Wow! These guys are lifesavers, to say the least. Came back from walking the dog on Saturday night to find out that my husband had taken the wrong set of keys with us, so we didn't have our house keys. D'OH!! This was at 11:00 PM, so i had visions of having to sleep over at my mom's tiny condo along with the huge 85-lb dog. Aaack. Found Ballard Lock and Key's number by doing a search on the cell phone that we (thank heavens) had with us, and called the number, fully expecting a machine or an automated voice message system, but hallelujah, Bob himself answered the phone! He was ready to call it a day, but cheerfully made his way out to our place from his house within 10-15 minutes and had us back inside our house in about 10 minutes. What a relief!! You just can't put a price on that kind of service. Thanks so much, Bob and Ballard Lock & Key!! read more

I am BEYOND GRATEFUL to Ballard Lock & Key for coming to my rescue when I got locked out of my place today. This is going to make me sound bad/absent-minded/stupid, but this is the second time in less than a year that I have locked myself out of my home. It was just too easy since I usually don't lock the deadbolt, just the bottom door knob. The last time this happened, my options were limited because it was a Saturday and I was desperate for someone to let me in ASAP. I got SCAMMED big time! The guy made a big show of calling in his supervisor and saying... "This one is going to take a while, they're Baldwins (the brand)." He then spent the next 1.5 hours trying to pick at it wasting time and money (I got charged for every 15 minutes of his time). He eventually drilled through my lock and charged me $75 to put in a crappy one. I immediately replaced it with one of those "AMAZING" Baldwins... When I realized what I had done again this morning, I just felt so defeated... "Not Again," I thought. My checkbook and my ego just couldn't handle it. I went by reviews and asked for a quote first (very important). $65 cash/$68.10 credit card. Totally reasonable. I sat and waited for 20 minutes for him to arrive. He did confirm that locks like mine are not pickable, but he did also confirm my suspicions about my last experience. It's never pleasant knowing you've been scammed, but it's a learning lesson. He was able to pry my door trim and bypass the piece that was standing between me and my kitten without damaging anything! I was back in my place within 5 minutes of him working on my door. No damage. My sanity and faith in humanity restored. He convinced me to lock my deadbolt and not rely on that useless knob in the future. So awesome. I'm not really a reviewer type... but this has weighed on me all day. So, so grateful... I will recommend Ballard Lock & Key to everyone I know. Thanks, again!!! read more

These guys are rad. Snapped my van door key in half and called them. One of their vans met me 15 mins later and made a brand new one by eye from the broken pieces. Super duper. read more

Bob (the owner) is my now a personal hero. He turned what could have been a terrible situation into one where now, everyone is happy! I was locked out of an apartment (today) where I was petsitting (dog and kitty still inside and needed to get out!). I couldn't get ahold of my client, the super of the building, or anyone else. I had someone else on the way and they were going be an hr. I called Bob just to see and within 5 minutes he had left his dinner (literally) and was here to come help me get into the apartment. He was even super great with the reactive doggy on the other side, and made me a new key right there on the spot. He got the tough deadbolt unlocked in no time too. Confident, cool, calm, collected... when I wasn't. Thank you Bob. Thank you SO SO SO MUCH. The dog and kitty thank you so much too! read more

A jam-packed day before my knee surgery and of course, I lock my keys in my car for the first time since age 16. A friend told me to call Ballard Lock & Key and ask for Bob -- he came right to the phone, gave me a quick quote and was on his way. Bob himself made it from Ballard to Belltown in rush hour traffic lickety-split, and had me back in my car in less than 5 minutes. He was true to his (very reasonable) quote, kind, and a true professional. Thanks again, Bob -- I hope I don't have to use your services again, but if I must, you'll be the first I call! read more

Unbelievable service, I locked my self out of my house on the way to get pizza and beer, I was stuck outside in the rain. Ballard Lock & Key answered the phone, I explained my situation, they said "Hold on". About 2 min later, I see the white van coming over the hill in a glow hope. 5 minutes later I was back inside my house. Total elapse time of being locked out of my house: less than 15 min. read more

Professional and fast. Arrived to my home in 15 minutes and got my door unlocked in a couple minutes. So grateful for their excellent service! read more

Bob arrived quickly and was very helpful when I accidentally locked myself outside the house with no key!

We needed to have a lock replaced to fix a contractor's mess-up. Service was provided promptly shortly after calling. Eric was great - quick and very friendly. Great job and a pleasure to deal with. read more

Today as I was locked out of my car I saw a woman who recently had a stroke and her neighbor was picking her up and unfortunately they also got locked out right in the middle of the street, so I suggested Ballard Lock and Key. They showed up within 10 minutes and then the woman poor woman was agitated and could not figure out the payment so I told the man she just had a stroke and got out of the hospital and he told her thats okay no worries then proceeded to help me. read more

I reached out to see if I could get a lock rekeyed as we had tossed out our keys with the packaging on our new locket. We wanted to know if it would be better to remove, bring in, if it was possible and bottom line, cost effective. We got great expert information and were able to make an informed decision. Quick advice and honest feedback. Thanks much, will use this business when needed in the future. read more

Fast, quick, friendly service. Would absolutely use again. In an emergency lockout situation they arrived quickly and charged a reasonable price. read more

Excellent and speedy service. I had a car emergency and Chris got it taken care of within a couple of hours of my calling. Highly recommend. read more

I was locked out of my apartment after hours and the owner made a trip himself from his home to help me out. He gave me a discount for paying cash and also duplicated my keys on the house! I would recommend this company over any other. This company deserves a 6 out of 5 stars! Go here!! read more

Very professional. I shopped around all afternoon after I realized I'd completely lost a key for my older model toyota. Other companies were quoting me prices "starting at" etc etc, and you know they setup there. Many of these other phone numbers you see on the internet are actually linked to third party call centers (florida, india who knows). These other companies basically quote you a price and then tell you the on call guy will contact you with details. They then farm out that service request to some locksmith in the area who shows up and totally hoses you in comparison to the original quote. NONE of that BS with Ballard Lock and Key. They are just nice local folk who definitly deserve your business. They gave me a straight forward price, showed up within the hour and saved me a ton of trouble. Trust is huge, don't risk it with these other third parties, make sure you go local with Ballard Lock and Key. read more

This is a phone number I'm adding to my contacts in the cell phone. I hope to not lock myself out of the car again, but having done that, on a cold and rainy September evening, hyperventilating in despair because of all that would be so wrong if my keys weren't found and with a kid waiting outside in the cold too - well, a good samaritan from Macrina on Queen Anne called Ballard Locks and Keys for us and next thing we know ... we're rescued, keys found within a short time, at a low price, by a gentle, courteous and wonderfully talented man. I am grateful and recommend to anyone considering such contact handy, for that one occasion no one wants to be found in...keep the number handy for there can't be better. read more

This business is fantastic! Helpful from the minute they answered the phone to the time the locksmith left my house. Needing some beefed up locks on my doors, I called and had a visit the same day. Eric, was professional and totally knowledgeable. The work was stellar and prices reasonable. He even cleaned up before he left! I'd recommend them to anyone! read more

Broke a key in the lock on Sunday afternoon. My husband took the lock apart but didn't think he could put it back together on his own. We called Ballard Lock & Key and the guy arrived rather promptly (I wasn't watching the clock, but I am sure it was well within an hour). He provided a great quick service. The price was less than we expected. Based on this experience, we would highly recommend Ballard Lock & Key. read more

Daughter's car & house keys were stolen. Called him around 9pm, and he came and re-keyed all our home locks within the hour. Thank you for making us feel safe again! read more

If you're in need of an locksmith, go here. Excellent customer service, knowledgeable and accommodating - I recommend them without reservation. Awesome, awesome, awesome! read more

