Reviews

This profile includes reviews for A Step In Time Chimney Sweeps's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  A Step In Time Chimney Sweeps

  696 S Rosemont Rd Virginia Beach, VA 23452-4032

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  A Step In Time Chimney Sweeps

  5125 Chowan Ave Alexandria, VA 22312-2006

Review Details

• Review fromAlicia B

  Date: 08/01/2024

  1 star

  Alicia B

  Date: 08/01/2024

  I tried to schedule an inspection and cleaning with this company and they were very difficult to get ahold of. Once I made contact and scheduled everything, I couldn’t get ahold of them to reschedule due to a work conflict. I am Active Duty Air Force and can’t guarantee to be home during normal work hours. I attempted to call them multiple times to reschedule and they never returned my voicemail. The owner called the morning of and told me he was on the way and I relayed that I called to reschedule and never heard back. He told me to call back later to get back on the books. When I called to reschedule later that day, he was very short and very very ignorant on the phone. He was extremely unprofessional and rude, to the point that I said to take me off the books and I’ll find someone else to do it. He then texted me threatening texts insinuating he knows where I live and “to remember that”. I recommend finding another company that is professional and reliable because this certainly is not it!

  A Step In Time Chimney Sweeps

  Date: 08/02/2024

  HI Mrs. B******* I can understand your disappointment and I am sorry to hear of your bad experience. However, the company you are referring to is A Step in Time Maryland LLC. While they may have a similar name, the owner and the company is different than this company. ******* ***** owns A Step in Time Maryland LLC and I (Ray Gessner) own A STep in Time in Virginia. Can you please remove this review from the Virginia page and place on the Maryland page. Our company is not a franchise and so unfortunately, the only way to punish his action is to place the bad review on his company BBB profile. Thanks in advance and I am sorry to hear that you had this bad experience.

• Review fromMichelle M

  Date: 10/25/2023

  5 stars
  Great customer service and care. Andrew came out to our property, looked over both fireplaces and gave us the best strategies for moving forward. Looking forward to moving forward with the recommended work to prolong the life of our chimney and fireplace. I couldn't be happier with the way that I was treated and the fair pricing. Thank you again!

• Review fromEdna W

  Date: 07/25/2023

  1 star

  Edna W

  Date: 07/25/2023

  If I could give this company a 0 it would be most befitting. Long story short , I contracted A Step In Time for an inspection of chimney and/or cleaning if needed and a dryer vent cleaning. The technician conducted a level 1 inspection and sweep. Found gaps in smoke chamber which presented a hazar and Recommended I Do Not use fireplace until fixed. I contracted A Step In Time to do the work so recommended by the tech but I am so sorry I did not get a second opinion. I was charged $ ****** to parge gaps in smoke Chamber; ******* Grin and repaint motar joints (not done) $****** PMP flex Crown and ******* waterproof chimney ( not done) plus $****** for chimney inspection and $****** for dryer Vent cleaning-over $* ******** ******* I was charged by A Step in Time. Disappointed with the services performed by A Step In Time chimney sweep, I reached out to the owner of company several times but he was no help at all, EVEN after stating he was going to send someone to inspect the work done he DID NOT send anyone. In sum, this is the worst company I have ever done business with; POOR customer service, overcharging customers, and not providing services so contracted to provide. I feel I was ripped off by A step In Time. I WOULD NOT in good conscience recommend A Step In Time Chimney Sweep Company to perform Chimney services to anyone. .

