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| The "Silly Season"? |
| When is it? |
| Labor Day through Christmas |
| What is it? |
This is the time of year that 90% of the people call to have their chimney swept. It
seems to be the American way of doing things. I am very guilty of this
procrastination problem, so I do understand, but the person on the other end of
the phone does not always understand why Abbey Road cannot be there today
or tomorrow. How many hours can you work day after day and still stay safe? I
personally have fallen from three roofs because of pushing myself beyond my
physical limits in order to try to keep on adding on that "one " extra job that
becomes two, and even three on an already fully booked day.
Despite the fact that we have been in business since 1982, and have multitudes
of repeat customers, we somehow cannot seem to explain why everyone doesn't
want to think about chimney maintenance until it is time to burn the unit. We do
run 2 trucks at this time of year, but we still become inundated during October
and November. We want to do the most professional job for all of our customers.
All of the sweeps at Abbey Road take pride in their work. One of our favorite
moments in a client's homes is when we are able to spend time talking with the
homeowner, going over questions, giving tips on how to better maintain the unit
we have serviced, and best of all, catching up on the family news since we last
met. Unfortunately, during the silly season, we don't always have the luxury to do
this, and it greatly saddens me to have only a few short minutes to go over
questions and information for the homeowner.
October & November are really insane. We realize that most people have to work
during the day, so our 3:00-5:00 PM appointments go very quickly. Once the time
changes, we lose the daylight that is helpful for most sweepings. I have heard
that in 2007 the time will not change until the end of November. That will be very
good for us, but not a total solution. When it rains or snows, most people don't
want to wait another 3 weeks or more to have their chimney swept, especially if
they had to take vacation time. I don't blame them for being unhappy, but we
cannot control the weather. There are very few days that we cancel because of
weather, but sometimes common sense must prevail. All employees still follow
the company rule: "If it is not safe, DO NOT do it".
We rarely will do sweepings on Saturdays. This is when we are able to do the
relines that we try to get in before the weather gets too cold. Spring & summer is
the ideal time of year to do relines, but again, a lot of people wait until they are
ready to use the fireplace, then they call to get it repaired. There are only so
many weekends, so sometimes we have to move people into the spring. That is
due to one of our mottoes, "if we can't do it right, we will not do it at all." In other
words, if we feel the weather is too cold to do the best possible work, we will wait
for better weather.
seems to be the American way of doing things. I am very guilty of this
procrastination problem, so I do understand, but the person on the other end of
the phone does not always understand why Abbey Road cannot be there today
or tomorrow. How many hours can you work day after day and still stay safe? I
personally have fallen from three roofs because of pushing myself beyond my
physical limits in order to try to keep on adding on that "one " extra job that
becomes two, and even three on an already fully booked day.
Despite the fact that we have been in business since 1982, and have multitudes
of repeat customers, we somehow cannot seem to explain why everyone doesn't
want to think about chimney maintenance until it is time to burn the unit. We do
run 2 trucks at this time of year, but we still become inundated during October
and November. We want to do the most professional job for all of our customers.
All of the sweeps at Abbey Road take pride in their work. One of our favorite
moments in a client's homes is when we are able to spend time talking with the
homeowner, going over questions, giving tips on how to better maintain the unit
we have serviced, and best of all, catching up on the family news since we last
met. Unfortunately, during the silly season, we don't always have the luxury to do
this, and it greatly saddens me to have only a few short minutes to go over
questions and information for the homeowner.
October & November are really insane. We realize that most people have to work
during the day, so our 3:00-5:00 PM appointments go very quickly. Once the time
changes, we lose the daylight that is helpful for most sweepings. I have heard
that in 2007 the time will not change until the end of November. That will be very
good for us, but not a total solution. When it rains or snows, most people don't
want to wait another 3 weeks or more to have their chimney swept, especially if
they had to take vacation time. I don't blame them for being unhappy, but we
cannot control the weather. There are very few days that we cancel because of
weather, but sometimes common sense must prevail. All employees still follow
the company rule: "If it is not safe, DO NOT do it".
We rarely will do sweepings on Saturdays. This is when we are able to do the
relines that we try to get in before the weather gets too cold. Spring & summer is
the ideal time of year to do relines, but again, a lot of people wait until they are
ready to use the fireplace, then they call to get it repaired. There are only so
many weekends, so sometimes we have to move people into the spring. That is
due to one of our mottoes, "if we can't do it right, we will not do it at all." In other
words, if we feel the weather is too cold to do the best possible work, we will wait
for better weather.
If you are reading this during the "silly season," there isn't much of a solution.
You will just have to get the first available appointment for your area &
time slot. Don't forget that the later afternoon appointments go quickly. If
you want to have annual sweepings, which of course, depends on how
much you use your unit, then avoid the Labor Day-Christmas time of year.
At the end of the burning season, call us to sweep your unit in the spring
or early summer. If we run into a bad weather day, we can schedule for
another day. You won't have a long wait for another appointment, & you
won't be wanting to burn it as soon as we leave your house. Plus, if there
are any problems, the repairs can be done before the burning season.
Another plus is that you will know that you can light the fire if we get an
early cool spell because you had it swept in the spring or summer. a
ABBEY ROAD MIGHT EVEN ADVERTISE SPECIAL RATES ON THE WEBSITE
DURING THE SPRING & SUMMER. CHECK BACK DURING VARIOUS MONTHS .re
reading this during th
You will just have to get the first available appointment for your area &
time slot. Don't forget that the later afternoon appointments go quickly. If
you want to have annual sweepings, which of course, depends on how
much you use your unit, then avoid the Labor Day-Christmas time of year.
At the end of the burning season, call us to sweep your unit in the spring
or early summer. If we run into a bad weather day, we can schedule for
another day. You won't have a long wait for another appointment, & you
won't be wanting to burn it as soon as we leave your house. Plus, if there
are any problems, the repairs can be done before the burning season.
Another plus is that you will know that you can light the fire if we get an
early cool spell because you had it swept in the spring or summer. a
ABBEY ROAD MIGHT EVEN ADVERTISE SPECIAL RATES ON THE WEBSITE
DURING THE SPRING & SUMMER. CHECK BACK DURING VARIOUS MONTHS .re
reading this during th
| The solution? |
(937) 833-0505 (937) 433-8874 (937) 836-9475