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... read full review »