Undercover BOSS: Roto-Rooter Sunday 4/5/10

President and COO of Roto-Rooter Rick L. Arquilla goes undercover in his own company & finds himself overwhelmed with emotion while working alongside several employees who force him to reflect on his past and future legacy as boss of their company.

View the episode here



Here is a fun episode of a rooter company where the boss goes undercover.
I have been enjoying these shows on Sunday.
This Sunday, I was able to watch a show about plumbing. Pretty fun.
A cable and drain company.
How many of you were able to see the show? And what did you think?
If you haven't seen it, just click on the link above, it's the whole 43:04 minute show.

My wife and I have been watching the show since it started and we enjoy it.

For decades I've been saying that all upper level 'bosses' should do this undercover thing so they know what their employees go through and to get to know more about them. Especially those bosses with number crunching spread sheets used to maximize profits... The CEO of Waste Management learned a lot about that a month or so ago.

I guess I have never worked for companies like that, because I have always interfaced directly with the owners, so they could not "sneak up" on me on the job. But the first hint that this was not a "new hire" would have been the TV cameras following him. And if they knew he was the boss, they would not have engaged in the shenanigans that the RR people are known for doing to make a better paycheck.

And if they knew he was the boss, they would not have engaged in the shenanigans that the RR people are known for doing to make a better paycheck.

Click to expand...

I was surprised that their standard book price was $1200 to replace a three foot section of pipe outside.

The plumbers were very nice. Loved the basketball aspect of the story.
And you could tell he was feeling empathy for the homeowner.
A sweet guy.

My son Jamie had a similar situation come up in the rental he lives in.
The company (Not Roto Rooter) that first came out got their snake stuck in the pipes.
Later Jamie noticed that they left the old snake in the crawlspace when they were done.
They also had a large hole in the lead bend, that we wound up replacing for the landlord.
After seeing how badly things were going for the landlord, Jamie wanted to make sure that the inside work was done right and for the right price.

The way they get camera's in the show?
The story they give, is that they are doing a doc on how hard it is to get a job.
The funny part? The guy they are filming is not looking for work, he's their boss.

View the episode here

Many times, you will see plumbers use a cutter and cut the roots out.
Using Rootx prevents the roots from coming back.

I thought this was a nice story and that Rick was a good guy. However I was shocked to see how strongly this video shows that the "head boss" is totally out of touch with his employees as well as the day to day operations of the company.

This companies a joke!!!! Those Ghost Hunter guys from Rhode Island arent even apprentices...NOPE NOT LICENSED AT ALL!!!! THIS guy Rick has a company structure where the policy is to break the law when ever and where ever they can...They force you to buy your own truck and tools...in exchange they let apprentices earn thier time towards thier license with out hardly ever working with a Licensed plumber...their sending licenses to morons.