Benjamin Franklin Plumbing - Novato

Kate S.

Just had Benjamin Franklin over to fix a clogged pipe. The service technician John was extremely courteous and took his time to explain what was required and what the charges were. He wore booties in my house and even sprayed and wiped down my hardwood floors before he left to ensure he hadn't tracked in any dirt. Completely professional and I would use them again.

Denise D.

this company mailed out an invitation to our local community to waive the service call and charge by the job. so i called and made an appointment. the day of, they wanted to postpone the appointment, keeping in mind that i had blocked off that 4 hour time window. then they rescheduled to a saturday with a promise to call with a more accurate time. they didn't bother calling and now it's the next business day and still no phone call. pretty sure they won't be in business that much longer as this is a horrible way to do business! and this is a company that i will wholeheartedly NOT recommend.

Kelly B.

I have never written a yelp review before, but I am so incredibly upset about the service that I received from this company...so here it goes.

Our water heater broke. It was 21 years old so naturally we had to get it replaced. Benjamin Franklin showed up and convinced my husband to purchase a water heater that cost 5400 dollars - when the regular retail price I came to find out for this model is 1200! Not only that...they got him to take out some sort of loan to pay for it - added me as the cosigner and submitted the paperwork without my permission, without showing me the document, and without my signature - needless to say this is COMPLETELY illegal.

Additionally they took a ""look"" at my sink which had a small minor leak. Then the plumber tells us that he can fix our faucet for $600. Whatever the man did, now my faucet is not working and is leaking like crazy!

Benjamin Franklin plumbing...you are THE WORST! I plan on reporting you not only to the Better Business Bureau, but taking legal action against you for illegally submitting a loan under my name.

Tom G.

I got a call today from Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in San Francisco and they agreed to refund my 92-year-old aunt $300 for an overcharge. They settled the dispute fairly and provided good service.

Glenn G.

I have a few experiences with Ben Franklin and ALL of them have been BAD as all it was an upsell business of unneeded plumbing.

First experience -- while away on a business trip, my wife called indicating the toilet would not stop running. She tried adjusting the flush value but said it would stop. I had her call Ben Franklin which came out and said that they recommend to replace the entire toilet for $400. I came home, put in a new flush value for $15, and it was fixed.

Second experience -- called Ben Franklin to a newly purchased house to hook up new dishwasher and refrigeator/freezer. They listed out all the services they would do, and offered to add on a Home Serviced Plan at an additional cost. He left the day without completing some of the job indicating I should go to the hardware store to get the parts myself. He originally agreed to do the work as long as I bought the additonal home service plan, whiich I did, but left without doing the work.

I filled out an evalution survey with a complaint and asked them to contact me to discuss it, but they never called me.

Third experience -- Ben Franklin called to schedule my annual home service which promised to flush my tankless water heater. When they came out, they explained that they could not flush my tank without installing a value which would cost me $595. They should have realized when they inspected my tank the first time and sold me the service that they could not service it all. Now I just received a quote to replace the entire tankless water heater (which is only 7 years old) for $5500!!!! Another upsell, and still no service from this company.

BEWARE, when Ben Franklin arrives, they will look at your entire house and scare you into thinking that most plumbling has to be replaced when it does not. They will upsell you on services when not needed. I will NOT use Ben Franklin again because of the unprofesion

When I called to cancel my Home Service Plan, they told me that I could not cancel it over the phone. I had to FAX in my cancel request. Fax machines are obsolete and I don't have one, but offered email. I asked her to fax it in for me but she said no. I asked for her email address and she said she did not have an email address. I think that is not true. She eventually gave me the email address of a finance person which was their personal Yahoo account.

SUMMARY -- they tried to sell my wife an entire toilet when the fix was a $15 part. They tried to sell me a new water heater for $5500 when my current heater has no problems. They sold me a home service plan promising to flush my tank once per year, but they could not service it all without another $500 job to add a valve. It was all upsell and no work performed.

Jeff Z.

Alike to another person's review of this business. They were on time, and that is where they excelled. I'm glad you could read a watch - it's not common in the world of plumbing requests so thanks. Other than that, the serviceman fleeced my wife without looking around. Took $99 from us for very little research into the problem and left stating it would cost $3000 to fix. I called Virginia in San Rafael, she wasn't friendly or helpful. We called another plumber - he took time to work the problem and gave us a few options. The most it would cost was $900.

I do not recommend this group and you should be careful of any servicer who will take money from you first and care for your needs later. I wish negative stars were possible.

TJ A.

I wish I could write a review about how good they are, but since they never made it out to my house, on three separate occasions, I don't know. Met them at a home show and was very impressed with their sales pitch and product line. They were very quick to set up an appointment for a tankless water heater.

First scheduled appointment was canceled. Second appointment, they scheduled myself and another customer back-to-back, even though we were about 60 miles apart. No way the guy could have made the time. But the guy was real nice and rescheduled for Noon appointment a couple days later.

I get a call from their office at 10:30 the day of the third appointment attempt saying that they were sorry but they don't service my area. Really??? When I originally talked to your staff you did! When I set up the appointment you did! When I rescheduled the first appointment because of your cancellation you still did!!! When I talked with the actual person who was coming to my house, you did!!! WTF???

Don't know how you stay in business but you ain't getting mine. Just for the record, I was planning on replacing my water heater with a Noritz and having you install a second one on the far side of the house to service those bathrooms. You know who is getting the business now....Somebody other than Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

T. H.

I think is this the right BFP (?)...anyway, nick has been to our rental home a few times to try to deal with a very persnickety kitchen sink, and while we're still trying to figure out exactly what is wrong, he's been great. Super nice, puts on his little booties all the time, tries to be quiet for kids's nap times etc.

R C.

Apparently they get out of the ""If There's Any Delay, It's YOU We Pay!"" policy by cancelling at the last minute and leaving you stranded, unable to get another plumber out on the same day, and leaving you without water over a holiday weekend because of the major leak that requires the water main to be shut off.

Lauren G.

Terrible Company!!! We had to have our clay pipes replaced because they were broken etc...we called Ben Franklin who charged us $6,000+ . They did sloppy work and were lazy and unprofessional. I was glad to see them go however a couple of months later our plumbing backed up and flooded our basement. At first they tried to blame us and charge more but after some prodding they discovered that they didn't even finish the job. They simply stopped putting in the piping and covered up a huge gap because running he pipe out to the clean out would have been too much work. Needless to say they tore up our yard again and fixed the problem. We did get a small refund. The best part is our neighbor used them as well and are now having the same problem. I don't understand dishonest lazy people.