We have an old Victorian in Alameda and have used O'Kells for several large projects. Until our last job they have always been responsive and their work has been good. Sadly I can no longer recommend them due to their billing practice. I gave them a credit card for a down payment they billed the whole amount to the card. I have asked repeatedly for a written bill as the job they did was not as originally described. No doing. No response regarding the bill. A very strange way to run a business. Please use caution when giving them you credit card information. read more

Wonderful service from our first visit through installation and inspection. Cannot give this Company a better recommendation.

This is a top notch company with terrific customer service and knowledge of their products! Michele was extremely knowledgeable and articulate and guided me to exactly what we wanted but didn't know. she doesn't oversell which I appreciate. Then Kevin came to do inspection and measure and again fabulous information and service oriented. Gia called twice to move up our install date and we had it 1 week early before the first cold and rains came! The 2 guys who came to install were right on time, courteous, professional, neat and clean and unbelievably efficient. We had the gas so only 3 hours to install. They made sure I understood everything needed to run the unit and did a demo with me while still there. Okells is a first class operation from start to finish and from top to bottom. I would only recommend Okells and I am sure I will as friends and family experience our new heat. We have not turned on our heat yet! Thank you to all at Okells Patty W read more

Called because I was having trouble with a HeatAndGlo fireplace pilot light. Apparently Okell's doesn't even stock or sell these. Even so the gentleman on the phone spent a few minutes listening to the problem and giving tips on how to fix it. There was obviously nothing financially in this for him. But this is the type of service that will win me as a customer next time I'm looking for a fireplace. read more

This is an update to an earlier review. Okell's did get my Yotul back on and it has been working fine, although the remote control occasionally stops working and then re-starts. read more

After shopping around, we decided on Okell's Fireplace as they seemed very knowledgeable and willing to assist us with our purchase. Charlie, our sales person was very helpful in every way. Every individual involved in our project was very professional and very exceptional. Our project included demolition of the old fireplace and stone, installation of a new gas fireplace, new mantel installation and hearth rebuild. Okell's was there every step of the way and always addressed our concerns. Their fireplace installer, Jeff (and his crew) were polite, professional and did a wonderful job. Their subcontractors were just as professional and conscientious in their work. We are extremely happy with our new gas fireplace and new look. We would recommend Okell's highly! read more

Great experience with OKell's installing new brick and converting my large wood-burning fireplace to gas logs. Charlie was extremely responsive and professional throughout the process, from my initial call and questions to selecting the right materials and pushing to get the final installation done on my tight timeframe. Gabe did an excellent job with the complicated herringbone masonry work and stayed late into the evening to finish the job. Would highly recommend OKell's and their team! read more

I can't say enough good things about Okell's. They were so knowledgable and helpful though the decision making process. We changed two fireplaces to gas burning logs and purchased a new gas insert for a third fireplace. The process could have been very overwhelming but they made it easy peasy. The installers left our house spotless when they left. I was amazed. read more

The worst experience ever starting with the order. We were told it only takes 10 days to get the fireplace but ending up waiting for over a month. The calculation for the cost of the product was done with the wrong tax rate. In San Francisco, the sales tax has been changed from 9.5% to 8.5% since July 1, 2011. Their system hasn't been updated and the salesman does not how to correct the overcharge! The pickup was terrible with absolutely no courtesy at all. Besides waiting for over two hours to get the product, the attendant damaged one of the parts with the fork-lift. That means the nightmare is not over yet. To conclude, I would not want to deal with this company any more. read more

Their products are high quality. The people are nice. Some of the technicians were good... But where Okell's fails is in their outdated business model. Their idea of customer service is that you always deal with exactly the same person... even if that person doesn't know much about the product you've purchased. For us it became a ridiculous game of telephone (literally, since they don't seem to do much by email), where our sales rep (Michele) talked to the installer, and then came back to us, and then we passed the info on third hand to our contractor, and then the information didn't all make it back to the installers. After multiple errors and miscommunications we finally got our contractor and electrician directly on the phone with the installer, and that solved most of our problems, but it was an unnecessarily painful process. Oh, and of course they only guarantee the products if they do the install themselves, so you can't have your contractor do the install. read more

Excellent service. I went in looking to buy a fireplace insert. That fit a very small opening. This has been very difficult to find. The first 2 options they gave me were not in my budget. We talked about the brands I have seen that fit my budget, they did not carry those but could order them. Trevor knew this would be a very small sale but took the time to take me to his computer and look at the brands I was researching. He educated me that the one brand I was leaning towards did not exist any more and the shop that told me about was probably trying to get rid a floor model that might not have any future support = he did all this knowing that I was probably not going to buy from him. He then explained to me the importance of getting the exact pipe that would fit the model insert I was going to get - not to just get any 6" pipe - it would not be approved. I would highly recommend this shop. read more

not so exicting. yes they have a nice showroom. yes they have been in business for a long time. called on the phone and they didn't seem real interested in my questions. went in to check out products and they didn't seem real happy being taken away from paperwork. it may be that big contractors get better service. read more

Why did I have Okell's replace my fireplace despite their terrible ratings? I don't know, but it was a terrible mistake. If Yelp had something less than one star, Okell's would get it. I had an old fireplace that wasn't working. From the very beginning, I encountered utter incompetence. They didn't have the parts, so they had to order the parts. Then they couldn't find the parts. Then it took numerous calls to schedule an appointment to have someone come out, and they couldn't send someone out for over a week. When they finally did send someone, he couldn't fix the fireplace. So they recommended I buy a new one. When I called to order it and schedule a time to come out, the woman who schedules appointments was getting married, so they couldn't schedule any appointments! This was perhaps the most ridiculous part of this whole experience. One would think they would have someone cover for the person who schedules appointments, you know, the things that drive their business! But no, apparently when this woman leaves for whatever reason, the place shuts down. So I couldn't even schedule an appointment for over a week. When I finally was able to place an order, the fireplace was on back order. So I had to wait over a month for it to come in. Keep in mind, this is all happening in the dead of winter -- December-January -- and the fireplace is the sole source of heat in the house. I told them this, but they didn't seem to care. Also, they were happy to take half of the cost of the fireplace up front and make me wait months to get the thing installed. When I finally was able to schedule something, of course they couldn't schedule me for many more weeks. The guy who came out to install the fireplace set it on the hardwood floor and scratched it all up. It worked fine, but when I came home later that night ready to finally have heat in my apartment, it wouldn't turn on. Furious, I personally went to the store the next day and complained to the manager. Apparently, there is a reset switch that no one told me about. Look, there are three things I want to know about when I buy a new fireplace: how to turn it on, how to turn it off, and how to reset the thing when it malfunctions. Fail. The only thing they did right was to send someone out that night to fix it. And they refunded me a couple hundred dollars, not even enough to repair my floor. Whatever you do, DO NOT give them your business. You will regret it. read more

So far so good. Trevor spent a lot of time showing me a selection from which I picked a small freestanding wood stove for a basement room, but also for earthquake insurance (or in the event we want to move it to a different room). He gave me a lot of information re what it needed re fireproofing/insulation underneath the stove. They didn't carry a metal version for the space I was using (custom), but gave me info re who could make one for me. Also info re venting etc. We've been rebuilding our house and the stove arrived at their warehouse months ago. Haven't bugged me at all about getting it, and Juan has been gracious -- I thought we'd pick it up last week but couldn't come up with the team. I was not at all sure what I needed when I first went to the store, and appreciated being left to wander around and look at the possibilities without being hustled. I did get a lot of help when I asked, and had narrowed it down. read more

I began my fireplace hunt by checking the major businesses in the Bay Area. OKell's was not the cheapest, but in the end I'm thrilled I went with them. One competitor in South San Francisco had a cheaper price for the fireplace itself, but I was never able to get a quote from their sub for demo and frame construction. Once I placed my order with Okell's, the fireplace was received and installed in less than a month -- one-stop shopping and no waiting for subs. The entire process was professional, efficient and the end result is gorgeous. I went with one of the new linear models and it looks fabulous with no need for tile. Awesome experience -- though not cheap. I probably would have rated 4.5 if the option were available because the first time I took a look around in their store, it was too busy to get help. I needed to look around anyway, and when I returned on a particularly warm day, I immediately received the help I needed. read more

Worst customer service ever. Makes Comcast look good. So many things went terribly that I hardly know where to start, and it would be impossible to list them all. After the initial meeting with the owner, Kevin, we were told that they would handle everything for our two fireplace installations, including coordination with the granite hearth vendor for the dining room fireplace, and coordination with our tile installer for the living room fireplace. What a joke. Lots of platitudes, but no real management. After Michele, our sales rep, screwed up 3 times, neglected to return calls, gave completely false information on numerous occasions, we had to step in and start managing the project. When I advised Kevin that we were "concerned" about the mistakes, he suggested that we cancel he project! No reassurance, no apologies for the screw-ups, no acknowledgement that we - the CUSTOMERS - had valid concerns. He just suggested that we cancel the project - and this was after we were 4 weeks into the project, and we had paid them $9K. Then, it got considerably worse when Cameron got involved. Apparently he is a "project manager". HA! He spoke to me like I am a child, was unbelievably rude to me in front of other vendors, and yelled and hung up on me when he was caught lying about unauthorized modifications to our antique mantle. Perhaps someone should explain to him what a CUSTOMER is: the person who pays his salary. He was the prissiest little snot I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Very obvious "short man" syndrome. We have lived through many renovation projects in our Victorian home, and Cameron is the only contractor I have ever banned from our property. When installation day finally arrived, multiple things went wrong, of course. Here are the "lowlights" (because there were no "highlights"): new dining room mantle was narrower than old one, so walls had to be re-plastered, and the baseboard repaired; dining room mantle was installed a full quarter inch off of level; antique mantle for living room was damaged & O'Kells denied doing it (luckily we had photos to prove otherwise); measurements for the tile installation in the living room were completely off, so the tile installer had to spend 4 HOURS fixing what O'Kells screwed up. I could go on and on, but am running out of space. During the last weeks of the project, Kevin advised us only to work with him, not talk to anyone else. You'd think that working directly with the owner might mean things went more smoothly - but you would be wrong. He treated us with such disdain, disrespect, and contempt, it's mind-boggling. Obviously this is where the rest of his staff has learned their customer service "skills". I have only one good thing to say about the project, and that is about the demo/install crew: Jeff, Alan, and Ollie were really great, very professional, very respectful towards the property and towards me. In fact, one of them went "above & beyond" at the end of the project, attempting to make up for all of the BS we went through. It's too bad they work for such an asshole. I would happily recommend O'Kells to all of the people I hate. For all others - including friends currently renovating their own Victorian homes - if the subject of fireplaces comes up, the first words out of my mouth are "Whatever you do, avoid O'Kells like the plague." read more

they did an amazing job of replacing our old ugly and dirty wood burning stove with a gas insert. recommend a plumber for the gas line, laid new brick in the hearth, disposed of the old stove and did a great job with the installation. we love our new insert - it is warm and clean and easy to use. I would highly recommend them. read more