First Choice Chimney Sweeps

I've been using First Choice Chimney Sweeps for about 4 years now, and have always found them professional, courteous and efficient. I welcome their knowledge about woodburner maintenance, and like the fact that I get reminded when it's time to get my chimney swept (no pressure - just a reminder). I would happily recommend them.

We have only used First Choice since being recommended them 15 years ago by neighbours. Ian has been a regular over the years but Sam attended this morning - the same cheery positive approach, advice freely given and a quick and efficient job, and a thorough clean-up afterwards. Well worth the money and a mug of builders tea!

Really happy with the service from First Choice. On time, perfectly clean, friendly and professional. Chimney swept, new firebricks and rope seal on my wood burner, carbon monoxide alarm fitted and rogue buddleia growing high on the chimney dealt with.

I had a really bad experience of using this contractor. I had originally engaged him with work to get a CCTV survey done of my chimney, and the process was pretty straightforward and I had no concerns about using him again. However, I had quite a different experience when using him a second time as I found him to have a very negative and rude attitude towards most things. There were a few things that showed up as being red flags and / or unprofessionalism in his service, firstly that he tried to charge £150 for collecting keys from the estate agent to get access to the cottage. As I understand, it’s something that other contractors are happy to do for free, and if there were to be a cost for what is a 30 minute max round trip, his charge seems outrageous for that. My direct engagement with him during this second visit was over arranging the delivery of a rear back plate for my stove that he had recommended fitting in the CCTV survey report. I had asked for his recommendation on what this should be, and ordered the one that he recommended to be delivered in time for when he said the visit was going to be that he had planned with the estate agent who manages my house. Following his work on the stove, he had a very negative attitude towards the process, complaining that apparently that the recommended rear plate was not in the house, he told me that he had broken the stove - without apology - and he recommended someone who could fix it for £150. On further clarification, it turned out that the correct rear plate was in fact in the house, and that it was his mistake that he had not recognised it. He made no acknowledgment towards the fact that his previous complaints and negative attitude were actually his own fault. In the process of arranging his visit, there had been a miscommunication between him and the estate agent who manages the house about what time he was to visit. When I asked him to send his invoice to the estate agent as they manage the cottage and that he could query the additional charge for turning up on the wrong day if he felt wasn’t his fault, he initially refused to do so and he tried to argue with me by trying to pass the blame to me, even though I wasn’t a part of organising his visit, and that he had already been offered payment via the estate agent. It seemed stubborn, unhelpful, and unnecessary. I also now realise that his normal sweeping services are more expensive than other chimney sweep contractors- £70 in comparison to £54 of my normal chimney sweep who is good as well as lovely - and that the repair of the stove that I had to get done following his visit cost £65, which was significantly cheaper than the contractor he’d recommended who was going to charge £150 for the same work. He also writes on his certificates that the next sweep is ‘required’ within 3 months, which also isn’t actually correct as HETAS themselves say the minimum requirement is two sweeps a year, and sweeping a chimney in May and then again in August is pointless as it won’t have been used in those months. I raised my concerns about his attitude and about how rude I found him to be with him directly and he didn’t apologise or take any accountability for any of it, and he simply tried to continue to project onto me. He is one of the worst attitudes of any contractor that I’ve experienced before, and my hunch is that his stubbornness and rude attitude towards me may have been rooted in sexism. Definitely not a first choice chimney sweep, and I’d very much recommend working with someone else to save yourself the headache as well as some money.

First Choice Chimney Sweeps swept 2 log burners for us today. They kept us informed when they would arrive, on time and clean working. Would recommend highly.