Family Hearth and Patio — Local services in New London

The owner, Paul, was very accommodating and personable during our initial planning meetings. Responses to email and calls were prompt. We paid for our installation in late July 2018 and told the project would take no more than 30 days. Response times to emails/calls began to get longer. Not a big deal, but noticeable. Work on the project didn’t start as planned- a hiccough- we are still rolling with the delays. We had a vacation for Sept 8-13th, which was planned months in advance. We were told by the project manager, Chris, it would be no problem.

The framing began- framing measurements were off. I was told my mantle had to be 12 inches down from the ceiling. This was not acceptable. Then figures were checked again, but now we had to get rid of the hearth we planned because of the mistake in the measurements/project planning We are starting to get annoyed, but again we rolled with it.

Now the actual fireplace insert installation had begun. Workers arrived with no written plans, we were told it was a “standard build”. Workers made a hole in our house to the outside that was large and in the incorrect place. Notably, this was done even after my husband told them the hole was not going to be in the correct place but was assured that it was ok- except it wasn’t. We called Chris several times with no return call from him looking for the resolution. I then called Paul, the owner and left voice mail. I was very upset at this point re the poor planning that led to this and the fact that no one was calling us with a resolution.

Paul, the owner, returned my call. He could not have been more dismissive, rude, condescending and argumentative. He was ranting and told me that he accommodated our vacation and picked up our stone for us. Not once did he give me a resolution or apologize. He attempted to make me feel as though I was over-reacting to a hole being in my house, that I could clearly see my neighbors through, that happened either because of poor planning, poor communication, greed, laziness or a combination of those factors.

Then FH&P inserted the venting too close to the propane tank per safety code. We noted this ourselves and had to call the town inspector ourselves to have him do an inspection in the middle of the project as we were concerned about the proximity but were told that it was fine by workers again.The town inspector agreed it was incorrect placing and had to be changed.

It took them until November 16th to ONLY BEGIN to fix the siding on the hole that was made into our house incorrectly. After 3 appts made with Chris in which he never showed up or called us we called and then he said he would come the next day. . He finally came on 11/16 as above, but did not finish the siding and said he would be back on Monday 11/19/18 but again never showed or called. Calls were placed to his cell. Paul’s cell and the business line with no return call. Now we are into December after numerous phone calls/ messages met with more excuses and no shows we are now to the point of involving an attorney /the state or possibly reaching out to consumer division of a news agency. Once we communicated this to Family Hearth and Patio, miraculously they now were responsive and the excuses fell away.

In summary, we paid them in July, endured egregious errors in planning and execution. We were given NUMEROUS BS excuses, spoken to very rudely and ignored by Paul, the owner; left waiting for Chris to show up for numerous scheduled appointments with numerous no- shows/no calls. The job was FINALLY complete 6 months later in December and ONLY because we threatened legal action/exposure etc.

RESPONSE TO OWNER: There is no malice nor deceit in MY review. What would be MY motivation for leaving a false/erroneous/malicious review? I posted after our 1 year warranty was over as I did not trust you would honor it if needed I posted before that. The finished product was not even close to being worth the aggravation and incompetence we endured! Others should beware. Provide good customer service if you want...

A month ago I went into Family Health and Patio looking for a wood stove insert. I had previously went to Preston Trading Post and decided not to buy a wood stove from them because they do not install them. Family health and Patio however does. I went into their show room with over 16 measurements from a sheet that Preston Trading Post provided with all the measurements of my fireplace. I handed it to the salesman and he helped me pick out a wood stove insert I liked. They told me they needed to send out a guy to take measurements of my fireplace to make sure it would fit. I was set up with an appointment for one of their guys to come out. A few days before the appointment I got a call that they couldnt make it and we would have to reschedule. I rescheduled the appointment because things come up and life happens. The day of the second appointment nobody shows up. I give them a call 30 minutes after the schedule time, but nobody answered. 20 more minutes I get a call asking if I still want the appointment. Boy do I wish I just said no, but I really wanted to get this thing installed so I said yes. Turns out the owner Paul is the guy who comes out to take the measurements and sell the unit. I agree to his price and give him $1500.00 upfront. He told me it would take 2 weeks for the unit to come in but didnt give me a date to install it. Just a vague time from of maybe before Thanksgiving decently before Christmas. (His exact words.) About 2 weeks later I get a call to set up the appointment to install which was 2 weeks out. A month total between the time I gave the guy $1500.00 and day of install. When the installers got here they went right to work. Cleaned out the fireplace cut out my current damper then took measurements and said the unit I waited a month for wouldn't fit. They stood around for an hour and a half waiting for Paul(the owner) to call them back to see what to do next. Mean while my heat is just running up my chimney and my boiler is in overdrive to keep up. Paul finally called them back and the installers tell me Paul will call me to talk about another unit. Paul never reached out to me and I ended up having to call him. Needless to say ended up asking for a refund which he made no effort to try and rectify the situation. He told me it would take 5-7 buisness days to return my money. So I am left with a colder house with more of my heat escaping out the chimney. I ended up stuffing the flue with insulation and taping a flattened cardboard box in front of the fireplace opening.(Makes my the first home I purchased look fabulous.) If you value your time and money I would not do buisness with these people. I have never had a worse experience in my life with any company. My house is colder and I am left with an unusable fireplace because they cut out my damper and didn't even replace it. If I could give 0 stars I would. As a bigger kick in the face I found the unit I had ordered from them $400 cheaper online yet Paul claimed I was getting an amazing deal when I asked to cancel the order. He offered the unit but also said it probably wouldn't fit. He ask me(a non professional) to remove the hearth. I would think since hearth is in your name and you claim to do custom work this should have been something you could do. I more upset I had you guys out to do the measurements and sell me a unit that didn't fit and left me with a semi plugged up flue. I waited hours for him to contact me. In my opinion he should have personally called me before having his installers leave. This was Paul's scew up, he personally came out to measure my fireplace. I was really looking forward to doing business with you guys unfortunately I have a three strike rule and you guys waisted a...

I had a great experience with the purchase and installation of my beautiful gas Enviro fireplace. It replaced an old unvented fireplace that did not function well anymore. Paul the owner was very enthusiastic and eager to please before and after the purchase. I cannot express enough how great his workers were. They were professional and very patient with my indecisions. They always showed up on time and let me know when they would be there again. Not only did they treat me with respect, they treated each other with respect. They installed the vent and that entailed a lot but they did it with no issue. The job would hand off from the installers to the finisher. Pat the "finisher" did a wonderful job with the rebuild. At first the fireplace was to sit directly on the floor and he started the job. I decided that I wanted it off the floor a few inches and without a complaint, he accommodated the change which wasn't easy due to safety requirements. I wanted the space above the fireplace to be sunk in so that the TV would not stick out. Because of the new vent, the original space was reduced to a few inches. I wanted as much setback as possible so Pat figured out a way to set the wall back without violating any safety requirements and installed my new TV mount. Everyone cleaned up after every visit and I could not be happier. Pat had the quietest shop vac that I had ever seen. Sadly, on the last day he was here, he had a new noisy one. His favorite vac had broken and they no longer make the parts. Both Pat and I were sorry. May it rest in peace. Paul visited before, during and after the job was complete. I was a little iffy on the choice of molding used but Paul said if I didn't like it they would happily come back and change it anytime at no further cost. I have decided I like it though! He also reminded me that they will be doing a maintenance visit every 2 years to keep the warranty valid. Family Hearth and Patio seemed to be at my beck and call and it was wonderful to have a painless experience. I am so happy that I chose Family Hearth and Patio....