How much is cheap Locksmith near me?

Need a Locksmith? (part 1)

These are the most popular requests in Google about locksmiths

• how much is it to change locks
• how much does a locksmith cost
• how much should a locksmith cost
• how much is it to get locks changed
• how much does an emergency locksmith cost

On second place are these requests

• locksmith charges
• locksmith prices
• locksmith rates
• locksmith fees
• locksmith cost
• locksmith quotes

And finally

• cheap locksmith near me

Fair questions, aren’t they? Everyone wants to know answers before hiring the locksmith. Unfortunately even more people want to know the answers after being scammed. I will try to explain how to find a good locksmith and why good locksmiths can’t be cheap. Let’s start with the fact that anyone can call himself a locksmith. There are no government regulations for locksmithing in the UK. In general it means that there are no pricing benchmarks and no licensing from the government. Furthermore there is no place where to go to complain about a rogue locksmith or if you were overcharged. Isn’t it scary? Let’s try to get through it and understand how to choose the Locksmith and not to be trapped by ridiculous invoices. 

How much does a locksmith cost?

Independent locksmith VS National locksmithing companies (part 2)

What is a national locksmithing company? Firstly a national company does not employ their own locksmiths, they subcontract the jobs to someone else. They don’t regulate or care about the quality of the job provided by their subs. Secondly, when you call the number on the website you don’t get the locksmith, you get the call operator. Usually the call operator has no knowledge about locksmithing, they don’t care who you are and what problem you have. Their job is to log the call and send any locksmith to your door. Thirdly, the locksmiths working for national companies are getting a small percentage of the profit after finishing their job. This is where the main issue arises. Because the locksmiths get such a small percentage they are not interested in doing the job right. They are interested in getting more money from customers. It’s not profitable for them just to open your door, they have to sell new locks, handles, and other parts to you. You can say that they are “trapped” working for a national company.

They clearly understand that if they only do a locksmith’s job, they will earn less money. This will cause the national company to apply pressure on them to make more profit, because the company has large expenses (call centre workers, advertisement, marketing etc). Sadly at this point, good locksmiths are forced to become “lock sellers” to make ends meet. From this point on, they are not interested in the quality of the job they provide, but are only interested in racking up your invoice.

This is what happens behind closed doors. 

Locksmith prices

To drill or not to drill (part 3)

With the right tools and equipment even my grandma can look like a professional locksmith. 

The most popular tool is a screwdriver. Anybody with a screwdriver can unscrew a lock. This is a fact. However, when a “lock seller” faces something a little more complicated, this is where the problem begins.

Their second best friend, after the screwdriver, is a drill – specifically, the biggest drill bit. If the “lock seller” can not solve your problem they will most likely not try to pick the lock or bypass it, as it is more convenient to drill it out. This is because they want to sell you a new lock to increase their profit. 

I had a customer tell me that they rejected a “lock seller” who tried to convince them that their lock is a high security one with anti-pick protection and he needs to drill it. I managed to  pick it open at my first try saving the lock, customers money and what is more important, time. 

“Lock sellers” will always tell you that your lock is very hard to open, examples such as ‘it is a high quality’ and ‘high security one’. They will do everything they can to make you believe them, including an everlasting drilling show, but the truth is they have no idea how the lock works and how to open it.  They just want to sell you a new lock. See comical real life photographs below.

There is nothing worse than drilling a lock, however to be fully honest, even I do so in some situations, but only after I try all other non-destructive methods. Drilling itself is not the answer for all the questions, you need to know where to drill and how to drill.

Cheap locksmith near me

Lock change for £39? (part 4)

Everyone wants to pay less money for everything, and that’s the easiest way to be trapped with a rogue locksmith. There are a lot of advertisements online telling you that you will get the best service for the cheapest price. 

There is a competition between “locks sellers” aka locksmiths in national companies, and no, the competition is not about lock picking, it’s about selling cheap locks for extremely high prices. The hero is the one who will get more profit from selling a cheap lock.

What about selling a £30 lock for £355? Do you think it’s impossible? Sometimes they are sold even more expensive, because they are good sellers but not good locksmiths. Their locksmith skill cost £39 as they told you in advertisement, even £39 is too much for their locksmith job, maybe it’s okay for a “lock seller” job. 

They are not interested in saving your lock or mechanism, they are interested in selling you new locks, handles and other parts. I heard stories about how they sell screws, telling the customers that they are some special screws. Some of them can sell you two parts for one lock from one box separately.

Competitive price to hire the Locksmith

How do I charge? (part 5)

In conclusion I can tell that hiring the locksmith is expensive but hiring a “lock seller” is much more expensive and painful. The Locksmith is selling skills and saving time, “lock sellers” are selling locks and wasting time. That is the main reason why you should hire local and independent locksmiths. 

For example, as a locksmith (not a ‘lock seller’) I charge the below: 

Labour for:

• Standard working time 7am-6pm      £89
• Evening time 6pm-10pm                   £99
• Night time 10pm – 7am                     £120
• Weekend and Bank Holidays            £99+

I will add an extra if more than one door needs attention, for fresh mortice lock installation or if I will see that it will take more than 1 hour to do the job. 

Parts

It will depend on parts required to do the job (locks, handles, multipoint locks, gearboxes etc). When quoting the job I provide a variety of options and how much each option costs.

And finally:

1. I charge for completion of the job only
2. I will proceed with the job after you will agree with my quote
3. No hidden costs – I will never add extra after the quote was confirmed
4. I will never charge for giving a quote and visiting your property