Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Mount Airy

It's been a month since Ben Franklin Plumbing came to my house and I still feel so violated about their service. To charge me $300 to replace the kit in the toilet (that I bought before they showed up) us nothing short of a rape of my money and time. I could have bought TWO toilets at Lowe's and gotten free installation for that matter! The guy who showed up at the house was overly chatty and truly annoying. The only reason I went ahead and did the job was because I had company coming the next day. Do NOT call these people. First, they charge a ridiculous SERVICE FEE of $69 REGARDLESS of whether or not they do the work, so...guess what....the rip off begins as soon as they enter your home. Then they charge you by LEVEL for the work done. If something requires more than TEN minutes of their time, it's a LEVEL 2 job to replace a toilet kit, which they will also replace for a much higher fee than what you buy at Home Depot.  Note: They use the same parts that you buy at Home Depot, then charge you MORE for it. By the time the guy left, I was seething mad because I truly felt ripped off. Do NOT use these folks, unless you have a lot of spare cash lying around and want to lose it faster than buying a Powerball ticket. Also, I was supposed to get a free exam of my water heater, but I turned it down as the repair guy seemed hell bent on finding something else to charge me for and we all know what a free inspection can lead to...a highly priced repair that's not needed.

The actual address of this branch is 4219-A Hanover Pike, Manchester, MD 21102 where Artie Bell is in charge. They were to replace a old pipe in the front yard and first they cracked up and destroyed the sidewalk because they took no precaution and just drove the heavy machine straight up on the curb. Next, the dirt caved in around the pipe that was originally underground and unseen to now a pipe sticking up out of my front yard. In addition, after they completed the work they clogged the drain and wanted to charge me $250 to even look at it and has refused to resolve any of the issues. They really don't deserve any stars. Basically, they pretend to know anything about plumbing and they don't know anything at all. You will waste your money and in the end it will cost you more to have someone come and repair everything they do.

Late one night my water randomly stopped working.  I had family visiting so I was in kind of a hurry to get it working.  Things never go well when you are in a hurry and this was no exception.  I start looking for plumbers the next morning.  Unfortunately BF were the first ones that opened.  They had a technician promptly come out and said that my well tank and pressure gauge needed to be replaced.  So I told him to go ahead and do what needed to be done.  So after charging me $1300 just to install a new tank (which turns out wasn't the problem and didn't even need to be replaced), 4 days later I was again without water.  So I call them back and they send the same technician out.  Once again he was prompt and courteous.  After going through his little routine he tells me that to replace my old pump with a new 1/2 HP pump is only gonna cost me $3,000.  Immediately that seems very high to me.  The technician then went into full salesman mode and tried to justify the price by telling me that they are a reputable company and that all their trucks are fully stocked with 'fancy' plumbing equipment.  He couldn't even give me a price breakdown of what things cost and why it was so expensive.  Nor could his manager.  He just said that is what the company charges.  Luckily I was not in such a hurry this time so I told him I had to think about it.  After he left I contacted two other companies and quotes on what it would cost to pull and replace a new well pump.  Both of them said it would be no more than $1,300.  So I ended up going with Fogle's Septic and Well and it ended up costing me $1,295.  I ended up paying twice what I have should have if I had called just about anyone else to begin with.  Needless to say do not use this company unless you like throwing money away just to pay for all their 'fancy' equipment for their trucks and to have things fixed that aren't broken.

Do not use this company. I called them as a recommendation from somebody and scheduled them to come. They told me that they could not give me a set time and told me to give them a call Friday morning to confirm. I called Friday morning and spoke to two different people to confirm that somebody was coming out and also told them I was home so whenever they could come was fine. The tech called while I was talking to the restoration people are in a different part of my home and while I was using the restroom and when I found the message and called them back they had already reassigned the tech. When I called the office and spoke to Susan she was extremely rude to me. Out of all the companies that I've talked to since I got a leak a week ago-  I've talked to so many plumbers and so many restoration companies there's not been one that has treated me so poorly. Do not use this company. Terrible customer service. If I could leave a zero rating I would but the system makes me do at least a one. This company is not even worth a one star rating.

We had a plumbing emergency with our home we recently purchased. Waking up to a partially flooded utility room. Unsure of the issue we needed a top notch company to help us diagnose the issue. Benjamin Franklin plumbing worked to get a technician out that day even getting someone out earlier than the quoted time frame. Chris was on time, polite, and understanding of our situation. He went above and beyond ensuring we were completely taken care of working till the evening to get our service restored. Even checking on us to ensure everything was working smoothly the next day.

While on the flip side months after having the work completed we have been completely dissatisfied by the management of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. We were promised a itemized breakdown of our bill and have yet to receive it. We unfortunately were charged far above what should've been the price to replace a jet pump, pressure expansion tank for our water heater, and pressure expansion tank upgrade. Unsure of what cost we were charged for parts and labor. We did research of the parts installed and it was far more than if we were to have bought them and have them installed by another plumbing company. We are left feeling disappointed and dissatisfied.

The plumber came and did not seem to know what he was doing -- he asked ignorant questions: Such as why is the toilet over there in the tub (it was moved to give access to wall with leak) where is the leak (it was obvious that it was where the discolored wood was; and wasn't that what he was supposed to determine?).  Then, quoted near $600 and said he would have to cut through a wall stud and not repair the stud afterwards.  Then, just for looking at the area (we had already moved the toilet, tore out the wall) he charged $79.00 for his time.  The only reason for the half star rating was for the office person and the promptness.

No stars is more like it. This was the worst plumbing experience we have ever had and to top it off Ben Franklin plumbing DID NOT CARE!!  We discovered a leak  in our basement at 2pm Monday. We called Ben Franklin Plumbing about 30 minutes later. Their call center said that they could fit us in the next day but could not give us a time.  We agreed and my wife took Tuesday off to wait for the plumber.  Tuesday morning my wife called to confirm that someone would be coming to the house and they said YES but could not give any time of their arrival.  At 3:45, after being home all day, they called to say that they could not make it. WHAT??  Took all day to say they could not make it?  They never showed and we had to call another plumber to make it out tonight.  NEVER EVER use them. No need and they cost my wife a day of work to boot.

Here's an idea for a start-up: (1) Call yourself plumber and (2) take a service call. (3) Submit a ridiculously overpriced quote to make sure you don't actually get the job and (4) charge a service fee anyway despite the fact that you actually provided no service.
It works for BFP, why wouldn't it work for you? :)
You don't actually need to work, just submit ridiculous quotes all day long and charge a fee for that; you'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Agree with Barry H. - should be zero stars. Overprice plumbing job. I got mine water heater replaced from the one located at Mt. Airy. I paid over $1800.00 and when I got home saw the invoice (my husband stayed home with the repair) without itemize, I called them up to request that. Didn't get call back after few weeks. I called again and then I got a call from the business owner. (Mr. Collins). I expressed my concern about the price and told him that I got the rough estimate (about $1000)over the phone when I called their customer service to book the service appointment. This is way overprice! He then offered to look into it. Over the phone, I requested to have the itemize on labor, tank price and warranty per year (cover 5years) I thought that if I got this information, I may consider only want to get one year warranty instead of 5 years. He emailed me back with all the nonsense about how much his company truck cost, how much the material in the truck cost and etc. Didn't even answer my question to provide me with the itemize pricing. I emailed him back with very clear and simpler request that I could possible put down -  Please provide me with the itemize price of tank, installation labor and warranty per year.  When I opened his 2nd response email, all I can think of is this guy is something! In his email, he provided me the breakdown with how much the labor cost, tank cost, & the most crazy part is the overhead cost that he put down as over $800.00. (Which I had to pay for) he stated in his breakdown that his company profit is only $101.00....The 2nd most crazy thing I never heard of when I ask him the branch name of the tank. (I was at work when I email him and forgot to check myself the branch of the tank myself) and his response was -  The brand of water heater we use is proprietary to our Franchise, so I don't think you will be able to look it up on the internet REALLY?He also stated in his email that he won't consider to reduce the cost of my invoice unless I pay a visit to his company facility in Mt. Airy during business hours, introduce me to his administrative staffs, and let me examine his company P & L statement. Then this is what he stated in the email. After doing this, if you can explain how we have overcharged you, I will negotiate a price reduction with you. As I have already stated, I have utterly nothing to hide, and you won't find any other plumbing/HVAC company willing to open their books for you!  So Should I pay a visit to his facility in order to get price reduce? Lesson learn and it was emergency situation for us with the water tank leak and the basement floor was all wet with water. I should have check yelp first before letting them start the installation.I hope my review will prevent the next person to become the next victim of this overprice plumbing company.

Not sure about other reviews I've seen but Ben Franklin really came through for us.  Two years ago our front yard sewer line broke and Ben Franklin did the repair.  Within 18 months the leak was back with sewage in our front yard.  Needless to say, we were upset after spending quite a bit on the original repair.  Larry C. of Ben Franklin came out, dug up our front yard again, and repaired the line again, while consulting with WSSC to make sure the repair was strengthened so problem would not recur.  All of this was done at no charge-which we expected-and no hassles.  They said they stand behind their work-and we appreciate that!  Let's hope this repair does the job!

We requested an estimate for the damage to our home after Hurricane Sandy. We got two estimates to make sure we didn't get ripped off and I'm glad we did!! Ben Franklin quoted us $3500, and the other guy completed whole job for $800. Don't get ripped off!!

This is based solely on their inability to proactively communicate during the work. When Artie came out to look at the job, I informed him that my boiler was being replaced and I am getting a new hot water heater as well. I went with them even though they weren't the best price. When the inspector came and spoke to Nick, apparently they had to make some changes. When I asked Nick about it, all he said was that the inspector has thrown them a curve ball and they need to make adjustments with fittings and pipe size. NEVER did anyone explain to me that the inspector is requiring them to add an expansion tank on the line which is not part of the original proposal. Then I get an invoice with an additional $300.00 dollar charge.  So I had to call the other company scheduled to come out on the 22nd and tell them I need them to adjust their price as they will not need to install an expansion tank for the hot water heater. The workers who did the work were great.

one star, as no stars not an option.....with so many solid plumbing choices in Montgomery county, just no reason to ever use these guys...
sold us a lemon water heater, with a 10 year warranty, had only one guy(rocky) who knew anything about it, leaks, minor floods, weeks with no hot water, and BILLED us for the warranty.....which we were told was included.....would send a repair man, he would say I dont know, then would get a second, and a third, then finally a diagnosis, and a part ordering leaving us with no hot water or a leaking water unit...weve never had a problem they were able to help us out on first shot, we have switched plumbers now and are super happy getting the service we all deserve....Just stay away from these guys.