Let There Be Light Chimney Sweep

"Water leaking problems can be a real heart breaker, because there are often multiple causes and a thorough investigation is always necessary to be relatively sure that a proposed cure will work. Often, the cost of an industry standard, diagnostic, Level II inspection is offset by a reduced estimate for the corrective measures, but every situation varies. To read her post, it would seem that I was intentionally coming out to do her harm, instead of trying to be of help. She agreed on the phone to a fully explained Level II inspection, as a prerequisite to an estimate. The amount of time and painstaking effort that it takes to perform a Level II inspection makes it a loss leader. In other words, I could have been somewhere else doing a routine chimney sweeping, which often takes less time. Life is too short; I hold no animosity toward the member and, subsequently, I was very glad that I hadn’t entered into a contractual agreement with her. Prior to leaving, I informed her that I was rescinding my estimate and that I forgave her debt to me, however, I did tell her that I had expected more integrity. While driving away, I recalled that the member was a college professor. I only hope that her vulnerable college students are afforded more grace, when she grades their papers, then she extended toward me. I was grateful that I had dodged a bullet …well, almost."

"In my opinion, your carefully considered word should always be your bond. I’m still astounded that I fell for the old “Good Cop, Bad Cop” routine. In a nutshell, I gave a ballpark estimate to the member for a stainless steel, heater flue, chimney liner, till she could tell me what new appliance choices she was going to make. Six months later, she called to say that she wanted to go ahead with the liner, and I agreed to the same price. Two months later, she sent a small deposit and I commenced to order the liner and some very expensive, custom, stainless steel parts, specifically for her 1840’s vintage, extremely tall, row house in downtown Philadelphia, PA. She was the “Good Cop.” Incredibly, less than 2 days before the installation, her husband called and began to complain about price, based on what I knew to be several faulty assumptions. He staggered me, because he had had over 8 months (more than 240 days) to consider my offer, or to choose another company, but now he wanted to talk price, long after a signed, written, binding contract was in effect. I was so close to “cutting bait” and throwing away the custom parts, but I relented due to his effusively gratuitous promises to highly recommend me to his associates, if I would just put the liner in for less. In retrospect, I should have had my head examined for lowering the already bargain price, since he ostensibly never planned on keeping his word to me anyhow. On installation day, nobody got to see the amazing amount of work it took to do this job, because neither of the owners was there, however, the live-in housekeeper was on hand to let me in. I can’t believe that I extracted a rotted and jammed, nearly 5-story, metal liner and replaced it with new stainless steel, in addition to all the expensive custom parts and multiple connections, for so little, but at least I had a satisfied customer, or so I thought. Obviously, he was the “Bad Cop. While he should have nominated me for sainthood, he gave me less than stellar grades. In the end, I learned that all he wanted was excellent work for free and that my live-in housekeeper is my wife."