I had a clog at one of my buildings, and couldn't wait for my regular guy (he was injured), so I called Rooter Man to handle the issue. I have had issues at this building in the past, but have never had a problem with other sewer services getting the clog cleared. He showed up on time for the appointment, but after running his cable 100 feet and not getting the clog cleared, he told me that he couldn't clear the clog because it was farther than his cable would go. I asked him if he had an extension (these machines can add sections in different lengths) and he said it was against OSHA rules for him to run a longer cable. He also said he didn't want to because he didn't know what he was getting into (I assume the same pipe you had already blindly run a cable 100 feet into already). So he packed up his gear, charged me $150 bucks and told me I should install cleanouts in the yard to make it easier to clean. The next day my regular guy had gotten back to work so he came out and ran his cable out 100 feet, added a 25 ft section, and got through the clog. So he basically lied to me as to why he couldn't go farther (OSHA?), and when I called to complain about his failure to finish the job, he told me it was my fault because I didn't know the length of the run, and I should have told him how long it was. So even assuming every homeowner should know the distance of their sewer pipe, you shouldn't use someone who isn't capable or willing to finish a job for which they charge you whether they complete it or not.
