My husband hired this company to do fix our 4 yr old Bradford White water heating equipment that came brand new with our house. The equipment suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason, and Benjamin Franklin is one of the licensed plumber authorized by Bradford White for our area. When my husband spoke to the representative handling the call, they said that they would charge some $70 to diagnose the problem.
When the plumber actually showed up, he explained to my husband over the phone that the $70 fee was for them to actually showed up on the house, admired the broken water heating equipment. If they actually had to take out the tools to troubleshoot, then it would have been another some $150.in addition to that, if they have to actually fix/install parts warranted by Bradford White, it would have been another some $200, a cost which was not explained the first time around they came to the house or over the phone.
So at that point, we have settled on the $70 plus the $150 fees, just for the plumber to show up in our house in front of me that day. The plumber left and stated that he would come back the next day to further troubleshoot because he didn't have the right gadget. When he returned the next day with the right gadget, he said that he couldn't diagnose the problem and not sure what was wrong with the equipment.
Nevertheless, he ordered what he thought was the broken part from Bradford White, left and never to be heard again until 3 weeks later when they decided to "settle our account" vis a vis collect the money. Mind you, this was late in October where the temperature of the Northeast was already around 30-40 degrees. Thankfully, the equipment miraculously worked after he left (only to die 3 months later with the same symptoms yet again, but that's another story).
When we showed up at their store to settle the account, we were unpleasantly surprised with additional charges such as environmental fee (around $7.50) and something that I don't remember what but seems to be transportation/gasoline reimbursement fee (around $20). It was about 5 miles from their store to our house, however, this was not the point. What the heck???
All these fees yet they can't even diagnose the problem correctly. They didn't know for sure what the problem was, however, it seemed that their plumber must have fixed it because it was working again out of the blue. So they claimed... We left the office after paying the $200 something (oh they charge taxes too!), only to have to call them back again 3 months later to fix the same problem. This time they CLAIMED that this was not the same problem, and they knew exactly what's wrong.
Right off the bat, the same dance for $200 something just for them to show up at the door without fixing/installing any parts by Bradford White. After doing whatever that they needed to do, they handed over a bill in excess of $700 and was telling us that there's still $200 fee needed to install another part that Bradford White would be sending on the next business day.
At that point, my husband lost it, and as a result they "comp"-ed us on that $200 installation/fixing fee. I asked them if the equipment miraculously broke down again in 3 months, whether they would come and warranty their job. Guess what's the answer is? NO, and I would assume that to get them down to our house would cost at the minimum $200 fee, which does NOT guarantee that they would be able to a). Diagnose the issue, b). Fix it, c). Provide guarantee on their workmanship!
Come on. The equipment broke down again within 3 months after the initial/first call with a innocent statement that they didn't know what happened the first time around, and they suddenly knew the second time around. And to add insult to injury, we received a $20 coupon for the next service on our SECOND CALL!!! Is this a premeditated crime? I understand that technicians should be comped/paid for spending their time to troubleshoot... But $200 somethingjust to walk in through the door PLUS the environment fee (we didn't even attempt to throw anything hazardous out!)
PLUS the gasoline/transportation fee. Please don't confuse quality with the results. RIPOFF doesn't even begin to cover. Have I had more time to argue and follow up with BBB, I would have... I just don't have the time nor the patience to argue back and forth as I'm currently in my third trimester. My health is more important to me. I'm just hoping that what goes around, comes around.
For those who're thinking of hiring Benjamin Franklin, please look into somewhere else first. Though they all behave like wolves whenever they smell blood, and certainly can smell desperation of the lacking or excess water in your home through the phone!!!
Just want to educate others of our experience.
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