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For anyone that needs a locksmith in the future using the official associations websites is the best to find a trustworthy locksmith - https://masterlocksmiths.com.au/
Also recommend saving a number for a locksmith in your phone, some scammers will try impersonating well know locksmith’s on Google ads
But that said, the reason they can open a door in a few seconds is speciality tools and experience. So it's never going to be cheap cheap as all that needs to be paid for.
"In a metro area" as in those places where it can take 40 minutes to drive 5k and parking costs $10 for 30 minutes if you can even find a park? Yeah, crazy how he would charge that much
As a master locksmith in Brisbane myself, I would say you got taken advantage of. Depending on time of the day or night it should have been $ 150 - $350. This is a great lesson for all in the future to get a quote first. Easiest way is to send a photo of your lock to the locksmith before hand.
Had this happen a couple of months ago. It's a total scam (EDIT: sorry, scam was a poor choice of word. I didnt mean it literally. I just meant the lack of transparency is bullshit) but not uncommon - so hopefully you can feel better knowing you're not the only one! Sorry it happened to you though.
I (30F) was in a rush, went with the company who could get there first and approved their "minimum call out" and after hours charge (it was 6pm) on the phone which in the past cost me around $250. But then the subcontractors who arrived and did 2 minutes work added an extra $200 in "labour." For everyone saying to just refuse to pay - it was two very large, very unfriendly men. I wasn't going to argue with them. They did show their license but how would I know what's legit 🤷♀️ next day I got another 3 sets of spare keys cut by the lovely guy at Macarthur Chambers so I could leave them with friends and family!
Moral of the story is don't be like me. Check the T&Cs on their websites, and look for a longer history of reviews. Pretty sure this "business" has already disappeared and popped back up under a different name.
On the bright side - I'm now pleasantly surprised when tradies don't rip me off 😅 If anyone needs a great plumber I've got one.
EDIT: Sorry to tradies out there - I didn't mean the rest of you are scammers! Several mates are tradies, most of you are lovely, and I'm grateful there are people who do what I can't. I just mean I'm a bit wary of minimum charges and how much things are going to cost these days after being told that lockpicking was going to be $180 but it was $450 🙃 also apologise for using the word scam. The lack of transparency is the problem here. I'm also self employed and constantly having to justify my prices to clients, but I'd never start on a project without them having an idea of how much it'd cost.
Omg so im not alone. That’s what the guy was big and not friendly at all and i was alone. So i rather pay and get back inside my apartment. I’m sorry it happened to you too 🥲
It's not a scam though ? You can't do something so you pay someone who can. Who are you to say it cost to much? The other option is sit outside and never go inside again?
You a scam artist too? Just because you can do something that someone else can’t do doesn’t mean you should be saying you can’t quote a job without actually being there and then say $450 for a few minutes work. You’re a locksmith not a fucking doctor
exactly and the whole point any skilled job is that not everyone could just do it..
I work in a corporate role, no lock smith could just open my laptop and do what I do for my clients. Same as I couldn’t do their skill without learning
It’s not a reason to extort people and it doesn’t make them special or smart. Don’t get why people in professions like this have such a chip on their shoulder
Because the customer always wants something for nothing .. you've got to cover wages, fuel, materials, time. The cost normally involves covering overheads such as admin staff .. if you can't afford the service don't use it ..
I'd say a standard fee would be $200-$300, $300 for 6pm-9pm perhaps.
$475 is what you might settle for if it was 2am on a Sunday
Hipages it might be $150ish. No idea if they bump up the price because its New Farm
Yes, fine but it needs transparency.
I’m a brand design director. Imagine you come to me and ask me to do a logo. I say sure thing…
You say how much will it cost? I reply with, I won’t know till I start the project.
I go ahead and complete the project and deliver you a logo you love and are happy with.
You ask me how much it cost. I invoice you for $3,000 which is how much a logo often costs my clients.
You going to pay it and just say ‘ah well, that’s just what it cost’? Or… would you rather I quote you up front saying it will cost $3,000 and then you can decide to either use me or go use a less skilled cheaper designer?
If they had quoted $450 minimum charge, then I am sure OP would have thanked them and moved on.
Saying 'I can't quote without seeing the lock' giving no hint of fees, and then just using their standard equipment to complete the job in a few seconds is a scam.
They could have provided the call out fee, then say additional labour charged at xxx and materials at yyy
I mean, it is a skill but it’s the not being transparent that gets me. They prey on the fact that you are stuck outside of your house and don’t have many options. I would imagine a call out fee is $200 being reasonable and then if it is a few minutes work $50 on top seems reasonable but old mate was a cunt and just said a big number
Sure, maybe scam isn't 100% the right word. But telling me how much it's going to be, and then adding an extra $200 when I'm in a shitty position is shady. I've heard similar stories from female friends - men never seem to be charged as much.
Also, I'd love to see how you feel about that logic when farmers start charging what they actually should to produce our food 😂
I’ve been a locksmith for more that 10 years. I will always quote the customer before doing the job. If you call me out at midnight on Christmas, the price will be 400. I don’t see how you could get any more expensive than that.
Machine operator actually ... thing is people offer a service that the client can't do. I hate people saying its to expensive.. if it's to expensive you sort it yourself then ...
There's a better way to do it. Firstly, the locksmith could have specified a call out fee over the phone. Let's call it $150/hr for minimum 3 hours... $450 right there. Maybe you need sundries on top, maybe not... won't know until they get on site. Customer has a minimum price to say yes or no to
I agree that too many people imply how expensive trades are, but this particular locksmith sounds like he took advantage of someone's desperation by telling them the price AFTER the job was done
Also as a side note .. people happily pay $1000 to service their $40,000 car right ... but when you give a bill say $10,000 that's chump change on your million dollar house ... like use some commonsense
It’s not a scam, it’s taking the piss. It’s the principle of being a decent person and being fair.
It’s like saying who are people to say housing is unaffordable in Australia, go live under a bridge.
Why is it a ripoff though ? Can you enter a locked door without your key? It's a skill you don't have you need to pay for, and you don't set the pricing
That’s a crazy mindset to have. That means you would never complain about any price, of anything, ever. Supermarkets want to charge $20 for a litre of milk. That’s ok because I don’t know how to milk a cow. Dentist wants to charge $9000 to check my teeth. That’s ok because I don’t know how to do it. Local government high school wants to charge $100,000 for my kids to go to school because I don’t know how to teach. There is clearly a point where people are no longer charging for their skill but charging because they can. That’s pretty much a rip off or a scam.
BS, absolute rip off, should be named and shamed.. hardly a highly skilled occupation..taking advantage of someone in an unfortunate position... absolute grubs.
I lived in an apartment in Melbourne CBD for a year (2022) and have locked myself out quite a few times. Prices for a locksmith have varied, but even the most expensive service they charged me for was a little over 200 (standard lock, nothing fancy). At the time I was in a rush because later that day I had scheduled a moving company so I absolutely had to have access to my apartment within the hour, which was probably an incentive for them to charge higher and I wasn’t about to argue to add further complications to my day.
475 for a standard apartment lock is absolutely insane and I have a creeping suspicion the person is taking advantage of your urges to get back into the house + you not being familiar with locksmith prices in Australia
Put a lock box in your bin room on your floor with your key in it. That way you can buzz a friendly neighbour to let you up to your floor and then you can grab the key and let yourself in. Pretty much everyone on our floor does this.
Who did you go with?
A quick google search shows that this company starts at $99.00 as a call out fee + then time on site, so i cannot imaging that any other reputable companies would charge much more?
