have sewage backup into our basement. Even after my mother gave permission for me to sign her name to the invoice and unknowingly her rights away under the FTC (if I didn't sign her rights away, they wouldn't have done the work as I was told - my mom was not aware that there were any such forms to sign when I was on the phone with her before hanging up to get the process started), I asked "E" multiple times before I signed the invoice and associated forms if the sewer line replacement that he suggested was going to solve the problem and he kept claiming that it would. After the invoice and its associated forms were signed, "E" and "J" got shovels and started digging, then ran the video camera again and recorded our address pulling the video camera out of the clean-out and having it point to the capless housetop (from what I read online, was it even our sewer line I was looking at or was it a dummy video?).

Upon closer inspection of the invoice, the diagnosis/recommendations read "draining slow" and there was no display of what the prices were for each service performed within the contract (camera, hydrojet, replace sewer line to housetop). If you refer to the first invoice on 12-24-2011, there are task numbers possibly indicating that those are the jobs in the price book; however, nothing like that exists on invoice 105738 written on 12-25-2011. Everything is lumped together for $10, 000 - like a number that was at the tip of their tongue. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the membership pricing, which we were entitled to receive according to the "Valued Customer Protection Plan" that was purchased the previous evening, was applied.

After signing invoice 105738 on 12-25-2011 and after the technicians left, THTMA's website was checked in order to be sure we were in compliance with their stated processes, especially after just relocating back to the area from NY. On the website, THTMA specifically states to CALL THEM FIRST and that they will inform the homeowner if they need to contact a plumber.

We had never experienced sewer line problems in any home that we lived in; therefore, we entered into the agreement based on the recommendation of "plumbing technicians" who we believed were licensed master plumbers (anyone can work for a master plumber in PA and Ohio with no license being required). "E" showed up before the excavation crew on 12-26-2011. We, my mother and I, explained our findings on the sewage authority's website and expressed our concerns about signing for work that the sewage authority should have been called in to assess FIRST. In response, "E" told us that their website was wrong and that we were supposed to call them first. We were reminded by "E" that the contract was already signed and paid in full, locking us into the work stated on the invoice (whether or not we needed it).

On 12-26-2011, I was overseeing the work, asking questions and reporting all actions performed by Mr. Rooter employees to my mother with photos and videos. When it was safe for my mother, she ventured to the work area to check in as often as possible in addition to receiving updates from me. During the course of the first part of the excavation, we both figured that since the basement floor was already getting torn up it would be easy to add a toilet.

"S" told me to ask "E" about installing a toilet when he came to camera inspect the outside part of the sewer line the next day on 12-27-2011.

On 12-27-2011, the hydrojetting truck came to pressure wash the inside of the sewer line for the first time. After the hydrojetting procedure was completed (10 minutes or less was spent actually in the sewer line), "E" arrived to camera inspect the rest of the sewer line. The camera inspection revealed a yellow #2 pencil, a 9-volt Energizer battery, and a clog.

Due to the proximity of the neighbor's trees to where the clog was in relation to the home's lateral sewer line, "E" said that there could be "possible root damage" as he claimed that he could not get the camera past the point identified in the yard to the main sewer line. So, because he never went past that point in the yard, "E" NEVER performed a full camera inspection of the home's ENTIRE lateral sewer line as implied from the previous invoice, which reads "camera outside sewer." The full length of the home's lateral sewer line, the part of the sewer line that the homeowner is responsible for, was supposed to be fully inspected and diagnosed by Mr. Rooter.

"E" said, once again, when explaining the situation to us was that the only way to solve the problem was to do a sewer line replacement on the rest of the sewer line, approximately 50 feet or less, for around $12, 000-$15, 000 in addition to the first invoice.

We told them, "No" and asked what other options were available to address the problem of the sewer line being clogged (research was done after the first sewer line replacement invoice and some knowledge was acquired about the different processes relating to sewer line restoration, but allowed "E" to talk.). "E" told us that there was a liquid that could line the sewer in the ball park of around $5, 000-$7, 000 that only carried a 1- year warranty. So, they wanted $5, 000-$7, 000 for a sewer line restoration procedure that wasn't guaranteed to last (it was described like the trenchless sewer technology that I see advertised by them now). Pass.

The only reasonable option that we thought we had at that time was to authorize the pipe burst procedure that "E" said would cost about $8, 000-$9, 000 and came with a 50-year warranty. "E" explained the the pipe burst procedure (actually, a slip lining procedure. pipe bursting is pulling a new smaller or larger diameter pipe into the place of the existing pipe while a machine breaks up the old pipe.) entailed inserting a 4" pipe into the existing 6" pipe that would be untouched. The $8, 000-$9, 000 price is what "E" verbally quoted for the procedure.

