Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

Ed from Benjamin Franklin came out to my house the following Wednesday after a quote given the previous Friday. He was very friendly, professional, thorough in all of the services performed. Ed installed a new OSMOSIS system for drinking water in the kitchen and had to run new pipes for my new ice maker. He also repaired and inspected an old toilet. I need to have both toilets replaced in my home as well as a new bathtub and Ed quoted me a reasonable price. I am using this company again and would highly recommend them!

First off don't fall for the special they advertise on Angie's List, It won't save you anything it will only cost you more! They told me that to guarantee their work they had to replace the shutoff valves under the kitchen faucet that needed replaced even though they were less than 10 years old. Then they replaced some washers in a spare bathroom faucet. I had a slow drain in another bathroom that the serviceman looked at and said he could not get the drain stopper out of because it was too old (didn't know how) only other option was to replace the entire sink, faucet everything. Well like a sucker ,I bought the biological drain opener they sell for $50 a gallon. All told my "great deal" of $79 for $200 worth of service was a bad deal.

Good news and bad news. The guy that came was extremely knowledgeable and did a great job. However, I feel like I was taken advantage of by the company. I am single, I'm a woman, and I think I was ripped off royally. Even though the big deal was a full house plumbing inspection. Which I'm in this house twenty three years and you know, I didn't have a problem with the inspection. He was trying to tell me that there were problems I didn't have. He tried to tell me my water heater was leaking at the bottom and it wasn't. He tried to tell me my outside spigot was leaking and needed to be replaced and he wanted to charge $250 for that and he said the one in the back should also be replaced, that was, so that would have been $500. The water heater he quoted me was over $4500. I ended up replacing three toilets which I knew I had a problem with. The question he asked me was do you plan to stay in this house or do you plan to sell it soon? I said, well I'd like to stay. So I think with that, and again, I should have asked more questions like what are my options?, how much are they?, I didn't. He replace, you know the comfort height of the higher ones, he said good choice. He ended up installing three toilets for two thousand dollars. Did a great job. I was really worried, I was like oh my god do I need to replace my water heater blah, blah, blah. I called another plumbing company and they said where's the leak? I said the only thing he said, he's saying at the bottom. He said is there water coming out of the bottom? I said no. I said what about my outdoor spigot?, I'm worried about that freezing. He said this is what you do, I said when I first looked out there it was dripping but the guy just checked it, you know, maybe he let it drip. He said this is what you do, he said go put like a glass container, something that won't blow away, put it under your spigot outside, leave it there for 24 hours. If there's anything in that container in 24 hours, yeah you have a leak. If you don't it's fine. It worked well and needless to say there was no leak. The guy was very good and I think the company did a good job, I don't know if they knew my age, I'm 61, the guy that came out was like my age and he seemed very personable, very sincere, very professional but I think I got ripped off. They came out December 29th. I would tell others just beware. I would dissuade them from using them. The person that did the service was very professional, did a great job. However the whole deal with not giving me options in terms of cost and just, I don't know, I assumed the wrong condition, I think he was trying to make extra money and offered services that I did not need. The guy did good work. I would never use this provider for services in the future.

The service provider was on time and pleasant to work with. There was a link at the washing machine, kitchen sink and bathroom. They repaired the leaks however their service fee was high given the length of time it took to repair the 3 leaks.

Technician showed up at the scheduled time. Drained hot water tank and checked anode rod. My heater is approximately 11 years old and has probably never had this service done. The anode was completely gone. Quoted price of $289.00 to replace anode. Given the age of the heater and the fact that this was the original anode I opted not to have this service done. Spoke with the technician about the installation of a tank-less water heater.

