Benjamin Franklin Plumbing / Clockwork
Reviews and Complaints

I rely on my tenants to handle the services needed when something is broken or needs repaired. My tenant contacted Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Kittery, Maine [protected] or [protected]. They came out and it took them less than two hours to thaw a pipe at a cost of $338.00. I contacted them to find out what type of work they actually did and have not heard back from them. This was an opportunity for them to redeme themselves.

I contacted another plumber after the fact and he said this was very high for this type of work. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing does fixed price charges and not hourly charges. I would not recommend this company and have advised my tenants not to contact them for any future plumbing issues. Stay away from them they will rip you off.

I completely agree. They just charged me $533 to install a $179 garbage disposal (price on Amazon for the 3/4 hp Insinkerator Evolution, as of 6/2/11) and it only took them 40 minutes for the complete visit (installation was probably 15 minutes).

For a licensed professional to be able to charge $65.00 for anything in the plumbing trade is laughable. At (by your explanation of a $5.00 part) you are charging $60.00 an hour. Here's what that means. It means you are working out of your garage, you have no liability insurance so when you flood someones home they're screwed because you don't have $30, 000 dollars for the repairs which is an average cost. You don't have worker compensation insurance. This means that if you have someone working with you EVER the homeowners insuracne would have to pick up the tab for any injury. From what I gleaned from your statement you are nothing more than an unlicensed handyman. Don't be fooled by this type of thing either folks. Always hire a licensed pro. Check them out with your local BBB and licensing authority. That is what will make you safe when hiring any contractor.

Unfortunately there are a lot of service providers that take consumers for a ride. I was astonished to see what was being charged to replace the $5.00 wax gasket. Most plumbing companies will charge a fee to come out for an estimate. Usually between $50.00 and $80.00. Depending on the cost of the repair, most plumbing companies will deduct that from the bill. Some will only deduct it if the repair is done the some day. Keep in mind they are a company with overhead such as payroll, office space, insurance, etc. For small projects like this, you might want to consider a handyman. I myself offer free estimates with my business since I am an owner/operator. For this type of job I charge my customers $65.00 including parts.

Beware of Joide he is a union plumber that worked for a firm that went broke. Joide is a bitter man and would do anything to get back at the competition. Poor guy has lost his house, his wife and is now living in his car in a Walmart parking lot, you know him he is the guy with the will work for food sign that stands on the corner. His neighbor lives in a old motorhome in the next parking space and the kids he is talking about are to old stay dogs that eat out of the trash can at the back of the store. Say hi to Joide the next time you see him.

Your complaint is confusing to me maybe you can help me understand your complaint better. Is it your neighbor that has problem and you are just complaining on their behalf. And my second question is that you state "if it was up to me I would never allow them back", that raises the question why is it not up to you? I have had a problem finding a good honest plumber and Ben Franklin was recommended to me by a friend so I am doing some resreach before I call a new plumber.

A few years ago a poster with your alias re-posted a complaint about me that some else had originally posted. The original complaint had no merit what so ever. Therefore the re-post had no merit. The whole thing has hurt my relationship with my family. Just like with the post about me, you like to join ("member since") each time you complain about someone. I can see how no one would really take Afur74 seriously if they saw just how many complaints Afur74 makes per unit time. So you go out of your way to make site users believe your not just a whiner. I believe you have the right to complain about anything that you personally feel ripped off about. Even if you are the most ripped of person on the face of the planet. In my case though, Afur74 re-posted a complaint someone else made a year before. Why would someone do that? He/she/(you) did it anonymously, with even the United States location being vague. I thought this was a cheap shot. In the unlikely event that you are a different Afur74 disregard this. Though you really do complain a lot.

Interesting complaint your first plumber did bad work which created the at least one leak. Why didn't you call that plumber back to fix the problem he created? The reason I am asking you this question is that I want to make sure I don't call your first plumber.

I called Ben Franklin Plumbing to fix the plumbing problems that my inexperienced contractor created. They came and told me that the plumbing wasn't installed correctly and then proceeded to tell me I had a leak in the wall behind the vanity. I paid almost $200. for that call. When they came back the next day to diagnose the leak in the wall I paid another $200. plus $400. to have the wall repaired after they cut into. Of course there was no leak in the wall and the guy told me that the shoddy plumbing job was bad but it was only a small bit of leakage and he left. I paid $815. total and I still have the same problem I had when I called them. I complained and a so called general manager came to my house to explain the charges and told me I needed to replace all the shoddy plumbing to fix the problem. Then he had the nerve to ask me if I wanted an estimate the fix the shoddy plumbing. I am livid and now I have to call a real plumber to fix the problem.

