Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

The tech was very professional, he knew what was wrong with the hot water heater in no time. He had the part and ordered another from Whirlpool so he'd have it in stock. It took him less than an hour to fix and we had hot water in another hour.

The issue wasn't resolved. So I called in a different company. But, my issue isn't with the plumbers. I think they did the best they could. It's just that the plumbers from the other company resolved the problem. My problem is with the one-year service agreement I signed when the plumbers with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing were at my house. I signed the agreement because, at the time, it appeared to be a good deal. I didn't realize that I would find a plumbing company I would like better. But, now I am at wits end with Direct Energy and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing so I am posting this review to warn other consumers. When I bought a service agreement with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, I thought I was buying an agreement with BFP. I did not realize I was actually buying an agreement with Direct Energy. I don't have any problem with any aspects of the agreement. BFP did everything in the agreement. I just didn't like BFP plumbers. I really want to stress this. I am not complaining about BFP plumbers. They just aren't a good fit at this time for me. When I contacted (who I thought was BFP) and discussed my service contract. They explained that I had signed a one-year agreement. Okay. I understood. I signed it. I agreed to it. It included an inspection so, no harm, no foul. But, this is when I learned that the agreement had an automatic renewing clause. What? I never agree to anything being automatically renewed. This is when I learned my contract was with Direct Energy and not BFP. I was told that, in order to stop the "automatic renewal" I needed to cancel the contract before it automatically renewed in May 2016. So, I said, "Fine. Don't renew in 2016." In March 2016, I received a notice that my contract was automatically renewing. I called and said, "Don't renew." They said I had to put this in writing. So I did. Then the calls started. At first, they called me once every two weeks. The robocalls were always this same. I needed to call Direct Energy because of an "urgent" billing matter between the hours of 8:00 am - 5:00 pm (EST). I live in MST. So, I returned the calls. Each time, I told them: Don't renew. But the calls kept coming. So, I emailed again. Then I sent a letter. Then the calls started coming every week. Then twice a week. So, I became more obnoxious when I called. STOP CALLING ME!!! In the last 3 months they have called me 32 times. 32 TIMES!!! I can't them to stop. Today I was on the phone with Direct Energy for 45 minutes. They acknowledge that I have been calling since March 2016 but, for some reason, no one will take my phone number out of the system. I got home tonight and there is another message for me from Direct Energy. They called AFTER I spent 45 minutes with them and after I have called BFP to complain about Direct Energy. I've even called BFP and told them that I will never, ever, ever, use them because of Direct Energy. NEVER. I just want them to quit calling me. Please, for all that is good and holy. Quit calling me. Be warned if you sign this one-year service agreement with BFP. you will never get rid of Direct Energy. They will haunt you forever. You might think this is a good deal...if you want to get phone spammed for the rest of your life. Do not call list doesn't work and BFP won't intervene. You are on your own. Not worth the trouble. The good news is Direct Energy only spam calls you between the hours of 8:00 am - 5:00 pm (EST) M-F. The bad news is...it will do this until you die or sign back up for the service. Whichever comes first.

I had use Ben Franklin Plumbing before and really like the gentleman that came. I used him several times to clean up some problems messes from a plumber used by my general contractor in a remodel job. But he transfer to a Ben Franklin, north of Denver, so he was unavailable for me, His replacement was rather cocky and did not come in listening to me and fix my problem. So I am going to try a different plumber now..

$99 to dispatch, $288 to replace the igniter in the heater. why so much cost? the igniter on internet is priced at $60.00. would be reasonable to charge $200, but $388, they get you.

My experience has been very good. They are very knowledgeable. They were able to tell me potential issues I would have with my water heater. Scheduling was easy. They came out to do a normal check up and informed us to replace the water heater and they were able to come out the next day to do the work.

From prior experience I knew there was a problem with roots in the sewer line.  I contacted Jon Miller to put a camera in the line to determine what to do about it.  It was a typical '70s' clay tile pipe.  Every joint had root penetration.
Jon explained the alternatives and prices.  I chose to have Doctor Fix-it do a "pipe bursting" type of replacement.  This replaces the clay tile pipe with one continuous plastic pipe from the end of the iron pipe under the house to the main sewer line in the street.  Other wise, any other method involves tearing out a new deck and the driveway.
The crew showed up on time with all their equipment and went to work.  After moving a laundry tub and washing machine a small hole in the basement floor was done without creating any dust!  Jon had located the sewer line in the street and they dug that hole 12' down and hit dead on.  They welded together 100' of plastic line and inserted it in the old sewer line in the basement.  The hydraulic puller pulls the pipe through the old clay pipe, bursting it open and out of the way as it goes.  Amazing machine!
The plastic line gets connected to the iron pipe in the basement.  The basement floor is patched with new concrete.  The other end is connected to the main sewer line with a 'saddle' that is epoxied to the main line.  No roots will penetrate that connection.  And there are no other joints for roots to get into.
The whole in the street is filled with a specific type of slurry.  The asphalt replaced.  No bump.  No dip.  Perfect match.
That whole job was done in one day.  One man came back the next day after letting the patch in the basement floor cure and replaced the laundry tub and washing machine.
The whole crew was friendly, considerate and they knew how to do their job.  They are a great team.  Efficient.  There was no mess.  They cleaned up behind themselves very well.  There was no impact on the deck, landscaping or the driveway.  The street is nicely patched.  Jon was around most of the time and answered questions very well so that I always knew what was going on.
And I don't have to worry about roots in the sewer line any more!  And Detlef blasted the lines in the house to get them all clean as well.  Again all very professional and neat.  No mess for me to clean up.  All was done on schedule at the quoted price.

