A Step in Time Maryland
Reviews and Complaints

They did a great job cleaning my chimney and fireplace. They were on time and worked quickly. The price was fair and reasonable. I would definitely recommend A Step in Time Maryland LLC for any chimney cleaning needs. They are the best in town!

Mike came today for our chimney inspect. He was on time and explained everything good. We gonna update this review when they finish the job, but for now we happy.

i called cuz my chimney was leakin and mike came over in a few hours. ive worked with him before and he always gives me good estimates and does good work. we'll see how this repair goes.

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I had my fire place fixed by A Step in Time Maryland LLC and they did a good job. They put in a new chase cover and 2 refractory panels. The guys who did the work were nice and helped me out with all my questions. Marcel B. from Crofton, MD

They did a good job fixin' my garage roof. Everyone was nice and polite. The chimney repair and outside fixin' was great. They talked to me real good too. I'd hire 'em again. Mary W.

I jus got a call from the owner of A Step in Time, Michael S. He was at my house to give an estimate on a new Chimney Cap for me and my neighbor. I told the girl our neighbor wouldn't be home, she said that was fine. This morning my wife had a doctor's appointment and had to leave at 9:30, I had a work emergency and I called A Step in Time to let them know, the girl said it was ok. After a bad interaction w/ my wife, Mr. S called my cell phone stating "You got something to say to me [censored]" he started yelling telling me noone was home to do the inspection (my wife was), and noone at my neighbors house, I tried to get a word in edge wise, but he continued to yell, told me he would track me down and smack me around. I am now getting the police involved as I feel threatened by this person! How can someone have a business that talks this way to people, how in the world!? He lost our business, my neighbors business, and I will makes sure he will lose many others in the area. This was the worst experience and interaction I've ever had with a contractor, he is truly a very unprofessional person! Don't use this service!

Mike came over to my house and did the work, but he said he finished the work on my roof and other stuff that I paid for. He finished the work in March 2022, but in June 2022, I had a small leak in my hallway ceiling. I called his office and asked if he could come out and check the problem. He came out and said that David would come back within that week to fix the problem. I called the office back and asked when David would come to my house. I wanted him to come inside the house so I could show him where the leak was, and I wanted documents stating that they finished the work. I never saw anyone come to my house, neither did my daughter. I called the office back, and the young lady said David could come on July 1, 2022, between 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. No one showed up that day. I called the office back, and the young lady started giving me the runaround. Then I talked to Mike, the owner, and he started yelling, saying that his person had already come to my house. I said, "Fine, send me documents regarding this matter." He kept yelling, saying he was going to hang up the phone and that David finished the job. I would never use this company again because he is not a man of his word.

I set up a chimney cleanin with this company three weeks ahead of time. They told me to be home between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. I took off work the next day. The night before the cleaning, they called and left a message asking if I could change my window to 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. because they would be in my neighborhood early. I didn't get the message until the day of the appointment. I couldn't take off work early because I need to schedule it two weeks in advance. I left work at 11 a.m. and got two missed calls and a text message asking me to confirm my appointment. I texted back yes to confirm. Then I got another text saying they were at my house but I wasn't home. I called them back and he said he already left my house at 11:40 a.m. I told him I was 10 minutes away. He said he was the owner and didn't have time to wait around. He said he has many houses to clean chimneys on. He said he wasn't worried about one unsatisfied customer because he has many satisfied customers. I even have a similar text he sent me saying this. I chose this company because of the low prices, but after seeing other reviews, I understand why they offer low prices. I won't use this company again. I'll pay more for a more reputable company that cares about customer service.

I can't believe how much help I got from A Step in Time! My HOA had their chimney company do their yearly checkup on my fireplace and said it was unsafe to use because of a rusty chase cover that was leaking water. I ordered a new dual chase cover from A Step in Time without asking my neighbor first, and the HOA said I couldn't replace it because it was "community property." They also said they didn't have the money to fix it, so I should just get an electric fireplace. But Michael S from A Step in Time talked to my HOA and convinced them to get a third company to check it out. The third company agreed with A Step in Time that the fireplace was safe if the chase cover was replaced. I had already paid almost $1k for the new chase cover, but the HOA wouldn't reimburse me. Michael helped me convince the HOA to replace the chase cover and even told me where to get it and what size to get. He also helped me get it delivered to my unit so the HOA's chimney company could install it. If it wasn't for A Step in Time, my fireplace would have been ruined by my HOA! I highly recommend A Step in Time because they went above and beyond to help me out!

I hired A Step in Time Maryland LLC to clean my chimney and install a new chimney cap. They did the cleaning just fine, but the cap they installed was faulty. When I called to complain, they refused to take responsibility and fix the issue. I had to hire another company to come and fix the problem. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

I had STEP IN TIME come over on 27 Nov 2020 to fix my oil furnace's exhaust pipe. They replaced it all the way to the chimney cap and even took out the exhaust fan and flue damper from the old pipe and put it in the new one. On 2 Dec 2020, my HVAC company checked the new work and found out that the Flue damper was busted by STEP IN TIME and needed to be changed. My HVAC company had been to my house on 20 Nov for a furnace problem and the flue damper was fine then. So, it must have broken between 20 Nov and 2 Dec when STEP IN TIME was working on it.

They put in a chimney liner and hood for my wood stove, but the hood was too small and stopped the top damper from opening. Smoke came into the house when I lit a fire. They came back and removed the damper, but we still had smoke. Another employee came out and said the liner wasn't connected to the hood and had to come back to fix it. They came back with a helper and connected the liner to the hood. But now, without the damper, the stove doesn't heat up. The owner wouldn't listen and said it was perfect. He took part of my stove and called my wife an [censored]. I want my damper back and will have to pay for a new hood. They shouldn't have installed something that wasn't compatible. He was mean to my wife and I have the texts to prove it.

This company cleaned our chimney in July. We tried to use our pellet stove insert a month ago and found out it wasn't reinstalled correctly. It's loose and wobbly, and smoke came out when we tried to start it a few weeks ago. We scheduled a service appointment, but they never showed up. We called a few days later, and they put us off for two weeks. They called to confirm we were home, but no one showed up or called to explain why. I called their office and asked why, and they said I had to speak to the owner. When I called him, he said his techs were booked a month out. I told him I had already had two different appointments, and he hung up on me. I tried calling him back, but he ignored me and sent me to voicemail. I called the office again and told them if I didn't get an immediate call from the owner, I was reporting them. 30 minutes later, the owner called me at work, but he wasn't pleasant on the phone. He has an attitude that I don't want to deal with. I'm done with him.