She could have said no. I don't feel bad for you, when company's give you a choice and offer 100% satisfaction on top of it, how can you loose. But the price is probably where it is because it has to be, i guess you want the plumber who hides a 12 pack in his truck, can't pass a background or drug test and shows up in a truck that leaks oil all over your driveway and doesn't hesitate to through cigarette butts on your lawn and steals medication from your bathroom, the same plumber has no idea how to charge, goes out to the truck and makes up a number, and will be gone in a year when his repair fails because he didn't make any profit the whole year to make sure he could stay in business the following year. would you rather have a company offer you that service or be professional and reputable.

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While I did pay the $79 service charge and send them on their way I did not allow Benjamin Franklin to install a water heater. My first indication that something was probably not right was that I called at 8am and they said they could be there between 9am and 11am. I opted for the 12 noon to 2 pm time slot. When they arrived they provided me with no estimate but a charge for the job. To replace/install a 50 gal. water heater was $2, 850 for the "standard" model or $3, 300 for the "performance" model. After laughing and thanking them for the joke I asked them to itemize how they came up with the $2, 850 figure. They indicated I would have to speak to a manager as they didn't have that level of detail. The manager first attempted to convince me that their cost for a standard 50 gal. water heater was $1, 200, even though you can buy the top models for $950 retail. After I nicely told him not to assume I was an idiot, he added that they did add $300 to the cost to cover the warranty on the unit. Which essentially was nothing more than covering the true cost of their labor if the unit failed, as the manufacturer provides the actual warranty. Long story short I purchased a premium water heater from Lowe's for $950 including tax and paid a licensed plumber $580 (inclusive of permit and tax). The plumber came Saturday morning and completed the job in 2 hours. So instead of $2, 850 plus tax or roughly $3, 000 I was able to get the premium model installed in the same manner Benjamin Franklin would do for $1, 530. So I would concur that if you are not informed regarding what work has to be done, what the related appliance or parts cost and what is a reasonable cost for the job, this company will take you for as much as possible. But in there defense the home depot hot water heater national program service quickly got to $2, 000 on the phone, so there are a lot of companies willing to take advantage of those who are ignorant and/or lazy.

After going down to our basement one morning to do laundry we noticed a large amount of water on our floor. After trying the drain snake thing and not unclogging it, we found that we needed a plumber. We called Benjamin Franklin plumbing. What a mistake. After more than $200 just to unclog the drain and the guy doing a TON of sales pitches, we found water in our basement again the next night. When we called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing they wanted to charge us for another full service call. I highly recommend avoiding Benjamin Franklin Plumbing at ALL COSTS! At least in Cedar Rapids IA!

I am maybe the newest victim of BF Plumbing They "had to" remove my toilet to get to a leak in a pipe. Then they reinstall the toilet and it runs continually when we called them back they wanted to charge us another fee of $331 Not to mention that the work they initially did they overcharged me by maybe 250% I will never again use their services and I am considering taking them to small claims court...

Well what if you call a plumber for a price over the phone and he tells you lets say for example 150 to fix whatever you asked. You say ok and he gets there only to realize that the price he quoted over the phone was horribly low and wants to raise the price to 550 because whatever happened (pipes were rotten, crawlspace to access plumbing, water pressure too high, drain waste and vent not legal) etc. Is it more fair to give a low price over the phone just to get the job? Or do you prefer a company to come out and professionally assess the situation and give you an accurate price, while still giving you a choice at the end whether to proceed with any work or not.
What do people really want from a plumber. Take any talk about money out of the equation and what do you want with plumbing service. Fairness, honesty, safety, satisfaction, truthfulness, probably some others: consider this

