Locksmith Scams, Find a Local Locksmith

Tips to avoid Locksmith Scams and how to find a local locksmith


Your first though whenever you locked yourself out of your Residence, Car or Business is to get a family member or friend to help you out of your situation, if we had a spare set of keys. Your next call will probably be to call a locksmith. Before you make that call, please consider this: According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), The Nation's Consumer Protection Agency, a lot of Locksmith advertising in your local area, may not be local at all. They may not even have a professional training and what is even worst, some of them may use intimidating tactics to overcharge you


Consider this scenario: A company far away from your town chooses a name for its business that is very similar to the name used by a Local Locksmith.  The company advertises in all the search engines and on the internet different platforms using a local telephone number and a local address.  When you call the number, you are actually connected to a call center in another city or even Country, what’s more, there’s no Locksmith Shop at the address listed.


A lot of those companies, most of all of them, pay top dollars to advertising companies that promise to put their business on the top search engine of any search browser.


Some of them who claim to be “Local Locksmith Company” have multiple listings (Sometimes 10 or more separate listings on a single page, when you search for a Locksmith with your favorite browser.  Some of them use different names with different numbers, however, the calls to each of these numbers go back to the same central number in a distant city where operators dispatch untrained individuals (Not in all cases, but in most of them) to do the job that you are requesting.


Most of these companies will not tell you the total cost for the service you are requesting, simply because the subcontract the so call untrained, unprofessional so call locksmiths, whom in return they pay them a low percentage, usually between 30% and 40%.  Some of them may not even be registered to operate under the law with the Division of Corporations.

  

Here is a link you can copy and paste in your browser to be redirected directly to the Sunbiz official State of Florida Corporation Website.  Once you are on that page, but the entity or company name on the proper box and do a search now.  If the company you are enquiring about is registered with the Department of Corporation, the name is going to come up, look on the far-right side and make sure it says ACTIVE.  If it is not active, that means that someone else is using that name, but it doesn’t belong to him or he didn’t renew his business name. 

Most of all those companies, but not all, do not carry an occupational license issued by the city where the company is operating or performing services. (It is illegal to operate a business in Collier County without a permit) Most of them do not have insurance or a General Liability to cover any damages done to your property if that was the case. Most of those guys that show up in front of your door or in your vehicle if you are locked out in their own private cars, most of them are unmarked vehicles, a few of them are now using a magnetic sign to make believe they are a license and legitimate. What is worse, they do not have the proper training or knowledge to perform the job in a professional manner.  You may be quoted a low price on the phone, keep in mind, that the price you are been giving is only to cover the service fee or service call.  Once the so call locksmith gets there, he is the one who is going to determine what will be the total charge. 


He may want significantly more money in order for him to make money.  The locksmith also may accept only cash, in some cases, some of them may have a registered company and may charge you before they get the locksmith dispatch to your location.  Always request from the company to tell you exactly how much total the service you are requesting is going to cost you Make sure they tell you ahead of time what the total price is going to be. If they refuse to do so, do not accept it.  Find another locksmith company.  Don’t fall on the trap.  It is a scam and you will end up paying too much money for the service you are requesting.  Always get different estimates from other locksmith companies, at least 2 or 3, you will have a pretty good idea of the going price for that service and will be able to tell if the price you are giving is a fair price.
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