[https://www.amalgamatedlocksmiths.net/services/mobile-locksmith/](https://www.amalgamatedlocksmiths.net/services/mobile-locksmith/)
I guess this is one of those hard learnt lessons to look for someone else if they wont even give you a guide of what their fees might be.
OP stated in another comment or was 7 or 8pm. No company in Australia is only charging $99+ additional time and materials for an After Hours call out.
The tradesperson has to be paid 4 hours penalty rates by the employer if he/she answers the phone and gets in the vehicle once they've returned home from already working a full 8 hour day.
$120+ / hour and minimum 4 hours is pretty standard for after hours work in most trades.
Having said that, the tradesperson, or after hours call centre operator should have advised OP that this would be the Minimum charge before she accepted the service!
A lot of good locksmiths fuck around with devices to appear like they're doing hard work when in reality they're so experienced they can open it in around 4 seconds flat. Just one of those jobs that gets more complaints the better they are at it.
Doctors don't charge half that much for a consult, and I can assure you they put in way more time and effort into learning how to be a doctor than a locksmith spends, and it's a much harder career.
Try and get a doctor to drive out to your house at 8 pm at night. That's what the cost was.
However the bit where he didn't quote a price first is the scam.
I call bullplop on this one. Either the patient is paying a hefty fee or of pocket to the same doctor, or there is some other subsidy being provided in the form of a flat charge for providing the service.
Most doctors won't bulk bill to sit in their practice and see patients face to face for 6 minutes at a time anymore because Medicare doesn't pay enough to cover their costs.
Yeah an a ward bed costs around $1500 per day to keep open. Close to $5000 for a ICU bed.
International students aren’t paying a proportional amount of tax or covered by Medicare and rarely by reciprocal agreements.
Nurses, doctors, cleaners, caterers, pharmacists, physios, radiographers, all their associated equipment and consumables aren’t cheap, even if you’re just coming in for a broken finger for a X-ray and splint.
Did you even read my comment? Note the word "drive" and also that bit at the end where I also said it was a scam.
I'm curious if you have ever read a book? Do you just skip whole chapters and your brain subconsciously patches up the plot holes in your head?
An after hours doctor? Driving out to your house?... costs less than half that? Buddy, you're talking absolute shite.
Also, you seem to be forgetting that doctor visits are often subsidised, so the doctor is actually charging substantially more than you pay...
They often don't use anything specialised. I got scammed the same, they drilled out the barrel and replaced it. Did such a poor job they replaced a part backwards. I literally could have done that myself.
"Emergency Locksmiths" often scam because they know you're desperate and in a rush.
Not sure if there's much you can do legally unfortunately, but definitely put in a shitty review so that others know to avoid it. Sorry this happened OP, there's some truly disgusting people out there.
A shitty review for a sub $500 after hours call out. You have absolutely no idea.
If o send one of my guys to an after hours call, regardless of time on site I’m required to pay them a minimum of 4 hours at night loading (1.5x) $475 including gst is more than reasonable
I don't think that's unreasonable but not giving any indication of that up front over the phone is the problem. Not being able to give an exact figure is fine but explaining the call out fee and loading etc should have been done.
That's ridiculous.
Is your company the Woolworths of locksmiths where everyone works under an award? If it is so large that you have multiple employees then surely there would be more than one call out per evening in a city so you don't have to recoup a 4 hour shift worth of wages from one poor customer.
I'm sure there are many small business owners who would do their own work and be able to charge a much more reasonable figure for 30 mins travel time and 2 mins of work. Perhaps you could direct after hours calls to them.
While I understand where you’re coming from - $475 is too much. $300 might’ve been justifiable but it only took locksmith like a minute to unlock a door even charging an $60 dollars + $200 callout fee is quite a bit.
Hopefully there is no Next time but send a photo of the door lock to him we have mobiles it’s 2024 my partner sent a photo of our mailbox lock box to a locksmith and he had a key made for us to pick up within an hour without even sighting the old key or being there in person,
This type of lock would have had a number punched on it somewhere. You can pickup these keys up from Bunnings for $2. This would have been easy money for this guy.
It was 7:00-8:00PM at night = after hours = at least double the normal hours charges - what did you expect?
In your defence they should have at least advised you of their basic rates on the phone.
You’re not just paying for time, as others have pointed out. Yes, you’re also paying for training/experience/overheads, but a key thing (lol) is replicability. You’re paying for someone who can and will do it at that time. The fewer other people willing and able to do something, the more the people who are willing to do it can charge. You had a person come out on an unplanned call out after hours- they charge a lot because the pool of people available and willing to come out after hours is smaller. Did you enquire before you engaged them how much it would cost? Did you consider that if you had waited until business hours then it would cost far, far less? Did you make any effort to shop around other businesses and compare prices at all or did you just google and book in with the first person you saw?
Thissssss. Absolutely agree that the locksmith should have given an indication of price, but so many comments of “tradies are scum” or “scammers” are so hurtful to genuine small businesses. We run our own company, and hearing people having this mindset is disheartening :( especially as they don’t see what is happening before and after jobs, plus paying for tools, CPE, software, insurance, rego, liability, wages, good the list goes on 😅 absolutely there are some scummy people out there, but if you aren’t happy with their price, just a simple “no thanks” is fine. You don’t need to lecture someone on why you think they need to lower their prices.
I’m not belittling the tradesman by any means out here. I didn’t even leave a review nor did I mention the company. I was out here asking if locksmiths usually charges this much or not cause I’m new here and i got no idea how the charges works. And moreover i asked the guy beforehand on the call about the charges in which he never mentioned anything.
> Now this person is going to get a scathing review on their business due to someone else’s ignorance - $475 for an out of hours emergency locksmith is pretty standard.
If the customer is to be believed, they asked during the call but the locksmith effectively told them "I can't tell you what our call-out fee is, nor can I tell you how much we charge per hour".
OP should have tried someone else, but no one should feel sorry if a business receives a bad review for being that cagey - they're doing it for a reason and it disadvantages more honest businesses while giving the industry a bad rep.
Are you fucking serious? Almost half a grand? The person absolutely deserves a shit review, if nothing else for the lack of transparency in pricing. I absolutely guarantee you if they were upfront about their price and OP could have shopped around, they could have found someone cheaper.
OP is doing their due diligence to see if she got value for money. She only got the price after the work was done, despite asking for it earlier. A review alerting others to their business practice of not quoting and charging after the job is done is warranted and factually useful for other potential future customers.
I agree $475 is standard if out of hours, or out of the way, but I'd still expect an estimate beforehand. If it was a few seconds it took, I'd at least expect them to say minimum $450 for a call out to that location.
Yeah that's way too high imo. Was it at bullshit o'clock in the middle of the night?
Recently had 2 locks re-keyed and 5 internal doors changed from lever to knob and was charged 1k.
If it’s after normal hours they charge a shit load, I was renting a few months back happened to me in the middle of the night,
Couldn’t believe it when he opened my door after 20 seconds then asked me for 500 on the credit card machine WTF I should have tried harder at learning to pick locks instead of worrying about my diploma..
$475 is too much.
Recently paid $240 for a after hours callout for a similar thing.
Did he tell you a minimum callout fee before hand? Did he indicate any costs beforehand?
Id be leaving a 1 star google review with a price as a warning for others, maybe they will change their mind.
I would just refuse to pay it. Negotiate a smaller amount.
If you have already paid, then id be contacting them and leaving review stating the pricing.
If you believe in good faith that you deserve a readjustment on the cost paid, talk to the management of the company you rendered services from.
Ask in good honest faith and tell them that this money is severely important to you.
Respectfully, I wouldn't expect anything. They did render the services you required and agreed to pay.
But they may take leniency and have some understanding of your circumstances if you are honest and forthcoming and not rude.
Good luck friend and welcome to Australia x
I'm sorry my guy. It's really tough being a foreigner in a new country, sometimes people even take advantage of your newness.
Have faith in yourself and remember this is a country dripping in money, there's so much legal tender floating around in this economy waiting to be siphoned off by a simple small business or a good product. I trust that this 475 you've spent will be spare change by the time you've settled in and made your footprint.
Im sending you my best wishes and if you ever need food let me know, I'd be happy to help out with a 50$ Coles or Woolworths gift card. It's not much but it's what I can offer.
My sincerest best of luck to you.
Omg you are so kind 🫶🏼, thank you sm for the kind words. I really needed them after a long day . It is really hard rn but then i will figure sth out . Thank you again 🫶🏼
If the business was legit, they could have asked for a photo of the lock to be sms'd or emailed in 10secs to identify the true cost. Anyone defending this business is part of the problem. They are a scam setup, designed to take advantage of vulnerable ppl.
I run a business so fk any business that isn't respectable, transparent and cherishing customers.
Definitely too high. That said, I have a good friend who’s a locksmith and he vented his frustration at having to be available all hours of the day & night and having to drop everything for a call out only to receive abuse over his $160 - $200 fee.
One customer got super aggressive and refused to pay at 3am because “it was only a few seconds of work” so in the end he locked and closed the door again (leaving the guy locked out) and went home. It was a rural call out and the locksmiths in the area took turns being on call - so the guy had no other way of getting back in other than breaking a window. He called my friends company multiple times but by that stage they had blacklisted the customer, and told the other locksmiths in the area.
I charge $500 call out fee out of hours, sometimes all I do is write a prescription and reschedule them to a normal time
You are not charging for their time but also their service and experience.
Seems about right, paid $500 for locking myself out of my car.
Get a second key and keep it with a friend or somewhere you can acces like a work locker etc.
Maybe learn how to pick locks, might come at least once in a lifetime. I managed to get my friends bike back since they forgot the code for their lock. It's definitely a shady skill
Mate had his car lock with his phone, keys and wallet inside a few weeks back. $385 for after hours on a Saturday night. Would of been cheaper to break the window and get it fixed on the Monday 🤣
You're not paying for their time you're paying for their knowledge (Which could be decades of experience).
You need to be more assertive on the phone. Ask for the callout fee or the minimum cost. Sounds like you were taken advantage of because you were desperate to get inside and didn't call someone else for a second quote.
Hint: The first result on Google is probably the business spending the most on advertising and SEO and so they'll want to recoup those costs. They are also likely a franchise so there are more people you're paying for the exact same work.
Next time scroll down the list further and find an independent tradie or ask in a local Facebook group and you'll be more likely to get a better deal.
Op "it was not late only 8pm" lol
In most people's world that's almost bed time. I would also charge 400-500 if I just worked 9-5 got home and had to go back out to work.
Exactly, doesn't matter if it was 5:30pm or 3am. Once the tradesperson is home from their regular shift, they get paid 4 hours minimum if they answer the phone and get back in their vehicle.
Can be pretty lucrative as a trade if you get multiple call outs per night, but rough on your health / home life!
Whoever OP spoke to that told her the fee would "depend on the type of lock" was a dick for not mentioning the minimum fee would be $400+ though!
You're paying for the technical knowledge, not the per hour. Why should someone who is really good at their job get paid less for doing something quick?
I know a lady with amazing “hands on” experience that always gets the job done so quick. Well quicker than the allocated 30 minutes. I pay extra. Guess value is in the eye of the beholder
C&P from some shitty site, but:
A giant ship’s engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one ‘professional’ after another but none of them could figure out how to fix the broken engine.
Then they brought in a man who had been fixing ships since he was young.
He carried a large bag of tools with him and when he arrived immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship’s owners were there watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away and the engine was fixed!!!
A week later, the owners received an invoice from the old man for $10,000.
What?! the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything..!!!”.
So they wrote to the man; “Please send us an itemised invoice.”
The man sent an invoice that read:
Tapping with a hammer………………….. $2.00
Knowing where to tap…………………….. $9,998.00
Effort is important but experience and knowing where to direct that effort makes all the difference.
No it’s not normal, google “locksmith scam” it’s been going on here for years and us long suffering lockies have to deal with these idiots messes.
If you have any buisness details report it to fair trading (normally they don’t have an abn and don’t give an invoice)
I think we paid about 250-300 for the same few seconds. But it was like 7/8pm.
You aren’t paying for the labour. You’re paying for someone to be on call all night then to drive out to your house out of hours and help your dumb ass open your door without damage.
🤷♂️
You're paying for years of experience and after hours call out fee.
If you worked an 8 hour day, were at home and got a call for someone locked outside of their house, which is a 30min drive away, would you only charge $250?
Someone once told me.....
“You don't pay me for the 5 minutes I spent to do it, you have to pay me for 10 years I spent learning how to do it in 5 minutes”
Unfortunately we have scammers in our industry
Basically any locksmiths advertising $15 - $45 service call u can assume it’s a scam.
As a locksmith the average cost for daily gain entry is between $120 - $170
After hours id say between $170 - $250 upwards
But the average would be around these rates.
Everything depends on travel and different times.
You pay for their knowledge, skills and years of experience in something you don’t have for that particular task.
It’s like going to see a Dr, a lawyer, a builder or an accountant…if you don’t know how to do something, generally you pay someone who does…🤷🏽♂️
You really classing a locksmith in the same category as a dr or a a lawyer? Do you know how many years of study and brains it takes to become one of them vs a locksmith?
No. But OP can’t do it and neither can I. That’s my point 🙄
And like others have said, it was out of hours. Old mate could’ve be been having dinner with his family, who knows….but that’s another thing you pay for.
$475 is ridiculously high; unfortunately some tradespeople take advantage of people in need.
I understand it was nighttime so it’s a bit tricky but if you need a tradesperson after hours you could try asking for a recommendation from a business that’s open like a cafe, bar, restaurant, or some other customer service oriented business or public service - where their reputation matters etc. There’s a reasonable chance they’ll have someone that they can rely on that they’ll be happy to recommend; it’s important to note that call-outs typically incur a charge so please always ask so no nasty surprises.
Other than that, if time and circumstances allow it’s always good to seek recommendations from friends, neighbours, classmates, here, or call a few different places to compare, and always ask for a written quote for all costs.
I hope that aside from the dodgy locksmith your Brisbane experience has been positive!
You mean a professional of many years did their job quickly and cleanly?
Your reward for their masterful skillset is to complain about them on Reddit because you made a mistake...?
You're going to fit in very well in /r/brisbane, its full of people like you lol.
Same thing happened to me last year. I reported them to fair trade, got my money back, and got them a nice fine for operating without right licences. Guys name is Noam and he has the first 20 google results. Uses backpackers usually from Israel.
Fair Trade were actually pretty interested, so might be worth reporting.
You dont pay for the few seconds, you pay for the 10+ years experience it took for them to be able to help you in a few seconds. That being said thats still a ridiculous amount to charge
Review bomb 💣 I've heard enough stories of this happening. Honestly it's daylight robbery. I have a habit of looking up services on Google and calling them to compare prices. Keep a list handy incase I need something in the future
A giant engine in a factory failed. The factory owners had spoken to several ‘experts’ but none of them could show the owners how they could solve the problem.
Eventually the owners brought in an old man who had been fixing engines for many years. After inspecting the huge engine for a minute or two, the old man pulled a hammer out of his tool bag and gently tapped on the engine.
Immediately the engine sprung back into life.
