Harmony Hearth & Home Inc

Regarding concerns with our response: 1. Please accept our apologies if anyone from our business came across as rude and/or inconsiderate. In the original complaint, it was only noted that you considered Domino to be “a very rude associate.” Why she was considered this way was not noted, so I can only make presumptions based on Domino’s notes on communications with you, Mr[name blocked]. According to both Domino and Josh, phone conversations with you included you swearing and calling multiple associates “*** is”. After Domino asked that the manner of speaking be revised and the behavior continued, there is one time she ended the call abruptly. As stated in my previous response, we do instruct our employees to respond as positively as possible no matter how they are being treated, but we do not expect our employees to endure what could be viewed as harassment. We continuously work with all employees on being kind and considerate even when in a particularly difficult conversation2. As noted in the first response, the time this job was being scheduled and completed was our company’s busiest time of year. Unfortunately, a number of customers had to wait 4-weeks for their jobs to be done. It was truly not anything against one particular customer. Again, we apologize for the wait time and also for any miscommunication leading you to believe we thought it could be done in two weeks3. Our company did not charge any extra for this job to be done. We believe the most fair practice is to bid a job and stick to that cost, which is what we did even though the scope of the work changed both on the labor and venting plus materials. Mark and Scot have stated that the need for either drywall or siding was discussed verbally with you on site. It was not put in writing by us because we were not the ones to do the work and did not know what the cost for the work would be4. It is our company procedure to not itemize parts of a venting system, but to charge for the vent package. There are reasons that we have chosen to do this, but essentially it is our decision to make in how we operate our business. This process is consistent with all our customers and we believe it is the most fair. At the time the pricing proposal was presented, nothing indicated you wanted an itemized list of costs or we would have discussed the matter at that time. 5. As noted before, the price we said we would charge is the price we charged and we completed the job. Apparently we look at the situation differently, but the bottom line is that we present customers with a pricing proposal to get the work done. In this case, how that work was to be done and the associated consequences (drywall versus siding) was discussed prior to beginning the work. You, the customer, agreed to pay the price requested to get the work done and we did the work with no additional charges from our company6. I believe it may be possible that Scott indicated we would come out to put the siding on once it was purchased. Again, we offered to do the labor of putting the siding on at no additional cost, but the siding would need to be purchased by you, the customer. We are still willing to follow through with this agreementWe wish that every customer we have would be completely pleased with our work and our customer service. Although that is our desire, it is not realistic, as no company is able to please everyone all the time. It is apparent that you do not agree with how we run our business and you were not satisfied with our customer service. We are not able to change that. At this point the solution we have is to follow through with our offer to perform the labor associated with replacing the siding if you are willing to pay for the siding materials. I would ask that we keep all further responses to that point so that we are not in a position of wasting each others’ time

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:#It is not reported how Domino was very rude and inconsiderate to my wife on several phone calls.#Mark, came out and recommended going through the niches and that it would be two weeks before he could do the jobIt took at least a month and a half.#It is not a fair practice that a customer pay the entire job and later be told it would cost extra because they didn't figure all costs into it.#We don't think the company should generalize a venting system without including itemized costs of individual parts.#We don't feel the lumber used or the cost of the construction to build the external channel equalized or balanced the work that we paid for.#We were told by Scott that Harmony Hearth and Home would be out to do the siding in the next day or two
Regards,
David Grizzel

