Benjamin Franklin Plumbing - Novato

Upset H.

I called this company because I had a water leak that was in my front yard. I leak was around by where sprinkler valve is located. The tech looked and saw clearly where the water was coming from. He saw that I had a coupon for free service charge. He then asked where were my bathrooms were to check to see if there were leaks coming from there. We both saw that there were no leaks from there. He then stated that he needed to run a pressure test to see were the leak was coming from. I walked my house and five minutes later, he rang the door bell to tell me that it was the sprinkler system. Then he goes to tell me that they don't work on sprinkler systems that I need to call a sprinkler company. As stated earlier, we both saw that the leak was sprinkler from the beginning. But he saw the need to run test that cost $99 to tell me that he didn't work on sprinkler systems verses telling me that he didn't even work on sprinkler systems. I think this is a big rip off. I recommend that you ask up front if they can fix the problems that they are running test on.

Mark P.

Not a comment on their work. This company is not flexible enough for scheduling. They are also audacious to charge more for an estimate if you try to change times, even slightly, once you've confirmed. They've obviously got too much business to care about individual jobs or individual customers' needs, so I don' t care about their business. If this is the trend in plumbing, then at least get professional estimators to come out before you commit a plumber and want to charge eighty bucks for the courtesy of working my problems to their convenience.

Michele A.

Thank you to Boris who worked tirelessly to make our hot water come out of the tap like never before. The replacement of our hot water tank with an instant hot water tank was a huge job, but when I didn't love the remaining configuration of pipes - Boris came out to streamline the pipes and gave us additional love with new faucet valves (I do not even know what those are) to make sure that the shower temperature remained constant. And now we have the best water pressure we've ever had. Amazing service and attention to detail.

Beatrice M.

Issues with Sonoma County code requirements still have not been resolved since mid May. Mixed messages from different staff members regarding code. NO issues with initial install done on a Sat. before we went out of town! Would not recommend this company.

Jeremy R.

Ron, JJ and Murray showed up on a moment's notice, took care of what we needed and even helped out with a few other items. Services and home ownership can be a pain, but these are the kind of guys and company that make it a pleasure. Tops to Ben Franklin Plumbing and I would recommend them to anyone in need.

Vanessa B.

So, I work in design / construction on a daily basis. My normal plumbers were not available and our kitchen sink was clogged. Not a huge job, but more than my manicure could deal with. I called Ben Franklin because they could come right away. The guy came and gave me a quote for $430. This is equivalent to about 4 hours of pay for a normal plumber. I asked him how long the job would take. He said about 45 minutes. I said why are you so much? He said ""I hear that a lot. I guess we do a lot of advertising."" I said, no thank you and called a different plumber. Who charged me $145 for the same job.

Elaine B.

We didn't actually hire these guys because they gave us such an outrageously high estimate for replacement of a sewer lateral that it was laughable--almost twice as much as the next highest quote we received. When we did get the work done--by Streamline Plumbing--it was just over a 3rd of the price quoted by this place. I have no idea if they do good work, but they'd better do for what they're charging.

Charles A.

I was very pleased with the service and professionalism received from Bruce with BFP. He was courteous, knowledgable, and very friendly. He also took the time to explain the issue I called about and what he needed to do to fix the problem. Would have given 5 stars if the cost hadn't been so high. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend their services.

Lou L.

BFP San Rafael - Bruce is great, professional and expert! Unclogged my kitchen drain in a jiffy, and gave me some pointers for my shower head. This is service!!

Sharon W.

Total con artists!! Do NOT use this company!!! First off, we had been talked into signing up for their annual ""service"" plan. What that was supposed to involve was snaking the lines, flushing the hot water heater, and doing a ""safety"" check. We received a call from them to come out to do the annual pre-paid service. When the guy got here, he told us the contract had expired (when we had just received a call from them to schedule our ""complimentary"" service!!). Then he tried to tell us he was going to honor it out of the kindness of his heart, but that he really shouldn't. Next up - he was supposed to snake the lines and he then says that's not included (when we scheduled the appt, we were told it was). Next up - - he tells us our water pressure is too high and requires a $600 pressure valve. Funny - - that's exactly what the last guy from FRanklin told us and then supposedly did so and charged us for that. (And for the record, the valve sells in the store for $10!!!) He continued to try to hard sell on a number of other non-necessary services THEN left our home with us having absolutely no hot water the next day. Now we have to stay home for a 4-hour time period to wait for a ""technician"" to fix what they screwed up. Great way to spend a birthday weekend - - thanks Ben Franklin!!!!

STEER CLEAR!! They charge 500% mark up and purposely try to break things so they have to come and fix them.