Description

We had a chimney that needed to be cleaned so I contacted Mr-Chimney by phone after searching for chimney sweeping companies on my cell phone. A technician from Mr-Chimney came out on 11/1/24 and supposedly repaired the cap of our chimney and then attempted to clean our chimney but we were told he could not get it cleaned. We were charged $1365 for the service and I reluctantly paid him using my Discover card. After he left, i checked their website and it said they were NCSG certified and that their service was Satisfaction Guaranteed. My husband called them back because we weren't satisfied and was told they could come back out and clean our chimney for another $1250. They said they would need to do a chemical cleaning and would need to order the chemical first. On 11/6/24 I checked my Discover account and noticed fraudulent activity appeared on the date of 11/1/24. This was in addition to the $1365 charge from the chimney company. Also noticed that the company name they used to bill my Discover account was MN Chimney - not MR Chimney. On 11/6/2024 I noticed a fraud alert the BBB website regarding an imposter chimney sweep company posing as Minnesota Chimney. The alert is pasted below. Alert: According to information provided by consumers, an unknown party is running ads online for chimney cleaning in Minnesota, identifying itself when pressed as "Minnesota Chimney." But these ads are *not* being placed by Minnesota Chimney. It appears this entity is using Minnesota Chimney's name and reputation to solicit business, communicate with consumers exclusively via text or instant message, then have a less reputable third party show up and perform poor quality work. (Some consumers report a truck with “Rapid Services” on it showing up with a Shop-Vac.) If you are currently in communication with a company you believe to be Minnesota Chimney via text, BBB urges extreme caution. The ‘real’ Minnesota Chimney can be reached at 612-806-6970. If you have already paid money to the ‘imposter’ business, you may wish to dispute charges through your bank / credit card, and submit a report at bbb.org/scamtracker. I have several phone numbers for the Mr. Chimney company. 800-257-3214; 866-823-7520; 612-682-7521; 844-592-1764; 313-924-3532; 651-395-4214. It seems they have phone reps working from their homes in various states that schedule the service in the US. Some states the reps are in: Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI and Texas just to name a few. When I called Mr-Chimney today and asked for an address for the business, none of the numbers I called could provide me with a company address nor was there a business address on the receipt that was texted to me. Today I called a different chimney sweeping company that is BBB certified and was told they could clean my chimney for just $189. This BBB certified company said they have never had a chimney that they could not clean without using chemicals. This is certainly a lot less than the $1250 that Mr-Chimney wants for coming back out. Mr-Chimney will not be getting another penny from me. I just hope no one else gets scammed by them.