Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

Doesn't Recommend

Ej J.

Joined 6 months ago

Way overall priced for non-drain pipe unclogging work. I had a clogged drain pipe in the basement and the sump pump had gone out. I had replaced my sump pump in 1996 while living in NJ for less than $200, so I decided to go with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. The service and response time overall was very good. If I had just needed the drained unclogged I would have been a very satisfied customer but the ride was ruined by the predatory price gouging to replace to the sump pump. When I considered replacing the sump pump myself I was hit with the threat of a $100 trip charge, way over price!!

Recommends

Jennifer A.

Joined 1 year ago

These guys are great! After dozens of calls to plumbers, they were the only ones willing to work around my schedule. Our toilet was flooding and leaking into the unit below ours. The guy (Matt) checked our toilet as well as looked at the unit below us. He was very honest and saved us a lot of money by telling us which services would be unnecessary.

They were extremely friendly, timely, and professional! I will certainly be using them again.

Doesn't Recommend

Bohmed22

Joined 3 years ago

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing - DO NOT CALL. When looking for a plumber, do NOT waste your time with these guys. Had a toliet that was running constantly, had to lift the fill valve to get it to stop. We decided to replace it, and have them look at the other toliets since they were all pretty old. Our initial estimate was 332.00/ piece. Mind you, i can buy an entirely new toliet for that price at Home Depot. We decided against it. Went downstairs and heard water, now gushing from the tank. The piece that turns it off was now broke off. We had to turn the water off to the entire house. I called in to talk to a manager, none were around. They did connect me to the technician who had come out. He said that he didn't know what must have happened but would not come back out unless we paid the 282.00. Oh, I forgot to mention that when my husband gasped at their original quote, he decided to knock it down to just about half of the orginal amount quoted. Thank you for completely trying to take advantage of us from the onset. And I paid 49.00 for this fiasco!

Doesn't Recommend

JMS1219

Joined 2 years ago

Sales pitch not repair. Requested a repair of a 6 yr old water heater. After less than five minutes, Tech claimed the issue was the ignitor and that no repair could guarantee that the problem would be fixed. He proceeded to try and sell us a new water heater or costly replacement of components. I looked online while he earnestly made his sales pitch and found that often a minor cleaning is all that is needed. I asked him to do that but it didn't fix problem.

Got a second opinion from ARS and discoved that Ben Franklin tech told us wrong problem. The water heater shows codes for repair, and the code showed that the pressure switch was the problem. Tech cleaned the switch and the hoses for $49 and water heater works perfectly.

Do not use Ben Franklin. In hindsight,it seemed that tech deliberately gave wrong problem because no repair would have fixed it. Techs must have sales quotas because he was only trying to sell very costly repairs or replacement.

Doesn't Recommend

todnik

Joined 4 years ago

WAY OVER PRICED. Beware of the price per job gimmick. I had two valves changed out and a pressure regulating valve installed. the work took approximately 2 1/2 hours. Total cost was $1,125 and that was with some discounts. Yes they quoted these price up front so I knew how much they were going to cost, but at this point I needed the repairs done and didn't have the time to get another plumber out to the house. Don't even bother with Ben Franklin, and just call another plumber.

Doesn't Recommend

mbjenkins

Joined 4 years ago

Be aware. Their labor rate works out to about $200+ hour. They tell you they are expensive becasue of the excellent work they do. Give me a break... Get competative bids.

Doesn't Recommend

jamessandler

Joined 6 years ago

Wierd service guy. It may just be me but I can't seem to find a good plumber. I had a horible experience with Dino Drain and now they are out of business. So I decided to give this national franchise a chance figuring they will be aroung for a while. The plumber was realy nice until I asked to see his plumbers license. He started shaking, mumbling, sweating and making wierd excuses. I was so shocked; I called the office and they told me he didn't require a license for the work he was sent to do. Well I had requested that all of the plumbing in my house be replaced. My house was built in 1948 and has old steel pipes. They did refund me the minimum charge that I paid but I don't think these guys hire very good plumbers. Thanks for listening.

Jim

Doesn't Recommend

CJ5280

Joined 5 years ago

watch out. way overpriced. watch out for sales pitch and upselling for things you do not need. they came to clean root out my sewer line and tried to convince me I needed a whole new one that would cost me $11,000!!!! I totally felt like they were taking advantage of me because I was a woman and may not know much about sewer lines. the "sewer line" specialist was even called to my house by the tech to try and get me to hire them for more work. the rooting they did was fine, but even that was about $60 more than the other companies I called, but they were the first to say they could come out right away and so I went with them to just clean it out. would not trust them for anything more. then when I said for $11k I would need to check out other quotes from other companies, they said they would knock it down to $9k if I signed the agreement then. I would recommend calling around and get another company.

Doesn't Recommend

elwhite73

Joined 6 years ago

Way overpriced - not recommended based upon price. Way, way overpriced. Had a hot water heater installed and had Ben Franklin install it because it was leaking and they were already at my house. They said their price to install a hot water heater ($1395) was average - not knowing any better, I believed them. However, after the install, I checked prices charged by six other plumbers - the next highest price was $300 lower and the majority of prices were $600 cheaper. Ben Franklin may try to sell you on the fact that they provide "annual maintenance" for your water heater - this is a marketing ploy - annual maintenance on a water heater is NOT necessary. The extra cost - for any plumbing service (all of their "fixed costs" are excessive) - is not worth using Ben Franklin.