Chimney Cricket Inc

I had them come out and measure for a chimney cap.  They did not come during the set time window.  I called the following week to set another appt.  I was told they came at a different time and the cost would be $200 to put a chimney cap on.  I agreed and scheduled a date two weeks later.   The technician showed up 30 minutes out of the 4 hour window and said he would not be able to do it because he did not have the correct size cap.  The office called a few days later and said the special size i needed would be double and they would need a $200 deposit.  She estimated 1 month for the special size to arrive.  6 weeks later we scheduled another install.  This time, the technician arrived within the window, but still the cap was the wrong size.  The estimate this time was an additional $100.  Each time it was a different tech and I lost confidence in their ability to do the job.  I called another company that was prompt and professional.  I asked them to cancel and refund my money.  Still have not seen the refund come through.  I will have to deny the charge on my credit card.

I would tell someone to go ahead with them. Get estimates first and have them detail the work with what you want to have done. They were young people who came out and they were very receptive to what I had to say.

I have used this company several times and always been very happy with the work and the prices. They offer the services that are necessary and do not try to sell extras that are not necessary. Always a good exprerience.
This time the chimney needed to be tuckpointed and sealed.  It has not leaked since.

The first week of November 2011, we hired Chimnee Cricket (out of the Grand Rapids, MI office) to convert 2 wood fireplaces to gas.  They promised completion by Thanksgiving, which they did put in writing on their contract.  The project was not completed until the last week of February, 2012 (after countless phone calls and emails initiated by me).  We were constantly lied to about why the project was not complete  (the doors aren't in, the logs aren't in, etc...).  Unfortunately we made the mistake of not reading the fine print on the contract which stated we would have to pay for the project even if we canceled it, and if we opted to sue them, we would have to pay for their lawyers as well as ours, and all court costs including theirs (obviously if we read this we would have known this company had a lot of issues).  So when we tried to cancel and told them we were going to have someone else do the project, they threatened to sue us.  After contacting the owner of the company, based in Ohio, we did get the project completed quickly along with a discounted price.  Ironically after all that waiting, the office manager showed up on the final day of completing the project to collect a check, even though the contractors were not even done yet, as a matter of fact it was only after about an hour of them being here.  I told her we would not be paying the bill until everything was completed and we knew it worked.  I also asked if she had an invoice and knew our final total (after the discounts from the owner) and she did not.  I told her to email me an invoice.  She called the following morning "requesting" payment by phone immediately.  I checked my email and of course the invoice was incorrect as she overcharged me.  I emailed her back telling her it was not correct, and once I got the correct invoice, sent them a payment.  On a positive note, the contractors they hired to perform the work did an outstanding job.

They were very quick and professional. They did not see any problems and charged us only a small amount for the visit. They provided information about what they were looking for and were very informative. We would use them again.

We were very satisfied with his work and would highly recommend him to others.

Great

I think it was pretty clean.  I had someone else look at it and he didn’t think they did too much because they didn’t clean a ledge that you can see once you open the flue.  It was a pretty clean chimney.  I asked them to follow up with me on new chimney doors, but no one followed up with me.  However, I do think their price was good.

They were fast at getting an estimate to me.  They did good work.  I would recommend them.

Poorly

Fireplace had been converted for gas by previous owner and was unusable in prior state. Had an estimate to restore to wood burning condition. Estimate included cleaning, patching and installation of new damper. I thought I needed a liner to burn wood based on my understanding from the previous owner, so I was prepared for that to be included in the estimate. I was, however, assured that a liner was unnecessary based on the condition of my chimney--much to my delight. The service was performed promptly and very much to my satisfaction. Would highly recommend.

The initial work was performed by Don Bennight and a helper.  He completed the partial tear down and rebuild of the fireplace chimney on 11/28/2011.  Due to issues with the weather, Don could not come back until 12/2/2011 to do the complete tear down and rebuild of the other chimney along with the installation of the aluminum chimney liner.

Due to the fact our water heater and furnace are on opposite sides of the chimney in the basement Don had to run a long connection from the water heater to connect with the larger furnace vent.  Not knowing much about HVAC connections and their proper installation I thought the job was complete.  In hindsight I should have realized that securing the piping with aluminum tape and sealing the old water heater vent hole with the same tape was not acceptable.  Along with the fact that because Don connected everything to the existing vent hole part of the piping ran in a downward angle.

The next morning 12/3/2011 I went downstairs to find all of the water heater vent piping laying on the floor.  I don?t know how long it was disconnected but this was a serious CO (carbon monoxide) poisoning risk.  We called Ida at Chimney Cricket immediately and she had Don out within 3 hours to re-do the venting connections and seal up the old vent hole with cement.  While he did use fasteners to connect the pipes as well as securing the connection to the floor beams in the basement ceiling the downward angle remained.  My father-in-law saw the job and was appalled at the safety issue cause by the downward angle in the venting and told us this needed correction immediately as he feared for our safety.

My husband contacted Chimney Cricket asking to speak to the owner Jon Cerrito he was told that Mr. Cerrito lives in Florida so he spoke to Dean Angle the general manager to express our dissatisfaction with the work and concerns about CO poisoning.  Dean said he would come out right away to inspect the work and asked for the chance to make it right.  Dean came to the house on 12/9/2011 and as soon as he saw the venting connections he shook his head and confirmed the work was not acceptable nor was it up to code.  Lucky for us the gases from the water heater were venting properly and there was no CO risk, but the work needed to be re-done.  He inspected the masonry work and made the comment that Don is a good mason but obviously needs training on chimney liner installation.

