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The Worst Plumber - Review by citysearch c | ARS / Rescue Rooter Raleigh

ARS / Rescue Rooter Raleigh

The Worst Plumber 4/28/2010

I don't know if by one review this will assist other consumers, but my experience with this plumbing service was a very bad one, and one that only happened in February 2010. I called them for a clogged drain, to flush out the system because the toilet was leaking through the gasket. On the first visit that evening, a single repair guy was there over 5 hours. He didn't flush out through the city line, where the drain to the city line meets my house, he flushed out before the flapper that keeps the city water from backing up into my house. As a result of him flushing out through the main water pipe, he blew the flapper down into the drain where it meets the city pipe, and couldn't get the flapper out. He didn't tell me this. He told me he couldn't unclog the drain. He said he'd return the next day with a crew. The crew returned, and they couldn't move the flapper that was now firmly wedged against the city pipe. They told me they would now have to excavate my front lawn. They handed me an estimate of $2500.00 So, the next day, I cancelled their service and went with another plumbing company. They excavated my lawn, they had no choice, and they found the flapper. I asked them how did the flapper get down there to the city line? They said, that the repair guy from ARS blew out the drain before the flapper, and consequently blew the flapper down the drain, blocking any potential drainage. It could not be repaired unless I excavated the property. The other plumbing company charged $1022.00 for the excavation - a lot cheaper. So, long story short, if ARS had used their tools to blow out the clog where the flapper was, and where the flapper keeps out the city sewage, instead of going in through the main water pipe, they wouldn't have blown out the flapper that prevents the city water coming into my house. This was a simple clog, pretty ordinary, but because of the way the ARS repairman executed the problem, it turned out to be very bad, and very costly for me. Now, though I excavated the property (a 6' x 10' hole on my front lawn and down 6' feet deep), we removed the flapper (and I have this flapper - a piece of rubber about 6" in diameter), I now have to replace the flapper. Replacing the flapper that prevents the city water from backing up into my house means tearing up my floor in the utility room - the estimate I received for this was $1200.00. I wouldn't use ARS ever, and I don't recommend them in any way. Pros: none Cons: a lot more