Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

I told him that I would give him a satisfactory review and thanked him for making amends. Although we still aren’t getting hot water in the kitchen, it is warm enough to do dishes and it may be a separate problem having a separate issue with the heat pump. I have since purchased a point of use tankless water heater to solve that problem. As far as their company is concerned make sure that you understand the price before the work is ever done and if you are not satisfied it doesn't hurt to talk to the manager.

Original Review: The radio ad said that their plumbers will always arrive with a face mask and gloves and practice social distancing plus give me a free roll of toilet paper... None of that was true and three plumbers came to my home on 4 different occasions from this company. I am 72 years old and my wife is in poor health and in her late 60's, we would have appreciated the courtesy of the mask and gloves. We had a coupon for a free service call but it was not honored either. One of the plumbers sneezed twice as he sat next to me while I was getting my credit card for him.

The first visit was to asses the problem and I was charged $39.00 for the service call. I tried at first to show him the water heaters and tell him about the circulation pump that I had removed but he ignored me and went to the kitchen sink and looked under the cabinet. I had removed the pump awhile back and we've had mostly cold water since. I had put two water heaters in the closet to replace the two previous heaters that had begun leaking. I only hooked up one and saved the other for a spare.

He eventually looked over the heaters and told me that the circulation pump needed the second heater to preheat the returning water before entering the primary tank. He said he would need to hook up both tanks but he would have to remove the spare tank to have room to install the heat pump. He said that would be a lot of work so he quoted me a price of $800.00 to remove the tank and install the heat pump then to place the spare back into the closet and hook it up.

We set up an appointment for 8:00 a.m. Monday (after the weekend). During the two days prior to the appointment, I took a chain saw and widened the doorway (because there was no way to remove the spare water heater without removing the first one). I then bought a cart lift to make it easier to remove and replace the water heater as it was 18" off the floor. I removed the spare water heater myself and left it on the cart so it would be ready to install. I then made a temporary work bench (with a vise) close to the closet for him to work on. He didn't like working in the heat so I had a large fan blowing the cool morning air across the workbench and into the heater closet. I set up bright led light above the water heaters near the ceiling in the closet. I vacuumed out all the cobwebs and dust to provide him with a clean work environment. Plus I bought a brand new circulation pump.

Come Monday I waited outside from 8:00 am until almost 9:15 a.m. and another plumber arrived (No face mask, no gloves, no toilet paper). He said the first plumber couldn't make it so he checked the situation and said it would be from $400 to $600 to install the heater and pump. I told him that the other plumber said I needed both heaters hooked up and so he said he wouldn't have enough time to do the installation so he made another appointment for the first plumber to come back, again at 8:00 a.m. Thursday. This plumber was nice and friendly.

Eventually the first plumber came about 10:00 a.m. and parked about 20 feet from my garage. When he got out I told him he could park closer to the garage. He rudely replied "Now why would I want to do that?" I said that, "It might save you some walking." He then said "I'm gonna be here all day anyway". He just really did not seem to like me at all. He was a little more friendly when he saw the work area that I had prepared for him. I showed him the lift that I had the spare heater on and the new circulation pump. He said that would save him a lot of work. Then he said that I didn't really need to hook up that spare water heater and that things would be just fine without it. So I said great then just hook up the circulation pump to the water heater that I've already installed. This he did in less than 3 hours.

He took my credit card and we talked awhile and shared hobby stories and pictures. He handed me my credit card and said my receipt would be emailed to me. I was disappointed to find, that after all my prep work the bill was $716.00. That is $116.00 more than the maximum the last plumber quoted me and they are both from Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. And to top it all off we still are not getting hot water in the kitchen. So we called to complain and they sent someone out a few hours later to assess the situation.

He came without face mask or gloves but he did have shoe covers. I jokingly said that the other two plumbers didn't bring me my free roll of toilet paper. He seemed to take offense and said "I have a roll in my truck". Needless to say, he never gave me a roll. He said he would discuss the matter with his boss on Monday. Today we called but "the boss" was not available. So here I sit. Logging my complaint, consumer beware...of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

I again asked for a breakdown of parts and labor and was told that their "master plumber" would call me; which of course he didn't. I called again to speak with the "master plumber" who told me that I needed to take it up with my tenant, because he was not about to credit me back for anything. I told him I was looking for a parts and labor cost breakdown because I felt they had taken advantage of the situation and overcharged the tenant; they knew this was a rental property and never received approval from us to enter the property. "Master Plumber" said that was not their mode of operation and that he'd send me a breakdown of parts and labor for the work done. After yet another call, nothing has been received

I had also asked for a bid on a 40-gallon, gas, hot water heater and was quoted $1,579 not including tax. When I asked if it was a 12-year warranty, he said, no, for a 12-year warranty the price would be over $2500. I told him I thought the price of everything was outrageous. But the coup de grace was that afterwards when my sister burst out of the shower, screaming her head off with second degree burns, we checked and the repairmen, apparently unhappy that I would not buy my hot water heater from them nor pay $200+ for a toilet handle, turned the water heater up to high and never told me.