Another rip off?

[Warrick]

A friend came back from holiday and had lost her keys and so she phoned for a locksmith out of yellow pages in London. It was a bank holiday Monday - in fact yesterday at 10pm'ish - so I knew it would be expensive but I wasn't expecting this.

She said he would be charging £75 per half an hour which seemed pricey but probably what most places would be charging that day (Another quoted £115 per half hour). So I was expecting at worst around £200 for the final figure. The guy turned up drilled the door and replaced the lock with a new one. He took just over an hour and so he rounded up his time to 1.5 hours.

He came up with this price:

£75 callout fee +
3*£75 for 1.5 hours work +
£85 for materials
= £385

then + VAT ~= £452

I was in shock! (That was the majority of her wage gone for the month) but not wanting to cause an argument without knowing where I stood I left my friend in the next room and told her to hang on a minute. I went to the next room and phoned my stepfather to check if this was normal (In my experience it wasn't - the two other times I'd seen a locksmith it wasn't over £120 but that was in Bath not London).

By the time I got back into the room (I wasn't gone long) she was in tears and he'd scarpered - I mean he really had gone fast as I ran outside to find him straight away when I found out she'd actually signed and payed him by card for that amount.

I feel an absolute idiot for letting this happen to her as I should have checked the price at the beginning myself and I shouldn't have left her alone for one second.

And now I'm not sure what I can really do. Also I believe some people may say this is a 'normal' price for the bank holiday and the work done (I can't see how it is reasonable however) and that she should have checked the price properly beforehand but still some people need protecting from this kind of thing (and themselves!) if they don't know exactly how it works.

Any constructive advice would be welcome,

Thanks.

[toomush2drink]

What sort of lock was it ? I would have done that job for £125 total including a lock if i drilled it. Locks can be picked you know.
What area of london was it and who did it at that price ? I ask the area as some out there charge the rich more or if they perceive them to have money load it up. Its a shame as people like this are killing this trade and its reputation.

[Warrick]

I don't really know anything about locks but it was a single pretty much bog standard lock from my undertstanding that was put into the side of the door - an interior bedroom door in a typical shared London flat.

Yeh I was hoping he could just pick it but I assume he makes more money by drilling them out and replacing them now in painful hindsight.

It was in Clapham and my friend certainly isn't rich and she definitely isn't now!

I wish we'd known about you last night I feel terrible about it all.

[EvoRed]

Find out what lock it was, get another couple of quotes, and report them to trading standards if it is still a very high price... I personally haven't charged anyone more than one hours labour (which includes call-out) on a lockout job. I don't think I could on a domestic property, or am I underselling myself again?!

I'm not in London but I would have done it in my local area for £60, with the probablility of not having to change the lock. Bit of a difference. I think I am underselling myself...must revise prices!

[toomush2drink]

Oh dear if it was only an interior lock it was probably a 2 or 3 lever mortice these are not so difficult to open and if it did need changing not expensive either. I really dont think there is much you can do apart from contacting trading standards but i wouldnt pin your hopes on it. Till this industry gets itself together this will keep happening again and again.

[Warrick]

Is there anyway I could get (relevant) official rough quotes from some of you guys for the job? To take to trading standards?

If you could email them to warrickb 'at'sign fireflyworlds.com that would be brilliant. And if you guys have numbers so if I or my friends are ever in need of an honest locksmith please let me know them.

Many thanks,

Warrick

[acl]

Warrick, what comany was it?
Andy

[jason]

Try and find out what make of lock he fitted, hearing this makes me think he's the sort of character who charges for "Bird" cylinders or "Elis" sashlocks.

The sooner there is a proper registration scheme for bona fide lockies the better

[Warrick]

I don't want to give out his company name freely at the moment as the threat of doing so may work to my friends advantage.

I've been advised by trading standards to phone him up and try to come to agreement first before they would look to pursue it further.

Is there any advice you guys can give me for when I phone him up?

As he charged £452 but £125-150 seems to be a fair price for 10pm on a bank holiday would it seem reasonable to attempt to get £300 back from him?

Thanks for all your help,

Warrick

[jason]

I think that your chances of getting any cash back are slim to non-existent. Trading Standards are going to have a nightmare of a job to get this bloke nailed down, like most Local Authorities they're probably under resourced to set up anything for a single occurrence.

Being realistic the best you can hope for is that he has hit a number of people who have had the common sense to complain to Trading Standards as when they have a number of complainants it justifies the amount of effort necessary to take enforcement action, even then there is no guarantee that you'll get anything back.

These nasty little lowlifes know this and use it to their advantage. The only thing I can suggest is a call to the BBC and see if they're interested in another "Rogue Traders" on locksmiths - hopefully by the time the Beeb get round to showing it, there may be some progress towards an accreditation scheme.

Sorry to put a downer on you but it looks like it could just be a hard lesson for your friend