My review is mostly positive, albeit with a significant caveat that anyone reading this can decide…read morehow to interpret for themselves.
Apparently a new family that owns the Mr Rooter franchise in Santa Cruz recently took over Mr Rooter in the Monterey area; they have excellent reviews in Santa Cruz (check them out), and the less-great reviews for the business in Monterey are based on prior ownership.
Customer service was outstanding, some of the best I've ever experienced: they were extremely responsive, helpful, and friendly.
The plumber who showed up was also great: capable, friendly, and patient.
My caveat takes a little explaining:
I have a fairly new tank water heater barely out of warranty (based on the installation date of the prior unit it replaced). The manufacturer offered a cost-free valve and pilot assembly replacement as a goodwill gesture. I got a quote from a different, highly regarded local plumbing business on the phone for the labor cost to install the new valve. I told Mr. Rooter that, and they said if I wanted a quote from them, I needed their plumber to do a no-obligation in-person estimate, which was fine with me.
When the plumber showed up, he indicated there was actually a substantial charge for the estimate, as a credit to be applied to any work done. I decided to proceed. Further, the plumber recommended a full inspection and cleaning of the water heater, which more than doubled the cost of the work. After some discussion because I was shocked by the amount, I decided to proceed, which I think was a mistake. As best I can tell, the additional work literally involved just a couple minutes of shop vaccing a little build-up off the burner assembly; everything else the plumber did would have been part of replacing the valve and pilot assembly at less than half the price.
Further, the plumber noticed the cold water shutoff valve for the water heater wasn't fully shutting off, which would have been an easy/quick/cheap replacement while he was onsite, but instead decided to quote me for a costly return visit to address that. Frankly, given what I paid for the whole job, I think this should have either been included in the job or offered at a very modest upcharge. (Separately, apparently the house water shutoff valve also needs replacement; that's appropriately a wholly separate job.)
Given how much I liked everyone involved, it pains me a little to write these more negative parts of the review. And I've decided to still give a pretty strong overall rating, though anyone who reads this can decide how to weight the various parts of the review.