Bob helped us open out security box, and he is the best! He was very friendly and flexible. We needed to open our box in the same day that we called him, and he was able to meet up with us to help us out. He said the job wasn't too hard so he help us out for free. He is the sweetest and kindest. read more

Another five star for Ballard Lock & Key. Came home from Home Depot with a keypad deadbolt lock only to discover that I couldn't use it to replace my existing door hardware. I could have drilled holes in my door and frame... but then, I thought, "wait a minute. I've got a five star locksmith down the road that will do this better and faster than I would." So, I called when they opened at 10am, and I had a guy installing a lock 90 minutes later. Price was fair, service was pleasant, and now it's done, as opposed to "maybe I'll get to it this weekend." read more

Third store I went to before finding the right key. Fast, pleasant service. What more could you ask for!

I like to text. Fortunately so does Bob at Ballard Lock & Key. He arrived in 20 minutes, took under 10 minutes to rekey two keys/deadbolts and even stayed to chat for a few when I knew he was slammed. Great customer service and not expensive. read more

Professional service, excellent customer care! Bob helped re-key some of my deadbolts recently, and the whole transaction couldn't be smoother. He arrived promptly in his given time window, and had all the tools needed for the job in the back of a well organized van. He took a quick look at what he was working with, fetched a few tools, and before you knew it the house was rekeyed! The only question he had for me was how many keys I needed. Bob was incredibly knowledgeable, and a delight to work with. read more

They were able to come the same day I called, and re-keyed the whole house in less than 30 minutes. It gave my wife and I peace of mind on a troubling day. I would absolutely recommend them to others. read more

Fast, easy, friendly! Can't recommend highly enough. Keys are guaranteed to work by the locksmith. Save yourself the hassle and go straight here! read more

Next time I have a need, I'm definitely calling them again. Very communicative, flexible and easy to work with. To top it all off, we decided I could fix my issue on my own. read more

I am a co-owner of a small business in Ballard and while trying to change our exterior door lock managed to put it back together slightly off. We were unable to open it with a key from the outside which is a small disaster. Ballard Lock & Key was able to come out within a few hours and help within minutes. They quoted a fair price and even ended up charging me less because it was such an easy fix for them. Very honest, punctual and helpful. Lovely to work with! I highly recommend this business. read more

My friend got locked out of his home while standing on his own rooftop deck in near-freezing temperatures. Bob came all the way from Capitol Hill in record time, despite snow and ice covering the city. He picked the lock in minutes. This was after a different locksmith was unable to pick the lock and wanted to drill/ruin the fixture at a cost of hundreds of dollars. HUGE thanks to Bob and his lovely dispatcher for the rapid and excellent service! read more

I walked in for my first time to have a key made and they were so nice and helpful! So helpful in fact that he made 2 keys made for me right away and was letting me know they take CASH ONLY. This was for my boss and I use the credit card he gave me and didn't have cash on me. So Ballard Lock & Key have them to me for FREE! Thank you again! read more

Called in the morning and they came out same day and kept me updated on who is coming. The locks smith was very courteous and finished quickly. read more

After two other locksmiths said they couldn't do the job (re-key 4 exterior + 1 interior doors in a Queen Anne Craftsman), Ballard Lock & Key answered on the first call and said they could come in two days. Tyler knew exactly what he was doing, took the innards of all the locks to his vehicle, returned and installed everything in minutes. Made the total of 7 keys that I requested. Was affable, nice guy, helpful & cheerful. Couldn't see his face b/c of the mask but pretty sure he smiles a lot! For just over $300, I have peace of mind again and he made it look easy. You pay for the expert knowledge, and Tyler had it. read more

Robbie & Christina are the best. These guys truly know customer service. They responded to my call on a Saturday at 4:55 and said they could do the job. Not only did they show when they said they would, they quickly took care of replacing 2 tumblers and making 15 keys for my business. They were helpful, courteous AND they didn't take me to the cleaners for the job, either. When other vendors have charged me an arm and a leg for weekend service call Ballard Lock and Key did not. That means they now get ALL my business. And all my referrals, too. Thanks for being so awesome! Hope you enjoyed the burger! read more

I had just been victimized in a crime that left me without a car - and with a criminal on the loose with my apartment key... On a national holiday, no less. I called and Bob was over within 1 hour, and got me new keys immediately. This really lowered my anxiety on what was otherwise a cruddy day. Thank you Bob!!!! read more

I called this company to help me when my boyfriend locked the keys in my car in down town Ballard. I called him and he said he would come down. He then asked me if I would be paying cash or credit. I said credit since I don't have cash on me. He then said cash was better and I should go find an ATM. Really?? Um.. I don't know Ballard that well and you want me to go wander around for an ATM? Nope. Once he arrived he only talked to my boyfriend and dismissed me. When my boyfriend was of no help because it wasn't his car, he then started asking me questions. He was very condescending and rude since I didn't know the technical terms he was using. He asked if I had gotten cash and I said no which he then berated me for. Terrible owner terrible company. read more

When I called for an appointment the Service Scheduler was friendly, understanding and professional. The locksmith arrived at the agreed-upon time and promptly addressed my concerns, even offering advice based on the locksmith's experience. I was glad I called BALLARD LOCK & KEY and would not hesitate to call them again in the future. read more

Fast, efficient and affordable. I'll call these guys anytime I need a locksmith again. Two thumbs up!

Bob and Tyler are the best! My lock was in repairable and Bob was coaching me on the phone on how to take it off. He definitely was encouraging me to do it myself but also offered to come out. Not too many business people would do this but Bob did. He didn't want to take my money unnecessarily. Well, I made a fatal mistake and accidentally shut the door without taking off the latch. Bob came to my rescue and sent Tyler out to help! He ended up having to take the door off as I really did a number on it! He was punctual friendly extremely nice and knowledgeable. Tyler inserted new locks on both the door that I had messed up and also another one that I was needing a new lock on.They are reasonably priced and have such integrity that I would not hesitate to use them again! Look no further this is the company for you! read more

Our condo building had a door handle that was sticking, leading to the door not securing. Setting up the appointment with Chris was simple, and he provided all the info I asked for at the time. He came out the next day, and the repairs were done within thirty minutes. He was professional the whole time, and the new door handle works fantastically. I would absolutely use their services again. read more

Sunday. Came out on 30 mins notice to get me back into my apartment. Nice guy. Good service. Thank you!

It was years ago that I had an excellent experience with Ballard Lock & Key, and I'm asking Yelp readers to appreciate that then as now the company was supplying excellent service. Yelp consumers can help out a solid place that, according to a July New York Times article, is under other kinds of cyberattack related to the kinds that have been employed to benefit sleazy 'locksmiths' nationwide in phony yelp reviews (see almost any city's Talk threads, searching 'locksmiths'). In my case, I needed to help a relative who I was visiting get into her car (it was my fault that she was locked out I admit). Ballard Lock & Key responded promptly at a fair price. They are, from my admittedly one-off experience, a real community resource which can seriously benefit individual customers and Seattle as a whole. read more

Bob sent out one of their locksmiths out to re-key our house because I lost my keys. The locksmith showed up on time and identified himself. I told him the scope of work and proceeded to show him the locations needing rekeying. At that point he found my keychain in the (rarely used) side door. Embarrassed I am. :~\ Anyway, since it was a short trip and he quickly "solved" my problem, he offered to waive their trip charge. Real community spirit! I would use them again--they seem fair. By the way, be careful to call the correct local number for this shop and make sure it's them, there are some imposter locksmiths just in vans that set up map pins nearby on Google, Yelp, etc. and can be unethical. read more

