Called for a clogged drain pipe that both my kitchen and bathroom sink were affected by. I had purchased a $40 cable auger from Home Depot and tried snaking the clog out myself for about 3 or 4 hours. The clog was in my main stack down to the sewer. The issue wasn't getting through the clog, the issue was getting the snake to go down into the stack instead of across into the adjacent pipe. I called Roto-Rooter as they have a 4.9 star rating on Google and provide 24 hour service. I was impressed with the time the plumber showed up. I was told 7pm roughly when I called at 5ish and he ended up there by 6pm. The quote for the unclog was about $350 which seemed outrageous but I was in a pinch, I had already gone 2 days without my sinks by this point. I said to proceed anyways. The plumber who showed listened to what I had to say but I could tell wasn't really "believing" me if that makes sense. I kept telling him I thought his snake was going from my kitchen into the bathroom (the same thing that was happening to me) instead of down into the sewer pipe. He said he was pretty sure he was in the clog and got through it. I let him proceed one again. When we tested the water it was still clogged. His explanation was "I'm sure you and I both got through the clog but it's just so bad that water still wont go down". Now I may not have went to Harvard or Yale, but I'm pretty sure that if a 1/4-1/2 piece of cable gets through a clog, water really shouldn't have an issue passing, even if slow. But it was not even draining at all still. I mentioned to the plumber I researched the issue and thought about climbing onto my roof and snaking the clog from the sewer vent because it was a straight shot down into my main stack/sewer pipe. All he said we "yea we don't do anything like that". He then said he would get me an estimate and details for his suggested fix. He went out to his van for about 10 minutes and came back with an $850 quote. The quote was for drilling 2 holes into my kitchen and bathroom floor to run new drain pipes which was 4-6 hours of work and a two man job. I said thanks but no thanks. The water was draining fine before the clog so I didn't think entire new pipes were really needed. The next morning my dad came over with a latter. We dropped the cable auger down my sewer vent, and in about 90 seconds unclogged the blockage. I will say I am happy that at least Roto-Rooter didn't charge me for the 45 minutes the plumber attempted to unclog my drain, but extremely unhappy with the lack of helpful advice. the shrugging off of the solution I thought would work (and was right), and the crazy solution of spending almost $1000 to put hole in the floor (which by they way he mentioned wouldn't be hidden by walls, just exposed drain pipes). I will never call Roto-Rooter again, not because they couldn't fix my problem, but because of their lack of concern for what was in my best interest as a potential customer.
