4.5K views
New Reviewer
35 comments

The ads sound great-- Ben Franklin Plumbing will waive the minimum service charge, maybe with a coupon, or if you have them come on a certain day of the week. You assume you will have to pay only an hourly rate for the work done.

Not so!

They use a "Straight Forward Pricing"(R) scheme. The simplest service, like replacing an aerator or a toilet flapper, or caulking anything, is $174 (in St Paul MN, unless you buy a membership). This is in addition to their service charge of $79, which of course they can afford to waive.

But they are happy to not tell you anything about their pricing over the phone, when you book your appointment. They will just sock your unsuspecting wife for $174, and she will write out the check.

Monetary Loss: $174.

Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota

Do You Have Something To Say ?
Write a review

Comments

chat-icon

Please avoid publishing any personal information and promotional content

You will be automatically registered on our site. Username and password will be sent to you via email.
Post Comment
Guest

This plumbing company is a scam ! Steer clear, unless you want to be robbed blind.

Guest

in shower no hot water. Needed new cartrage.

Took 5- 10 minutes. Cost 345.00Part cost 25- 30.00 for cartridge.

Rip off. Never use Ben Franklin plumbing.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1447087

What would you feel is a fair rate? Do you understand itโ€™s plumbers that are responsible for the health and safety of the entire nation.

We give you clean water to drink clean water thatโ€™s also warm to shower. Oh and that thing called a toilet you {{Redacted}} in ya we engineered that also. We have familyโ€™s and roofs to put over our heads. Did you post a bad review on you doctor who looked at you for 5 minutes then sent you home with no disclosure and then billed you $750.00 I donโ€™t think so.

You do realize companyโ€™s need to make a profit to stay in business right . You do understand we have to pay Uncle Sam 30% of every dollar oh ya and workmanโ€™s comp oh and liability insurance and vehicle insurance oh and marketing oh and gas and medical for each plumber there much more Iโ€™m sure you get my point by now.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1554784

You can still make a living without ripping people off. There is no need to excessively over charge.

Stop trying to justify theft. Customers also have bills to pay & a family to support.

It's a plumbing job, not neuro surgery. Type your message here

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1554784

Totally. People really don't get how much it cost to be a business owner. Plus people are hiring a plumber because they don't have the expertise to fix it themselves.

Guest

It appears that your frustrations are centered around the cost of the service & not the quality of the service. In my experience this is a common opinion of consumers that do not value what plumbing companies actually do for them.

Guest

Wow, three comments all on the same day, all with such similar and polite language. :-) I'm not knocking plumbers.

And I'm not one myself (or an ex-employee), but I've had two houses built, GC'ed a basement finish, redone my sump pump system, and I'm learning more all the time. I also have a PhD in math, and I'm just trying to caution people to not believe everything they read, because everyone can be fooled.

I love America, and if I walked into a McDonald's and their menu said $174 for a hamburger, I'd happily walk out. I'm just asking for full disclosure, people.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-851361

I agree with full disclosure however it's a little bit like comparing apples with oranges (or hamburgers). The difference between $174 for a hamburger seems different than a skilled home service for the same.

Food for thought; if a plumber is making a 5 to 15% net profit as opposed to a hamburger franchise who is making a 40 to 55% net profit, who is the biggest capitalist? I imagine if McDonalds delivered and cooked a custom hamburger in my home with a drug tested, background checked cook who went through 4 years of hamburger apprenticeship, the cost would be marginally higher.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-851361

Plumbers must be trained 4 years plus on the job at wages just above minimum,most supply $1.500.00 of own tools,company must have millions of dollars of liability insurance,office workers to wait for your call,lines of credit,vehicles,have you priced a van that only gets 10mpg? and then advertize because people want McDonalds not some one local that can charge $65.00 an hour and work from home because you are trained to buy from your T.V.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-851361

In my experience people usually comment on the internet about businesses when they are not satisfied & many of those complaints have to do with what they were charged for that service or that the service was poor. I would reccomend that if people feel this way they should invest in the tools & dedicate their weekends to do home maintnance instead of expecting a pro to do it for them at a dollar store price.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-851361

Simple request

Guest

Welcome to America! A place where companies are free to charge whatever they want for their services.

