Benicia Plumbing

Nancy H.

They were very prompt and cleaned up after. They put in new water heater and took the old one. Very nice serviceman. Used quality products and very polite

Chris S.

These guys tried to rip me off. I needed a new water heater, and called Benicia Plumbing. Simple job; water heater in the garage; standard 50-gallon. They sent out a guy to provide an ""estimate,"" which I believe is their way of sizing up one's ability to pay. He quoted a price of $3,500 to replace the water heater. (You read that right.) He then sent me an email with a single-line estimate. In other words, there was no breakdown of the labor, materials, etc. that would total $3,500. So, a 50-gallon water heater costs around $1,000 at the big box stores, and a plumbing company can get a water heater cheaper through a wholesaler. That means that they were planning to charge approximately $2,500 to install the new heater, which is a relatively simple task. Long story short, I was able to have the work done at a fraction of that price. I would look elsewhere.

Patti C.

Beware of price gouging! We called to get an estimate to replace a 75 gallon hot water heater. They responded quickly, a nice man came to access and later that day we got an estimate of $4300. We asked for a cost break down and they refused. We asked for the cost of a smaller replacement and they would not give us one citing ""permits"" and ""building codes"". Come to find out, no permit is required and building codes don't apply since our house is established....We used another service, got a 50 gallon replacement installed for significantly less than half of their estimate.

William G.

I have been a long time loyal customer of theirs. However, my last job was a simple install of 2 bathroom faucets and a toilet (both of which I supplied). I was quoted $2000 for the job which I thought was totally outrageous. The plumber misinformed me that his parts alone were $1000, so I agreed to the project. The parts they supplied were probably a total of $100. When I contacted the manager Doug all I got was an ""I'm sorry"". Well, I'm sorry too.
In addition, they had to come out twice to reinstall something that was incorrect.

Cora J.

This is my experience w/ Benicia Plumbing.
2/2/2022 A plumber checked our master toilet for not flushing solid dirt. He adjusted the water level in the tank. Toilet flushed well. I told him my concern was flushing solid dirt, not pee or any fluids. The plumber said there should be no problem. He asked about the other bathroom. I said it was ok. The plumber checked the kids toilet w/ my permission. He said, the flush was slow & would be a problem later.
2 options he offered:
1) change the toilets because both of them were old. ( I told him I'd hire a handyman for that)
2) use an auger on kids toilet to make it flush better since he would be doing up to 6 ft. of ""cleaning"".
I signed for the quicker ""cleaning"". ($307.00)

2/3/2022 The master toilet did not flush w/ solid dirt. I called Benicia Plumbing.

2/4/2022 The same plumber came. He flushed the master toilet. It flushed. I told him again the issue was flushing solid dirt.

He took his iPad & asked me to sign on 2 lines saying that I agreed to the use of auger. I signed. As he was heading out the door to get his tool, I asked him if I had to pay $307.00 again. He said ""yes"". I declined the service & asked him to delete my signatures. He left.

I called the company to ask why I had to pay again for ""cleaning"" the master toilet. The supervisor talked a lot saying that I was happy with the job before plumber left, the toilets were old, etc. I felt he was not willing to give me ( the paying customer) a chance to explain so, I asked for the owner or manager. He apologized for, in his own words, ""overpowering the conversation"".

Here's what the Service Manager told me when I complained about having to pay another $307.00 to ""clean"" the master toilet which was what I called for, in the first place.

1) "" we can't help you""
2) "" the toilets are too old to even deal with""
3) "" I don't think auger will help""
4) ""he (tech) shouldn't have even touched those toilets because they are old.""

I sent the manager a message on why auger was recommended which was inconsistent w/ his statement that ""auger will not help"". And why have me sign for a ""cleaning"" job the next day for another $307.00 when "" the toilets were too old to even deal with"" & both toilets ""shouldn't have been touched because they are old.""


If they listen to the recording of those calls, they will know that they have a lot of customer satisfaction in-service training to do to give their company a good reputation.

They (plumber, supv. & service manager) kept saying ""but you were happy...you wrote the check""...
Is their service good for 24 hours only???
And there was a question about what might have been a reckless use of toilet paper which I found preposterous.
I felt ambushed in this situation.

