What answering methods are prohibited for a Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Franchised Business?
Benjamin_Franklin_Plumbing Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
(7) All telephone calls to the Franchised Business must be answered by a "live" voice. You cannot have calls answered by answering machines, voicemail, or digital assistants. We may require or prohibit forwarding calls to mobile phones. Beginning on the Original Opening Date and continuing for 36 months thereafter (the "Initial 3-Year Period"), you are required to use a designated call center (the "Call Center") for incoming overflow, after hours, and weekend calls through our designated vendor, currently Call Point. If your customer conversion rate falls below seventy percent (70%) in the Initial 3 Year Period, we may require that you use Call Point, or another designated vendor as your primary answering service to meet the "live" voice requirement. You will pay all fees directly to Call Point. As of the date of this disclosure document, the Call Center Fee is as shown in the table.
Source: Item 6 — OTHER FEES (FDD pages 18–27)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Benjamin Franklin Plumbing's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, all telephone calls to the franchised business must be answered by a live person. Franchisees are prohibited from using answering machines, voicemail, or digital assistants to answer calls.
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing may also require or prohibit forwarding calls to mobile phones. For the first 36 months after the original opening date (the "Initial 3-Year Period"), franchisees must use a designated call center for incoming overflow, after-hours, and weekend calls through a vendor currently named Call Point.
If a franchisee's customer conversion rate falls below 70% during the Initial 3-Year Period, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing may require the franchisee to use Call Point or another designated vendor as their primary answering service to meet the live voice requirement. The franchisee is responsible for paying all fees directly to Call Point.