Roto Rooter Plumbing Lawsuit

Numerous homeowners are reporting that Roto-Rooter pressured them into unnecessary and expensive repair jobs. Routine drain cleaning, usually a $239 visit, quickly turned into large scale excavations costing thousands of dollars.

Lawsuit: Homeowners have filed a lawsuit alleging that Roto-Rooter systematically pressured homeowners into unnecessary repair jobs by misleading them into thinking they had a much greater plumbing problem than they actually did. The lawsuit, filed today in Hennepin County, Minnesota, asks the court to order Roto-Rooter to cease and desist its deceptive practices and to reimburse homeowners for all unnecessary work they paid for.

Allegations: The Homeowners say in their lawsuit that Roto-Rooter has a business practice when responding to minor customer problems of giving those customers false information and grossly exaggerating the need for repairs. Specifically, instead of merely removing clogs in pipes with the Roto-Rooter machine, or otherwise resolving the problem in the most cost efficient manner, Roto-Rooter has engaged in a common pattern and practice of deceptive conduct by telling consumers that clogged pipes could not be cleared with a routine cleaning. Rather, Roto-Rooter pressured consumers into believing that the solution required an expensive excavation and “repair.” Although a routine line cleaning should cost no more than a few hundred dollars, the Company pushed unnecessary excavations, costing thousands.

Criminal Investigation: Many homeowners in the Twin Cities have lodged complaints with the City of Minneapolis, which is conducting a criminal investigation into Roto-Rooter’s practices. The full scope and scale of Roto-Rooter’s conduct is not yet known.

Additional Information

• Roto-Rooter accused of billing for unneeded work, startribune.com
• Roto-Rooter hit with class-action lawsuit, twincities.com
• View the Complaint
• Whistleblower: Law to target plumbing company scams, startribune.com
• Whistleblower: Minneapolis police investigate fraud claims at Roto-Rooter, startribune.com
• Is there something rotten at Roto-Rooter?, startribune.com
• Mpls investigates complaints against popular plumbing company, kare11.com

Protect your rights and take action. If you recently had major plumbing repair work done by Roto-Rooter, you may want to check if you have a potential legal claim. If you would like more information, or would just like to talk with someone experienced in this area of litigation, please call us at 800-755-0098 or click below to fill out an online free case review. Zimmerman Reed is experienced in handling consumer protection cases, and we welcome any questions you may have.