A burst supply pipe spraying water across a laundry room floor

Independent review

Updated 25 September 2026 · 17 sources · not paid by Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing review: flat prices and an on-time promise, with a weak complaint record

A fair look at the franchise known as the punctual plumber, written for the Florida homeowner with a leak who is deciding who to call.

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Call Benjamin Franklin Plumbing if

Water is leaking now and you need someone tonight.
You want a firm job price, not an hourly bill.
Punctuality matters and you want the on-time promise honored.

Compare first if

You are told you need a repipe or major work.
A trip charge or diagnostic fee was not explained on the phone.
The quote feels high. A second licensed plumber costs one call.

Compare with a licensed local company

Pick your area and see three local plumbers next to Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. None of them pay us to be here.

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Our verdict. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is a workable call for an urgent leak in the Florida cities it serves. It answers 24/7, prices by the job rather than by the hour, and pays you $5 a minute if the plumber is late, up to $300. The weak spot is the record: its main Florida operator's BBB file shows 37 complaints in three years, and its public review averages are below 2 of 5, mostly over high prices and upselling. Ask about the trip charge before anyone comes, and get a second written quote for anything beyond a simple repair.

At a glance

13Florida locations on its own list

24/7Emergency line, per its site

$89Trip charge shown on one location's page

37BBB complaints in 3 years, Bradenton office

Where it is strong

Open 24/7 for plumbing emergencies, by its own site.
Prices by the job, with a firm quote before work, so you are not paying an open-ended hourly rate.
A written punctuality promise: $5 for each minute late, up to $300.
Thirteen Florida locations from Pensacola to Miami, and leak detection is on the Tampa office's service list.

Where to be careful

At least one location lists an $89 trip charge and after-hours fees, and the brand does not publish them nationally.
The Bradenton office's BBB file shows 37 complaints in three years, 30 about service or repair, and an average of 1.14 of 5 across 14 reviews.
Low national review averages: 1.9 of 5 on ConsumerAffairs and 1.7 of 5 on Trustpilot, mostly over prices and upselling.
Every location is independently owned, and one company runs most of the Florida offices, so its practices shape most Florida jobs.

How we reviewed Benjamin Franklin Plumbing: research only, nobody here has hired them, 17 public sources. Read the method

We have not hired Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, and nobody at BestHonestPro has. This review is research: the brand's own website, its Florida location and pricing pages, its franchise site, its parent company's acquisition announcement, franchise industry data, the Better Business Bureau file for its Bradenton office, two consumer review sites, two published cost guides and a news report on a court case. We read patterns across complaints rather than quoting single angry customers, and we left out anything we could not trace to a source.

We have not called Benjamin Franklin Plumbing for a test quote yet. When we do, what we asked and what they said will be added here with the date.

Last checked 25 September 2026. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is not affiliated with BestHonestPro, has not paid us, and did not see this page before it went up. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is a trademark of its owner and is used here only to name the company.

What Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing was founded in 2001 and is a franchise. Its parent is Authority Brands, based in Columbia, Maryland, which bought it in 2019 from Direct Energy along with Mister Sparky and One Hour Heating and Air. Authority Brands was owned by funds advised by Apax Partners at the time of that deal.

Franchise Times counts 363 units in 2025: 353 franchised and 10 company-owned, with estimated sales of $240 million.

The fact that matters most to you: the brand says each location is independently owned and operated. Prices, fees and follow-up depend on the local owner.

Source: Authority Brands press release, 21 Feb 2019; Benjamin Franklin Plumbing franchise site; Franchise Times Top 400, 2025; Benjamin Franklin Plumbing home page.

What Benjamin Franklin Plumbing charges

The brand does not publish a national price list, and we found no cost guide that reports its prices. Its locations price by the job. One location's pricing page says it gives a firm quote on the cost of repairs up front, so you never pay an hourly rate. The figures below are what cost guides report for any plumber, so you can tell whether a quote is in the normal range.

Typical plumber prices, national cost guides (not Benjamin Franklin's own)

Drain cleaning, Angi 2026

$147 to $352

Leak repair, HomeGuide

$150 to $850

Burst pipe repair, HomeGuide

$400 to $2,000

Drain cleaning	$147 to $352, average $246 (Angi, Aug 2026)
Leak repair	$150 to $850 (HomeGuide)
Burst pipe repair	$400 to $2,000 (HomeGuide)
Service call	$50 to $200 (HomeGuide)
Trip charge, one location	$89, waived for club members (Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Rogers)

Source: Angi, drain cleaning cost (updated 3 Aug 2026); HomeGuide, plumber cost; Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Wichita, pricing page; Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Rogers, club membership page.

