Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

I have used Benjamin Franklin Plumbing several times. They are the best in every phase of their service. I strongly recommend them to any one who needs plumbing help.

Junior was fantastic !!

Andrew was wonderful! He not only did an excellent job, he went above and beyond to explain everything he was doing and to present the different options we had.

Ben Franklin was punctual. It was an annual check on my water heater and the job was done very well and the results told to me. Very friendly service.

Paige took my information down on what I wanted an estimate for (we are doing some remodeling). She said she would get a technician out the next day. she called the next day to let me know he was on his way. when Paul, the tech arrived, he was on time, very knowledgeable and made some good suggestions. We had Ben Franklin change out our water heater once before and that's the reason we called them for some additional work. We know they are honest and dependable.

Great company - everyone is professional, polite and knowledgeable.

We called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing last Friday afternoon when plumbers we had previously used were not available until the next day. We had a toilet which we did not feel was working properly.Two plumbers showed up even earlier than we expected. We discussed our options and decided to purchased a new toilet. The called to get estimates on what we wanted but couldn't obtain some of the information we needed to make a decision. They told us they would obtain the information Monday and call us. The called as promised and set up an appointment for the following day. When they unpacked the box, they found that the toilet box had been mislabeled. While one of them returned the toilet for the right product, the other plumber removed the old toilet. Since the new toilet would be slightly smaller, he offered to paint the wall if we had any paint. We did and he did. The toilet was installed and we are very happy with both the product and the service.

The service was great and the service person was helpful and understanding! I appreciated the extra time he took as well as the service provided. Thank you again so much Chris!

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing are very reliable, timely and I have been very pleased with their service. I use them for my yearly maintenance of my water heater and while they are here they do a walk through and have repaired leaky faucets. I like that their work is under warranty and they are very easy to work with. I recommend them highly.

My experience with the team has been excellent. Their response was timely and the was accomplished quickly. I highly recommend them.

very courteous, professional, on time

I had contact with service personnel and the service professional. All were pleasant and courteous. The appointment had to be rescheduled, at my request, without a problem.

Mike arrived on time.

Plumbing services were completed in a timely manner. Mike determined the problem, explaining, and answering my questions, as he did so. He worked efficiently and cleaned up when completed.

great

Outstanding service by Andrew C. Pleasant personality, friendly and efficient.

Benjamin F.[redacted] Plumbing is fast to respond and they do a very good job.

My recent experience with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing was, as usual, very positive. I had a water heater inspection as well as a routine inspection of the entire house. A minor repair was made to the heater in a very professional way. Several issues were pointed out for future observation. I was very impressed with John as well as the office staff.

Very professional, extremely knowledgeable, helpful and highly competent. An excellent team to include Mike, Service Pro and Dekota, Service Assistant to Kristen who kept me informed of arrival times, the overall experience was great! I would highly recommend Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to everyone!

Thank you!

Andrew was great! He was very professional and gave me all options. I have used Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in the past and will continue to do so!

Review: Toilet broke and I was desperate..asked the girl on phone if they were associated with another [redacted] Plumbing ( who I was very dissatisfied with and had gone out of business) and she said no. I told her I wanted the cheapest toilet and had seen one in [redacted] for $99. She assured me they have one that cheap on the truck. 2 plumbers came and said they don't have any that cheap and it was a flat rate of $479 plus another $200 for a broken valve. They did NOT have any toilet on the truck and said they would be back in 20 mins...came back 2 hours later.(probably went to [redacted] and got the $99 one) My total bill came to $800, and after discount it was $734. I asked again about that other company and they said yes it was them. Had to have them come back because toilet wasn't flushing right. Confirmed between noon and 4pm. At 4:10 I called the office and he said they were just going to call me. They walked in at 4:20 (plumber wrote time on invoice) They were going to charge me a $49 service call, but said it was n/c because the chain for the flap should have been adjusted. Their website says if they don't get here on time, the company will pay $5.00 for each minute they're late. They now owe me $100. For 3 days I have been calling them and now they tell me they don't have to pay because there was no charge for that visit, and the $ would have been taken off the bill. I argued that their website says nothing about that and just payment for being late. The woman was VERY rude and said I had to talk to the manager, who of course was a very busy man and he would get back to me. Oh, by the way, the manager's email address is his name with [redacted].com. I spoke to a plumber my friend used and he said he could have done the entire job for about $400 and said I probably would never see any money from them.Desired Settlement: I would like them to honor their "on-time" guarantee and pay me what is owed..$100

Business

Response:

