H. Froebel & Son, Inc.

Review: My husband and I recently purchased a new home. Along with the purchase of the new home, we found through inspection, that we needed to replace/rebuild our chimney. We called a few local masonry companies for quotes; all of which whom came out to the house and provided us with fully completed estimates for the work. The sellers of our new home also called a few connections to receive quotes as well, one being, Froebel and Sons in Milwaukee, WI. One of Froebel's representatives came out to the house and provided a complete quote to rebuild our chimney for a total of $1,260. **Specific wording on the contract/estimate: "Chimney has been plastered, when it should've been rebuilt. Remove chimney to flashing line and rebuild with new brick, precast cap and flue lining in rebuilt area. Remove all debris from site. Total cost $1,260."

We decided to go with the Froebel team to help with our chimney repairs. When their team came to the house to begin the project, they questioned my husband as to why they were only replacing/rebuilding half of the chimney. My husband responded confused and immediately went to retrieve the quote (which is specified above) to show the workers. The workers had more detailed notes from the original quote (or whoever came out to the house initially) that said to replace 70-80 bricks, which would essentially only be the top portion of our chimney. This was extremely confusing and frustrating as our quote clearly states that the work would be completed to the "flashing line." Through further investigation, my husband found that the Froebel team member who came out to inspect the chimney and offer the initial estimate, never walked around the entire house; they just viewed the chimney from the front side of the house. My husband tried to speak with someone at the Froebel company but with no luck. They offered a new estimate of $3,780 to complete the project and trying to talk with them through this, they only came down $280 for the inconvenience. That is ludicrous to us. I have worked for more than 10 years in customer service and if I ever incorrectly estimated a job, a service, or a price, that would be MY short-coming and I would need to take the hit for my error. I feel that this is the same case and should be handled as such. It's unfortunate that their team member didn't walk around the entire house to accurately establish the estimate for the work needing to be done, but the initial contract/quote states that the work will be completed for the cost of $1,260. This is their business--this is what they do and I feel that they should cross all of their "t's" and dot all of their "i's." If they unfortunately make an error along the way, they need to take responsibility.Desired Settlement: For the entire project to be completed at the initial contract cost of $1,260.

Business

Response:

In response to complaint letter from a [redacted] concerning chimney rebuilding at [redacted]. I was the individual who looked at the chimney and gave the estimate to rebuild. At the time I looked I would have had to park a block away as in this area of the city there is not much off street parking, every one parks on the street. So my only option was to double park which I did and looked from the front of the lot. I did figure to rebuild from the flashing up. This is the flashing on the upper roof. I was not aware of a lower roof in the rear of the house. At this point I am not even sure that the lower roof would support the weight of the scaffold needed along with brick to be removed and replaced. It should be noted as alluded to that if the other estimates received were considerably higher. Questions should have been asked. This is like going to 5 dealerships for a price on a vehicle and having one dealer quote $15,000.00 less for the same wheels.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response: