1 Jan, 2018 → by ClaimboUser476731
Overpriced work, scare tactics

2

I called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing because someone in my church recommended them. We had just bought a 60 year old house, and the previous owner went all DIY on the plumbing system. Our inspector couldn't find the crawl space access, so the plumbing never got inspected (but that's a different rant for a different place). Our washing machine was overflowing the drain, and we needed options for fixing it. When BFP showed up, the tech showed me his little cost booklet, assuring me it protects me by preventing overcharges on their part. He offered to let me remove all of the paneling off the entire wall to avoid his charge for cutting a hole, but I declined the offer. He cut a hole and inspected the problem, and told me my galvanized stand pipe needed to be replaced for over $900. I asked him about replacing the whole cast iron drainage system, and he quoted me $2548 for the whole job (WITH the Ben's Society 10% discount, which cost me $119). I went ahead and scheduled the job, since otherwise, he was going to charge me the $59 service fee, plus $189 for unsuccessfully snaking my stand pipe, plus whatever cost for him to cut a hole in the wall (again, that's all with the 10% discount). When he removed my drainage pipes, he showed me they were all clogged up with sewage, and praised himself for recommending they all get replaced (my idea...). This wouldn't have bothered me, except he and his helper both at different times made me feel like they thought I was some snotty-nosed kid who knows nothing about anything (He also spent significant time in my kitchen on the first visit, discussing recipes with my wife, when he should have been working. I get that they want to be friendly, but that was extreme in my opinion). While he and his helper were working in the crawl space, they noticed multiple pinhole leaks in my copper, and refused to turn the water back on until everything got replaced. To perform this work, they quoted me $7300 (WITH the 10% discount...). Without even waiting to see what I thought, they asked me if I'd be using financing to pay for it, and were talking about ripping out the copper that night to get a head start (would have left us without water for at least 3 days in a row). They wanted to install a water softener ($2300) because my city's "notoriously bad water" was "eating holes in the copper, " and they were using other scare tactics like telling me the SharkBite fittings were illegal. They also found slight mold in the crawl space, and wanted to recommend their buddies in mold remediation (I had an expert inspect the space, and he told me it wasn't nearly as bad as BFP made it sound). I told BFP I was going to get a second opinion, and they offered to ask their boss to give me a $200 discount... I called Blessing Plumbing and Heating. Their tech tested our water, confirmed it wasn't hard enough to require a water softener, replaced the worst section of copper as a temporary fix to immediately get our water back on ($300), and quoted me $2660 to replace all the copper with PEX. THEN he counted the $300 as a deposit against the $2660, essentially fixing our leak temporarily for free! I will never use Benjamin Franklin Plumbing ever again. Give me the small, family-run company over the franchises every time. I've learned my lesson.
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