I called these guys when I had a problem with a lock that I couldn't figure out how to fix. I called around 5pm, and they sent someone over the next day around noon (it wasn't an urgent lock out problem). He fixed the problem in probably about 5 minutes max - woohoo! Simple, efficient. They lose 1 star cause I felt like the price was pretty steep. It was about $70 for literally what could not have been more than 5 minutes of work. I think it actually took him probably like 2 minutes to fix the problem, and the other 3 minutes were me explaining the problem and writing the check. It's awesome that they are so good at getting things done quickly, but I would have hoped it would have been a bit less money. I live in Phinney so the drive was very close. read more

THESE GUYS KEYED MY HOUSE! Well, at least they changed the locks. After buying a new house, I sought out a locksmith to change the locks and stumbled across Ballard Lock and Key. They answered the phone on a weekend evening and even offered to come out and change them that night. I appreciated the offer of instantaneous service, but told them the next morning would be fine. The locksmith was friendly, professional and finished everything in a timely manner. They accept both checks and credit cards and gave me a bundle of new keys at the end. Key (*cough*) points: - There is a basic service charge for coming out. - They charge $25/door for changing the locks. - 24 hour lockout service. read more

Easy to schedule and received a follow up outreach to be sure all went well. Appreciated the prompt knowledgeable and courteous service. Will definitely call again when I'm ready to have additional work done read more

Super communication, responsible, and very responsive. Actually talked me through a fix without their coming out to my house !!! I would trust them, and trust them to be reasonable for any bigger problem. Call them. read more

Rekeying my doors (why I had to do this in the first place is another review altogether) turned out to be the easiest thing I did today! Ballard Lock and Key came over about a half hour after I called them and efficiently created one master key for the whole house (now there's a novel idea!) The locksmith was friendly, intelligent, and also gave me some good advice about scratching the numbers off the backs of my keys, since those numbers represent the keying code. If someone knows the number, they can have a copy of the key made. It cost about 75% of what I expected! Like everyone else has said, highly recommended. read more

Called at 2:30 to see if they could re-key my house and how much it would cost. Price was great, Bob showed up 90 minutes later and was done 30 minutes later. Incredibly fast, knowledgeable and a super nice guy who's clearly passionate about his business. This is my go to from now on. Thanks Bob. read more

HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Fantastic service at a great price. Our lock jammed and the door wouldn't open - it's a silly complicated non-standard European lock that the former owner installed and Bob was unfazed, fixing it fast and at a great price, including doing a quick run for parts. He also tightened a second lock for me as a favor which I really appreciated. Felt very well taken care of and won't use any other locksmith. read more

In my rush to cook dinner before picking my girlfriend up from the airport, I had the burners on high, the radio on loud, and I stepped out quickly to empty the compost. As soon as I pulled the door shut, I realized I had locked myself out. On a Sunday night. In the rain. Did I mention the stove was on? After frantic calls to my landlord went unanswered, and my neighbors lent me a cell phone and a phonebook, Bob and his wife (the owners) got to my house from Queen Anne in ten minutes, had me inside in five, and even spared my high-security (and high-cost) lock from being cut. Because he nicked the lock cylinder while cutting open my doorknob, Bob took it back to the shop, repaired it, and reinstalled it in a new doorknob a day later, all for the original quote for the lock-out! Wonderful people, wonderful service, can't recommend them highly enough! read more

This is a real place. A local place. He will send a guy who actually knows how to pick a lock. $85. Less than 5 minutes for a deadlock. Don't get swindled by those that cost $145 and are out of town and not local. They seem like they are, but they aren't...(if you see a screw driver, run). read more

Bob showed up and 'quick as a whistle' fixed not only the offending deadbolt but also checked the other locks around the house for me. Thank you Ballard Lock and Key! read more

