Thompson Chimney Services

I purchased a Big Deal for a chimney sweep but was unable to use it due to difficulty scheduling an appointment. After initially scheduling an appointment I was told that bad weather put them behind schedule and they likely wouldn't make it anymore. After that, it became difficult to reschedule because when you called you usually couldn't get through to a real person, you had to leave a message. It was a little while ago so I'm sure I'm not remembering all the details of the story but I do remember we started trying to schedule the appointment through messages and this frustrating process often meant that by the time I heard back, sometimes my availability had already changed. There was one instance where I stayed home but didn't know if they were coming because I didn't hear back if my availability worked and another time when the appointment they scheduled no longer worked for me and I left several messages but didn't hear back and didn't know if they got my messages and were still coming or not. After that I never heard back from the company and eventually I forgot about the voucher until after it was expired. I recently remembered I still hadn't used the voucher so I got a hold of the company and asked if I could still redeem it. The woman I spoke to was very friendly but had to check with management. She let me know over the course of several weeks that she was still waiting for an answer and hadn't forgotten about me. I appreciated the updates but eventually stopped hearing from her.

Very prompt and professional. got the job done quickly.

Did not go to the top of the chimney and clean from that end. Did not inspect the chimney, but gave me options for chimney repair which I found odd since he hadn't actually seen it from the top. Prices quoted for exterior repair were higher than I had heard in the past from others. One might think this would be because I had waited too long for repairs, but that couldn't be the case here because the serviceman did actually see the damage. Contracted service was for chimney cleaning. From what I can tell, that service was performed adequately.

Subsequent to not getting response via email, provider said they were not operating in my area when I contacted them by phone in early June but would let me know when they were. Work done satisfactorily 10/30.

service was provided as advertised in a clean and prompt manner.

Made the wrong choice going with DM Thompson. Their responsiveness and attention is the worst that I have seen in a contractor. It seems that all their good reviews are just for for chimney sweeps. My mistake. Apparently they are also based in Columbus, that may had been attributed to the problem. After sending in the contract and deposit, I was told by David Thompson that the next steps would be picking out the new brick. Didn't hear back from David for two weeks and with two weeks before the scheduled work day, I had to call him. He told me that he'll bring over the brick samples on a Friday. David did not show up that day, nor over the weekend. He also did not call. I called him that Monday, let him know I was disappointed with his lack of attention and was thinking about canceling the contract. He finally showed up three days later and we started the task of matching the brick. Keep in mind we are only 5 days away from the work starting. Even up until the day the work started (a day late), I was still getting samples to go over. They worked for two days. They skipped a day and completed the chimney on a Friday. I was asked to pay the balance and pointed out they still had other work to do (they were to come back two weeks later to do the waterproofing and the sweep). I called David to let him know I would not be paying the balance until they finish the work. Never got a return call and 17 days later, you guessed it, I had to call him. He wasn't too happy with my tone, but really, this was starting to be a joke. I requested that the additional work be not done by the same crew because of a character issue. The work was finished by owner Mike. Nice guy, but couldn't make up for the absolute lack of consideration I was given. UPDATE 10/30/13 The following is rebuttal to DM Thompson's Provider Response. It was not honest and very unfortunate. The reduction in price in the original estimate was an Angie's List coupon, and the "free" items were negotiated prior to me signing the contract and sending in the deposit. DM Thompson's response made it seem that I got some of money back (or credit) because I was not happy with them. Customer satisfaction was never discussed through the whole process, even after I brought to David Thompson's attention that I saw drug paraphernalia fall out of a worker's car on the last day of the rebuilt. One would think that a company felt some sort of responsibility to a customer and their home after that. No consideration was ever offered to me. David Thompson made only two trips to provide me brick samples. On a Monday (only after I had called him because he did not show up on an appointment he made with me on that previous Friday) and then later on Wednesday 5 days before work stated. His sample's were a start, but not that close to my original brick. The final decision was made the day the work started when their job foreman showed me a new sample. Weather was never a factor in any of my issues I fully expected DM Thompson to owe up to their mistakes and feel some regret. It is unfortunate that they did not do that in their response. UPDATE 11/23/13 I am getting a fireplace insert installed, so the installer took a look at the firebox and flue damper. He set a light in the smoke box and showed me what DM Thompson missed when they cleaned (fireplace was never used since they left). There was a large amount of creosote and ash on the ledges in the area above the damper. Still a fire hazard. The installer also noted while on the roof that the chimney rebuild was sloppy at best...using a level was definitely not a priority. I now doubt that they even did a decent job with the waterproofing. I changed my overall to "F" because DM Thompson incompetence just continues. If only the people that gave DM Thompson an "A" because they were nice to them, also thought to consider if they even did a decent job. Use this company with caution.

