Benjamin Franklin Plumbing - Novato

Have raised this review to 2 stars because the owner apologized for the lack of communication and waived my fee. They do answer their phones 24/7, which is more than some do, but if you do use them, I recommend using the coupon on their website at the time you call to get the $88 drain cleaning price for first timers.
Hopefully they'll work on their communications, simplify their phone scripts, eliminate the on-hold sales pitch, and revamp their pricing in the near future to avoid these bad reviews.

//////////my original post//////////
Called about a kitchen clog caused by guests putting too many potato peels into the garbage disposal. My house is being used by Air Bnb guests, whom I want to please, so I'll get a good review.

1. Friday: Misleading first call.
Agent did not tell me there is a cost for the subscription service until I double checked at the end of the call. It's $16/month! Also, when asked about coupons, she didn't mention $88 first time customer drain cleaning coupon on the website and said she couldn't quote me a price until a tech went to the house.

2. Completely messed up communications and late plumber.
I got a 4-hr window and, after waiting most of the day waiting, the tech arrived late and refused to go into the empty house even through I had called earlier and spoken to 3 different agents authorizing entry and mentioning a web cam we could communicate through.

3. Tech can't clear the clog because it's beyond the reach of the 20' snake.
Finally, he goes in and estimates $249 but only has a 20' snake and, it turns out, in the whole company there isn't a longer one.

It's now 5 pm and I'm told the only alternative is to jet the line but they need to inspect the pipes under the house to protect BF from liability. Access to crawl space involves unlocking a locked closet, packed to the ceiling with stored items No other plumber I've ever called for any of my properties has made these demands, but now my guests are back in the house wishing to cook dinner.

$1511 to clear a clogged drain!
I am told the cost has increased dramatically: $58 for the service call, plus $249 for the snaking that didn't work, $339 to empty and later repack my closet, and $865 for the jetting. I remind the manager that I accepted an estimate of $249. But he says they won't to work further unless I agreed to the new price. I felt extorted. I can leave my guests in a house without water or pay their price. I reluctantly agreed on $865 for everything and suddenly there was no need to crawl under the house.

Tech comes back with the jet machine, jets for 10 minutes before the machine burns out and leaves without telling me. Finally heard back that he'd gone off on another job, would have to finish tomorrow and didn't apologize for the inconvenience.

4. BF blows me off.
The next morning, didn't hear a peep, so I called I told them the water is draining somewhat. When they hear that, they refuse to go back and do a thorough jetting, saying "if it backs up again, just call us." Manager (David) hasn't returned my call.

If anyone from BF is reading this, I'm willing to pay $88 per your coupon and call a halt to this madness. You say you guarantee customer satisfaction, so please get in touch and, if you make good, I'll amend this review. Readers, if you don't see a revision from me, just a promise from BF, don't believe them!

Hi all!

This is a review commending my plumber, Dustin Sanders (Dusty) for his excellent work, punctuality, knowledge and friendly demeanor. He helped with a malfunctioning sump pump installed by a defunct plumbing company many years ago and won my loyalty for life! We have been working together for about 9 years now and I know just who to call when a problem crops up.

He is a distinct pleasure to work with and practices true transparency which can be rare in home repairs.

Give Ben Franklin a try and request Dusty, that's my advice!

I needed to have a faucet replaced in our 1/2 bath as it was leaking, so I called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. They assured me they could come out on Saturday between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM, which was convenient since it was the next day. I already had the necessary parts in the original packaging, so I was hopeful for a quick fix.

When technician Steven Merla arrived, he assessed the standalone sink and quoted a cost of $580. He mentioned that the sink would need to be removed from the wall and that the job was too big for him to handle. To my surprise, they needed to schedule another appointment later in the week to complete the work.

The main reason I chose Benjamin Franklin Plumbing was their availability on Saturday, but it turned out to be a waste of time. Although they waived the $99 fee for coming out and inspecting the sink, the service was far too expensive, and it was disappointing that they sent a technician who couldn't complete the job.

In the future, I'll be calling one of the many skilled, licensed plumbers in Novato who genuinely care about providing good service.

