Complaint Review: American Chimney Sweeps - American Chimney Services And Chimney Solutions - Addison Illinois

Chimney solutions is a member of the Midwest safety Council, National fireplace Institute. We're also fire certified.(F.I.R.E certified.com)the fire certification program is the most advanced education program in the hearth industry.The goal for all fire certified inspectors is to prevent property damage and personal injury.No other certification program compares.

don't go with the 1st person that shows up at your door. take your time and get 2 or 3 bids. I have been in business for 19 years and not all contractors are bad. Do your homework and never sign anything until you read it carefully.

I AM KATHY PINKSTON... I HAVE REQUESTED TO HAVE JOHN JUDD UPDATE HIS LETTER TO THE PUBLIC ABOUT ME: I AM NOT HIS MANAGER ANY LONGER AND I WOULD LIKE EVERYONE TO KNOW THIS SINCE I HAVE RE-OPENED MY COMPANY A-1 SAFETY CHIMNEY SERVICES, INC. ABOUT CHIMNEY SOLUTIONS, MR. JOHN JUDD IS TRYING TO PULL HIS COMPANY BACK TOGATHER AS FAR AS I KNOW. AND YES THERE WAS PAST PROBLEMS BUT JOHN HAS CLEARED 90% OF THEM. I CAN SAY THAT HE WAS WORKING REAL HARD ON THIS WHEN I WAS EMPLOYED WITH HIM. AS FAR AS I CAN SEE HE HAS NO MORE COMPLAINTS FOR OVER A YEAR.

