My mother is 88 years old and resides alone in the Umatilla Oregon area. I think she's fairly sharp for her age but like many folks of her generation, she tends to trust people more than she should. She isn't able to do much maintenance around the house herself so, when a drain pipe plugged recently, she called Mr. Rooter of Hermiston.
Mr. Rooter dispatched a "technician" who unplugged the drain. He then proceeded to sell my mother a $200 maintenance agreement which amounts to doing a home inspection. According to the "technician/salesman" every supply valve to all the sinks and commodes in the house had to be replaced. This amounted to 8 valves, the type you would buy at Home Depot for $6 to $10 each. For this my mother was charged $464.23. Additionally, all of the lines (8) from the valves to the sinks and commodes were replaced at a cost of another $366.66.
Adding insult to injury, this "salesman" replaced the washer hoses at a cost of $95.17 and the supply valves to the washer for $111.34. These particular hoses were replaces about 2 years ago. I have owned my own homes for more than 45 year. I have owned and maintained rental property for most of those years and I have never seen the need to replace a supply valve to a sink, commode or washer unless doing a remodel. All together my mother was charged $1037.40 for something that was completely unnecessary. All this in addition to the original $200.
I contacted the manager of Mr. Rooter Hermiston office. He was unapologetic and didn't seem to be at all bothered by the "salesman's" deception. He didn't seem embarrassed that his company had duped an elderly woman out of the better part of a months income. It's obvious Mr. Rooter is engaged in predatory business practices and is taking advantage of the elderly and others who are vulnerable. If you have a relative or a friend that may be susceptible to this type of dishonest tactic please warn them to beware of Mr. Rooter.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer my opinion.
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