I hired Roto-Rooter to replace my sewer line from my house to the curb. I paid them and they did the work. On September 19, I found my basement covered in sewage. I called Roto-Rooter; almost twelve hours after my phone call they came out and couldn't get the sewer line cleared. The next morning a crew came out, said they'd have to dig up the street (at a starting cost of $3,600). Of course I refused to sign anything until they explained to me what exactly they were going to do; they told me not to use the sewer, stared at the street for three hours then left.
Meanwhile I had contacted the Minneapolis city sewer inspector and told him of the problem. Over the next several weeks I tried unsuccessfully to get Dave Smith (the Roto-Rooter excavations head who did my previous work to give me a detailed written estimate. I was unable to live in my house at this time.
Finally I hired another company, who dug down near my sidewalk and discovered that Roto-Rooter had failed to connect the new sewer line to the existing line. Sewage had been pouring into the ground and back through the line into my basement. The city sewer inspector came over, put a call into Dave Smith, and suggested he come over and have a look. He refused. I spoke with him and asked him if he realized the extent of the damage he had caused, and told him I needed the name of the claims department, as I was going to make a claim against Roto-Rooter. He replied, "I am the claims department, " offered no apology, and told me to send my complaint to his office. I itemized some of my expenses, sent it off to him. I didn't hear from him for two weeks, gave him a call, was told he was still "looking over the paperwork, " waited two more weeks, called him again, was told he sent it off to his "division manager" Darryl Banks, and the matter was out of his hands. I informed Dave Smith that I was going to start charging them interest on the amount they owe me. His reply was, "whatever." I called Darryl Banks, upset, threatened to take them to court, and said I expected to be reimbursed. He said, "I'll mail the paperwork off to the insurance company and you can give them a call. The matter is out of our hands at this point." I called the "insurance company" (actually Roto-Rooter's claim company) long-distance and was told that they couldn't read the paperwork Roto-Rooter had sent and that I just needed to be patient.
So this is how matters stand today. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (no answer). I have called the Minneapolis Mediation program, and they said that they'd send notice to Roto-Rooter, which (of course) has not responded. I complained to one local TV station which runs a consumer action program, and they said they'd forward my complaint through their program to Roto-Rooter. So, here I sit. I was unable to live in my home for 26 days, my sidewalk around the area of my sewer line has sunk and needs to be replaced, I am out the money I paid Roto-Rooter to do the initial work as well as the money I paid the other company to fix the problem, I needed to have my basement professionally cleaned and disinfected, and I missed some work as a result of this, to say nothing of the amount of time I spent and am still spending trying to get this matter resolved. Does anyone out there have any advice for me? I have reached the end of my patience in dealing with this company and their unethical, shameful business practices. Thanks in advance!
0 comments