Windy City Rooter, Inc.

Long read, but definitely worth it! Please join me on my roller coaster of a day. So, something happened today that absolutely blew my mind. I have never experienced anything like it. This morning, I woke to find the smell of gas in my kitchen, so, I did what any sane man would do and call a local plumbing company that received great reviews from my favorite radio station as well as online: Windy city rooter. A gentleman by the name of Max picked up the phone and after telling him of my plight, he promptly told me to call Nicor as they generally fix these type of issues for free (after calling three other plumbers, each told me this is absolutely incorrect and they would just shut off my gas until it is fixed) so I thought **cool** and did as was told and of course, Nicor shows up, says **yup, you have a leak** and promptly locks me out of my gas. Now why this is a problem: normally, most companies can come out with a sniffer tool and find the leak without shutting it off. If the gas is shut off, the plumbing company has to come out and pressurize the system (which costs close to $500 compared to $100 to $150). In comes Max. After I call him to tell them that Niicor just shut off my gas, he tells me that he needs to send his guy to do the $459 test, now that the gas is off. OK, I feel weird about it, it seems like he tried to pad the bill... BUT WITH A NEWBORN IN THE HOUSE? I needed the gas on. So, I agree. Then, his guys do the test, find the leak and tell me he could have done it without the gas being turned off and that it is going to be an additional $279 to fix the issue. I call Max back, credit card in hand, to tell him to start the job but it was kinda BS how it played out, and how his advice cost me an additional 459 bucks than it needed to and I will no be using him again because of it. Max then proceeds to tell me off, about how I wasted his time and that he does not need my business and how he tried to help me out and to keep all my money, he is going to walk away, tell his guys to leave and good luck finding a better price. So here I am now, with my gas shut off, looking for a new company to fix the leak and making sure I can get as many people to read this as possible, so they can stay away from Windy City Rooter. *Update* so coming from the Nicor guy who just cleared my house to turn it back on, apparently it is their agenda that they will have you call Nicor so they will find the leak so that they can come in and fix the problem without having to search for it. And they know full well that Nicor will shut off your gas. Oh and thanks to a couple of local plumbers who saw this post, I had my gas up and running for under $200, which is about $500 less than what windy city rooter quoted me.

They are very prompt, professional and have excellent service.

The company was competent in all areas of the work involved. They were instrumental in providing information to help complete our claim. . The company worked in a timely Manner showing respect for the tenants. Windy City Rooter proved to have a good work ethic. I would recommend this company highly without reservation.

Good guys. Treat you respectfully. Thanks max. Great job.

We had to have sewer line cleaned out and a clean-out access added. They did a good job.

Entire experience was positive.cost was comparable to any other service providers.

The plumbers were very good and courteous. I am happy with their work and will absolutely hire them again. In addition to the toilet repair, they also helped me isolate a leak that was affecting my neighbor directly below my unit. James was efficient and provided all the facts. I am very satisfied with his work as well.

I'm surprised at all the stellar reviews, though there are plenty of one star reviews on here as well. I regret that my experience was one of the negative ones. On the phone, I was assured that they charge by the job, not the hour. I explained the situation thoroughly, probably a more difficult than average job. They arrived and quickly determined that the jetting wouldn't work to solve my problem (acting surprised at what they had encountered), but they had no problem charging me full price regardless. Not only that, but I felt thoroughly harassed by the person from billing. Windy City arrived and finished late, making me late for my appointment, but insisted they get paid on the spot, probably because they knew they didn't deserve to be paid at all. The lady on the phone was incredibly rude, sarcastic and bullying. I was shaking by the end of this encounter. I can't caution you enough to stay away.

Very professional, knowledgeable, friendly people. Customer service was very good about setting up the appointment.

Nice guys