Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

I needed a new electric water heater installed - called and they scheduled a technician to come out right away! Michael M was awesome and explained everything he needed to do, options and pricing. Very happy with service and would call again for sure if any plumbing service is needed!

Technicians were on time, professional, and friendly. They got the job done in the time frame they said and let me know when they were in their way. They answered all my questions and everything looked good and was well explained.

They failed to properly reconnect drain after a flush and the leak caused nearly $2k in damage. The owner refused to take responsibility and told me to open an insurance claim! Dishonest. Stay away.

They were wonderful and did everything I expected.

The work was done, but I could have replaced the gas valve myself. The reason I called you is because I could not remove the gas flex and I was expecting that you will do it. At the end the gas valve and the flex was replaced, which I could have done myself. I was concerned with the price already gave by phone for $126, but for the valve were another $119 with a total of 245, which is ridiculous. I ask why it was so expensive for changing the other piece and got lied because I was told that that was an expensive piece, checking at home depot is a $8 item. I am not sure if it’s the normal procedure, but for changing the valve I was expecting a professional actions like shutting down the main gas source, however the guy just leave the gas to escape for a few seconds and the whole house smelled for many minutes, which was dangerous and we had to open all windows and leave the house just in case. I work in IT with 15 years of experience and make around $50 an hour, I got charged $245 for 20 minutes work… ridiculous. Update 7/3/2018: Someone from the company contacted me and issue a partial refund. I think they have responded accordingly to the problem and I am improving the review because I liked the way they made the process easier/better.

John did a great job - fixed some things recommended what to do on others. Was professional and nice.

very well. Observed lime deposits, which were flushed out, Adjusted water treatment system.

The price was extremely, extremely expensive. $500 for a simple job plus $99 dollars for emergency call. I had cut off my water because I had a leak right near the cut off valve. So I didn’t mind paying the $99 extra to have them come right away. But the $500 for an easy fix in a short period of work time, I think is an outrageous price. That being said, the plumber that did the job was excellent,courteous, and very knowledgeable. Benjamin Franklin has several plumbers working for them. So I assume the plumbers have no part in the price setting and are just employees . I would not hire Benjamin Franklin plumbing again.

unknown

Two people came for the work and it took about three hours. 

They were responsive, punctual and did a thorough job.

Quick, professional and quality service.

I've been with them for 3 years now. What brought me to them was a flier. I probably looked them up on Angie's List too. They have done so many different services. I had a washing machine that got plugged up due to calcification so they dump out all the calcified water and then you get less problems down line. Your shower head doesn't plug up. I think the way it works is that you pay for the membership and the association fee that includes a free flushing every year and then they come around and look for ways to make money around your house. One of the times I remember I had to chase the guy out the house because I thought he was going to try to sell me some system that he thought was really a solution to my problem. But there have been six different plumbers over three years so this is just one guy. Like I said, I'm on to them, I know their game.

What Ben Franklin does more than most others is they really tried to sell you on services you don't really need. They are the punctual plumber, that's their motto. They are always punctual and very professional, but as they earn your trust by being professional and punctual, they think that they can get more money out of you by asking you for things you don't really need. It is not a hard sell, they can bring it up once and if you say no thanks, they leave. My first complaint is that I had I tried to call to ask a question about how do I unplug this toilet? I talked to a plumber. I pay a service fee; a membership  and association fee every year. I can get preferred service, right? I wanted to talk to a plumber for just a minute and I couldn't. They wouldn't call back, there's no one in the office to talk to and the answer was someone on the phone should have said, "hey, Ron," you don't need to have us today; just take your wet vacuum and do this and the bottle that's stuck in the drain will fall out. They could have told me that. I would have graded them with all triple A's because they would have saved me $200 on a service call and you get the toilet unplugged in 5 minutes if I did it myself. Instead their lack of professionalism, no one to talk to and they won't call you back and when they come off and try to sell you a new toilet.

Terribly. Vastly overcharged for work done. They did show up so they get credit for that and they did the work competently. Never again.

I asked for my warranty three times but they never gave it to me. I still want my warranty. They charged me a lot of money for garbage disposal. They gave me very expensive garbage disposal when they could probably have given me a medium priced garbage disposal.

unknown

Representative arrived to assess why my water heater pilot light went out.  He lit the pilot and then told me that it would probably go out  again but could not tell me why.  He then gave me an estimate to replace my 50 gal tank  that was more than double estimates I have gotten from two plumbers since his estimate.  He also told me that in order to get a tankless water heater my gas line would have to be re-plumbed(my home is 8 years old).  He told me that running the new lines  would cost 6 to 8K dollars  and the tankless installation would be about 5K dollars.   He indicated I would also need a water softener to the tune of several thousand more.   In addition there would be a charge of $300 to $450 to dig a hole where the water connects to my water line.  The numbers for a tankless were more than 3 times other estimates from other plumbers.  He went on to tell me that the small 24inch door to the closet where the water heater sits  would not be large enough for a regular water heater to pass through so they would have to remove door frame and would not be able to replace it.  Also, if I wanted the tankless and had new lines run there would be holes in the walls, ceiling and roofing that they would not be able to repair.  As he wrote up my invoice he  told me that he would not charge me the $90 fee for re-lighting my pilot and would only charge me the $59 for the estimate(I am not sure how he could have determined if I even needed a new water heater without lighting the pilot).  On the written copy of my estimate he listed the quote as for a natural gas water heater...I have propane.  I could go on regarding attitude and other observations  however in the interest of keeping this review as objective as possible I will not go into other factors.  Overall, I definitely would not trust Benjamin Franklin to do even the most simple plumbing task in my home.  

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It was great! They were on time and professional. We were satisfied. They did everything by the book.

The plumber replaced the valve o.k., but damaged my irrigation system while digging to get to the area that needed work. I didn't find it until the lawn irrigation service people did their inspection the following spring. I emailed them about it. The supervisor emailed back the next morning and, in addition to asking for the receipt from the irrigation company so they could reimburse me, he said he would include my feedback in the weekly training meeting.
Although I had the irrigation company re-issue the receipt so it would be clear which minor charges were not related to Benjamin Franklin's damage, the company reimbursed me for the entire amount, and I got the check in the mail the very next day. So, I consider them redeemed, but left the workmanship as a D because the damage to the irrigation system should not have happened in the first place.

The company was responsive and worked with our tenant to gain access at his convenience.  The company gave us a quote of $2800 for the entire job which included upgrading the water heater area to meet current city standards. I had just had 2 other water heaters replaced in rentals I own in San Marcos for $1500 and $2000 respectively.    I asked Ben Franklin to itemize their statement by breaking out cost of water heater, labor and other parts.  They said that they do not itemize but just do everything by the job.  I feel they seriously scammed us.  It is difficult to get bids from several plumbers because they will charge for estimates.  I felt trapped to use BF because they had called us first.  I will not use them again except where I have to for the warranty.

unknown

He fixed it really quickly, they are really good

It went well. Richard knew what he was doing. Took about 1.5 to 2 hours. Very professional, courteous. I have no way of comparing prices and so it is a B (I always want a lower price :-))

I wanted them out really quickly and I called the gentleman in the office a couple of times like it was really urgent and they took it really seriously. The cost of the service was normal.