Went into the store, immediately serviced. We got down to business with replacing a non-working fireplace insert. The sales lady took down the details and I let her know we may be back. No excessive pressure to buy now or anything. We came back and just finalized things including schedule of install.
First objective, have a Fireside assessor come out and confirm all the dimensions and setup. This guy was professional, offered options and again, no pressure on the options. I wanted the higher quality fireplace and this meant opening up my brick. Yes, it added to the cost (about $400), but the gentleman did not try to "sell" me either way. My decision.
We received an email with all the dates and times of install (the process is for all these companies - install all the components, get city inspector to review, then finish the installation with hookup). There were NO surprises around this.
At time of first visit, the Chimney Doctors arrived promptly and did there work quick. The installers were lined up right after them, but didn't arrive right away to take the old fireplace out. No problem, the Chimney Doctors took care of it and continued. Fireside guys came in and did quick work. Signed the papers, scheduled City inspector to come same day - all done by the crew.
City inspector came out the same day. He was a pain in the ____ and stated the gas valve had to be moved - even though the gas line that they hooked up to has been there with no issues before. I think the City inspector was mad about his troubles getting up my driveway. Inspector said he would contact Fireside.
Final hookup, I go up to the installer while he was working and asked him if the City Inspector contacted them to tell them about the adjustments needed... he did not contact them. No worries... Fireside installer contacted his boss, they finished the job and scheduled to get the gas line moved.
Same crew comes over that did the original install and they couldn't believe why they had to adjust the line. I don't blame them, but they did what they had to anyways. On top of it, my boiler system was acting up while they were there. One of the guys looked at it, since he was in HVAC for many years, and offered suggestions on who and how to fix. Very helpful.
All in all - This was the easiest experience I have had in a long time from start to finish from a company. I was concerned about paying a higher cost, but either way, it was very much worth it knowing I got a quality install by professional friendly people. read more