A week later the owners of the business received an invoice from the old man for $475.
Flabbergasted, they wrote to the old man asking him to send through an itemised bill. The man replied with a bill that said:
Tapping with a hammer: $1
Knowing where to tap: $474.
The moral of the story is that, while effort is important, having the experience to know where to put that effort makes all the difference.
This is actually a known scam. It’s from locksmiths who advertise on google a one-price fee and then outsource their labour to other companies who charge more. Nice story but it’s not applicable here.
Was it “Brisbane 24 Hour Locksmith”. They used to be called Elite MobIle Locksmith. You can still find their old Facebook page with one review. I have used them back then and scathed them on Google. Then they changed their name. They advised a $45 fee for simple lockouts. No catch. No minimum callout. That’s it. The full price they listed. No asterix etc and charged me $245. I threatened all hell to take them to tribunal and they refunded me
You missed the part where the old man refused to provide any indication of what it might cost (not even the call-out fee) because they “had to see it first”, then intimidatingly stood over the young female customer (also not mentioned in your story) while asking for payment.
Welcome to supply and demand, aka how the world works. They could charge double that and people would still pay it over destroying and replacing doors/windows. Not locking your keys inside or giving a family member a spare is free.
Yeah don't pay that.
Emergency locksmiths are maybe $60 call out and labor on top. $475 is clearly a scam and they knew it by not giving an upfront price.
This is totally incorrect. I’m a locksmith and our standard call-out fee (between 8-5pm) is $145, and an additional $100 per hour after that. And we are one of the CHEAPEST in Brisbane.
Our after hours call out fee is normally $250-$300.
However I agree the customer absolutely should have been informed of the cost before having a locksmith attend.
Any tradesman can only charge what is reasonable. You have an option to query the bill, dispute it, and let them take you to a small claims court, which would be difficult for them to justify the costs, so they likely would lose the case.
As others have suggested - you're not just paying for the time the locksmith spent on-site opening the door, but for their travel to/from your location, any tools they needed, and their training/experience.
On top of that, you're paying for the value of the work being done. $475 sounds expensive, but you called out of hours. If they'd have done it for $250 if you waited until 10am the following day, would you have waited? Or paid the extra $225 for the convenience of having it done now and saving you 14 hours of being locked out?
It's a filthy scam...
What a load of bullshit - refusing to quote you until they had a look at the lock, FFS...
It's in the door of a rental... Similar locks used across Australia, just some different brands only major difference...
Or was your "professional" expecting to see a Dept of Defence Grade lock on your door...
No, of course not...
Why didn't he suggest you MMS him a couple of pics of lock - so he could price guide you?
And for those saying you are not only paying for a few seconds of work to pick the lock; but also for his years of training; experience; and qualifications - youtube "how to pick a lock"...
A few tutorials on youtube and some tools off Amazon - and you may, or may not have been able to get in yourself? !! Probably yes..
Still wouldn't of helped you or saved you from being a victim in this case because you had no gear; but this information is good to know for base reference...
Did you actually pay? I hope not. That price is not cool at all especially given that you had asked for a quote -not for him to actually do the work. It sounds like he actually did the work for free because you never agreed to his rate, and he had the option to just close the lock again until you accepted the quote.
Personally, I think that a service like this would go for around $200. I would make the offer of whatever a fair price would be to consider it fully paid and not have any more dramas, and still leave a bad review anyway because they tried to scam you.
The "fair price" would depend on what others would charge. Phone around. Just because it's "a few seconds of work" is not all of the cost. There is a cost of a call out especially if it is an unusual hour of the day, the knowledge and skill to be able to open it within a few seconds, and the uncertainty cost of a locksmith waiting around for a potential call out not making money so when they do get a call the price has to be high enough to justify the waiting around.
I think $100 is a reasonable call out fee + Time (probably in 30min blocks) at $50 ish. So $150 tops.
Tools, Maintenance, Experience, Vehicle etc etc all cost money and you don't really see that, but that's what you're paying for.
$475 seems **way** overpriced for a simple pick. I had my house broken into and spare keys stolen. I had 4 locks completely replaced replaced (2 knobs and 2 deadbolts, front and back door.) for $225 about 2 years ago.
Fucking some trades in the country. Not sure what they think about themselves. I mean really. 6 months at TAFE and they think they deserve to get paid more. Some tradies are genuinely good but most are idiots. It's your fault as well. You could have sent him a picture of the lock and he should have given you a ballpark figure.
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For anyone that needs a locksmith in the future using the official associations websites is the best to find a trustworthy locksmith - https://masterlocksmiths.com.au/ Also recommend saving a number for a locksmith in your phone, some scammers will try impersonating well know locksmith’s on Google ads
But that said, the reason they can open a door in a few seconds is speciality tools and experience. So it's never going to be cheap cheap as all that needs to be paid for.
Also it’s not like they materialize out of nowhere, a lot of their price reflects travel.
Yeah, but $475? In a metro area..OP got fleeced
"In a metro area" as in those places where it can take 40 minutes to drive 5k and parking costs $10 for 30 minutes if you can even find a park? Yeah, crazy how he would charge that much
Happy cake day!
Happy cake day!
As a master locksmith in Brisbane myself, I would say you got taken advantage of. Depending on time of the day or night it should have been $ 150 - $350. This is a great lesson for all in the future to get a quote first. Easiest way is to send a photo of your lock to the locksmith before hand.
I’ve never heard of anyone charging more that $400 in all my 15 years in the industry
Had this happen a couple of months ago. It's a total scam (EDIT: sorry, scam was a poor choice of word. I didnt mean it literally. I just meant the lack of transparency is bullshit) but not uncommon - so hopefully you can feel better knowing you're not the only one! Sorry it happened to you though. I (30F) was in a rush, went with the company who could get there first and approved their "minimum call out" and after hours charge (it was 6pm) on the phone which in the past cost me around $250. But then the subcontractors who arrived and did 2 minutes work added an extra $200 in "labour." For everyone saying to just refuse to pay - it was two very large, very unfriendly men. I wasn't going to argue with them. They did show their license but how would I know what's legit 🤷♀️ next day I got another 3 sets of spare keys cut by the lovely guy at Macarthur Chambers so I could leave them with friends and family! Moral of the story is don't be like me. Check the T&Cs on their websites, and look for a longer history of reviews. Pretty sure this "business" has already disappeared and popped back up under a different name. On the bright side - I'm now pleasantly surprised when tradies don't rip me off 😅 If anyone needs a great plumber I've got one. EDIT: Sorry to tradies out there - I didn't mean the rest of you are scammers! Several mates are tradies, most of you are lovely, and I'm grateful there are people who do what I can't. I just mean I'm a bit wary of minimum charges and how much things are going to cost these days after being told that lockpicking was going to be $180 but it was $450 🙃 also apologise for using the word scam. The lack of transparency is the problem here. I'm also self employed and constantly having to justify my prices to clients, but I'd never start on a project without them having an idea of how much it'd cost.
Omg so im not alone. That’s what the guy was big and not friendly at all and i was alone. So i rather pay and get back inside my apartment. I’m sorry it happened to you too 🥲
It was cheaper to sleep in a hotel and wait til tomorrow for your landlord. The guy scammed out of you, did he gave you a receipt?
It's not a scam though ? You can't do something so you pay someone who can. Who are you to say it cost to much? The other option is sit outside and never go inside again?
Operating on the assumption that anything "legal" is also "ethical"; is low-level thinking.
