Jack Howk / Rescue Rooter – Portland

Did not show up on two different days. I could have gone with other options but I’ve been left without water for an extra week because of their failure.

Late Christmas evening, discovered water popping up between floor planks. Believing that’s not something that should happen, started calling plumbers. This was Christmas night, and I happen to live in the woods and there’s not a lot of services nearby even in the daytime. On the third call, spoke to Rescue Rooter who agreed to send someone out from Washington State (no one from any nearby towns in Oregon responded to this emergency). Alex arrived within the stated timeframe, estimated the job’s involvement and cost, then went to work. He did a fabulous job replacing our water heater, late this Christmas evening. Can’t say enough good things about this experience — I’d recommend them to everyone and anyone and would use them again in a heartbeat. Good job!

I have a clogged drain from my tub/​shower. This drain pipe is shared with my tub/​shower and an old basement lavatory. The water has basically routed into the basement lavatory and overflowed on the basement floor. These are the only 2 fixtures affected by this clog. I called this company which specializes in removing clogged drains.
A nice technician came out the same day. I explained my issue but after testing the upstairs bathroom sink, he was convinced that sink, the tub/​shower and basement lavatory were all connected to the same drain pipe. I didn’t understand this assumption. Then he told me it will cost me $ 275 flat rate to do the work. WOW! He then quoted me $ 261 citing some difference of doing it from a shower instead. I stupidly agreed to this because I already took time off work. I have an adjacent crawl space where that drain is located and it has a cleanout and the p-​trap for the shower. Also, there’s the p-​trap under the old basement lavatory. Instead, he told me he would access this from my bathroom sink (which was weird). Though the best access point is the p-​trap on the old lavatory, he said he might break a part of the assembly (I think he said it’s called the dead arm) and they’d have to pay for it. Okay, he’s the pro and I’m paying more than I think I should pay. For one hour he snaked the wrong drain pipe. I finally had to show him what was going on. I asked him that the cleanout on that drain line in the crawl space should be a good access point. He told me this company does not access cleanouts in crawl spaces because plumbers have died getting caught with the snake machine in the crawl. WHAT? Okay. At this point, my confidence in this company is at a low point. He said he could access through the tub/shower’s overflow drain. I didn’t see what he did but he told me he couldn’t get the cover off because it’s a new fixture. WHAT? Then he kept telling me he didn’t want to access from the old lavatory. Then he said he’d try the clean out in the crawl space even though before he said they don’t do this. I set up a light for him and he wasn’t in there long and said he couldn’t get the plug off. Granted it’s cast iron pipe so I imagine it would be difficult but I doubt he tried very hard and I only saw one plumber’s pipe wrench. So he quotes me another $ 100 to replace any broken parts on the old lavatory (the materials of which might cost me $ 10 at the store).
At this point I said stop. I called a city plumbing inspector (I work for a local jurisdiction) and he said this is a rip off. Most licensed plumbers can do this for about $ 125 to maybe $ 200 if it’s difficult. In the end, I’m happy that I paid nothing for 3 hours of a failed visit from Jack Howk/​Rescue Rooter. I still have a clogged drain but now I saved money. If they charge this much money for one clogged drain, they better know which pipe, know how to work on old plumbing, and have the ability and experience to access it from any point. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. You can do a lot better.

Don’t bother. I left early from work to wait for 4 hours for a no show. Completely unacceptable. They cost me money in the time I wasted.

Very speedy getting here on Super Bowl Sunday! The gal I spoke with on the phone was very friendly, and Matt did a great job fixing not only our shower that would not shut off, but an additional shower that has had a slow drip for some time. Will definitely be using again if needed.

Charles Shandera was our technician. He arrived on time, was wonderfully clean, did a thorough and quick job. I would definitely recommend rescue Rooter simply off of Charles’s customer service. He was a pleasure to work with and took care of all of our needs.

They were called to come on a late Saturday and were so flexible when we decided to reschedule to Sunday. They were on time, courteous and extremely competent. When it became clear that we were not dealing with just a clog, but with dirt in our line, which could indicate a break, they brought in a higher resolution camera? When it was clear that we were dealing with a collapsed section, they proposed a solution to our blown cast-​iron laundry room drain pipe. We scheduled for the next day. However, on Monday, when Jack Howk came for second eyes on the job and it was discovered that the problem was worse than had been anticipated, and a further section had also broken, the staff at Rescue Rooter were extremely professional when we asked them to stop while we got a second opinion and competing bid.
Trenton was very good at explaining the problems to the second plumber and was super professional. The work that Rescue Rooter did for us was excellent. The Rescue Rooter crew was courteous, careful, and completely cleaned up after themselves.
I am so glad that we called them in. I will use them again, should I ever need this type of service again.

