We accidentally locked ourselves out of our house and called 411 to get the number of a locksmith. They connected us with RCA Locksmith we were told that it would be $39 for the service call and picking the locks started at $25. Seemed fair enough because the lock that he would be picking was very basic (no deadbolt or anything). Within 15 mins, a man in an unmarked car arrived and spent approximately 3-5 minutes picking the lock and we were in. EXCELLENT! Until we saw the bill. The locksmith stated that was a $179 lock so our bill ended up being ~$240. Not sure what a $29/lock would look like then because it looked extremely easy to pick. After talking to a few other locksmiths in the area, and doing some online research, it became clear that we were the victims of a scam... I called 3 days in a row and each day I was told that a supervisor/manager would be calling me back... Never happened... On the 3rd day (October 14th), I told them I would give them one week to have someone contact me or I was going to file complaints everywhere possible.
Apparently, this is a known scam. The following company names have been listed...
Links to information regarding their tactics..
Http://www.king5.com/business/stories/NW_112107WAB_locksmith_ripoff_scam_TP. 25f1f8dd.html
Http://www.bbb.org/us/article/4966 - 7/10
Http://www.msnbc. Msn.com/id/19714358/ns/business-consumer_news/
Http://usacomplaints.com/Locksmiths/DEPENABLE-LOCKSMITH/depenable-locksmith-and-basad-3ffdc.htm
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