Bromwell’s the Fireplace People

I wanted to install a direct vent gas fireplace in my living room. Not only Bromwell’s gave me the best quote, they went out of their way to provide excellent customer service for me from start to finish. My experience with Brian, Prescott and the installer are all top notch. I am very happy with my new fireplace and highly recommended Bromwell’s to any of your fireplace need. And NO, I am not their family or friend, just a regular customer.

I came in wanting to replace a gas fireplace but they helped me actually repair the one I had. Thumbs up for the honesty. They could have made a lot more money on me. I will use them in the future for maintenance and refer other to them. Thanks Bromwell’s!

First of all, I normally do not post reviews but Brian and the Bromwells team deserve credit for excellent customer service. I went to Woodburners Two (felt like I was buying a used car) and Cyprus Air (felt like I was buying a timeshare). Needless to say, I did not have good experiences. I had a comprehensive meeting with Brian who gave me the straight talk with no upsale. He showed me the difference between the very high end (Town and Country, Mendota, etc) and the more modestly priced. No pressure, just info. I can’t say enough good things about my experience. I will sing their praises as long as people will listen. I recommend them to the highest degree.

Buyer BEWARE! As of this review, this place shows 4+ stars, but check the details – 11 five stars… but 8 one star reviews… none in between. I believe the 5 stars are friends and family or maybe a few people that didn’t set Brian off by asking the «wrong» question.
I went into Bromwell’s because I had a few questions about making my fireplace safer for my 18 month old and maybe getting a newer version. Katie was nice, but the younger guy behind the desk was a complete jerk when I was asking questions about what options I had. He would cut me off in mid-​sentence and shut me down. He talked down to me like I had no idea what I was talking about. Of course I didn’t know what I was talking about, that’s why I came to their store! After dealing with that jerk, I wouldn’t use any services from them if it as free! I’ll look elsewhere.
Update Based on Business owner response 1÷5÷2016: I was one of the unfortunate customers that asked Brian the wrong question. I did ask about changing the logs out with new ones (like you can find on Amazon). BUT, I only asked the question. That is not «trying to buy random logs»…is not going to fireplace professionals to ask first not smart as opposed to your tone that I’m an idiot? Besides that, I also asked about adding a blower, getting a thermostat, the price to have a new model installed, could I retrofit a screen etc. All because of my young child. You did not bring up the option of the screen, I asked about it. I will get a new fireplace as mine is obviously about 15 years old and the glass gets too hot to be safe with kids. Just not from you. You lost my business. Even after speaking with the manager (your Dad I suppose) you are missing the point, it is not what you said, it is how you said it.
Brian provided the worst customer service I have experienced in some time. I didn’t get to explain to him why I was there because he never asked, he didn’t care so contrary to his response he wasn’t trying to make anything safe for my Baby because he didn’t know why I was there. Within a minute of talking to him he was very off-​putting.
From the very start he began deriding me (with a tone much like your response, very condescending) because I didn’t know all the types of fireplaces or that it wasn’t safe to put new logs in my fireplace. I suppose he was nice until I said I already had a gas fireplace and I thought it was originally wood (which was about 2 minutes into the conversation), that’s when he started saying he would «bet the business» that it wasn’t and became aggressive. It got worse when I asked if it was possible to change out the «insides» without needing to replace the whole thing. While unbelievably rude, I do not dislike his answer, he seemed genuine and I believed him when he said it is not safe to change anything. I wasn’t trying to argue, just clarify because I didn’t know my options.
Katie was the one that actually took me over and explained to me what a new fireplace looked like outside the wall and what a new one would entail. It was Katie that I told about my son burning his hand later because she was interested in helping me find what I needed and it seemed with you guys I was down to just keeping him away from it entirely.
Bottom Line: Who cares if the house originally had a full fireplace? It is a direct vent now and that is all that matters. You assertion that I didn’t like your answer is laughable and absurd… it is why I came into your store to begin with-​to ask the questions and get answers! By responding you endorse my review. Rude is rude, don’t try to explain it away. Even your response to my review comes across as rude and aggressive, just as you did in the store Brian. My experience was much like Matt and Rohini’s or Suzan’s review below. He became irritated and angry within seconds of the start of our conversation and my experience was miserable from the about 60 seconds after I talked to him until I walked out.
***Also note, the response to similar complaints of being insulted and disrespected by Brian… he says «we’re sorry that you allegedly were treated poorly on the phone. I find that very hard to believe» and «First off, we’re sorry that you seem to have a problem with us. Secondly, who are you? We’d love to talk with you, if you are in fact a customer of ours. you are gu». The guy is a bully. And to the Dad… you should keep your son off the sales floor and off of Unilocal responding to bad reviews. He is making our point for us – terrible customer service.***

Loved my experience with Bromwell’s. Their price for a wood stove, venting package, and installation was significantly lower than other shops in town, and they stuck to their quote even after discovering they’d need to source an extra piece of pipe. Brian was incredibly helpful, talking me through every step of the purchase and installation and calling to follow up after major milestones. He knows his craft intimately, takes obvious pride in the business, and treats customers as relationships, not just deals. Bromwell’s installers were courteous, clean, efficient, and open to explaining their work — a huge relief when someone’s cutting holes in your house! They left my house cleaner (and warmer) than they found it.

