You are doing the right thing. I had a friend tell me I needed to spend $1500 to get rid of carpenter ants. What a laugh. I think people are trying to gouge you because you are female.

good that you got a second opinion!

Out of curiosity, what was the initial problem?

For clogged or slow pipes, a $20 pipe snake (2005 prices, probably a bit more now) can do wonders if you're willing to do a little nasty work and the cleaning up after. I used to have to snake out the shower drain every few months back when I lived with a wife & daughter. (I left it there, but I don't know if it's being used or not.)

Of course I don't know whether that was the problem, but you did say "Roto rooter", and they are commonly associated with drains...

That pissed me off. Beware of the vultures. You handled the situation exactly the way you suppose to Gwen. Great great job. Good for you.

Those big franchises have to cover their franchise fees somehow! My guess is it was less about your gender and more like standard procedure for his company. Kind of like when Ammco try Ed to sell me a rebuilt transmission but when I took it to another shop a years later they found it was just a lever assembled backwards.

Unfortunately, men try to take advantage of single women, especially older single women. You are correct in stating that one should always get a second opinion. And one should always tell the first guy that one IS getting a second opinion.

Support your local trades people, it keeps money in the community instead of the pockets of the super rich, they are generally better and fairer, and where they are not , at least you can ask around and everybody knows about it.