Can You Trust a Locksmith?

A home can be regarded as a castle and one which needs better security. Getting a trusted locksmith should be the next priority after purchasing your home. To be sure you alone have access to your new home, it is ideal to have the locks changed. As a house owner, it wouldn’t be nice to get locked out and not be able to contact your locksmith. To this effect, it is considered appropriate to have your locksmith’s number saved on your device.

However, when things don’t go according to plan, can your locksmith come through for you? Well, to be sincere, not all locksmiths can be trustworthy. But, before we hit on the topic of discussion, let us render some tips in finding a locksmith.

Tips in Getting a Good Locksmith

1. Verify the business: It is one thing to get a locksmith you can trust and another to verify the company. With the way information can easily be accessed on the internet, its considered smart to confirm if the business is genuine or not. Sometimes with the help of Google maps, the address of the company can shown. Plus, there is also a need to look out for online reviews. Lastly, you can try reaching them at odd hours to test their readiness level in case of emergencies.
2. Ask for identification: Here’s another useful tip in getting a good locksmith. A licensed locksmith should have a Master security license number. This why its expected that you request identification the moment they come to render services to you.
3. Get a written estimate: Once a locksmith has gone through the situation, its expected that they come up with a written estimate for you. The estimate should be able to let you know when the job would be completed, the cost of the job. After that, if there is a need to make some adjustments, they should contact you.
4. The transaction should carried out via credit card: Although, with the whole trend of payments done in the digital space, it would still interest you to know that a locksmith should even accept credit cards to pay services.

So, now that we have thoroughly discussed some of the tips in getting a good locksmith. Below are some of the scams that a locksmith can carry out.

Common Locksmith Scams

1. The Rekeying scam: Let’s face the fact, not all workmen can be trusted, and that is not to say there aren’t honest ones in the market. But to explain what the rekeying scam is, it is best to create a proper explanation scenario. For instance, the locksmith brings a bill to charge you for the pins to go with other charges. However, those pins meant to free even though a lock has five pins. He then tells you he charges $40 to rekey the four pins and $50 for five pins. So, he tells you the higher the pins, the more it would likely cost. Now, you are hoping the pins don’t go higher so that you would be able to meet up the price. Finally, he then tells you that it has five pins; hence you would have to pay the $50. This makes you happy as you must have prayed it didn’t have more pins so as not to pay more.
2. The 24-hour locksmith scam: This type of scam happens practically every day that passes by. The locksmith might charge $30 to come out, while an additional $10 for services rendered. So here is the trick, he then tells you that the lock should pulled open or locked. But within himself, he knows that it just needs to be picked. So, he then suggests you purchase a standard lock, which makes him inflate the price, thereby making additional profits along the way.

Furthermore, what then are the things that can done to avoid being scammed by a locksmith?

Things to Do to Avoid Scam by a Locksmith

1. To avoid scam by a locksmith, it is important to get a referral either from family or friends. If a friend is happy with the services rendered, there every possibility of you being satisfied too.
2.  Secondly, verify or instead ask for a form of identity. A locksmith should affiliated with the Associated Locksmiths of America or something similar.
3. Thirdly, you may have to request a price quotation and carry out findings on the charges being given.
4. Lastly, do not be in a rush when they give you the price. You may need to discuss with a local locksmith to know certain things not to be cheated on.

Trust a Locksmith

The fact that people would want to swindle you, especially locksmith, doesn’t mean you should not give them the benefit of the doubt. At times, some might be accurate in their pricing, and other times there are others that fail to be considerate. Instead, they would prefer to inflate the prices of things so as to make a substantial profit.

Plus, trust they say is somewhat a huge thing to do. Instead, its earned over time as it doesn’t just happen overnight. A house owner can find out the price of his or her locks and try out a locksmith so as to hear the figures they would call. Once it exceeds the initial price being investigated, then such a locksmith might be just there to reap you off. Plus, they should be willing to help out at odd hours of the day as accidents can happen and things can go wrong. Hence their services can called upon whenever.

In conclusion, it is a bit difficult to trust a locksmith. But you do not have to trust them at all; rather you can easily follow the mentioned tips in getting a trust locksmith. Getting a trusted locksmith can effectively erase any doubt of being scammed. There plenty of fraudulent ones out there, and for that, you should properly guided so as not to fall prey to one of them.