Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Charlotte

I'm not sure where the bad reviews are coming from - my experience with BFP has been fantastic.  Adam, Rodney, and Lauren all were top notch and fixed my complicated issues - which other companies had said required a whole-house re-pipe that would have cost at least 5x the price.  They were all friendly, punctual, professional, and proud of their work.  What more can you ask for in a plumber?  I will definitely be seeking them out again in the future.

Completely incompetent and unable to fix anything, but still charged us almost $300.  Details:

(1) Our kitchen faucet suddenly had almost no hot water pressure.  Cold was fine, and all other faucets were fine.  Plumber insisted our faucet was broken and could not be fixed, and had to be replaced - and that nothing else was wrong.  The real problem, as found by another plumber:  The rubber gasket in the hot water shut-off valve (angle valve) had broken apart due to age, and a piece had lodged in the hot water line to the faucet blocking it.  The actual repair needed was to replace that little rubber gasket and remove the broken pieces.

(2) Water was leaking around the hot and cold water valves on our bathtub (Jacuzzi tub).  Clearly, seals in the valves were leaking.  Plumber insisted that to replace the valve parts, he had to get in from underneath, and would have to cut out a section of the tiled wall next to the tub.  Even though I pointed out that these looked like they could be replaced from above, like cartridges in a typical faucet, he insisted that was impossible.  The other plumber I called, however, pulled out his special wrench and easily removed the cartridges from the top, replaced the cartridges, gaskets, and springs, and put it back together - took 5 minutes, with no need to get underneath.

Thus, Benjamin Franklin was 100% incorrect in every diagnosis they made - couldn't have been more incompetent.  I asked for my money back, but they did not even give me the courtesy of responding.

By the way, the OTHER plumber I called afterwards was Jim Dickerson.  They could not have been better - they immediately knew what the problems were before they even took anything apart, and they had the necessary tools and parts with them and fixed everything very quickly.  (However, they were expensive.)

I called this company to do some work at a mobile home rental that I own. I was told on the phone that I would have to give them a debit card to secure a $145 trip fee prior to someone going out, which I provided that information.
I had a stopped up commode and a kitchen sink that was leaking.
I asked the woman that I spoke with how much it would cause for the service and she said we don't discuss prices over the phone. The driver will access the problem and talk to you about the fees. He will call or text you 30 min before he goes to the mobile home.
I received a call around 2pm from the plumber and he said the tenants will not come to the door. I said you were supposed to call me when you headed that way, since I am the owner and will paying the fees. I said I am on my way. 22 min later I received a call from the tenant and he said the plumber fixed the problems and he is gone.
I said what did he do and who authorized the charges. Then I received via text a picture of a bill from Ben Franklin Co for $456.
I went home and called my bank and disputed the charges.
They reversed the charges temporarily. I spoke to the owner of the plumbing company and told him I did not authorize the charges. He had a signed bill and asked him, who signed it. He read the name out to me, which was the name of the male tenant who lived there, and was DEFINITELY not authorized to sign charges against my card.
Because the company had a signed bill, my bank reinstated the charges for $456.
I delivered a 30 notice to vacate the premises to my tenant and put him out over this incident, but I did not get my $ back and when I regained entrance to the rental, neither the toilet or the sink had been repaired
I would not recommend this company to anyone. VERY BAD WORKING ETHICS!!!

If you are a senior citizen please BEWARE...this company offers a senior citizen discount to reel you in but the price you will be quoted will be extremely high, poor quality, and not worth your money. My mother called Benjamin Franklin to locate a leak in our home because our water bill was higher than usual. Benjamin Franklin sent a technician to our home and the technician stated that he could not find a leak anywhere but it could be possibly be our toilets. He asked if she wanted a repair and she asked him to quote a price for the cost of the repair. He quoted the price of $457 to fix the toilet (a flapper; which he stated was the issue). My mother declined the service because she thought it was a little excessive.. He asked for the service fee and travel of $57 plus tax. My mother paid him. Less than 24 hours later we had FLOODING in our basement where the water heater is located. We immediately call BF to get another technician to look at the issue. The representative stated that we would have to PAY for another service call because this call was not related to the original service call. Side Note: During the technicians inspection,  he did not secure the valve on top of the tank and water was everywhere. I had to call another plumber to come and fix the issue. I called again to speak to another representative about their policies and she stated that what the previous representative stated was not the case and that she would escalate the situation to her manager. The manager returned our call and stated that his technicians don't touch anything which doesn't make much sense if you are there to inspect for leaks how could you not touch anything? The customer is not right in this case. Also, we have never had any issues with the water heater. He offered to give us a refund of $61.47 and that was pretty much all he was good for. I lost way more money than $61.47 but hopefully this review will help others save their money.

The tech was very nice and fast but at a ridiculous cost.  If you don't mind paying $225 an hour to have a $200  toilet installed in minutes then these are your guys.  Highway robbery!

So, the company sends out an UNVACCINATED plumber on an elective appointment for a hot water heater. The plumber tells me he is waiting to see what happens!!!!!  So I guess this is the companies attitude towards dealing with the public. A pandemic which has killed millions and they let their staff come into peoples homes still UNVACCINATED.
Outside of the fact that they wanted over $4000.00 to install a gas hot water heater in the attic. Ridiculous!

DO NOT CALL THEM

WHAT A BAD DAY with Benjamin Franklin plumbing,  toilet flush is making little noise, wanted to replace the valve pipe, but shocked with the price he quoted almost $350 (  $265+57(trip)),  valve kit price is less $20, I decided not to go with the service, still he charged trip price $62 for not doing anything....WORST COMPANY, PLEASE DO NOT CALL THEM FOR ANY SERVICE

Called them today to get a quote for a simple, known issue. We have photographs and measurements so we could get a quote/estimate over the phone. They don't do quotes over the phone. They want to come out for $147.

And based on others' reviews, it looks like they're extremely overpriced.....$741 on top of a $140 trip charge for a garbage disposal replacement? Wow. That's crazy. A garbage disposal costs $80-$250 (the average being around $150), depending on how fancy you want to get and takes no time to install....

I should have read the reviews before calling, as I would have saved them and myself time.

I would like to urge this company to reconsider its pricing model. IMHO, these company practices/tactics seem to take advantage of people in emergency situations.

Looked to hire them to do a line replacement on my house, they charged me $399 just to find the leak and quoted me over $6,000 for the repair!!! Meanwhile, the very next plumber I call offers to do the exact same job for $2500! THIS PLACE IS A SCAM! They try to charge outrageous prices to people who they count on not knowing any better! I will NEVER do business with this company ever again. Please don't waste your time hiring this company for anything, they will overcharge you!