Until today, I haven't heard from the Service manager about my message on the inconsistencies in their procedures. I'm also waiting for the refund as stated by the manager.

Very bad experience that gives the plumbing industry a bad name.
I won't give a zero. The receptionists were courteous. The plumber was polite , even though he could have used better judgment.

Playa C.

Called for an emergency inspection / repair after smelling gas from my fixer-upper's fireplace stubbed-out gas line. Brandon was sent out within an hour and promptly identified the leak and re-capped it for safety. I'm really impressed with the fast and friendly service!!

George R.

Absolutely professional and prompt and fair!!don't look any further Benicia residents !!!

candy k.

.I call and ask to have somebody come and help me with maybe replacing my sump pump which stopped working ....in addition to that I asked to have a
small size person to be able to go under the house to check out our sump pump and they called back with a small person to arrive on a certain date.
Adam arrived and he was not small...and was not told he would have to go under the house. He made it very clear that he was only there to assess
the problem for $190 and then schedule an appointment to come back. So when he decided to go under the house to check out the sump pump I was impressed. At exactly at a hour he said I think we need to test the pump but in order to do that I will have to go on the clock for another $190!!! Since he was there and I thought lets get this done....he did find that a rat ate the wire on the old sump pump and he would order a new sump pump and schedule an appointment to come back. I wrote the check...and expected Adam and a new sump pump to be installed in the near future. Not only was there not a return appointment. They ignored my phone calls and emails. I could have absolutely understood Adam not wanting to go back into the crawl space but to just ignore my phone calls after they made $400!?????? Give me a break!!!!!! DO NOT use this company.

R P.

Our home needed a water manifold replaced. The company who made them sold to another company. The water manifold replacement was not available for 3-4 months.
Kristopher from Benicia Plumbing in consultation with his boss created a manifold made from brass and then Kris was able to create the needed piece and he connected the 18 hot and cold water hoses.
I am impressed with his creativity and work style. They saved us from waiting for a replacement piece.

Thank you Kris and Benicia Plumbing. The office staff needs to be recognized for their help and positive attitude.

Leon H.

I had a very simple job to place a regulator on my sprinkler system to lower the pressure to 50 lbs, but I was talked in to also replacing the regulator on the house supply side which was functioning but was admittedly old. The entire job was going to cost just over $1000.

During the repair the tech cracked the PVC pipe that goes under the cement patio and feeds the sprinkler lines. At the time, the tech told me the pipe had cracked while he was removing the metal adapter due to the expansion that occurs during heating, and this was common and was the reason a threaded adapter should be used, at which point I asked if he knew this was a common problem and why he didn't discuss this prior to starting the job knowing the potential damage that it would cause due to the pipe running under my cement patio. He agreed and was apologetic.

On speaking with a manager who was not on the job, he told me the error was not the techs, but was a result of brittle pipes, something the tech never mentioned or suggested.

So, here's where I am at: 1. Have my new patio cut to give access to the sprinkler pipe for repair; or, 2. Have a new sprinkler system run from another location on the property. The first option would be cheaper but damages my new patio, and the second option would be preferred but is very expensive.

Now let's get to why I gave 2 stars and not lower:

1. The tech acknowledged that he should have discussed what he said he knew was a potential complication before starting the job
2. The initial customer service was very good
3. The original quoted price would have been good if the work had been completed without the complications

Now let's get to why I didn't give more than 2 stars:

1. No matter how polite the tech was it does not take away from the fact that he didn't inform me of a known risk associated with the job that will now cost me 1000s of dollars to address (-1)
2. I didn't like the fact that the manager presented a different cause for the problem than what the tech had reported which I saw as trying to deflect responsibility (-1)
3. Companies should be insured, and the manager should have offered to make the necessary repairs to complete the job at the previously agreed price (-1)

By the way, there was an offer to chip in to the cement and make the repair, but when I asked about damaging the new patio, such as a crack forming, it was made clear that they would not be responsible for any such damage.

So, I have paid over $500 to have a house system that wasn't broken, fixed, and the original problem of a high pressure sprinkler system has been made worse because I now have a sprinkler system with no water supply.

I have no doubt that for more straightforward plumbing jobs these guys would do good work at reasonable prices.