Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

Brian and Heather were both very customer oriented in that they wanted us to be comfortable and knowledgeable about what services they had to offer. It made it so easy for us to choose our options wisely and without any pressure.

All well and good. Employees excellent.

Very professional and competent. On time and willing to discuss any problem or concern.

Both the dispatcher, Heather, and the plumber, Cat, were friendly, courteous, efficient and did their jobs to my complete satisfaction. I would recommend Ben Franklin, due to how they both handled their part in solving my problem. ,

excellent service,no hard sell,polite, neat, did job well. would recommend to family and friends [redacted]

They appear to be capable enough for household plumbing, as we had an emergency pipe repair needed that they serviced very promptly and professionally - based on this good service we took a chance on them to install a new oil burning hot water furnace - very bad choice! They have one person at the firm that knows anything about heat systems - the owner. Once the furnace was installer it worked for a few hours and then they had to come back and adjust it, then they had to come back again and again for corrections to improper installations - which to their credit they did come back several times. In the end I paid over $10K for the furnace, another $400 to repair the oil feed line they broke during installation, $450 to have my oil supply company come to repair the LWC because Ben Franklin didn't service it correctly after installation, and on top of all that when Ben Franklin restarted a baseboard heater in one room of my house after the temperature dropped to below 30 degrees, they cranked the thermostat to 90 and as the temperature rose so quickly 3 large windows in the room cracked due to the rapid rise in temperature - a knowledgeable heating company would have known better.
Bottom line here - is if you want to use these guys, use them for what they are best at - clearing drains.

Review: 1. [redacted] phone Book advertisement......."Benjamin Franklin The Punctual Plumber". We were told the plumber would arrive on 9.18.15, at 8am SHARP!!! The reality is, the plumber arrived over two hours late. I called the office on 9.19.15, and was told they normally have morning meetings that may take a few hours........this means nothing to me, as we were told a SPECIFIC ARRIVE TIME!!!! I was also told they pay $5.00 for every minute they are late. Since this was a Saturday, the owner wasn't in to speak with.

On 9.22.15, I spoke with the owner who stated that the plumber (AL) who did the work, put on his time sheet, that he arrived at 8am.......this is a bold face lie!!! The owner (Andy) started doing this shuffling/shell game of establishing the facts; the reality is, both me and my Land Lady (elderly woman who counts on me for work needed to do around her house.) will attest, the plumber was not "PUNCTUAL"!!! This issue has not been resolved.

2. [redacted] Phone Book Advertisement, on the same page......"100% Customer Service Satisfaction Guaranteed!" Besides the above, punctuality issue, there was a conflict with a "Special Order" made on the bill, to the price of $79.00, of which the owner said he would refund to my Land Lady (as she paid the bill) via a check. It is now 10.14.15, and still......no refund has been received. WE ARE NOT SATISFIED!!!

3. [redacted] Phone Book Advertisement, on the same page....."Fully Stocked trucks so we can fix your problem the first time". This was proven to be false, as the plumber had to call in to get a special item delivered, as his truck wasn't "Fully Stocked".Desired Settlement: 1. Revoke their Revdex.com rating.

2. If possible, notify the CT. [redacted] Office of [redacted] to audit this company.

3. Refund the $79.00 to my Land Lady (they have her name and address) ASAP!!!!

4. Keep their word to pay my Land Lady a refund for being late.

Business

Response:

Regarding complaint number [redacted]

So glad I purchased a protective plan.

Very efficient,thorough,and courteous.

We very much appreciate the service provided by Heather and Cat. Although it was on Sunday, Heather was able to schedule an emergency appointment with Cat. Unbeknownst to us at the time this was also the day Cat had arranged a surprise birthday party for his wife. Didn't matter...he still arrived and resolved our the problem in a very professional manner. Our hats are off to Heather and Cat and to the Ben Franklin team.

Prompt service. Accurate estimate. Quality work. I'll continue to to use BFP.

Review: Replaced well pump with wrong model for well specifications; evaluation of situation was incomplete thereby costing homeowner money and time; unsatisfactory and negligent work performance; suspect poor previous workmanship of which completeness could have prevented current issue.Desired Settlement: Full refund of funds for most recent work performed in accordance with their 100% money back guarantee.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

As per our conversation please accept this as my answer to a complaint filed by one of our customers; [redacted]

The customer was upset with the fact that they were running out of water after we installed water pump equipment at their residence. They were having issues with this well recovering during use and it was determined that they could benefit from a process known as hydrofracking which can increase the amount of usable water in the well. Our customer did not agree with our pump sizing selection as it was not showing in the range found on a printed sizing chart. However, because of the extreme lack of water in this well at the time of our installation, we chose this equipment as a best choice for this depth based on all factors such as recovery rate, pressure switch setting, and depth of pump. The customer made a decision to have their well hydrofracted and in doing so they also decided to change their pump to a different size which they felt more comfortable with.

