Blaine E. Miller, Inc.

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Again, this response is a pathetic attempt to excuse their horrendous business practice
My complaint from the beginning has been their demand of final payment for incomplete workPlease note from THEIR exhibit "if so new mantel needs to be purchased will install customer supplied tile around opening"
This tile was installed on June 5thAlso note in THIER exhibit the holes in the walls they left at the base, I also have photos of the sides of the installed mantel where gaps were left and large spackle patches above the mantelHowever THEY seem to be under SOME impression that this is satisfactory completed work
When my mother gave them the check I did leave, again with past experience assuming the job would not be complete, and certain they would again demand final paymentPlease note THEIR exhibit I documented and acknowledge in the memo the remaining balance of (note: I did not try "to pay (an insufficient amount) for the balance with a personal check (see exhibits 4-6)"
The installer told my mother this was not enough for the final balance, and that he could not leave until it was paidThat is when she called me on my work number as well as my cell numberBecause I was unable to answer immediately, my mother, not knowing what else to do, that is when she surrendered her credit cardI was able to call her cell phone back and the installer was STILL there on site, so I spoke to him personally, from HER phone and told him some of the issues that he was unaware of with the demands of final payment from his companyI told him under NO circumstance was her credit card to be chargedHe assured me it would NOT be, and that since HE was the owners brother in law he would be sure to let the owner know of these issuesHe let me know that I should expect to hear from the ownerdays later I found they had placed the charges on her credit cardThis is when I contacted them and started demanding they reverse the unauthorized charge
As for their claims about the insurance paying them, it was NEVER, EVER stated that the insurance company would be paying themThat is just an outright LIEI did let them know that this was an insurance claim, as I would have to get approval from my insurance company to confirm coverage of the addition on the mantelWhen I spoke to Chris regarding this (who had a copy of the insurance claim from day 1) he said that he would send the insurance the estimate for the mantelWhen I learned that he did not do as he said, I then sent them a check for the deposit on the mantel and sent the invoice to my insurance company myselfDocumenting this on THEIR exhibit
From the beginning, my complaint has simply been Fireplace and Chimney Authority DEMANDING final payment on incomplete work(not finished to 3rd coat, surround tile not even touched)
Their responses to me and Revdex.com have been excuse after excuse, and never fully acknowledging my complaint, that the work order they were demanding final payment on was never complete
Notice in their rebuttal to Revdex.com on 5/7/"In early April , the customer finally contacted me and advised me that we only finished the wall to the 1st coat of taping, which I was never made aware of." AS IF this is my fault that he did not know what his installers had completedI was never aware that I was to inform him of the progress of his employee's workHe (Chris) even acknowledges his installer came back and did nothing (beyond the existing 1st coat) because we paintedThis was done simply due to the ongoing delay to make the wall look a little more presentable in the duration *please see attached photo of exposed drywallChris did state that they could not do anything further until the mantel came in, which I acknowledged and he said they wanted final payment because they completed the first work order and all further work was on the second work orderNote THIER exhibit 3, Product Mantel, Installation of MantelAgain, my complaint is/was that the second work order was just that, the mantelThe first work order THIER exhibit contained the documentation under INSTALLATION "finish to 3rd coat, then prime and paint" and "install customer supplied tile around opening" Since these installation items were far from complete, I did not understand their DEMAND of final payment
Attached you will see a picture of my original fireplace, as well as a picture of their "complete" work, with the holes in the wall at the baseThe photo of the new fireplace with just exposed drywall is when they first started demanding FINAL paymentNote the white spots above the finished mantel as well, since they never did prime nor paintThis part is not shown in their exhibit Also attached is the email communication I had with the owner Adam, as well as a copy of the original estimate I requested they honor
I did request and advise that I felt they should honor their first estimate, as the only noted difference between the two is that they would finish to "first coat" which they did (and they acknowledge in their rebuttal) , vs "Finish to 3rd coat, prime and paint" which they did NOT doThis was done by my sister!
As for their comment of the "last ditch effort to try and satisfy the customer, we offered her a small discount ($200.00) for the initial confusion on the progress of the workThis would be applied when we credited her mother, and received a payment directly for herShe refused and told us she "wasn't going to bend over and take it" from usAt this point it was clear there was no reasoning with her.", Please note in my last email communication with Adam and Chris, I quote my simple comment and plea to them was "Please place yourself in my place as the consumer and ask what you would do??? I am quite certain that your answer would not be anywhere in the range of bending over and taking it!!" Hmmm, which side is "no reasoning" with
Bottom line here in summary is that even in their response to Revdex.com, they have twisted, and outright lied in their responsesI too have full documentation, copies of all email communications, work orders, invoices, and photos every step of the way
The evidence itself is presented in THIER own exhibits
This has never been an issue of acknowledgement of work, nor the time line, as pathetic and frustrating as even that has beenPlain and simple, it has been this company, Fireplace and Chimney Authority demanding final payment for incomplete workTheir lies, excuses and pathetic business practices are unbelievable as well as inexcusable
Also, please note, the issues I have had with Fireplace and Chimney Authority as well as charging my mother's (Lillian ***) credit card wrongfully, has been reported and documentd to YELP review, the Credit Card company as well as Lisa ***
Illinois Attorney General Office
I would appreciate a resolution via a documented response from this company, Fireplace and Chimney Authority that they have reversed the erroneous charges to the credit card, as well as acknowledgement that they will honor the first work order estimate and pricing (work that they did complete) and I will be more than happy to send them certified funds to document the conclusion of this messAt no time have I refused to pay them for COMPLETED work, and only recently due to this 'fiasco' have I requested that they honor the first estimate and I would be happy to pay them IN FULL
***

