£1000+ to drill out jammed Yale lock and replace with new security lock

[limetrees32]

Does this sound within the realms of reasonable ?

I was stupid and careless and I'm angry with myself.
But my poor dad , for whom locks were a hobby, must be having a terrible time .
Turning in his grave wouldn't cover it .
If he were here he'd be organising his own bag of tools to visit the registered office .
After first berating me .

Surely ‘emergency lock opening by drilling the lock’ and ‘Labour to install the lock’ is the same thing?
You’ve been well and truly ripped off and if I were you I’d be writing a review to reflect the extortionate cost on Trustpilot. Shameful of them.

Well thought through OP. Wrong as it is you can only chalk this up to experience and move on.

I’ve had similar, from which I learned to always go on personal recommendations if possible, and search:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house
It is a mine of free information for limited companies - or just search his name to see if he’s been a director and see how that turned out. (As an aside, I wish everyone thinking of getting invoIved with a MLM would use it).

I found my wrong un on Check a Trade…… just saying.

Some councils have lists of approved traders, primarily for older or vulnerable folk, so that might help.

Similarly your house insurers may advise.

Of course all these suggestions take time, and this rogue caught you on the hop. Let’s hope he crosses the wrong person before too long.

Wishing you well.

Our local locksmith is brilliant - his advice is to check that any locksmith that anyone is planning to use is registered as a Master Locksmith - you can check here: www.locksmiths.co.uk/

@limetrees32 thank you. Unfortunately it's been life changing & will be a long road to some recovery, but it is what it is.

If the unscripted image has more detail then
look up the company number & vat number.

hes definitely taken advantage of you. But by his much im nog sure?!

& no @Soontobe60 drilling out the lock & fitting a lock aren't the same thing.

& don't compare it to the people saying they replaced their locks for tuppence. Doors & locks vary enormously. Additional keys for certain locks can be £60.

I totally understand his you feel taking thus further when he has your address. A bag of tools & the know his to easily enter your home.

if I was feeling up to it I would

• look up the company/ VAT numbers
• get some quotes (from registered master locksmiths)
• go to master locksmith association & ask their advice.

xx

Locksmithing seems to be the new scam OP, going by quite a few threads I have read on Mumsnet. Don't beat yourself up too much, this seems to be a regular occurrence. You call these guys in haste, and when you're vulnerable and stressed, so it's really the perfect time to rip someone off, if you're that way inclined.

While chatting to the elderly lady I bought my house from, I learned she was charged £12K to have moss cleaned off the roof (they were up there for 1 day) a few years ago. She's in her 90s, the absolute fucking bastards.

I am not saying you haven't been taken advantage of, OP, but if you google Astra lock they are well pricey - do the keys say Astra?

Oh my god how do people like this look themselves in the mirror, utter bastards.

@

By googling it does look like that is a pretty expensive lock so if that's what you got that part is not unreasonable. There are much cheaper locks out there though, I don't know enough about locks to know what would be adequate.

but it is not a Yale lock, it is an Astra lock, and they are VERY expensive
Locks - ASTRA Security Hardware

To be fair to Romanian locksmiths... last year I had five locks changed on a relative's house for around £500. London.

You should contact HMRC on their fraud line to tell them that you have been ripped off and that they should check whether the trader is actually paying over the VAT that he is charging. He won't be, he will be pocketing it all.

Ah thank you! I had missed that. I saw Yale lock in the title and assumed like for like.

Where are you in country OP. I paid £200 about 2 years ago for the same.

@caringcarer we're in London .

please do not waste HMRC's time on such non evidence.
It is not their responsibly to police how much someone charges for work and OP has a formal invoice with a VAT number. A tradesperson would be fool to then evade paying over VAT with such an audit trail in place.

Is that a legitimate website selling high end quality locks or is it a scam website used as part of a fraud to charge skyhigh prices?

Don't beat yourself up, it happens to many people especially with the emergency call out trade where it's difficult to shop around for a quote.

It's a shame about the lack of google reviews and you are right the person knows where you live so it's understandable why. Any chance you could get someone else to leave a review so it's not in your name?

No, lots of rogue traders pretend that they are registered for VAT when they are not and just pocket the VAT.

What audit trail? How are HMRC going to see the invoice unless the OP shows it to them?

He probably keeps 2 sets of books, one for HMRC and one actual set, that's if he keeps any records at all.

and what do you base your comment on? Intuition???
why not look for yourself. Google will find lots of websites selling ASTRA

you can check name, address and VAT registration yourself quite easily
Check a UK VAT number - GOV.UK

Really good locks are expensive. I took my old lock into a very reputable locksmith to get as near a replacement as possible and he quoted around £350. He did then talk me through other options and I “only” spent about £200 in the end - but I had no doubt that the £350 one was legit.
the £500 or so for labour is a lot though…

A proper locksmith doesnt have to use a drill etc...its all been discussed on here previously when some one else was totally ripped off.....probably same company, and dont use google...they pay to have ads on top etc, use a local fb group etc.

Local FB group fair enough
BUT always ask yourself is there an obvious bias to any recommendation? Many (most?) such mentions are from wives, GFs, husbands and BFs, Look at the posting history of the person and see how often they put up the same comment. Normal people do not go around repeatedly undertaking free advertising for a company.