Chimneys Plus — Local services in Pittsboro

I am adding a star because the owner of the company reached out to me with an apology and request for more information so they can improve business. He did NOT ask me to remove my review or change my rating in any way. He sincerely wanted to apologize and improve services. That aligns with what I have heard about this company being excellent so hopefully others won't have the issues I did in trying to employ their services. Here is my original review:

I waited a bit before writing this review because I know a bad review can really hurt a company. After years of hearing Chimneys Plus recommended for everything from Chimney cleaning to gutters, I contacted them for a gutter quote.

I wasn't going to be home when they arrived but was told they would be fine with my barking dogs so set up a date and morning time. When I got home 3 hours later, they had recently arrived so had been running late. Not a big deal but something to note if one was planning to take off work or had other plans.

I'm not sure who the gentleman was who spoke with me but he was very knowledgeable and VERY persuasive. In other words, a good salesman. I was in a rush as I had many things to do but he didn't seem to take my cues to shorten his spiel. Still, I let myself be convinced I was going to ignore the quote of the company that did my roof which was significantly less than the verbal quote I was given on site.

I requested to be sent alternatives in costing. For example, what would it cost if I just did the gutters without the gutter guards (and told the reasons this would be a TERRIBLE idea). I asked to include what if I did gutter guards in the back but not the front as one of the options. Or what if I started with just the back of the house (that verbal quote was the entire amount of the other companies full house quote -- but to the credit of Chimney plus, it did include guards whereas the other companies entire house quote of the same amount did not.)

I expected to see an email quote either later that evening or the next day. Instead, the VERY NEXT DAY I was sent an email asking to please write a Google Review. Whaat?? I haven't even gotten the work done or received my quote!?

I was told they are very busy and it would be a wait for the actual installation -- which again, I was willing to do. However, it has now been over a week and I never got a quote. No follow up. Zilch. At this point, I've gone with the other company and will use gutter guards from Costco.

You guys could have had my...

We had a fantastic experience with Chimneys Plus! We were looking for a a full end-to-end conversion of our masonry fireplace to direct-vent gas insert, but wanted something that looked rustic, professional, and as if the room was designed around it (as opposed to a much less expensive insert from Home Depot or Lowes). We knew Chimneys Plus had serviced the fireplace while we were purchasing our house and had read reviews about their service. They are everything they promise and have that family-owned customer care! They scheduled an appointment for Charlie, the owner, to look at our fireplace and make recommendations about which products would work, all considering our budget and requirements (zone heating and ensuring that we could use the fireplace without electricity). Charlie helped us understand the product he recommended and how the process for installation would go. Chimneys Plus scheduled the installation over three days, followed up with the inspector, and came back to demo our working, installed fireplace. They were professional, friendly, clean, and were very careful not to disrupt anything else in my house. They worked diligently and the installation took about half a day with two people working on it. They installed extra insulation and ensured that my masonry chimney was properly configured to prevent cold/warm air from leaking in and out. They cleaned up carefully after themselves, showed me their progress, and asked me questions about how I wanted certain pieces to look. They also helped me understand how they could even remove this gas insert if I ever want to convert back to masonry or want to move it to another property. I am really thrilled with the professionalism and the beauty of our new gas system! The purchase was also easy--they have an electronic invoicing system that makes paying by credit card really easy and provides electronic receipts via email. They have an electronic appointment confirmation system too! I love a company that can use technology for a better customer experience. I look forward to wonderful years with this gorgeous system (and a much warmer room!). Thanks for the...

Updated - Since writing my review we have received two phone calls FULL of apologies and a genuine effort to repair our work relationship. We were pleasantly surprised. This seems to align more with the favorable reviews we read. Seems we need to reevaluate. Everyone’s entitled to a bad day!*

We are planning to replace our wood-burning stove, chimney cap as well as service and inspect our chimney. Reading so many positive reviews we thought Chimneys Plus would be the team for us.

We met Joseph at our first appointment and were excited to get started. He carefully surveyed our current stove and chimney. We have a rear flue and he explained he would need to do a bit of research as they’re not as common as top flues. He indicated he’d go back to the office and, within a few days, send us an email with his findings then set another appointment to discuss.

After one week we called. We were told he did try to call. We explained there were no calls or messages in our call log or email. The gentleman set another appointment for us to talk with Joseph and would have him send the email with stoves. Things happen sometimes - no big deal.

The day is here and we’re told he’d arrive between 9-10. No show, no call. We pulled up our “confirmation” message to verify. Yep, today between 9-10. Must be traffic, right? Nope. Simply no show, no call. Maybe, hopefully not, he ran into car trouble on his way here. We called the main number and were told that he was only supposed to call and she’d somehow reflect we were no longer interested. No effort to fix the problem. No apology for wasting valuable time. Just good bye.

I wish we’d been one of the families to have a great experience but thankful we know how their customer service is before investing several thousand dollars. Since we’re not into “forcing” things/relationships we’ll simply take it as this company was not...