I live in Bethelehem, PA and needed to have a minor repair to a broken deadbolt lock (some tumblers broke). I went to Yahoo maps to look for a local locksmith and found one a mile away. Although there was a bubble with 1-800-locksmith over it, the phone number was a local one.
I called, described what was needed (a new cylinder to be rekeyed to my house key), made an appointment and asked for a price. I was told there would be a $75 service charge but that it shouldn't be much more for the repair (most service call charges are waived once or folded into the cost of the repair once you use the company). I was never told what the actual charge would be and I was never given a total price or even an estimated price for the job. I asked if the store was at the address listed on Yahoo maps to verify how close they were, and was told they were in fact at that address.
The locksmith showed up, replaced the lock and handed me a bill for $180.00 for what's usually a $40 job! I was ticked off and complained to the repairman he told me that it would have been much cheaper if I'd called him directly because 1-800-Locksmith sets the price and automatically loads the $75 on. He said they weren't in Bethlehem but Brooklyn (obviously I was lied to when I called) and that they set up local numbers on the internet so it seems like they're local. He said he has to take the work to stay busy because they control the internet advertising for the area (it's true: most of the locksmiths on Yahoo maps showed up with 1-800-locksmith - even though local numbers are listed, your call doesn't go to the local locksmith's shop, it goes to Brooklyn; Brooklyn's great but it's not near Bethlehem and definitely not as cheap to get stuff done).
I called the number back and a different rep picked up - I complained about the price but he said he'd heard the previous rep give me the total - I told him that definitely was not the case and he apologized, easy to do when you just got someone's money.
You're better off looking in a hard copy of the Yellow Pages instead of going this route. Please don't get scammed like I did.
0 comments