How to Recog­nise a Shady Auto Locksmith

Here at 3D Autokeys, we keep our ears to the ground, and unfor­tu­nate­ly, we have recent­ly heard an increase of com­plaints about rogue auto lock­smiths. We urge peo­ple to read the arti­cle below and fol­low our point­ers! It could save you the has­sle of get­ting caught out by an oppor­tunis­tic rogue trader. 

We know how stress­ful it can be to search for ​‘an auto lock­smith near me’. How­ev­er, even if you want to resolve your car key issue quick­ly, we think it’s a great idea to bear in mind the fol­low­ing tips. 

Whether you have found your­self need­ing auto key replace­ment as you have a bro­ken car key, require a replace­ment car key, or worse, you require a lock­out ser­vice; you will more than like­ly hur­ried­ly search for a mobile auto lock­smith who can come to where you are. 

The fol­low­ing tips will help you find a ver­i­fi­able auto lock­smith; who can pro­vide you with qual­i­ty ser­vice with­out com­pro­mis­ing on price. 

Clear Pric­ing

When speak­ing with a rep­utable car keys lock­smith, they should pro­vide you with an accu­rate quote. This should come with no hid­den charges and shouldn’t be sub­ject to change when they arrive on the day! Avoid book­ing with an auto lock­smith who gives you eva­sive answers such as an inac­cu­rate esti­mate, price details, or a remark­ably low price. 

When you book with 3D Autokeys, our friend­ly quotes team will pro­vide you with a quote in advance, and this is the price you pay on the day, no changes. 

Check Online Reviews 

Over the years, it has become much eas­i­er to leave reviews, whether on Google, Trust­pi­lot or Face­book! This kind of social proof, sim­i­lar to word of mouth, is crit­i­cal when choos­ing an auto lock­smith. A trust­wor­thy and depend­able auto lock­smith will have plen­ty of 4 and 5‑star reviews; this is an excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ty for you to see what oth­er peo­ple have to say about the auto lock­smith you’re think­ing about choosing. 

Online Pres­ence

When search­ing for an ​‘auto lock­smith near me,’ it’s essen­tial to see if the com­pa­ny you are look­ing at has up to date and reg­u­lar­ly updat­ed con­tent on their social media and web­site. Some less expe­ri­enced auto lock­smiths may only adver­tise on plat­forms such as Gumtree; this is a red flag. Typ­i­cal­ly, a main­tained web­site and reg­u­lar­ly updat­ed social media sug­gest a rep­utable com­pa­ny inter­est­ed in main­tain­ing a pro­fes­sion­al online presence.

Reg­is­tered Busi­ness Address

Always check for a reg­is­tered busi­ness address when book­ing auto lock­smith ser­vices! Here at 3D Autokeys, we have heard many hor­ror sto­ries about jobs gone wrong. The last thing you want is being unable to con­tact the com­pa­ny if some­thing goes wrong and you don’t know where their head office is if you have to take up a grievance.

Brand­ing and Insurance

The biggest give­away when you are try­ing to spot a lock­smith scam is a lack of insur­ance. Your cho­sen lock­smith must have insur­ance cov­er­age; this will cov­er any repairs com­plet­ed and save your vehi­cle from any poten­tial dam­ages caused dur­ing the course of work.

A pro­fes­sion­al lock­smith gen­er­al­ly car­ries an insur­ance cer­tifi­cate to car­ry out work; hav­ing insur­ance will save you from bear­ing any loss­es caused by neg­li­gence on the part of the lock­smith. If the tech­ni­cian does not have these doc­u­ments, then it is pos­si­ble you could be scammed by an ama­teur lock­smith who should not be allowed to per­form these ser­vices on your vehicle.

If an auto lock­smith shows up wear­ing reg­u­lar clothes in a van with­out prop­er sig­nage or unmarked, this is a red flag, and you’re well with­in your right to turn this per­son away! Like­wise, if the auto lock­smith does not show any iden­ti­fi­ca­tion or cre­den­tials, think twice before using their services.

Bogus Claims

Occa­sion­al­ly auto lock­smiths make false claims of being approved or sup­port­ed by the Police; it is essen­tial to know that the Police don’t endorse or rec­om­mend any lock­smiths. Beware of this!

Sub­con­trac­tors

When you call a lock­smith, you should either come through to a help­ful quotes team as you do here at 3D Autokeys or the lock­smith them­selves. If you get through to a call cen­tre, this is a sign that the auto lock­smith who will come out to com­plete the job is a sub­con­trac­tor; this can mean that you won’t be sure who is com­plet­ing the job, which will make it chal­leng­ing to ascer­tain reviews, as above, or even know who you are paying.

Drilling the Lock

A com­pe­tent auto lock­smith will try var­i­ous non-destruc­tive options of open­ing a lock and will only con­sid­er drilling the lock as a last resort. How­ev­er, a shady auto lock­smith might jump straight to this option!

Final Thoughts

Would you hand a per­son your bank card and PIN and poten­tial­ly have access to your hard-earned mon­ey? If your first thought is ​‘NO!’ then why would you give them access to your car? Which is poten­tial­ly worth thou­sands of pounds. When employ­ing auto lock­smith ser­vices, you are grant­i­ng some­one access to your vehi­cle. To make changes and poten­tial­ly cause dam­age, you need to be able to trust that per­son. As pre­vi­ous­ly men­tioned, know­ing that the com­pa­ny is ful­ly insured if some­thing goes wrong should also put you at ease.

We hope these tips have helped, and if you would like to get in touch with a trust­wor­thy auto lock­smith team, con­tact 3D Autokeys.