Harmony Hearth & Home began working with Mr[name blocked] and Mrs[name blocked] in late October. There was some confusion at first regarding who we were to speak with, Mr[name blocked] or Mrs[name blocked], due to a legal issue they were having which we seemed to be in the middle
of. We were first requested to come to their residence for trouble-shooting. At the time of that appointment it was discovered that one option to “fix” their problem was to make changes with their venting, which was a larger job, requiring an estimate to be done prior to the work so the customer would be aware of the cost involved before having us do the job. The estimate was done November 2nd and a pricing proposal was immediately given to Mrs[name blocked]. Mr[name blocked] came in to request the work be done, but he was stating that Mrs[name blocked] would pay the bill. Not wanting to be caught in the middle of husband/wife and legal issues, and also due to the cost of the work being requested, the decision was made that everything would need to be paid for up front so we did not have any difficulties collecting after the fact. The work was requested and paid for on November 4th and work was performed on December 14th. The delay was primarily due to the time of year, when our company is at it’s peak work loadIt is our standard procedure to quote venting as a package and not itemize what is expected to be used. In part this is due to changes that may be required on site, so our company may have a slight gain or a slight loss, but the customer does not need to worry about the price changing. Changes in how the work was done from how it had been anticipated to be done were primarily to prevent loss of niches inside the customer’s home. This was discussed with them prior to the work actually being done. Had the work been done as first anticipated, removing the niches, the customers would have been responsible to pay for drywall to repair that as it was not included in our bid. So we did save the customers some money in that regard. The change in work resulted in some additional costs to our company for lumber to frame and it took more of our technician’s time than originally anticipated. We did not charge any more for the change and considered it balanced since we saved the customers drywall costs, but they would now have to pay for the materials for the siding. It should be noted that the customers were told that we would install the siding at no additional labor cost, but they would need to purchase the materials. At no time did we indicate that we would pay for the materials, so we gave no reason for the customer to think that we “would probably pay” for the sidingRegarding the claim that the new vent system only made a 90-95% improvement, instead of 100%, we can only say that no vent system is perfect or would work 100% of the time. It is our intention to always install what we feel is the very best for the application, but we cannot and do not ever make a guarantee of 100% improvementOur standard for all of our employees is to be respectful and as helpful as possible to all customers. However, we do instruct our employees that if a customer is being disrespectful or belligerent, including swearing at the employee or speaking in a demeaning manor, the employee should do their best to handle the situation politely and/or pass the customer to a manager. Domino reported this was the case when the Mr[name blocked] called demanding we pay for the siding and that is why she deferred him to Josh. As a manager, Josh was fully within his rights and accurate in stating that our company would not compensate the customers for the sidingHarmony Hearth & Home is still willing to install the siding at no additional cost for our labor, however, we are still unwilling to pay for the siding materials. Should the customers opt to have us put the siding on for them, we would request that communications be conducted in a professional and polite manner

Regarding concerns with our response: 1. Please accept our apologies if anyone from our business came across as rude and/or inconsiderate. In the original complaint, it was only noted that you considered Domino to be “a very rude associate.” Why she was considered this way was not noted, so I can only make presumptions based on Domino’s notes on communications with you, Mr[name blocked]. According to both Domino and Josh, phone conversations with you included you swearing and calling multiple associates “*** is”. After Domino asked that the manner of speaking be revised and the behavior continued, there is one time she ended the call abruptly. As stated in my previous response, we do instruct our employees to respond as positively as possible no matter how they are being treated, but we do not expect our employees to endure what could be viewed as harassment. We continuously work with all employees on being kind and considerate even when in a particularly difficult conversation2. As noted in the first response, the time this job was being scheduled and completed was our company’s busiest time of year. Unfortunately, a number of customers had to wait 4-weeks for their jobs to be done. It was truly not anything against one particular customer. Again, we apologize for the wait time and also for any miscommunication leading you to believe we thought it could be done in two weeks3. Our company did not charge any extra for this job to be done. We believe the most fair practice is to bid a job and stick to that cost, which is what we did even though the scope of the work changed both on the labor and venting plus materials. Mark and Scot have stated that the need for either drywall or siding was discussed verbally with you on site. It was not put in writing by us because we were not the ones to do the work and did not know what the cost for the work would be4. It is our company procedure to not itemize parts of a venting system, but to charge for the vent package. There are reasons that we have chosen to do this, but essentially it is our decision to make in how we operate our business. This process is consistent with all our customers and we believe it is the most fair. At the time the pricing proposal was presented, nothing indicated you wanted an itemized list of costs or we would have discussed the matter at that time. 5. As noted before, the price we said we would charge is the price we charged and we completed the job. Apparently we look at the situation differently, but the bottom line is that we present customers with a pricing proposal to get the work done. In this case, how that work was to be done and the associated consequences (drywall versus siding) was discussed prior to beginning the work. You, the customer, agreed to pay the price requested to get the work done and we did the work with no additional charges from our company6. I believe it may be possible that Scott indicated we would come out to put the siding on once it was purchased. Again, we offered to do the labor of putting the siding on at no additional cost, but the siding would need to be purchased by you, the customer. We are still willing to follow through with this agreementWe wish that every customer we have would be completely pleased with our work and our customer service. Although that is our desire, it is not realistic, as no company is able to please everyone all the time. It is apparent that you do not agree with how we run our business and you were not satisfied with our customer service. We are not able to change that. At this point the solution we have is to follow through with our offer to perform the labor associated with replacing the siding if you are willing to pay for the siding materials. I would ask that we keep all further responses to that point so that we are not in a position of wasting each others’ time