So first off I live in Fremont and Ballard isnt far from where I live, that was my main reason for calling them. I ended up locking myself out twice this week and called them both times. Very sweet and polite guys who helped me out and they understand that hey people make mistakes. Both times they got to my place in 10 minutes tops and my apartment door was open with in 5 minutes. I couldnt have asked for better people to have come and help me out. The second guy even gave me 2 sets of keys for free and lowerd my price because I called them twice to help me out. If you ever have any trouble I definitely recommend calling these guys! read more

Was locked out of the apartment (again), and made a desperate call to Bob (even though his shop was closed), but he picked up and gave me an estimate based on my description of the lock and told me he'd be over within the hour. He was fast, dependable, reasonable, and above all, honest. I've had bad experiences with other "locksmiths" who have refused to provide a quote over the phone and then trap you into paying hundreds of dollars to open a single door. Bob has been the sole exception to these experiences, and I'll definitely be a loyal customer from here on out. Thank you, again, Bob! read more

These guys are awesome. Took my older car keys to a bunch of other places ... Fred Meyer's True Value etc. all of them made terrible copies of my key. Ballard lock and key mad great copies of copies for me thanks good business read more

My husband and I manage an apartment complex in Crown Hill. We were having problems with the lock to the main entrance to one of our buildings. So I called Ballard Lock & Key. Within 10 minutes on a Saturday afternoon, a tech was out and fixed it. Not only did he fix the lock set, he gave us recommendations on how to maintain our lock. He was thorough and very reasonable. I would use them again. read more

Unfortunately I left my condo keys in my car which was in a locked garage. I didn't realize it until the door finally had shut. Ugh! I called Ballard Lock and Key and they were here super quick! I was shocked at how quickly they came by. It took a matter of seconds for the guy to open the door too. The only reason I didn't put 5 stars is that I thought the price was a little high. Maybe it's normal for the area but dang!! Hopefully this won't happen again in the future. read more

Doh! I locked myself out of my bedroom and didn't realize it until late Sunday afternoon. I called Ballard Lock & Key and they came out within the hour, opened up the door, and made me three new keys. The price for coming out, opening the door, and making the new keys was reasonable and the service very professional. If you require a locksmith this is the company to call. read more

I recently hired Ballard Lock & Key to rekey our new house and add deadbolts to two doors. When I made the appointment, I carefully described the work we needed done including the brand and finish of the existing locks so that they could provide matching deadbolts on the exterior doors. I called the day before the appointment to let them know that I wouldn't be able to be home and make sure they had my wife's cell phone number since she would be the one to deal with them. The locksmith (Chris) arrived a few minutes early and my wife was running a little late with some errands so there was no one there. He called me, instead of my wife as requested. I wasn't able to answer, but he did wait until she got there. Then he insisted that she show her the doors that needed work immediately instead of getting our 15 month old son out of his car seat. He apparently had not received any of the information I had given them about what work had to be done, so she had to go over everything. She rushed through because she was worried about our son sitting alone in the car. Despite my detailed description, Chris did not have a dead bolt with a finish to match the knob on our front door, so we had to replace the knob to have a consistent look. His installation work and rekeying were well done, but he didn't clean up any of his mess. He just left piles of sawdust, wood chips and the old door hardware on the floor. Then he left without taking the time to go over the work. Shortly after he left, my wife discovered that he hadn't installed the deadbolt on the back door at all. She called the company and they said they would send him back out later in the day, which they did. He did the work and didn't charge for an extra service call, but my wife had to wait around the house for hours while he finished his other clients. The finished product was fine and the price was reasonable, which is why they got two stars, but the total lack of professionalism and poor communication were very disappointing. read more

Bob went way above and far beyond for us. I was really impressed by every single interaction I've had with Bob and his guys. They installed a keyless entry for us, moved some other locks around, gave us a lot of great security advice and went out of their way to help us. I will never call any other locksmith in Seattle. These guys are the best. read more