We were having our furnace replaced by Ben Franklin's sister HVAC company.  They called in a plumber from Ben Franklin to do a little work related to the furnace.  After this, the plumber found our main water shut-off valve leaking and needing to get it done quickly, we agreed to have them do it.  Since then we found out they charged close to double the going rate.
After he completed this work, he looked at our water heater and found that it was a bit on the old side (14 years) and did a HARD sell on a new water heater (also very expensive), which we declined.  During this sales job, I asked him if we currently had a 40 or 50 gallon tank and was told we had a 50 - but we might get by with a replacement 40.  Turns out that was incorrect - we currently have a 40 and have gotten by just fine with it.
Next came the coincidence of all coincidences: our water heater (previously fine) began leaking less than a week later and we had to have it replaced (by someone else at a much more reasonable price).
I really don't appreciate more time being spent trying to sell us more repairs than actually plumbing.  Their prices are atrocious. The 'coincidence' makes me extremely suspicious although of course, I cannot prove anything.

I am happy with them. I am always happy with their work. The guy always does a good job for me. They do plumbing, electrical and heating. They are very expensive and they do extremely good work. They use top of the line stuff. It comes with a yearly check-up and anything that goes wrong they will fix it. They are a new name, but the same company that I have been dealing with all along. They put in a 50 gallon, 12 year water heater.

They came on a Saturday during a snow storm to replace a furnace on short notice.  I hate how their whole business model is to be punctual while blowing the price way, way out of proportion.  I personally would never use Benjamin Franklin for any work, they seem to prey upon people who are in a desperate situation.  I consider this a very unscrupulous company.

The work was performed as needed however Benjamin Franklin Plumbing charged us over $12,000 for work that we later found out should have cost us under $3500.  We are dealing with a severe illness so when the work was performed we didn't bid it out but we later had two other plumbers quote the work we had completed and they both quoted under $3500.  We tried discussing this with Benjamin Franklin but all this fell on deaf ears.  We have resigned ourself to the fact that we will not get our money back, but we definitly don't want anyone else being over charged like this.  Our recommendation to anyone would be to NEVER USE THIS PLUMBER.

See above.

They supposedly fixed it, but the very next day it started leaking again.  I called them and told them about it and they wanted to charge me another $250 to come back out and fix the job they were hired to do in the first place.  I ended up just hiring another company that came out and fixed it with no problem.

There is not enough space to provide every detail of my experience, so I will just provide a few examples of why Ben Frank;lin Plumbing is a poor choice:

1) They are grossly over priced ---$600 to replace hot and cold water supplu lines, drain/trap and tighten a shower head.
2) The source of the leak for whih they wewre hired to repair,  was left unrepaired and resulted in water damage to my vanity
3) The Operations Manage was hunting in Kansas was unavailable to discuss the issues until after his vacation.  Nobody else in the office was empowered to make decisions. 
4) Ben Franklin sent out COIT to assess the water damage, followd by two other contractors and finally Steve (the original service technician who mi diagnosed the leaky faucet even after it was pointed out to him) to assess the damage and to take pictures. Fou rpeople on four separate days to assess the damage, extremely inconvenient.
5) Brown and Brown of Colorado, Ben Franklin's Insurance Company, contacted me to inform me an adjustor would be cotacting me to come aoput and assess the watewr damage.  Instead, Colorado Casualty Insurance Company called me to take a statement and inform me they would not file a claim on my behalf. 
My Vanity has now been inoperable for over two weeks, and Ben Franlin Plumbing refuses to take any steps towards resolution.

Bottomline, does this sound like a company/experience you would like to deal with?

UPDATE:

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Denver was hired to fix a leaky faucet on November 22, 2011.  They failed to fix the leak, and as a consequence of their service call, my new bathroom vanity was ruined due to water damage.   

After multiple failed attempts to resolve this issue directly with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Denver's Operations Manager, I decided to take them to small claims court.  The nature of my complaint was threefold:

·       Services paid for and not received

·       Professional negligence

·       Defective services

On May 24, 2012 the court determined that Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Denver was indeed responsible for the damage to my vanity and was ordered to pay for its replacement, which they did.  My experience with this organization was awful, my suggestion would be to call a different plumber.