We apologize for the delay in response. We stand by our first response. We completed all the work as contracted, and made several trips to the home to address any issues brought up by the customer. Our installers confirm the wall was finished to the 3rd coat, and if for some reason it was not, it should have been brought to their attention on one of the no charge visits to the home AFTER the work was completed. We will be more than happy to refund the customer's mother's credit card for the sake of her accounting, but the balance will be due as contracted from the customer. It should be noted that the customer's mother authorized the balance to be charged to her credit card. We are not willing to refund money or reverse charges after a job was completed when all contracted work was performed in a quality fashion. If there is unfinished work PLEASE allow us to revisit the job site. However, the wall and all other work is finished, and I do not believe it was done by anybody but our install crew, nor do I have any evidence suggesting otherwise. We have made every reasonable effort to satisfy this customer.

Contact Name and Title: [redacted] - Sales
Contact Phone: [redacted]
Contact Email: [redacted]@fireplaceandchimneyauthority.com
We performed the initial work(removal of old fireplace & installation of new fireplace and venting due to storm damage) with intention to finish the new drywall we...

installed completely all the way up to priming and painting, as well as re-install the customer's existing mantel. Towards the end of day 2 , the customer advised me that the insurance company would be covering a new mantel as well, so at that point the area around the fireplace would be left undone, but to be finished when the new mantel would be installed. I advised the customer that since the mantel is a special order item , that I could not place the order until I receive a 1/2 deposit. I received a check for 1/2 that was dated March 16th on approximately April 1st, so that's when I was able to get the mantel order placed. Mantel's can typically take 3-5 weeks to get, so the delay on the deposit check really cost a lot of time. Since the scope of the job changed while we were doing the work, leaving the area unfinished was as far as we could go in regards to finishing the job. I tried to contact the customer throughout February and March to collect the balance on the replacement part of the job, but we were unsuccessful . In early April , the customer finally contacted me and advised me that we only finished the wall to the 1st coat of taping, which I was never made aware of. So at this time, I worked with the customer in a very amicable manner to set up a date to finish(April 22nd), with the understanding that we may not have the mantel ready , which means that we could only complete the fireplace installation, and collect the final payment for that, an agreement with which the customer agreed to. At the end of my worker's day on April 22nd, I noticed that my installer that was sent to finish did not collect the balance. I quickly called the customer to find out why, and she said my installer was there for 20 minutes, which is actually true. I then asked him why he was there for so little time, and he told me that there really was nothing to do , since she had someone else paint the wall. I then called her back, and advised her that we've gone as far as we could without the new mantel, and then she turned hostile when I simply asked for the balance on the fireplace portion of the job. I hadn't contacted her until May 7th at around 3:30 p.m. , when she e-mailed me to get an update on the mantel, in which I replied that it will be delivered to us the middle of next week, and I let her know that we could complete everything either Thursday , May 14th, or Friday , May 15th. I also asked her to clarify which stain color she wanted, and to both of these inquiries she has yet to respond(Thursday May 7th ,5:05 p.m.)