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:#It is not reported how Domino was very rude and inconsiderate to my wife on several phone calls.#Mark, came out and recommended going through the niches and that it would be two weeks before he could do the jobIt took at least a month and a half.#It is not a fair practice that a customer pay the entire job and later be told it would cost extra because they didn't figure all costs into it.#We don't think the company should generalize a venting system without including itemized costs of individual parts.#We don't feel the lumber used or the cost of the construction to build the external channel equalized or balanced the work that we paid for.#We were told by Scott that Harmony Hearth and Home would be out to do the siding in the next day or two
Regards,
David Grizzel

As owner of Harmony Hearth & Home, I apologize to our customer for misunderstandings that occurred regarding verbal explanation of charges. It is our company policy to always stick to price quotes that are given in writing and I do not believe a customer of ours can be found who would say
that we charged anything different from a quote received in writing. In this case, no written quote was given. In part as a result of this complaint, we have changed our policy to be that no verbal quotes will be given. Any customer from this point forward who requests a quote on parts or work to be done will receive that in writing and will not be given any pricing verbally other than our standard hourly rate. Unfortunately, because I was not present to overhear any of the phone conversations with our customer regarding this complaint, I can only make assumptions on how this confusion happened, and assumptions will not accomplish anything positive.The facts are that we were requested to complete a maintenance call, which we did, and the customer paid for. Almost a month after the maintenance was paid for, the request was made for us to put a roof brace on the vent pipe. We completed this work and billed the customer $(plus tax) for the brace and our standard hourly rate (at that time) of $for a total of $196.60. The invoice was sent Aug10th, with a due date of Aug25th. The customer called and made a payment by phone of $on Sept2nd. After processing the payment, another invoice was sent to the customer showing the remaining balance. The customer had not given any indication of need for a payment plan or request to pay in a certain number of payments or within a certain timeframe. As is our practice, when an invoice shows as past due, I called the customer on Sept27th to inquire about payment. This was the only call made requesting information on payment, despite the fact the invoice was over days past due. I was told a check of $had recently been sent and I noted we had not yet received that payment and that it had been days since we heard anything from the customer. It is our practice to add late fees once an invoice is days past due as noted on the invoice, but in the interest of customer service I voluntarily waived the late fee. On Oct1st we received a payment of $56.60. The check for $remaining on the bill was received Oct3. It was dated Sept27th. The amount charged to the customer was simply what that part costs and our usual service fee. The invoice has now been paid in full. While we regret there was a misunderstanding in communication of the pricing prior to completing the work, it does not justify refunding payment for the services completed. I am aware that my conversation with this customer did not go as she had hoped it would, but that does not mean that I harassed her. I also had no intention of insinuating she lied, I do not believe she lied, I simply believe there was a miscommunication. For my company’s part in that, I do apologize. Our company now considers this issue closed

As owner of Harmony Hearth & Home, I apologize to our customer for misunderstandings that occurred regarding verbal explanation of charges. It is our company policy to always stick to price quotes that are given in writing and I do not believe a customer of ours can be found who would say
that we charged anything different from a quote received in writing. In this case, no written quote was given. In part as a result of this complaint, we have changed our policy to be that no verbal quotes will be given. Any customer from this point forward who requests a quote on parts or work to be done will receive that in writing and will not be given any pricing verbally other than our standard hourly rate. Unfortunately, because I was not present to overhear any of the phone conversations with our customer regarding this complaint, I can only make assumptions on how this confusion happened, and assumptions will not accomplish anything positive.The facts are that we were requested to complete a maintenance call, which we did, and the customer paid for. Almost a month after the maintenance was paid for, the request was made for us to put a roof brace on the vent pipe. We completed this work and billed the customer $(plus tax) for the brace and our standard hourly rate (at that time) of $for a total of $196.60. The invoice was sent Aug10th, with a due date of Aug25th. The customer called and made a payment by phone of $on Sept2nd. After processing the payment, another invoice was sent to the customer showing the remaining balance. The customer had not given any indication of need for a payment plan or request to pay in a certain number of payments or within a certain timeframe. As is our practice, when an invoice shows as past due, I called the customer on Sept27th to inquire about payment. This was the only call made requesting information on payment, despite the fact the invoice was over days past due. I was told a check of $had recently been sent and I noted we had not yet received that payment and that it had been days since we heard anything from the customer. It is our practice to add late fees once an invoice is days past due as noted on the invoice, but in the interest of customer service I voluntarily waived the late fee. On Oct1st we received a payment of $56.60. The check for $remaining on the bill was received Oct3. It was dated Sept27th. The amount charged to the customer was simply what that part costs and our usual service fee. The invoice has now been paid in full. While we regret there was a misunderstanding in communication of the pricing prior to completing the work, it does not justify refunding payment for the services completed. I am aware that my conversation with this customer did not go as she had hoped it would, but that does not mean that I harassed her. I also had no intention of insinuating she lied, I do not believe she lied, I simply believe there was a miscommunication. For my company’s part in that, I do apologize. Our company now considers this issue closed

