NORTHWEST CHIMNEY SERVICE INC

Satisfied with repairs. Fairly expensive however.

I seldom write reviews, but when I do it is for good reason. The service (for parts) I received from this company was outstanding. I needed parts for an older Pacific Energy wood stove. After contacting the factory I started searching around their dealers in the PNW. None of them had a clue as to what I needed, that is until I called NW Chimney. The person who I dealt with, Ashley, knew exactly what I was talking about and displayed an in-depth knowledge of the stove. She was probably a teenager when this stove was built. She ordered what I required and today I picked up the parts. I cannot speak for the service end of their business, but if it is anything like the support end I would not hesitate to recommend them. They are a wonderful example of a real American family owned and operated business. A bit out of the way, but very much worth it. My highest recommendation to them. BTW, I live in Kingston, WA and it was well worth the drive.

About 13 years ago, we had a chimney fire in a newly bought house. Not sure if previous residents ever cleaned it and I didn't know any better, this being our first house. Northwest Chimney Service repaired the cracked chimney and installed a chimney liner for the wood burning stove. A fears years later, we also used them to install a new woodburning stove insert. And, for over a decade, Northwest Chimney Service has been providing our yearly cleaning service, helping us ensure we won't have a repeat of the chimney fire. Every interaction has been very professional. The only gotcha is that everyone else wants their chimney cleaning in the fall, so schedule early. As I learned one year, if I wait until the first cold snap, the next available appointment could be 45 days out.

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Chad did a great job! He was friendly and knowledgeable and was very efficient. He also did a very thorough job cleaning up after he was done. I will use them again when needed!

They came, gave a quote, I accepted and gave a downpayment; they agreed on a date by return call to me after inspection; they showed up, did their two work visits BUT I had to call them back and remind them that they agreed to treat not only the fireplace outside bricks but also an outside wall of bricks on a portion of the house....they came and finished the job and I paid the balance.

They were very good. They are owner operated and all of their employees are extremely nice, very professional and knowledgeable. The service is timely, efficient, very clean and organized. He was here and got it all done and it looks great.

They were very professional and friendly over the phone. They answered all of my questions. They were also very responsive.

Very Positive experience - Good communication with company personel - start to finish.

excellent

I received astonishingly horrible customer service at Northwest Chimney Service. I was dealing the manager, Ashley at the time. Basically there was a misunderstanding between Jackie (the owner) and my property manager. Apparently, for NCS, it is hard to understand what it means when a property manager asks them, the service provider, to route the bill back to the property manager. They were at fault for the misunderstanding and are unwilling to be accountable for their mistake. As I understand it, this firm expects their clients to be financially responsible for their incompetence. Not only was Ashley rude, when I asked her if she would like to remedy the situation, she told me “the situation is what it is.” Basically, no. I then asked her if losing a large property management firm as a client was problem for them? Apparently, its not. So imagine how they would treat an individual. Think about it. Northwest Chimney Service was contacted by my Property Manager to inspect (and clean if necessary) the dryer vent. My property manager told me that she spoke with Jackie and told them the HOA would pay for the inspection, and that they (the property managers) were going to pay for the cleaning if it was necessary. Somehow, the owner Jackie misunderstood when my property manager said to route the cleaning bill to them for payment. How she misunderstood that is a mystery. Well, when Jackie from NCS called me to set up an appointment, she told me that I was responsible to pay for the cleaning if it was necessary. Well, I was under the impression that my property manager was going to pay for this service and I explained that to Jackie. She told me that the property manager had to call her and inform her of any arrangements (which my PM did). Well, I had to have my little brother there to oversee this job because I was at work and didn't want to take time off. Because she informed me that I was financially responsible for the cleaning payment which would be due at the time of the service, I told them not to do the cleaning because 1.) I was not there to pay the bill and 2.) that was something that the PM was going to take care of--and Jackie said ok. She definitely did not have a customer service oriented attitude and didn't take time to ensure that things were being done correctly, because this was an understanding that could have been easily avoided had she called back her client (my PM) and verified the information she had. Well, I hear from my property manager, inquiring about the dryer vent. My PM told me that NCS told her that I flat out refused to allow them to do the cleaning, AND they denied the fact that they told me I was financially responsible (while mysteriously 'remembering' that my PM instructed them to route the bill to them) and basically told my PM that I was just unreasonable and would not allow them to clean the dryer vent. They told my PM that they were going to charge the full amount for the cleaning of the dryer vent (which includes transportation costs). If there wasn't any misunderstanding and if they would have cleaned the vent on the day of the inspection, the cleaning would have been $40.00. But because of the misunderstanding, NCS wants my PM to pay the full cleaning only amount of approx. $90.00. After discussing this with my PM, I called NCS to try and remedy the situation. I don't think it is fair to charge my PM the full amount when the misunderstanding was on their end. It is very common for a property manager to pay for the costs associated with dryer vent inspection and cleaning. All it would have took is a little follow up on NCS's part if they were not clear about their client's intentions. But they couldn't be bothered to do so. They were at fault for the misunderstanding and are unwilling to be accountable for their mistake. As I understand it, this firm expects their clients to be financially responsible for their lack of business acumen and administrative incompetence. Not only was the manager rude when I called, when I asked her if she would like to remedy the situation, she told me “the situation is what it is.” So I understood that as a no. I then asked her if losing a large property management firm as a client was problem for them? Based on her response, apparently no, its not a big deal to them. I thought that was an interesting reaction from a manager of a small business in this economy--apparently they don't need the business. So imagine how they would treat an individual client. Think about it.

I thought they did a very good job. I had no problems with them at all and they were very nice to deal with. I did pay a few thousand dollars for this, but it was all worth it. They are a bit overbooked, but when they do the work, they do good work.