LUDEMAN'S INC

They did a fantastic job. They got everything done for less than what I expected, and he worked very quickly. I was pleased.

Al is the most thorough tech I have seen. Very knowledgeable and meticulous. He took the time to do things right. He cut no corners. Cleaned up beautifully afterwards. I will call Ludeman's again for sure and ask for Al,

Everything went fine. They were prompt, courteous, professional. We had used them to do the same thing at our old house. They did a good job then, they did a good job now. We would use them again, except we don't plan on moving again! We would recommend them to others.

My wife and I walked into the store, and we walked over to several workers who were arguing. No looked at us or turned to acknowledge us. Ten minutes later an older man walked up beyond us and asked if he could help. My wife proceeded to ask him about fireplace inserts, but he interrupted her several times by raising his voice over hers, so she was unable to tell him what our situation was. He eventually led us over to the fireplace inserts, but when we got to that part of the store, he sat down in a chair in the middle and watched us. He kept telling us how expensive things were rather than allowing us ask questions or to explain what we wanted. After a few minutes, we walked out, or rather, we felt we were pushed out. It was not a good experience to say the least. Many of the reviews have given this place good marks, but our experience was a very negative one.

Allen, who comes out, is super nice and he really knows what he is doing. He is awesome. The first provider I used screwed the fireplace up and he came in and fixed what the other provider did.

The services provided by Ludemans was fantastic!

They gave me options and they showed up when they said they would. They also gave me a reasonable price. Their staff is personable and they provide good quality service.

INITIAL CALL TO LUDEMAN'S TO DETERMINE IF THEY SERVICE GAS FIREPLACES. AN APPOINTMENT WAS SET AND THE SERVICEMAN ARRIVED WITHIN THE SCHEDULED TIME FRAME. ONE FIREPLACE WOULD NOT LIGHT AND THIS TURN OUT TO BE A LOOSE CONNECTION THE SECOND FIREPLACE WAS NOT PUTTING OUT ANY HEAT. WE HAD OTHER COMPANIES OVER DURING THE YEARS AND MADE A SIMILAR COMPLAINT. EACH OF THEM TOLD US THAT NOTHING COULD BE DONE EXCEPT TO REPLACE THE FIREPLACE A VERY EXPENSIVE PROPOSITION. LUDEMAN'S SERVICE MAN SHOWED ME THAT THERE WAS A KNOB WHICH CONTROLS THE HEAT OF THE FIREPLACE. IT IS VERY ACCESSIBLE AND IT IS AN ADJUSTMENT WHICH CAN EASY BE MADE BY THE HOMEOWNER. NOW WE HAVE HEAT FROM THAT FIREPLACE. THANK YOU

It was our first time using them for this house and they provided us with good advice on how to maintain our fireplace and chimney.

See above....

We purchased a wood stove, glass pad, stove tools, and chimney equipment through Ludeman's in mid-December 2009. It took until mid-March to get the stove installed; most of the delay was because of shipping time from Denmark. The two installers were at our house for more than 9 hours, working almost the whole time. We are very pleased with the result. The stove burns wood very efficiently and lights easily. (The Washington County building inspector approved the installation.)

Our bedroom remote controlled gas fireplace has not worked for years. We contacted Ludeman's and they sent Allen. He serviced the gas pilot burner then spent over two hours methodically debugging the electrical system, tracing millivolt drops until he was able to bring the system back to reliable functionality. He really knows what he is doing.

It was a local company that I had already contacted. I did a little bit of comparison shopping. I ended up going with them because they were local. I did not have a glass door on my fireplace opening and needed one. It took quite a long time because the original person had taken the wrong measurements. It was long and drawn out. The gentlemen who did the installation did a good job but it was slow. They have been in business for a long while so I thought that perhaps they would be worthwhile. The owner actually took the measurements for my fireplace. It is a town house and has a particular type of fireplace. He knew that it had what is called a zero clearance but somehow it was not accurate. When the installer came out with the screen, which had to be ordered specially, it barely fit. So he had to work really hard to put the glass door on. When he was in there, I asked what kind of screen they had brought. He checked and said that they had not ordered the screen; they had forgotten to order it. He put the door on and went back. They ordered the screen. The first screen they ordered came in the wrong size because it went by the original measurements. They did not listen to the installer. So that was why it dragged on for months. The only good thing I can say is, I wrote a note on the invoice for them, that the installer was absolutely a gift to them because he knew how to correct everything. The people in the office were not good. Their installer saved them. The price was fair. The installer was great but the rest of the quality was shoddy. I would do more research before I use them again.

As far as the estimate it was pretty good. I'm currently not sure how far off the estimate will be since they are still in the process of working. They have been better than we have expected so far. When the electrician was suppose to come out, we had a snow storm and he couldn't make it. Other than that, they have been punctual. They told us they would be out within a week and later that day they called and told us they would be right out. They have been very good. I will continue to use them unless I am not happy with the final outcome.