Plumber A : charges 200 dollars an hour, whoa, outrageous right. But lets say he is really good, clean, courteous, fair, everything goes smooth, job takes him 2 hours. Total: 400.00 He was fast and performed at the top of his game because he came prepared, his truck had all the parts, his tools are up to date, his office staff are on top of their game and got him there on time. But the homeowner concerned about time rushed the plumber out of the home before he could clean up because he or she didnt want to pay for the extra time Probably not the best experience for the homeowner who just experienced a lot of stress about the bill...
Plumber B: charges 50 dollars an hour, whoa plumber A is way out of the park. but wait, plumber B took 8 hours to complete the same job. Total 400.00, his truck was a disaster, his parts were used, dented, had to leave the house to or three times to "get more parts"(chat at the wholesale house). the homeowner is still watching the clock and worried about the price, is starting to loose trust in the ability of plumber B's ability to complete the job, this guy must have barely passed his license test because plumbers advertise there test score on their trucks right...wrong, , is this good or bad
Plumber C: charges by the job. He arrives in a noticeably clean truck, is ontime and assesses the situation upon arrival, After discussing options the homeowner is given choices between minor repair for 200, major repair for 400, and full replacement for 1000. deciding that the replacement didn't seem necessary, the homeowner decides on the middle of the road option for whoa 400. The plumber performs the job professionally and in a timely manner, but realizes a part he needs was not normally stocked on his truck, so he has to run and get the part and then finish the job. Meanwhile, the homeowner already knows what the price will be at the end of the job, regardless of how long it takes or what misfortune the plumber runs into during the course of the job. In this case the plumber had to leave and may not have expected to. This unknown was not added at the end nor did the price change, and lets say the total time was 3 hours.

Which plumber would you hire? In all cases the bill was the same, but what is your time worth, what is your patience worth, what is your plumber worth, the only one that gave you an option or any sort of choice was plumber C. What if plumber A took three hours for you and one hour for your neighbor for an identical task, is the hourly way truly fair, of course not. Phone shopping is not in your best interest, Call, have someone come out, and give you repair/replacement options with the price, not an hourly or time and material rate

Terribly deceptive company. When you call to have a sevice tech come out, they DO tell you the service fee is $50.00. HOWEVER, if you inquire about the range of fees for a repair, they claim to just be the "dispatch service" and can't give you an estimate to have a dishwasher installed (NOT repaired). When the plumber arrived, he took one look at the dishwasher and told us the cost to install would be $350.00. YES, $350.00 - 1/2 the cost of the dishwasher! I couldn't believe it! I told him if I had known how much it would cost, I would have saved him the trip out. He was very apologetic and explained how we could hook it up ourselves. Of course, we didn't do it and called someone else but I was pretty pissed. A total waste of $50.00. I called the company and spoke to the regional manager, who was also surprised at the high cost of a standard install. He said he would look into it and call me back. He did, and here's what he said: Benjamin Franklin contracts with different companies and they don't KNOW how much a standard install is b/c is varies from company to company. He agreed that $350.00 was high but explained that Benjamin Franklin has no control over the fee. He was polite and responsive - good customer service. In the end, we were just out $50.00. PLEASE save your money and go with a company who will give you an estimate or range of costs over the phone! Good luck!

Charged $230 to screw on an $8 piece of tubing under my sink. Deducted $100 from the previous quote since he didn't have to run a new water supply to the ice maker and cut holes in the cabinet. Plumbing should not be a negotiation. Overpriced, full of gimmicks. Pricing is screwy and not based on parts or time - not itemized. Do not call them or their affiliate companies. The company is a rip-off and a scam!

I was a manager and senior service technician with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and spent quite a bit of time in their quote on quote sales and marketing training, Ben 101, new franchisee, and annual conventions. Oh what was the ladies name... ellen roarke or something like that, point is this franchise takes naive already established business owners and remolds them into a money hungry overcharging by extreme measures is okay machines pumping out money and creating bad reputations for these poor souls that are doing themselves and their communities injustice. Fact is The CEO's of ben franklin have previously created many scam franchises with the whole intent of building a franchise to sell on the big market and start a different one. They are not plumbers or customers, never have been never will be. They are money hungry wall street pirates. With that said, I have been in the system and took quite a few years to warn other upcoming franchisee's and would never support, associate with or ever be involved in such a destructive organization. By the way, it costs about 35, 000 to join and 7% proceeds to stay in and if you don't sell sccording to their sales guide they will steal your money and kick you out. They can paint pretty pictures of what they do all day long but beneath it all is a sleeping dragon. Don't ever let them in your home! By the way, my well established company would have done your job for under $100.00