AVOID AT ALL COSTS. What started as a run of the mill powder room faucet and toilet handle…read morereplacement has turned into a month-long fiasco, complete with a toilet that hasn't stopped running, no sink at all, and, worst of all, severely damaged hardwoods on two floors (amounting to several thousands of dollars of damage). To add insult to injury, the business/franchise owner has actively avoided our calls for several weeks now. Well, time's up. Atlanta customers deserve to know what to expect if they move forward with this business. Here's what happened:
11/24: Mr. Handyman (affiliate of Mr. Rooter) comes to replace bathroom sink faucet and toilet handle, among other minor things. He was unable to complete the plumbing work and said we'd need to have a plumber come out. We paid $612.16.
11/25: Arthur from Mr. Rooter comes and states that Mr. Handyman completed the work incorrectly and he needed to strip out and the work and re-do it. Arthur re-did the faucet installation, which required turning off the water supply to the house. When he completed the work inside the hours, we paid the invoice ($1,560.28), after which Arthur headed outside to turn back on the water supply to the house. When he did, gallons of water began shooting out from the walls. Apparently he failed to connect the water supply lines to the sink, a reckless breach of the duty owed to us. As a result, water flooded the bathroom, hallway, and home office. We jumped into action immediately, grabbing every towel we could find to absorb as much of the water as quickly as possible, using our shop-vac, and running an industrial style fan to help with water remediation. Arthur watched this happen and also tried to help. Notwithstanding our efforts, water also seeped through the floor and walls down into the basement, partially flooding two areas. Although we got all standing water up as quickly as possible, within hours the real hardwood floor boards were bowing in the affected areas on the main floor, and water was seeping up between LVP planks in the basement.
11/26: Mr. Rooter sent out a master plumber, an agent of Mr. Rooter, who called the franchise owner and took photos. He apologized that this had happened and assured us that Mr. Rooter would make it right.
11/26 - 12/4: We made several calls to Mr. Rooter asking for updates and repeatedly requesting that they send hardwood and water remediation professionals to assess damage and recommend the appropriate course of action.
12/4: Mr. Rooter finally sends a third party hardwood expert to assess the damage and provide a quote to repair or replace the floors (a tacit acknowledgement of their initial duty and breach, the damage caused, and their obligation to make as whole). Mr. Rooted failed to send a water remediation expert to address possible mold risk, despite our requests.
12/5: The hardwood expert provides Mr. Rooter with a quote.
12/5 - 12/19: Again, we've made REPEATED calls to Mr. Rooter asking to speak with the owner. Each time we call, we're told by someone at the office that he will call later that day and that they understand our case is a priority. The owner did call us once early in this time period - around 6:45 am. Though we called right back, he did not pick up and has since failed to call us back despite multiple follow-ups and assurances from the office that "he'll call you today" or "he'll call you this week." They even once told us, "Oh he literally just stepped out to go to the bank. He'll call you right back." Not surprisingly, he did not call us back.
Enough is enough. Today is December 21, almost a full month since this business damaged our home, left us without a working bathroom, and kept our payment despite the foregoing.
I am appalled by Mr. Rooter's business practices, their total failure to remedy the damage they caused and make us whole financially, and their lack of urgency in this matter. My patience has officially run out, and with it, my desire to avoid litigation.