  A Step In Time Chimney Sweeps

  Date: 07/31/2023

  Dear homeowner, Thank you for sharing your concerns. We are always looking for opportunities to improve. First, I want to sincerely apologize for the poor service you received. I’m not sure where we dropped the ball on contacting you to send another technician out to recheck your repairs, but I can assure you that I will be having our office contact you this week to set that appointment up. Regarding your concerns about the work, I have reviewed the photos from your job, and I fully agree that the service done to your home does not meet the standards we have for our technicians. However, I see no indication that we failed to provide the services we were contracted for. Prior to our repairs, your mortar joints had moss growth, large gaps, and chunks of mortar sticking out between several bricks. Again, I fully agree that the repair could have been performed to a much higher quality, but I feel that your before and after photos make it obvious that the repair was at least performed. Waterproofing is a difficult one. It’s designed to be fully clear and soak into the brick, which means you really can’t tell if it’s applied to a chimney or not just by looking at the chimney. Generally, we have our technicians video themselves applying it as proof that the work is done. Since I don’t see that for your job, I have no proof that the waterproofing was or was not applied, so we will happily reapply it for you. I will also address your pricing concerns. I’ll be the first to admit that we are not the cheapest company out there, but I also believe that you get what you pay for. Looking up pricing is difficult. You are getting a national average of what users on the website report being charged or what the companies they work with say they charge. The issue is there are so many different variables. As you are likely well aware, you live in a high cost of living area. That means that it costs us more to hire technicians, buy our trucks, fuel our trucks, pay our taxes, and handle a whole bunch of other costs associated with running our business. It’s simply not possible for us to charge the same price that a single truck company in a rural, low cost of living area charges, but their low cost still brings down the average price you see. Something else to consider is experience. Many of the companies bringing down the average prices you see are small operations desperate for work. A brand new, unlicensed company has to charge a lot less than we do as a class A contractor with over 25 years of experience to get customers. Part of our pricing is our reputation. We charge more than the smaller companies because you can trust that we will still be in business if you have a problem next year. Building that name and generating the leads to stay in business requires a heavy amount of advertising that also influences our pricing. Finally, you have to look at the materials a company is using. We use the best products available that are specially designed for chimneys. For example, our water sealer has a 10-year manufacturer warranty and is *** for a one-gallon container, and our crown sealant product has a 20-year manufacturer warranty and costs over $*** for a 5-gallon container. If we charged $100 to waterproof a two story chimney, we would be losing money on material alone. Please reach out to us if you have any further concerns, and be on the lookout for a call from our office this week to set up a recheck appointment. Again, I greatly apologize for the issues with your service. Thank you, A Step in Time

• Review fromCydney L

  Date: 12/02/2022

  1 star
  We called A Step in Time out for a chimney inspection and were told that the chimney was at risk of seriously damaging our house and needed nearly ***** in repairs just to use it safely. Luckily we declined and got a second opinion after seeing reviews online because apparently our chimney was completely safe to use and only required some moss cleaning on the crown (****). This business tried to completely rip us off for the tune of thousands of dollars.

• Review fromCheryl O

  Date: 11/19/2022

  1 star

  Cheryl O

  Date: 11/19/2022

  I requested and scheduled a cleaning and inspection for a home I was purchasing. Technician did not clean the unit prior to inspecting. I was told that the entire unit needed to be replaced with a pre-fab unit for ********** I asked how he could adequately inspect the unit to make that determination prior to cleaning the unit. He told me that there was no point in cleaning the unit because I could not use my fireplace safely after cleaning. I was charged a ****** fee for his "inspection." I got another local reputable company to also clean and inspect after A Step in Time had come out. I was told by the second company that the internal damage was minimal, did not have to be repaired, but that they would repair small rusted area and two small cracks in the pit for approximately ******* if I wanted them repaired. They cleaned the unit prior to inspection. I would NOT recommend A Step in Time Chimney Sweeps. It was obvious that the Technician did not want to clean the unit. He arrived early as had reportedly finished his previous appointments early.

  A Step In Time Chimney Sweeps

  Date: 11/22/2022

  Hi, I am very sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Our policy is to not charge for a cleaning if it cannot be used. Our inspection price for your service was **** That simply paid for the service, gas, report and such. You were purchasing the home, and we were protecting you, or at least informing you what we viewed as a problem. I have been in the chimney industry for over 25 years. You stated that the other company stated they could repair the rust they found inside your fireplace. The rust comes from a leaking chase cover, and the outer pipe of your liner is rusting first. When it rusts through to the inner pipe, then you can see the rust. Basically, your liner has rusted through. These units have a 20 year limited warranty, and your house is over 30 years old. Please don't be upset at us because we are trying to protect your family from a fire hazard.