Guaranteed Home Improvement

Review: A representative of Guaranteed Home Improvement called my home offering to clean my chimney at a great price. I asked whether they were located in Long Island and was told no, that their business is strictly located to the Westchester and Connecticut area. I was told that an individual would come out to inspect the chimney and flues and should I decide to go with them, I would be charged a price of $210. Since this is a comparable price to what I've paid in the past and since I felt I would not be committed to the cleaning upon the inspection I agreed.

On September **, 2015 two employees came to my home. I showed them the chimneys and the individual said he would inspect them and take pictures. After a brief inspection I was shown pictures and given an explanation of the condition of my flues. The individual then said that they would be cleaning the flues at a price of $210. I felt as if I had no choice but to agree at that moment.

While one individual was supposedly cleaning the oil burner, the other continued to show me pictures and discuss with me all the work that needed to be done. My son came home at that moment and this individual continued to talk and talk.

We then went outside and I was surprised to find the other worker sitting in the van. I looked up and saw a ladder leaning against my house with a regular sweep brush leaning against my chimney. I asked if he was done and was told, yes, everything is finished. the individual then spent an inordinate amount of time in his van with the other man writing up my receipt. I paid the $210 with a check and they left.

A little while later my son went up on the roof to inspect it and looked down the chimney. He attempted to remove the chimney cap and had extreme difficulty in doing so. When he finally did remove it and found a damper under the cap. He also found the flues completely filled with soot and creosote and was even able to remove the soot with his hand. There was even a large spider's web under the cap! It was obvious to him that no cleaning had been done since he had such difficulty removing the chimney cap. He took picrures as proof of how dirty the chimney was. I immediately called the company and spoke with Louise. I explained the situation to her and she was very kind, understanding and apologetic. She said that she would send out another crew asap to re-clean the flues.

A few days later a worker from the company came to my home. I was not at home but my adult son was. He said that one man went on the roof while the other shined a flashlight up from the chimney. He said that they were indeed swept using a nylon brush which removes dust. My son then commented about how could there be so much soot still left behind that is easily removable by hand after a thorough cleaning. The man answered that this is how they do it and then in a nasty manner said "Well, you seem you know it all" and then left.

When I got home I immediately called Louise from GHI again and told her what had occurred. She once again was apologetic and said she would speak to her manager. She called back and said that they would send another crew over to clean the chimney. I told her that I wanted a refund and that I was getting a local professional to clean the chimney the proper way.

On November *, a worker from ACE Chimney & Masonry Experts came to inspect the flues and said that the flkues were most definitely NOT cleaned. He cleaned them with a wire brush and my son and I observed as a large amount of soot and creosote fell down the chimney. On his invoice he stated "Fireplace flues and fireboxes were very soiled with level (2) creosote". He suggested that I file a complaint with the Revdex.com because the flues had NOT been cleaned at all. He is a sheriff in a nearby county and has heard of scams such as what had happened to us.

I once again contacted Louise at GHI and after back and forth phone calls she said that he manager would refund the full cost but that I would have to sign a waiver releasing GHI from any liability. I agreed. I shortly thereafter received a notarized letter from GHI stating "This here document serves as a release to resolve the dispute regarding the cleaning of a fireplace at the above referenced address. The amount of $100 will be refunded once this document is signed & returned releasing Guaranteed Home Improvement from any further liability."

I called Louise and said that a $100 refund of a total cost paid out of $210 was unacceptable and unless I received a full refund I would be filing a complaint with the Revdex.com. I never heard back from her and am, therefore, filing an official complaint with Revdex.com for incomplete services provided as stated and paid for.Desired Settlement: I would appreciate a full refund of the amount paid - $210 - for failure to complete services as agreed upon adn as paid for.

Business

Response:

[redacted] spoke to me about her complaint. We never like to leave a customer unhappy, so I immediately agreed to send another crew to clean the chimneys again. When we went for the second cleaning, [redacted] was not home, so her son became involved. He does not work in chimneys, and he didn't have enough knowledge to understand that there are different kinds of brushes for different levels of cleaning. And , in extreme cases, there are even chemical treatments. So , without any expertise, my understanding is that he was challenging our chimney experts in such a way, which resulted in a misalliance between them.[redacted] called me again, and I offered to clean it a third time. This time she requested a refund of $210. I immediately agreed, and informed the truck manager to process her refund. It wasn't until [redacted] called again, that I became aware that the truck manager misunderstood the amount to be refunded. He thought it was for the one fireplace chimney that was consistently referred to. That would have been $100. When I found out , I immediately told him to process a full refund of $210. Before we could do that, this complaint was filed. I always intended to refund the full amount; this was a simple internal misunderstanding.Her $210 refund is being processed now. I never wavered on that, and was willing to send a third crew for the cleaning. We are always willing to do whatever it takes to keep the customer happy. In this case, it was a misunderstanding that caused this complaint to be filed.Just as originally promised, [redacted] will receive her $210 shortly. That was my original promise and always my intention .Thank you for the opportunity to respond.