| Ripped off from a locksmith? 11:39 - Aug 15 with 25294 views | runningman75 |
I was unable to get into my house on Friday evening due to a lock being broken . Tried to contact siblings who had a spare key but unable to get through. Around 8.30 p.m phoned a company after a google search on phone and locksmith arrived. States lock was broken and was an old lock which probably had needed replacing. He had to drill the other lock to get into the house and prior to doing this had quoted me £250 for a new lock which I said fine as a specialist lock. By the time the new lock was put on I then got charged over £450 which included labour, VAT and emergency break in fee. Obviously put a downer on my weekend (apart from QPR result). Wondering if people know about consumer issues as felt as I was in a vulnerable position and these companies can charge any price they like. |  | | |  |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 11:47 - Aug 15 with 17700 views | BklynRanger |
Afraid I can't be of much help other than to agree with you. 450 quid sounds completely ridiculous. That better have been one charmin' motherfcukin' lock he put in. |  | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 11:49 - Aug 15 with 17679 views | TacticalR |
Paying someone to break into your house is not cheap. |  |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 11:50 - Aug 15 with 17671 views | Antti_Heinola |
Hey there
Actually, when we moved house we got the locks changed. It was the day after we moved in, my wife had organised the guy to come round, I was running round sorting loads of stuff out and just agreed to things he suggested. Same as you - ended up a huge £450 bill. Clearly we were ripped off - the lock he said cost £250 was available for about £50 on Amazon. My wife called them on the monday and went properly mental and they gave us £100 back. But I felt the same as you - trusted them because it was a security issue and they just fleeced me - I have to say, I was very gullible, but that's no excuse. Not saying you were mate because you were in a properly difficult situation, but they definitely took advantage of me and may well have done with you too. See if you can find out how much the lock you got is online and if it's a lot less, call them and complain. |  |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 11:58 - Aug 15 with 17633 views | johncharles |
Name and shame or least tell us so we won't fall into the trap. |  |
| Strong and stable my arse. |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:02 - Aug 15 with 17615 views | WokingR |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 11:58 - Aug 15 by johncharles |
Name and shame or least tell us so we won't fall into the trap. |
"Name and shame" ?
Have you learned nothing from the Connor thread |  | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:03 - Aug 15 with 17600 views | RickyDicky |
Could you have broken a window around the back and got in that way ?
Pane of glass is a lot cheaper. |  |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:07 - Aug 15 with 17573 views | runningman75 |
Company is called Keys4U. [Post edited 15 Aug 2016 12:08]
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:09 - Aug 15 with 17559 views | paesanu |
Sorry to hear that, googling for a business and getting the top result is not something I ever do - way too unreliable. Which.com is your best bet.
For what it's work, if anyone needs a decent locksmith, I've giving a lot of work to Crawfords on North End Rd. Reliable and honest. |  |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:11 - Aug 15 with 17548 views | Brightonhoop |
Yale used to do a very good front door lock for around £70 if you feel able to fit it yourself. It's not that difficult, just need a chisel for a wooden door.
I generally used to use Check a Trade because at least you could give them a bad review if things went wrong and most have the intelligence to do a decent job.
You could get a non-emergency quote, or source the lock cost online, and put it to them you want £250 back before going to Trading Standards. £450 is properly taking the pish. |  | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:23 - Aug 15 with 17479 views | cyprusmel |
We were looking after a friends house In Pegia about 7 miles from Pafos Town and some idiot super glued the lock. We called the Cypriot lock smith in Pafos and he said he would be there in an hour, in fact he was there in 45 minutes with his assistant. He changed the lock for a new one and charged me 50 euros which then was around 38 pounds which I thought was very fair.