Being a new homeowner I’m learning a lot on the fly about what I can build or fix myself or what I need to call a professional for. I’ll admit I have a short fuze when it comes to plumbing problems and boy do we have a nice list of issues related to all of our galvanized pipes in our house. We called in Rescue Rooter first to solve a draining issue with our new bathroom sink. We were pretty sure the galvanized pipes were just corroded beyond repair. Rescue Rooter tech Gabe braved our crawlspace for an afternoon and replaced the drain, but also showed me the inevitable problem with the water lines as well. They were so corroded they were beginning to burst. It made sense to have him replace those lines too. Everything worked great afterword.
We called them in again to put in a proper drain line for our washer as the previous owner had decided it was ok to just dump it out a pipe in the wall, right to the ground outside! They came over to scope the job and quote it. They were perfectly on time and ready to do the job on the spot if we wanted. I wasn’t sure about the timeframe or price so they let me think about it for a day. I had the job explained to me in detail and when I gave the greenlight they were again there on time with all the parts they needed. Gabe solved this one for me too. He asked a few questions along the way giving us options. He was quicker than he quoted me and finished the job just as planned.

Oh boy where do I begin… For you quick readers the cliff notes are WORST SERVICE, HORRID COMMUNICATION, BUSH LEAGUE FOLLOW UP and about as honest as a ocean side realtor in Nebraska!
Called last Saturday at 950 am, representative was supposed to be there between 11 – 1 no show, we called at 130 for status, dispatch said now 2 – 4, no show no call, the 4−5… No show no call, then 5−7… You guessed it no show no call. I called and lit up Brooke at local dispatch and she offered me a Cosco can of excuses. Finally at 950pm one of their plumbers showed up and he was very nice but didn’t have anything to fix our issue (worn out gasket on pump tank) so Sunday am a new plumber showed up, was there for about 15min and didn’t have the parts ether though the previous guys supposedly told dispatch what we needed. So he tells my GF that he needs to find the parts and will call me directly Monday late morning. Well Monday came and went no call. I called dispatch again on Tuesday, they called that tech and he said he forgot and was «on it» would call me Wednesday… Wednesday came and went, no call no show. Called dispatch again today and this person told me he was on PTO earlier in the week and is now out with a bad back. HUH??? He was just «on top» of our parts Monday afternoon.
I have requested a owner or supervisor to call me three times now with no success. Brooke in dispatch need to find a new job because her attitude, empty excuses and even more empty time frame promises are the worst I have ever experienced and I have seen my share of poor business practices over my years.
I would highly recommend… As high as a person could recommend not to call this company. It has been so bad I was waiting for Austin Kutcher to come out and tell me I was being Punk’ed. No such luck

Problem: This is one of those instances where the company unknowlingly sent out a plumber who did not have the experience or knowledge to solve the problem. The short story is that his solution to unclog the tricky drains was to reconfigure the drain setup under the house so he had a chance of getting the claw through himself. Proposed cost: Over $ 1,000!
Result: He was educated by us, and had the assistance from us, to get the claw through the tricky drains using his camera, and the main line was unclogged without further incident. See, the claw absolutely could get through to the main line without having to replace all the lines under the house.
Further result: Relieved customer to have drain unclogged, but at the same time unhappy and frustrated customer who, if they did not know better, could have been bamboozled into unnecessarily spending a lot more money than they should have to unclog the main line.
Resolutions: The company cared about what happened, and they informed me that the plumber is no longer with the company. They worked hard to understand the complicated situation and worked with me to arrive at an acceptable resolution to this uncomfortable situation.
Recommendations: In the end, I would have to say that the company took ownership of the the work their employee did (even though he was no longer with them), took this matter seriously, and they made it right for me. I appreciate that very much and would think of them again if I was in need of a plumber.

complete rip off.1700 dollars for one hour of work, two garbage disposals and a pressure replacement valve… don’t use this company until you compare to someone else
I could have had my gardener do it for 20 dollars if I had supplied the supplies.

Our pipes froze and then broke due to the cold weather in Portland recently. Larry from Rescue Rooter came to assess and fix the problem. Not only did he do an outstanding job, it was probably one of the best customer service experiences I’ve ever had. He was thorough and professional, and kept me up-​to-​date on everything that was going on. If I ever have another plumbing issue in my home, Rescue Rooter is the only company I will ever call … And I will ask for Larry!

