Provider profile
Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup
Provider snapshot
What this listing says
Kansas City metro homeowners dealing with water damage and mold together, who want one national franchise to handle plumbing repair, water extraction, and mold work under a single call.
Best for
- Kansas City metro homeowners who need water damage cleanup and mold remediation handled by one company, start to finish.
- Property owners with active flooding or sewage backup who need a 24/7 emergency response that can also fix the plumbing source.
- Commercial property managers across the KC metro (both KS and MO counties) who need a single vendor for plumbing, water damage, and mold under one contract.
- Insurance-claim situations where you want a company that documents every step and bills your insurer directly.
- Buyers who prioritize fast dispatch over lowest price and are willing to pay franchise rates for same-day or next-day response.
About this company
Roto-Rooter in Kansas City, KS, is a national franchise location at 4600 Kansas Ave that operates primarily as a plumbing and water damage restoration company. Mold remediation is one piece of a much broader service menu that includes drain cleaning, sewer line work, water heater repair, and emergency flood response. Manager Don Scarpelli runs this location.
What stands out here is the single-provider model. Roto-Rooter handles the plumbing repair that caused the water damage, the water extraction and drying, and the mold remediation all in-house. Their website states technicians are IICRC-trained and use HEPA vacuums, air scrubbers, dehumidifiers, and antimicrobial treatments for mold work. They also bill insurance directly and provide documentation with photos, drying logs, and diagrams.
The company has operated since 1935 nationally. This Kansas City location holds an A+ BBB rating and MO plumbing license #204549. They claim 24/7 availability with no extra charge for nights and weekends on plumbing and drain work. They offer senior and military discounts and financing through Synchrony Bank.
4.9 stars across 2,862 Google reviews is an unusually strong rating at that volume. Most companies with thousands of reviews settle around 4.5-4.7 because volume introduces more variation. The field technicians consistently earn praise, which suggests the day-to-day service delivery is strong even when the billing and mitigation sales side draws complaints.
Services
Service area
Headquartered at 4600 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS 66106. Serves the full Kansas City metro across 17 counties: Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas, Leavenworth, Jefferson, Miami, and Franklin counties in Kansas; Jackson, Cass, Lafayette, Clay, Ray, Buchanan, Johnson, Platte, and Clinton counties in Missouri. Named cities include Olathe, Overland Park, Lenexa, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Independence, Liberty, Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, and Saint Joseph. This is a broad footprint for a single location.
Review consensus
Field technicians earn strong and specific praise. Destin (also called Destin Murray) appears in at least seven positive reviews for fast response, late-night availability, and persistence until the job is done. Hebersain (sometimes spelled Herbersain or Hebeisain) draws similar praise from at least seven reviews for being polite, knowledgeable, and thorough. Lee gets singled out for diagnostic skill and kindness. Other named techs drawing praise include Chris (#0368), Mark, Richard, Steven (#1218), Garrett (#358), Jarad, Jeremy, Jason, Robert Sullivan (#0377), Brad Breen (#1237), Adam, Jarrod, Scott, and Dalton. Reviewers repeatedly cite fast dispatch times (often under two hours), courteous technicians who explain the work, and willingness to respond on nights, weekends, and holidays.
7 found across 2862 total reviews at 4.9★. The dominant complaint is inflated billing, especially on water damage and mitigation jobs. Chris Borgman received a $11,000 bill on a $6,000 job and spent two months negotiating it down by $4,300. The Laydee Bea says she was quoted $3,000 but billed for cleaning her entire basement when only a small area was affected. T Walker reports being overcharged 50% for a grinder pump repair and billed for services the insurance company deemed unwarranted. Jeffrey Rush Jr. paid $771 for a drain inspection he says found nothing, then was quoted $16,000 for sewer work. Martin Wood describes a $15,000+ total experience involving a mitigation salesman named Nick P. who promised insurance would cover costs, then went on vacation and stopped answering calls. He also reports the mitigation crew kept drying equipment running on a rotted piece of wood that would never dry, extending billable time. Anonymous truth reports incomplete sewer work and being ghosted by staff. Chelsea Fowler notes a plumber insisted on becoming her insurance advocate to continue working together. In every case, the owner response from Pat Swanson (Customer Satisfaction Manager) follows an identical template directing the reviewer to email pat.swanson@rrsc.com.
There is a clear split between field technicians and the mitigation/billing side of the business. The plumbing techs consistently earn 5-star reviews for fast, courteous, skilled work. The complaints cluster around what happens after the initial service call: mitigation sales tactics, inflated scopes of work, billing errors, and poor communication from office staff. This is a structural pattern common to large restoration franchises where the field team and the project management/billing team operate as separate functions. The owner responses are uniformly templated, with every single one directing the reviewer to email Pat Swanson. None engage with the specific complaint details, which reads as reputation management rather than genuine issue resolution.
Destin Murray (technician — strongly positive, multiple reviews). Hebersain (technician — strongly positive, multiple reviews). Lee (technician — positive). Chris #0368 (technician — positive). Mark (technician — positive). Richard (technician — positive). Steven #1218 (technician — positive). Garrett #358 (technician — positive). Jarad (technician — positive). Jeremy (technician — positive). Jason (technician — positive). Robert Sullivan #0377 (technician — positive). Brad Breen #1237 (technician — positive). Adam (technician — positive). Jarrod (technician — positive). Scott (technician — positive). Dalton (technician — positive). David (technician — positive). Nick P. (mitigation salesman — negative, accused of misleading on insurance coverage). Don Scarpelli (manager — neutral, named on website). Pat Swanson (customer satisfaction manager — neutral, responds to all negative reviews). Pam (manager — neutral, mentioned in one billing dispute).
For mold work specifically, ask whether they will use an independent third-party assessor or their own in-house testing, and get the full scope and price in writing before any mitigation equipment is deployed. Request Destin or Hebersain if your job starts with a plumbing call. Watch the invoice closely on any water damage or mitigation project: the pattern of billing disputes suggests you should compare their itemized quote against at least one local competitor before signing.
Keep in mind
- Roto-Rooter does both mold testing and mold remediation, which creates a conflict of interest. A company that finds mold also profits from removing it. Consider getting an independent mold assessment before committing to their remediation scope.
- Billing disputes are the most common complaint in recent reviews. Multiple reviewers report initial bills that were 50-80% higher than the final negotiated price. Chris Borgman received an $11,000 bill for what he says was a $6,000 job; The Laydee Bea was quoted $3,000 and billed $7,000. Review your itemized invoice line by line before paying.
- The mitigation sales process drew a detailed complaint from Martin Wood, who described the salesman Nick P. as making promises about insurance coverage that did not materialize. Ask for written confirmation of what is and is not covered before work begins.
- Their service area spans 17 counties across Kansas and Missouri. Response times for locations far from their Kansas City KS headquarters at 4600 Kansas Ave may vary from the under-two-hour window reviewers near the office describe.
- Several reviewers note pricing is significantly higher than local plumbers for the same work. Carl Rowland paid $354 for two minutes of sewer line cleaning. This is a national franchise, and their rates reflect that.