Certainly better than what you were charged. | | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:41 - Aug 15 with 17422 views | dolcelatte |
A lot of insurance policies cover broken door locks. Direct Line had someone round to me within an hour and replaced the lock with no excess charge. |  |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:45 - Aug 15 with 17398 views | simmo |
Call out charges, especially late and on a weekend are always going to be ridiculous. Saying that £450 seems massively excessive for a simple lock change. |  |
| ask Beavis I get nothing Butthead |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 13:37 - Aug 15 with 17243 views | CroydonCaptJack |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:23 - Aug 15 by cyprusmel |
We were looking after a friends house In Pegia about 7 miles from Pafos Town and some idiot super glued the lock. We called the Cypriot lock smith in Pafos and he said he would be there in an hour, in fact he was there in 45 minutes with his assistant. He changed the lock for a new one and charged me 50 euros which then was around 38 pounds which I thought was very fair.
Certainly better than what you were charged. |
That should make him feel a lot better Mel! |  | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 13:40 - Aug 15 with 17225 views | PunteR |
Yale nightlatch- £50. BS 5 lever deadlock £17.50.
Did he put the cost of materials separate to his labour on his receipt?
I don't know about consumer rights but £450 is a rip off whatever way you look at it. |  |
| Occasional providers of half decent House music. |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 13:45 - Aug 15 with 17199 views | johncharles |
Talking locks in general, as Brighton said Yale do a dead locking night latch. That's your normal Yale cylinder lock but you can deadlock with an extra turn of the key. It's better than a mortise lock because you don't have to cut out any of the wood from the door. Also makes it much easier to fit.
I did it and I'm not a carpenter just a fair DIY geezer mind you, I am thinking about becoming a locksmith. | |
| Strong and stable my arse. |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 13:47 - Aug 15 with 17191 views | Juzzie |
Had a similar problem a month or so ago. Dad was house/cat sitting while we were on holiday. He called me one morning to say the mortice lock had jammed. I told him to use yellow pages and just request a call-out and lock drill, no lock replacement.
Cost approx. £82 inc VAT.
I got a new lock from Homebase (approx £25) and fitted it myself. Took just over an hour (new lock is bigger than the very old one so had to chisel out some more wood) and this is me only having ever done it once before many moons ago.
Even with their labour and mark-up of the lock, I'd say £200-250 max all-in is more than enough.
Do you have the £250 quote in writing/email? I'd imagine that's legally binding to within +/- 10%?
[Post edited 15 Aug 2016 15:28]
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 14:03 - Aug 15 with 17146 views | jonno |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 12:23 - Aug 15 by cyprusmel |
We were looking after a friends house In Pegia about 7 miles from Pafos Town and some idiot super glued the lock. We called the Cypriot lock smith in Pafos and he said he would be there in an hour, in fact he was there in 45 minutes with his assistant. He changed the lock for a new one and charged me 50 euros which then was around 38 pounds which I thought was very fair.
Certainly better than what you were charged. |
Yes, I got the locksmith in Paphos round to change my front door lock the other week (as I had rented the place out in the past I couldn't be sure who might have had copies of the key). I got him to put on the best tamper proof lock you can get, with a registration which is required to have copies of the keys made etc. Cost me 80 Euros.
Answer, move to Cyprus! |  | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 15:02 - Aug 15 with 17003 views | Boston |
Between myself and my associates we change / install anywhere between 50/100 locks per year. We're not locksmiths, just paid up members of the International Brotherhood of Working Class Lads on the Make. When a customer, potential victim calls with a problem there is an widely used scale applied to determine how much you are going to be shaken down for, unfortunately you registered as 'sitting duck', therefore assessed as potentially making a significant contribution to our retirement fund. But, as you're a Ranger I'll let you in on a trade secret, never use the 'emergency' number in the Yellow Pages, you're better off breaking a window or in a real crisis, calling Plod, The actually replacing of a lock set / dead bolt is usually a piece of p*ss and if your technical skills don't include the use of a screwdriver then the local locksmith is the way to go. [Post edited 15 Aug 2016 15:04]
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 00:36 - Aug 16 with 16674 views | LittleRanger |
Runningman, where are you ? I'm presuming London but even so this seems hugely excessive.