I ,John Judd, the ex-owner of American Chimney Sweeps, American Chimney services, and the current owner of Chimney Solutions Incorporated am here to discuss the facts. The topic of discussion is WHEN IT ALL WENT DOWN: NBC channel 5 news, the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney Generals Office, the house fire, Superior Chimney, and all other related topics. Between the years of 2002 and 2004 American Chimney sweeps worked up to sixteen active trucks. The management I had could not handle it and were not accountable for their own actions. That is how it escalated to being on the news and also being suspended from the Better Business Bureau for six months. All of our complaints should have been handled before it became a complaint with the BBB. Our head technician Eric Berreta, who is now the owner of Superior Chimney, and the office manager at the time Daniella Ivkovic, who is now the office manager for Superior Chimney, would refuse and ignore complaints. For example; a raincap would fall off and all Eric would have to do is swing by the customers home and re-install the cap, but Eric thought this was a waste of his time. Him being the head technician with this kind of attitude, other technicians followed. When the customer was not taken care of, they would call the office and be directed to Daniella who was office manager/ customer service representative. Daniella avoided the customers as well by transferring the customer to a voicemail or say she would call them back and never would. This process would repeat itself three or four times until the only thing left for the customer to do is take it a level up to the BBB. Once it became a BBB complaint Daniella would then come to me with the problem, and if she couldn't handle it I would rectify it immediately. There was never more than five unresolved BBB complaints at a time. On March 26, 2004 I was suspended from the Better Business Bureau. From then on I made sure that all technicians would go to any and all complaints on their route no matter what. Eric and Daniella continued their same obtrusive behavior. I spent countless hours putting together processes on how to's , which were just simply disregarded. At that point both should have been terminated, but were not, and that is my fault in the matter. When it all went down I just got back from getting certified at the Chimney Guild conference with five of my technicians. Little did I know that I was receiving certified letters and phone calls from the Chimney Guild. Daniella was avoiding their calls and sending away their letters. I received their final letter when it was to late. The letter stated that I had been suspended from the Guild for three years due to my lack of responding to certain issues. I had just spent thousands of dollars to get my team certified and I was trying to do the right thing. There would be no reason why I would not want to talk to them. I thought at that time that the best thing to do would be to handle the BBB complaints, address the news investigation, and straighten things out with the Attorney General's office. Once I had rectified everything else, I would present this to the Chimney Guild and get reinstated. Hindsight tells me I should have gone to the Guild first. I should have told them how there was 60 resolved and 3 unresolved BBB complaints, and I was being suspended. I should have told them about the NBC news investigation and have sought their help regarding the chimney fire. Had I have told them that the Miller family, the family with the chimney fire, burned a fire for 4-5 days straight because they didn't have heat in their house. Their furnace was broken and they burned day and night. I did not know who was at fault and the Guild may have been able to help. To this day I have the utmost respect for the Guild. Concerning the NBC channel 5 news investigation, they talked about a number of things. They talked about an assault, a chimney fire, the changing of my business name, the criminal backgrounds of my employees, and my work ethics. As far as the assault, the technician involved was Eric Berreta, owner of Superior Chimney. Although charges were in fact dropped, Eric did admit to me that he did verbally assault and intimidate the woman. One thing that comes to mind is Eric saying to her ever hear of tic-tacs? Your breath stinks b***h! Eric thought this was all so funny. I should have been more stern with him. All I did was tell him do not treat my customers like that ever again. Next comes the chimney fire which I have already gone over, but I would like it out in the open that Eric Berreta trained the technician for two weeks. Eric, being a certified technician, I thought he would be able to train in chimney safety. When I asked Eric if the technician was ready, he replied yeah she is ready for a girl. I was not running or hiding from anyone or anything when I changed the names of my business. Of course I felt fear of loosing everything. I discussed everything with my attorneys, and came to a mutual conclusion to change names. I have stood behind American Chimney Sweeps one hundred percent. I am aware that all these situations come down to me and to that I am accountable. NBC spoke of some employee's criminal backgrounds. I believe most people deserve a second chance and I have tried to help a lot of people out, through this I have seen people make something of themselves and grow. I also have seen people fall. Concerning the sex offender, Keith Michael Tyson, who was mentioned on the news, he has not worked for me in over a year. In actuality he works at Superior Chimney and is also a business partner to Eric Berreta in the computer business. The last part regarding the news is that they mentioned our work ethics. Dominick Campi of Northshore chimney, did in fact do bad work. He did not crown coat and he put the appropriate sized cap on the chimney. When I asked Dominick about it I could not get a straight answer. We never admitted to overcharging. Within two weeks Dominick was no longer working for American Chimney Sweeps and the customer on the news, Mr. Burdof , was fully refunded. Superior Chimney, located not more than a mile away, consists of Eric Berreta, Daniella Ivkovic, Keith Tyson, Dave Palm, Martin Framke, Lou Weezer, and Chris Hagard, all of which worked for me at one point or another. Basically the seven of them picked up and moved right down the street. Using all my processes, how to's, software, and my customer base (which he refuses to give back), wouldn't you say Superior Chimney is Chimney Solution's sister company? It sure feels like a rip off to me. Superior Chimney, in all, makes up AT LEAST 8O% OF American Chimney and Chimney Solutions' BBB complaints. I would love to discuss every BBB complaint in detail but instead I have all BBB complaints scanned and ready to be e-mailed out to anyone with questions. Eric Berreta and Dave Palm were certified under American Chimney Sweeps by the Chimney Sweep Institute of America. When American Chimney Sweeps was suspended that included everyone. Eric and Dave had no problem leaving and paying ten dollars to reinstate. Leaving me with the garbage of the past that the people of Superior Chimney made. About Superior Chimneys' work ethics. Eric's main objective is to make as much money as possible with as little customer service as possible. For example: $700-$1000 13x13 lock top damper. Also ready to be e-mailed should you have questions. The standard industry price is $300-$400. Dave palm is also overpriced. He though, is out of shape and sends his uncertified helper up to the roof to inspect for fire safety. What kind of certified technician can't get on most roofs? I trained Martin Framke to do liners and also paid for him to go to masonry school. That does not stop him or Chris Hagard, Eric's repair guys, from using inappropriate sized liners. I am still correcting Martin's many mistakes. Daniella was in charge of bills payable and yet again, didn't do her job and pay workman's comp. Due to Dave Palm's physical shape, he had an accident. I have paid Dave a substantial amount of money and I am still paying his doctor bills. No gratitude has been shown from Dave. As he rides my Harley around town, maybe he should look at where he was before he met me and appreciate where he is now. With the exception of Daniella, all these people left Chimney Solutions with no notice whatsoever. Daniella was in charge of payroll and was caught overpaying herself for the second time. Upon learning this Daniella was terminated. I am happy to say that none of these people work for me any longer. I do wish them each the best of luck. Rip-off report #145719 was written by David Briggs. Dave is also my former employee who was terminated after learning he had been stealing thousands of dollars from me and my company. He spoke in the report about a $900. I paid the money directly after my Insurance company paid the Miller family for the fire. I wanted to be clear who's fault it was. For more information, refer to rip-off.com, company name pc doctors', where I will explain much more. As far as the other ripoff reports. We are not trying to con or scam anyone, and would like to be of service to you. My office and I have searched our client base and cannot find you. If these are real complaints please contact our office. Like I said in the beginning, I am accountable for American Chimney Sweeps. American Chimney Sweeps closed down on December 31, 2004. That being over a year and a half ago, I have taken care of all complaints affiliated with American Chimney Sweeps. Chimney Solutions has a satisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau. Our main focus today is client fulfillment in all aspects. My manager, Kathy Pinkston,(formerly A1 safety sweeps), and I combined have 40 years experience in the chimney industry. We are working everyday to improve Chimney Solutions. We have extensive technician training on and off the field. I have worked personally with each technician and with every opportunity will expand their education. All technicians go on the roof personally for safety inspections. All of Chimney Solutions' employees are trained for proper customer service and we have competitive standard industry prices. We currently are not in the Chimney Guild but we still abide by their standards and code of ethics. I have lost the respect of the chimney industry and all I can do right now is do the right thing. Overall this has been a huge learning experience that I will not forget. I hope others in the industry will profit from my experience on what not to do. JOHN JUDD

