ComplaintsforSelect Fireplaces Ltd.

• Initial Complaint

  17/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  09/28/23 Select Fireplaces’ (SF) service technician’s vacuum hose came apart while servicing our gas fireplace causing soot to be sent at high velocity into the air, dispersing to all 4 levels of our home. 1 room wasn't affected as door was closed. SF offered No Charge &to send technician to clean. I advised that I had contacted our insurance & a cleaning company. They advised they would contact their insurance. *********, a fire and soot restoration company assessed the damage. All 4 levels were tested with a special chem sponge which shows soot as black, dusts as white/grey. The Master Restorer advised the main concentrations of soot were on basement & main floor levels with lighter soot strikes on upper & sub-basement. The main concentration in the basement was in the fireplace area, where he said the soot clearly originated from & then drifted throughout the home. He said the soot couldn’t have originated from the furnace ducting as there would be even concentrations throughout each level & closed door room would’ve tested positive for soot. Soot coated walls, floors, ceilings & items on all 4 levels of our home. To mitigate damages we stayed in a hotel that night & hired *********. Soot is acidic & corrosive & removal requires proper training equipment &chemicals. The longer it sits-the worse it gets and spreads. By being out of the home and having it cleaned immediately it saved additional damage &associated cleaning costs. Our insurance denied our claim as it was contractor damage. 10/4/23 I emailed SF to advise our insurance wouldn’t cover damage caused by their service technician, & sent cleaning &hotel invoices for reimbursement totaling $4,696.09. 10/12/23 SF emailed (in brief) disbelief that gas fireplaces produce soot, & that it could be dispersed throughout the home, perhaps it was dust, or the soot came from the ducts. Gas fireplaces can produce soot, and it was confirmed to be soot, which was dispersed by high velocity. Ducting wasn’t involved.

  

  Business response

  18/10/2023

  {Further to complaint #20743365 received from *** Oct 18/23 – this response is provided to *** by Select Fireplaces Ltd. on October 18/23}
  
  Thank you for your online email notification today indicating that a consumer has filed complaint #20743365 early this morning with the ****** ******** ****** ** ******* * ******** *******. As an organization who has enjoyed an A+ accreditation rating with *** for decades, we welcome the opportunity to provide you with further information.
  
  Select Fireplaces Ltd.
  (a) Is well aware of this situation and has spent a considerable amount of time investigating the situation and communicating with the customer. Full documentation was sent to the customer the evening of Sept 12/23 via email whereby we kindly asked her to answer 19 questions so that we could move the matter along with the investigation that we had undertaken regarding the incident. Instead of emailing answers to the questions the customer filed a complaint with the ***.

  (b) Does not dispute that there appeared to be soot in the customer’s home. However, we do dispute how and when the “soot out” (as the customer calls it) happened in the home.
  
  Refer to the attached PDF report that provides some further details regarding this matter.
  
  If the customer is unwilling to email Select Fireplaces Ltd. the answers to the questions asked in our correspondence to her on Oct 12/23 further to our investigation of this matter, and if she is unwilling to provide her insurance company information, then we do not see any point to comment about this incident further through online channels.
  
  Select Fireplaces Ltd. would be more than happy to provide *** with the October 12/23 email report, pictures, videos, etc. if you would like to investigate this matter further. In the days ahead, we can also provide findings to *** from our discussions with other restoration companies (discussions will now be undertaken with other restoration companies regarding the information the customer’s restoration company provided in their email to the customer which she provided to *** - today Oct 18/23 – instead of sending it to Select Fireplaces Ltd.)

  Customer response

  19/10/2023

  
  Complaint: 20743365
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I am looking to resolve this issue by being reimbursed for the cleaning and hotel invoices. 

  Our lawyer has advised us to discontinue any further email communication with SF and try to resolve the matter via *** first. I have attached the emailed questions from SF, which I have answered in red.

  Sincerely,
  ***** *****
  

  

  Business response

  26/10/2023

  See attached

  Customer response

  30/10/2023

  
  Complaint: 20743365
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Please see the attached response.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

  Customer response

  30/10/2023

  
  
   
  Complaint: 20743365
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Please see the attached response.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

*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. ↩