Had a clogged washing machine pipe. Benjamin F. Rep came over and without looking at anything, started telling me they offer a credit line. Hmm, now remember, just having this guy step in my door, he has already made this company $60+.
He takes a quick look but refuses the crawl space under my home. Sits in his truck for 15 min and gives me 3 choices. Pay $500 to get on my roof and send a snake down my pipes (work not guaranteed), pay $1500-$2500 water purifying equipment, or over $5k for all new pipes under my home due to massive corroding.
I sent him on his way, rented a snake for $45, watched a YouTube video and pulled out 2 Clorox wipes from the pipes. My plumbing is fine.
Still had to pay these clowns their $65.  
Every time I see their vehicles going down the road, I tell anyone in the car the story.
Stay away. These people just want that initial fee. Think about it, $65 an hour is quite the racket. Anyone can do it as long as you throw away your conscience everyday on your way to work.
I really hope this helps others save money.

I called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to address a small leak under my kitchen sink, knowing they would probably say I need to replace my garbage disposer.  They charge $140 for a trip fee and confirmed the garbage disposer needed replacing and the total cost would be a total of $741.10.  I reluctantly agreed for the technician to do the work because I felt trapped having already paid the $140 trip charge.  I then checked with Hand 4 Hire which gave me an estimate of less than $400 (around 1/2 their price) for the same job.  I spoke to Paul Stefano, General Manager and asked if he would price match but he agreed to refund only $90 which took 6 weeks to get to me.

I will not use this company again, and would not suggest them to anyone I know.  Furthermore, if you have them come to evaluate an issue then you will already have paid more than you should and you too will feel trapped into accepting their overpriced service.

I agree with the others on here, prices are extremely higher than anywhere else.    Quoted me $775.00 dollars to fix our toilet.  

I ended up fixing it for $12.00 dollars in parts and about 45 mins of my time by watching a couple of diy videos.   They may do good work,  but at an very high profit margin.  

I recommend working with someone else that is more honest and ethical.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.  

In December of 2016 our pump well quit working and we called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Charlotte.  They came out and installed a new pump for $2,500.  

15 months later, the pump stopped working.  I called Benjamin Franklin again to see what the issue was, and they sent a tech out.  Before they sent him, they made sure on the phone that I would agree to their $77 trip charge.  When their young tech arrived, the first thing he did was make sure I signed a form to agree to the trip charge.  He checked the pump to make sure it was receiving electricity, but he couldn't do that on his own.  He needed to call an electrician to do that for him.  They determined that electricity was going to the top of the well, and said the next step would be to pull the well pump and check it.  He said it was likely that the pump was broken or the well had gone bad.  

By this point, I had no confidence in the tech's ability or his truthfulness.  The total cost for them to tell me I had electricity going to the top of the pump ended up being $232.

I then called another company to look a the pump.  They pulled the pump and found that the installation by Benjamin Franklin was very poorly done.  They had left exposed wires at the top of the pump instead of installing it the proper way by sheathing the first 10-20 feet in PVC and protecting the wires from wear as the pump was activited.  Because they had not protected the wires they had worn through, cutting one of the wires to the pump head.

I ended up paying the second company $800 to fix the shoddy install by Benjamin Franklin plumbing 15 months earlier.

After the pump was repaired, I sent an e-mail expressing my frustration to both Paul Stefano (who is responsible for quality control) and the owner of Benjamin Franklin in Charlotte, Mike Fowler.  Neither of them bothered to respond to my e-mail, although I had even made it clear in the e-mail that I was not asking for a refund of the $232 I had paid them.

This company clearly has no ethics, and the quality of their work speaks for itself.  There are many good plumbers in Charlotte.  Avoid Benjamin Franklin.

I am still not able to get a straight answer from anyone at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing  about this issue.

I have been renovating houses in the Charlotte area for the past few years. We are not a huge company, but we do a few houses each year and on this particular house, we needed a plumbing company to quote moving bathtub pipping. I spoke to a tech who was going to be the technician coming out to quote this plumbing job. I let him know I wouldn't be able to meet him at the property but I gave him the lockbox code. The tech went to the house, but I didn't receive a quote or call afterwards. I heard nothing back from the tech that came or anyone from the office. Then, I was completely blindsided by a collections agency. They were claiming about $100 more was due than what I agreed to over the initial quote scheduling call. Bonita Mullins was who I first spoke to, she had a aggravated tone it seemed each time. She said I had to talk to a supervisor and I was given Paul Stephano.  I was able to speak to Paul, and he last said that he would look into in and give me a call back. However, we are about 3 weeks from that call and I haven't heard back. For me, the dollar amount is not as important as the principal of conducting good business. I feel like I've been treated like small potatoes, and even though I don't rehab or build 100 homes per year I should still get the courtesy of receiving a quote or at least a discussion of what work was needed.

Edit 6/16/20: This was not a one time thing. I spoke to both Paul and Bonita again and Paul made it seem like he never spoke to me. Bonita would say are you going to pay and soon after hung up on me. I am not aggressive, but will speak on what I believe in. I can definitively say this was the worst customer team I've ever encountered in Charlotte.

Going online to write a review for Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, I was surprised to see how awful they are. I wish I had checked before I called them, because calling them was a big mistake. I had an outdoor water spout that wouldn't shut off. The water was leaking and flooding the area. The technician Benjamin Franklin sent out was a total amateur with a bad attitude, nor did it appear that he wanted to get his clothes dirty. Heaven forbid he would have to go under the house. On top of this, he didn't want to go around the corner to turn off the water main (I guess it was too far away). I told him it was just around the corner and that I'd go with him. When he saw the cover, he indicated that he couldn't do it because the cover was too heavy and he would have to jump into the area to turn the water main off. He finally acquiesced, but he dropped the cover into the hole and couldn't get it out. Bottom line, he left without doing one thing and charged me $61 for the service call. I had to call another plumber, who came out and capped the spout to stop the leak. He said the service call fee would go toward the actual repair. Bad enough that I had to call another plumber, but I had to call someone else to come and get the cover out of the water main. If I could give Benjamin Franklin zero stars, that is what they would get from me. They are AWFUL!!!

Travis Blanton of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing as been more than outstanding in providing exceptional service. I called the company due to an emergency sewer back up at my property recently. From the moment Travis arrived until the work was completed, he provided nothing but reassurance, and walked me through each step of the process. Additionally, Travis took the time out to continually check in on me until the work was completed. After the service was completed he followed up to make sure no issues was left unchecked.

I will highly recommend Travis at Benjamin Franklin for any plumbing services.

I would recommend staying away from this company. I had a basic plumbing issue that took all off about 1minute to fix. I was charged $182.
Yes, everyone deserves to make a living. But my problem was the way they went about it. The tech was friendly enough -- no complaints there.
When I first called and made an appointment I asked what the charge might be. He said $57. When the tech arrived I asked the same question. He too said $57. (what they say just casually is that this was the visit service charge). What they really don't tell you is that what they decide to do will cost more -- a lot more. The $57 comment is just a come-on. I was not told before the work was complete what the charge would be.
Making matters worse was the tech went away for about 20 minutes into his truck and came back with a list of special services we might consider the total cost of which was an amazing $6,900. Of course I said no.
I just feel this company could have a better more direct and honest approach.
Maybe they all do it, but I would try others before I would use this company again.

