Locksmith was i overcharged?

[MyBlueFinch]

Recently about 10am when i tried to open my front door to go shopping the key did not turn so unable to open door.
I found a locksmith on the internet and gave him a call and asked for the cost of replacing the lock.
He said he could not tell until he has finished the job.
Anyway, he spent about 30 minutes drilling and replaced the lock.
He then shocked me by charging 488.00 pounds. (Four hundred and eighty eight pounds) So i paid him.
I felt like a fool by not consulting with other locksmiths. Also the work was not neat.
What do you think?

He scammed you massively.

Hugely scammed :(

Sounds like the well known scam locksmiths, have you googled it?

Massive scam.
what was his breakdown? Huge call out fee?

Was it an emergency call out? How long was he there for?

I’m in greater London, had a same day call out. Two locks changed, yale and deadbolt. Also copied the set of keys 6 times and charged £320 which included emergency call out, two new locks and 6 sets of keys. He was here an hour and I rang around to check this was a reasonable price

Look East did a news item on this very thing just recently.

Last time I called out a Locksmith as backdoor key was jammed I paid less than £100 and he was there around 45 mins changing it. Scotland.

You need to ask him for an itemised bill / invoice. You can then use that to do a bit of comparison work with other local locksmiths to see if the charges are standard - including the call out fee and any surcharges for it being an emergency Sunday call out rather than a planned appointment. If he won’t provide an itemised bill, or the charges on it are excessive in comparison with other locksmiths, you can report to Trading Standards and the Master Locksmiths Association. If you paid by credit card you can try a chargeback.

Wow!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20825qwgz2o?app-referrer=deep-link

I was charged £250 for a callout, including 2 new keys. London, although this was 3 years ago.

I had the whole lock and the locking bit that runs down the side of the door replaced for £250 (I think it might have been less). Not emergency but he was there the day after I called and had to return the next day with an extra part as it was more than just the barrel that was broken.

Thank you for your response.
I will never again allow a tradesman to carry out
Work without knowing the cost upfront. It was all my fault and have learnt from it.
It was a weekday.

It's a scam.

Plus anyone doing this could have made a copy of the new locks keys.

So really needs another lock change adding more cost.

Our local locksmith advised us to look on https://www.locksmiths.co.uk/ to find a local Master Locksmith if he wasn't available.
You were seriously ripped off.
You should contact your local CAB/Trading Standards and report them