Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

If you are looking for an honest plumber, talk to Mike Jones at Ben Franklin in Bakersfield. You wont get it for free but you will get quality at an honest price and no upsell. Call Mike Jones… You wont be sorry!

Horrible. I called and set up an appointment and was told it was going to be $ 97.00. Failed to mention the $ 100 per hour additional fee. I got charged even though all the service I got was an, «I’m not sure if the pipe is leaking or not», I don’t think so. Add on the choice four letter work (****ing) he used to describe how hot my attic was. I did get asked if some one could come back and quote be quote me on updating ALL my pipes to copper. Well surprise surprise! No phone call.

Having used this Ben Franklin Plumbing location before, there was no question who I called when I needed to get a plummer to come out and inspect a leak in my ceiling. Called and spoke to Christie in the office around 10:00 am, and had an appointment scheduled for 1:00 pm, that same day. Mike came out and diagnosed the problem within a few minutes. Mike is extremely professional and knoweldgeable, and was very patient in explaining the problem and proposed solution to me in a way in which I understood. He also offered a suggestion for follow-​up work that he noticed needed attention while fixing my pipe and condenser unit. I am 100% confident in the work that was performed and would absolutely recommend Mike and his team. Also notable: the staff at Ben Franklin show up every time neat, pressed, clean and ready to work! Nothing less than five stars for this business.

I purchased a coupon on groupon, and called last week to make an appointment. I was very flexible, but the soonest they could send someone was Saturday Morning (two-​three days later). The man was very polite, but quickly told us that he could NOT guarantee his work because we have an old house and the plumbing is unpredictable. Then it took him a while to figure out where to snake the drain, and he had to try multiple times because again (our house is just sooo old)… ultimately it got done, but my wife and I felt belittled for not living in a «new home». Then when we proceeded to tell him we had a groupon coupon… he was confused (I had stated this in the email and phone call when making an appointment). He had to make a bunch of calls before honoring it. The costs were $ 175.00 and we have a $ 250.00 voucher, but then he tells us we need to pay an additional $ 50.00 service fee for him coming out and we can’t use our voucher? We reluctantly paid, but it was honestly very unprofessional that this was not laid out for us ahead of time. It says you have to pay a service fee if you live more than 40 miles from 93 313 (we do not). I feel taken advantage of, and will never use these services ever again. Not having my coupon honored and having to pay more money out of pocket was the breaking point for me.

I had a pretty nasty clog in the main drain that I couldn’t clear out myself. First I called Bakersfield Plumbing but they didn’t answer. I then tried Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and they sent out someone the next day. They could’ve sent someone out the same day but it wasn’t an emergency so I held them off. Manny was the plumber that came. He was on time and professional. He was able to clear the drain after an hour and answered all my questions. He was even able to find an additional clean out on the main drain that I never noticed before. It cost me $ 174 to fix the problem which is about what I was expecting. What I really appreciated was a few hours after Manny left the folks at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing called to follow up with me and make sure I was satisfied. I’ll definitely be using these guys again when I get a water softener for the house soon.

We called today about a leak around our water heater. We were told they would be out anywhere from 2−4pm. To our surprise the worker arrived early. He got here at 1:30pm and he was very nice. He found a couple other issues (we have an older house) he fixed everything within a reasonable time frame. He was very professional and personable. He did a great job and we will definitely be calling again for future piping problems that may arise.

The service pro who came worked efficiently and fixed the problem, however, I believe the cost of the repair was exorbitant. I would have done more research had the repair I needed not required emergency repair, but basically I was charged $ 724.00 (the cost was disclosed to me before any work was done), for a job that needed at max $ 100.00 worth of parts, and took 1.5 hours to complete. What’s worse is I explained before the repair was done that I would have to go through a home warranty company, and so I had to be able to justify the repair to them to get reimbursement, and the warranty company’s research (and my own follow up research) showed that the repair should have been much much less.
The breakdown was told to me by Ben Franklin plumbing as follows: $ 199.00 after hours dispatch fee, and $ 525.00 for the parts and installation (for a washing machine box (faucet fixture designed for washing machine lines)). I probably could have negotiated the cost, but the fact that it was an emergency and it was getting late made me just want to get my plumbing fixed. I would have recommended your company (and used your services for future repairs) if the repair had cost a total of $ 400.00, because that is reasonable ($ 100 for parts and $ 300 for dispatch and 1.5 hours of work is reasonable). I recommend that you lower your rates in order to better satisfy your customers and expand your client base, unless it is so big already that return customers and word of mouth don’t make a difference.

The staff at this plumbing company are polite, prompt, and are able to explain what they are quoting on and what they are doing in a wonderful and simple way that doesn’t condescend and doesn’t overwhelm.
Our plumber, Manny, was thoughtful, offered options and followed through when the quote was approved. He made sure that everything was to our satisfaction and I would recommend him and the company to anyone and everyone here.
Our water pressure and the new regulator have made a world of difference.
Thank you Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Manny Garcia, our plumber!