DUXBURY CHIMNEY SWEEP

"We can appreciate that you are upset, since this process got drawn out. We stipulated in the beginning that this job was weather dependent. We cannot halt all efforts to schedule other jobs in the course of waiting for better weather. You are a busy person and had scheduling difficulties as well (you cancelled on us twice with minimal notice). You wanted to be there when we worked, and that's fine, but you also stated that weekends would not work. Usually, when we have to reschedule a job due to weather, we try to do it on a weekend. When I contacted you to reschedule, you stated that you did not care that we had other people scheduled and that you expect to be completed in the month of June. Using threatening language does not make for a positive reaction. Carter and I agreed that we will not be able to satisfy your expectations and returned the check in full. Our contract does not have a deadline or expiration. We reserve the right to cancel the contract at any time. Very sorry for your negative experience."

"On August 17th, I got a phone call from a colleague of mine who had received one from the member indicating we had not returned a call she had made the previous week. Since this did not sound like something we would do intentionally, he told me why she called. I immediately called the member. She indicated to me that someone, last year, told her that the damper on her chimney was not the right size. I looked at her file and saw what I thought was the right size damper, but in good faith I booked an appointment, at her convenience, in order for the technician to check it out. She did indicate to me at that time that she was a little taken back that the other sweep company didn’t tell her that they had called me, and I explained to her that since they knew me very well and it didn’t sound like something I would do that they gave me a heads up so I could have a chance to take care of it. On September 8th, my technician went to the member's home and inspected the top of the chimney. He then indicated to her that it looked like he may have installed the incorrect one, but could not figure out why he would have done so and apologized. At that time he told her that the chimney was also in disrepair at the top and would need to be fixed before he could safely remove the damper to install a new one. She immediately became upset and accused him of trying to get more money out of her for something he did wrong. He tried to explain to her that the damper had nothing to do with the deterioration of the outside of the chimney. She then told him that if that were the case, she’d have her handyman do it and wanted him to give her the new damper for him to install. The technician told her that that would not be possible. If we were going to provide her with a new damper then we insist on being the ones who install it. Also the manufacturer does not warranty the damper unless a chimney professional does it. This did not make her happy and she became more upset. She didn’t seem to be listening to anything he said, and he felt that they had come to an impasse in regard to this situation, so he told her he was leaving. My technician may have been frustrated, but I don’t believe he was hostile or rude. When he returned to the office and told me what happened, I took her file out and went over it with him. The chimney is a single unlined flue that measures 9”x13”, however, the top opening becomes larger at the top two courses only. He installed a 9”x13” damper and then closed off the rest of the top with lead. So technically, he did install the right size damper for the size of the flue. The damper does not necessarily have to be the same size as the top, but it does have to match the flue size to vent properly, and that it was. He would have been able to confirm this for himself had he been able to look in the fireplace, but because of the confrontation he was having with her, he never got the chance. The member still believes the work was done incorrectly when in fact it was correct. Our installation has been compromised by the fact that the brick/mortar deterioration caused the sealant that he used to close off the top to separate. The deterioration of the exterior of a chimney is not caused by a damper on the top of a chimney, but by water that penetrates the bricks and mortar. The fact that this home is over 125 years old, the chimney is unlined, and the house is directly on the ocean only exacerbates that problem. If The member was indeed having any water issues, then I believe we should have been contacted immediately in order to determine if the damper or the previous work we had done was the cause, however she has never called for over 8 years, nor last year when she was told about the supposed wrong size damper. Since the damper is indeed the correct size for the flue I cannot agree to her resolution of refunding her money. The chimney needs repairing, but the damper is the proper size for the flue."