Harmony Hearth & Home began working with Mr[name blocked] and Mrs[name blocked] in late October. There was some confusion at first regarding who we were to speak with, Mr[name blocked] or Mrs[name blocked], due to a legal issue they were having which we seemed to be in the middle
of. We were first requested to come to their residence for trouble-shooting. At the time of that appointment it was discovered that one option to “fix” their problem was to make changes with their venting, which was a larger job, requiring an estimate to be done prior to the work so the customer would be aware of the cost involved before having us do the job. The estimate was done November 2nd and a pricing proposal was immediately given to Mrs[name blocked]. Mr[name blocked] came in to request the work be done, but he was stating that Mrs[name blocked] would pay the bill. Not wanting to be caught in the middle of husband/wife and legal issues, and also due to the cost of the work being requested, the decision was made that everything would need to be paid for up front so we did not have any difficulties collecting after the fact. The work was requested and paid for on November 4th and work was performed on December 14th. The delay was primarily due to the time of year, when our company is at it’s peak work loadIt is our standard procedure to quote venting as a package and not itemize what is expected to be used. In part this is due to changes that may be required on site, so our company may have a slight gain or a slight loss, but the customer does not need to worry about the price changing. Changes in how the work was done from how it had been anticipated to be done were primarily to prevent loss of niches inside the customer’s home. This was discussed with them prior to the work actually being done. Had the work been done as first anticipated, removing the niches, the customers would have been responsible to pay for drywall to repair that as it was not included in our bid. So we did save the customers some money in that regard. The change in work resulted in some additional costs to our company for lumber to frame and it took more of our technician’s time than originally anticipated. We did not charge any more for the change and considered it balanced since we saved the customers drywall costs, but they would now have to pay for the materials for the siding. It should be noted that the customers were told that we would install the siding at no additional labor cost, but they would need to purchase the materials. At no time did we indicate that we would pay for the materials, so we gave no reason for the customer to think that we “would probably pay” for the sidingRegarding the claim that the new vent system only made a 90-95% improvement, instead of 100%, we can only say that no vent system is perfect or would work 100% of the time. It is our intention to always install what we feel is the very best for the application, but we cannot and do not ever make a guarantee of 100% improvementOur standard for all of our employees is to be respectful and as helpful as possible to all customers. However, we do instruct our employees that if a customer is being disrespectful or belligerent, including swearing at the employee or speaking in a demeaning manor, the employee should do their best to handle the situation politely and/or pass the customer to a manager. Domino reported this was the case when the Mr[name blocked] called demanding we pay for the siding and that is why she deferred him to Josh. As a manager, Josh was fully within his rights and accurate in stating that our company would not compensate the customers for the sidingHarmony Hearth & Home is still willing to install the siding at no additional cost for our labor, however, we are still unwilling to pay for the siding materials. Should the customers opt to have us put the siding on for them, we would request that communications be conducted in a professional and polite manner

Unless Harmony Hearth & Home will pay for the siding and the installation of it we will never feel that we got we got our moneys worthThe system doesn’t work efficiently, an easier route for the exhaust venting was employed and less exhaust venting material was utilized and yet we paid the full price of 2,? Resolution: For Harmony Hearth & Home to pay the full cost of the needed siding and the installation of it