Getting smarter, but not smart enough….Before we signed the invoice this time, we insisted that he go get the price book and show us where the charges were coming from in order to be certain that membership pricing was being applied as per the valued customer protection plan which was purchased and paid for on [protected] from "J." "E" retrieved the price book and pointed to two jobs within the book. One of the jobs was supposedly given the membership price which was $4300. What the price is actually attached to is not defined within the invoice. The other price of another job was $5200 and it was not given membership pricing consideration because "E" said that we were getting a toilet at no charge. At the time and under stress from moving and having sewage backing up into the home, we didn't think about the relationship between "E's" verbal statements to us and what he actually wrote down on the invoices. It became clear when evaluating the invoices and the experience we had with Mr. Rooter after Mr. Rooter failed to remedy the problem of sewage backing up into the home. Basically, "E" told us that he was going to give us something that he didn't. The price difference between the actual price of the job that he pointed to in the price book and the membership price was $400; thus, he charged us $400 for the toilet he claimed in both verbal and written form that we were supposed to be getting at "no charge." The toilet was not free as the invoice states; therefore, "E" and Mr. Rooter of Pittsburgh lied on a business contract; hence, committing fraud. The lie was perpetrated in order to coerce us into entering into another expensive and unnecessary contract. At this time, everything was torn up…We were between a rock and a hard place. 

Upon closer inspection of invoice 105742 drawn up on 12-27-2011, it actually states the following: "replace outside sewer stopping 2' shy of main. bed oil pipe in gravel. additional cost 9500. prior cost 10, 000. new job total 19, 500. all cost are cpp discounted. installing new toilet no charge due to cpp membership. paying 9500 by check." Still "E" barely mustered up enough energy to put the prices for the tasks/jobs that were quoted in the right columns as the prices were written in the standard column. Unless you ask for a detailed invoice, apparently you won't get a detailed invoice. Technically, there is still no actual evidence we received membership pricing, although I am honest in saying that it was applied for one job price and not the other.

Upon the claimed completion of the contracted work on 12-30-2011, we were under the impression that the sewage backup problem had been adequately resolved as promised by the employees of Mr. Rooter of Pittsburgh. By the time we had exhausted my late father's life savings, we had expected and were under the impression that they had made it to the main sewer line; therefore, there was no way we should be experiencing any further sewage backups.

We were wrong!

After Mr. Rooter completed the projects, the sewage backed up into the basement and created a more extensive mess than previous backups due to the false sense of security provided to us by Mr. Rooter - that they had successfully solved our problem.

Mr. Rooter was called to address the situation and, in response, they sent out a hydrojetting truck. The hydrojetting truck ran pressurized water through the line, assured us that we should be fine, recommended we used Scott toilet paper (we did), and left.

One week after Mr. Rooter's hydrojetting truck came, the sewage backed up into the basement again. Mr. Rooter was contacted about the second backup, to which they responded by sending out another hydrojetting truck. The African American gentleman from the hydrojetting truck claimed that we had a "soft clog." For a "soft clog, " he had a very difficult time trying to clear it. His hydrojetting stream rose up out of the clean out approximately 3 or 4 stories like a geyser. He told us that had never happened before and that he didn't know why it was doing that. We decided to call the sewage authority to come out to evaluate the line as should've been done from the beginning. The sewage authority arrived as the Mr. Rooter hydrojetting truck technician waited around to see what the sewage authority was going to say. The sewage authority sent a camera up their main line and hydrojetted it. We specifically recall that the Mr. Rooter technician asked a sewage authority employee if the section of our home's lateral sewer line could be replaced from where Mr. Rooter's work stopped to the main. The sewage authority employee told him, No." Then, the sewage authority sent a camera up our home's lateral sewer line from the main line and couldn't make out what the blockage was. The sewage authority decided to go ahead and hydrojet our home's lateral sewer line from the clean out (where Mr. Rooter's work ended) to the main. The Mr. Rooter Hydrojetting technician said that they had better equipment and should be able to get the sewer line flowing (isn't that what Mr. Rooter advertises they can do?). Additionally, the Mr. Rooter tech said that he was afraid of getting the hose stuck in the sewer line and having to pay to get it removed. Prior to the sewage authority hydrojetting our home's lateral sewer line, the Mr. Rooter technician left.

One week after the sewage authority's intervention, another sewage backup occurred; we decided to skip calling Mr. Rooter, yet again, for a problem that they are obviously unqualified to address (recall mention of dumb-founded tech gazing in awe at the geyser spewing from the clean-out and the fact that this was their second time out after completion of work, in addition to them coming two or three times during the course of the contracted work). Instead, we called the sewage authority to come out and assess the situation. The sewage authority had arrived at our home and, as a courtesy, camera inspected the work that Mr. Rooter had completed in order to be sure that it was done properly, with the sewage authority determining that it was. The THTMA proceeded to hydrojet our home's lateral sewer line from the clean out located near the basement door at the house-trap to the main sewer line. On this visit, they did not camera to check that the line was clear; however, they did observed flow and thought that it was good to go.

In order to address the regular frequency of sewage backing up into our basement, the sewage authority employees decided to make an appointment to clean out our home's lateral sewer line using a camera to make sure that any blockages were cleared and to be sure that no additional work on our home's lateral sewer line was necessary. In a letter to Mr. Rooter of Pittsburgh, composed and sent on [protected], it stated that the township was coming out to assess the situation in addition to conveying exactly what frame of mind we were and are still both in. We were and are angry and extremely dissatisfied to have paid $19, 500 for a sewer line replacement/sliplining process that was supposed to be done up to within 2' of the main according to the contract but wasn't and $200 for a 5-year "Valued Customer Protection Plan" for the main purpose of receiving preferential pricing that there is no evidence that we received, and then find ourselves no better off than we were BEFORE signing the invoices and the forms that forced my mother to give up her rights under the FTC to have the "emergency" work done…We still experienced the emergency! I would hope that the FTC would agree that a business who makes people sign their rights away in an emergency and performs UNNECESSARY work which fails to prevent the emergency from reoccurring is a serious problem…A breech of contract.

Mr. Rooter didn't do anything to solve the problem in which they were contracted to solve. Apparently, upon receiving the email sent on [protected], "E" decided to show up at the house the following day just a few hours before the sewage authority arrived to do a camera-assisted clean out. First of all, we don't recall calling or receiving a call from "E" or inviting "E" to park his van in the back of our home (they advertise that they don't park in your driveway, but they did without being invited to) - I'm sure that if I searched phone records, I would be able to confirm this statement. In fact, we didn't even know anyone was on our property. That is, until we noticed a man walking across the porch, and then peering in the windows like a "Peeping Tom." It took a few minutes to realize that it was "E." We opened the door to find out what he wanted. He wanted to sell us a $5, 000 back flow preventer, claiming that it was the only way to prevent sewage from backing up into the basement again. At that point, we informed him that the township would be here in a few hours. We followed him to the back to be sure he got in his truck to leave and did not touch anything (based on reviews we found online, people have reported Mr. Rooter employees tampering with evidence). "E" spent quite a bit of time walking around talking on his cell phone before he finally left. After the sewage authority had arrived to camera inspect and clean our home's lateral sewer line (of grease), they determined that everything was fine. Since the SEWAGE AUTHORITY cleared the grease out of OUR HOME'S LATERAL SEWER LINE, the line that WE are responsible for and that Mr. Rooter was contracted to restore flow to but didn't restore flow at all, there have been NO SEWAGE BACKUPS in 12+ months!

Furthermore, we are extremely unhappy with the fact that the concrete slab in front of the outside basement door has a crack running where the old concrete meets the new concrete. When they first did it, it looked fine; however, after it dried, it cracked. The remainder of the concrete slab should've been jackhammered and re-poured as it was obvious that no bonding agents were appropriately applied.

Another thing that we are not happy about is that the drain for the basement shower was moved from its original location, making it hard to find a new shower base. All we had to do in order to use that shower, prior to excavation, was to replace the plumbing. Now we would have to worry about moving the drain or custom forming the shower base. Access was needed to a shower because the bathtub is very difficult to get in and out of due to a mobility-related disability.



In conclusion, NONE of the work that Mr. Rooter did contributed to solving the problem of sewage backing up into our basement. Mr. Rooter engaged in the following behaviors during our experience: high pressure and misleading sales tactics; breech of contract; and the inadequate completion and delivery of services.

Stay anonymous when you try to warn others because the reality is that they probably won't move forward with you in an honest, respectable, and reasonable manner and, in our case, may attempt to punish you into silence and prevent you from speaking about the details of your experience.



Be very careful and have lots of witnesses, take lots of photos, take lots of videos, and never ever leave them unattended at your home!