Dean came back on 12/12/2011 with 2 helpers to re-do the work.  In order to have all the piping run in an upward angle he had to create a new higher hole in the chimney to connect everything to.  He used screws and tape to secure all the pipes as well as connecting them with supports to the floor beams and clothes chute.  Dean apologized several times for the problems and thanked us for letting him make it right.  He explained that because they use contractors it is difficult to find good workers and while Don is a great mason he is obviously not property trained in the installation of chimney liners, which he will have to address.

We are satisfied that the work is now safe and complete (confirmed by an inspection by our HVAC contractor).  If you are considering this company for work be aware that it is a franchise and the actual owner lives in Florida.  I think Dean Angle, the general manager is doing the best he can with the workers available to him.  I would probably use them again for chimney masonry but not for anything too complicated.  Overall this was a fair experience.

Service person arrived at specified time.  He brought all appropriate equipment.  He performed the above services on a timely and thorough manner.  He was pleasant.

They called me and setup an estimate date and time within a day or so of my inquiry.  They showed up to do the work in a timely manor and completed the job as quickly as could be expected.  They even checked back after a few hours to make sure cement was settling properly.  All in all they were A+.

The first appointment they did not show up for, so I made a second appointment and they also did not show up.

I selected this company for a second opinion based on it's Angie's List recommendation.  They seemed helpful over the telephone but failed to show up for their scheduled appointment.  When I contacted them they had a somewhat reasonable excuse and were willing to reschedule.  A few days prior to my next appointment they called asking to reschedule again.  They failed to show up this morning for the new appointment.  When I called to inquire what happened I was told that she called yesterday and left me a message.  THIS WAS A LIE!  This company may do good work, if they ever show up.  Chimney repair is too expensive to use an unreliable company and I am now going to find someone else.

The guy came in when I wasn’t here and he put something inside the box and I couldn’t talk about it that day.  It was a free estimate.  He seemed to be a nice guy.  He made an appointment and came on time.  He wasn’t late or anything like that.  I would consider him for an estimate in the future.        

See above.

We decided we would choose another company.

In case members don't want to read the entire story and only read the first sentence or two here is... this is a terrible company that will never be given a third chance to waste my time. The full story: I found this company on Angie's list and use them at least 3 times without much complaint. This is not a very difficult job, we're talking about shoving a wire broom up a chimney until it's clean. All they have to do is show up on time and do the job. Last year ( 2009) my wife agreed to wait at the house for the appointment while I was at work. I was on the phone with her four minutes after 1 PM and there was a note on the door from the worker stating he was there at 1 and that he was not going to wait all day! (that had to be a joke, a contractor upset that we had them wait for 4 mins! ) I refused to use them in 09 for that stunt and this year I thought I would give them another chance. I thought it would be smart to call them in the middle of the summer when they couldn't possibly be busy and I wouldn't have to deal with any BS from these guys. I made an appointment a week at a time and they told me I would have to wait between 8AM and 10:00 AM for this sweep to show up. Eight o'clock, nine o'clock, 10 o'clock came and went without a chimney sweep. I went and checked my answering machine only to see a message from the from their secretary alleging that the sweep had called and couldn't get a hold of me. Total and complete BS! She wanted to know if I would like to reschedule that coming Tuesday. ( a full week from the day of service) I pressed her hard to explain to me why I was being bumped and then would have to wait an additional week for them to come out. She gave me no legitimate answer other than he was busy. I wasted all morning sitting around my house waiting for to show up and they stood me up. I will never give this company another opportunity to screw me over again. I assumed the first time was an anomaly and it would never happen again. I could not have been more wrong. I would rather get coal miners lung and do it myself and give these guys another chance to jerk me around. Call another chimney sweep if you need this service. Dan Miller, Chesterland Ohio

The cleaning was fine. They were late but someone called. The inspection showed I needed some work. Their estimate was $1900.00+. I obtained other companies on Angie's List and got a second opinion. He did find the same problems but his estimate was $860.00. Needless to say I did not have Chimney Cricket do the work. They also used some rather heavy handed techniques to try to get me to immediately schedule-like saying the chimney was about to fall through the roof! I had used them before and was a little suspicious of their recommendations and prices. I should have listened to my instincts. The previously recommended work I never did have done and they didn't find it this time!

They did some tuck pointing inside the fireplace. It is a specialized cement used to seal cracks that appear in older fireplaces. The job went well. They held up the price for 6 months for me. They lived up to their assessment. I was looking for a fireplace insert and I found them in the phone book. I found out that he cleaned chimneys as well. So I asked him to clean it. While cleaning the chimney, he found several places which needed tuck pointing. He mentioned it to me and I asked him to do it.

I was not really impressed with their work. They missed a few spots and I had to inspect and tell them to cover those spots. Their pricing was reasonable and they were pretty responsive and punctual.

They were very good. He took care of the cracks in the top of the chimney and did an all over inspection.

I had used them twice to clean my chimney for the last 2 years. They called me up this year to check if I wanted to use their services this year too. I agreed and they sent a guy to check it out. When he checked my chimney he found two flues and told me he would have to charge me a different price. I told the guy to leave as I was not happy with the price change. Then I had the owner on the phone and explained the problem to him. He immediately decided to personally come down and check my chimney. When he did he decided to charge me the same price that I paid for the last 2 years. I had a problem with his company and he fixed it. I was very pleased with his professionalism. My complaint was sorted out perfectly.