Father & Son Chimney Service Ltd.

Chimney Build & Repair
Vancouver BC V5Y3C1
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Stephanie from Vancouver
Stephanie from Vancouver
4 reviews Vancouver, BC
0/10

Chimney Sweep & flashing

James was exceptionally rude on the telephone, and actually hung up on me when I was trying to discuss the charges. The fellow he sent out was actually fine, but I would not recommend this company to anyone based upon James' attitude. I did not feel that he was helpful or completely honest regarding the specific level of services provided and subsequent charges.

In response to the numerous misrepresentations posted by James:
1. James himself came out to our home to provide for an estimate. At no time did he mention anything about custom rain caps. One would think that someone with so much apparent experience would be able to tell with a few simple measurements. The fellow they sent out consulted w/ James on the phone after he apparently ran into some problems. He relayed the information from James that custom fitted caps would be req’d. I declined at the time due to the $1200+ estimate. At no time did this person mention the damage that was done to our chimney. I did not scale the house to check on the work that was completed on the roof, ie. simple flashing repair. So while I have not had the pleasure to have met James in person, he has assessed the worksite & was well aware of what was going on.

2. I called James as I had some questions about the bill & the quote, as $150 for flashing seal (ie. globbing on some poly) seemed a bit ridiculous, & to review the $1200 quote. James proceeded to mock me for inquiring about this, swore at me & hung up. James did NOT offer to change the whole top of the chimney and “everything else under the sun”, as he now claims. He did not apologize; he simply became exceptionally defensive, rude & 100% unapologetic, & hung up on me.

3. It is only after I called the Shell Busey team to follow-up with this phone, that James sheepishly called me back to “apologize” AFTER I had spoken with the Shell Busey folks. He would have NEVER have called to follow-up, had I not gotten in contact w/ the Shell Busey team. James again did NOT offer to compensate me at all, and I do clearly recall him saying that he “[did] not need to get any more customers”, ie. he did not care about retaining me as a customer. He stood by his original bill, the work that was done, & the $1200+ quote.

4. I decide to call ONE other company (not “several other companies” – and why would that matter how many I called?) after considering the $1200+ estimate from James. This other company offered to come out to provide an estimate. To my surprise, there were several deficiencies noted in the work that was done + major damage to the chimney itself on the roof. They took dozens and dozens of photos to show me what poor work was done, of which only the worst will be discussed here. Please see the attached for before photos that were taken by our home inspector in JULY 2012 (I did not go “so far as to have a home inspector come out” after Father & Sons were there OCTOBER 2012; but again, why would that matter if I did call one?) that were taken as a part of a routine home inspection prior to the purchase of our new home, and the after photos taken a couple of months later after Father & Son Chimney Services were done. It is absolutely mind boggling how James insists that this was just “my guy trying to fix something extra at no charge”. This is patently false. Father & Son purposefully did NOT tell me about the damage that they caused while simply trying to do a simple repair of the flashing + put on a cap, and went so far as to further suggest that another $1200 would fix their grossly negligent work.

5. I went with this other company and lo and behold, custom caps were NOT required. I paid $150 for regular caps – WE DID NOT REQUIRE $1200+ CUSTOM CAPS. These other folks (who were wonderful!) felt so bad for us that they did a lot of extra work at no cost to us. There was a substantial bill due to the repair required from the damages caused by the negligence of this company. I had to take another 3 days off of work to be available so that all of this repair could be done.

6. James never offered to reimburse us. His MOTHER was the one who refunded our money. Again though, we had to go through the Shell Busey team to get this done. I had to submit the photos and a synopsis of what happened. James never called us to apologize, to own his company’s mistakes, or to offer any sort of compensation.

My purpose in trying to provide further explanations, is to prevent other people from having to experience the same ordeal. I would have had absolutely no clue as to the damage that was done to our home, had I not pursued this situation. We would have had significant water damage to our home (water ingress to the roof, the chimney, the interior and exterior wall structures...) as a result of the negligence of James. This is not my opinion, as suggested by James, these are facts. Should anyone have any questions about this, please let me know and I would more than happy to provide the contacts at Shell Busey, our original home inspector, as well as the other company we went with, as they will be able to further refute James’ misrepresentations. If you have had work done by James and his team, or if you have suspicions that he is grossly over-charging you. have it checked out. Do not presume that the work has been done properly. Do not let James bully you into not following up on his work.

Approximate cost of services:
$644.00
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Company Response

The fellow who came out and met with Stephanie, is no longer with us.The job was supposed to be A routine chimney cleaning and minor repair job. He was to install a couple rain caps, install a simple flashing seal and failed to complete it all (rain caps were not fitting correctly) and adjusted the price accordingly. He was the one who dealt with Stephanie (who at the time was fine with what had been done and paid). Stephanie then decided to call several other companies to compare prices well after the job was completed (which unprofessional companies jumped at the chance to pick at). She even went so far as to have a home inspector come out; and this unprofessional pulled some of our work apart to produce a more dramatic photo. Which they labelled as 'damage' but infact was my guy trying to fix something extra at no charge. I have never even met this woman to date.The only time we spoke she was too busy making accusations to let me get a word in. I could only take so much and hung up (hoping she could take some time to cool off). That didn't happen and I won't make that mistake again. We offered to change the whole top of the chimney and everything else under the sun as well as an undeserved apology (which was accepted and we were assured via email that this matter was closed...apparently not) and nothing could be done to please her. We were never given a chance (we also refunded her 644.00, which included the chimney cleanings which should not have been reimbursed...yet another lesson learned) The ordeal cost us $800.00 including lost wages and fuel .So we made changes and moved on all the better for the experience. Every one is entitled to their opinion (no matter how far fetched) and in my experience have realised that trying to change that opinion in some people is for naught. We have a spotless record for the last 20 years of great customer service. All it takes is one person to do and say what ever they feel like to stain a well earned reputation. Bad news travels faster than good and me and my family have worked hard for many years to be the best.

Previous versions of this review:

Stephanie from Vancouver
Stephanie from Vancouver
4 reviews Vancouver, BC
1/10

Chimney Sweep & flashing

James was exceptionally rude on the telephone, and actually hung up on me when I was trying to discuss the charges. The fellow he sent out was actually fine, but I would not recommend this company to anyone based upon James' attitude. I did not feel that he was helpful or completely honest regarding the specific level of services provided and subsequent charges.

Approximate cost of services:
$644.00