Ask for Prescott. We did and are very happy customers. We had two fireplaces we needed to have repaired/​replaced with insert. Prescott helped us tremendously and was thorough and fair with us.

After calling many fireplace specialists, I was very disappointed. Most ignored my request for a quote, while others came out but never actually gave me a proposal. A few who did propose failed to respond when I posed some clarifying questions about cost, schedule, etc. Ready to give up, I found Bromwell’s, and the experience with them could not have been better. Bronwell’s responded in one day, and we scheduled the estimate for two weeks later. They arrived on time for the estimate, which separated the cost of the unit from their labor (as it should be). We agreed on the unit and cost, and we scheduled the electrical, gas, county inspection, and installation dates. All dates were met as promised, and the unit was installed perfectly.
Throughout the process, their entire team was courteous, efficient, and incredibly responsive. They are among the best contractors I worked during our home renovation this year, and I would not hesitate to use them again at any time.

We recently moved into a new house that had a fireplace and gas line but that was it. I decided to try Bromwells after previously trying Woodburners Two a few years ago, and finding the staff at Woodburners to be nonresponsive, unprofessional and unhelpful. For some reason, this industry of fireplace installation and repair does not seem especially well known for great service. In contrast, I came to Bromwells with a rough idea of what I wanted — a gas stove insert — and Katya and Brian were super helpful in showing me several good options in the store room. After we picked a stove, their follow up and communication regarding installation was excellent. They were responsive and even arranged for subcontractors to handle related electrical work. The stove insert has worked great the first year, and they even returned recently to help us get our unit ready to use the coming winter. I’ve been really happy with their service and would definitely recommend them.

My wife and I visited the showroom at Bromwell’s in Falls Church to look at options for fireplace doors for our wood-​masonry fireplace; and, we enjoyed a tremendous experience from arrival and shopping to installation — all within 24 hours! Monica, our salesperson, introduced herself and listened/​understood exactly what we described as our specific situation and needs. She highlighted the features and benefits of their mfgs.’ product lines and reviewed what they had in stock — which led to significant savings and met our needs exactly. While confirming the stock brass doors, we had the greatest pleasure of speaking directly with the store owners who personally made us feel like the most important customers they’ve ever had :-). Finding the doors in inventory — we were promised installation the next day (a Sunday) or the following day. James, our installer who has worked with the company for 15-​yrs. did come by the next day and was exceptionally pleasant and thorough with the installation — showing us features, operating info and left his phone number if we encountered any issues. The entire experience was extremely positive and we would heartily recommend Bromwell’s to our friends and anyone looking for fireplace products and services — A+ all the way!

I had a very positive experience working with Bromwells to have a new wood stove installed in my house. My wife and I were looking for a small wood stove with contemporary, modern styling, which is pretty hard to find in this part of the east coast. Brian was really helpful throughout the entire process and helped us to narrow down our options for a stove that was the appropriate size for the space being heated. He went above and beyond to reach out to suppliers that Bromwells doesn’t typically work with in order to find a stove that we liked.
Brian also helped us select the best install location and showed us examples of how the finished product would look in our house. This helped us in making a final decision about where to place the stove.
Unfortunately, after we ordered the stove the North American supplier developed supply issues and couldn’t deliver the stove that we ordered. Brian was outstanding when this happened and did his best to provide us with multiple options for alternative stoves.
Once the new stove arrived, the install team was quick and courteous. They explained how the stove worked and provided instructions for how to maintain the system.
We are beyond happy with the final product and love our new wood stove!