To whom it may concern,

 

I would like to report fraudulent and unethical business practices by Ben Franklin Plumbing.  I recently hired Ben Franklin Plumbing to inspect an apparent leak in my ceiling as reported by a certified home inspector.  We advised Ben Franklin Plumbing that this leak needed to be inspected, the source of the leak located and repaired as per a due diligence request by the buyers of our home which was under contract.  The Plumbing expert came out and inspected and reported that he checked the area by using a scope camera.  A scope camera would have to be inserted into the wall or ceiling above but cutting or drilling an access hole to allow this inspection.  We were charged for the inspection and the report seemed reasonable.  The problem began when the buyer of our home sent another certified plumber and an HVAC contractor to our home to verify the inspection and there was no evidence of a hole in the wall, ceiling or floor above to support the scope camera inspection.  At this point, I made numerous attempts over a week's time to reach out to Ben Franklin for further clarification but all of my calls and discussions went unanswered.  I was promised a call back numerous times but received none.  With no time to spare before the sale of our house, we were forced to call yet another plumber out to perform the necessary inspection that Ben Franklin claims to have done.  It was required that they cut a hole in the ceiling to complete a proper inspection.  The leak was found and repaired and our house sold.

 

My issue is that Ben Franklin Plumbing claims in writing to have performed a service that was not done.  When I spoke with the General Manager, Paul Stefano, after over a week of calling and leaving messages, I explained the situation to him and gave him the opportunity to do the right thing and simply refund the money we paid for services NOT rendered...he refused.  By the way, the plumber employed by Ben Franklin is no longer employed there and no-one could provide the necessary information explaining where the scope camera was allegedly inserted into the wall or ceiling as it was stated on the invoice.

 

In short, the job was not performed as described, Ben Franklin was unwilling to face the situation and is unwilling to resolve the concern.  Therefore, I will peruse this issue as far as necessary until resolved to my satisfaction.  It is clear that the work that was done was unethical, fraudulent and contained inaccuracies and lies.  I will be happy at this point with a full refund for the inspection we were charged for and will allow 5 business days for a reply at which point I will report to all major social media sites as well as the Better Business Bureau.  I look forward to hearing back from you with a resolution.

 

Ben Cooper

DO NOT CALL THIS COMPANY FOR ANY EMERGENCY PLUMBING NEEDS.  When I called today about a link under our sink and the installation of our new dishwasher, I was promised that they would be at our house by midnight. I said fine.   Then, several hours later, I was called by Tracey to tell me that they would be unable to do the work.  When I told her that we had been promised TODAY, she pushed back and told me that it wasn't going to happen.  I expressed extreme disappointed and she said, you are still on, and then abruptly hung up.  I was in disbelief that this had happened and called back. This time I got a pleasant lady named Darby who was very pleasant. She assured me that we were still on the schedule before midnight. And then about an hour later, Tracey called me back and told me that they would not be able to come.  I told her that we had been promised service today and that their company had advertised that they were a 24/7 company.  She told me that I was not someone that they wanted to do business with and she hung up on me again. Twice in one day by the same lady. I am in shock that this lady is still employed.  I managed employees for over 30 years and I clearly know what it right and what is wrong. How she handled me was enrtirely wrong.  By the way,  here is what they advertise on their website:   By keeping our promises to customers, employees, vendors, and stakeholders, we have built long-term relationships that have helped us become the company we are today. to customers, employees, vendors, and stakeholders, we have built long-term relationships that have helped us become the company we are today.  Well, they did NOT keep their promise and I am surprised that they are still in business.   I will call another service. In fact, I had a very recent experience with another plumbing company called ER PLUMBING. They were efficient and very pleasant.  The only reason I didn't think of them today was that I was in an emergency mode and looked up emergency plumbing.  Ben Franklin popped up first. The moral of the story is two fold:  don't always trust the companies that pop up first AND look at YELP reviews prior to contacting a company. Had I looked at Yelp reviews prior to needing a plumbing service, I would have never used this one.

I was taken for a serious ride by this company. I spent $350 for a plumber to be here for 45 mins and leave me with a broken toilet. I have called their office 3 times to request to speak with a manager and they have still not called me back. Please do some research and use a company that stands by their work!

Do yourself a favor and check with the Better Business Bureau before you hire this company. TOTAL RIPOFF!!! They sent a guy who knew nothing about plumbing, said he couldn't fix the problem but would send someone else for a price 30 times what it should cost. Then they send you a call charge bill. If you call and leave a message to complain they do not call you back and 3 weeks later they send you to a collection agency. All facts based on my experience. Look at the reviews here too. They are terrible. Learn from my mistake.

I was completely ripped off by this company. Save your money. I took a secondhand recommendation from a neighbor who knew someone else who used them but they weren't aware of any details. I needed someone quickly and did not have time to do my own research. Jokes on me. My hot water heater was leaking everywhere and I needed a quick fix because I have renters living in my property and they did not have water until it was fixed. Benjamin Franklin came out and said my water heater needed to be completely replaced. I was given a quote and I had zero time to research and had faith that this company had good morale. Although they fixed it same day, it cost me $2,600 to do a job that should have cost less than $1,500. This makes me absolutely sick. 1) Because of how stupid I feel for not being a better consumer, 2) having faith in this company, and; 3) that they take advantage of people like this. I recently shared this experience with someone who works under the same umbrella company and they were appalled at what I was charged. This company has completely ruined my trust in any and all companies I have to call for housing repairs. I now doubt any pro I hire because I feel like I'm being taken advantage of and this makes dealing with housing repairs a very miserable experience. Stay away.

Just had Benjamin Franklin Plumbing do a whole house re-pipe to replace polybutylene pipes. They did and excellent job and were very courteous. The job took 3 days to complete. They even reconnected the water in the evenings when they left which really helped our family survive this project. Thank you Joe and team @ Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

Wish I could give them less than zero (negative) stars.  Absolute grifters.  My hot water heater ruptured and it was an emergency. They came out, said they could come back the next day (despite their 24 hour guaranty). OK, come back.  The guy comes back, by himself, and asks me to help carry the old heater out and the new one in. He tracks mud through my house in the process. He starts hooking up the new heater and the threads strip.  He also insisted I had to buy an extended warranty for 25% of the cost of the heater. I declined and he said it was company policy I had to buy the extended warranty. He got his manager on the phone and after a long discussion agreed I did not have to buy the warranty. The next day the plumber comes back this time with another new hot water heater, which I have to help him carry in.   Six months later the water heater stops heating and BF comes back and says we don't do warranty service, only our extended warranty service if you had bought one. But since you didn't, that will be $200.  WTAF?  Never, ever let these clowns in your house.

Went onsite pretty quick (Only good thing) then charged me $800 to clear a line and camera. After a little over an hour said no way to fix could only demo sales floor to dig up line. Called another plumber who charged $500 and unclogged it in a little over an hour. Office manager also never returned my call

What a mess. Messed up my showers in both bathrooms a while back, but gave them another chance since I had a (simple) clog to fix and became a preferred member after using them--and paying a little extra. First day, someone comes out, but doesn't have the proper tools after dismantling my sink. Second day, scheduled for 6pm, then got a call at 9:15pm to reschedule after I had called 3 times to check in. Third day, after a week of having a sink that's now in pieces, I specifically scheduled an 8am appointment to avoid any delays. 9:30 comes, no communication, and dispatch is conveniently unavailable when I called. Yet I'm sure I'll still be charged over $250 for them if they show up. Unless you happen to have ALL day to wait for them, a ton of patience, and deep pockets, I suggest choosing someone else. Punctuality is not their strength.

Terrible company! Avoid at all costs. Very dishonest about work done.
Overcharged for services, lied about the complexity of the work. Insurance company was shocked at the amount charged. Do not use!

Would caution anyone using their services to ask how much they plan to charge. On a recent trip I was told of a $57 fee before hand. When they arrived the tech mentioned a diagnostic fee (which i assumed was the $57) and looked at the problem.

AFTER he had looked at the problem I was presented papers saying there was an additional charge of $155 (to tell me there was a leak). To me that is just ripping people off. I was never told of that dollar amount until AFTER the tech looked at the problem.

I called the General Manager Paul Stefano. He basically said I was a liar and that the tech told me it would be $155 BEFORE he looked at the problem. Why would I agree to pay someone $155 to tell me about a leak i knew about?  I wasn't told about the fee until afterwards. He claimed the signed bill proves the tech told me about the fee BEFORE he diagnosed it, but that is not true. There is no time stamp to demonstrate that and again I wouldn't pay someone $155 to tell me there was a leak, I thought I was paying the $57 for that.

I'm sure the work they do is decent, but my experience was not good. My conversation with Paul was very poor and would not expect that tone from a Manager of a Company.

I wish I could rate them with no stars. Just like everyone else I was ripped off by the pricing and the services that were not done. They came out for an evaluation of my pipes and told me that everything had to be replaced (~12-15ft worth of piping). However, the tech did manage to replace a 2ft pipe just before he turned off the water valve so that it would leak. What the what?!?

I honestly believe he replaced that random pipe so that they could charge me something. And when I tried to contact the company about getting an adjustment on my price, miraculously, no one was available. I never heard back from anyone except the accounting department to ask me why I placed a stop payment on my check.

It's been an up-hill battle and I'm still going through it with the Better Business Bureau complaint because they have now contacted a credit agency who is coming after me for the rest of their money. It's a nightmare that they take advantage of people like that and they just get away with it. Please don't waste your time with this company. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND USE SOMEONE ELSE!!

I would never use this company again it is a big rip off and a scam. Wanted to charge me $1,500 for a job which I got a second opinion and it cost me $300. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

DON'T USE THEM FOR ANYTHING!!

I had a leak in some piping near the water heater. I could see the section of pipe that needed to be replaced, maybe 3 of plastic pipe. The customer service rep said that the service call was $45, BUT then when they arrived said it was $75 because they had given me a time slot. I guess it's $45 if you tell them is ok to show up whenever they want. The technician lied and said a bunch of stuff was out of code and it would be $500 to fix everything. I looked up the code and checked everything he said was wrong, and he had just made it up. Told him to leave and just lost $80 for no reason. Got a new plumber over and it was repaired for $50.

People warned me they were liars and cheats, but I thought they were exaggerating.....they weren't.

My drain in my bathtub was not draining. Plumber came out and and tried declogging it. He was very unprofessional  talking to someone else on the phone telling them how terrible the bathroom plumbing was and complaining about trying to fix it. He told me that my whole bathroom was going to need redone in order to fix the clog. He was trying to sell me the store products the whole time (clearly they didn't work ) and left my bathroom a mess before he left. Different company came out and declogged the drain in less then 30 minutes and said my plumbing was fine.

Sigh...It really takes a lot of effort (or should I say lack thereof) from a business to warrant just a single star, as even if a business makes any sort of attempt at something, anything, they can get themselves up to at least two stars if for nothing more than effort, but there is a place for one star reviews and unfortunately these guys earned it and then some due to their lack of communication and follow up with a prospective customer (me).

Contacted them a couple of weeks ago to get an estimate on some plumbing work needed at my home and things started off fine as they took my information and scheduled someone to come out no problem.  The guy came out and spent a good thirty minutes looking over the work to be done so that he could create an estimate for me and he was solid and everything was going fine, so I know you are thinking...why in the heck are these guys getting only one star?  

Well...the guy took down my information and verified my email and told me he would send me the estimate by 5pm that day no problem.  5pm comes and goes, no estimate.  Not a huge deal, as I understand things happen...Sat...Sun...Mon...Tues...Wed...no estimate....hmmmm...I follow up with an email...no response...I follow up with a phone call and again things started off just fine, they say no problem they will figure out what's up and after being on hold and then transferred, they tell me they are on top of it and will give me a call back in a few minutes to let me know what was going on....that was 2 days ago....

For the life of me, I will never understand why some companies can't seem to understand the importance of communication.  Even if they would have followed up to say hey, we screwed up, we lost the estimate, the guy was fired, the guy lost your email, the guy hit his head and got amnesia, something anything, other than nothing...  

Time to wrap this up, as I think I have actually spent more time on this review than they did on follow up, but guess that really wouldn't be that hard since the time they spent on follow up with me was actually nonexistent.  Welcome to the one star club guys....

Highly inflated pricing and they WILL NOT itemize the costs for you. I paid almost $600 to have a garbage disposal replaced. Garbage disposals costs maximum $100. No one could tell me what the other $500 went towards. I've called their billing department and left voicemails but they DO NOT return calls. In today's world where customer service and the customer experience is invaluable, this lack of customer focus is unacceptable. There are too many (better, cheaper, and honest) plumbing companies out here.

AVOID - AVOID
Called for a simple waste line snake cleaning and was told they could schedule us for today and the technician would call 30 minutes-ish prior to arrival. After 5 hours of waiting (8pm) they were still a no-call, no-show.

I called back to confirm we were still scheduled and was told that we should be receiving the call at any time. 2 hours later still nothing. When I called back again it went to a voicemail box (which was full) and was instructed to leave my number for an SMS message to the company (which I did) and STILL nothing.

I just made a reservation from a local tool rental company to rent the 100' snake auger for less than the $57 charge they were going to charge me to evaluate the problem and give me an estimate.

Benjamin Franklin has done an excellent job for us with any issue we have had. The three gentlemen that have come out (Joe, Anthony and Adam) were all top-notch professionals. I'd recommend Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to anyone in the Charlotte area.

Was vastly overcharged for the cleaning of an outside drain. Have been trying to get in touch with them for 8 days on it and no one will call me back. DO NOT USE.

Was told $57 over the phone and I thought that WAS diagnostic. Turns out it was just for showing up. Ok, fine. Turns out $155 for diagnostic. $227, and after 30 seconds of work by the plumber at least the water was off at my tub but I still have to hunt down the part to fix it myself. They wanted to replace all the fixtures in the tub but I just don't have 700 for that right now. I'm really unhappy because I feel the $57 I was quoted was extremely misleading it's more like $200 for the house call. In addition, the plumber kinda danced around how much he was actually charging me. I wasn't sure until I checked my balance how much I had been charged. Spoke with an unapologetic manager, I just don't have $227 to spend on a 30 second visit! Avoid!

Please do not use this company.  I am right in the middle of chaos dealing with them.  The plumber Bill said that I have the wrong faucet and he wanted to charge me a trip fee.  I informed him that Lowe's helped me pick it out.  I asked him to wait while I went to Lowes to get a replacement faucet.  The floor manager at Lowes informed me it was the right faucet and what Bill was looking at was the optional installation for three hole.  I informed Bill and he said nonchalantly that they must have made an upgrade in the product.  I am really not impressed with this company and how the plumbers try to get every cent out of you.  I saw reviews on this company and thought that the clients were too upset.  After going thru this with Benjamin Franklin, I would never recommend them.

BEWARE !  They should be put out of business.  I paid $59 for service charge, there is a small leak on the water reservoir on the toilet.   They asked $400 to fix the leak. The new toilet system costs $200 at Lowes (Kohler brand), and the installation is $250 (lowes pricing).  I asked the installer how much will it cost to replace the whole system, he told me $799.

Never take a chance, they probably make money just getting $59 service calls.  I will explain this business practice to the NC attorney generals office, by getting $59 service calls and asking a overpriced fix, without doing anything you are making $59.  I think they invented a new business model, you don't need to be a professional.

From service guy to its manager; they are sticking to their business scheme.  Manager called me today and he was sticking to their plans, so they are a good team how to get your money without doing anything.

They're great if you want to wait around all day for them to show up and they don't. You'll call their office three times to try and get an estimate, even a guesstimate, as to what time they could show up, I really don't know what to tell you. Uhm, maybe that you're next? Or seventh in line and it's OK to run to the grocery store?  

But don't worry, they'll show up the next morning and before looking at the problems, before even laying a finger on your plumbing, will quote you for new appliances.... That'll be $2,000.

Wait, what? No they're fine, really. Which, turns out.. Once he touched them, they were. Just small Maintenance, that'll be $100. That's what I thought.

Do y'all work off of commission? Are you told to just make as much off of a client as possible? Furthermore, do you think I'm an idiot?

He left. I'm writing this review from my toilet, laying out my most impressive stank bomb incase he needs to come back to fix it again.

Wow, this place is a complete rip off. Now the $80 trip charge i was okay with. I know what work needed to be done, i even knew the parts costs estimate which was roughly $25.00 and that is generous. A skilled plumber would have taken no more than 30 minutes to complete the job and i estimated $80 an hour which is very generous. So i was thinking i was gonna spend about $150.00, fine. Now not only did he come here and try to fill his quota and then he insulted me. He gave me an estimate for $230.00 which was more than i thought the job was worth. And i told him i would do it for $150. He said remember you called me because you couldn't do it . I gave him his $80 and told him i wont call them again. I will just invest my time from here out. I didn't do it because i don't have the time to take care of it right now.

Save yourself the hassle and call somebody else, this company is only going to rip you off.

My wife called them to replace our garbage disposal on May 10, 2019.  They charged us $622.  The 3/4 horsepower disposal they installed retails for less than $150.  It took the plumber less than two hours to install.  Total rip-off.  I called to inquire, especially since we had previously signed up for the Ben Franklin Society, which is supposed to provide a discount on future service. Paul Stefano lectured me about overhead and reluctantly agreed to refund us $85, but we still haven't received over two months later.  They don't care about making customers happy and also don't seem to value loyal customers, so we will be taking our business elsewhere.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL HOMEOWNERS - I fell for the good old boy servicemen who ended up selling me an irrigation tank (almost $2000 and completely capped off by BFP bc it runs NOWHERE!) that they said we needed for our sprinklers to work - only to learn 2 days later from our sprinkler co. that ALL houses in the city run on city water which means we never needed an irrigation tank unless we lived in the country :0, and all the little items they said oh, don't worry, we are not even charging you for this when I said not to clean hair from my drain since I have the same $.59 plastic tool and know how to do that...they DID charge me $272 x 4 even though they did not even clean all the drains nor did I ask them to :0, charged us $228 for new toilet handle when I have a photo that it is rusted and old, and charged $155 to caulk something he also said he would not charge for AND did not caulk....So I just warn other PLEASE BE CAREFUL!  I always want to believe the best in others and that folks are trustworthy....we cannot get them to call us back.  SAVE YOURSELF, DO NOT FALL FOR THE GOSH-SHUCKS, I'M JUST A SIMPLE MAN TRYING TO DO A GOOD JOB schtick...I did and we really got taken for $6200 would love to stop that from happening to you by both being stuck with fraudulent items you do not need and items that are old and items that they SAY are not being charged but are exorbitantly (tell me who can't clean out their own shower drain in 2-5 minutes with a plastic tool from Lowes?) BEWARE ~use another company

They just charged $2000 including their yearly warranty fee for a very basic hot water heater. Scammer. And it didn't help that the smart aleck called me Mom.

I heard a radio ad for Benjamin Franklin plumbing that said we will come to your house and unclog any drain for $99. When I got home I looked at their website and the ad is prominently placed on their website.  I called, they took all of my information and scheduled an appointment and then told me that in addition to the $99 that there was a $77 service fee. This is totally misleading and in conflict with the radio ad. I told them that I was not going to pay more than $99. The person put me on hold, came back online and told me a service manager would be in touch but wanted to go ahead and schedule the appointment anyway which I did.
The appointment was scheduled for the next morning. Did not receive a call from my service manager but at 730 that morning I did receive a call from someone who only identified herself as Jennifer who called to say that she was very sorry but there drain cleaning machine was broken and they needed to cancel the appointment.
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is one of the largest plumbing contractors in the city of Charlotte. They do work 24 hours a day seven days a week. I would not be surprised if they have at least 50 or 75 trucks on the road on any given day. I find it ridiculous that they would need to cancel my appointment because there are drain cleaning machine was broken. This is dishonest. They have not removed the drain cleaning special from their website and this is not a business that I feel will provide you with honest information and service at a good price.
Additionally, because I didn't believe what I was told. I called posing as someone in my neighborhood a couple streets away and set an appointment for a drain cleaning today. They did disclose there was a service fee but today it was only $57.
Instead of dealing honestly with their misinformation in their ads they chose to lie to me about their ability to provide service. If you like to do business with liars then feel free to use them.

Paul was amazing.  I got 3 other quotes and they worked with me on the price and I decided to pick them for the job.  It took longer than I expected but our water heater is working great.  Thanks

WARNING! DO NOT CALL THEM, their pricing is so ridiculous that you will end up paying the call fee ($59-$99) and tell them to leave. There are plenty of other reliable and trustworthy companies out there, these guys are criminals. They quoted my me more than triple what another company came and fixed it for. I will be calling the B.B.B. to enlighten them of these predatory practices.

Called for service after hours to check the ventilation in the attic for the water heater, they clean the flue pipes, the job lasted less than an hour and the charged $575.00 for that service, plus of course after hours service fee. all together the bill was over $700.00.
This company takes an advantage of customers emergencies way overpricing for their services, I did my research and that service should've not cost more than $150.00.
went back and fort with the General Manager, he agreed on giving a refund of $200.00 - but still the cost was very expensive for the type of work performed, I asked for another refund and he simply said 'No'.  when he knows that definitely I was overcharged.

Total rip off! Don't ever use them.

I wish I would've seen all this reviews before, this company is not honest.

Terrible !!!  They came to my house to clear a blocked pipe which is the drain connected to my washer machine. They scratched my new washer machine with their equipment and made a huge mess in my laundry room even though they said it was clean prior to leaving. There was dirt EVERYWHERE!!! They didn't get the drain unclogged and insisted that it would need a hydro jetting machine to unclog for $1,000. They still charge me $256 (for their time) to come and basically make a huge mess and scratch my washer machine. I called the gentleman back at 9:30p to come clean my laundry room and he did... which is why I'm giving this place 1 star. I called another plumbing service the next day and they unclogged the drain in 10 minutes and charged me $150.

I scheduled an appointment with Benjamin Franklin at 704-337-4651 this morning to have the gas line connected to my gas log fireplace. I was quoted a price of $149. I was told that price would include connection and testing the logs. A technician just called to tell me that wasn't even close to being the right price; it was in fact much more than I was quoted. He sounded annoyed with me and wanted to know who I spoke to.  Instead of performing the service for me and then resolving the pricing  issue with the employee who supposedly quoted me the wrong price, he called to harass me about how I got that price and who I talked to. He didn't even know what he was scheduled to do at my house today. I had to explain it to him.  That's when he told me that the price was 'nowhere near the right price' and went on to express his frustration that I was the second person today that he'd had to deal with that had supposedly been misquoted.  I had no confidence in his willingness or ability to arrive at my house, perform the service scheduled, and do it in a pleasant manner. Very frustrating experience.

Do not use this company ! The charged me $592 and did nothing! Had a small leak at the meter box, I dug down to the leak, they came out and put a cap on a 3/4 in pipe they said was leaking. It continued to leak and they wanted more money to come back, tried to sell me a pressure reducing valve that I did not need at a cost of $1000. since I did not buy it they refused to warranty their work! Basically they are thieves! No customer service and overcharge for everything they do! F- rating in my book ! Find another plumber, If you use this one you will be truly sorry!

Do NOT call these people.  They charge you to come out, THEN they charge you to use their eyeballs to look at the problem (that you already knew you had) and tell you what it is.  This second charge, they won't tell you about until after they've done it, so there's no getting out of it. Total scam artists.

Less than Zero, rude, obnoxious. Did not arrive on time or even the same day as scheduled. Behavior bordered on intimidating. Witnessed by other trade workers in our home. Refused to do the work as specified. When we protested, the told us to find another plumber. Their work was critical path to various other work-streams as part of a kitchen remodel so it is now necessary to stop work for the other teams and reschedule them. I cannot say strongly enough. Do not use.

$654 to replace guts and wax seal on toilet. Unbelievably ridiculous. Parts cost less than $20 at Home Depot. Was in pickle as this toilet was in a leased property and needed fixed for tenant. Will NEVER use this company again.

This morning all the toilets, bathtubs and showers in our home backed up. We have only lived in the area about six months and have had no previous experience with plumbers in or around Charlotte. I contacted Benjamin Franklin plumbing after remembering a commercial on television. My first question was how much the call-out fee was, and it was completely reasonable (this happened on a Thursday morning) and the plumber was at our house within an hour. The plumber himself, Pete, was very polite and identified the problem almost immediately. He had the water flowing and toilets flushing within 30 minutes. He also explained the cause very clearly and told us what will need to be repaired in the future. We will definitely contact Benjamin Franklin plumbing again if the need ever arises.

***three weeks after this review I had the need for a plumber... Again. Luckily this time was not as serious of a problem. Kevin C. came out and replaced out garbage disposal. The replacement process was quick, and Kevin explained the workings of the disposal and how to take proper care of it. Will definitely use Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Charlotte again!!!

I called this company for a problem with water continuously cycling through my pipes.  The guy who came out (Bill) told me I needed a new hot water heater (This thing is getting ready to go!) and that I had 140 pounds of water pressure coming into my house so I needed a PRV and that the whole thing would be $2922.56!!!  When questioned, he said the water heater was warranteed for 6 years 'but would last 10 to 12' and refused to acknowledge that this makes it a 6 year water heater instead of a 10 year.  The bill was not itemized and he was not forthcoming at all with any help on that.  Finally, he told me this new water heater would fix the cycling in the pipes.  This is what the State Attorney General's office is going to hear about.  I brought an honest plumber out who solved the cycling sound by making a minor adjustment in the master commode.  Completely fixed.  He then tested the pressure coming into the house and it's 70 pounds of pressure.  Then he looked at the hot water heater and said I should replace it at some point this year but it was not an emergency.  Cost me $60.  (Flat Rate Services - highly recommend)
Don't hire this company.  They prey on people but they haven't heard the last of me.

They charged $253.00 to install a kitchen faucet that I supplied.  It took 20 minutes.  And that included the $57 so-called discount coupon.  That's the last call they'll get from me. Patti R

DO NOT USE!!! VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE! I had Benjamin Franklin Plumbing out to snake a clogged drain and they charged me almost $300 and couldn't even fix my drain! I had a technician out to the house twice and he tried to take advantage of the fact thatI am a single female. He tried to sell me new pipes. I ended up having a friend's husband help snake the drain and he had it unclogged in 20 minutes. Their technicians are ignorant and this company is unreliable. They wouldn't even refund me for their ineffective service.

I had hired Benjamin Franklin plumbing (BFP) on June 6th 2018 to fix a broken sewer pipe in the front yard of my home. On December 4th 2018 we noticed front yard soil was quite wet exactly at the spot where the sewer repair was done. We called BFP on December 5th 2018 to get someone to come and fix the water leak. They said they would send someone to take a look but did not send anyone till December 6th. The plumber who came in, took a cursory look and said that it is a water leak and not a problem with the sewer work that was done. He refused to fix it under the warranty of all work done as part of sewer fix. Additionally he quoted an amount of $3000 to get it fixed as he would have to get a digging machine to get work done. With no option left I decided to get the leak fixed with another company. The other company found a small leak and mentioned that the leak must have started when the sewer work was done as the soil was very wet. He said that it is not uncommon to find out about such leaks months later. I have been noticing high water bills for past several months. I went to City of Charlotte Water Bill site and found out that my water usage had dramatically increased (doubled) and increase started in June 2018, which was right after when BFP had done sewer work. Very disappointing service by Benjamin Franklin. I have filed a complaint with BBB as well.

Kim came out to replace a water measuring device for the 3rd time as the first two failed within 3 months each. the part was replaced efficiently. His diagnosis of the problem was high water pressure. He recommended several options for fixing the issue along with some water heater repairs and the range of costs were $almost $1000 to over $9000. Kim was very  professional and knowledgeable.

We have used this company for 2 years now and they are fantastic. Casey, from Rock Hill, SC was the latest technician and my husband and I was really impressed with his knowledge. He was prompt, friendly, and  super helpful.  So thankful for these guys. They've maintenance our water heater for 2yrs now, installed our new garbage disposal, installed new fossets in our bath tubs and Casey fixed an issue with our water pressure.

Bad experience !  we had a toilet clogged in the kids bathroom, I usualy take care of theses things but I was out of town so my wife called Ben Franklin, they sent a guy out who told her he had to take the toilet apart and clean toilet wipes that were clogging the toilet, the total charge was $352.85, I have a security camera and he was a TOTAL of 27 minutes in our driveway and 12 minutes in his truck so he was actually IN THE HOUSE for 15 minutes. few days later my kids try to use the toilet and it was clogged, (the 1st time since he left) we called back and was told that there would be ANOTHER charge and that we needed a new toilet, we were NEVER told any of this when the tech was there! my wife said that they should come out at no charge since obviously it was not cleaned properly and they said that we would have to pay the $85 AGAIN  ! I called another plumber and for $110 he actually corrected the problem and said we don not need a new toilet (its been working fine for over 2 months now, reading the low ratings reviews it seems like this is a common practice for this company, stay AWAY from them call an independent local plumber who would stand behind his work and NOT try to rip you off!

Benjamin Franklin charged 228 for a leaky faucet. The faucet is still leaking. No consistency in pricing. The company does not stand behind their work.

Benjamin Franklin plumber came to repair a leaky faucet on 8/25/15. I paid 228$ for a new stem to be replaced. The worker spent about 30 minutes on the job. The stem on the hot side of the faucet was supposedly replaced. After the repair that night I noticed that the faucet was still leaking although less than before. I called the next day and spoke to the plumber and was told that if he came to the house and determined that it was nothing to do with the hot side of the faucet, I would get charged another 59$ service fee. On 8/29/15, I used the tub for the first time after the repair. After turning off the faucet, the leak was as much as before. I called the company that night to complain about the problem and asked for a refund. I stated that the worker could come to get their new stem from my house if they wanted to. The representative told me that she would send another plumber to come to the house in the morning and will have a manager called me to follow up. I told her that I would not pay another fee for the plumber to fix the same faucet, and I was told that I would not be charged another fee. The next day at around noon, another plumber called and spoke to me. This time, I was told that if the problem was the same stem that was replaced, then I would not have to pay extra. However, if the problem is determined to be something else then I would be charged 59$ for the plumber to come to the house and 150$ to diagnose the problem. I told the lumber that I already paid 228$ to have a leaky faucet fixed and it was still leaking. I requested that someone come to take a look at the faucet without charging me again. He kept on repeating the same thing that he cannot promise that there would not be a second charge. I called the company and requested to speak to a manager on 8/30/15, and was told that a manager will call me on 8/31. I called again on 8/31 since I did not receive any call, and again was told that someone will call. I waited a few days for the call with no luck. I called again on 9/2 to ask to speak to a manager and after about 2-3 more phone calls that day, I got a call from a manager. I told the manager the problem. I was told that usually the cold and hot sides should be repaired, and I said I was not offered to have the cold side repaired. I stated that it is unreasonable for me to pay twice for a leaky faucet to be repaired. I also pointed out different workers from the company gave me different prices. One person said there is a 59$ fee to come, a representative stated that I would not be charged again to have another plumber coming, but another said the charge is 59$ plus 150$. There is no consistency in pricing. The company basically charges whatever they feel like charging. The company does not stand behind their work. I was told by the manager this time that they would waive the 59$ service fee if the problem found is something else AND I chose to have them repair the faucet. If they determine that the problem is not related to the work that was done previously and I choose not to have the problem fixed by them, then they would charge the 59$ to come to the house. I told him that if the worker did not fix it right the first time, he would not fix it right the second time either. How much does one have to pay to a plumber to have a leaky faucet repaired?

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. Wish I could give 0 stars. What a freaking rip off! When I first called, they said it would be a $59 service fee which is fine. After the guy being there 10 minutes he sits me down to tell me my options. If I wanted him to just leave, it would cost me almost $300 for his diagnosis or $600 to hook up 4 faucets. Seemed crazy to me but I was in a bind and said ok. Immediately after 2 were leaking badly. Since they were supposedly under warranty I called them back out to fix but they said they didn't replace those valves and would cost me another $500 even though he said 4 were worked on and and would be good to go. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't ever call these dishonest crooks. Somehow their Google reviews are great which seems very strange after you read all the 2 stars on a more trusted yelp. Thanks for nothing Ben Franklin!

Got a reply from the company stating that they are upfront about pricing. My review stated that. However, pricing so high indicates a predatory approach to customers, hoping that they are ignorant enough to not realize how ridiculous the pricing is. What is the phrase? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Smarter now about this company's practices, I would be stupid to use them again. This review is intended to help others avoid the same mistake. My original review was very fair, my only problem was the outrageous charge, which I admitted was revealed in advance of the work being performed.

DO NOT USE THEM.  I used them for a sump pump.  I was charged $1,571.00 for a sump pump and a piece of pipe.  When I spoke to other people they informed me I paid way, way too much.  I checked the prices of sump pumps at Lowes and found out that a 1 HP sump pump was $400.00 and the piece of pipe was a few dollars more.  I received a 1/3 HP pump.  Not happy finding out I was taken for a ride.  I will NEVER use them again and will inform everyone I know that in my opinion they charge way, way to much for what they deliver.

They were prompt when I called for a water heater repair and were at my house within an hour. I appreciate that .... but that is the only positive thing that I can say. They gave me an estimate for $299 to clean the filter in the water heater (do water heaters have filters?) but would not guarantee that this would fix the problem of the pilot light not staying lit and then gave me an estimate of $2000 to replace the water heater. All the while, I just wasted $88 on a service call because they wanted to take advantage of a single woman who had seemingly little knowledge of home repairs. Granted, I have little knowledge of how to fix this myself since I called a plumber, but I know that a new water heater does not cost $2000. I went to Sears and got a 50 gallon, installed, for less than $1000. DO NOT CALL BENJAMIN FRANKLIN!!!! They will try to rip you off with their outrageous prices and you will waste at least $88 on their service call.

Cassey Beaver was prompt, professional and friendly. Was able to install an outside spicot on the same day. Very affordable and quality work. Cassey called to say he would arrive in 30 minutes. He called back to say there was an auto accident and he would be about 30 minutes later.

AVOID - OVERCHARGED AND TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF. I hired this company in May 2018 to install a backwater valve in my basement to help with an issue I was having with my main house drain. I agreed to the quote not knowing how big the job would be or what was involved. After the work was completed, I realized that the parts cost less than $100 and that the installation took about one hour. I was home and watched them complete much of the work myself. I was charged $2,000, which included a service call / trip fee and a warranty. After subtracting those costs and the cost of the parts, that left around $1,700 that I paid for about an hour of labor. I emailed the general manager the next day, who was not very responsive. It took four weeks for him to send a supervisor to my home to review the job, after which the GM offered me a $250 credit. I was not satisfied with that amount, and emailed the GM one more time with pictures of the job so he could see it for himself. He did not respond to me after that. I was happy with the service technician and the quality of the work, but being charged that much for the labor is completely absurd. Even if you add in the time spent consulting me at the beginning, traveling to the parts store, eating lunch, etc. - none of which should be included since I paid a separate trip charge - that's still a ridiculous amount. Save your money, avoid the hassle and find a different plumbing company to work with.

We used these guys when the city pipe leading to our house began to leak.  The repairs were supposed to be covered by the city--they gave us a bill of more than a thousand dollars, which we later found out only 200 was reimbursable.  BUT THAT:S NOT ALL--less than a year later, we have a leak in exactly the same place--called them, hoping it was under warranty or at least a discount, NOPE.  They will happily charge us full price to come back and re-do the work they did a year ago at full place.  Awesome business plan--over-charge and do crappy work and force the person to hire you again and again.  DON'T use this company--period..

If you ever call them for an estimate, get a second opinion they inflate prices and up sell solutions.  I called them for a backed up toilet and slow draining tub.  Their estimate was $450.  On top of having to pay a $65 service call.  I knew the price was outrageous so I didn't let them do the work, they still conned me out of the $65 service call.  I day later me friend came out with an industrial plunger and cleared both in 2 minutes for free.

Believe the negative hype.  I had a clogged sink and a garbage disposal that needed replacing.  Thinking it's about a $200-$400 job at absolute max.  Their plumber wanted to charge me almost $500 to fix the disposal and another $350 to repair pipes under the sink (the pipes were 100% fine).  Furthermore, he then tried to sell me on a new water heater ($1,900), a bunch of extraneous parts and connections ($500+), and a home filtration device ($2,100) - not to mention the most shady and costly insurance plan ($30/month) I'd ever seen for all this nonsense.  No thanks.  Come to find that this is their business model - astronomically high quotes for things you don't need and didn't call them for, hoping someone will bite.  My next call (which should have been my first) was to All Hours Plumbing.  They came through, assessed the problem, and knocked it out for $287 out the door, no more issues.  If you want to waste $59 on a service call and a quote that's $5,000 more than what your problem costs, then please call Benjamin Franklin.  If, however, you'd prefer your issue to be resolved quickly and for a fair price, call All Hours Plumbing - or literally anyone else in the greater Charlotte area.

The punctual plummer said between 10-12 at 12 they said it would be 1230.  At 1pm they arrived.  How do business get away with time wasting like they do? Anyway they where fine otherwise. I just do not deal well with tardiness.

I scheduled an AM appointment (specific times are not an option) for Tuesday, March 28th. Since I had an AM appointment, I decided to just stay home since I was told I would be the first appointment of the day.  At 10:52am I got a call saying my technician was having car trouble, but that he would be on the way. That is nearly 3 hours into the AM window! How am I the first appointment, but 3 hours have passed and this is when I was contacted about this?  I let that slide, since AM would technically be anything before noon. At 12:00 I decided that I had been held up in my home long enough. I gave the office a call at 12:03 to cancel my appointment. No one was there to answer the phone. At 12:25 I got a call from the technician letting me know he was ON his way. I informed him that I had an AM appointment. He nonchalantly asked if I was canceling my appointment. I told him that I was not necessarily canceling it, but that he was a NO SHOW on an AM window. The website says you get $5 for every minute that they are late. I will see if I get a check for $125 or more if I could have held out any longer! However, something tells me that that check would probably not show up at all!

I had read reviews on another website, which is why I ended up calling Benjamin Franklin for a slow laundry drain that was backing up into the house. If I had reed these other reviews I may not have called. That said, I had no problem getting through to get an appointment scheduled, and the plumber, Jim Daly, showed up exactly at the promised time. After a brief conversation about what our problem was, he went right to work snaking out the line and didn't seem to mind at all that he had to haul his equipment up to the roof to go in through the vent pipe. Jim was very thorough, very patient (he insisted I run 2 full wash loads so he could see/hear that the line was draining properly before he left. He also located my outgoing sewer line and provided an estimate for installing a cleanout and put his camera down the drain so he could give me an idea of the condition of the pipes (the house is nearly 60 years old...).

I have absolutely no complaints about the quality of work performed; I am overall very pleased...However the one thing Jim didn't share with me was that there is a coupon available from this site to pay $99 for a $242 line clearing for any line in the house other than the main sewer, so between the trip charge and the drain clearing, I had to write a check for $331 right here just before Christmas. That is probably my own fault for not doing just a little more research, but he could have mentioned something about the coupon (unless he was not aware it is available). Jim did ask if I were pleased with the outcome, that I come here and post a review. That is how I found the coupon...and the only reason I am giving a 3 star rating rather than 4 or 5.

Coupon issue aside, I expected to pay between $200 and $300 for this trip, so I don't think their fees are much out of line with usual and customary fees most any plumbing service would charge.

I had already diagnosed the issue but need someone with experience to replace my home pressure regulator.  Call Ben Frank plumbing i found it was interesting that their pricing strategy makes its cheaper to have the tech call when he is on his way than setting up an appointment.  It was almost immediate Jim D called and said he could be at my house in 30 mins.  He diagnosed the issue to confirm my suspicions then we talked about my options.  They have a price book so you pay a set price which included the part (by the job not by the hour).  We decided to replace the regulator in the same tight utility box that the original was installed in which was before the drywall I'm sure.    He had to go get the new regulator which was much nicer than the original, it could have been the same crappy type (remember set price includes the part they could go cheap on parts).  My 19 month old was very interested in what he was doing, Jim was very patient and engaging with my toddler.  Jim installed the part without damaging anything now I feel like I have a brand new house.

Wish I had read previous review before calling them. When I called I inquired about the minimum service trip fee and was told it was $69. Knowing this was an easy repair, I just didn't have the correct wrench i thought how much could it be?  Paid $320 for a repair that had a $10 part and took 10 minutes. A total rip off. But once they are there and you know you have to pay the service call you feel stuck. Will NEVER use them again.