Chimney Cricket Inc

The first appointment they did not show up for, so I made a second appointment and they also did not show up.

The guy came in when I wasn’t here and he put something inside the box and I couldn’t talk about it that day. It was a free estimate. He seemed to be a nice guy. He made an appointment and came on time. He wasn’t late or anything like that. I would consider him for an estimate in the future.

I selected this company for a second opinion based on it's Angie's List recommendation. They seemed helpful over the telephone but failed to show up for their scheduled appointment. When I contacted them they had a somewhat reasonable excuse and were willing to reschedule. A few days prior to my next appointment they called asking to reschedule again. They failed to show up this morning for the new appointment. When I called to inquire what happened I was told that she called yesterday and left me a message. THIS WAS A LIE! This company may do good work, if they ever show up. Chimney repair is too expensive to use an unreliable company and I am now going to find someone else.

We decided we would choose another company.

In case members don't want to read the entire story and only read the first sentence or two here is... this is a terrible company that will never be given a third chance to waste my time. The full story: I found this company on Angie's list and use them at least 3 times without much complaint. This is not a very difficult job, we're talking about shoving a wire broom up a chimney until it's clean. All they have to do is show up on time and do the job. Last year ( 2009) my wife agreed to wait at the house for the appointment while I was at work. I was on the phone with her four minutes after 1 PM and there was a note on the door from the worker stating he was there at 1 and that he was not going to wait all day! (that had to be a joke, a contractor upset that we had them wait for 4 mins! ) I refused to use them in 09 for that stunt and this year I thought I would give them another chance. I thought it would be smart to call them in the middle of the summer when they couldn't possibly be busy and I wouldn't have to deal with any BS from these guys. I made an appointment a week at a time and they told me I would have to wait between 8AM and 10:00 AM for this sweep to show up. Eight o'clock, nine o'clock, 10 o'clock came and went without a chimney sweep. I went and checked my answering machine only to see a message from the from their secretary alleging that the sweep had called and couldn't get a hold of me. Total and complete BS! She wanted to know if I would like to reschedule that coming Tuesday. ( a full week from the day of service) I pressed her hard to explain to me why I was being bumped and then would have to wait an additional week for them to come out. She gave me no legitimate answer other than he was busy. I wasted all morning sitting around my house waiting for to show up and they stood me up. I will never give this company another opportunity to screw me over again. I assumed the first time was an anomaly and it would never happen again. I could not have been more wrong. I would rather get coal miners lung and do it myself and give these guys another chance to jerk me around. Call another chimney sweep if you need this service. Dan Miller, Chesterland Ohio

The cleaning was fine. They were late but someone called. The inspection showed I needed some work. Their estimate was $1900.00+. I obtained other companies on Angie's List and got a second opinion. He did find the same problems but his estimate was $860.00. Needless to say I did not have Chimney Cricket do the work. They also used some rather heavy handed techniques to try to get me to immediately schedule-like saying the chimney was about to fall through the roof! I had used them before and was a little suspicious of their recommendations and prices. I should have listened to my instincts. The previously recommended work I never did have done and they didn't find it this time!

They did some tuck pointing inside the fireplace. It is a specialized cement used to seal cracks that appear in older fireplaces. The job went well. They held up the price for 6 months for me. They lived up to their assessment. I was looking for a fireplace insert and I found them in the phone book. I found out that he cleaned chimneys as well. So I asked him to clean it. While cleaning the chimney, he found several places which needed tuck pointing. He mentioned it to me and I asked him to do it.

I was not really impressed with their work. They missed a few spots and I had to inspect and tell them to cover those spots. Their pricing was reasonable and they were pretty responsive and punctual.

They were very good. He took care of the cracks in the top of the chimney and did an all over inspection.

I had used them twice to clean my chimney for the last 2 years. They called me up this year to check if I wanted to use their services this year too. I agreed and they sent a guy to check it out. When he checked my chimney he found two flues and told me he would have to charge me a different price. I told the guy to leave as I was not happy with the price change. Then I had the owner on the phone and explained the problem to him. He immediately decided to personally come down and check my chimney. When he did he decided to charge me the same price that I paid for the last 2 years. I had a problem with his company and he fixed it. I was very pleased with his professionalism. My complaint was sorted out perfectly.

