Thank you for making an appointment with Slaters Chimney Services Ltd, before you read any further please put a reminder on your calendar, in your paper diary or on your mobile phone for your allocated appointment slot. Forgotten appointments can cause a great amount of disappointment for us both.
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Holiday Cottage owners – Please remember block out availability for the date of my visit on your bookings platform.
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS
If you wish to opt out of the following agreement please contact me to cancel your appointment within 24 hours of booking.
If you are aware of any reason the chimney may be blocked, or if the stove is not working correctly, you must inform me upon booking as I will only have scheduled time for one standard chimney sweep.
Appointments are 1 hour including travel time and the sweeping of a lined chimney usually takes 30-45 minutes. I will provide you with an estimated time of arrival, so please ensure you are at your property in good time.
Cancellations
Slaters Chimney Services Ltd is a small business that provides a professional service. I make bookings based on location, my appointments and route are very carefully planned to minimise travelling time. If you forget or cancel your appointment at short notice, I am unlikely to be able to fill your slot therefore resulting in financial loss to Slaters Chimney Services Ltd.
My cancellation charges are;
48-72 hours prior to appointment – 50% payment due.
Within 48 hour of appointment – 100% payment due.
Upon arrival at your address during the allocated time slot, if you are not in, you do not hear the door bell because you are in the back garden or you are not present then you will be called on the number you provided upon booking. I will wait for 15minutes ONLY after your estimated arrival time for you to arrive. After this time period there would not be enough time to carry out the service properly without having knock on effects to the other customers/bookings that day.
Parking
Due to the amount and weight of equipment needed to carry out our services, parking must be available within 25 metres of the property. It is the responsibility of the customer to make adequate parking arrangements for the appointment. Any parking fees incurred must be covered by the client. If not, the client must provide a designated parking space or a parking permit for the area.
Please ensure that gates are open when I arrive, that there is space on your drive if you have one and any cars that are leaving during my visit are out of the way and won’t be blocked in.
If you have no parking or you know parking is difficult, please give me instructions on where to park in advance so that I can plan any extra time this may take. It would be greatly appreciated if you could reserve a place on the street with your car and swap with me when I arrive. My equipment is very heavy and there is a lot of it, if I can’t park close by I cannot complete the job.
Work Area Access
Please remove all ornaments, fenders or child guards, coal hods/scuttles & log baskets from the fireplace area, I usually need about 2 metres square for equipment and myself to work safely. Please remove any furniture within this area. Please also remove any breakables from the route you require me to take to get to the fireplace.
For health & safety reasons I do not remove my footwear, but shoe protectors can be worn.
Please ensure all children and pets are kept out of the way, I am perfectly happy to introduce myself to your animals but need the workspace to be safe for myself, your children and your pets. I will be in and out several times whilst setting up and packing away. I’ll be carrying cumbersome equipment and I may need to leave doors open, so please put your pets and children somewhere safe for the duration of my visit.
My Vacuum requires one plug socket, my cable is around 3 metres long, please make sure there is a socket that is easily accessible and vacant for me to use.
Preparing Your Appliance
All appliances must be off and cool, leaving at least 12 hours once the fire is out. Please clear ALL ash, unburned fuels and other debris from your stove or fireplace before arrival. If your fire has been lay ready for lighting, please kindly dismantle it. Or if you have a range cooker, please ensure this is turned off 12 hours prior to my visit.
It is vital that any waste products such as used tissues, nails from burned waste timber, any waste medical products are removed before I can work safely.
Please take note of any cracked bricks and warped parts, it is common for firebricks to be cracked and broken, this is a natural part of wear and tear in your stove. Please note, should the removal of firebricks be necessary to sweep the appliance, it increases the chance of breakage. If firebricks are broken in the process of sweeping, it is not Slaters Chimney Services Ltd’s responsibility to replace them and if they go back into the stove without issues, there is no need to replace them. Slightly deteriorated bricks have no effect on the safety or efficiency of the stove.
If the flue is found to be defective, or if the lining falls apart during sweeping, this can only be due to previous corrosion, age or damage. Slaters Chimney Services Ltd cannot be held responsible for replacement of flue and a full fee for sweeping will still apply.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a correctly fitted terminal on top of your chimney. If terminals are loose, incorrectly fitted or damaged, it is possible that they will be knocked lose. Slaters Chimney Services Ltd are not responsible for any damage caused to property by falling terminals due to incorrect fitting and maintenance, nor are we responsible for their replacement.
Please ensure that your Carbon Monoxide alarm is both visible and accessible for testing.
After Your Sweep
I will leave your appliance and surrounding area as clean and tidy as possible. All soot will be bagged and left with you, it is domestic waste and can be placed in your black bin.
If I am unable to sweep an appliance effectively or safely (this happens most frequently with home installed stoves that do not comply with current guidance/regulations) the full sweeping fee is charged and advice will be given on how to make the appliance safe to use and able to be swept.
Payment
Payment is to be made upon completion of work by cash or bank transfer only, unless other methods have been agreed at the time of booking. Bank transfers must be done whilst I am still at the property to save them being forgotten about.
Slaters Chimney Services Ltd will pursue all late/non-payments through the small claims court and seek to recover the additional legal costs.
After Service Problems
Slaters Chimney Services Ltd take pride on an exceptional level of service and in-depth knowledge. Most post sweep problems such as smoke coming back into the room are due to a cold flue, operator error or ventilation issues. I strongly encourage all customers to visit www.burnright.co.uk to establish how best to use your appliance.
If you have a problem after my visit then please get in contact with me as soon as possible, so I can promptly sort any issue that may have arisen. If I have made a mistake, I will rectify the problem promptly and of course, free of charge. Very rarely mistakes can be made, but please rest assured that if I am at fault I will rectify them.
Please be aware that if the issue is not related to my visit and I have to return to the property you will be charged an appointment fee.
Finally
Slaters Chimney Services Ltd do not offer appointment reminders, there is a huge amount of admin within the business and I simply do not have time, please add your own reminder in your phone calendar for the day before.
I am certain you will be completely satisfied with my services and Ill look forward to keeping you and your chimney safe and your house cosy and warm!
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Tom Slater