Locksmith said lock would be £400?!

[Janediamond]

I just locked myself out of my house. Well, I rent a flat within the house, but I’m the only one living here at the moment.

I don’t have the landlord’s number and letting agency was shut, no answer on emergency line. So, I called out the locksmith. The door is a upvc one with a lifty handle. Looks pretty normal to me.

He replaced the lock for me and said “I’ll be honest it’s not as good a lock as the last one, but one like the last one would’ve cost £400!”
Apparently the last one was very secure and had a double cylinder in it. I’ve just googled double cylinder locks and Homebase has them for about £15?!

Is he for real? Do some locks cost that much? Sort of hoping he was exaggeratinrg in the hope I wouldn’t make a fuss that he hadn’t fitted a matching one?
Pretty upset if he was being truthful because if landlord insists I replace it like for like (which he could well do as he recently had the locks changed himself only about 6 months ago) then I am going to be utterly broke .

Does the £400 include the fitting and his emergency call out fee?

I'm guessing that could add a fair amount to the bill; although £400 seems a lot!

Sounds loads, bit this one is over £400 www.sdslondon.co.uk/banham-security-locks/banham-l2000-deadbolt-m2002-deadlock-keyed-alike-4-keys.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwgMnYBRDRARIsANC2dfmg3K9pOZmfOpwPnv-m2LX7joNVVOiELZ0s3nLOayljNw0tpTuMH30aAiX1EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I've had various door locks changed by a couple of different locksmiths and it's never cost anywhere near that. It should easy to change the barrel. Search locally online for locksmiths and get a couple of quotes.

Oh cripes @Damesquashalot, these superlocks exist then
Bang goes my deposit and then some. I’m only a student. This sucks.

You do realise they are usually quite easy to change? Buy one online or B&Q it then you tube the fitting instructions.

He must have been charging an emergency call out fee and a half. For £400, we got both locks on the patio doors replaced with anti drill locks and the hang of the doors adjusted because they had dropped, a rain guard added to a large, leaky tilt and turn window and 5 tilt and turn handles replaced with lockable ones, again with hinges adjusted on a couple of sticky ones.

I’ve already paid for an ‘inferior’ one (£120 incl. out of hours labour) and am back in my flat, I’m just worried now about what my landlord will say if the new one isn’t good enough in his view and whether he might ask me to cough up megabucks for a fancy one like the last one apparently was

That link is for a pair of locks and the locking mechanism included, by the look of it, not just a standard barrel to fit into an existing uPVC mechanism.

Do you have a picture of what was on previously?
My father is a locksmith and may be able to ID it, so tell you what it was and how much.

Was there a chance he did the locks for the landlord, and meant the actual mechanism wasn't as secure as the old one, but didn't think you'd know the difference between the cyclinder and mechanism?

I think you can claim locksmith charges on home insurance if you need to?
A few years ago locked myself out and paid £250 to the locksmith - he gave me a receipt and said to use it if I wanted to claim the cost back from home insurance. I Never did bother but I wonder if that's possible for you?

Would the landlord even check?

P.S I always keep a spare key in the zip of my purse. Make sure theres nothing in it with your address on.

I was once charged £400 for a £20 lock. They have you over a barrel because you’re locked out v

£400 would be the call out fee, superior lock/barrel and labour charges. Now that you've gained access, you can probably change the barrel yourself at a later date.

I had a locksmith out at my parents house 15+ years ago, bank holiday Sunday, my key broke in the barrel. My parents had anti drill barrels. I was charged £750 +VAT. Thankfully I had my cheque book and wrote a cheque - which my parents reimbursed to me the next day, and they claimed the lot on their buildings insurance.

Emergency locksmiths /plumbers /electricians can pluck a number out of thin air, they know you need their services.....

Is the lock gold plated?! My commiserations, that's a lot of money.

@KioraAdora they will find out as they will need new keys cut I think?

@nikkylou that’s kind of you to offer to ask him, unfortunately though I don’t have a picture.

@KioraAdora I really hope he won’t check, but the property has been broken into in the past, so he might be paranoid. I keep a spare in my purse too, just this evening I went for a run without my purse or anything, and just popped my key in my bra. Clearly very stupid of me, it’s always been safe there before, but today it must have fallen out. Lesson learned.

Are they re-usable?

Could the locksmith give you the old lock and have that refitted (once you get a new copy of it's keys from the letting agent)?