I needed to get my locks changed, so my landlord hooked me up with Bob at Ballard Lock & Key. He was so great! He called right when he said he would, changed my locks, and made me new keys all within ten minutes! Grateful! If you want great customer service, call Ballard Lock & Key! read more

Bob is the best! Twice now, Ballard Lock & Key has provided me with swift, friendly, and amazing service. Don't go anywhere else, they'll help you out! read more

Called a week in advance to get a lockable latch installed on my gate. Left work an hour early to meet technician. He arrived twenty minutes late then told me he usually gets off at 4:30 and this job will take an hour so I should call a handyman. He then left. read more

I have had horrible experience with Locksmith several days ago. This one is really good. He responds quickly, good service and reasonable price. Most important of all, he is HONEST. If I or my friend needs Locksmith, I will definitely recommend him. read more

My car was broken into and my spare keys along with the registration was taken. I called at 7:30PM, Bob picked up the phone on the first ring, and was at my place in 30 mins. to re-key the locks. He was professional, fast and extremely affordable. Some companies would recognize that I was in a jam and would charge a lot more for the late hour service. Bob was more concerned about safety and securing my place, he gave me additional set of keys for free, and would not accept a tip. My locks even work better now than they did before. I've use other locksmiths in Seattle, none of them have that good positive vibe that he has. Ballard Lock in now a permanent contact in my phone. read more

To the whiners who complain about the trip charge and comment about how close they (the whiners) live to the shop. Hello!!!!???? This business is done at individual's homes and businesses, NOT at the shop. Geez. Get real. You have no idea how far away they were when you called. They could have been across town. If you are so annoyed by the trip charge, perhaps you ought to use one of the fly-by-night outfits who will really rip you off. THEN you will have something to complain about. Get a clue. read more

Ballard Lock & key scratched my car! Ok, its my mistake about locking key inside the car; however, I do not need more stress on top of the situation by the locksmith being short with me and THEN SCRATCHING my 2008 Charger! Thanks because now I have to be the one running around to get a quote for my door. read more

I needed my residential home locks replaced. Bob quoted me a price on the phone and I called other competitors in the area to compare the price. Not only was their price the lowest at the end of the job they even went lower. How many other places quote you a price and stick to it or drop the price? The lock works amazing so far and the service was professional and fast. I would use them again without even comparing prices of any other place. read more

We called Bob on a Sunday morning following a house burglary. He asked for details about the lock, and after I sent him a few pictures, he responded promptly and said he would be there within the hour. He replaced the lock in about half an hour, provided keys, and was friendly, professional, and efficient. I highly recommend using this business for any lock/key needs! read more

A correction of my old review is in order. I may have been mistreated back then, but I have been contacted by the owner, and he gave me a good explanation for my unfortunate experience. I am therefore convinced that the service here is impeccable under normal circumstances. (This was the old 1 star review: Wow, the most rude phone call I've ever had with a company of any kind. I try to make an appointment. The person on the phone shoots me 2 quick questions. I try to reply to the second one first, but the guy interrups me in an irritated tone and repeats his questions. I tried to say that I was about to answer the 2nd question first. When trying to figure out how soon I could get through traffic to the location, the man on the phone runs out of patience and says he doesn't have time to talk to me, and that I can call back when I know when I want him. That's what you get for trying to be kind.) read more

I cannot say enough good things about Ballard Lock and Key. They are 100% reliable and always try to help you out. Recently we had a snafu with keys and called out the mobile truck. While they're on the way the key got found and I fully expected to pay for a service call. They were kind enough to understand that things can go wonky and did not charge me. Now when does that ever happen in a modern world?I have used them times and I will continue to use them in the future. read more

Great service. Bob was able to arrive only an hour after i called,same day, and did the job in less then an hour. Very professional