I paid ER $135 to sweep and inspect my chimney. They claimed my chimney had cracks, gaps, damage to a "shifted" tile in the 5th row, and is unsafe to use, writing a $4775 estimate for repair.
I hired a 2nd certified chimney company to inspect, without saying anything to them about ER's findings. This 2nd company found my chimney to be in perfect working order - and after I revealed what ER had claimed was wrong the owner came and looked at it a second time to be sure (for no extra charge), as did a carpenter. All these inspections verified my chimney is in perfect working order.
Incidentally, there are only 4 rows of tiles, so obviously there can be no damage to a 5th row, nor gaps between the 4th and 5th rows of tiles as ER claimed, since no 5th row exists!
Additionally, I was told in the follow-up inspections that my chimney, particularly the smoke box, still needs to be swept - and this was 3 days after ER had supposedly done so. 2 men from ER were inside my house "inspecting" while a 3rd man was on the roof to sweep. I was told he was in training although he was up there alone. I never saw any brushes, nor did they sweep the smoke box from inside my house.
And another warning, which I learned the hard way: BBB ratings mean less than nothing, the best and only thing you can do is to ignore them.
Despite submitting proof to BBB with pictures showing only 4 rows of tiles, and the report from the subsequent inspections that my chimney is fine shape (NOT in need of any repairs) BBB closed the case saying it was a "he said, she said" situation. So ER Chimney maintains their VERY misleading "A+" BBB rating. ER really deserves an "F-."
BBB offered me an option to pay $75 and go into arbitration with an ER representative. Of course, I do not want to spend more time and money especially after I've already submitted all the proof that should be reasonably needed to show BBB that ER failed miserably in every way possible to render the services I paid for, that I deserve a refund, and ER deserves a much lower rating. So BBB failed miserably with their supposed mission of informing and protecting consumers. I give them an F- also.
ER has refused to refund the $135 I paid for (supposedly) sweeping and their bogus inspection. Now I still have to pay a legitimate, honest company to sweep, and have already had to pay for the 2nd-opinion inspection.
SO CONSUMERS BEWARE: Avoid ER Chimney Services!!! (also listed as ER Chimney and Hearth in Dundalk, Maryland) Also, don't trust BBB ratings! read more