We had an emergency plumbing problem we need addressed ASAP. Called around to two local independents, neither answered. One had a message service on which I stated my needs. The other had a full voice-mail box. Getting desperate, I called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, one of those large, national franchise plumbing companies. I tend to shy away from those companies for various reasons but glad I decided to call. Not only did they answer the phone, but I had an estimator here within the hour. He offered me two options, one being considerably more expensive than the other, but of course, the more costly version is what I really did need. (Note: he would have been good with either one, but fully explained what the long term results would be). After A bit of discussion, he lowed the cost several hundred dollars and I gave him the go ahead. 8:30 the next morning they were here ready to go. 6 hours of work later everything is perfect, cleaned up, hole filled in, bricks replaced and a job very well done, even in blistering 105 degree heat! Can't even tell were they dug. Very happy with Benjamin Franklin Plumbers in Novato. Shout outs to Ray the foreman and Cho, the extremely hard working gentleman who did a remarkable and beautiful job!

We had a very random project that we needed done at our house and truth be told I pulled quotes a year ago and then kind of deprioritized the job until it became a problem. Then we found Dusty at Ben Franklin plumbing!

Working with Dusty was an absolute joy. He was super responsive, he gave us a great quote, and to top it all off, the end result was fantastic. The project that we had thought would take a very long time was done in a flash, and we felt really confident in the quality of his work.

It's been a few weeks since Dusty came in to save the day for our plumbing job and everything continues to work correctly and we are so pleased with how it all went. In the future when we're looking for plumbing services, Dusty with Benjamin Franklin plumbing is definitely at the top of our list!

! Stay Away !

This is the Big Box Chain of plumbers, all Marketing, no quality service or values.
I had a bathroom leak that resulted in a somewhat large puddle of water in my crawlspace under the house. I called out Ben Franklin & they were able to come out within a couple days.
With no visible leaks in the bathroom they crawled under the house & after a bit came back out stating that they were unable to actually get near the source due to a pool of standing water. That puddle would need to be removed before they could source the leak. They don't do water evacuation, but they would refer another company. Turns out it's their sister company.. They share employees, internal systems, & resources, that was NEVER shared. If you look through Yelp hard enough you can find the review I left them.. Their work was awful.. a common theme.

Back to my leak..

If they were unable to source the leak they would need to come back to quote, right? Wrong.
They quoted me a COMPLETE replacement of ALL pipes under my house because "being galvanized the leak could be coming from anywhere" & "Replacing everything would definitely fix the problem".
They provided "good, better, best" options that ranged from $4,500 to $9,000, "depending on how thorough of a job I wanted to do"...
It was like going to the hospital for stitches on your leg to be told that they would instead amputate & install prosthetics, even on the leg without a cut.. Lunacy.

I had another plumber come out. They found the problem in the wall behind the bathroom vanity.
I mention that because it's the funniest part of the story.. If I had done their $9,000 fix, it wouldn't have fixed the $500 repair..

A big shout out to Ben Franklin plumbing of Novato. Called Christmas Eve day with urgent need. Shocked that live person answered phone and technician came right out. Abel was terrific. Knowledgeable and efficient. Went above and beyond original request to get job done right. No extra fees. Reasonable cost. Thank you. My faith in service calls restored

This plumbing company is THE BEST!!!!
The two people I dealt with were SO PROFESSIONAL and FOLLOWED up with every appointment and detail. Cho Sherpa and Ang Ngrma Sherpa are dependable, honest and trustworthy.
Trust in them

Just had a visit from Ben Franklin plumbing for a tankless water heater check up. He found issue fast and had it fixed fast. Helped me with a clogged sink too.
Argyrios was professional and explained everything that he did.
Thanks for fast service

BFP did some work at our place a few months ago, then they advised on getting a hot water recirculating pump and all went well. Not long after, we had an issue with one of the faucet installs and Nick came right back out and made it right. I will continue to use them for future needs. Thank you!

They suck, 2 different guys been here twice, took 4 days to get a part and installed it incorrectly I guess. This is a hot water heater and still no hot water. Bought this top of line warranty and still can't get it right.