Again the tech. Steven was very professional, he did nothing wrong. He was trained very well by the company. Very nice young guy. Again, I gave my approval with my instials under yes block, no do-overs here, but learned a HUGE lesson in my old age. The tech. Steven M was very professional, no problem with him at all. He did his job well. Ordered the Big Deal thru Angie's List. $79.00 for $200.00 of labor, no parts included in this deal. I had 2 faucets here that were purchased a while back & never having used Angie's List before, saw this offer on an e-mail from them. Thought this would be a good way to get them installed for a small amt. of money, since after all it was the Big Deal with Angie's List. Apt. came quickly, them came quickly, no problem with that. The way they work is explore other things re: plumbing in our case. They come up with 3 options for me. Mind you only wanted those 2 faucets installed. So figured if there's any cost it will be minimal. NOT SO. This company the way they do their business is very expensive. Now I must say, I'm very upset that I left this happen, wife is not happy at all either, but I did give my permission with my initials to do this. I still can't believe I left this happen. Steven did tighten a screw under our kitchen sink for the faucet which had come loose, took 3 mins. he didn't charge for that, thank God. OK, my receipt which I received about an hr. or so after tech. left premises via e-mail. Did have the proposal with the 3 options of other work including the faucets installed. One was for $1768.00 which included 8 emergency shut off vales, Option 2 was for $1,180.60 with 4 emergency shut off valves (mind you except for 4 under the vanity where the faucets would be installed, were for the kitchen & the downstairs bath, which was never mentioned by me, just the install of the 2 faucets in upstairs bathroom. The 3rd option, was no emergency valves (nowhere), just the installation of the 2 faucets for $592.00, again no parts, just the install. of the 2 faucets. I saw them & thought I can't afford those options, so said yes to the bottom (last option). For not more than 2 hrs. labor, that's $592.00. OK, then from that, since I accepted an option, they waived their Service Fee/Dispatch Fee of $76.00. OK, take that off then, They now deducted the Angie's List special of $200.00 off the bill, which leaves the total bill of $392.40 to install 2 faucets in not more than 2 hours it was. That's close to $200.00 per hour. They do their work by set fees, which was told sometimes works out better for customer, sometimes not. Their set price is amazingly HIGH. Again, no materials from this company, just labor involved in this. I did approve it & I could kick myself if I only could. My wife is not happy at all. Too bad I am so down with a cold, but I can't believe I left him do that. I have no one to blame by myself, but really needed to let you all know, please beware when you agree to something with this company. They do things differently with so-called options before you see your original only thing to do at the bottom, the last option. Please don't do what I did. This is absolutely awful pricing. With the $200.00 from Angies List big deal this still cost me $392.40. My gosh. I'll never get over that I left this happen. This is just meant for an FYI for anyone who uses this company, please be on your guard. Know what money you will be responsible for & give it some thought, it might be alot more than you planned on... Everything is very professional with this company except the PRICE, which is NOT...

This was an advertised Angie's List Big Deal that was to include the flushing of a water heater and a plumbing inspection. I got neither. I paid for the Big Deal and was shortly contacted inquiring my location. When I replied I was informed the company does not service my area. Areas serviced need to be shown BEFORE members make their purchases!

It went extremely well!! Derrick M was our technician and he did an outstanding job. He didn't let an uncooperative faucet stop him! He was professional and efficient and explained what he was doing. Excellent plumber!! This is the second time we've used Ben Franklin Plumbing and will continue to use them for all our plumbing needs! Extremely pleased!!

I have nothing but high praise for the service tech Ed who came out on-site and was very professional, courteous and informative about the work needed and overall the services offered by the company. I was a bit dismayed though by the other customer service I received prior. I was told the $76 service fee was waived if work was done. I'm a bit iffy about the service fee in general as other contractors I've worked with didn't charge such a fee. Also when the tech arrived he did explain the tiered pricing and my replacement of a gas valve + shutoff apparently fell into the tier 3 pricing which was $348. I went ahead and agreed to the scope of work but now that I'm looking over the invoice and realizing the work itself took probably 25 minutes while going over everything and making sure the gas was turned back on and tested took about another 20. Going over the invoice, paying and then getting a service plan probably took about another 25-30 minutes. In order to get my bill down, I had to use a coupon to waive the service fee (I was told it was waived in general if work was done) another $50 off coupon and then another 15% discount to get my bill from $348 to $252. I did mention an angies list coupon for $79 for 200 but I was told this was a better route getting the fee coupon and the $50 off. I think the price overall for the job was extremely high given that all he did was remove 2 small sections of pipe and then attached a new valve and hooked up. I still have the basic maintenance plan ( in order to get the 15%) off but I might end up just cancelling it due to the high pricing of what was done and I really will research other providers again in the future that are more cost competitive. I had another plumber in before this who replaced two lines for the washing machine, two shut offs in the bathroom and the toilet for $213 and that was about 2/hr of work. Again this is not about the tech he did a great job it was just the very high cost of the work and I needed this done as I'm trying to renovate my kitchen and so I just bit the bullet and paid it..plus if I didn't have the work done I still would have been charged the $76 fee.

The plumber was very thorough in his inspection and asked if I had any issues or concerns with the plumbing?

The bill would be almost $900 to replace 2 faucets. We said no way, then we still had to pay $97 for 10 min work $147 - $50 credit. We were out $35 for service call plus $97, and because of the $900 estimate we said no to the future work. My husband called Moen, who manufactured the faucet. They told him to clean the faucet tube and flush it before inserting the new cartridge. He did as instructed, and the leak was fixed in 10 minutes.

Excellent! See previous comments.