Ive been in the business for over 10 years myself, and my father over 25. We are a reputable business who strives to serve our customers. It is a shame that this company has done this to people. However, I must add, that the "complimentary" roof inspection is not "complimentary" with my business. ITS OUR JOB!! We inspect flashings around chimneys, check for crown repair, etc. Granted these repairs can become costly in certain situations, if in doubt, get on the roof for yourself. I encourage all my customers to inspect what Im about to do. However, you'll place your own ladder on your house. (no customers on my ladder) Most people are not willing to get on 90% of the chimneys I do. You can be assured that any type of work done off of 40 ft. ladders for hours at a time will be costly. If your chimney is found to be "unsafe" for wood burning by myself or an employee, you will be given an estimate on repairs, and asked to sign an agreement stating you have been informed that your chimney is unsafe to burn. There are bad apples in all walks of life, costly repairs, doesnt always mean "ripoff". Costly repair today can save you thousands more in the future.

I am an ex-employee of a soon-to-be-multistate chimney sweep company named Chimney Solutions Incorporated out of Alpharetta, GA. They, at the time, were the largest chimney sweep company in America based on the number of currently employed CERTIFIED chimney sweeps. MAKE SURE YOUR CHIMNEY TECHNICIAN IS CERTIFIED - ASK TO SEE THEIR ID CARD WHICH IS GIVEN TO THEM BY THE CSIA - CHIMNEY SAFETY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA. Without a certified sweep, you are gambling with your family members' lives. Also, a chimney sweep, in most cases, is not the person starting a (contained in the fireplace) fire inside the home - which is inherently dangerous. People are not infallible and make mistakes. I'm sure the situation above was a series of coincidences and mistakes that could have been avoided. Make sure your fire is out completely before going to bed. Test your smoke detectors when daylight savings time springs forward and falls backward. Have your chimney system(s) inspected after every cord of wood that you burn or annually. Stay away from pre-formed firelogs and so-called chimney-sweeping logs (I don't see a pair of eyes and a brain inspecting the chimney on that log).