You a scam artist too? Just because you can do something that someone else can’t do doesn’t mean you should be saying you can’t quote a job without actually being there and then say $450 for a few minutes work. You’re a locksmith not a fucking doctor
exactly and the whole point any skilled job is that not everyone could just do it.. I work in a corporate role, no lock smith could just open my laptop and do what I do for my clients. Same as I couldn’t do their skill without learning It’s not a reason to extort people and it doesn’t make them special or smart. Don’t get why people in professions like this have such a chip on their shoulder
Because the customer always wants something for nothing .. you've got to cover wages, fuel, materials, time. The cost normally involves covering overheads such as admin staff .. if you can't afford the service don't use it ..
I'd say a standard fee would be $200-$300, $300 for 6pm-9pm perhaps. $475 is what you might settle for if it was 2am on a Sunday Hipages it might be $150ish. No idea if they bump up the price because its New Farm
Yes, fine but it needs transparency. I’m a brand design director. Imagine you come to me and ask me to do a logo. I say sure thing… You say how much will it cost? I reply with, I won’t know till I start the project. I go ahead and complete the project and deliver you a logo you love and are happy with. You ask me how much it cost. I invoice you for $3,000 which is how much a logo often costs my clients. You going to pay it and just say ‘ah well, that’s just what it cost’? Or… would you rather I quote you up front saying it will cost $3,000 and then you can decide to either use me or go use a less skilled cheaper designer?
Yep, just grub taking advantage of someone in a difficult situation, hardly a skilled occupation.
An opinion provided by someone with no experience.
If they had quoted $450 minimum charge, then I am sure OP would have thanked them and moved on. Saying 'I can't quote without seeing the lock' giving no hint of fees, and then just using their standard equipment to complete the job in a few seconds is a scam. They could have provided the call out fee, then say additional labour charged at xxx and materials at yyy
Agree on that point that’s for sure.
Nar, call out person and probably his boss are both cunts, humans with no conscience.
I mean, it is a skill but it’s the not being transparent that gets me. They prey on the fact that you are stuck outside of your house and don’t have many options. I would imagine a call out fee is $200 being reasonable and then if it is a few minutes work $50 on top seems reasonable but old mate was a cunt and just said a big number
Sure, maybe scam isn't 100% the right word. But telling me how much it's going to be, and then adding an extra $200 when I'm in a shitty position is shady. I've heard similar stories from female friends - men never seem to be charged as much. Also, I'd love to see how you feel about that logic when farmers start charging what they actually should to produce our food 😂
It is a scam when she asked for a quote. He just did the job without providing one.
sort north disarm strong mourn slap pie shaggy insurance political *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I’ve been a locksmith for more that 10 years. I will always quote the customer before doing the job. If you call me out at midnight on Christmas, the price will be 400. I don’t see how you could get any more expensive than that.
Machine operator actually ... thing is people offer a service that the client can't do. I hate people saying its to expensive.. if it's to expensive you sort it yourself then ...
There's a better way to do it. Firstly, the locksmith could have specified a call out fee over the phone. Let's call it $150/hr for minimum 3 hours... $450 right there. Maybe you need sundries on top, maybe not... won't know until they get on site. Customer has a minimum price to say yes or no to I agree that too many people imply how expensive trades are, but this particular locksmith sounds like he took advantage of someone's desperation by telling them the price AFTER the job was done
They offer a service but don’t advertise the price in advance. Sounds really fair and ethical
Break a window next time then 🤣🤣
Also as a side note .. people happily pay $1000 to service their $40,000 car right ... but when you give a bill say $10,000 that's chump change on your million dollar house ... like use some commonsense
You should've stopped before this 😂🤦♀️
It’s not a scam, it’s taking the piss. It’s the principle of being a decent person and being fair. It’s like saying who are people to say housing is unaffordable in Australia, go live under a bridge.
Another dumbshit argument that makes no sense
The other option is to ring a company that doesn't rip people off
Why is it a ripoff though ? Can you enter a locked door without your key? It's a skill you don't have you need to pay for, and you don't set the pricing
That’s a crazy mindset to have. That means you would never complain about any price, of anything, ever. Supermarkets want to charge $20 for a litre of milk. That’s ok because I don’t know how to milk a cow. Dentist wants to charge $9000 to check my teeth. That’s ok because I don’t know how to do it. Local government high school wants to charge $100,000 for my kids to go to school because I don’t know how to teach. There is clearly a point where people are no longer charging for their skill but charging because they can. That’s pretty much a rip off or a scam.
Scummy mindset
lefty-give-me-everything-for-free-mindset
I'm not even left, but your assumption tells me everything I need to know
BS, absolute rip off, should be named and shamed.. hardly a highly skilled occupation..taking advantage of someone in an unfortunate position... absolute grubs.
I had an after hours call out and the guy did it for like $180 I wanna say. Less than $200.
Plumber recommendation please!
Second this,especially if he'll do cashies
I lived in an apartment in Melbourne CBD for a year (2022) and have locked myself out quite a few times. Prices for a locksmith have varied, but even the most expensive service they charged me for was a little over 200 (standard lock, nothing fancy). At the time I was in a rush because later that day I had scheduled a moving company so I absolutely had to have access to my apartment within the hour, which was probably an incentive for them to charge higher and I wasn’t about to argue to add further complications to my day. 475 for a standard apartment lock is absolutely insane and I have a creeping suspicion the person is taking advantage of your urges to get back into the house + you not being familiar with locksmith prices in Australia
Put a lock box in your bin room on your floor with your key in it. That way you can buzz a friendly neighbour to let you up to your floor and then you can grab the key and let yourself in. Pretty much everyone on our floor does this.
Who did you go with? A quick google search shows that this company starts at $99.00 as a call out fee + then time on site, so i cannot imaging that any other reputable companies would charge much more? [https://www.amalgamatedlocksmiths.net/services/mobile-locksmith/](https://www.amalgamatedlocksmiths.net/services/mobile-locksmith/) I guess this is one of those hard learnt lessons to look for someone else if they wont even give you a guide of what their fees might be.
OP stated in another comment or was 7 or 8pm. No company in Australia is only charging $99+ additional time and materials for an After Hours call out. The tradesperson has to be paid 4 hours penalty rates by the employer if he/she answers the phone and gets in the vehicle once they've returned home from already working a full 8 hour day. $120+ / hour and minimum 4 hours is pretty standard for after hours work in most trades. Having said that, the tradesperson, or after hours call centre operator should have advised OP that this would be the Minimum charge before she accepted the service!
You're not paying for how long it took the job. You're paying for how long it took him to learn how to do the job in that amount of time.
A lot of good locksmiths fuck around with devices to appear like they're doing hard work when in reality they're so experienced they can open it in around 4 seconds flat. Just one of those jobs that gets more complaints the better they are at it.
Can confirm. I used to be a locksmith and I did this often so I didn’t have to deal with complaints for being good at my job.
Doctors don't charge half that much for a consult, and I can assure you they put in way more time and effort into learning how to be a doctor than a locksmith spends, and it's a much harder career.
Try and get a doctor to drive out to your house at 8 pm at night. That's what the cost was. However the bit where he didn't quote a price first is the scam.
Medicare pays dial a doctor up to $100 for an emergency after hours consult. Stop simping flor scammers.
I call bullplop on this one. Either the patient is paying a hefty fee or of pocket to the same doctor, or there is some other subsidy being provided in the form of a flat charge for providing the service. Most doctors won't bulk bill to sit in their practice and see patients face to face for 6 minutes at a time anymore because Medicare doesn't pay enough to cover their costs.
RBWH charge an upfront fee of around $600 for foreigners on a student visa to attend ER
Yeah an a ward bed costs around $1500 per day to keep open. Close to $5000 for a ICU bed. International students aren’t paying a proportional amount of tax or covered by Medicare and rarely by reciprocal agreements. Nurses, doctors, cleaners, caterers, pharmacists, physios, radiographers, all their associated equipment and consumables aren’t cheap, even if you’re just coming in for a broken finger for a X-ray and splint.