Contact Name and Title: [redacted] - Sales
Contact Phone: [redacted]
Contact Email: [redacted]@fireplaceandchimneyauthority.com
We performed the initial work(removal of old fireplace & installation of new fireplace and venting due to storm damage) with intention to finish the...

new drywall we installed completely all the way up to priming and painting, as well as re-install the customer's existing mantel. Towards the end of day 2 , the customer advised me that the insurance company would be covering a new mantel as well, so at that point the area around the fireplace would be left undone, but to be finished when the new mantel would be installed. I advised the customer that since the mantel is a special order item , that I could not place the order until I receive a 1/2 deposit. I received a check for 1/2 that was dated March 16th on approximately April 1st, so that's when I was able to get the mantel order placed. Mantel's can typically take 3-5 weeks to get, so the delay on the deposit check really cost a lot of time. Since the scope of the job changed while we were doing the work, leaving the area unfinished was as far as we could go in regards to finishing the job. I tried to contact the customer throughout February and March to collect the balance on the replacement part of the job, but we were unsuccessful . In early April , the customer finally contacted me and advised me that we only finished the wall to the 1st coat of taping, which I was never made aware of. So at this time, I worked with the customer in a very amicable manner to set up a date to finish(April 22nd), with the understanding that we may not have the mantel ready , which means that we could only complete the fireplace installation, and collect the final payment for that, an agreement with which the customer agreed to. At the end of my worker's day on April 22nd, I noticed that my installer that was sent to finish did not collect the balance. I quickly called the customer to find out why, and she said my installer was there for 20 minutes, which is actually true. I then asked him why he was there for so little time, and he told me that there really was nothing to do , since she had someone else paint the wall. I then called her back, and advised her that we've gone as far as we could without the new mantel, and then she turned hostile when I simply asked for the balance on the fireplace portion of the job. I hadn't contacted her until May 7th at around 3:30 p.m. , when she e-mailed me to get an update on the mantel, in which I replied that it will be delivered to us the middle of next week, and I let her know that we could complete everything either Thursday , May 14th, or Friday , May 15th. I also asked her to clarify which stain color she wanted, and to both of these inquiries she has yet to respond(Thursday May 7th ,5:05 p.m.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/01) */
It is regrettable that the customer feel that he was misinformed. However, we have interviewed each of the individuals involved and have come to the conclusion that there has been a great deal of confusion and/or misunderstanding with this...

situation.
When our inspector, Daniel, arrived at the customer's home in Downers Grove, he was there initially to determine if the customer's chimney could be repaired. After a thorough inspection, Daniel informed the customer that the top 29 rows of the fireplace chimney would have to be removed and replaced due to the poor condition.
Prior to completing the quote for the work, the customer stated that the chimney was no longer being used and could we cap it off at the roof line to save money. Although Daniel did state that we could do that, he also informed the customer that it would not be the best option. However, in an effort to assist the customer in his project, Daniel agreed to quote for the removal of the existing chimney down to the point of no damage (which was approximately 4 courses under the roof line) and to rebuild it to the roof line and cap the unused chimney. During this time, the customer continued to ask Daniel questions regarding brick and motor color matching as well as discussing the reduced height.
When Daniel completed his estimate, he reviewed the work to be done and the cost with the customer. At that time, the customer choose not to do the work. The customer did not sign the estimate nor did the customer provide the 50% down payment for the work as explained and quoted.
The quote left with the customer was for the verbally agreed upon work entailing the removal to under the roof line of the damaged chimney and replacement to the roof line and capping the chimney for non-use.
When the customer called to schedule the job, the customer discussed the complete removal and rebuild of the entire chimney which caused some confusion to the scheduler based on his copy of the estimate cost.
To alleviate the confusion, when Daniel returned to the office, he called the customer to discuss the project and the quote. He reminded the customer of the customer conversation and that the quote was for the lowered chimney based on the customer's desire to save money.
The general manager of our Elmhurst store (Scott [redacted]) was consulted on what would be a price to be offered at basically our cost. The customer were informed that we would complete the full chimney at a cost of $1850.00. At which point the customer asked for additional discounts to "meet in the middle".

