Fireplace Freddie

Great. They showed up on time, did exactly what we wanted, cleaned the work site and debris and left. The only evidence of them being there was a new fireplace made exactly the way we wanted it.

They were on time, professional, and on honest. I thought I needed the chimney cleaned but they told me I really only needed to have it evaluated. I was very happy with their service, they were very good.

Joe did an adequate job of cleaning, but did not get back to us as promised to tell us when a fireplace cap part was available. When we called him back to follow up, he did not have any memory of doing work at our home and seemed to have no records.

If you love getting the run around, if you want your job to be drawn out for almost three months, if you love waiting at home for workmen to arrive late and if you love being told one thing and having another thing occur . . . than Fireplace Freddie's is for you! Got permission from my HOA the week of October 6th for work to begin. Fireplace Freddie's came and dismantled my fireplace on October 13th. I had to keep calling to see if the elbow had come in yet. I told Devon (who is now no longer with the company) that I had a house warming party on November 7th. He promised that my fireplace would be done by November 7th . . . well, guess what . . . the part didn't come in. The part didn't come in until November 24th. Devon wanted to "finish" the job on Wednesday, November 26th (the day before Thanksgiving) . . . he told me that everything could be done in one day. I had a feeling that it couldn't be done in a day since I was told it would probably take six days from start to finish to complete the job. So instead work began on December 2nd. Guess what? They worked on December 2nd and 3rd and still had more work to do! They had to get another part . . . they finally came back on December 17th to install the part and hook up my fire logs. By the way . . . the same workers rarely return. One person tells you one thing, another tells you something else and a supervisor never stops by to check on the work. I was told by one worker that the inside of the firebox still needed some work, when the next crew came out to finish the job . . . they knew nothing about it. On December 18th, a final inspection was scheduled for December 30th between 9:00-9:30 a.m. Received several calls last week from Aaron trying to schedule a final inspection. After I returned to town from the holidays, I called and told him that an appointment had already been scheduled. He said he had no such appointment on the schedule and that someone could be there between 10:00-10:30 . . . but probably closer to 11:00. I told him that I had a lunch to attend at 11:30 a.m. and he promised that it would be plenty of time for the inspection to take place. Just received a call at 11:00 a.m. from the inspector, Joe. Joe was "held up" and didn't have reception on his phone to call me . . . now Joe couldn't be there until 12:00 p.m. At the same time Joe said that the inspection would take one hour to complete . . . so much for 30 mins according to Aaron. Just called and left a message for Freddie . . . no one was in the office to take the call. Now Joe says he will be there between 2-3. I left a message saying I am not going to wait around! I have complained several times . . . most of the time the supervisors put the blame entirely on the workers. It is all unprofessional. I would NEVER recommend Fireplace Freddie's to anyone. They are a bunch of liars who don't know a thing about customer service.

This company did work for me some time ago before I was a member. But I looked them up to see what others had said. I never wrote them a letter of reference at the time and felt bad, so decided to write a report here. I bought my house with a fireplace that had been damaged beyond use by the 1992 earthquake. The prior owners had just lived with it that way. Several years after I bought it, I bit the bullet and had it repaired. These folks were terrific! I called out 4 contractors total to give me an estimate. One kept calling and rescheduling the appointment and never showed up, one came and was quite rude and couldn't understand why I wanted to preserve my 100 year old mantel piece with antique tile then never gave me the quote I asked for; another thought the antique tile was quite rare and lovely but couldn't guarantee they wouldn't damage it, It is a small fireplace and very unique with a decorative iron piece that attached to it at the front. They also said that the firebox was too small and I could never have a fire that didn't smoke up the house unless they built it larger than it originally was. Because of that, they wouldn't guarantee they could finish the job once they got started because the city may not be willing to issue a permit. Only Fireplace Freddie said, no problem. We can fix it without removing the mantel and tile face and reconstructing it later. (all the others said it couldn't be done unless they did), they guaranteed that the mantel and tile wouldn't be damaged, and couldn't understand why the other contractor thought getting a permit would be a problem. They were SO optimistic, at first I wasn't sure I should believe it. But it was true! They had to work in segments over a number of days, and have the city come in and inspect at several different phases of the work. (As they said, getting a permit wasn't a problem.) Each time they set up, they put tarps out to protect the room, and cleaned up impeccably around the work site. It turned out that the city required them to tear down the chimney lower than they'd expected -- causing extra work and materials -- but they honored the contract and didn't even imply that they'd like more money. I have a small Victorian house with a very pitched roof. They had to hood the pipe chimney and I was very impressed with their agility and surefootedness up there. There was one main staff person on the job and he was friendly, courteous and efficient. The mantel and tile were completely undamaged. I've had some lovely fires in my small fireplace over the last few winters -- without smoking up the house! I was very, very pleased with the way it all turned out.Only complaints: Over the course of the work, sometimes they didn't arrive exactly at the time they said they would. They didn't do plumbing and hookups for gas fireplaces and said I could get it added at any time, but a plumber later told me that it would have been a lot better to do it before the firebox was rebuilt.

After receiving the plans, we heard nothing!!! We called several times and did not receive a return call.

Since I found it funny they put the numbers on a blank piece of paper, I asked for an itemized estimate. When I received that, the flue damper alone cost $750 - for something that takes half an hour to install and $150 to buy. The chimney sweeper sat down on my white sofa to write the estimate - that was very inconsiderate! I got many other estimates that were $500 cheaper than theirs and the other companies were very reputable. The other companies told me that the patching inside the chimney was unnecessary, while Freddie's quoted me $1200 worth of damage. I feel they are using scare tactics to make people think they need repairs done on their homes.

The gas was not flowing into the fireplace and we thought it was due to a clog in the line. They came and discovered that it was actually due to a malfunctioning key that opened the gas line to the fireplace.

Cleaning was conducted with care. I would be cautious of their opinion on other repairs.

They were very polite, used drop cloths & left the house as they found it. They were thorough & identified and explained problems. Could have been a little more prompt;my appointment was the first of the day & the company is a few blocks away. Appointment was made for arrival between 10:00 & 11:00 a.m. and they arrived at 11:00 a.m. I had asked in advance how long the job would take and was told an hour 1/2, approx. Job took over three hours from start to finish.

Always feel like Greg was trying to sell more work to us, with a hard sell.

I did not have a problem with the work, but the way it was done. The workers put a huge sign in the front of our building with their name and number on it without asking. They also used our bathtub as a garbage bin. We were also overcharged and had to wait a week to receive a check refund by mail even though we had paid with a credit card. Numerous black smudge marks were left on our walls and we had just painted.

On time, reasonable, professional, friendly, clean. This was to install firestop walls on 3 sides in attic surrounding the chimney. I've had them clean the fireplace several times. One year I called another place by mistake and two weeks later was smoking and the other company did not respond. Had to have this company come back and do it the right way. Note: Cleaning is less expensive by about $70 per visit in summer months. Not sure about the price on the firestop as I did not get any other bids.

WORK WAS PERFORMED PROMPTLY AND EFFICIENTLY, WORKERS SHOWED UP AT TIME SCHEDULED. PERFORMED A PROFESSIONAL JOB WITH MINIMAL FUSS, ALSO PROVIDED REASONABLE ESTIMATES FOR FUTURE WORK.

THIS COMPANY IS SUCH A JOY TO WORK WITH. WE HAD USED THEM IN THE PAST FOR CHIMNEY SWEEPING. THE WORKERS ARE VERY PROFESSIONAL AND VERY COURTEOUS AND FRIENDLY.