Central Floridians may be unknowingly handing keys to their home or car to criminals when calling a locksmith, a Local 6 investigation found.
The state of Florida does not regulate the locksmith industry. There are no background checks, no licensing and no system of security for consumers, Local 6's Donald Forbes reported.
Mary Baertlein of Winter Park recently called a locksmith and was shocked.
"This is someone who clearly doesn't know his business — if he even has a legitimate business, " Baertlein said. "He shouldn't be allowed to be out there and it needs to be regulated."
The Local 6 investigation found hundreds of Central Florida locksmith listings in the Yellow Pages and thousands online.
However, at least one "Central Florida" locksmith company was located in New York.
During the investigation, a Local 6 employee purposely locked herself out of a car and then called a company listed at Express Locksmith.
A trace of the company's phone number led to other listings like A 24-Hour Locksmith, AAA Locksmith, Locksmith of North Orlando, 123 Locksmith and nine different other names.
Several of the addresses listed for the company were bogus, Forbes reported.
Legitimate locksmith Jason Gage of Abra-Key-Dabra Locksmith in Apopka said there needs to be some kind of state regulation to help protect the consumer.
"If you ask me, a hairstylist has to have a license to cut hair, " Gage said. "A locksmith should have a license to work on your house locks."
The Better Business Bureau said complaints of unscrupulous locksmiths who overcharge or are inept have skyrocketed this year — up 75 percent, Forbes reported.
The key to finding a legitimate locksmith is to locate a storefront operation or trusted mobile locksmith before you need them, the report said.
0 comments