The receptionist was friendly and scheduling the appointment was easy. I was expecting the technician around 10. He did call at 11:15 to say he was on the way. So if I was on a tight time schedule, this would have been a problem. Within the first 15 minutes, Allen, the fireplace expert, was able to diagnose the problem and explain it to me in simple terms. I have been in my house for 5 years and the gas fireplace never worked right. Turning on the electrical wall switch would sometimes turn on the fire and sometimes not. Allen explained the switch was made for a different gauge wire than what is used for fireplaces. On top of that, the switch was faulty. So Allen replaced the wall switch and the fire works like it always should have. Allen also cleaned the glass and vacuumed the inside of the gas fireplace. The $135 seems reasonable to get a fireplace that actually works.

They were extremely professional, they had a high quality show room. They were a little on the expensive side but they provide good work.

Ever since Ludeman's installed my gas fireplace in 1998, I have called them for regular fireplace maintenance, usually in the autumn since I use my fireplace all winter long. For ten years, the same thorough and conscientious man (Allen) has arrived to do the work, so he has meticulous records of past visits and knows my equipment. This time he was concerned about the amount of residue that had built up (a certain amount of white powdery film develops normally during the burning of the gas.) He called the manufacturer and talked to one of their technical support persons, then reported to me what they had discussed. He suggested that I call Northwest Natural Gas and have the carbon monoxide emissions checked, just to be certain there was no small leak of gas that was going undetected. The man from the gas company arrived and Allen explained everything to him; when the emissions were checked, they were found to be in the normal range, which was reassuring. Allen always does an incredibly detailed examination. He even looked at the manual to check the equipment warranty, in case anything needed replacing. When he's on his way to the house, he always calls ahead and arrives within the appointment time. He is very careful about not tracking dirt into the house and lays down big drop cloths on the carpets, so that as he works everything is kept clean. Because I've had ten years of excellent service, I feel very confident in hiring them and referring them.

Went to their store to purchase a gas insert. Paid $1,000 deposit. Received a message 1 week later stating there was an error on my bill. Called back, and was told that they forgot to charge me $400 for a gas line install fee. No apology, nothing. They didn't even wait for my response, told me they would mail the revised invoice. I told them I would need to think about if I wanted to continue w/ my order as the additional amount was quite high. The sales rep responded "I know the sales person must have told you about the charge" in a not so friendly tone. I then called back the next day and left a message cancelling my order and requested they phone me and let me know they processed the return of my deposit. I received no response after a few days, and called again and was unable to reach my sales rep, so I left another detailed message and also left a message via email. No response again, so I phoned and my sales was not available again, but the receptionist looked up my account and said they refunded my $1,000 deposit. To date, I have received no call from Ludeman's to ask why I was cancelling my order, to let me know as I had requested that they processed my cancellation or to find out how they could rectify the situation. I then went to Fireside Distributors, and found they had much better choices and selection (Ludeman's is very outdated). I placed my order with them, and it was maybe $50.00 more but the customer service was great AND I get something I like MUCH better than Ludeman's AND it comes with more extras, so I am actually paying less. Their showroom was beautiful and their prices were comparable to all other places I looked. I explained my Ludeman's experience to the sales rep and another customer in the store said they also received horrible service at Ludeman's and were also purchasing from Fireside. I guess they are doing so well they don't need my business.

They helped educate me on the products available, came out that afternoon to do measurements to ensure the insert I chose would fit in my fireplace. Once we determined it would fit, they scheduled me for just a few days later to install the unit, were very prompt, left the place quite clean and with a wonderful new insert.

The fireplace in my Church's parlor would not light. I called the company back in mid November. The lady said they were very busy and it would take about 2 weeks for the service man to be available. I made an appointment for Dec. 4th. On the morning of the 4th I called to see about a time frame for arrival. The lady I talked to this time said they had no record of my original call. In fact, the serviceman was having his regular day off! She said he happened to be working anyway with another man running a new serviceline, she would check with him. He actually would come over and work on my unit as soon as he was done with the other call. Allen came and was very efficient and clean (putting down tarps to walk on, etc.). I got him to explain what was wrong with the unit, it was technical but he broke it down so I could understand it. The fireplace works fine now, and the ladies in the Sunday school class that uses that room really wanted me to say ''THANKS Allen''.

I went to the store and they had the insert on display and operational. I had all the measurements, so it was easy for the salesman, Bill, and their install tech, Mark, to find that it would fit. After checking a few more minor details, I called back and left a $1000 deposit and they scheduled the install for about two weeks out (start of the cold season, so busy). On the install day, they came at the time they said and had to do some creative engineering to get things to fit, but they made it work. The only issue I had was they marred up my drywall around the fireplace slightly with the 'feet' of the surround. The surround covers this, so is not an issue unless you look from this side.