VICTORIAN CHIMNEY SVC INC

I found this company through a Money Mailer ad with a coupon for $40 off a chimney sweep. I came to Angie's List to check out their reviews. There are three different listings for the same company, and the reviews vary. Unfortunately my review isn't going to help their rating any. I booked the chimney sweep via phone on Jan. 23, scheduling it for Jan. 28. I was told that someone would be out between 9:00am - 12:00pm, with a call or text 1/2 hour before arrival. By 11:30am, I hadn't received a call or text, so I called them. A man said he would call me right back, but he never did. No show, no call back = poor business.

They cleaned up after themselves and did great work. I felt they were honest by telling us that the chimney didn't need cleaned.

They originally came out to fix cracking in the fireplace. They told me I needed a lot of work on my fireplace. They came back out and said there was a problem with my foundation. They brought an earth machine to my home and dug down along the outside of my home to repair the mortar. After they claimed to fix the foundation I found mud leaking through the inside of my basement. They were extremely unprofessional and I feel they took advantage of the situation to get more money from me. They also left the earth machine in my driveway for 4 days and I was unable to get out of my garage. They didn't clean up after themselves after the job and didn't come back for a few weeks.

They went out of their way to meet our timing needs to show up to do the work and they also were not able to complete it all in one visit because there was more to be put up and stuff and they came back and they worked around bad weather and everything. They did a really good job.

It was a hot day. They did a nice job. Gave good advice on the color of paint. Very polite.

We needed to have this job done in preparation for the roofer to come. They did an excellent job. They came out immediately to give me an estimate. We had a problem with dodging the rain, so we had to reschedule once. But they came out and did the job in one day. One of the workers was even able to pinpoint where the leak was coming through the roof, so the roofer could fix this.

I originally experienced difficulty contacting the company because the (703) area code number was not in service. Sent an e-mail to Joe Velay (owner) and he responded promptly with alternate numbers, saying they were having continued problems with the (703) area code. I called to make an appointment and received one for the next day with the typical time slot of four hours. The gentleman arrived with twenty minutes to spare. Total chimney cleaning took less than ten minutes (including setting up tarp and equipment). When I questioned if this was a sufficient amount of time to clean thoroughly, I was told the chimney was not dirty. While we had had it cleaned two years prior, the fireplace is used every night from the first chilly evening to late March and I was a bit skeptical that that would not make a difference, but agreed with the assessment. I had not been given a price when I called for an appointment and was a bit taken aback to hear that the price was $169.00, which was forty dollars more than two other companies I had considered (and what seemed like a great deal of money for ten minutes work!). I asked the gentleman if they took credit cards (already knowing the answer, as the credit card logos are prominently displayed on the company's web site), as I was thinking he would have to get the necessary paperwork from the truck to process my card. His response to me was, "We do, but I would rather not. I prefer a check." I was totally floored but his attitude was so clearly irritated, I wrote a check. He then pulled the corners of the tarp together (this with all the ashes, charred wood pieces, etc. in it) and took that and the vacuum out to the truck. I was not paying too much attention at that point as I was busy replacing the fireplace screen, tools, etc. but did notice him folding the tarp up. It was not until the truck pulled out that I noticed the mess in the driveway. Ash and lumps of charred wood were everywhere. Even as I was getting the broom out to clean up, the small children in the neighborhood were descending on the wood pieces as they are excellent for drawing on the sidewalk (and for turning their hands midnight black). We had a good experience with this company in 2006 when they were out after we originally moved in. Regrettably, the congenial Mr. Velay is not the person who comes out to the house and this time, the employee who did would make me think long and hard about ever using their services again.

While I did not end up hiring this company (roofer was able to do the work as part of a larger project), I wanted to leave a positive report as I found Victorian Chimney to be very friendly, responsive and professional.

Customer had an excellent experience overall with the company. No problems. Had to have a third of the chimney bricks replaced and some flashing. Also cleaned the brick on inside of fireplace very nicely. Great job cleaning up afterwards. Supervisor started the employees and left and kept coming back to check on them.

Two service men were sent. They were both very polite and professional. It only took about 15 minutes to clean the chimney and another 15 to inspect it. We were told that the former owners of the house had stuffed newspaper up the chimney. They noticed the chimney chute door wasn't closing properly and said they probably used the newspaper to block out the cold air. Recommended that we monitor the air flow and said they could come out quickly to put in a new chimney door if necessary.

Victorian Chimney Service gave us a three hour window for them to arrive and they were on time. They seemed very professional, honest and I also felt their price was fair.

The chimney used to leak and now it doesn t so they did a great job. They are good at being honest and didn t try to rip me off. Three other companies inflated the price and were going to charge me 600 dollars and tried to get me to do other things to it. Victorian was honest and explained what needed to be done at a much lower price. They fixed it correctly and they are very knowledgeable.

The workmen were very professional and cleaned up all work areas before they left. They explained what they were doing before they started working. The price they charged us was approximately $3,000 less than other chimney companies we contacted.

This company (not my home inspector from when we bought the house last fall) was the first to notice we had cracks in our chimney flue lining and that the lining tiles were misaligned, and therefore, a new flue lining wouldn't fit down the chimney etc. They are not in the chimney repair business, just the cleaning business, but I was happy they reported what they saw since it meant we are at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.