Crooked Locksmiths
Watched a 20 minute news program last night on ABC about locksmith scammers. Some guy in Florida has flooded the country with advertisements for lock-out specialists. No matter what part of the country you are in, you think you are phoning a local company, but in reality all calls go through an answering service in Florida. They then send out a local "locksmith" who is usually a recent immigrant mostly from Russia or Israel, who knows virtually nothing about the trade. They quote a low fee of about $45, but when the guy shows up he examines the lock and says because it is a difficult job it will cost anything from $150 to as much as $350.
The news folks set up a bunch of phony lockouts and filmed each one while a real locksmith narrated the action. Of the several locks they used (all were simple 5 pin locks), not one scam artist actually picked the lock. One used an air bag to spread the door, but the rest drilled the locks including one deadbolt that wasn't even locked! The home owners were gouged on the price and left with useless locks that had to be replaced. Of course when confronted, they all refused to be interviewed and booted away.
This shows that the consumer needs to locate a reputable locksmith company ahead of time and keep the number handy in case of an emergency. Sad story and damaging to the legitimate trade.
The news folks set up a bunch of phony lockouts and filmed each one while a real locksmith narrated the action. Of the several locks they used (all were simple 5 pin locks), not one scam artist actually picked the lock. One used an air bag to spread the door, but the rest drilled the locks including one deadbolt that wasn't even locked! The home owners were gouged on the price and left with useless locks that had to be replaced. Of course when confronted, they all refused to be interviewed and booted away.
This shows that the consumer needs to locate a reputable locksmith company ahead of time and keep the number handy in case of an emergency. Sad story and damaging to the legitimate trade.