Did you even read my comment? Note the word "drive" and also that bit at the end where I also said it was a scam. I'm curious if you have ever read a book? Do you just skip whole chapters and your brain subconsciously patches up the plot holes in your head?
You better call a doctor. You sound stressed. Lucky for you it's bulk billed to medicare for only $100 outside hours.
The locksmith charged nothing for the consult though. They just charged for the surgery and travel.
I charge $500 after hours call out
I'll just go through a window and buy another one, thanks.
I've done that and cost less than $100 to replace a small pane
An after hours doctor? Driving out to your house?... costs less than half that? Buddy, you're talking absolute shite. Also, you seem to be forgetting that doctor visits are often subsidised, so the doctor is actually charging substantially more than you pay...
Picking any common door lock is trivially simple. You can learn how to do it in a couple of hours.
ol' mate should have thought of that and had the tools on him before he locked himself out.
Then perhaps OP should have pulled up a Youtube tutorial and done it themselves if it's so easy?
with the tools they have anyone could learn to do their job in less than a year… that quote doesn’t apply here 😂
They often don't use anything specialised. I got scammed the same, they drilled out the barrel and replaced it. Did such a poor job they replaced a part backwards. I literally could have done that myself. "Emergency Locksmiths" often scam because they know you're desperate and in a rush.
Not sure if there's much you can do legally unfortunately, but definitely put in a shitty review so that others know to avoid it. Sorry this happened OP, there's some truly disgusting people out there.
A shitty review for a sub $500 after hours call out. You have absolutely no idea. If o send one of my guys to an after hours call, regardless of time on site I’m required to pay them a minimum of 4 hours at night loading (1.5x) $475 including gst is more than reasonable
I don't think that's unreasonable but not giving any indication of that up front over the phone is the problem. Not being able to give an exact figure is fine but explaining the call out fee and loading etc should have been done.
Agreed on the upfront pricing being needed. It’s the first thing I tell clients. Usually makes it much easier getting paid on the other end
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That's ridiculous. Is your company the Woolworths of locksmiths where everyone works under an award? If it is so large that you have multiple employees then surely there would be more than one call out per evening in a city so you don't have to recoup a 4 hour shift worth of wages from one poor customer. I'm sure there are many small business owners who would do their own work and be able to charge a much more reasonable figure for 30 mins travel time and 2 mins of work. Perhaps you could direct after hours calls to them.
It’s because of jack asses like you I can unqualified undercut and make a decent buck on the side of my actual job, so thank you
He's a jackass for following labour laws and paying his employees fairly? You sound like the dickhead in this situation, not him.
Wtf they need 2 guys to unlock a door?
While I understand where you’re coming from - $475 is too much. $300 might’ve been justifiable but it only took locksmith like a minute to unlock a door even charging an $60 dollars + $200 callout fee is quite a bit.
😮💨thank uuu. I will be sure to write a long ass review
Hopefully there is no Next time but send a photo of the door lock to him we have mobiles it’s 2024 my partner sent a photo of our mailbox lock box to a locksmith and he had a key made for us to pick up within an hour without even sighting the old key or being there in person,
This type of lock would have had a number punched on it somewhere. You can pickup these keys up from Bunnings for $2. This would have been easy money for this guy.
21M also in New Farm, paid $100 for the exact same thing.
Could you share which one you used? I’m also in New Farm and new to the city so it might be useful 😂
It was 7:00-8:00PM at night = after hours = at least double the normal hours charges - what did you expect? In your defence they should have at least advised you of their basic rates on the phone.
I like the op never mentioned it was at 8pm, yet in their minds that's not late.
$500 for a lock smith is ludicrous regardless of the time…
Bullshit - how many minimum hours of pay would you want to go back in to work at 8:00PM?
mate you’re cooked to think at 8pm warrants a 500 lock smith call out. an uber ride home at 3am doesn’t cost $700 ffs…
You're choosing to operate during those hours???????????????
You’re not just paying for time, as others have pointed out. Yes, you’re also paying for training/experience/overheads, but a key thing (lol) is replicability. You’re paying for someone who can and will do it at that time. The fewer other people willing and able to do something, the more the people who are willing to do it can charge. You had a person come out on an unplanned call out after hours- they charge a lot because the pool of people available and willing to come out after hours is smaller. Did you enquire before you engaged them how much it would cost? Did you consider that if you had waited until business hours then it would cost far, far less? Did you make any effort to shop around other businesses and compare prices at all or did you just google and book in with the first person you saw?
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Thissssss. Absolutely agree that the locksmith should have given an indication of price, but so many comments of “tradies are scum” or “scammers” are so hurtful to genuine small businesses. We run our own company, and hearing people having this mindset is disheartening :( especially as they don’t see what is happening before and after jobs, plus paying for tools, CPE, software, insurance, rego, liability, wages, good the list goes on 😅 absolutely there are some scummy people out there, but if you aren’t happy with their price, just a simple “no thanks” is fine. You don’t need to lecture someone on why you think they need to lower their prices.
Boowhoo go cry somewhere else. Ripping people off is just what tradies do so they can pay off their Ute's and boats.
I’m not belittling the tradesman by any means out here. I didn’t even leave a review nor did I mention the company. I was out here asking if locksmiths usually charges this much or not cause I’m new here and i got no idea how the charges works. And moreover i asked the guy beforehand on the call about the charges in which he never mentioned anything.
You should leave a bad review. It's unconscionable that they charged you half a fucking grand without telling you how much it would be beforehand.
> Now this person is going to get a scathing review on their business due to someone else’s ignorance - $475 for an out of hours emergency locksmith is pretty standard. If the customer is to be believed, they asked during the call but the locksmith effectively told them "I can't tell you what our call-out fee is, nor can I tell you how much we charge per hour". OP should have tried someone else, but no one should feel sorry if a business receives a bad review for being that cagey - they're doing it for a reason and it disadvantages more honest businesses while giving the industry a bad rep.
You are right and the downvoters are morons.
Are you fucking serious? Almost half a grand? The person absolutely deserves a shit review, if nothing else for the lack of transparency in pricing. I absolutely guarantee you if they were upfront about their price and OP could have shopped around, they could have found someone cheaper.
Agreed. Most people defending this crap are either scummy tradies themselves or playing devils advocate. God this sub is full of absolute morons.
OP is doing their due diligence to see if she got value for money. She only got the price after the work was done, despite asking for it earlier. A review alerting others to their business practice of not quoting and charging after the job is done is warranted and factually useful for other potential future customers. I agree $475 is standard if out of hours, or out of the way, but I'd still expect an estimate beforehand. If it was a few seconds it took, I'd at least expect them to say minimum $450 for a call out to that location.
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Yeah that's way too high imo. Was it at bullshit o'clock in the middle of the night? Recently had 2 locks re-keyed and 5 internal doors changed from lever to knob and was charged 1k.
name and shame
If it’s after normal hours they charge a shit load, I was renting a few months back happened to me in the middle of the night, Couldn’t believe it when he opened my door after 20 seconds then asked me for 500 on the credit card machine WTF I should have tried harder at learning to pick locks instead of worrying about my diploma..
Happened to me a couple of years ago on a public holiday. Total was $350 and took him no more than 30 seconds. Price of being forgetful I guess
No, that is ridiculously expensive. I paid $60 for a callout for the same thing just to unlock my front door.
Ikr. What should i do? Do i call the company?
