What is a Scammer Locksmith?
- A Scammer Locksmith will quote a reasonable price over the phone (usually lower than everyone else in town) and then give you a really big bill when the job is done.
- You can find much more information about Scammer Locksmiths on the Internet. We just want to give you some quick tips here to help you spot them so you don’t get ripped off.
- Generally Locksmith Companies are mom and pop operations. Very few have built a large business with a storefront in even one or two cities. Any Locksmith Service you see online or in the yellow pages that provides Nationwide service or a service area that is extremely large should raise a big red flag.
- Scammers all seem to operate in basically the same way. Most of them will answer the phone generically without telling you what the name of the company is such as “Locksmith” or “ Locksmith Services” or will just answer with “Hello”. They answer the phone this way because they have so many business names and phone numbers that they do not know which one you are calling.
- They will not give you a firm price quote over the phone. It is usually quoted as a small service or trip charge and $15.00 and up for the service. The trick is the “and up” portion of the price quote, and they mean way up! You may be expecting to pay them $20.00 to unlock your car but your bill could be for $450.00
- Some are now giving what you think is a firm price over the phone and then adding a trip or service charge AND labor charges in addition to the price you were expecting to pay!
- Avoid doing business with locksmiths in unmarked cars and those who do not wear uniforms.
- There are over three hundred Scammer Locksmiths listed in our local Colorado Springs phone directories this year and many more online. Along with the scammers are Felony Registered Sex Offenders and Convicts working while on parole.
- You cannot always tell who they are by looking at their advertisements. They will place Christian symbols in their ads and offer senior discounts. Some use hundreds of small ads (free listings) and others spend big bucks on very large display ads. I would love to just give you a list of them here but I am sure the backlash would put me out of business.
- It is absolutely horrifying to think that you could be sending one of these people out to help one of your family members isn’t it?