We have been working with this customer for quite some time
now.? Our records and notes show some
variation from what the customer stated in his complaint, so the following is
an account of what our records show as well as an explanation of some of our
processes.? Although there are
not many businesses to choose from in our
city, Harmony Hearth & Home has a wide variety of fireplaces available for
purchase.? The fireplace selected was our
most basic, entry-level fireplace and was purchased January 23, 2015.? Per our standard procedure, payment of the
fireplace and venting plus tax was made at the time of purchase.? Installation of a gas fireplace is completed
in two phases.? The first phase is to set
the fireplace into an “open” wall with framing for the fireplace, and attach the
vent, including running it to the point of termination outside.? This is considered the “installation” and was
done in this case on February 12, 2015.?
The next step would be for the contractor or homeowner to have the
fireplace inspected to ensure correct installation while the venting is still
mostly visible before the wall is closed in.?
Once the wall has been closed in and drywall, tile, stone or whatever is
the chosen material is put up around the fireplace, we return for phase two.? This phase, called “fire up” includes putting
together the log set with the burner, making sure the glass and all components
of the fireplace are clean and operating, and includes attaching a conversion
kit if necessary so the unit can run off of propane.? This was originally scheduled for March 2,
2015, but was bumped up to February 26th.? At that point, the fireplace was
operable.? In this customers case there
was additional work as a surround was added.?
Two dates were written in the schedule book for this to be done, the
second date being April 8, 2015.?
However, I do want to stress that the fireplace was operable after
February 26th.I am not sure where this customer got the idea that our
installer had never put a fireplace, or this fireplace, in before.? Our company does all that we can to be sure
our installers are completely trained and the installer on this job had been
working for us long enough he had already done numerous installations of this
type.? Our company takes safety very
seriously and would not send an installer on a job we did not feel confident
would be done correctly.? However, in the
event something was not done correctly, inspections should catch that, and the
unit would not function correctly.? We
have been told the unit was operating fine, the only complaint was the
noise.? Per our standard procedure, an invoice for the installation ($300)
was sent to the customer the day after the surround was completed.? The due date on the invoice was April 24th.? Sometime after completion of the job, the
customer called and spoke to an employee about a noise.? Mark, co-owner and lead technician, was
contacted by the employee and he stated he had previously held a conversation
with the installer and customer about the issue and told them it is noise from
the wind.? An offer was made to the
customer for us to come and check the issue, but it was noted if the cause
turned out to be no fault of the company, a service charge would be
assessed.? The customer declined this
option.? Barbara, co-owner, called the
customer on May 29, 2015, to inquire about the bill which was more than days
past due.? The customer told Barbara that
someone was supposed to come and check out the noise.? Barbara confirmed that the fireplace was
working and explained that it was likely a wind issue causing the noise.? She also explained if the fireplace was
working, the installation must have been done correctly.? She asked if the customer had an inspection
done to verify the correctness of the installation.? The customer stated he had not called for the
inspection.? At this point it was noted
that Harmony had pulled the permit for the customer, but had not charged the
customer, so the permit fee of $was added to the bill.? Barbara explained that although the customer
already had a high wind vent cap, a potential fix would be to put a low profile
cap on.? This was offered to the customer
at no additional cost, although the cap is more expensive than what he has, and
he could either change the cap himself or Harmony would do it for $50, which is
the minimum service charge.? The customer
declined this offer.? July 10, another call was made to the customer
regarding the invoice, which was then ½ months past due.? The customer refused to pay the bill until
something was done to satisfactorily convince him that the installation was
correct.? On July 23, the scheduler
called the customer and made an appointment for August 18th.? On August 18th, the customer spoke
with the scheduler by phone and stated that the appointment could not be
completed that day, so a new appointment was scheduled for September 1st.? On August 29th a call was made to
the customer to confirm the appointment for September 1st, and he
stated he had to go out of town and wanted to cancel his appointment.? September 2, Barbara called and left a
voicemail for the customer noting solutions have been offered and
appointments have been made and postponed and a resolution is needed.? Between September 12th and
September 16th several phone calls and voice messages were exchanged
with the customer.? He stated he did not
think he was being treated fairly.? The
Store Manager spoke with him and came to the agreement that Mark could come
out, take off the cap, and inspect the inner wall of the venting to be sure it
was not disconnected and banging around.?
He agreed this could be done even if he was not home.? It was noted that if Mark saw that the
installation was done correctly, the invoice would need to be paid or late fees
would begin to be assessed.? An
appointment was scheduled for September 30, and Mark did complete that
appointment with the customer present.?
Mark looked in the attic, where he could see all the way down the vent
and he went on the roof, took off the cap and inspected the vent from
there.? He invited the customer to join
him to see, but the customer refused.?
Mark offered to come and put a roof brace on to alleviate any concern or
possibility that the vent was blowing around.Due to the past due invoice, Barbara called the customer to
request assurance that the bill would be paid once the roof brace was put
on.? The customer refused to give this
assurance until he was sure he would no longer hear the noise.? Neither the customer nor Barbara felt sure a
roof brace would address the problem.? Because
the noise only happens when the wind is exceptionally strong, and no one could
predict when that would happen, this was not an acceptable agreement.? It was noted again if an inspection had been
requested, this could have given additional assurance that the installation was
correct.? During the course of the
discussion, the customer asked what would be done if he did not pay his bill
and Barbara stated the matter would be turned over to collections.? The customer stated if that was done, he
would sue the company.? As Barbara was
explaining that going to collections was not the desired step to take, but the
company had no other recourse if the bill was not paid, the customer hung up on
her.? He later stated he did not hang up,
instead was disconnected, however, he never called back.A letter was sent to the customer on October 12,
stating if he would assure Harmony he would pay the bill within one week of
installing the roof brace, that would be scheduled.? Responsibility was placed on the customer to
call within one week.? If Harmony did not
hear back from the customer or the assurance was not given, the matter would be
turned over to collections.? On October
21, the customer called and left a voicemail requesting to schedule the
roof brace.? Barbara returned the call
and asked for assurance the bill would be paid and the customer refused to give
that assurance.? The customer was
extremely argumentative and Barbara attempted to end the conversation stating
that if he was unable to comply with the assurance for payment within a week of
the roof brace being added, there would be no more business or discussion.? The customer again threatened a law
suit.? Barbara noted on the contract he
signed, it clearly states no refunds will be made.The customer has alternated between demands that the product
be removed and all his money refunded, and that the company fix the problem or
show him that there is no problem.? Our
company policy is not to provide refunds, with rare exception, and then only
with re-stocking fees being assessed.? We
have done what we see that we can do to show the customer that the installation
was done correctly.? We have offered to
try other solutions, even when those solutions cost the company money.? None of this has been satisfactory to the
customer.? We believe that this is a rare
instance where the unit purchased combined with the setting, or application,
cause the unit to expand and contract creating noise when the wind is
excessive.? Noise to the degree this
customer is claiming is almost unheard of.?
This situation is not something within the control of our company,
therefore, we do not see a reason to make exception to our policy.The response to this customer’s complaint could have easily
been summarized by simply saying that Harmony Hearth & Home was contracted
to provide and install a working fireplace.?
The company has completed this work, the fireplace is operable, and we
have re-checked the truthfulness of that statement.? The customer now does not want to pay a $
invoice.? Because of that, the invoice
has been turned over to collections.?
Although that summary is a short paragraph, it is our hope that our more
lengthy explanation shows our willingness to try and work things through with
this customer

