ALL AMERICAN CHIMNEY SERVICE

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The estimator, Paul, was very knowledgeable, punctual, and friendly. I chose All American after reviewing two other quotes because of this. Shortly before the job was scheduled to start, the office manager called to confirm that there would be two workers arriving and it would take up to 4 days. I questioned this because Paul had told me it would be a 4 person crew and could be done in 2 days. The lady at the office had also said that when scheduled. But now she argued with me incessantly about this point and basically said that I must be wrong because "it's summer and in the summer we always split the crews." So we argued some more and then she basically said she would do what she could, but no guarantees. As if she's doing me a favor to schedule the job in the way it was quoted? Eventually 4 guys did show up for most of the time to remove the chimney, but it ended up taking the better part of 3 days and I had to argue with the office person some more to keep her from sending two of the guys off to other work. In the end, the estimator also grossly underestimated the amount of work to remove the concrete slab and the crew was clearly not properly equipped to handle such a task. They tried valiantly, but it was clear they didn't have the right tools to do it, so eventually I had to complete that work another way. I consider that the final cost was higher because I had to go elsewhere to get some of the work they estimated completed. Overall I'm left not very happy with these people. The actual workers did fine, although they were not the most respectful or professional laborers I've had around. However the office staff was absolutely terrible and basically unethical, and I don't have much respect for people that run their business such that you have to yell at them to get a satisfactory result. I understand that apparently a lot of the construction industry works this way, but it's horrible. Also, I'm not convinced that the workers are properly trained or equipped to handle tasks that are any more complicated than demolishing a chimney. They were not clean or precise, I wouldn't want them doing any installation or finish work. Everyone there also seemed stressed out about all the jobs that weren't getting done on time or possibly correctly - a clear symptom of bad management.

The annual chimney sweep jobs are well done. They are prompt, efficient, fairly priced, and very clean. For this reason I went with them when I bought a new house and the chimney needed work. At first I was impressed-they sent someone out just to look and give an estimate-he made a good impression. The upper chimney repair work went quickly, although I am not sure if they did everything that I requested. I asked them to make sure that there is a spark arrestor installed and I cannot tell from ground level if there is-and I never did get a straight answer about whether they put one in. I don't plan to climb onto my roof to check, so next time when I have the chimney swept I'll go with a different company and ask them to check. They installed a stove insert and did a decent job. They had to come back three times to finish installing it, the first two times they didn't have all the parts that they needed. It was hard to get some straight answers regarding the product and I am still luke-warm about whether I like it or not. They never did follow up to check on how satisfied I was with the work and for this reason I am not sure that I will use them again.

It took about 5 minutes for the guy to complete the service. He said it was already pretty clean, but I felt ripped off for the amount of time it actually took for the serviceman to complete the work.

At 1pm on that day I called to see where they were and the lady said they would be there in a few. At 2pm I called the office and they said he was 7 minutes away. Unfortunately I had already taken 2 hours off work to meet them so I told them I would have to reschedule. Then they left a voice mail saying they could be there on some day in the future. I didn't call them back but they still showed up and left a note on the door. I went with another company.

VERY CLEAN WORK, THE EMPLOYEE PAUL, PUT SOCKS ON BEFORE ENTERING MY HOME AND DID THE WORK VERY QUICK AND ON TIME. I WOULD SAY I WAS EXTREMELY PLEASED.