Renee Berg of Rochester says she owes $3,500 to Roto-Rooter for plumbing work that she's not sure was needed. When she heard about a pattern of complaints in Minneapolis about Roto-Rooter's sales practices, Berg had one thought: "That's me!"
After the Star Tribune reported last month that Minneapolis police were investigating the plumbing giant on suspicion of fraudulent business practices, more than 30 people from at least 15 communities contacted Whistleblower mostly for help in figuring out whether their own experience with Roto-Rooter was part of that pattern.
So far, only the city of Minneapolis is known to be investigating the company's practices, so those who live outside the city have little recourse from that probe.
But by next year, a new law will enable the state agency to help plumbing customers statewide by requiring the companies, not just their plumbers, get licenses, said Charlie Durenberger, head of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's contractor enforcement unit. The Legislature enacted the change last year so that plumbing companies could be held directly accountable for their actions and those of their employees.
"If there are bad eggs, we want to go after them to the extent that we can, and this new law will give us the teeth to do that," Durenberger said.
Currently, Durenberger's office licenses and oversees master plumbers and restricted master plumbers. But he has no authority over a company and its unlicensed employees, such as the salesmen targeted in the probe of Roto-Rooter. The new law would begin licensing and regulating plumbing contractors in the same manner that they do electrical contractors and residential building contractors, Durenberger said. "We're trying to make it as uniform as possible across the board to make it easier for the industry as well as consumers," he said.
On Oct. 3, Minneapolis police searched the Plymouth office of Roto-Rooter and seized DVDs of drain lines, customer files, an employee's personnel file and correspondence between the company and subcontractor Pipeline Industries Inc. The next day, police went to Pipeline Industries' office in St. Paul, where the company's CEO said it has since turned over invoices for work performed for Roto-Rooter.
Berg called the Minneapolis police and was told that her case resembled those that were being looked at in the investigation, she said. But she was directed to contact the city of Rochester. She said the police suggested she contact a plumber for a second opinion. And the Rochester plumbing inspector told her to go back to Roto-Rooter.