Fees to ask about. The Rogers location sells a club membership at $17.99 a month that makes its $89 trip charge free and removes after-hours fees. That tells you trip charges and after-hours fees exist at least there. A Bradenton reviewer on the BBB also describes an $89 service fee. Ask the Florida office you call for its trip charge and night rate before anyone drives out. For what finding a hidden leak usually costs, see our leak detection cost guide.

Source: Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Rogers, club membership page; BBB, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing (Bradenton), customer reviews.

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Florida

The brand's Florida page lists 13 locations: Bradenton, South Daytona, Fort Myers, Gulf Breeze, North Orlando (Lake Mary), Lakeland, Clearwater (Largo), Melbourne, Miami-Dade, Niceville, Orlando, Port St. Lucie and Tampa. There is no Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach location on that list.

Most Florida offices are run by one franchise company, ServiceMinds LLC. Its own site lists Tampa, Daytona, Niceville, Gulf Breeze, Lakeland, Orlando, Clearwater, Miami, Bradenton, Melbourne and Gainesville, and it also runs Mister Sparky and One Hour offices. The Tampa page and the Bradenton BBB file show the same plumbing licence, CFC1429175. We have not yet checked it with the Florida DBPR, so treat it as shown, not verified.

Source: Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Florida locations; Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Tampa; ServiceMinds Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Florida; BBB, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing (Bradenton).

The complaint record, read fairly

The BBB grades the Bradenton office, run by ServiceMinds LLC, A+. That grade mostly reflects how complaints get answered. The same file shows 37 complaints in three years, 30 of them about service or repair, and an average of 1.14 of 5 across 14 customer reviews. Its accreditation showed inconsistently when checked: the profile listed accreditation dated September 2026, while the complaints page said not accredited.

BBB grade, Bradenton office	A+ (accreditation shown inconsistently)
BBB complaints, 3 years	37 (30 service or repair, 14 closed in the last 12 months)
BBB customer review average	1.14 of 5 (14 reviews)
ConsumerAffairs average	1.9 of 5 (77 reviews, 72% one star)
Trustpilot average	1.7 of 5 (18 reviews, profile unclaimed)

Source: BBB, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing (Bradenton), profile, complaints and customer reviews; ConsumerAffairs; Trustpilot. Checked 25 Sep 2026.

Review sites draw unhappy customers more than happy ones, so every brand this size scores low there. The pattern is still useful. The repeated complaints are about high prices for small jobs, work recommended that the customer later felt was not needed, fees they thought were waived, and slow answers from managers. The repeated praise is about skilled, polite technicians and fast emergency visits.

In court.

2012
In a case reported by Seattle's KOMO News, a homeowner wins against a local Benjamin Franklin franchise over a bill of about $7,000 for sewer work. She won at arbitration, in superior court in 2010, and at the state Court of Appeals in August 2012, with more than $25,000 in fees and costs awarded.
2026
No Florida Attorney General action found as of this review.

Source: KOMO News, local woman wins round 3 in legal battle with plumbing company.

Who it suits, and who should compare

A good fit: an active leak or a burst pipe in a Florida city it serves, when you want someone tonight, a firm job price and an on-time promise you can hold them to.

Get a second quote: any recommendation to repipe, replace a water heater or do major drain or sewer work, and any job where the price feels high for the time involved. Those are where the complaints cluster. See what repiping costs and burst pipes.

What to ask before you say yes

Ask these on the phone, in this order, and ask the same questions of whoever you compare them with. The spread in the answers tells you more than the spread in the prices.

Is this location run by ServiceMinds or another owner?
Is there a trip charge or diagnostic fee, and is there an after-hours charge tonight?
Will I get a firm written price before any work starts, and what do I owe if I say no?
What is your Florida plumbing licence number (it starts with CFC)? Check it free on the DBPR site.
What does your satisfaction guarantee cover, for how long, and can I have it in writing?
If you recommend a repipe or a new water heater, can I see the leak test or the failed part first?
Is a club membership required to get this price, and can I cancel it?

Local alternatives in Florida

We list local plumbers and leak specialists for eight Florida metros, each checked against the state licence register where a number was available. Call one alongside Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and ask both the same questions.

No company pays to be listed on those pages or to rank higher. Each listing links to its own licence check and sources.

Right of reply

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, or the owner of any Benjamin Franklin Plumbing location, can correct a fact on this page. Email [email protected] with the fact and a source. We check it and publish the correction here with its date.

Where this comes from

Every figure above is published by the organisation named beside it. Nothing on this page is our own estimate, and where sources disagree we show both.

Show all 17 sources