Dusty from Oshawa

On December 11, 2022, Sterling Chimney Services Oshawa installed a lock top damper on my fireplace chimney.. Within a day or 2 I noticed cold air coming from the fireplace opening despite the damper lever being on the second lowest rung. I tried opening and closing it to no avail - there was no thunk or other indication it was securely closing. There was a still cold draft. It is under warranty so I called the company rep and he indicated he would come out to check it when time permitted. Unfortunately we had an early dumping of snow and roof access was not possible. I did not hear from him again. I texted the rep regarding the problem on Dec 29, Jan 18, April 25, April 29, May 3 and May 30 with no response. I also left a voice message and again, no response. I kept calling until a fee days later he answered his phone. I asked if he had or would be coming out to check on the warrantied damper now that the snow was gone. He suggested that perhaps I broke it and that I would have to pay for a service call. I indicated that the warrantied damper has not worked since installation and the fact that he did not come out when advised of the problem in December nor anytime following that to date, should not now result in a service charge. Nonetheless I refused to pay a service charge and the problem has not been fixed. Additionally, I had asked for a copy of the invoice for warranty purposes and to date have not received one. The customer service of this company is appalling. Not following up in response to an installation and warranty issue and not responding to numerous texts and telephone calls is unacceptable. Not providing customers with proper invoicing also unacceptable. Charging for a service call to inspect a problem that has persisted from the onset of installation is an unfair practice. All of the above are poor business practices that are in much need of improvement. There is no company address noted on the website and it appears to me that this is a one man operation and any further communication would be futile. I had my roofing guy look at the damper and I was advised there is approximately a 1 inch gap despite the lever being fully engaged. To date, the problem remains. I would not recommend this company for anything other than a job that does not involve any type of parts installation and/or any major amount of money.

An employee of Chiminey Cricket & Ashes Away did a chimney check and clean for me in November 2015. For the cleaning, the guy did a decent and tidy job. The issue involves the improper replacement of the damper after being removed to allow for inspection and cleaning of the interior. I noted the damper had been left open and the first 2 fires of the season were successful. I subsequently tried to close the damper but the handle would not budge - it was stuck. I thought it hadn't moved and was still open so I had another fire and the the house filled up with smoke - it must have shifted and partially closed. I did some googling on chimneys and dampers to get a better understanding how things worked and checked it out myself with my flashlight - imagine my surprise to discover that the damper had not been reconnected rather, it had been left sitting loosely in the chimney. Of note, I have had my house for 5 years and never had a problem with the damper. See photo - clearly the damper has not been properly reconnected. At the top right of the photo you can see the hinged side which is on the opposite side of the slat/opening showing at the bottom right of the photo. I presume either the technician forgot to replace it or couldn't be bothered replacing it. Nonetheless, very shoddy work making my fireplace unsafe. I recently called the company back and the man who answered the phone couldn't recall the service visit but insisted that they did not touch the damper. Quite frankly, it would be impossible for the technician to properly inspect and clean the chimney without removing the damper. He also said that it would be 85.00 for a service call to check this out. What absolutely poor customer service - refusing to acknowledge the error and not offering to fix a problem they created. My advice - use a more reputable company if you want the job done right. Donna. Mary Street N., Oshawa, Ontario.

Last year I requested some eavestrough work to be done by Sylvain at 4 Seasons Eavestrough. The request was made over the telephone. The work performed was satisfactory HOWEVER, Sylvain also performed additional unauthorized work which was added to my bill - the work was performed in my absence. My advice - go elsewhere and do no use this company.