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Business Profile

Chimney Sweeper

A-1 Chimney Sweep

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Chimney Sweeper.

Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
  • 0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

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The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

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Complaint status

Complaint type

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:11/12/2022

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    AnsweredMore info

    Complaint statuses

    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    Very negative experience with A1 Chimney with misleading estimate, credit card fraud and extremely poor customer service. Estimator quoted $699 for "extensive 2-hr cleaning" on 9/28 for "Class 3 creosote" in the chimney "about to catch fire" but finished in 20 minutes?! Either he misled us or didn't provide complete cleaning we paid for. We were charged additional $814 for fragile mortar repair after he deliberately damaged the mortar with our poker! He sprayed black spray paint for "years of use" which looked nice but burnt off on 1st use. Somehow 15% "tip" was added to $1799 bill resulting in $2068 charge and then the credit card was charged twice for over $4,137! Citi Fraud called us that evening and locked our card due to fraudulent double charge.

    I called A1 the next business day to inquire what happened and try to resolve our concerns. 1 week later I was forced to provide new credit card # after receiving a very threatening phone call to destroy my credit score, turn us over to collections agency and jail time in Texas! What kind of customer service is that when it was their tech who double charged us?! Over 12 calls to Customer Service team and Manager over 2 weeks went unreturned. I was told owner is overseas and unavailable to help us resolve this. The tech also damaged our driveway banging his tools clean on the way out leaving ashy grooves in the asphalt. He was onsite for total of 55 minutes for $1799 leaving a partially (?) cleaned chimney and now burned off spray painted firebox. Photos at a1chimney.net

    I do not recommend A1. They pay for Google ads in local markets with local phone # and website claims to be local - look at the hundreds of false "local" locations: https://www.a-1chimneysweep.com/sitemap. But they are in Texas and subcontract according to tech. Quality and integrity of contractors and employees and owners is highly questionable based on this very terrible experience. We feel we got robbed. I'm still waiting for a call back.

    Business Response

    Date: 12/13/2022

    Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/15) */
    Re: We received a complaint # XXXXXXXX on your business
    External
    Inbox

    A1 Sevices <*************@gmail.com>
    Nov 14, 2022, 2:26 PM (23 hours ago)
    to me

    I do not have this clients name in my system
    Please provide phone number and service address.

    Thank you


    Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/15) */
    LC 11/15/2022 (BBB Note):
    Lisa ****
    1:27 PM (1 minute ago)
    to A1

    Greetings,

    Attached is a copy of the invoice that the consumer provided.

    image.png



    Lisa ****

    Dispute Resolution Team Leader

    BBB of Greater Maryland, Inc.

    *** ** Sharp ******* ********** ** XXXXX

    Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

    Fax: XXX-XXX-XXXX


    Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/11/16) */
    This client has already been refunded due to him not being satisfied with the service. This complaint should be closed since a refund was issued

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