[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted] We believe the issue with our customer, [redacted], has been resolved.  I spoke with [redacted] the same day this complaint was filed.  She was...

unhappy with our conversation, as was indicated in her complaint.  From our perspective, the second part referred to was something that we were not aware was needed at the first visit.  I am uncertain where the miscommunication occurred regarding the trip to their home which [redacted] claims was unannounced.  In a situation where we have to enter a customer’s home, we never come unannounced.  I suspect an appointment was made and forgotten and when the confirmation call was made they did not get the message.  At that visit the fireplace was in operation and hot upon our arrival, and that is why we were not able to complete the work at that time.  The claim that we charged for extra visits is inaccurate because we billed for only 1 ½ hours of work, however, we did this on two separate bills.  Part of our resolution to this issue was to remove the hourly charge and instead bill for a maintenance call, which has a set rate.  At no point did I or would I call a customer a liar. Because of the drastically different perspectives in what was said between customer and technician, I suggested that the truth was somewhere in the middle and that the problem was miscommunication.  [redacted] stated she was unwilling to accept that she misunderstood and she stated our technician was a liar.  I did not say that I wouldn’t believe that the customer only agreed to 2 visits to resolve the issue, I stated that our company would not have stated with certainty it would only take 2 visits. Unfortunately, there is always a chance another call will be necessary, however, we are very fair in our billing process and do not exaggerate billing hours at all.  After my phone call with [redacted], our company management came up with the resolution and the store manager called her.  She accepted the resolution and paid her bill.I am unsure why I did not receive the email regarding this complaint.  The email address on file should be this one, [redacted].  If any further information or action is needed, please contact me via email or phone.Thank you.[redacted]Co-OwnerHarmony Hearth & HomePhone:  307-638-4543Fax:  307-426-4282www.harmonyheat.com

