Paul Devenny Chimney Sweep

We had our chimney cleaned today after putting it off for about 15 years. Devenny was the first to return my call. They were a few minutes late, but they called to tell me. Our chimney is super clean! They found evidence of a chimney fire and we are so grateful nothing bad happened. Efficient, clean, and friendly.

We called at the beginning of the busy season. It took them a week or so to return my call and then a couple more weeks before they came. They were EARLY and I wasn’t prepared so I asked them to take their lunch break, which they did. When they returned, they were efficient & took great care in set-​up. They spent well over an hour completing the job. Paul explained that there was evidence of a previous chimney fire (not necessarily in the years we have been here) by the debris they got from the flue shelf in the chimney. I attributed it to the less than conscientious previous services we have used.
Courteous. Professional. Thorough.

I’m unable to review them for their actual chimney sweeping services, as they did not honor my appointment. Understanding December is any chimney sweep’s ‘busy’ season, I called at the beginning of the month to get pricing and to make an appointment to both clean my chimney & inspect it for repairs (including fixing the damper/​flue). I chose Paul because he is one of the few in south jersey that’s a member of the National & NJ Chimney Sweep Guilds, with all the appropriate licensing.
Without any pricing listed on his website, I had to call for this information. I spoke to Paul directly who informed me for a chimney cleaning (including vacuuming, using drop cloths, brushing the whole fireplace, etc.) is $ 160. If my Flue/​Damper just needs repair it would cost btwn $ 100/​$ 150, but if it needed replacing it would cost btwn $ 350/​$ 450. Sounded ok to me. I had recently purchased my home, and never having had a fireplace before, had nothing to compare these prices to. I’m assuming their pricing is standard considering all his memberships/​licensing.
On the call, Paul instructed me he had an opening for just a few weeks away and scheduled me in. He stated he would reach out to me the week before the appointment to confirm & to obtain my address. Well, that week before my ‘appointment’ is this week, and I hadn’t heard from him, so I called myself. The woman I spoke to advised they do not have my appointment scheduled, and after confirming with Paul himself, stated that I must’ve ‘called another company & am confused’, and they don’t have any open availability for another month. Unfortunately this is the only company I had looked up, and reached out to, so there’s no way I was confused.
I’m really disappointed in the unprofessional manner in which my appointment, or lack there of, was handled, especially since this is really one of the few chimney sweeping companies I had wanted to use. I would like to still give them an opportunity to change my opinion, if I can actually obtain and they can keep the appointment.
Advice: If you decide to use them, double & triple confirm your appointment with them ahead of time; or just make sure it actually gets written down in their scheduling ‘book’.