You’re locked out of your car and you’re late for work. You have a big meeting today, and it’s very important that you’re on time. You whip out your phone, call the first locksmith you find and get a quote. The locksmith shows up, knows you’re in a bind, and increases the price, there on the spot. What are you going to do? Your choices are either pay the larger fee and be on time, or send them on their way and hire another. Unfortunately, in this case you’ll almost never hire another.
Most locksmiths are honest. Unfortunately, there are a few around town that are not. These exist in every city around the country, and there isn’t a lot that can be done if you wait until it’s too late. The first thing you should do is find a locksmith that you trust and put that locksmith in your phone book. If you want to call ahead of time and get a feel for the locksmith before you do it, this would be a great way to understand how your preferred locksmith operates.
Check out the reviews on sites like Yelp, Google Plus, Facebook, and other notable sites. You’ll see that we have five star reviews on Yelp if you click the link.
If you haven’t yet put someone in your phone book and you’re in a bind, ask if there are any possibilities that the fee that’s quoted will be different when the locksmith arrives. Get all of the details up front, and provide as much detail as you can. The “Bait and switch” method won’t work if you’re careful and get all of the fees up front. Many times there is a situation that may pop up that a consumer would call a hidden fee or a bait and switch, but they just didn’t provide all of the details beforehand.
The companies that are scams will not tell you the total price. They will say something along the lines of “$X and up.”
They will tell you that they cannot quote you an exact amount because everything is a different situation, and the technician will be the best person to give an exact amount. If this is the case, ask to speak to the technician. This can be varied in one form or another. If you do speak to the technician and it truly is a unique situation, they can at least give you the hourly fee that they would charge to get in.
Hopefully, you’ll avoid getting scammed by these tips. If you’re looking for an honest, reliable locksmith to put in your phone today, we encourage you to add (541)357-0065 to your phone book today to avoid any unnecessary grief when you’re locked out.
Also check out: