COLUMBIA CHIMNEY SERVICES

I requested an inspection of my exterior chimney and cleaning of my chimney prior to selling my house in February. Al committed to coming out the next day, confirmed his appointment day-of, was on time, and respected my property by taking his shoes off - all appreciated. His evaluation of my fireplace took 2 minutes. He preferred not clean the chimney until I used a creosote converter - which means I couldn't have my chimney cleaned that day. He also then told me he couldn't evaluate the exterior chimney until is was warmer/spring, and to call him back. The weather in February is what it is, and if I had known he wouldn't even consider evaluating the chimney at that point, I would have waited and not taken off work for the appointment. When I called back to set up follow-up appointments, he kept saying he would need to call me back once he saw what the weather was going to be like - and then either did not return my call or would call and ask to come over and do the cleaning and evaluation within the hour. I did at one point give him permission over the phone to stop and get on the roof without me being there so that I could understand what repairs would be needed to the top of the chimney and caps, but then didn't hear back from him for several weeks and never with any details about what he saw. I ended up telling him I didn't need his services and more recently hiring another company who scheduled a week in advance, came at the specified time, cleaned the chimney, added a damper and repaired the top - all in about an hour, and with a lot less hassle. I think he probably does good work, but he seems challenged to manage his schedule, and if there was more up front communication about what Columbia would / would not do in cold weather, etc, I would have waited or found another company.

Alan arrived on time and worked straight thru for 4 hours He explained everything he was doing and why. He and his helpers removed my old insert ( which was a back breaker going up stairs). Very satisfied.

He did a very thorough and informative explanation regarding the condition and requirements. He spent a lot of time giving me a lot of information.

They did a wonderful job. They showed up on time and cleaned up after themselves. Their work was excellent. He was a sweetheart.

He was an hour late to our estimate because the previous job ran over but he did show up on time for the work. He spent the time needed to get the job done right even thought some things didn't go as planned.

Allen responded to our request quickly and did a chimney inspection. He gave us information regarding a wood-burning insert and recommended someone to do some repairs on the outside of our chimney. Allen was very polite and knowledgeable.

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HE TOLD ME IT WOULD BE $50 FOR HIM TO COME OUT TO DO THE ESTIMATE AND ANOTHER $40 FOR A TRAVEL FEE. WHEN HE GOT THERE, HE DIDNT EVEN HAVE A LATTER TO BE ABLE TO GO UP AND LOOK AT IT. IN ADDITION, HE BASICALLY TOOK ONE LOOK AT IT, FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE, AND HE TOLD ME THAT HE WAS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME, AND I SHOULD CALL ANOTHER COMPANY, WHOM HE REFERRED TO ME. IVE SINCE USED THE OTHER COMPANY, AND THEY SEEM VERY GOOD, BUT I DONT THINK THAT $90 IS A FAIR AMOUNT TO PAY FOR HIM TO DO WHAT HE DID. IT SEEMS LIKE A SCAM TO ME!!!

NEVER RETURNED WITH ESTIMATE

HELPED WITH OLD HOUSE WHEN THEY HAD LEAKS AND JUST CHECKED OUT OUR NEW HOME. HE RECOMMENDED GETTING CO2 DETECTORS AND FIXED AN INCORRECTLY VENTED PIPE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN LIFE THREATENING.

VERY PROFESSIONAL DOES EXCELLENT WORK-- HUGELY RECOMMEND! HE IS VERY BUSY BUT HE IS WORTH THE WAIT-

PLEASANT, NEAT, KNOWLEDGEABLE