They came at the appointed time, did a thorough job , cleaned up after themselves.

Job was done on the day of appt. I was not at home and it only took less than two hours to repair. Job site was clean and left as they found it. I was hoping that the leak I was experiencing would have been remedied but it must be some other problem.

Ok. Have not make any decision on repair at this point.

Three man crew came the first day to tear down the old chimney. They took the brick to some places that make and sell bricks and were able to find a very good match. They rebuilt the chimney with the new bricks. The came back the following day to rebuild the top concrete part of the chimney and put the cap back on the chimney. The weather was hot and they worked hard and did a great job. It looks good. They will come back in a few weeks to put a sealer on the chimney.

There was quite a delay in being able to schedule the chimney sweep and inspection. I had to make multiple phone calls (in April and May) and then they were booked up so could not get to me until Fall. But they agreed to honor the Angie's price even though the expiration date had passed since it was due to them. I was not aware until Mike came out that there had been medical issues that had caused the delay. I had been a little perturbed initially, but once explained, all was fine. We are humans and can't control illness/injury. Mike was punctual and knowledgeable. He set up by covering all of the area so as not soil the room. He then cleaned and inspected the chimney. He explained the work that needed to be done to make it safe, the cost and the what their schedule looked like coming up (so as to not have any more misunderstandings.) I will use him to make the necessary repairs.

Quite well. He recommended some maintenence needed inside the chimney as a result of the detailed inspection he performed.

Excellent service and price. We enjoyed using the fireplace all winter knowing it was working properly

That was good! I don't believe that there were any additional costs beyond the big deal amount. It was painless and pretty routine. I used the fireplace after that, I just hadn't used it for a while. I did it more as a precautionary thing. I got scheduled right away when I called.

It was fine. They came out promptly and they did the work and left. It was a very simple job. It was easy to get hold of them. They put the grates back in incorrectly and I thought that was not cool. If they are not doing everything right here, I have no clue what's going on up there. Their responsiveness was fine.

Rose the scheduler was a pleasure to work with. She explained everything clearly and followed up multiple times during the process. I am very happy with the services performed. They did a great job getting every bad mortar joint that I specified and many more I had missed. The difference in my chimneys appearance is night and day. I would definitely use them again for masonry needs. My one minor complaint was the mess. There was a lot more mortar left behind than I would have expected. When I mentioned this to Rose she apologized and offered to have someone back out to clean up. Overall a pretty good experience and I fee like I got a lot for what I paid.

Terrible. Cancelled the morning of the scheduled appointment and pulled a no show the next morning on the rescheduled appointment. Did not receive a call or anything. Sent the company an email over 2 weeks ago and have yet to hear or receive any response at all.

The service turned out good for me. I just paid the price for the big deal. I prefer them. They were good. Nothing stood out in particular.

The guy came in and cleaned our chimney. He gave recommendation on how to repair crack and that was it. The only problem we have with him is we have to contact him a couple of times before we got through.

He was professional and did what he said he was going to do.

It took so time to get it scheduled but everything went fine.

It took while to get response from them from initial my contact.

He was prompt, friendly, and very professional.

I had an Angie's List deal to get a chimney cleaning and inspection from D.M. Masonry Restoration. When I called to schedule the appointment, they were able to get me on the calendar quickly. The two men who arrived to do the work were prompt and friendly and finished the work quickly and neatly. They also answered my questions about the outside of the chimney, which needs repair, and gave me a verbal quote to complete that work. I will definitely give them a call to schedule that additional work in the future.

Til now I had used another A rated Angie's List provider for this kind of work but but lately I had been finding it hard to schedule work and, in this case, their estimate for the job was more than twice as much. So I went shopping and D.M. Thompson scheduled the work within two weeks of acceptance. Their workers were friendly and neat. They did included some extra tuck pointing, and the chimney looks perfect. They had to order the cap, and, after two weeks, I called to prompt them to come back and install it, but they were out the next day. A great job.