Description

A man from "Speedy Chimney, Inc" presented to our house after we scheduled an appointment with this company by calling a telephone number on google. We found this business by searching for chimney sweep companies in our area. When he arrived, he said he had to drive a long way to get to my house although my house is located in the same city where the business was supposedly located. The individual seemed to have no knowledge of chimneys but insisted that I needed to have >$1500 worth of work done. He came in an unmarked car, not in a uniform, did not say his name, and did not provide his name on the paperwork he provided. He also did not tell me what company he was from and all paperwork he referenced did not have the name of any company. After briefly looking at the fireplace, he stated that major repairs needed to be done immediately - so I expected this would take him a few hours and that he would use bricks and mortar to repair the chimney that was cited by him as in "unusable condition" He proceeded to go out to his forest green jeep, get some caulk, and then apply caulk haphazardly on the roof and inside the chimney for about 30 minutes. He then insisted that I pay him on on Zelle for a cleaning ($399), and internal repair ($375), and an external repair ($749). When I stated I did not have Zelle, he hesitantly agreed to take a check. He stated "I don't like to take checks because people cancel them". I told him the price (>$1500) was more than I wanted to pay and he stated that he could give me a student discount. This brought the total down to $1390 with tax. He then asked me to make the check out to him personally and stated his name was Daniel. I made the check out to him and after handing it to me, he asked me to sign a piece of paper saying I had paid. This paper, in the fine print, says that even though services were performed, the fireplace is not fire ready and that this does not count as an inspection. On google, this business is verified as licensed and insured and I no longer feel that is the case based on the paper provided at the end of the visit. I did not feel comfortable withholding payment from him in person as a woman alone in my house with him, but I never should have paid for this service. I cancelled the check the next day and this "business" did not receive my payment. This business has many, short, 5-star reviews but a few 1-star reviews that describe an experience very similar to mine. I suspect that many of the good reviews are fake as they are very short. I should have paid closer attention to this before the service was booked.