Mr Rooter Plumbing Of Mississauga On

I had called Mr.Rooter - the franchise based in North York -when I noticed small amounts of water backing up from the basement drain. A Mr. Rooter technician showed up and used his camera to examine the drainage pipes. He couldn't find any blockage and said that the obstruction must have been cleared on its own. But the water backing up continued and second person showed up 2 days later. This time he noticed that the trap under the drain was filled with roots. (The original technician never bothered to examine the drain and was quick to recommend the use of the expensive camera equipment to look down the sewage drains). It was roots in the drain causing the blockage. He indicated that this could be a major repair, since the roots could have affected a wider area, and there would need to be digging into the floor, replacing the drain, possibly clearing additional roots and pipe replacement. He quoted $2800 for the work. After I requested some consideration, he agreed to $2700. A 3rd person arrived the next day and discovered that the root infestation was only limited to the drain/trap and that there was no other damage or evidence of roots. He replaced the drain, filled up the small home on the basement floor and went on his way. Later that day the project manager in charge called me, acknowledged that the job was less than estimated and offered to drop the cost to $2300. After much arguing, and me explaining that the original quote was overblown, he agreed to $2000. I told him I was still not satisfied but did not want to spend the rest of my day arguing when he said that he could go no lower, I paid. So, the original quote anticipated a fairly major piece of work to repair an assumed damage which in fact did not exist. The technician spent a total of 2.5 hours actually on the job- he did go away for another hour to find a part- which to me represents an hourly rate of $800. When I compared my job to other costs I had paid in the past to replace pipes, repair/replace sinks and toilets, he explained that the big difference was in digging out the floor, removing earth, etc. Somehow this was in a different category than standard plumbing. I dont buy it, the hole might have been 14 deep by 15 wide. This was not a major excavation, and not in my opinion does not compare to the more complex work done by a certified plumber. I then escalated my complaint to the Operations Manager, who did not budge on the price. He explained that I got a good deal, since the very basic book price for a spot job was $2800. He did not respond to my query about how jobs are actually costed out. He did agree to refund me the $400 I paid for the first useless, misdiagnosed visit, but only after some frustrated discussion he believed I had already been refunded this amount when the quote was dropped to $2000. So, if you ever have any digging to do in your basement and you are willing to throw your money away, call this company.