I see my review is just one of many, reporting on this scam. I am writing this to warn potential…read morevictims.
Stay away from this company and all their affiliates at all costs. They defrauded me out of $2250, and damaged the chimney on my home, causing me to have to pay professional masonry contractors to fix the damage they caused.
The scammers behind this company go by multiple names including: Madesin Chimney Sweep & Cleaning, Chimney Pros, and A1 Chimney Pros. I am certain there are more company names they use throughout Southern California, but these are the ones I can confirm at the moment. If you want further evidence, read some of the negative reviews for a company called, G Hester Chimney Sweep in La Verne. They're basically all the same. Their positive reviews are all fake. If you look at these companies, their reviews have all been posted fairly recently.
What went wrong:
The technician, Daniel Klein, caused undue damage to the brickwork on my chimney, which is visible from the front yard. He sloppily threw premix all over the exterior of the chimney, ruining what was prior to his arrival beautiful brickwork. He also spray painted the interior or my fireplace, claiming this was needed and would fix any cracks or spaces where heat can escape - two claims, qualified contractors have since informed me is bad practice.
I've now had 3 different masonry contractors look at the chimney, and each one has stated that the "work" damaged the chimney and never should have been done in the first place. As all the contractors I've spoken to stated, chimney sweepers shouldn't touch brickwork. As a result of Daniel Klein defacing my property, I am now forced to hire a masonry contractor to fix what he did (I've provided two photos taken from my sidewalk).
When I first mentioned how bad the chimney looked to Daniel, he brushed it off and said wait a week, and you won't notice it because you'll be used to it, and maybe eventually it will fade. He took no accountability. He also stated that he was not interested in aesthetics, which is not an appropriate response from someone working on the outside of someone's home. The value of my property is largely based on how it looks, so I, and every other homeowner are interested in aesthetics, and the damage he caused negatively impacted the value of my property.
When I didn't accept his offer to wait a week, he gave me two options: pay $30k for a whole new chimney or he'll come with some spray paint and paint the brick he damaged. Both options were unacceptable. After this conversation, he called me back and said he spoke with his manager (the one who doesn't exist and cannot be reached), and said that he now has a new idea to "make my chimney beautiful". At this point I told him I didn't want his unqualified hands near my home again, and I requested a full refund.
I decided to also call the company's phone line, and request a full refund, however the reps over the phone kept telling me that they would shoot my comments up to the manager. I never once spoke to the elusive "manger", however I received numerous calls from Daniel, who was now bombarding my phone with messages to call him back so he could come over to my house.
When I called the company a second time to request a refund, the representative had a very different tone. He was angry, cut me off multiple times and eventually hung up on me despite the fact that I was speaking to him politely.
Ultimately, as a consequence of their actions, I've lost money, time and my property has been damaged in a way that is visible from the front yard. I am now forced to come up with money to have a masonry contractor repair the damage caused by Daniel Klein.
I want to warn people out there of this weird chimney sweep scam. I never would have imagined such a thing exists, so just look out. I suppose there are dishonest, immoral criminals out there who feel justified in their abhorrent actions, but it's just really disheartening when you come face to face with it.
