Top Hat Chimney Sweeps - Taylor Texas — Local services in Austin

I want to start this review off by saying I RARELY put negative reviews of companies, but we have had a frustrating experience with Top Hat that people should know of. I will gladly edit this review if someone makes it right.

We recently bought a house and it needed a lot of work on the chimney. Top Hat came out for an inspection and quoted us for over $3000 which was expected. We asked the technician if they had a military discount (times are tough and we like supporting these kinds of companies) and he said they did but he wasn't able to apply it. We figured we would ask the office to apply it for the large investment we were about to make.

We went ahead and scheduled the services and paid a 50% deposit upfront. We continued to get the runaround about whether they had a military discount or not which was frustrating. We would've considered going elsewhere if they just told us they did or did not have one. Frustrating, but oh well, we had come this far.

Anyways, the technicians come out, perform the services we agreed to, and we thought all was good. Upon swiping our card to pay the remaining 50% balance, there was an extra $500 amount on there. We asked the technician what it was and he said "it was supposed to be on the quote." Mind you, we went over the quote line by line with office when we paid 50%. Not once did the technician OR the office ASK us if they should still perform the services if it was going to cost an extra $500. The technician just tried to just slip it in when we were paying and did not mention it a single time - super shady! This was already a huge cost for us and we do not have an extra $500 laying around. We paid it (because the technician is just doing his job) and took it up with the office.

We called the office and tried to dispute the charge but were just told "sorry, it should have been on there." They did nothing about their oversight.

In summary: Top Hat repeatedly tricked us about having a military discount - they do not. They charged us an EXTRA $500 dollars that was not quoted, discussed, or brought up until we were swiping our card and their response was "sorry."

If you do business with Top Hat, beware that they could very easily charge you with surprise services when you are going to pay. Obviously their quotes are subject to change, but they should discuss changes before they do the work and make you pay for it. This was extremely shady and is bad business. Top Hat has the ability to make it right and I will edit...

I hired Top Hat to clean my fireplaces, referencing an inspection they had performed a couple of years prior. Unfortunately, the service fell far short of expectations. The technician who came out essentially vacuumed the fireboxes and used a broom attached to a wire—about as thick as a laptop charger cord—to clean only the first 8 inches of the flue. He informed me that the spark arrestor was welded in place on the roof, preventing a full cleaning with the equipment he brought. He didn't even attempt to clean any of the soot from the fireplace (see attached photos of the fireplace post-"cleaning")

This was incredibly frustrating. Since Top Hat had performed the original inspection, I expected them to review their own report beforehand and either come prepared with the appropriate tools or notify me in advance if a full cleaning wouldn’t be possible.

To make matters worse, the technician initially asked for full payment of $560—an extremely high rate even for a comprehensive cleaning. When I expressed my concern, he contacted the office and they agreed to reduce the charge to $420, reclassifying the visit as an "inspection." While I did pay the fee, I left feeling misled. I had explicitly scheduled a cleaning—not another inspection—and this visit did not meet that expectation. Given that the unit had already been inspected by them previously, the entire experience felt like a waste of money.

In the past, we’ve used Nature’s Own for fireplace cleanings. They charge about half as much and arrive with equipment that allows them to thoroughly clean the entire flue from the base of the fireplace. We only went with Top Hat this time because they had done the initial inspection, but based on this experience, we won’t be using their...

I am leaving this message mostly for management.

I was scheduled for a service on Dec. 12, 2024 between 8am and 12pm. This appointment was booked 2 weeks out. I received text message reminders and an email regarding the upcoming appointment. My day was planned around being home for the Tech.

On the day of service, the Tech did not show between the scheduled time. No call, text or email regarding late arrival. I waited an addition 2 hours before calling the front office. The customer rep did apologize and acknowledged. She said she would call me back to see what happened to to get me rescheduled. Iwas able to get on the schedule early for January 2025 (not explanation regarding the tech no show)

I've used THCS previously for my outdoor fireplace and had no issues. I've recommended them to others in my neighborhood as several homes have gas fireplaces. No call, no show isn't acceptable. Any communication would have been better than none. I wanted to use my fireplace for Christmas and that will not happen this year. Not to mentioned, I missed half a day I could have ran errands while my son was at school.

I will return to update my review after my fireplace has been serviced...