Clear Chimney of squirrel infestation
Booked Enchanted Chimneys to come clear a squirrel who has occupied a space in our chimney. The Tech did come on time and was courteous but after spending about 15 min looking in the chimney and at the gas fireplace that was connected to the chimney, said that we needed to get a qualified gas tech to remove the gas fireplace to get at the squirrel/nest and that he was not "gas" qualified.
Far enough, but I was still charged $70 for the brief inspection visit.
I would understand the charge if Enchanted would then go to the next step and get me someone "gas" qualified (with which they could charge me a service fee on top, if they have no-one in house) to remove my unwanted visitor and the nest. But now I am back to step one looking for a chimney sweep who can also deal with chimneys connected to a gas fireplace and out $70.
There were some other issues with the chimney (the water heater was also venting through the chimney and needs separate liner) but the removal of the squirrel was still job one.
They could have told me on the phone if a gas fireplace was involved they were not qualified and save them the time, a bad review and lost an opportunity to make more money by thinking about solving their customer's problem, in which some of the steps would involve them.
So let it be known after contracting Enchanted Chimneys to remove a squirrel and clean the chimney we still have a squatter in our dirty chimney, but we are out $70.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $70.00
- Company Response
We understand your frustration with our service charge and we apologize. We rarely get calls requesting any kind of service on a gas appliance as gas is clean burning and almost always has a screened cap at the top to keep animals out. We do try to always ask if the service needed is for a woodburning system, but appears in this case we did not. On these rare occasions we try to be as helpful as possible and advise on how to proceed from there. Often we do try to offer a referral, however, there are some areas that we do not have a referral. Again, we apologize and will be more diligent in our initial questioning so we can avoid any dissatisfaction.