Cleaned our chimney and didn't make a mess doing it. Evaluated the safety/state of repair of the chimney.

I schedule a chimney cleaning over the phone. Initially they tried to give me a 3 hour window, but when I explained that the house was an empty rental unit they shortened the window to an hour. At the end of the hour the guy showed up. He did a good job, but he did come up with a few hundred dollars of additional work that I might need.

The CC employee was professional and got the job done quickly and as promised. He also provided a part to fix our damper. The fireplaces were cleaned reasonably well and he left no mess behind.

He went on the roof and replaced the damper. For the remote, he did not have the necessary parts and had to go the hardware store. He came back and then installed the burner of the fireplace. Everything seemed to be in order, so we paid him for his services. Later when we turned it on, we heard a clicking noise in the fireplace. They came out and said it was a faulty sensor with a relay in it. This was a part that they had just replaced. We were told the whole thing needed to be replaced including the hearth. We told them we were not interested in the hearth replacement but we wanted the piece in the fireplace working and running properly. We made numerous phone calls and left messages and did not hear from them for quite a while. They finally sent someone else out and he told us it could be fixed but he needed another replacement part which was an additional cost. At that point, we no longer wanted to work with them. After at least 5 months, we eventually received a partial refund for a part of the fireplace.

We paid Chimney Cricket approximately $2500 for this service and was told that there was no evident problem with the flue liner or obvious source of the water entering our fireplace. They attempted to remove the water stains, but were unsuccessful. The water problem continued and when we complained, Chimney Cricket came back out and recommended additional work such as replacing the flashing, resealing the crown, etc, for additional cost. We ultimately hired a second company, who inspected the chimney and realized that the flue liner itself (originally installed by Chimney Cricket for the previous owners) was incomplete, lacking a 10 foot segment of liner! We evidenced this ourselves when we saw the liner removed - only 2 tails of liner had been installed at the top and bottom of the flue, although this was not reported to us when we had hired the company to inspect the chimney and determine the source of water leakage (ultimately condensation from an incomplete liner). In addition, the water damage that we had paid to remove still remains. Finally, although the previous owners had paid $4500 for a stainless steel GasFlex liner with a lifetime warranty, the liner tails that had been installed (not even a complete flue liner!) were aluminum.

This company is not to be believed! After not hearing from them after a week had gone by, I called several times, left messages and never received a call back. When I finally reached someone who identified herself as the owner, I said that three weeks had gone by and I needed to get the fireplace in working order before Thanksgiving. After she told me I needed to talk to the service man, I demanded that she get him on the phone. He told me that "the company doesn't like to give away replacement parts" and I should call the supplier myself. The supplier then said they had NOT received an order for my replacement part. After I expressed disbelief, they sent me the part UPS overnight. However, I could tell by looking at it that it was the wrong part! In frustration, I called another company for service. On the phone, they told me how to determine if the unit was actually on or just set to "pilot." It WAS set to "pilot," and as soon as I turned it to "on", the gas logs ignited!

In November 2005 we used Chimnee Cricket to inspect the fireplace chimney of a home we purchased. At that time, they told me we would need $1,200 worth of work done on it. I fully intended them to complete the work. Recently I called them back out to take a look at my furnace chimney (separate)and to schedule the necessary work for both chimneys. They informed me I needed a complete rebuild on my furnace chimney and then gave me a second quote on my fireplace chimney (although I didn't ask for it.) In less than five months, the original $1,200 quote I was given for the fireplace chimney work turned into a quote that recommended a complete tear down at the cost of $5,500. Total cost for tear downs of both chimneys: $8,000 +. Interesting...three other masons on Angie's List all informed tear downs were not necessary on either of the chimneys. Chimney Cricket should have checked my file and original fireplace estimate before trying to sell me a bill of goods. The "estimates" say it all.

They vacuumed the fireplace and cleaned the chimney, but left the glass very dirty on the fireplace doors. They also tried to sell me services for the chimney that I didn't need, and then the next day they called me to schedule a repair that wasn't needed and that I didn't want. I was disappointed in the poor quality of their work.

Our overall experience was not too good. The repair on the chimney was okay, but the cleaning was not. After they left we found a whole grocery bag of soot on the upper shelf that we could reach.

