Response from AAA TIMBERLINE INC
Dear Customer, [member name removed] I’d like to clear up some confusion with Angie’s List members and your complaint. First, I’d like the members to know that we did no repair work for you. Second, the $13,000.00 dollar quote our technician discussed with you was a verbal “ball park” quote to address the multitude of problems, both safety and structural, that exist in your fireplace and chimney, that you asked us to inspect. The fireplace and its chimney was examined on both the exterior and the interior by a 14 year experienced, bonded, licensed and insured technician employed by my company, AAA Timberline Inc.. He also used a closed circuit, video inspection camera to determine the condition of the fireplace and chimney in internal areas where viewing it with the human eye is not possible. Based on his experienced, he gave you the verbal quote you requested, for purposes of comparison. He did not put that quote in writing, it was just a quote to give you an answer to your question. He also told you that there were other options to repairing your chimney. He mentioned another repair that would correct the leak problem you were experiencing and we did provide you a written quote to complete that work in the amount of $3384.00. I would like to think that you chose AAA Timberline Inc. to inspect your chimney based on the fact that more than 25 Angie’s List members, we did complete work for, gave us an A rating. When I started the company 36 years ago I’ve strived to provide a quality product and service to all those customers we deal with. I’d like to think that we could satisfy each and every one of our customers to give us an A rating, but we all know that’s not possible, but yet we try with each and every customer to give them an A rating experience. In an effort to try to resolve your complaint, I would like to find out answers to the following questions. You have said in your negative review of our company, that you had a company fix your chimney at one tenth of the price of our “ball park” quote of $13,000.00. My question is that do you believe that the person who fixed your chimney for $1300.00 did the same amount of work that our technician told you that we would complete for $13,000.00? Because that is exactly what you have said! If indeed this company did tear the entire chimney down and rebuilt it for $1300.00, I will gladly write a check to you for $1300.00, because you would certainly be correct in saying that we were trying to rip you off. If you are saying that you had some other type of work was completed for $1300.00 dollars, I would ask you to tell me if he completed an internal video inspection of the chimney and fireplace and also I would like to know the level of his experience in this field of work. Is the company that did the work for you show you their license, are they bonded and insured and do they have 25 positive reviews on Angie’s List, are they a member of The Better Business Bureau, The National Chimney Guild, The Chimney Safety Institute of America, The New York Chimney Guild, The National Fireplace Institute of America, The Western New York Fire Marshals and The Home Improvement Council of Western New York? Did he provide a building permit and a certificate of insurance to you before he started the repair work? Most important of all, can you share with me the scope of work that he completed for you. If so, I will provide to you a written estimate with a similar work scope and then you can compare our quote to his. That would be an accurate way to compare prices and compare apples to apples. All I’m asking for is the opportunity to prove to Angie’s List Members is that your assessment of my company is totally inaccurate and we do not “rip off” our customers. We have honestly and conscientiously delivered a quality product and service in Western New York for the past 36 years and will continue to do so for many years to come. I cordially invite your response and I thank Angie’s list for allowing me to respond to your comments. Respectfully, Marc A. Gagné General Manager and President AAA Timberline Inc.