It's a good service. They've been very kind.

they  found a problem  the pipe was broken at the septic tank they pushed to have me let them dig up the yard from the house to the septic which would take acouple of days an must be done now to avoid the frozen ground.  they would need to bring in heavy equipment to do it....       they talked me into a service contract    what a bunch of....   i called drain solvers who told me what they would have charged for the minor work that was done and then two guys with shovles  dugg a place next to the septic and fixed the break   they charged me around 100-200.00 to do it     would never use these guys again they have all the nices down like a used car salesmen but.....

They had the best customer service until you have a complaint.  They turn into the snarkiest people you've ever met.  I would say overall that they are money grubbing.  They upsell you things you do not need.

Job requested was done well.  The plumber was polite, on time and the job was done cleanly -  BUT the plumber tried to sell all kinds of additional services.  I did not hire a plumber to get a sales job for additional work - for this reason I would not call them again. This should NOT be done.  Why should a customer 'join a club' for a hefty fee to get 10% off?  This marketing strategy is not appreciated!  I don't blame the plumber - it felt like he was following company policy.

They selected a wrong faucet for the job and we had problems with it afterward. Everything else was okay but for that one issue. I think that they should anticipate problems before they occur rather than troubleshoot them afterward.

The tech was one time (as always).  It was a tricky install because he had to run the line along the side of the house and then through the back of some kitchen cabinets - but he did a great job and I'm very happy to now be cooking with gas!  I'd highly recommend them!

I have never had a bad experience with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, and this was no exception.  The Plumber showed up on time, gave me the estimate and then got to work.  He found a couple other issues once he had gotten into the drywall which he also repaired.  I like that I know up front what their price is, and they guarantee their work!  I never even think of calling any other plumbing company.

The tech arrived ontime and was very nice but didn't really know what he was there for. I wasn't able to get a price quote before he arrived and did not receive a video on disc of the sewer line, which almost every other company does. Not happy with the price i paid the "service" i received. Do not use Ben Franklin Plumbing!

They were great but expensive. They were very professional. We were working on our son?s house. The electrician went down into the crawlspace to add a dedicated line for something. He noticed the plumbing and said whoever did the plumbing knew what they were doing. He goes to so many houses and he told us that this guy did a great job. I actually used them for my own home and they did a good job. They don?t use junk. They are very expensive. They come in white shirts and clean stuff. They take off the shirt and do their dirty work in the crawlspace and come back up. They clean up after themselves. It?s very nice

First, it took a little time to get an estimate. The first technician who showed up was given the wrong information; he thought he was at my condo to install the washer & dryer to existing hook-ups. After finally getting an estimate, the technicians came out to do the install. They first told me it would take 2 days; then, when they arrived, they told me 1 day; then they told me 2 days -- it ended up taking 3 days total. The first tech who came out was substituting for the assigned tech because of an emergency the assigned tech had to tend to. When the original tech returned on the 2nd day of work, he mentioned a couple things the 1st tech did incorrectly. The 1st tech said that gas for my entire building had to be turned off in order to install a gas line for the gas dryer (thus the reason the 2nd day of work ended up being a week after the 1st day since I had to get approval from HOA). This turned out to be incorrect because there were shut-off valves for the gas line to my unit. The 1st tech ripped holes in my wall to do the install & said he does not do drywall & that I'd be responsible for it. When 2nd tech came, he said the company has drywall workers to fix any holes they make. However, since the electrician came on the 1st day with the 1st tech (to install outlet in new laundry area), I have a hole in the wall by my electrical box in a different room that I still need to get fixed. The drywall installer did a good job on the part that was repaired, but he failed to cover up items in my laundry closet & I had dust all over my shoes & bags. On all 3 days, the workers arrived later than they said they would, and after getting to my place, they always had to leave to "go get supplies," even though I was told when I first called that their trucks are equipped with all necessary supplies. Their excursions lasted between 1.5 & 2 hours each time. After the job was finally completed & they left, I noticed that they scratched my hardwood floors by sliding the dryer across the floor & that they left a bit of a mess in the hallway outside my front door and a huge mess in the basement of my building near the crawlspace where they did a lot of the work. In the basement, they did not clean up the large amount of debris caused by the installation of the gas line. Overall, while the guys were pleasant & friendly, and I ended up with what I wanted, the experience was not the best it could have been.

I called them and they stated they would not come out until I gave them $148 service charge via the phone with a credit card. The reason I have a service contract is because I am expecting service. I will never use this company again. I do not recommend them to people. They are arrogant jerks. They are just generally bad people.

He was great. They have a very high quality of work, but they are expensive. I would use them again if I needed great work done or if I were going to sell my house, but on a routine work basis or general work done I will call around for a lower rate.