Consumers are also free to hire a cheaper company to get get cheaper work.

If you want top tier service grab your wallet bucko.

The best ain't cheap. At least the cheap guy knows what his work is worth.

Guest

I know consumers in general do not know all the inner workings of running a business, but do you people even think before you type?

OMG!

The plumber made money doing the ugly work no one else wants to do. That truly is astonishing. That plumber feller sure has a has a lot of nerve.

What a bunch of sniveling crybabies.

How about some of you smart folks wait till you know something about the cost of running a business before you type your ignorance for the whole world to see.

How about we setup a pissed contractor website, fill it with misleading 1/2 truths, and plaster your names and phone numbers on it.

Guest

All of the experts commenting on how and what plumbers should be charging is a little more than amusing. Where in your life experience did you become an expert on how to operate a plumbing business at a profitable level? Where did you learn how long it takes to make a repair and what parts to use.

The fact is most people commenting on this don't know their butt from *** in the ground as it pertains to plumbing repairs and know even less as it pertains to operating a plumbing business.

As for Flat rate pricing and it being a scheme or scam you pay flat rate all the time and are too dumb to realize that is what is happening, or did you think McDonalds and Starbucks charge you hourly. Maybe you think the Doctor is tracking time and material.

Fact is, you don't know what you are talking about, sound like an *** when you profess too and clearly do not understand that most of what you do is flat rate.

Guest

I agree with the poster.

Straight forward pricing is not what it sounds like. Beware of companies that use Straight Forward Pricing.

It is not "straight forward" at all. Straight Forward Pricing is a rip off. It's just a modern day scheme designed to maximise company profits. The companies that buy into this concept pay monthly support fees and are highly trained in how to get the customer to sign on the dotted line.

They are also highly schooled in how to upsell the customer. The consumer is put at a clear disadvantage with these slicks and ends up paying double, triple or a lot more for what are everyday repairs in a service industry.

You will find that Straight Forward Pricing companies will not quote pricing over the phone. They get in your face and give you the hard sell. It's like paying a fee for a vacuum salesman to come into your home and give you the hard sell.

Beware of Straight Forward Pricing because it is not what it sounds like.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-688166

I use Straight Forward pricing and would never think of hurting another person. We try to educate people about ALL of their options and then leave the decision up to them.

Like any tool, Straight Forward pricing can be used by Takers or by Givers. If you find a good plumber like me, hang on to them tightly.

Otherwise if you get impatient or price shop to much you are bound to find some bad dudes, but won't know it until it is late. Please always remember if you shop for the lowest price plumber, what your accidently shopping for is low quality, low warranty, low problem responsiveness, a disturbed drug addicted, person with a criminal past.

Guest

They charge you 275 to replace that faucet with one that isn't welded on, but screws off so you can replace it next time. Try your washer fix and see how long that lasts if you can even get it apart.

I wouldn't warranty that.

You should look at it if you were trying to provide the best repair or service for someone. When your washer leaks in 2 months would you call them back, or just not use them again.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-559752

The question is if the faucet leaks, would they come back and honor the warranty? If I paid half as much for el cheapo plumber, but he couldn't come back to fix the problem for a week or even worse didn't honor the warranty at all, is he still the best deal?

I don't think so.

The old maxim 'you get what you pay for' still stands true.

Guest

My husband and i watned to let everyone know how happy we have been with Buck and his crew. We're remodelling our kitchen and can honestly say the work and service his team provided has been stellar, especially when compared to the number of contractrors we've had to deal with.

They actually stayed till midnight on a FRIDAY night to make sure we had hot water.

I would and have already recommnded them!! Thanks guys!!!

Guest

Sounds like a disgruntled former employee to me! Same *** probably wants the company to pay him $30.00/hr plus holiday, vacation and benifits, and pay him for all of his unproductive time and screw ups. None of these entitlement generation bums have a clue what it costs to run a business let alone a family when they have to acttually pay the bills themselves without anyone subsidizing their sorry ***.

View more comments (15)

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Reviews

  1. 87 reviews
  2. 29 reviews
  3. 8 reviews
  4. 4 reviews
  5. 9 reviews
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing reviews