In keeping with our policy of 100% satisfaction guarantee, we gave our customer a complete refund for all work done on our visit of January 6, 2014. To the best of my knowledge I believe we have made a complete and satisfactory resolution with our customer.

Thank you,

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me in that all funds were refunded. Their service still stands as subpar at best.

Sincerely,

Ben Franklin's plumber, Chris, was very professional. He explained things well & in a concise manner. He performed his work cleanly & efficiently. I would certainly recommend him to anyone.

Review: My Mother, who is elderly, contacted this company to fix a leak under her sink. They came and looked at it, contracted another company to clean up the water and told her it would be $10,000 to repair all the damage from the water. She gave them a $3,000 deposit on this work and signed a contract. They came the next day and "fixed" the leak for another $360 on top of the $3,000 deposit. That is when I stepped in. The contract had no actual work to be done or that needed to be done on it. There was no mention of the $3,000 deposit. I called the company and asked for an explanation and was told a lot of nothing and no clear idea of what the money was for. We called in another plumber who actually fixed the leak and stated there was no water damage at all. We cancelled the check to Benjamin Franklin for the $3,000, but paid the $360 for the fix that was not fixed.Desired Settlement: They should return her $360 for the job not done and be fined for unethical business practice.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern;

They do not service Wallingford CT although they indicate that they do with the Revdex.com.

I've had a series of serious water problems in this house. I was new in Glastonbury the first time and was fortunate to have found Benjamin Franklin in the phone book well after midnight! My call was answered immediately and a repairman was on my doorstep first thing in the a.m. to address a really huge problem. That was such a traumatic event I don't remember any names. However, the most recent plumber, Catalin M[redacted] located the leak and repaired the pipe draining the upstairs bathtub. Since then Dave V[redacted] did a routine inspection of the entire house and replaced the valve from the furnace. Both men were prompt, efficient and courteous.

We had an issue with the main waste stack leaking in our 99 year old house. Ben Franklin responded to my call and set up an appointment to evaluate the situation. Because of impending bad weather I called the day before the appointment to get it rescheduled. They graciously did so. When the appointment came around, the plumber who came out was courteous, clean and thorough. After initial examination he said he would have to break through one of the plaster walls to get at the source of the leak. He did so carefully and soon had identified the gash in the pipe. We discussed options at length and agreed on how we wanted to proceed. He wrote up the order and we scheduled the appointment for later that week.
When that day rolled around he showed up right on time with an apprentice and they got to work. I expressed my concern about not cutting the hole in the living room wall any closer to the floor than it needed to be (I have one very curious cat). He promised to do his best but said there was no guarantee. He and his partner went to work, did the job thoughtfully and carefully, and completed everything that day. In addition to the main stack they replaced a cast iron waste run to a water closet on the first floor. I was very pleased that they had not gone any lower on the hole in the wall than it already was. They cleaned up after themselves and truly left the work area cleaner than it was before they came.
Benjamin Franklin doesn't do their own carpentry work but they arrange for a contractor to come to the house and quote the job. In this case it was repairing the living room and basement stairwell wall. I got a call from the contractor the next day and we set up an evaluation. The contractor took a look at the work to be done, quoted me a price and set up an appointment to do the repair. He showed up punctually to do the work and came back the second day to finish up with a skim coat.
All work was competed satisfactorily and we are certain we will not have to have any of this done again. Overall we are very pleased with the company, with all the representatives we dealt with and with the work.

We've been using Ben Franklin Plumbing for years now and have always been pleased with their service. Plumbers know their the job, explain what is going on if something needs to be fixed or replaced. Jobs do not seem over priced.

Prompt, courteous and professional completion of a leak under my kitchen sink.

Ben Franklin's Jeff provided an estimate on Monday, and showed-up with a crew on Wednesday of the same week to tackle a pretty major plumbing job in our basement. Replaced all mis-matched water pipes with new ones, installed a Halo water treatment system, new water holding tank and inline filter all in one day. They were professional and courteous and clean.