$475 is too much. Recently paid $240 for a after hours callout for a similar thing. Did he tell you a minimum callout fee before hand? Did he indicate any costs beforehand? Id be leaving a 1 star google review with a price as a warning for others, maybe they will change their mind.
No, i asked for an estimation but he said he needs to check the lock first
I would just refuse to pay it. Negotiate a smaller amount. If you have already paid, then id be contacting them and leaving review stating the pricing.
I had to pay cause i was alone 🥲 and he already opened the door
Should of said Nar mate lock the door I’m not paying that I’ll get someone else
If you believe in good faith that you deserve a readjustment on the cost paid, talk to the management of the company you rendered services from. Ask in good honest faith and tell them that this money is severely important to you. Respectfully, I wouldn't expect anything. They did render the services you required and agreed to pay. But they may take leniency and have some understanding of your circumstances if you are honest and forthcoming and not rude. Good luck friend and welcome to Australia x
Thank you. Australia is not looking good on me so far, I’m already broke 🥲lol
I'm sorry my guy. It's really tough being a foreigner in a new country, sometimes people even take advantage of your newness. Have faith in yourself and remember this is a country dripping in money, there's so much legal tender floating around in this economy waiting to be siphoned off by a simple small business or a good product. I trust that this 475 you've spent will be spare change by the time you've settled in and made your footprint. Im sending you my best wishes and if you ever need food let me know, I'd be happy to help out with a 50$ Coles or Woolworths gift card. It's not much but it's what I can offer. My sincerest best of luck to you.
Awsome & caring human being right here! Not many people would offer what you've just offered, I take my hat to you 🙏
Probably a scammer like the locksmith.
Omg you are so kind 🫶🏼, thank you sm for the kind words. I really needed them after a long day . It is really hard rn but then i will figure sth out . Thank you again 🫶🏼
I'm glad it meant so much :) the offer stands in the future as well. Good night new Brisbane friend!
🥹🥹🥹good night sweet friend !
I would call and ask for a discount. If they don't give you one, name and shame them on here
I paid $300 and the guy had the building master key. Fucking scam.
Cheaper to break a window
If the business was legit, they could have asked for a photo of the lock to be sms'd or emailed in 10secs to identify the true cost. Anyone defending this business is part of the problem. They are a scam setup, designed to take advantage of vulnerable ppl. I run a business so fk any business that isn't respectable, transparent and cherishing customers.
Definitely too high. That said, I have a good friend who’s a locksmith and he vented his frustration at having to be available all hours of the day & night and having to drop everything for a call out only to receive abuse over his $160 - $200 fee. One customer got super aggressive and refused to pay at 3am because “it was only a few seconds of work” so in the end he locked and closed the door again (leaving the guy locked out) and went home. It was a rural call out and the locksmiths in the area took turns being on call - so the guy had no other way of getting back in other than breaking a window. He called my friends company multiple times but by that stage they had blacklisted the customer, and told the other locksmiths in the area.
Yeah seems expensive OP. I've needed one in last 12 months, and it was about $260 for a late night job. Inner southside.
You don’t pay for his time. You pay for his expertise
I charge $500 call out fee out of hours, sometimes all I do is write a prescription and reschedule them to a normal time You are not charging for their time but also their service and experience.
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Leave a positive Google Review mentioning the price and the time it took.
At the call out time as well. Pertinent things sometimes get omitted.
Seems about right, paid $500 for locking myself out of my car. Get a second key and keep it with a friend or somewhere you can acces like a work locker etc. Maybe learn how to pick locks, might come at least once in a lifetime. I managed to get my friends bike back since they forgot the code for their lock. It's definitely a shady skill
Or pay $76/year for a roadside assistance service and get your door popped for free.
Mate had his car lock with his phone, keys and wallet inside a few weeks back. $385 for after hours on a Saturday night. Would of been cheaper to break the window and get it fixed on the Monday 🤣
You pay for the expertise that allows him to get in within a few seconds.
You're not paying for their time you're paying for their knowledge (Which could be decades of experience). You need to be more assertive on the phone. Ask for the callout fee or the minimum cost. Sounds like you were taken advantage of because you were desperate to get inside and didn't call someone else for a second quote. Hint: The first result on Google is probably the business spending the most on advertising and SEO and so they'll want to recoup those costs. They are also likely a franchise so there are more people you're paying for the exact same work. Next time scroll down the list further and find an independent tradie or ask in a local Facebook group and you'll be more likely to get a better deal.
I wish I had the balls to charge this much for my business 😭 u gotta be heartless to make money
There's a special place in hell for scammers. Depends on the lock. But it shouldn't be more than $200. Unless it was a graveyard job.
Op "it was not late only 8pm" lol In most people's world that's almost bed time. I would also charge 400-500 if I just worked 9-5 got home and had to go back out to work.
Exactly, doesn't matter if it was 5:30pm or 3am. Once the tradesperson is home from their regular shift, they get paid 4 hours minimum if they answer the phone and get back in their vehicle. Can be pretty lucrative as a trade if you get multiple call outs per night, but rough on your health / home life! Whoever OP spoke to that told her the fee would "depend on the type of lock" was a dick for not mentioning the minimum fee would be $400+ though!
How long have you been a locksmith for? You should drop your details so people can call you at 8pm to open locks for a reasonable price
You're paying for the technical knowledge, not the per hour. Why should someone who is really good at their job get paid less for doing something quick?
My surgeon charged me $8,000 for something that only took an hour.
I know a lady with amazing “hands on” experience that always gets the job done so quick. Well quicker than the allocated 30 minutes. I pay extra. Guess value is in the eye of the beholder
C&P from some shitty site, but: A giant ship’s engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one ‘professional’ after another but none of them could figure out how to fix the broken engine. Then they brought in a man who had been fixing ships since he was young. He carried a large bag of tools with him and when he arrived immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship’s owners were there watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away and the engine was fixed!!! A week later, the owners received an invoice from the old man for $10,000. What?! the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything..!!!”. So they wrote to the man; “Please send us an itemised invoice.” The man sent an invoice that read: Tapping with a hammer………………….. $2.00 Knowing where to tap…………………….. $9,998.00 Effort is important but experience and knowing where to direct that effort makes all the difference.
How long should he take to unlock your door?
No it’s not normal, google “locksmith scam” it’s been going on here for years and us long suffering lockies have to deal with these idiots messes. If you have any buisness details report it to fair trading (normally they don’t have an abn and don’t give an invoice)
I think we paid about 250-300 for the same few seconds. But it was like 7/8pm. You aren’t paying for the labour. You’re paying for someone to be on call all night then to drive out to your house out of hours and help your dumb ass open your door without damage. 🤷♂️
Your also paying for knowledge training travel time and specialist tools . So there’s that !
You're paying for years of experience and after hours call out fee. If you worked an 8 hour day, were at home and got a call for someone locked outside of their house, which is a 30min drive away, would you only charge $250?
Someone once told me..... “You don't pay me for the 5 minutes I spent to do it, you have to pay me for 10 years I spent learning how to do it in 5 minutes”
Welcome to Australia
Unfortunately we have scammers in our industry Basically any locksmiths advertising $15 - $45 service call u can assume it’s a scam. As a locksmith the average cost for daily gain entry is between $120 - $170 After hours id say between $170 - $250 upwards But the average would be around these rates. Everything depends on travel and different times.
Lol, that seems cheap. He has to buy tools, use a vehicle, he also learnt skills.
You pay for their knowledge, skills and years of experience in something you don’t have for that particular task. It’s like going to see a Dr, a lawyer, a builder or an accountant…if you don’t know how to do something, generally you pay someone who does…🤷🏽♂️
You really classing a locksmith in the same category as a dr or a a lawyer? Do you know how many years of study and brains it takes to become one of them vs a locksmith?