Unless Harmony Hearth & Home will pay for the siding and the installation of it we will never feel that we got we got our moneys worth. The system doesn’t work efficiently, an easier route for the exhaust venting was employed and less exhaust venting material was utilized and yet we paid the full price of 2,533.10  Resolution: For Harmony Hearth & Home to pay the full cost of the needed siding and the installation of it.

We have been working with this customer for quite some time
now.  Our records and notes show some
variation from what the customer stated in his complaint, so the following is
an account of what our records show as well as an explanation of some of our
processes.  Although there are...

not many businesses to choose from in our
city, Harmony Hearth & Home has a wide variety of fireplaces available for
purchase.  The fireplace selected was our
most basic, entry-level fireplace and was purchased January 23, 2015.  Per our standard procedure, payment of the
fireplace and venting plus tax was made at the time of purchase.  Installation of a gas fireplace is completed
in two phases.  The first phase is to set
the fireplace into an “open” wall with framing for the fireplace, and attach the
vent, including running it to the point of termination outside.  This is considered the “installation” and was
done in this case on February 12, 2015. 
The next step would be for the contractor or homeowner to have the
fireplace inspected to ensure correct installation while the venting is still
mostly visible before the wall is closed in. 
Once the wall has been closed in and drywall, tile, stone or whatever is
the chosen material is put up around the fireplace, we return for phase two.  This phase, called “fire up” includes putting
together the log set with the burner, making sure the glass and all components
of the fireplace are clean and operating, and includes attaching a conversion
kit if necessary so the unit can run off of propane.  This was originally scheduled for March 2,
2015, but was bumped up to February 26th.  At that point, the fireplace was
operable.  In this customers case there
was additional work as a surround was added. 
Two dates were written in the schedule book for this to be done, the
second date being April 8, 2015. 
However, I do want to stress that the fireplace was operable after
February 26th.I am not sure where this customer got the idea that our
installer had never put a fireplace, or this fireplace, in before.  Our company does all that we can to be sure
our installers are completely trained and the installer on this job had been
working for us long enough he had already done numerous installations of this
type.  Our company takes safety very
seriously and would not send an installer on a job we did not feel confident
would be done correctly.  However, in the
event something was not done correctly, inspections should catch that, and the
unit would not function correctly.  We
have been told the unit was operating fine, the only complaint was the
noise.  Per our standard procedure, an invoice for the installation ($300)
was sent to the customer the day after the surround was completed.  The due date on the invoice was April 24th.  Sometime after completion of the job, the
customer called and spoke to an employee about a noise.  Mark, co-owner and lead technician, was
contacted by the employee and he stated he had previously held a conversation
with the installer and customer about the issue and told them it is noise from
the wind.  An offer was made to the
customer for us to come and check the issue, but it was noted if the cause
turned out to be no fault of the company, a service charge would be
assessed.  The customer declined this
option.  Barbara, co-owner, called the
customer on May 29, 2015, to inquire about the bill which was more than 30 days
past due.  The customer told Barbara that
someone was supposed to come and check out the noise.  Barbara confirmed that the fireplace was
working and explained that it was likely a wind issue causing the noise.  She also explained if the fireplace was
working, the installation must have been done correctly.  She asked if the customer had an inspection
done to verify the correctness of the installation.  The customer stated he had not called for the
inspection.  At this point it was noted
that Harmony had pulled the permit for the customer, but had not charged the
customer, so the permit fee of $90 was added to the bill.  Barbara explained that although the customer
already had a high wind vent cap, a potential fix would be to put a low profile
cap on.  This was offered to the customer
at no additional cost, although the cap is more expensive than what he has, and
he could either change the cap himself or Harmony would do it for $50, which is
the minimum service charge.  The customer
declined this offer.  July 10, 2015 another call was made to the customer
regarding the invoice, which was then 2 ½ months past due.  The customer refused to pay the bill until
something was done to satisfactorily convince him that the installation was
correct.  On July 23, 2015 the scheduler
called the customer and made an appointment for August 18th.  On August 18th, the customer spoke
