The Chimney Doctor Nova Inc

*** ***'s description of the course of events is correct in most aspects.
It is clearly stated on the original proposal that there are "open holes around the cap"Based on Ryan Hall's certified and experienced assessment, this and the crown were the areas allowing water
intrusion.
Upon removal of the crown, it was determined that it was hollow below the cement, and additional repairs were subsequently done, at no additional charge.
Both the original repairs, the subsequent repairs and the return water test were all performed by the ownerThe repairs was done under hazardous conditions due to the excessive height and pitch on a metal roof as well as excessive heat*** *** was advised, by the owner, that there is no visible deterioration below the areas that were repaired and that we will need to grind out all of the remaining mortar down to the roof line to attempt to resolve the leakHe was advised that he would receive an estimate from the officeWhen received, *** *** contacted our office and insisted that we do the additional repairs at no costI explained to him that, unfortunately, we are not able to guarantee that repairs to a masonry chimney will resolve a leaking issue I conveyed his request to the owner and subsequently offered him a greatly reduced cost for the additional repairsThis was still not accepted by *** *** I had the service technician call, hoping that he could more adequately explain the situation in regards to the brick and mortar on his chimneyThe owner requested that *** *** be advised that he will not perform the additional repairs free of charge.
There is a balance due of $for service completed on 7/14/We will reduce this balance due to $if payment is made within the next days.
It is unfortunate if we are unable to amicably resolve this with *** ***If payment is not remitted, we will proceed with filing a mechanics lien

I received a quote to have 17 bricks replaced on the exterior of my chimney, and on the morning of the appointment Elizabeth called to say the crown was left off the proposal. The quote clearly states: "Cement crown has deteriorated and requires removal and replace - which should be done with relieve." The next sentence in that paragraph lists the price. But by phone, on the morning of the appointment Elizabeth told me the job will now cost nearly 50% more (to include replacing the crown). What good is a proposal/quote if they aren't going to follow it?

[redacted] was advised that it was necessary to special order a chimney termination due to the chimney being hollow below the crown. This was not and could not have been determined until the existing crown was removed. 
The special order material was installed at no additional charge. 
The original estimate, as well as the estimate for additional repairs. take into consideration the excess height and hazardous working conditions. 
It is unfortunate when a customer does not understand the difference between negligent repairs and repairs that could not be determined. Due to the nature of brick, mortar and water we are never able to guarantee that we can solve a chimney leak, unless the chimney was completely rebuilt. If any errors were made, we would gladly make the necessary repairs at no additional charge. This is not the case.  The customers decision to not move forward with the additional repairs does not alleviate him of the responsibility to pay for service that was provided.

As indicated, the fireplace installation was completed on 11/14.  Our office was notified on 12/19 that the firebox was not properly centered and  a return appointment was scheduled for 1/2 to assess the necessary repair. As a sub-contractor is required to assist our technician. the...

customer had not yet been advised of the return scheduling date. The customer has been contacted in regards to scheduling. 
The customers desired settlement is not accepted.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
I have read the business response thoroughly, and I am rejecting it for the following reasons:
1. The business response states that "additional repairs were subsequently done, at no additional charge." To my knowledge, the only work that was completed was the work included in the original estimate dated 5-19-2014.
 
2. The business response states that the "repairs was [sic] done under hazardous conditions due to the excessive height and pitch on a metal roof as well as excessive heat." The height and pitch of the roof were well-known at the time the estimate was provided. The estimator, Ryan H., gained access to the roof in order to do the original estimate, so any "hazardous conditions" would have already been factored into the original estimate.
Regards,
[redacted]

The original information in regards to this complaint is accurate. 
 
The customer purchased a wood stove and the installation of the wood stove with repairs completed on 12/5/13. Our office was contacted on 2/3/2014 and service was scheduled for 2/4/2014. The service...

technician, [redacted], was in communication with [redacted] Sales technical department and was provided a trouble shooting check list. A return appointment was scheduled for 2/10/2014. 
 
We provide our customers the [redacted] website in order to take advantage of reduced pricing that is not available to the public. We do not sell or service wood stove. 
 
The customer again contacted our office on 2/17/2014, at which time they were advised not to call our office again. 
 
The discrepancy in regards to the complaint is in what manner the customer contacted our office on each occasion. From the initial contact on 2/4, advising us there was a problem, the customer was condescending and abusive. **. [redacted] called our office at @ 4:00 pm on 2/4, his 2nd phone call of the day,  and incessantly complained to my administrative assistant that we had not  contacted him in regards to the service call that morning. That it had been 4 hours since the technician had left his home. My assistant advised him that I was not in and his response was that "he did not want to hear our excuses". I contacted the customer upon my return and advised him that the technician was in communication with the technical support department.  
 
