Using a Reliable Locksmith

March 20, 2015

Written by Jeff Seymour

Image of Jeff Seymour at Seymour Locksmiths

Don’t Get Ripped Off

Time and time again I read horror stories in which people are left out in the cold and feel totally ripped off when calling a 24 hour Shoreham Locksmith out.

Here’s a typical example of a very bad experience one lady had.

A lady was locked out of her premises at 9am on a week day.
The lady in question rings 118118 from her mobile and asked for three local Hove locksmith numbers. All three numbers are then text to her phone, only one turns out to be local and that number is unobtainable. This leaves her having to ring one of the other two numbers both of which are 0800 numbers. In desperation the lady rings one of the 0800 numbers and gets put through to UK Locksmiths.net. Once through she asks the obvious questions of how much the job will cost and how long before the locksmith will arrive. The answers were £55 for the charge and ‘ he’ll be with you very shortly’
Both of these answers were ridiculously off of the mark.

Bearing in mind the lady’s first call was at 9am.
At 10.30 she rings back to be told ‘He’s ten minuets away’
At 11.30 she rings back again to be told ‘He’s just around the corner’
At 11.45 he finally arrived, two hours and 45 minuets later!

Now the second problem arises regarding the cost. The lady was informed by the locksmith that the £55 is for the call out and the cost of getting the lady back into her premises will be £293 including VAT, £293 is ridiculous!
The Locksmith explains that he’ll have to drill the lock and replace it hence the £293.

The lady’s desperation to get back into her premises and the fact that the locksmith now wants £55 for just turning up leaves her in a position that makes her feel like she has no choice but to pay.

Giving Genuine Locksmiths A Bad Name

Lets look at the problems with this story, first of all that £55 call out. When they eventually turn up and tell you the true cost you’re going to contest it. Now they will demand that £55 call out and leave you still locked out, so you feel you have no choice but to pay.
Secondly, drilling the lock, this should be the last resort for a reputable locksmith. There are many other non destructive means to gain entry to your premises without having to charge the customer for a new lock.

The call out time, the time the lady had to wait is typical of a larger company, they have call centers and pass a lot of the work out to 3rd parties who are not genuinely local.

All of the above problems gives genuine independent locksmiths a bad reputation. We at Seymour Locksmiths pride ourselves on customer satisfaction, meaning we arrive on site when we say were going to, charge a reasonable price for the job, and genuinely rely on customer feedback and word of mouth.

Basic Steps to calling out a Genuine Locksmith

Make sure they’re local to you, don’t rely on dialling your area code, these larger companies pay telecom companies for their number to be redirected, making you think your dialling local when in fact you could be dialling anywhere.

Ask questions to the Locksmith, Were is your trading address? How much in total will the job cost including any hidden fees? What time will you arrive? Ask a friend or neighbour if they can recommend a local locksmith or use Checkatrade were you can read genuine feed back from customers.

I hope by reading this blog you will be better prepared for calling out a genuine local business. Not a multinational business in disguise as local.

 

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