My daughter called around and settled on Mr. Rooter. The service call was $95, and they said they’d be out that night. That didn’t happen. After waiting several hours, she called the call center again and was told they’d “check the status.” An email followed saying the technician wouldn’t make it and would come on Saturday instead. Saturday came. No show. Another call to the call center. Same response. Another email—this time blaming extreme weather. Now the technician will come on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, the technician finally arrived. He quickly said the pipe had collapsed and that further investigation was needed. For an additional $5, a supervisor with a camera would come out. He was “30 minutes away,” so the technician left. Ninety minutes later. nothing. We called the call center again. Same script. About 30 minutes after that, the local office finally called to say the supervisor was actually 2.5 hours away and wouldn’t make it until Monday. We scheduled Monday for 3:30 PM so it wouldn’t interfere with work. On Monday, Scott and another technician showed up around 3:00 and by 3:20 declared the pipe “collapsed.” I immediately noticed something odd—they were wearing nice, clean, expensive-looking clothes. Not exactly what you expect from people diagnosing sewer problems. Scott explained the collapse was 5 feet underground and close to a tree, so they’d need an excavator. This made no sense. The pipe exits the house only 2–3 feet below grade, and the “collapse” was about 6 feet from the foundation. Then came the quote: $5,500. He added that there were likely 2–3 more collapses between the house and the street. Each one? Another $5,500. 

He also mentioned they had $200,000 plumbing jobs they couldn’t get to because they were too busy doing jobs like this. Odd, considering what came next. Before leaving, Scott said one of their crews would actually be free the very next day, and if I agreed before he got home, they’d do the job for $4,500. 

That was all the confirmation I needed. Massive red flags. 

I immediately started calling other companies. 

One of them was Tooter Rooter. 

Jay answered the phone immediately—clearly while driving. I explained the situation. He turned his truck around and was at the house in 30 minutes. Yes, the service call was $300—significantly higher than Mr. Rooter’s. Worth every penny. 

Jay arrived with his assistant, and they instantly looked the part. Exactly what you expect from people who actually work on sewers. They got right to work, trying to clear the blockage for over an hour. Jay explained he believed the issue was a pipe shear—where two different pipe materials are connected with a rubber coupling and shift out of alignment. He located the blockage in the same area Mr. Rooter did and showed me it was only about 2 feet down, not five. His quote? $1,500 to hand-dig and repair it. He invited me to be present during the repair so I could see everything myself. When they came back to do the work, they proved him exactly right. The issue was right where he said it would be: a pipe shear at the transition between the cast iron leaving the house and the PVC going to the street. Inside was a massive 3-foot-long root ball. Jay reached in—bare-handed, like a true sewer guy—pulled it out, replaced the damaged pipe section, added an exterior cleanout, and they were done. I cannot thank Tooter Rooter enough for their hard work, honesty, and professionalism. Jay proudly calls himself a “turd nerd,” and he earned that title. I hope none of you ever need this kind of service—but if you do, do yourself a favor. Skip the cheap initial call from Mr. Rooter and pay more upfront for a legitimate professional. It will save you thousands! 

Highly recommended.

-Brian M 1/2026