We value our relationship with our customers above all else. We believe we were more than fair in the revised quote to change the job to the customer new specification. Discounting the job to our cost in an effort to alleviate any frustration the customer may have experienced from the confusion, seemed to be a fair and equitable solution. The job itself should be at least an additional $500-$600 dollars. The customer's willingness to "meet in middle" seems to indicate his understanding that the original quote for $1200.00 was not for the job as he has described but for the reduced height chimney.
Although the customer originally decided not to accept the re-quote. We will stand by it. If the customer chooses to have the original work done (tear down damaged and rebuild to roof line) or have the re-quote work done (tear down damaged and rebuild to original height), we will stand by either quote.
If the customer has any questions, please feel free to call our office and speak with our general manager, Scott [redacted], at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/10/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I don't agree with what was stated. It was clearly understood that this was a chimney rebuild. However, I choose to move on and not hold any thing against the estimator.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/01) */
It is regrettable that the customer feel that he was misinformed. However, we have interviewed each of the individuals involved and have come to the conclusion that there has been a great deal of confusion and/or misunderstanding with...

this situation.
When our inspector, Daniel, arrived at the customer's home in Downers Grove, he was there initially to determine if the customer's chimney could be repaired. After a thorough inspection, Daniel informed the customer that the top 29 rows of the fireplace chimney would have to be removed and replaced due to the poor condition.
Prior to completing the quote for the work, the customer stated that the chimney was no longer being used and could we cap it off at the roof line to save money. Although Daniel did state that we could do that, he also informed the customer that it would not be the best option. However, in an effort to assist the customer in his project, Daniel agreed to quote for the removal of the existing chimney down to the point of no damage (which was approximately 4 courses under the roof line) and to rebuild it to the roof line and cap the unused chimney. During this time, the customer continued to ask Daniel questions regarding brick and motor color matching as well as discussing the reduced height.
When Daniel completed his estimate, he reviewed the work to be done and the cost with the customer. At that time, the customer choose not to do the work. The customer did not sign the estimate nor did the customer provide the 50% down payment for the work as explained and quoted.
The quote left with the customer was for the verbally agreed upon work entailing the removal to under the roof line of the damaged chimney and replacement to the roof line and capping the chimney for non-use.
When the customer called to schedule the job, the customer discussed the complete removal and rebuild of the entire chimney which caused some confusion to the scheduler based on his copy of the estimate cost.
To alleviate the confusion, when Daniel returned to the office, he called the customer to discuss the project and the quote. He reminded the customer of the customer conversation and that the quote was for the lowered chimney based on the customer's desire to save money.
The general manager of our Elmhurst store (Scott [redacted]) was consulted on what would be a price to be offered at basically our cost. The customer were informed that we would complete the full chimney at a cost of $1850.00. At which point the customer asked for additional discounts to "meet in the middle".

We value our relationship with our customers above all else. We believe we were more than fair in the revised quote to change the job to the customer new specification. Discounting the job to our cost in an effort to alleviate any frustration the customer may have experienced from the confusion, seemed to be a fair and equitable solution. The job itself should be at least an additional $500-$600 dollars. The customer's willingness to "meet in middle" seems to indicate his understanding that the original quote for $1200.00 was not for the job as he has described but for the reduced height chimney.
Although the customer originally decided not to accept the re-quote. We will stand by it. If the customer chooses to have the original work done (tear down damaged and rebuild to roof line) or have the re-quote work done (tear down damaged and rebuild to original height), we will stand by either quote.
If the customer has any questions, please feel free to call our office and speak with our general manager, Scott [redacted], at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/10/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I don't agree with what was stated. It was clearly understood that this was a chimney rebuild. However, I choose to move on and not hold any thing against the estimator.