What make were the locks?
I've been a locksmith/safe engineer for 30 years now and have run my business for over 20 and cant think of any reason why this should have cost you £450.
Banham,ingersoll and Gerda locks are pricey and if replacing any of these your bill could be quite hefty mind
We are based in Dunstable so would be a fair bit cheaper than the London guys but an 8pm call to gain entry would be around £75 +vat. Plus the cost of the locks IF they needed replacing (it's often possible to pick or bypass the locks without damaging them)
I'd be more than happy to give any advice needed .
Cheers
Andy | | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 02:01 - Aug 16 with 16639 views | Boston |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 00:36 - Aug 16 by LittleRanger |
Runningman, where are you ? I'm presuming London but even so this seems hugely excessive.
What make were the locks?
I've been a locksmith/safe engineer for 30 years now and have run my business for over 20 and cant think of any reason why this should have cost you £450.
Banham,ingersoll and Gerda locks are pricey and if replacing any of these your bill could be quite hefty mind
We are based in Dunstable so would be a fair bit cheaper than the London guys but an 8pm call to gain entry would be around £75 +vat. Plus the cost of the locks IF they needed replacing (it's often possible to pick or bypass the locks without damaging them)
I'd be more than happy to give any advice needed .
Cheers
Andy |
Interesting. So in your safe engineer capacity, jelly or PE-4? | |
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| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 08:56 - Aug 16 with 16479 views | nix |
In a similar scenario, the lock in my bifold doors cost £200 to replace when the key broke in the lock. At 4pm. It took the guy ten minutes but I needed them opened so couldn't haggle.
The formula for calculating the cost seems to be: how nice your house is x how desperate you are to have the lock fixed + 10%.
I think it's called taking the piss. We should all become locksmiths. |  | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 09:23 - Aug 16 with 16460 views | runningman75 |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 00:36 - Aug 16 by LittleRanger |
Runningman, where are you ? I'm presuming London but even so this seems hugely excessive.
What make were the locks?
I've been a locksmith/safe engineer for 30 years now and have run my business for over 20 and cant think of any reason why this should have cost you £450.
Banham,ingersoll and Gerda locks are pricey and if replacing any of these your bill could be quite hefty mind
We are based in Dunstable so would be a fair bit cheaper than the London guys but an 8pm call to gain entry would be around £75 +vat. Plus the cost of the locks IF they needed replacing (it's often possible to pick or bypass the locks without damaging them)
I'd be more than happy to give any advice needed .
Cheers
Andy |
Thanks was an ingersoll lock. Was my parents house in Queens park which I was house sitting in whilst they were away. I think the other lock was over 10 years old and probably needed replacing unfortunately on a Friday night when having to get access to the property and not being able to contact other key holders I made a decision to contact the locksmith. I was charged around £250 for the lock, plus emergency entry to drill the old lock and VAT. Probably took around an hour in terms of the guy trying different ways to open lock, drilling lock and fitting new lock. | | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 22:23 - Jun 27 with 15422 views | TWheeler |
Sorry to hear that you got ripped off! I know a few people that have been taken advantage of by locksmiths and they mostly don't realize it until after the fact. The truth is many of us are so quick to trust some of these service providers and take them at their word. I always tell myself that I won't call a locksmith until I really have to. Last time I got locked out I found a great list of alternative methods to try.
http://united-locksmith.net/blog/locked-myself-out-of-my-house-here-are-10-thing | | | |
| Ripped off from a locksmith? on 08:56 - Jun 28 with 15163 views | headhoops |
Get a spare key cut - Timpson's £2.50
Buy one of these on ebay for £11.00
Hide it in the garden - job done for under £15.
Dont get too pi$$ed and forget the code.
We did it after a similar £280 bill for a new lock. |  |
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