COMPANY WAS SCHEDULED TO WORK ON NOV 19TH, THEY CALLED ON 18TH TO RESCEDULE. I CALLED THE NEXT DAY TO RESCHEDULE AND DIDN'T HEAR FROM THEM FOR AWHILE. THEY CALLED ME BACK AND CAME OUT THE SECOND WEEK OF DECEMBER. THERE WAS SNOW ON THE ROOF AND WENT UP ANYWAY, THEY PULLED A LARGE NEST. I ASKED THEM TO BAG IT UP SO I COULD SHOW MY HUSBAND. HE DID. MY HUSBAND CALLED ME THAT EVENING AT THE HOSPITAL I WAS AT, AND TOLD ME THE FURNACE (THAT WAS JUST REPLACED IN 2001) WASN'T WORKING. I CALLED CHIMNEE CRICKET TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYONE THERE THAT COULD TAKE CARE OF THE SITUATION. I CALLED MY FURNACE MAN, $100.00+$28.00 FOR EVERY 15 MINUTES THAT HE WAS AT MY HOUSE. HE GOT TO THE HOUSE AND CHECKED THE FURNACE. HE WAS HERE FOR A HALF HOUR, CHECKED THE CHIMNEY AND FILLED AN ENTIRE BAG FROM THE BIRDS NEST IN THE CHIMNEY. HE SAID WE WERE LUCKY THAT WE HAD A NEW FURNACE, OTHERWISE WE'D BE DEAD FROM CO2.

We had this company clean our chimney once. No significant comments on that either way. However, now we get calls probably once or twice a month which show up on the caller ID. We usually don't answer and they don't leave a message. Today I answered and told the guy we get their calls at least once a month if not more. He got very belligerent and told me "You're Wrong!" and then hung up on me. When I tried to call back he actually disguised his voice (poorly) as a female and told me to call back at a better time to speak to the person in charge. This is not how a "professional" company does business! I would not hire them again.

THE SERVICE PERSON ARRIVED ABOUT AN HOUR LATE. CLEANED THE CHIMNEY BOX AREA AND THE FLUE. MADE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WHAT KINDS OF MATERIALS ARE BETTER FOR BURNING AND WHICH KINDS OF GAS LOGS WERE BETTER TO CONSIDER. VISUALLY INSPECTED THE CHIMNEY ON THE OUTSIDE FROM THE GROUND. DID A DECENT JOB OF CLEANING UP INSIDE.

THE TECHNICIAN WAS POLITE, PROMPT AND PROFESSIONAL. HE PERFORMED THE WORK WITH CONCERN FOR KEEPING AREA CLEAN, AND REPORTED MAINTENANCE NEEDS TO ME UPON COMPLETION OF THE SERVICE.

WHILE REPAIRING MY STOOP, THE WORKERS BROKE THE SPIGOT I HAVE ON THE SIDE OF MY HOUSE. AFTER THAT, THEY BROKE THE SPIGOT ON THE BACK OF MY HOUSE. I NOW HAVE NO WORKING SPIGOTS ON THE OUTSIDE OF MY HOME. WHEN I APPROACHED THEM ABOUT THE DAMAGE, THEY TOLD ME THE SPIGOTS WERE ALREADY BAD, AND THAT'S WHY THEY BROKE. I HAVE USED THEM FOR THE PAST 19 YEARS, AND HAVE NOT HAD ANY TROUBLE. THE SUPERVISOR WAS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT AND INSPECT THE PROBLEM; HE SAID HE COULD NOT DISCUSS ANY COMPENSATION WITHOUT SEEING THE DAMAGE HIMSELF. HE HAD NOT MADE AN APPEARANCE YET AS OF 2:45 TODAY. THE SUPERVISOR SPOKE WITH MY HUSBAND AT 9AM THIS MORNING ABOUT THE TROUBLE.

WE HAVE HAD THIS COMPANY INSPECT AND CLEAN OUR WOOD BURNING CAST IRON STOVE 3 TIMES -- APPROX. EVERY 2 YEARS. THEY ALWAYS DO A GOOD JOB, AND ESPECIALLY KEEP EVERYTHING CLEAN, BECAUSE THE STOVE IS LOCATED IN OUR FAMILY ROOM.