Poor Service

Recently, I have been called out on numerous occasions to repair/replace products on clients doors that were previously worked on by untrained and unknowing handymen, attempting to provide services without the knowledge, training or experience that professional locksmiths have spent years acquiring the knowledge for.

A particular example is this:

Client call us to rekey their locks on their home. We inform of our price structure over the telephone. An appointment is booked and our technician arrives early to the appointment.

The estimated cost is given again, prior to receiving the "go ahead" from the client.
Locks are removed from the doors and taken to the service vehicle for re-keying.

Upon inspection of the cylinders, many of the interior parts (the tumblers and springs) are missing. Prior to "fixing" the cylinders, our technician consults the client as to how recently the locks were worked on. The client responds that they were worked on by a handyman/carpenter just days before, but as the locks werent working properly, they decided to have a professional repair after the handyman refuses to honor any perceived warranty.

Due to the problems caused by an untrained "handyman", the cylinders take considerably longer and require more parts to "fix", yet the client has already been quoted a cost, so switching prices midway is unethical, inappropriate and not in the best interests of our company.

Repairing the cylinders does not take too much extra time, but due to the quantity of cylinders, extra time is multiplied by the quantity.

The client is always very happy with our services, because we honor our words and provide value for money.

Still, many customers choose to do business with an untrained person rather than call a trained technician, because of the price to value perception. It is true that sometimes you can benefit from having a handyman "also" do your locks....but they cannot and often do not (or are unable) to warranty their work. There is an old saying, "Pay peanuts and get monkeys", this should apply to anyone seeking to "cheap out" on their families or their colleagues protection.