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"Company was originally called out to camera and clear the main drain from the toilet to the septic tank. We did not have a functional toilet at this time on 2/14/2014. They came out without a camera, which I had requested when I made the appointment. The plumber attempted to use a hand snake inside and then when that failed he attempted to use a auger from the septic tank end. This released some of the clog, but the toilet was still not functional. The plumber said he would have his partner come out the next day with the camera (which I requested originally)and gives me a quote of $1,395 to re-pipe the drain from the septic tank to the toilet. He cleans up and leaves. I do not pay anything.
<br /> On 2/15/2014 a different plumber arrives on-time and doesn't really seem to be listening to anything I'm telling him. He should have just been there to camera the pipe, he seemed hesitant to want to do that. After 10 minutes of him attempting to use my plunger he went to the truck and got the camera. The camera showed the drain to be extremely clogged, I'm not sure how easy it would have been to get it unclogged but the pipe didn't seem to be damaged just extremely clogged. He then attempted to auger the drain again with little success. I told him to go ahead with the re-pipe of the sewer line from the septic tank to the toilet.
<br /> He said he would not be able to do the work that day (Saturday) and scheduled an appointment for Monday morning.
<br /> I took Sunday to consider my options and called Shane (the first plumber & the plumber I was told would be coming back out Monday) and asked how much it would be replace everything since he had been under the house. He quoted me $3900 to which I thanked him and began researching to see if this price was in-line with the work. I determined this was a fair price.
<br /> So Monday arrives and Shane and his partner arrive on-time and before they begin I ask Shane to give the house a look around and get a solid quote for a re-pipe. He checks the house, goes to his truck to get the numbers, and comes back with a quote of $4,002.00 for a complete 1bath, 1kichen, 1 laundry re-pipe(including the original work of re-pipe to the septic tank). The laundry room which contains the washer/dryer and hot water heater was built on to the house some point after original construction and Shane stated there was a run of about 15 feet of galvanized pipe underneath the car port running to the laundry room. He said this portion of pipe wouldn't be replaced which I could understand.
<br /> I was pleased with the price and Shane's estimates and we scheduled the work to begin on Tuesday 2/18/2014, he said it would take 1 day to complete.
<br /> Tuesday Shane and his partner arrive on time and get started quickly, the crawl space is very tight and didn't allow me to be right over the shoulder of Shane and his partner, they did keep me informed of what they were doing and what they were planning next.
<br /> It's starting to get later in the day (~6:30pm) and I notice nothing under the kitchen sink seems to be done and the laundry is untouched. About 30 minutes later Shane comes to me and tells me he'll have to come back tomorrow. He's been scheduled for 4 more calls that night. He says we have cold water and a functioning toilet but no hot water. I agree and the plumbers clean up and leave telling me they'll be back by 9:30 the next morning.
<br /> Wednesday morning about 8:19 a new worker in a Evans 1hour heating and air van pulls up (Previous vans had been blue with Benjamin Franklin logo, this one was yellow with a heating and air logo. Had I not done research online I would not have known Evans was the franchise of BF) a technician who I've never met greets me, introduces himself and let me know Shane had to run by the supply house and would be there soon. Shane arrived ~30 minutes later and they get to work.
<br /> About 11am Shane asked me to unlock the laundry room and I do and we go over what he'll do in there and we run into an issue. Shane was under the impression he would only be replacing the 2 foot of pipe connecting the hot water heater to the old galvanized section in the cement slab at the very top galvanized T-connector and not running new lines to the washer. I insisted he at least try and cut the galvanized pipe as close to where it came out of the foundation and new water lines to the washer were what I expected in the quote.
<br /> He explained while he could cut the galvanized and add a coupling it would be best to use the threads on the older pipe, thus keeping about 3 feet of the old pipe and connecting the new pipe for water heater and washer at the old T-connecters which were about chest high in the wall. What he explained about the threads and using couplings made sense so I agreed and he went back to work.
<br /> About an hour later Shane calls me back to the laundry and has the hot-water heater and the washer hooked to new lines and it all looks good. He tells me however he's not getting a cold water flow into the hot-water heater (In layman's terms 'no hot-water'). He tells me the old galvanized pipe is probably clogged from him having to attach the newer section of line and possibly rust or something has came loose inside.
<br /> He said they would have to replace the section of pipe under the concrete and that he wouldn't be able to do this for free. He goes to the truck for a bit and comes back with an additional cost of $460 to dig a trench outside the laundry room and along the house to the kitchen and run the new lines here. I tell him I need to speak to his supervisor, Nicholas heard my complaints and told me he agreed with his plumber but if he allowed the additional work to be done would there be any reason for me not to pay the original price quoted? I told him no because at that point every inch of pipe would be new. He said he would allow Shane to do the work at no additional charge to me.
<br /> Shane needs to leave to get more supplies at this point and has his partner stay behind and dig the trench for the new pipe. His partner Nathan (who I believe was a heating and cooling guy) discovers the old pipe was never under or in the cement but ran right were they were planning to run their lines.
<br /> Shane returns and they finish up the job, go around and check the system, clean up and collect payment. By this time it's dark outside and I can think of nothing more my family and I want to do than take hot showers and use our functioning bathroom.
<br /> We do and it was very nice.
<br /> The next morning (Thursday) I go outside to do something and I notice a fairly large section of the old septic tank pipe sitting on top of the tank lid along with 4-5 other pieces about the size of my hand. All stuff I could have picked up and thrown away myself and been done with it. However, one of the Benjamin Franklin guarantees is their plumbers will clean up or you don't pay a dime. So I call and Nicholas schedules someone to come by and pick up the trash.
<br /> I voiced all these issues with the corporate Benjamin Franklin contact e-mail and they essentially told me issues are handled by the individual franchises and they would just forward my issues to them. However it seemed to work, because Nicholas called me back and left a message to please call him back.
<br /> I returned Nicholas' phone call on today (Friday 2/21/2014) and he listened to my issues and stated he agreed with my points and would use this call as a learning experience for future jobs like it. I pointed out to him I chose to go with professionals in the hopes I wouldn't have any issues, yet I ran into a few with them. I also let him know it was foolish of me to expect $4000 back because of a few pieces of pipe left behind and having to work out an issue for additional work.
<br /> However, that is in the Benjamin Franklin guarantee "If our plumbers don't wear shoe covers or fail to clean up after they leave, you don't pay a dime for the service"
<br /> Long story short, I feel the work done is quality and should last for a long time.
<br /> I would not hire Evans or Benjamin Franklin again or recommend them to someone looking to have major repairs done.
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<br /> EDIT: 3/12/2014
<br /> The company had a Contri Brothers' gift basket delivered to my house. Inside were 2 $25 off my next plumbing or hvac call.
<br /> Pretty worthless as I'm at least covered for a year under their deluxe membership plan and wouldn't call them regarding any other work I need done.
<br /> While the gesture may seem nice, the gift basket was crap. You can't even order the basket type off of the Contri Brothers' website, it seems even the cheapest option on their website offers more than this basket has. The snacks inside the basket are weird flavors "burnt sugar and lentil" cookies, "sweet ginger" bread snacks.
<br /> Seems weird a plumbing company would send something like this. I might appreciate it if I were a housewife in a lavish home who needed a toilet plunged or sink drained and spent $300. Not someone who was unhappy with a $4,000 re-piping job.
<br /> A check for the amount that was spent on this lame basket and the cost of delivering it or even a call from a manager would have went a lot, A LOT further in gaining back any type of customer loyalty they were trying to make up.
William P. on February 2014