I called this company requesting a service call, as I could not get my five year old gas fireplace to light. I had not used the fireplace for over two years due to this issue.
I had called Biltmore Hearth and Home (who originally installed the fireplace) several times over the past two years, with no response.
The woman who did finally call back advised me that, in the event my fireplace started right up when they tried it, I would still be charged the $125 service call. I understood and agreed.
The four (!) gentleman who came to perform a service call on my fireplace were friendly and polite. Sure enough, Phil was able to start up the stove immediately. They were in my home less than five minutes.
I did not balk at paying the $125 service call, as I had agreed to do so.
I was able to get the fireplace to ignite on my own after that, but the stove would automatically shut off after running for 25-30 minutes. This happened each time I ran it.
I called BHH to report this issue. I was not given a service call appointment until over a month later. I was advised that the igniter box might need to be changed out, necessitating a charge. I understood that. I was also told that, on the original call, I had not reported that the stove turned off, just that it would not start up.
I responded that there was no way I could know it would shut off, if I could not even get it to light.
The other day (of course, in late April when I no longer need to run the stove) the guys (three this time) showed up for the service. Again, very friendly and polite.
Phil asked me how long it'd been since the stove had been cleaned. It had never been cleaned. He took some pieces apart, cleaned the dust and adjusted the pipe leading into the stove (saying that a back draft might be causing the shutdowns). They waited for 25 minutes to make sure there was no automatic shut down, which there was not.
I received a call telling me I would be charged $85 (less than the first charge of $125) for this service call, plus tax. I responded that it would have made sense for the repairmen to have checked the stove for dust, and to adjust the pipe, on the original call. That way, there would not have been a need to make the second call. I was told they did not know the stove would shut down - and I repeated that, of course, I did not know that either, as I had been unable to get it to light.
I asked to speak with a Jason, manager, who did acknowledge that he and the bosses had discussed my situation. They determined that their service team should ask more questions of clients, so as to avoid a situation like this from happening to future customers. I told him that is very nice that future customers would benefit from my experience, but that I have no benefit from this experience.
I asked Jason to please bring my situation once more to the bosses, and to consider dropping the fee, due to the circumstance. He responded that they had spent enough time discussing my 'case', and would not bring it up again.
I am giving the company two stars rather than one, out of respect to the the gentlemen who came for the service call. However, in my head the management team rates zero stars. read more
