Dodgy locksmith and huge bill!

[Parkly]

I wonder if anyone is able to give me some advice please.

Yesterday I locked myself out. I'd already been out for about two hours and the dog was at home on her own so I panicked a bit. I googled emergency locksmiths and did that thing you're never supposed to do - ie, contacted the first one.

When he arrived, he said the front door was the best option and started to drill the lock out. It took him awhile, but he did eventually break in.

I asked him about replacement locks and he said he could replace it with one that was nearly as good as the one he'd just removed, or one that was better - the nearly as good one would cost £500. I was still a bit flustered so I told him to go ahead with the £500 one.

He started to fit the new lock in - he took the whole metal strip thing off the front door at one point and asked me if I'd had any problems with it in the past. I said no and he said it didn't seem to be working. Ultimately, he got it to work, tested it a few times, said it seemed fine but if I had any further issues to call back.

He then presented me with a bill of over £1600. I know it sounds ludicrous but I wasn't thinking straight and just wanted him out so handed over my card and that was that.

It was only after he'd gone and I'd calmed down a bit that I thought how ridiculously expensive that was. I contacted my insurance company who have already agreed to pay out but that's only £300.

I've rung my bank who have said there's nothing they can do because I paid with my debit card.

I've rung trading standards who said to contact Citizens Advice, and that if Citizens Advice thought I had a case they (trading standards) would then take it further.

Citizens Advice have said that I need to contact two or three other Locksmith to see what their quotes would have been.

All of which I'm sorting. However, in the meantime, I've just discovered that I can't open my newly-fixed-at-great-expense front door! So sometime between yesterday and today the new mechanism has broken. I haven't even used the door since it was sorted yesterday!

I don't really know what to do now. If I call the same lot out are they going to say I must have done something and charge me even more money? And does anyone have any ideas of what else I can do to get some of the £1600 back please?

Any advice gratefully appreciated!

I don’t know how these cowboys sleep at night 😡
I have no clue what you can do, but just wanted to bump in case anyone could offer any advice.

The locksmith is required to fix it free of charge. They can only get out of this if they can prove that the problem is due to something you have done. They would need proof, not just an allegation. If they refuse, you can get another locksmith to fix it and add the cost to your claim from the bad locksmith. You will probably have to take them to small claims to get your money back.

Thanks for the replies :). I had another locksmith round yesterday who was absolutely horrified at what I'd been charged. He also said that the original man had obviously broken the mechanism because he himself (yesterday's man) couldn't sort the door.

God OP you must feel sick. They obviously broke it as they had no idea what they were doing. Can you post on neighbourhood/Facebook page and see if anyone else has the same experience, or even is able to identify him so that you can press on with a claim. In the meantime you’ll hopefully hurt any potential business he might have got.

There was a thread on here a year or so ago with something similar. Can't remember how it was resolved.

I'll see if I can find it but the search function is shit!!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5064305-nightmare-locksmith

Thank you so much for linking to that thread @Kai125. You won't be astonished to hear that it's the same company, and the same name on the invoice they gave me. I don't think I'm seeing any of this money again am I? :(.

The man who came to fix the lock but who actually broke it left me his mobile number and said to call if there were any problems. I didn't want to speak to him but my son (who lives abroad) called. As soon as he realised who my son was, he hung up and blocked him.

Another friend had more success in that he actually got to speak to him - but he told my friend that the mechanism was broken and he'd told me that. That wasn't the case at all. My friend asked why the invoice name was different to the website name - and at that point, he too got hung up on and blocked.

I rang the number I initially rang in the first place and asked to speak to someone. I was told to email. I tried to press the issue but was told there wasn't anyone to speak to, to email and, yes you've guessed it, hung up on!

I'm so angry (with myself as much as anything) and upset. I'd be so grateful if anyone can think of anything else I can do.

It's worth going onto the thread and asking the OP if she got it resolved!

Good shout!