with the scheduler by phone and stated that the appointment could not be
completed that day, so a new appointment was scheduled for September 1st.  On August 29th a call was made to
the customer to confirm the appointment for September 1st, and he
stated he had to go out of town and wanted to cancel his appointment.  September 2, 2015 Barbara called and left a
voicemail for the customer noting solutions have been offered and 2
appointments have been made and postponed and a resolution is needed.  Between September 12th and
September 16th several phone calls and voice messages were exchanged
with the customer.  He stated he did not
think he was being treated fairly.  The
Store Manager spoke with him and came to the agreement that Mark could come
out, take off the cap, and inspect the inner wall of the venting to be sure it
was not disconnected and banging around. 
He agreed this could be done even if he was not home.  It was noted that if Mark saw that the
installation was done correctly, the invoice would need to be paid or late fees
would begin to be assessed.  An
appointment was scheduled for September 30, 2015 and Mark did complete that
appointment with the customer present. 
Mark looked in the attic, where he could see all the way down the vent
and he went on the roof, took off the cap and inspected the vent from
there.  He invited the customer to join
him to see, but the customer refused. 
Mark offered to come and put a roof brace on to alleviate any concern or
possibility that the vent was blowing around.Due to the past due invoice, Barbara called the customer to
request assurance that the bill would be paid once the roof brace was put
on.  The customer refused to give this
assurance until he was sure he would no longer hear the noise.  Neither the customer nor Barbara felt sure a
roof brace would address the problem.  Because
the noise only happens when the wind is exceptionally strong, and no one could
predict when that would happen, this was not an acceptable agreement.  It was noted again if an inspection had been
requested, this could have given additional assurance that the installation was
correct.  During the course of the
discussion, the customer asked what would be done if he did not pay his bill
and Barbara stated the matter would be turned over to collections.  The customer stated if that was done, he
would sue the company.  As Barbara was
explaining that going to collections was not the desired step to take, but the
company had no other recourse if the bill was not paid, the customer hung up on
her.  He later stated he did not hang up,
instead was disconnected, however, he never called back.A letter was sent to the customer on October 12, 2015
stating if he would assure Harmony he would pay the bill within one week of
installing the roof brace, that would be scheduled.  Responsibility was placed on the customer to
call within one week.  If Harmony did not
hear back from the customer or the assurance was not given, the matter would be
turned over to collections.  On October
21, 2015 the customer called and left a voicemail requesting to schedule the
roof brace.  Barbara returned the call
and asked for assurance the bill would be paid and the customer refused to give
that assurance.  The customer was
extremely argumentative and Barbara attempted to end the conversation stating
that if he was unable to comply with the assurance for payment within a week of
the roof brace being added, there would be no more business or discussion.  The customer again threatened a law
suit.  Barbara noted on the contract he
signed, it clearly states no refunds will be made.The customer has alternated between demands that the product
be removed and all his money refunded, and that the company fix the problem or
show him that there is no problem.  Our
company policy is not to provide refunds, with rare exception, and then only
with re-stocking fees being assessed.  We
have done what we see that we can do to show the customer that the installation
was done correctly.  We have offered to
try other solutions, even when those solutions cost the company money.  None of this has been satisfactory to the
customer.  We believe that this is a rare
instance where the unit purchased combined with the setting, or application,
cause the unit to expand and contract creating noise when the wind is
excessive.  Noise to the degree this
customer is claiming is almost unheard of. 
This situation is not something within the control of our company,
therefore, we do not see a reason to make exception to our policy.The response to this customer’s complaint could have easily
been summarized by simply saying that Harmony Hearth & Home was contracted
to provide and install a working fireplace. 
The company has completed this work, the fireplace is operable, and we
have re-checked the truthfulness of that statement.  The customer now does not want to pay a $390
invoice.  Because of that, the invoice
has been turned over to collections. 
Although that summary is a short paragraph, it is our hope that our more
lengthy explanation shows our willingness to try and work things through with
this customer.