Chimney Repair Scams

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Author Message   daveclark Citizen Username: Daveclark Post Number: 5 Registered: 7-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2003 - 4:37 pm:        Please beware of the chimney-repair-scam phone calls that always pop up this time of year. I got one yesterday, whereby the company offers to come out and clean the chimney or chimneys for $40, but when they actually come they find something wrong and give a badly inflated estimate. I was ripped off by one of these companies four years ago (my own fault) and I'm trying to get the NJ authorities interested, but so far I've had little luck. Has anyone else had experience with these firms or at least received their phone calls?   vermontgolfer Citizen Username: Vermontgolfer Post Number: 167 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2003 - 5:53 pm:        dave, my father-in-law, not in SO but in NJ, just got taken for $1,000. Was the same scam, inspect and clean for 'cheap', but behold, when they inspected he needed a new liner, yeah sure! Had a previous experience with my wife's aunt, but fortunately she told my wife before the appointment and we called them and threatened to sue them if they proceeded. They returned her deposit never to be seen again.   daveclark Citizen Username: Daveclark Post Number: 9 Registered: 7-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2003 - 6:04 pm:        Thanks vermontgolfer, I'd be interested if you have any information on the name of the firm. I have a file going on these firms' names and addresses and am trying to alert the NJ Consumer Protection Office and the press. I also started this thread on the Home Fix It area and have gotten some responses.   vermontgolfer Citizen Username: Vermontgolfer Post Number: 168 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2003 - 7:44 pm:        dave, i think my wife has the incident with her dad, but not sure we have the other, since it was a year or so ago. I'll check and get back to you.   sahm Citizen Username: Sahm Post Number: 36 Registered: 10-2001 Posted on Thursday, November 6, 2003 - 7:59 am:        We've called all of the legitamate chimney sweeps that i've seen recommended on this board and, oops! we waited too long and they are all booked up! A friend of mine said that a company told her that they were legally responsible to report her as a code violation if she didn't get a new lining! She fell for it and got the lining because she had heard of someone else having to get a lining & thought she would have to eventually. I didn't tell her she just had $4000 stolen from her, because she was happy with the situation!   CageyD Citizen Username: Cageyd Post Number: 38 Registered: 6-2003 Posted on Saturday, November 8, 2003 - 12:53 am:        Aparently many of the scam companies are from Long Island but they come here with their trucks looking for work. In the phone book, many of the scammers have "South Orange (or other town) Area" listed as their location rather than an actual address. The out of state status I guess makes them hard to prosecute. We had one group try to scam us for thousands telling us we were risking death by CO poisoning that very day. Then - I can't remember how - we found Sasse Chimney Co. They gave us a good estimate for the work that NEEDED to be done and though we didn't use them for 9 months after we got the quote they still honored the original price. They aparently have been around for decades. THey did a nice job for us and I feel I can recommend them   daveclark Citizen Username: Daveclark Post Number: 10 Registered: 7-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 9:12 am:        Yes, I know that many are from L.I. I talked to a legitimate chimney place out there and the woman said the scammers even take ferries over to southern New England and do work there. Many of the scammers seem to be concentrated in the North Shore of Suffolk County for this reason. The one that scammed me called itself "Essex Chimney Service" but was based in L.I.   doublea Citizen Username: Doublea Post Number: 353 Registered: 3-2003 Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 9:21 am:        Contractors are supposed to be registered with the Building Department to do business in South Orange. I don't know if this applies to chimney cleaners, but maybe they should have to register in S.O. This way, residents could call the building department to see if the chimney cleaner is registered and whether there have been any complaints.   vermontgolfer Citizen Username: Vermontgolfer Post Number: 190 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 9:25 am:        daveclark, I finally found the paperwork from my father-in-law. The name of the company was Chimney Technicians and they are located in Middleton, NJ.   daveclark Citizen Username: Daveclark Post Number: 12 Registered: 7-2002 Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 9:36 am:        Vermontgolfer, Thanks for the info. Doublea, Registering with the town means nothing in terms of these companies. Most residents will not call and check for complaints, just as most won't check the BBB. The only way to get rid of the problem is to prosecute these companies and try to get rid of them. To any trustees: Has this problem ever come up in past discussions? I know this really isn't your purview on the local level, but am I wasting my time trying to get the state involved? I saw a newspaper article earlier this year that Putnam County, NY, officials charged 5 Long Island men for bilking residents, but of course Essex County has bigger fish to fry.