Went to Lowe's to get a variety of things done, including get a key made. Well, I guess my key was a little bit rare because Lowe's didn't have it (nor could they make the paint sample that I wanted - of THEIR OWN BRAND OF PAINT, but that's beside the point). Came back to Ballard, found this place on Yelp. I walked in, handed over my key, and a nice young man was copying it before I could see the sign that said "purchases under $20 cash only". I only had $2 in my wallet and figured the key would be more than that, so I immediately let him know that I didn't have cash, but that I could go get some and come right back. He said, "that's OK" and gave me the key for free! He earned a return customer in me for sure. Sorry I went to Lowe's first. Stupid mistake. read more

Flawless key duplication. Full disclosure: I haven't used Ballard Lock & Key since they closed their store location on 15th Ave NW and went all-mobile. (They're very much open for business with their mobile units and I hear they're searching for a new storefront.) Every time I went to the old store, I thought to myself, "I should Yelp these guys." Over a year later (and after trying a few different places), I feel even more strongly that these guys are absolutely one of the best. For our business, we need to copy hundreds of keys a year. Every duplicate Ballard Lock & Key made for me worked. Every single key. That's impressive. Anyone who copies a lot of keys will tell you even the best key dupe place will eventually get one wrong. Not these guys. The team at their old store location was always friendly and attentive. I had the chance to watch their interactions with a variety of customers and was always impressed. I've never needed to use their lock services. But, if and when that day comes, I'm calling Ballard Lock & Key. read more

Went to the shop to get new locks rekeyed and had a wonderful experience. Great service and prompt. Locks are now all installed and all the keys work great. Highly recommended! read more

Bob saved the day (well technically night) when I got our front door in an unlockable state one evening in an attempt to DIY a smart lock installation. It was past 7pm on a Saturday night when I called, and Bob picked up the phone and said he's on another job but that he can come on a couple of hours if that works for us. He had me text him a photo of the partially reassembled lock, and while his initial reply was "Yikes!" and he told me not to touch the lock anymore, he reassured me he'll get it figured out, which indeed he did despite encountering a number of issues in the process of trying to get the lock in mounted and reassembled. I appreciated his down to earth and calm demeanor and his tenacity as he unraveled the puzzle that was the mess I made and got the original lock reinstalled. He gave me tips on what I could do if I still wanted to get the smart lock installed, and I learned quite a bit from him about how the old lock was put together. He even followed up a few days later to check in to see if I managed to install the smart lock (which I did). I'd definitely recommend his service to anyone else in need of lock service. read more

My first time ever calling Ballard Lock & Key, Bob picks up the phone. They're closed for customers coming into their shop and only open for on site services he but treats me like I am the most important customer they have, as if they've given me service for years. Bob didn't even hesitate for a moment to help me in the right direction even though i was going to run to Home Depot and purchase my new locks and install them on my own. He genuinely just wanted to help me out with or without my business. Bob and his company are good people and I am glad to have them as a part of our Ballard/Fremont community. I haven't had their locksmith services yet, but you better damn well know I will never forget this experience when I consider the services. read more

So I locked myself out for the second time despite having a few spare keys already. T_T I'm fortunate enough to already have experienced Ballard Lock & Key's service before and knew they would be the one to call. Eric came about 10 minutes later and got me into the apartment within one minute! I even got a discount since I had written my first review 6 months ago. As much as I love this place and the people there, I can only hope I won't be calling them again for a long time!!! I'll be sure to tell all my friends when they are in need of a locksmith though :) Thanks again Ballard Lock & Key. read more

I called Ballard Lock & Key to replace the lock in my front door. I had already bought a new lock set, thinking I could replace it myself, but it turned out the broken lock was built into the door 50 years ago and could not simply be "replaced" by a new lock. After a few photos exchanged via text, Bob called me back and explained the situation, but said they were happy and willing to install the one I had already purchased (which cost over $100), which would take some professional finessing. They sent Eric out within 20 minutes and instead of replacing my lock with the new lock I had purchased, he fixed my old lock AND on top of that, he replaced a closet door knob ~ all for $128! He was super sweet, professional and super fast! I returned my $100 lock, needless to say. Love these guys and I will never go anywhere else! Thanks!!!!! read more