Gemini Enterprises

[redacted] Included in this email are the emails that Mr. [redacted] was send from me regarding his concerns, as you will see he has only told the side of the story that makes it appear that he wasn't given a choice to proceed with the inspection. Here is what I received from Mr. [redacted]; "You...

inspectors just came out to provide an estimate on a chimney cap replacement. They were here all of 15 minutes, for which I was charged $125. No where on your site or in my communications was there any indication that an estimate came with a fee. The other two companies I am getting estimates from clearly state free estimates. I hope you will consider a refund of this obvious underhanded ripoff. I would rather eat the unfair fee than give you any additional business and I would certainly recommend against your company for anyone who might be interested in your services. Please respond ASAP. " This is our first reply to him.[redacted], I have received and read your concerns about our inspection fee. I will now proceed to go over what happened at your home regarding the inspection fee. When I spoke with my Tech about it, he stated that he told you from the beginning that there was an inspection fee of $125.00 for the inspection for the leak that was somewhere about the chimney and that he would also look at the fireplace and chimney during his Level I Inspection of your fireplace and chimney, then that he would give you an estimate for the items that he found and you told him OK and to proceed on, which he did.  First he went on the roof to inspect the chimney for the leak and its other possible problems, he then came back into the house and preformed the Level I inspection on the interior of the fireplace and chimney. A Level I inspection is a visual inspection of a system and that inspection is defined in the NFPA 211 Codes for Fireplaces and Chimneys. He then proceed to go over with you what he found and then handed you the invoice for the inspection, for which he told you the cost before he started and you told him to proceed, then at that time is when you started the questioning of the fee, not in the beginning before he started the inspection. He then told you that he could sweep the chimney and that there would be no inspection fee as it would be credited to that work and you declined. You from the beginning could have said that you didn't want the services of the inspection but you didn't, you let him proceed then in the end stated you weren't told of the cost, when in fact he told of the charges before he started and you told him to proceed. You are correct, no where on our site does it state that there is a charge for estimates, as we don't do any estimates without first doing a Level I inspection of the system that we are looking at to make sure that there is nothing else wrong with that system, nor did you ask if there was a charge when you contacted us, but you were told when the Tech arrived and you could have refused to do so then, but you didn't say anything about it until he had completed the inspection and then gave you the estimate after he had finished his inspection. He also told you that the fee would be credited to the work when the work was performed. You state that this was an underhanded rip off, how could that be when you were told by the Tech before he stated to do anything that there was a $125.00 inspection fee? It was your choice to let him proceed with the inspection and you told him to proceed. Our company spends a lot of money educating our employees so that they can better understand what they are inspecting and doing when they are working on chimneys and fireplaces. I don't know who the other two companies are that are going about giving estimates for free, but I can be fairly sure that their employees are not CSIA Certified or have the credentials that ours do. Nothing could be worse than to repair the top part of a chimney for a water leaking problem in the Spring and then find out in the Fall when you went to use the fireplace that it was rusted out and that the repairs that were made were useless because now the house has burned down because the guy giving a free estimate without first doing a Level I inspection didn't do a complete job before hand because he was not trained to do so.  
[redacted]Hudson Chimney Inc.Middleburg, FL###-###-#### Office###-###-#### Fax[redacted]@aol.comHudsonChimney.com His reply to my responce. [redacted], My Tech told me what he told you when he first arrived and he does this every time that there is nothing written on his work order to say other wise. He has never lied to me before and I have no reason to believe other wise now. I will state again that if you elect to do the work that you were given the proposal to do you will be credited the cost of that inspection fee towards that cost of the work to be done. [redacted] His reply. This is [redacted]. Check my original contact with you. I said I would be available after1pm. Your tech contacted me at 12:21 to say they were on their way. I was not at home. I arrived at 12:45 or 12:50, and the had already done the rooftop inspection and were placing the ladders back on the truck. He obviously could not have informed me of the fee "when he first arrived" because I was not there. I deserve an explanation and a refund. [redacted] As you should be able to see here Mr. [redacted] could have stopped our Tech from going any further with the inspection when he arrived, but when he was told the was a fee and he allowed the Tech to enter into his home he acknowledged that he understood that there was a fee to continue. Then after he had completed his inspection and was told the price to do the repairs he bucked the inspection fee because he didn't like the cost he was given for the repairs. If you have any further questions about my reply to his complaint please feel free to contact my by email of phone.   [redacted]Hudson Chimney Inc.2828 Windemere CourtMiddleburg, FL 32068###-###-#### Office###-###-#### Fax[redacted]@aol.comHudsonChimney.com