This is the first time that I have seen or heard of this complaint, otherwise I would have responded immediately. Our records indicate that on Friday 2/13/2015 this client Ms [redacted] called and scheduled an emergency service call for Saturday 2/14/2015 in an afterhours “no time frame “ appointment window for a minimum evaluation fee of $79.00. At that time, it appears that she also joined the [redacted] plumbing maintenance plan which would entitle her to a free anuall maintenance, and certain discounts going forward. Our plumbing tech arrived at her home on Saturday 2/14/2015 at aproxx 12:45 PM and evaluated the plumbing request. The client requested that the toilet be replaced, and the tech explained that the shut off valve to the toilet did not hold, and should be replaced at the same time. He provided her written options, and she choose to have the valve and water supply replaced along with replacing her existing toilet with our deluxe package white round toilet including our five year 100% parts and labor guarantee. The price for each item are as follows:Toilet package installed $479.00New s/o valve installed $259.00New toilet supply installed $189.00Appoint/eval fee $79.00However as these tasks were being provided together, the bundled price would be only $808.00 less an additional 15% discount due to the maintenance plan, for a total of $686.79 plus sales tax. The client agreed to the price, and authorized the fee and the work. The tech only had one toilet left on his truck, which was not the model that the homeowner choose, so he went to our warehouse, returned and completed the job the client’s 100% satisfaction.Two days later, the client called back, and said that no water was running into the toilet. At that time many homeowners were experiencing frozen pipes. Our call taker explained to the client, that if the toilet or installation had a defect we would provide warranty service at no charge, the same day, however we are unable to guarantee a time frame. She insisted on a general time window, so the call was put in the 12-4:00 PM window. The call taker also explained that if the problem was unrelated to our work,(water line frozen for example)a minimum evaluation fee of $49.00 would apply.She called us several times inquiring about arrival time, and asked about our on- time guarantee which applies to express and reserved appointments. However as explained to her our warranty calls are guaranteed same day service. Our website instructs our clients to ask for details regarding on- time guarantees. At 4:00 our dispatcher contacted me, and explained that the client was on the phone upset that we were “late”. As I was personally only a few minutes away, we explained to the client that the vice president of the company would be arriving ASAP in advance of our plumbing tech to evaluate the situation. I arrived within few minutes after 4:00, and I was able to determine that the chain on the toilet flapper was hung up, and by the time my plumber arrived just a few minutes later, I had resolved the problem. I explain this to her, and that there would be no charge as I was handling it as a warranty issue. She did mention something about being late, and I once again explained that warranty’s include same day service, and I was handling the call as a warranty and there would be no charge, she seemed to understand and indicated 100% satisfaction once again. That is the last that I ever heard about this matter until today. I was never called, emailed, etc about this. In this complaint the client states that she believes that we were 20 minutes late, and therefore she should have received a $100 refund, and also expresses a concern regarding the relationship of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to [redacted] Plumbing and Heating. Once again, I was very clear and transparent when I explained to her that [redacted], [redacted], and myself were the principles of [redacted] Plumbing, and that we acquired the Benjamin Franklin Plumbing franchise in 2007, and moved the phone numbers, etc for plumbing service under that brand in 2008, and eventually ceased operating under the [redacted] Plumbing title. I am not sure if our newer call takers are familiar with the [redacted] name.Even though the warranty appointment was for same day, and not on time guaranteed, and there is some disagreement over the arrival time, we do offer all of our clients a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. It is clear to me based on this complaint that Ms [redacted] is no longer 100% satisfied. Therefore I would be happy to authorize the $100 refund that she requests in the complaint, as had she express this to me when I was at her home, I would have extended to her anyway at that time.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I will contact you again if I do not receive the promised $100 within a reasonable timeframe.

Business

Response:

A check [redacted] was mailed on 11/23/2015 to the clients address. I have checked our bank account, and the check has not cleared. I am issuing a new check [redacted] today, and would like to have a staff member hand deliver the check to [redacted] at her earliest convienence, so that that there will be no delay, and no chance that the check does not arrive. I can be reached personally on my cell phone [redacted] to arrange to have the check dropped off.thank you,[redacted]v.p. Ben Franklin Plumbing

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

A check for $100.00 was hand delivered to my home today. Thank you.