Excellent experience with Landon. True professional, great person, did everything he could to make the experience easier for our family. We were without water for a week and really starting to get stressed out, he helped keep my father calm and went above and beyond our expectations.
When we needed him to return a few days later to do extra work that hadn’t been expected, they sent the same technician!

It’s past midnight and I attempt to do some DIY Shower faucet leak repair. Big mistake. Thanks a lot OCD and YouTube. I’ll spare you the details here, but I will say water was leaking out at medium pressure and turning off the water valve in the house didn’t stop it. The water meter valve outside wouldn’t budge either (it hadn’t been turned in years and it was freezing temp outside).
Some googling, a dozen or so phone calls led me to Jack Howk Rescue Rooter. A couple hours later he showed up at 3:30am! His name was Erik Guzman. This guy got out of his bed in the middle of the night and drove almost an hour to get to my place. This guy was super friendly and very helpful. I was completely floored when he told me he lived in a town that normally is an hour commute from my place to arrive and do service at 3:30am. Sure it was late and I was dead tired but this guy came when no one else would.
I highly recommend Erik and his company. This was a true emergency I needed to get done in the middle of the night and he got it done. Thanks Erik!

Erik Guzmon was accommodating with his schedule when I had ordered replacement parts to come back and install them. He was professional and nice to work with. He also performed a multiple of tasks including faucet repairs, toilet minor rebuild, water heater draining, and flushing drain in shower. He was helpful when I asked his opinion about a possible sink hole to the side of the house and also took a look at the roof vent system that appeared to be clogged or capped. Thank you!

Be ware, this place is sketchy! I knew when the plumber told me that if I had any problems In the next month, then it was gonna get real expensive. And of course I did. This company obviously doesn’t guarantee their work, also when my problem reoccurred, they would not give me any guidelines over the phone on how I would be charged even with their prior work on my house. And the clincher, the next plumber did more extensive work, guaranteed their work, and charged me HALF of what I paid rescue rooter! I don’t want anyone else to go through the crap I did!

We had a kitchen drain (with garbage disposal) that was backing up. Something obviously lodged in the pipe, the sort of job that takes about 10 minutes with a snake.
Called these guys and they sent someone out promptly. He checked the drain and quoted us a price of about $ 400 (!) to «really clear it thoroughly» because it was «likely there was lots of sludge down there.» I said I wouldn’t pay that much. He said he could do the «second best» procedure (i.e., stick a snake down there) for $ 290. I said I wouldn’t pay that either. He asked «well, what were you thinking of paying?»
I should’ve kicked him out of my house right then but I said «under $ 200» and let him go back to his truck to «call the boss» (I’m sure) and he came back and quoted me $ 202.
He did the job with a snake and of course there was no «sludge down there.» But I felt ripped off paying $ 200 for this job.
It’s my own fault for letting him do it at that price, but that doesn’t mean I can’t warn others that these guys are highway robbers trying to get whatever they can. You’ll do better elsewhere.

Our water heater is leaking — we need a new one. Their estimate for a new water heater plus the pressure relief valve and expansion tank is $ 3900! But they didn’t separate parts from labor. I checked the cost for parts and came up with $ 1200. That’s $ 2700 in labor!!! For a job that will take no more than 5 hours and more likely between 3 and 4!!! Do the math. That’s about $ 500 per hour. Really.
I will say they are friendly, professional and responsive. But how much does that really cost?

They did a perfectly acceptable job on the replacement I had done a few years ago, but as a result of using their services once they think it’s appropriate to call me with offers of other services.
Yeah, no. It’s not.

If it is Christmas Eve and raw sewage is coming up out of your toilet onto the floor call them and be happy paying about 250 for the visit. That’s my 1^st experience with them, they were great, solved the problem in a bad situation. It was on a home insurance paid a co-​pay no complaints really no idea what it cost.
2^nd call. Backed up drain in a rental and an office at my farm both on same property. Not urgent, told them slow drain come when you can, I had a $ 50 coupon. This is NOT what they are for. They charged me separately for each house, with associated «truck fee» etc. In the end I spent $ 550 for an hour of unskilled labor (after the 50×2 coupon). It is not hard to run a powered snake.
The real annoyance is the «time share» style hard sell on all the things you need to fix. Basically I had to listen to a half hour of hard sell telling me I need to replace all the pipes in my house. Really? Can you provided the service for me? INCREDIBLE! Where’s my home equity line of credit?
Call these people to RESCUE you nothing else. I have no problem paying someone who cleans up raw sewage off my floor. If you have a backed up drain call a rental place and get a cordless drill powered snake, it is not rocket science.
With a time share sales push you at least get a free night in Mazitlan, with these guys you just get a freakishly large bill.