After receiving a trouble shooting list from [redacted] sales, a return appointment was scheduled. When the problems were diagnosed, the replacement parts were immediately ordered. As these are warrantied parts, we are not able to control the processing or delivery.
 
The customer has failed to indicate that [redacted] screamed profanity at me during the phone call which they threatened to seek legal action.  I was extremely upset and basically had taken all that I could from this abusive and demanding customer. I do not and am not required to allow customers to speak to me in a continuously abusive manner or be subjected to their profanity. 
 
I contacted the customer via e-mail  when the parts were delivered and scheduled their installation for 2/27/2014. The technician did a fire test and indicated that everything was working fine. 
 
Everything was done in accordance with our ability to provide service for a defective product. We will not be offering a monetary disbursement  to this customer.

Review: A chimney at our house does not vent a fireplace any longer and is cut off in the second floor bedroom closet. The pipe is leaking water heavily in the closet with every rain. We received an estimate from the Chimney Doctor on May 19 for repairs to address this problem. The estimate identifies the source of the problem "The pipe is leaking H2O heavily with every rain. This is a result of the pipe not exceeding the crown or lip foundation of the chimney. So when it rains water that hits the cap or the crown is forced into open holes around cap. The chimney crown needs to be reconstructed using crack resistant concrete and [redacted]'s side (of chimney) should be crowned over." The estimate , by Ryan H[redacted] of Chimney Doctor, then proceeds to outline repairs that will be performed to address this. Total proposal for $2,367. On May 20 we accepted the proposal and paid a deposit of $473. On July 14 we received the final bill from The Chimney Doctor. Hours after they left the house declaring the work complete, it started raining and rained leaked heavily, as heavily as it did before repairs or heavier, into the closet. The Chimney Doctor returned a week later and did a water test and confirmed, that yes, it is still leaking and provided a report saying so and gave us with a new estimate of $1,557 to fix the problem. As the original proposal clearly identified source of problem and repairs to address it, it seems to me they were either incompetent in their estimate/proposal or incompetent in performing the repairs they deemed necessary. We tried to escalate this at the Chimney Doctor and Victor (we understand is the owner) would not speak with us. Elizabeth "Liz" relayed this message to us. We were also told that they were going to put a mechanics lien on our property.Desired Settlement: We have already paid The Chimney Doctor $473 deposit and we have the same or worse situation as when they started the work. We do not think that we should then pay them the additional $1,894 they are demanding to complete payment against the original proposal. Based on their work and the service we also have absolutely desire to pay them this amount plus another $1,557 to attempt to fix the problem a second time. So, our desired outcome is that we owe them no more than the $473 already paid (which yielded no fix to our problem).

Business

Response:

[redacted]'s description of the course of events is correct in most aspects.

Review: We had a wood burning stove insert installed last fall, along with chimney repair, and paid $6,540. It was bought as [redacted]kup for the heat pump. The job was completed 12/5/13. We used the stove lightly at first as instructed, and it was marginally okay at first, but built up creosote quickly and began to smoke badly. We researched and tried various things through December but it got worse. We thought the wood was unseasoned, so we tried different wood in January.

Then the heat pump failed the first weekend in February. We tried to run the stove hot enough to clean out the creosote, but it smoked so badly it was unusable. 2/3 we asked Chimney Doctor to look again (just short of 60 days from job completion). [redacted] from Chimney Doctor came out on 2/4/14 (the first repair visit) and agreed our wood was fine, but the stove was not working. He came again 2/10/14 (the second repair visit) and said the stove was missing a gasket, and had a bent baffle, and that caused it to not burn properly and clog with creosote. They cleaned the stove at no charge to prevent a fire. He said he would get the parts as soon as possible. [redacted] was always courteous and professional.

Today, a week later, 2/17/14, we had not heard from them and called the office. Office Manager [redacted] said she would look into it, and returned the call about 4:00. She said it would be 7-10 days to get the part, then we could make an appointment, with a week or so lead time. She said that we should have revealed our health issues earlier. She said we did not call enough, and that we had called too much, and it was unrealistic to expect timely repair. We were upset. Instead of apologizing, and trying to remedy the matter, she accused us of abusing and harassing her. We said we would consider legal recourse at that point, and she threatened to sue us for harassment. She said that we were no longer "allowed" to call the business, and she would refuse to speak to us. As she serves as receptionist, that leaves us no way to pursue the repair.

Three weeks without real heat has made us grumpy, and the prospect of two more is chilling. And since she cut off communications, we have to doubt their intent.Desired Settlement: First, we would like to have the stove repaired to burn properly as soon as possible.

Second, we would like them to pay half of our electric bill from 2/10 when it should have been fixed, until it actually gets fixed.

Business

Response:

The original information in regards to this complaint is accurate.