Terms of Service
Effective as of: July 9, 2026
These Terms of Service (Terms) govern every visit to chimneysweepreading.com and every service request submitted through the site or by phone. By using chimneysweepreading.com or submitting a request, a visitor accepts these Terms in full. Anyone who does not agree should not use the site.
Important notice: These Terms include a binding arbitration agreement and a class-action waiver that affect a user’s legal rights. Both are set out in the Dispute Resolution section below. Readers should review that section carefully before using the site.
Independent businesses and liability
Every home-service job arranged through chimneysweepreading.com is performed by an independent contractor - a locally operating business that has agreed to receive referrals from Top Hat Chimney. Those businesses are not employees, agents, legal partners, joint venturers or representatives of Top Hat Chimney, and Top Hat Chimney does not control, direct or supervise them in any way.
Top Hat Chimney is not responsible or liable for:
- the quality, safety, timeliness or outcome of any work performed;
- the pricing, estimates or billing practices of any business;
- the licensing, insurance, bonding or regulatory compliance of any business;
- the conduct, negligence or omissions of any business or its employees; or
- any property damage, personal injury or other loss caused by a business or anyone working for it.
The contract for the work is formed directly between the customer and the business that performs it. Top Hat Chimney is not a party to that agreement. Passing a request to a business is not an endorsement, certification or guarantee of that business’s work or qualifications. Before authorizing any job, customers should verify licensing and insurance independently and read the written contract. Any dispute about the work itself is a matter between the customer and that business.
Limitation of Top Hat Chimney’s liability
chimneysweepreading.com and the referral service are provided as is and as available. Top Hat Chimney makes no warranty that a business will be available, will respond to a request, or will produce any particular result.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Top Hat Chimney is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data or property damage, arising out of or related to a user’s use of chimneysweepreading.com or the referral service, even if Top Hat Chimney has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Top Hat Chimney’s total cumulative liability to any user for any claim arising out of or related to chimneysweepreading.com or the referral service - whether in contract, tort or otherwise - is capped at one hundred dollars ($100.00) or the amount the user actually paid Top Hat Chimney in connection with the claim, whichever is greater. Because Top Hat Chimney does not charge for referrals, that amount is normally nothing; in most cases the cap will be $100.00.
These limitations apply only to Top Hat Chimney’s own conduct and its operation of chimneysweepreading.com. Responsibility for the home-service work itself - including any liability for workmanship, injury or property damage - rests with the independent business that performed it, not with Top Hat Chimney.
How Top Hat Chimney operates
Top Hat Chimney operates chimneysweepreading.com as a home-service marketing and referral company serving homeowners in Reading, PA and the surrounding area. It advertises home services, receives requests through the website and by phone, and passes those requests to independent contractors and local service companies in its referral network.
All work - every estimate, repair, installation and service call - is carried out by those independent contractors and local service companies. Top Hat Chimney does not perform home-service work. It does not employ the tradespeople who do the work and does not direct or supervise how any job is completed. The business that accepts a request sets its own pricing, schedule, materials and the scope of work; availability is not guaranteed.
Warranties and coordination
Because Top Hat Chimney performs no home-service work, it gives no warranty or guarantee of any kind on workmanship, parts or materials. Any warranty on the job itself is the warranty of the independent business that performed it, and any warranty on parts or materials is the manufacturer’s warranty on the manufacturer’s terms. Customers should ask the performing business for its warranty terms in writing before work begins.
If a customer is not satisfied with the work, Top Hat Chimney will, as a courtesy, contact the performing business and ask it to return to address the concern, or refer the matter to a different company in the network. This is a coordination effort only - it is not a guarantee of any particular outcome. Top Hat Chimney will not perform, redo or repair any work itself. No refund of amounts paid to the performing business is promised or implied by this coordination.
Indemnification
Each user agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Top Hat Chimney, its owners, officers, employees and affiliates, and the independent businesses in its referral network, from and against any claims, demands, actions, damages, losses, liabilities, costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees arising out of or related to:
- the user’s use of chimneysweepreading.com;
- any information the user submits, including its accuracy and the user’s authority to provide any phone number given;
- the user’s breach of these Terms or any applicable law; or
- the user’s dealings or disputes with any business to which the user is referred.
This obligation to indemnify and hold harmless survives the end of a user’s use of the site.
Pricing and estimates
Any price, range or estimate shown on chimneysweepreading.com is an illustrative starting point only. The independent business that responds to a request determines the final price after evaluating the job. Top Hat Chimney does not collect payment for home-service work and does not guarantee any price, discount or promotion that a business may offer. Pricing questions should be directed to the business performing the work before authorizing it.
Text messaging (SMS) disclosure
By submitting a service request through chimneysweepreading.com, a visitor consents to receive calls and text messages from Top Hat Chimney and from the independent business or professional that receives and handles the request. Those calls and texts may be placed using an automatic telephone dialing system (autodialer) and may use prerecorded or artificial-voice messages.
Consent to receive these calls or texts is not a condition of purchasing any goods or services. Message frequency varies depending on the nature of the request and the responding business’s follow-up. Message and data rates may apply based on the visitor’s carrier plan.
To stop text messages, reply STOP to any message. Reply HELP for help. Opting out of texts stops further marketing messages but does not cancel communication about an open request unless the visitor separately asks that the request be closed. Opt-out requests and questions can also be submitted through https://chimneysweepreading.com/contact-us/.
Dispute resolution
Informal resolution first. Before starting any formal proceeding, a user agrees to contact Top Hat Chimney through https://chimneysweepreading.com/contact-us/ and give Top Hat Chimney a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue informally.
Binding arbitration. Any dispute not resolved informally will be settled by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court. Both the user and Top Hat Chimney give up the right to bring the dispute before a judge or jury in court, except as stated below.
Class action waiver. All claims must be brought in an individual capacity. The user and Top Hat Chimney each waive any right to participate in a class action, collective action, consolidated action or any class or representative arbitration. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims or preside over any form of class or representative proceeding. If this class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, the arbitration agreement does not apply to that claim and it must be resolved in court.
Jury waiver. For any court proceeding that is permitted, both sides waive the right to a trial by jury.
30-day opt-out. A user may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to Top Hat Chimney within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, through https://chimneysweepreading.com/contact-us/. Opting out does not affect any other provision of these Terms.
Small claims and injunctive relief. Either side may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies. Either side may also seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to address misuse of chimneysweepreading.com or infringement of intellectual property rights.
Governing law and venue
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of PA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Subject to the arbitration agreement above, any court proceeding that is permitted under these Terms must be brought in the state or federal courts located in PA, and both parties consent to personal jurisdiction there.
Scheduling and cancellations
Appointments, cancellations and rescheduling are handled directly with the business that accepts the request. That business sets its own notice requirements and any fee for late cancellation or no-shows. Visitors are asked to give reasonable advance notice when canceling or rescheduling. Top Hat Chimney can pass a cancellation notice along to the business, but it does not control that business’s calendar or policies.
Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found invalid or unenforceable by a court or arbitrator, that provision will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining Terms will continue in full force. Exception: the class-action waiver in the Dispute Resolution section is not severable from the arbitration agreement - if the waiver is unenforceable as to a particular claim, the arbitration agreement does not apply to that claim.
Contact
Questions about these Terms can be directed to Top Hat Chimney through https://chimneysweepreading.com/contact-us/.
Last updated: July 9, 2026. © 2026 Top Hat Chimney. All rights reserved.