Beware the chimney sweeping service.

I called this company to perform a chimney sweep. The crew attended and first swept from the ***l downwards as my flue has two elbows. Unfortunately the brush could not negotiate the second bend so sweeping was then commenced from inside the house. I was a bit concerned when the staff member proceeded to sweep the chimney via the fireplace without any covering to contain the soot. Needless to say, the entire lounge was covered with a fine layer of soot. That evening I tried to light a fire but the smoke would not extract so there was clearly a blockage. The next morning my neighbour contacted me to say that my ***l was hanging skew. I contacted Southern Fires and the crew came out again and this time rivetted the ***l back on ( instead of using silicone ). I tried the fireplace again that evening but it was still blocked. I gave up on Southern Fires and sent a flexible pipe up the flue myself. A mass of soot eventually descended and my fireplace was finally in working order. I believe the crew to be totally unprofessional and reckless in their duties. In Southern Fire's defence, management did offer me a full refund which I declined.