Beware!! More About Phony Locksmiths Ripping People Off With Bait-and-Switch Pricing

Dec 8, 2011 by admin

Posted: 2:27 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 Howard Clark 

RIP-OFF ALERT: Phony locksmiths who populate the top of Google search results pages are ripping people off with outrageous bait-and-switch pricing.

Picture this: You lock yourself out of your car. You misplace the keys for your home or apartment. Or a key breaks off in a lock at your business. What do you do? You reach for your smart phone and just do a Google search for a locksmith.

“Any job $20. Guaranteed arrival in 20 minutes or less.” Sounds great, right? Wrong!

My senior producer Kim was in need of a locksmith recently and almost fell for one of these cons. She found a listing on her smart phone that had the above pitch. When the guy showed up, two hours later, he wanted to charge her $350!

In another example I read about, a small job involving seven locks at a place of business mysteriously morphed into an $1,800 job!

These people are just cons. If you are in an emergency situation, go to Yelp and look for locksmiths with multiple reviews. If you’re a business, it’s even better to develop a relationship with a locksmith you know and trust before you’re in a desperate situation. I’ve been with the same locksmith for at least a couple decades now.

Just know that you’re not going get somebody to show up in 20 minutes and do job for $20!