Purchased the free service call and $50.00 credit coupon for 35.00. The provider was told what services were needed. The required parts cost under 5.00 and the time needed to perform the service was at most 20-30 minutes (replace two toilet o-ring seals). When the plumber arrived, he immediately began to ask what other things he might be able to fix or replace. After I told him I just needed the simple job done that was already discussed, he pulled out a tablet computer and began to tell me about the "6 levels of service" they offer ranging from 146.00 to over $600.00. He told me that most likely my job would fall into the 146.00 range, and then said that he would deduct the 50.00 credit from that. So in effect, he was telling me that it would be the 35.00 I already paid plus another 96.00 for him to do the job that should cost less than 50.00 to begin with (even at 100.00 dollars an hour). I told him that I was not expecting to pay much more than I already had and that if there was a minimum charge for service I should have been told when I sent the job information. I then told him to leave. He said he would call his supervisor and check on the price. He returned and told me that they would not reduce the price. So, he was told to leave again. I consider the practice of offering one thing, then hitting a customer with additional hidden cost on site to be dishonest. Also, trying to up-sell me on service upon arrival was not a good business practice. I would never call this company again and certainly not recommend them to anyone.

Scheduled a Water Heater flush after purchasing the $35 coupon on this site. The tech who came to my house was knowledgeable, professional and polite, but clearly the $35 coupon is an excuse for them to come to the house and offer a range of other services. Still, the anode rod was clearly pretty corroded, so I asked to have it changed. Cost for that work was $235, so $270 total for flush and rod replacement. Not the best prices in town, but overall I'm pleased with the service.

I purchased the $80 coupon for $200 worth of services coupon. The technician came out, was very knowledgeable, but his estimate was ridiculous (even the price with signing up for their monthly program). Naturally, I declined. He said that if I didnt use the service, I would have to pay the $69 service fee. I ended up finding another plumber who estimated it for over HALF the price. Even with wasted $69 dollars, I was better off finding alternatives. So far, bathroom is perfect!

We purchased a deal for $100 to replace an outdoor faucet. Ours was leaky and we wanted to correct it before the winter freeze. This seemed like a great deal. The fine print states that the faucet had to be easily accessible from inside, which it was from our laundry room. The technician called to let me know that he would have to cut a hole in the drywall to access the faucet connection and he was going to put a shutoff valve inside the house. He told me that the price with the added labor was $470. I thought that was outrageous since the purchased deal was for the faucet repair and he was easily able to gain access to the site. I truly believe this is deceptive advertising and the coupon is used to get them onto the job site and then greatly increase their costs. I am going to be contact the BBB and perhaps our local Attorney Generals office to file a complaint. The technician was prompt and professional, and the appearance of the work looked okay. I would not recommend Benjamin Franklin for others to use and do not purchase their deals. I am also one to write reviews of any companies I have used through Angie's List and I am typically generous with my praises.

I felt the plumbers knew what they were doing and they nice but I was a little taken aback by the price of the service.

I purchased a deal from Ben Franklin, $30 service call and $50 off any repair completed. Customer Service contacted me promptly to set up the appointment. I had water leaking into the basement. I suspected it was coming from the master bath, but wasn't sure. Ron arrived promptly, quickly figured out the problem and gave me a price quote. After I accepted it, he got right to work and fixed the problem. The leak was indeed coming from the master bath. The deal I purchased turned out to be pretty darned good. Saved money and got a quality repair.

Nice serviceman, cancelled any sort of fee or penalty for not moving forward. Advised us to attempt to ask for contract cost from A List. We were not disappointed, in the outcome.

I recently used one of your highly ranked plumbers, Ben Franklin plumbing, Lancaster PA. I needed to have the toilet tightened to the floor. Due to a handicap, I cannot bend to do this seemingly simple task myself. The serviceman showed up and said he would have to replace the flange. This is a part that costs about $10 and involves removing two bolts. I have done this type of DIY repair before I was injured, so I am familiar with the amount of labor involved. I OK'd that, then he suggested that I have the toilet "completely rebuilt" I know that the only rebuild possible is replacing a few inexpensive parts. I would guess that, on the high side, there may have been $50 in parts. I received a bill for close to $1000.00. That's $950.00 in labor and I suppose travel from Lancaster PA. The distance is about 15 miles. I would very much appreciate it if you would discuss this with your vendor. My next step is the BBB. By the way, I had inadvertently purchased two coupons, and forgot that I had one previously unused. That would cover $600.00 in repairs. They refused to take three coupons, and only took two. This isn't the first time I was overcharged by this vendor. Fortunately, the previous encounter ended when I asked for an estimate which was $400.00 higher than the licensed plumber I eventually used.

When I scheduled the appointment I asked them to give me a ball park price, so I wouldn't be shocked. They refused to give any kind of pricing. I didn't have the job done because it would have cost more than twice the price of the sink and facet to install. I would not recommend them unless you can afford unreasonable pricing. This is my first experience with Angie's list and at this point I am sorry I decided to try them.

I was very happy with the technician they sent and the work that was performed. I am satisfied with the service all and all.

He was A+ in every aspect except estimates. Proper and professional in every way. He was overpriced but I don't think he personally controls the estimates as franchises like his have set rates.

They did an okay job. They addressed everything.

Technician was the most professional I have ever worked with. Explained each issue found on the whole house plumbing inspection. He worked with me to complete the most critical work first considering my budget. I would not hesitate to use this company again or to recommend them to others.