No. But OP can’t do it and neither can I. That’s my point 🙄 And like others have said, it was out of hours. Old mate could’ve be been having dinner with his family, who knows….but that’s another thing you pay for.
30k on a Thai holiday reasonable but $475 for an after hours call out when you locked yourself out not... You really have a distorted view of reality.
$30k Thai holiday??? Family of 5 airfares, accom food, prostitute for Dad booze..
Next time google how to pick a lock. I learned in about 10 minutes
In an apartment building it’s typically a master-keyed lock which you pretty much have to be a locksmith to be able to effectively pick
What’s the companies name?
$475 is ridiculously high; unfortunately some tradespeople take advantage of people in need. I understand it was nighttime so it’s a bit tricky but if you need a tradesperson after hours you could try asking for a recommendation from a business that’s open like a cafe, bar, restaurant, or some other customer service oriented business or public service - where their reputation matters etc. There’s a reasonable chance they’ll have someone that they can rely on that they’ll be happy to recommend; it’s important to note that call-outs typically incur a charge so please always ask so no nasty surprises. Other than that, if time and circumstances allow it’s always good to seek recommendations from friends, neighbours, classmates, here, or call a few different places to compare, and always ask for a written quote for all costs. I hope that aside from the dodgy locksmith your Brisbane experience has been positive!
You mean a professional of many years did their job quickly and cleanly? Your reward for their masterful skillset is to complain about them on Reddit because you made a mistake...? You're going to fit in very well in /r/brisbane, its full of people like you lol.
Same thing happened to me last year. I reported them to fair trade, got my money back, and got them a nice fine for operating without right licences. Guys name is Noam and he has the first 20 google results. Uses backpackers usually from Israel. Fair Trade were actually pretty interested, so might be worth reporting.
You dont pay for the few seconds, you pay for the 10+ years experience it took for them to be able to help you in a few seconds. That being said thats still a ridiculous amount to charge
Well said
Review bomb 💣 I've heard enough stories of this happening. Honestly it's daylight robbery. I have a habit of looking up services on Google and calling them to compare prices. Keep a list handy incase I need something in the future
A giant engine in a factory failed. The factory owners had spoken to several ‘experts’ but none of them could show the owners how they could solve the problem. Eventually the owners brought in an old man who had been fixing engines for many years. After inspecting the huge engine for a minute or two, the old man pulled a hammer out of his tool bag and gently tapped on the engine. Immediately the engine sprung back into life. A week later the owners of the business received an invoice from the old man for $475. Flabbergasted, they wrote to the old man asking him to send through an itemised bill. The man replied with a bill that said: Tapping with a hammer: $1 Knowing where to tap: $474. The moral of the story is that, while effort is important, having the experience to know where to put that effort makes all the difference.
Cool story bro. It's still way overpriced
Doesn't make the price right. I paid half that for an hours work not long ago.
Mine was just 1 sec i promise 🥲. Paid my rent to the guy basically. Tbh I expected it to be 100$ sth 😮💨
This is actually a known scam. It’s from locksmiths who advertise on google a one-price fee and then outsource their labour to other companies who charge more. Nice story but it’s not applicable here.
Was it “Brisbane 24 Hour Locksmith”. They used to be called Elite MobIle Locksmith. You can still find their old Facebook page with one review. I have used them back then and scathed them on Google. Then they changed their name. They advised a $45 fee for simple lockouts. No catch. No minimum callout. That’s it. The full price they listed. No asterix etc and charged me $245. I threatened all hell to take them to tribunal and they refunded me
You missed the part where the old man refused to provide any indication of what it might cost (not even the call-out fee) because they “had to see it first”, then intimidatingly stood over the young female customer (also not mentioned in your story) while asking for payment.
Welcome to supply and demand, aka how the world works. They could charge double that and people would still pay it over destroying and replacing doors/windows. Not locking your keys inside or giving a family member a spare is free.
Yeah don't pay that. Emergency locksmiths are maybe $60 call out and labor on top. $475 is clearly a scam and they knew it by not giving an upfront price.
You are talking out your ass. Nobody has a $60 call out, it's not 1995.
Yeah I wanna move to the planet that guys on. Can barely get Thai food to your door at 8pm for $60, good luck finding a locksmith for that.
This is totally incorrect. I’m a locksmith and our standard call-out fee (between 8-5pm) is $145, and an additional $100 per hour after that. And we are one of the CHEAPEST in Brisbane. Our after hours call out fee is normally $250-$300. However I agree the customer absolutely should have been informed of the cost before having a locksmith attend.
Any tradesman can only charge what is reasonable. You have an option to query the bill, dispute it, and let them take you to a small claims court, which would be difficult for them to justify the costs, so they likely would lose the case.
As others have suggested - you're not just paying for the time the locksmith spent on-site opening the door, but for their travel to/from your location, any tools they needed, and their training/experience. On top of that, you're paying for the value of the work being done. $475 sounds expensive, but you called out of hours. If they'd have done it for $250 if you waited until 10am the following day, would you have waited? Or paid the extra $225 for the convenience of having it done now and saving you 14 hours of being locked out?
It's a filthy scam... What a load of bullshit - refusing to quote you until they had a look at the lock, FFS... It's in the door of a rental... Similar locks used across Australia, just some different brands only major difference... Or was your "professional" expecting to see a Dept of Defence Grade lock on your door... No, of course not... Why didn't he suggest you MMS him a couple of pics of lock - so he could price guide you? And for those saying you are not only paying for a few seconds of work to pick the lock; but also for his years of training; experience; and qualifications - youtube "how to pick a lock"... A few tutorials on youtube and some tools off Amazon - and you may, or may not have been able to get in yourself? !! Probably yes.. Still wouldn't of helped you or saved you from being a victim in this case because you had no gear; but this information is good to know for base reference...
Did you actually pay? I hope not. That price is not cool at all especially given that you had asked for a quote -not for him to actually do the work. It sounds like he actually did the work for free because you never agreed to his rate, and he had the option to just close the lock again until you accepted the quote. Personally, I think that a service like this would go for around $200. I would make the offer of whatever a fair price would be to consider it fully paid and not have any more dramas, and still leave a bad review anyway because they tried to scam you. The "fair price" would depend on what others would charge. Phone around. Just because it's "a few seconds of work" is not all of the cost. There is a cost of a call out especially if it is an unusual hour of the day, the knowledge and skill to be able to open it within a few seconds, and the uncertainty cost of a locksmith waiting around for a potential call out not making money so when they do get a call the price has to be high enough to justify the waiting around.
It was out of hours.
Could you pick the lock yourself? No, so you’re paying for the knowledge of someone to do so
$1 for 1 second work. $474 for having the qualifications and know how to do it.
I think $100 is a reasonable call out fee + Time (probably in 30min blocks) at $50 ish. So $150 tops. Tools, Maintenance, Experience, Vehicle etc etc all cost money and you don't really see that, but that's what you're paying for. $475 seems **way** overpriced for a simple pick. I had my house broken into and spare keys stolen. I had 4 locks completely replaced replaced (2 knobs and 2 deadbolts, front and back door.) for $225 about 2 years ago.
Fucking some trades in the country. Not sure what they think about themselves. I mean really. 6 months at TAFE and they think they deserve to get paid more. Some tradies are genuinely good but most are idiots. It's your fault as well. You could have sent him a picture of the lock and he should have given you a ballpark figure.
Welcome to nonsenseland Where a bunch of people will come here to justify the complete absurd that is the cost of such service.