Regards,

Review: I recently had the misfortune to do business with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing aka Mr. Rooter, they deny that they were ever Mr. Rooter. I have a rental in Grover Beach I live 3 hours away. My rental toilet had had issues for about 2 weeks prior to my contacting BFP, (a different company had already been out 3 times). I spoke to a gentleman named B[redacted] who sounded very knowledgeable I thought he was a licensed plumber but he wasn't either were the 2 different journeymen guys that he sent out there on the 2 days that BFP came to my house. I was surprised after the first day that he was sending yet a different guy, I expected continuity, and I was corresponding with B[redacted] who never went to my property...I believe #1 If an experienced licensed plumber would have ever been sent out by B[redacted], my problem would have been found before the repeated snaking mainline pulling and snaking toilet etc. Which not only cost me unnecessary money, but added stress to an already stressful situation? Yes they did work to my property unnecessary work that I paid 880 for, so a $2,000 sewer pipe job ended up costing me almost $3,000 and extended my renters time without plumbing for at least an extra 3 days. God knows how long it would have taken his inexperienced guys to actually do the job once they actually found the problem which it took them 2 days after snaking the main line which had already been done by the first company. The first BFP guy told me that he had worked on houses in that area recently so by pulling my toilet he would probably not be able to snake it from there due to the 90 degree angle toilet pipe houses had in that area. So the next day BFP should have known the camera couldn't be ran from toilet either, I had no idea I'm not the plumber and I'm out of town. B[redacted] at BFP took advantage of my situation I know he did and that's why I'm contacting Revdex.com it’s not just about the money so then the following day when he sent the other unlicensed journeyman a different guy out, he couldn't even find it in his heart to send the same guy out there when they don't even know the problem yet also there was no communication between the two guys he sent out, so that 2nd guy didn't even know about the 90 degree angle in the toilet t[redacted] he also pulled my toilet somehow my toilet's been pulled and reset two days in a row and Ben Franklin wants me to pay for that. When I originally spoke to B[redacted] on the phone they were going to put another one way in the front which would extend my original one way that I put in probably 6 years earlier, he said he was against 2way, until I ended up with one next to the back door of my beach house. I didn't even know it was put in the back t[redacted] my renter told me. Remember I'm out of town, I would have obviously been there if I had thought any of this was going to be a possibility. So the camera supposedly showed a separation in my 4 inch sewer pipe in the backyard and when I said to the 2nd guy, well why do you want me to pay for the 2way when that's not fixing my problem he said oh well he was just going to stop work cover it up and leave, if he wasn't getting paid, why should he even finish my work. And I said well no don't do that I'll talk to B[redacted] about it, you know because at this point he's st[redacted] working in the yard and were talking on his cell phone I thought given the circumstance B[redacted] would work with me, so then I spoke to B[redacted] and all he wanted was more money and too bad for me, he thought I was stuck...now we're on my second day and I've already been going through this for 2 weeks by now and I can tell you once they were getting my money they absolutely didn't care if I was happy B[redacted] did not want to spend time explaining anything to me anymore, I believe it's because he knew he had messed up by now and it was unexplainable, but he wanted me to continue paying for his mistake. I now have this ugly clean out in the flower bed maybe two feet from where you step off the backyard that didn't fix my problem and I haven't needed in the 40 yrs Iv owned my house. I mean the things that guy was telling me where unbelievable. I left him a message on his voicemail the next day, because I'd already decided I was not using his company to finish or actually start the real job. I requested a thumb drive, marker in yard something to show where the separation was located. I needed it fixed asap for my renter. I finally asked for a drawing anything to show me where the separation was located...I was already speaking to a real licensed plumber, I had paid for the camera information... He knew I was in a pinch. I already paid the $380 and then this job of putting in the two-way was going to be another $500 now they had my husband's bank card which we had used to pay for the first day but I told him my husband is working nights and he's been up every day early trying to handle this and now it's another day so I said I'm going to let my husband sleep in, as soon as he wakes up I w[redacted] call him about payment and then I called the office in the morning I spoke to them about a lot of things mainly my toilet st[redacted] clogged and I'm out $880 and we hadn't paid the 500 yet but I told the girl on the phone as soon as my husband gets up I'll call regarding 2nd day payment, because that was my husband's bank card not a charge card, how many people have an extra 900 sitting in their bank that's not allocated to their monthly b[redacted]s right? and so my husband woke up about 1 p.m. and he called me and he said Kandie they already took that 500 out of my card so now they have their $880...well now I am so mad at was unauthorized, so I called BFP yet again, they tried to act like it was a mistake no it wasn't I've got so much bull from that company you know and so blatantly too. They just wanted the money because they knew that they had messed up they just took the unauthorized $500 which of course multiple phone calls to them later where they kept sending me to voicemail and I'm a $559 area code and their 805 area code and the girl had already told me the day before that she knew when it was me because of my area code but on that day after the unauthorized money they kept sending my calls to voicemail so I would have to go through there directory and try to leave a message. So of course after I got upset over the unauthorized charge on my card she said oh well you know that she would put the money back on my card well you know my poor husband was so tired by this time I let the payment stand. I had already been dealing with this two weeks prior and another 3 days now with BFP actually this would be the 4th day. It took another day and half 2 drawings later and me emailing drawings to new plumber, now finally new guy could do the job. Three hours later it was fixed, but according to guy that actually replaced sewer pipe, BFP location of separation was 20feet off! Luckily he didn’t charge me for the extra 20feet of pipe. He did say all of my sewer pipe was in good shape except for the separation. Much more transpired between B[redacted] and I, but [redacted] finish by saying, I contacted B[redacted] one last time giving him a chance to mediate this with me, which I knew wasn't possible he already had my money. He said for me to get my information together and contact the court of my choice, I said no I w[redacted] contact Revdex.com and state license board, he said "That's the cowards way out", then hung up on me.Desired Settlement: Refund

Review: I called the company because I had a leak in the faucet of my back bathroom. The service guy explained that the category the work was in would be in the Type 1 service category of #137. This made sense to me, but at the end the charges that I accrued for the same work ended up being billed as $198, which was in the type two category. I did not expect to pay so much to have a faucet leak fixed and was not informed of any extra work if he did it, prior to it being done. There is also a bogus charge on the bill where you pay for a guarantee that the service professional is going to be on time. Is that what this world has come to - you have to pay extra for common courtesy with your service? I feel this company took advantage of the fact that I am an elderly lady. Definitely not trustworthy.Desired Settlement: I would like to have a refund and be charged the amount that was in the type 1 category that the worker told me it would be. I also think it is criminal that they charge people extra to guarantee that they will be on time.