Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

"I am quite sure that you have misinterpreted a number of things with regard to our attempt to provide you with an estimate for repair/remodel of your bathroom. I think it needs to be pointed out that we did not do any work on your house and your critique is four months after the fact. To begin with, we do not give pricing over the phone for one very simple reason; we cannot be accurate in pricing something we cannot see. We are not in business to guess at what might be needed or done. That is why we offered to look at the bathroom first. It is also often the case that we cannot price a job while on-site, as there are multitudinal options for tubs, faucets, showers, vanities, toilets etc. We need to be specific about what you as the homeowner are looking for with regard to the project at hand, which often means spending some time to research materials. Your comment that my technician needed to "go home" is completely misinterpreted, because he was saying that he needed to go back to our office to do research. Materials and workmanship. Yes, there are substandard materials and yes, there is substandard work that gets done by unqualified "tradesmen". Your project is a perfect example. The unlicensed "contractor" who started the job in your bathroom left a disaster that would require more work to correct and would cost more than if a qualified person had have started the project in the first place. I'm sorry if you interpreted my technician's comments as a slight against you. I can assure you that it wasn't his intention. Do, we sometimes get a little passionate about how low the standards have been set in our industry? Absolutely. Again, that is not a personal attack on you. Please understand that we do not assume that everyone wants the level of quality that we provide, and that is fine. We are only there to offer up our services and let you decide whether you would like us to do the work. No is a perfectly acceptable answer to us. We don't take it personally. As for my technician bringing his son to work with him I will defend his choice to do so any day of the week and as for the boy getting hurt, if that were to happen, that would be on my shoulders, not yours. I only wish more people taught their children work skills at an early age. The boy is active when he's at work with his father, not sitting around playing video games like far too many of our youth who don't move enough and don't develop physically and mentally. This is not a kid who expects to get a trophy for participation on a sports team. He's learning about the real world. On top of that, the boy is actually learning a skilled trade as well as spending time with his Dad. What on earth is wrong with that?"

"(removed member name), If you would still like copper pipe in place of the PEX for your tub/shower valve we can change it. I think that you may have misinterpreted my attempt to educate you on the virtues of PEX as "arguing my way out of it". Had we been told that you wanted copper before the job started or when the technician showed you the completed job, we would have changed it right then and there, but somehow you have the idea that we used the PEX pipe solely for our convenience. That simply is not true. We do not use sub-standard plumbing products and know that PEX is better for water piping than copper. I use it in my own home. In my conversations with you and your father there was concern that the PEX would leach chemicals and toxins into the water. There is greater likelihood of harmful chemicals as well as rust or other impurities from the galvanized pipe that the house water system is plumbed with. PEX is an inert plastic. It is not like the BPA plastics that get used for bottled water that leach into the water. If you've ever tasted bottled water that has been in the sun for a while, you can taste the chemicals. PEX does not do that. In addition, the section of PEX we installed for you is on the riser for your shower head. The only time the water has contact with the pipe is when you divert it from the tub to the shower, and that is only a split second. Otherwise, the pipe is empty. Again, if you'd like to replace the PEX with copper we can do it. If you'd like more information about PEX, the following link does a concise job of describing it. http://jobsite.buildiq.com/articles/greener-building/pex-plumbing-green.aspx"

"Member, We do not give pricing over the phone for one very simple reason: it is guesswork. No plumber who is serious about the quality of his/her work can be accurate by guessing and we cannot see the work to be completed through the phone. It is necessary to be on-site. Yes, you will get pricing over the phone from many plumbers in the area, and most of the time when the job is "complete" that price has changed. It goes up. Why? Because the person who gave the price over the phone (who may not even be a plumber) underestimated the scope and conditions of the job. They were guessing or worse yet, saying what you want to hear and knowing full well that the price will go up. Which do you prefer, accuracy and honesty, or guesswork? Often times homeowners will try to describe the conditions to us and expect that they have included all there is to know about the job. That is not enough. They are approaching the job from an untrained perspective with a focus on the immediate need. The words any trained plumber fears the most are "All you gottta do is........" It never works that conveniently. We are the ones who will be completing the work so we need to know what factors will influence the job, and we approach our diagnosis based on the overall condition of the plumbing system. We don't do "band-aid" work. I think you may be confusing us with another company because we don't charge $155.00 for a service call and we don't work by the hour. We've been very consistent in the way we approach a service call from our first day in business. We have a $59.00 service call fee which becomes part of the over-all cost of the job. We arrive at the job and perform a diagnosis of the work to be done and then we give an upfront price for the homeowner's approval before any work begins. The homeowner has complete control over whether we do the work or not and we understand when someone chooses not to employ us. 93% of the time they do, but we understand that we do not fit everyone's needs. We look to be on the same page with our customers at every stage of the service. All of our repair jobs are priced from a service guide, so you pay for a completed job, not something that is based on the experience (or lack thereof) or speed of the technicians. For larger jobs we give a written proposal and commence working only by written authorization of the property owner. Once the job is complete, no matter the scale, we send a letter of thanks accompanied by a very simple survey that asks how likely you are to recommend us to friends and family. We are the only plumbing company in Lake and Mendocino Counties that actively seeks feedback from the people we serve. To date 90% of our customers are willing to refer us. I hope this clarifies the matter for you. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of any plumbing company in the area and the focus starts with discerning the needs of our customers. In that spirit, if you have plumbing work that still needs to be done or if you have any plumbing problems in the future, we will waive the service fee and will diagnose the problem free of charge. You will then have the option to have us do the work. Thank you, Stan Kincannon Owner"