ComplaintsforAnderson's Chimney Sweeps, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On November 20, 2022 I had a chimney fire. My insurance adjuster **** ****** stated that Anderson's had a good reputation so I called them. On November 23, ***** ******** ( Anderson Chimneys) came to my house. I had only requested an estimate for a chimney liner, cleaning , inspection and cost to fix the stones on the chimney. ***** told me that they could not re-hook up my pellet stove, as it would not be up to "code". I insisted that I did not want an insert and he told me they would not fix the chimney without an insert as it would not meet "code". I then contacted my insurance adjuster **** ****** and he told me to get the estimate as the insurance company would cover the cost if it was needed to meet code. ***** was in his truck writing up the estimate and I went out to tell him to include an insert in the quote. I was informed the pellet stove would be installed after they received the 50% deposit. I did keep contacting ******* regarding the status of the insurance check to make the deposit. ******* informed me they had a pellet stove in the warehouse and not to worry. I even paid to have the insurance check overnighted to the mortgage check company and included another to overnight it back. On December 20, 2022 I went in to give ******* the check and was informed they would order the stove that day. They said they had sold the one in the warehouse 2 days prior. On January 16, 2023 after several calls to see when the stove would be in, I was informed it was backordered until June 2023 and would I agree to a different one that cost less. I agreed and went to sign the new agreement. I had already researched a chimney cap because I felt $619 is outrageous, They are on ****** for $57.00. I crossed it off the invoice, initialed what I crossed out, and had ******* re-calculate the total. At this point they already had a $5000 deposit. On February 28th the unit was installed. The technicians installed the chimney cap without my knowledge as I had a friend at the house for the install. I had a prior obligation. She said she never saw them install it as I had told her not to let them install one. On January 30th, 2023 I called to complain that the handle on the stove was broke and the stove would not stay closed. It kept popping open. It was hard to get open and closed and the lever was catching on the gasket. I was informed they could not come for 2 weeks. I told them again is is a burn and fire hazard. They told me they would be out on Feb 9th. ***** Thompson showed up on the 9th. After I explained what was wrong he knelt in front of the stove and said very loudly "Did you press the handle in?" At that point he was starting to upset me so I went to my bedroom and on my was stated. Please remove the chimney cap. ***** got up and yelled you have to keep the cap. It will void the warranty. I told him I was not paying for it. He said he was not doing any work for me and said you will have to sign a paper stating that the warranty will be voided without the chimney cap and walked out. Andersons' reschedule the repair 3 more times. And at that point I was worried they were trying to get past a 30 day warranty period, so I filed with the Attorney General's Office. First their are no codes requiring an insert and even thought I told him the fire chief stated I could still use it, he kept saying it would not be up to code. I felt threatened and intimidated. At no time did Anderson's offer the chimney cap for free. Second there is no requirement for a chimney cap in PA, Silver Spring Township, nor in the warranty. I filed a complaint with the Attorney Generals office and Anderson made a statement that I made racial slurs against brown reservists. This is not true I am a Veteran of the US ****. There is much more to this story but, it will not fit in this area.

  Business response

  03/20/2023

  Good morning! I have replied to **********Complaint in an attached file. I have included the response and all supporting material from the manufacturer. Please contact me if you should need any additional information from us.  In addition to our Rebudal, we would like to request documentation from her local codes department along with documentation from the local fire chief supporting her mentioned statements. 

  Customer response

  03/28/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:This company uses the word "code"  to imply that there are local codes you need to meet.  They also provided the warranty that does not require a chimney cap. nor does the local and state codes.  I am including my response to the PA Attorney General's office. If you do not do as they say and buy what they want, they install items you do not want and try to charge you for them.  I am a Woman Veteran, Senior Citizen, and Disabled.  I was going through an ordeal due to a chimney fire.  They tried to intimidate me, and bully me into paying $619.00 for a chimney cap that I can buy for less than $150.00.  

  
  

  They installed the chimney cap after many times telling them I did not want it.  and then responded It is already installed.  See my response to the Attorney Generals Office.
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************
  

  Business response

  04/03/2023

  Good morning! We give estimates that will take an install from complete to finish. Finish meaning cap is also installed to seal the warranty by the manufacturer. We do not force anyone to sign or go forward with every detail on the estimate. The customer agreed to the entire estimate at first. After the 2nd estimate was written up for the new unit(original unit was not available) she was able to cross the multi-flue cap out of the estimate. Our main concern here was her education on why the cap was so important. She was not forced to pay for the cap. The techs only installed the cap because she was not home to be educated on why it was important and to sign off that her decision to wave the cap installation. Not having a cap could cause damage to her unit and would void the manufacture warranty. We never forced an invoice on her because we made the decision to install the cap due to her not being present at the install appointment. We needed to make sure she was fully educated on the importance of the cap before we left home with the install marked as completed without a chimney cap present. We provided her with a multi chimney cap due to the size of her chimney itself. Multi-flue chimney caps are more expensive than a standard cap. It is true, you can find chimney caps for less than what we sell them for on your typical amazon website. But the quality is different, and we also warranty our caps. So, if anything was to happen, we would re-install or replace their cap at no additional charge. We promote and supply an exceptional service to our customers with more than standard quality inventory. We stand behind our products and we are here to serve our customers /community with an above and beyond experience. If a customer should have a bad experience, we will do what it takes to correct it. This customer never called us once we fixed her door handle and resurfaced her chimney crown to address any concerns. If she would have, we definitely would have made sure we took care of her in a way we could agree on as a company and her being our customer. 

  Customer response

  04/03/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  They do not address the fact of misleading information regarding "codes"  that do not exist in order to have the insurance company and me to purchase a new insert.  False allegations of making comments regarding reservists in order to slander my character and the fact that when a home owner says no, it means no.  They were not educating me, they were bullying me and attempting to intimidate me.  I just want this practice to stop so others do not have to go through this.  I was so upset and scared of them, that my therapist at the VA stated they were just bullying me and to stand up to them.  I can install my own chimney cap when the chimney is fixed this spring.  I do not want others to be yelled at or items installed without permission.  I was so scared, I asked multiple people to be here when they came.  They should not use words like "code" without showing the codes involved.  ( there are not codes in PA or local that demand an insert).  And if a customer says no, the matter should be dropped.

  Please have them aware of this request and them sign a document to avoid this in the future.  Thankyou
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