We had an outstanding experience with Bromwell’s. If there are negative reviews below me here, then these customers are being extremely unreasonable.
The rear firewall/​brick panel of our Townhouse fireplace was visibly cracked. We replaced four panels: the left, right, bottom, and rear refactory /​brick panels of our Townhouse fireplace — all 30 years old. In the end, we essentially ended up with a brand new fireplace. There’s peace-​of-​mind knowing your Townhouse fireplace — which doesn’t have any real brick and mortar structure to it – is safe and sound.
The business is family owned and operated: son (Brian) and father (Rich). Our goal was a wood-​burning insert. After two home visits and measurements, and research by Bromwell’s, an inspection-​grade insert wasn’t commercially available for our Townhouse fireplace — dimensions being short by inches. Our $ 2,000 deposit was promptly refunded, after which we embarked on upgrading our fireplace panels.
Throughout the process, Brian was in continual dialogue as to ordering, installation, and post-​install feedback. I might add we were NOT a high-​priced customer, and I believe our fireplace maintenance job took significantly more time and interface than a high-​end upgrade and installation. Bromwell’s is extremely busy installing gas-​driven fireplaces during the late Fall and early Winter timeframe — during our experience. (Note: there’s no gas service to my neighborhood, or I’d have a Bromwell’s gas-​driven fireplace right now as I type.) However we never knew the difference. We were treated as if we were buying the moon from them.
I recommend them highly for any and all fireplace needs.
JR

Terrible experience–
Don’t use Bromwells ! They are fine when you purchase but install and follow up was huge disappointment ! I would never shop there again.
GiGi

We had a very positive experience with Bromwells — our wood stove insert was installed within the past month and we are satisfied with the product and the service. Note: our goal was to have a visible fire in the fireplace, not to provide heat throughout our house — we are weekend users and have found that the unit that we purchased does a solid job at heating the main floor of our two story home, roughly 1250 sq ft.
Brian is quite knowledgeable about the products available and holds a sense of pride for the Bromwells business which was very nice to see. The company doing the installation was professional, curteous, and clean. They took time to make sure that we understood the product.
I do recommend Bromwells.

Terrible install and service! Bottom line — go anywhere else.
I bought a fireplace for my rental home and had it installed before I rented the house. The first issue I encountered with them was the late delivery, the fireplace came 3 weeks late.
The next issue was with the installation, the Bromwell’s installers claimed that the gas line was not where they thought it would be, although we sent measurements and a description of where the line was, it was on the right side of the fireplace, they argued that they would have to run a line to the left side which cost more. The bromwell’s installer wanted to charge more, but we worked out the issue with the salesman, Rick, or so we thought.
The third issue came a couple months later when my tenant couldn’t get the fireplace working. I asked Bromwell’s to check it, they did a service visit and claimed it wasn’t working because the wiring for the on/​off switch was loose and shorting. When asked if this was covered since the unit was just purchased and installed the installation manager claimed that because I didn’t pay for the full install I had to pay for the service call ($ 220 for the service hour).
In addition to poor installation and disputing what installation covers, the service rep demanded on the spot payment from my tenant before leaving.

Wow! Today was my installation day and I am thrilled! Bromwell’s was great from the sales process through the installation. I am so pleased that I made a video with my new camera. Check it out.
Thank you Bromwell’s for making my house warm, toasty and beautiful.

We decided to replace our old wood stove with a gas fireplace. Brian was knowledgable, patient and recommended a ventless system. Rich came and did a thorough onsite evaluation. They gave us an estimate that was fair and accurate. They were on time to appointments and two weeks after we decided to go this route, the fireplace was installed. Tony came to do the installation and paid attention to details and was professional. Everything works great and we love the fireplace. Would highly recommend.

I have never submitted a business review before, but it would be irresponsible of me not to warn others about this company. I purchased a fireplace unit and installation package from Bromwell’s as part of a home renovation project. The bottom line is that they neither delivered all of the equipment covered by the contract nor installed it correctly. When I approached Bromwell’s about the issue it took them nearly two months to come back with a response, which was to blame my contractor without any basis in fact for their position (note — my contractor had no responsibility for installing the fireplace, and what contractor goes beyond their contractual responsibilities)? I am now resolving the issue through a more reputable company. I really wish I had heeded the other Unilocal reviews before I chose Bromwell’s. Be warned, this is a disgraceful company.

I called to ask about one of their gas stove inserts in a home I just moved into which is not working. The guy was irritated as soon as he answered and he just became angry over the next 60 seconds as I gave him the model number and explained the issues. Bromwell’s is totally incapable of dealing with the public. It’s apparent that they have no problem insulting potential customers and have zero customer service skills. Contact this business only if you want to be insulted and disrespected.

I had a wonderful experience at Bromwells. I called them with a propane vs. natural gas conversion question. The man I spoke to thoroughly answered all my questions and addressed all my concerns and spent a great deal of time on the phone with me. I made it very clear that I was not likely to buy anything. The store owner came to my home to see exactly what I was talking about. He gave me sound advice and was extremely knowledgable and professional. When the time comes for me to buy fireplace equipment I will definitely put my money and trust with Bromwells.

Not sure why these people are in business. Completely disorganized, don’t show up for appointments, don’t call back when they say, and then give you all sorts of excuses. Stay away and DO NOT give them a deposit. Search other review sites and you’ll see similar comments. Wish I had checked reviews before I gave them a deposit.