This is a little complicated, but I want people to be aware of the problem. What I'll describe here is a shady arrangement in my view. The review is related to Get Pro, which I'll get to later. I wish I could have posted this review related to the original offending party - 24locksmithing.com, but their site is not available and I can't find them on Yelp. But Get Pro is involved and so I want to hold them accountable.
I originally contacted a locksmith company that I found on the internet with the name 24Locksmithing. I selected them after contacting 3 or 4 other companies and their estimates seemed the most favorable. What I needed was fairly simple: I had purchased on Amazon two new locks - a basic deadbolt and fairly basic electronic keypad lock. I needed to have them re-keyed and installed to replace existing Schlage locks - no new drilling, etc. Just pull out the old & put in the new. Although the person I spoke with on the phone was unwilling to commit to a particular price, I got this general guideline: $15 for the service call, $19 minimum for each lock to re-key, $35 minimum for an install. Based on that, I figured my cost should be around $105 to $125. A little steep, but I was in a bind for time.
Well, apparently 24Locksmithing is merely a company who finds other locksmiths willing to take the work and dispatches them. It took a few hours from the time I called requesting service to the time that someone called back to schedule the appointment. It was GetPro Locksmith that showed up to do the work (which I didn't learn until the end of the whole process when I paid).
I explained to the technician (Sean) what I needed and he quoted me a price of $225! Again - I was in a bind and didn't pay attention to my inner voice that said "just say no thanks and worst case pay the $15 service call for your trouble". Instead I asked if he'd do the work for $170. He did the old "let me call my manager" thing, then came back and reluctantly agreed.
He took care of the re-keying first, then installed the new deadbolt which went fine. Then he went to work on installing the electronic keypad. It took him quite a while to read the instructions and figure out how to install it, which I found surprising. He even, at one point, criticized the quality of the lock (cheap part made in China, etc.) and that he could get one of his own of better quality and sell it to me (for double what I paid on Amazon.) After finally getting it in, we tried the electronic unlock function which wasn't working. Is that because it was damaged while doing the re-key work? I can't know, and because it was my part, not his - I had no choice but to accept it. I had him uninstall the electronic lock and put the old one back in. The service call lasted about 30-45 minutes total.
Now it's time for payment. Because the lock was supplied by me - I was still asked to pay the full $170. And if I wanted to have him back after getting the lock replaced, there would be another install charge. Foolishly, I paid by check - should have done a credit card so I could contest it - and that's the next part of the story.
FYI, once I was out of the time-bind I was originally in, I took the replacement lock sent by Amazon to a storefront locksmith who did the re-key in 5 minutes for $10, and then installed the new lock myself in about 15 minutes. He told me that he hears stories like mine all too often. He told me that what he would have charged to come the house for the same service would have been more along the lines of my original guess of around $100-$120
Well - by now my check to GetPro Locksmith had cleared the bank and I couldn't stop payment. Several times I tried calling 24Locksmithing to appeal to their better nature and raised my concerns about the excessive pricing. Eventually I reached a manager (took WAY too many calls for that) and told him that I accepted responsibility for the fact that I had agreed to the charge, but requested that, in the spirit of good customer service, they consider refunding part of the charge. Long story short (several calls over several days) - they said they contacted the locksmith who did the job and that they were unwilling to make an adjustment. Weirdly, even though they had all my info, they told me that the company that had done the work was something called "15 minute service", but I was never able to find a business under that name. But the card which was left with me by Sean was GetPro Locksmith - so they get this review.
In my view - the pricing was exorbitant, and the unwillingness to discuss an adjustment after the fact is ridiculous. I can only assume that it was Get Pro who was contacted by 24locksmithing, and therefore they are the ones who refused to discuss an adjustment. Of course, if I am contacted by them and they subsequently attempt to make this right, I'll be happy to post an adjustment to this review. read more