How to avoid falling victim to a rogue locksmith

The locksmith industry in the in the UK grew exponentially during 2019 and is expected to grow again in 2020, at one time there where only a handful of locksmiths per city and even less in small towns and rural areas meaning that if you lived or worked in a sparsely populated rural  area and wanted to call on the services of a professional locksmith you usually had to wait until your local locksmith could fit you in or wait for a locksmith to travel from a neighbouring town or city, which of course added to the expense… Nowadays there are more locksmith than ever all touting for work and a quick Google search for a locksmith nearby would return dozens of results, even in rural areas, so this should be beneficial to the customer who no longer has to wait and they should also get the job done for a cheaper price too due to the increased competition forcing down prices right? Well no, this rarely the case.

Unfortunately not are locksmiths are created equal

Unfortunately not are locksmiths are created equal and this is because there are two types of locksmith, the fully trained, fully qualified locksmith who has had hands on training at an official locksmith training college and the part-time or untrained, amateur locksmith who has had little or no training and is simply after quick emergency access work, the later has probably bought cheap imported locksmith tools off Amazon or Ebay and watched a few Youtube “how to” videos, this happens because the locksmith industry is completely unregulated and basically anyone can legally become a locksmith regardless of their training and start advertising their services as an emergency callout locksmith.

If you are unfortunate enough to call out one of these amateur locksmiths you’ll probably end up being overcharged and receive sub standard work too.

On the other hand a professionally trained locksmith has received training at a legitimate accredited locksmith training college, will generally be DBS (formerly CRB) checked and will be skilled enough in their chosen profession to cause little or no damage to you doors, door frames or lock when gaining entry to your vehicle or your property. A professional locksmith will usually attempt what’s known as non destructive entry (lock picking) before even thinking about reaching for drills and other tools.

So how do your make sure that you have called out a professional

This is tough one because the internet has made setting up and advertising a new business relatively inexpensive. Gone are the days when legitimate businesses placed expensive ads in the yellow pages or the phone book and where force to use legitimate phone numbers and contact details.  Now all a company or tradesmen needs to do is advertise on platforms such as Facebook for free using PAYG mobile phone that are replaced once they get too much back feedback.

You typically find amateur locksmiths hanging around Facebook recommendation groups or local business groups waiting for someone to ask for a recommendation for a locksmith, to which they’ll either replay direct or recommend themselves via another account they have – usually a fake one – and although some legitimate locksmiths do use Facebook, Twitter and Facebook groups it’s usually the amateurs and rogue traders that you end up dealing with.

A rule of thumb is to always check out the locksmiths business website, it they don’t have their own website then this is usually a sign that this is not their full time professional and they are probably a handy man, white van man or jack of all trades trying their luck in an effort to earn some quick cash at your expense. If they do have a website, do they display a physical address? A locksmith in Stoke on Trent should have an address in Stoke on Trent not 150 miles away in London! Do they display a landline telephone number as well as a mobile number? These are usually sign of a legitimate business.

Online reviews are also a good indicator that your are using someone trustworthy although website reviews can be faked so its always a good idea to search for Google reviews or reviews on websites such as trustatrader, tradersreview or checkatrade.

Like any industry, avoiding the amateurs and the rogues simple takes a little common sense, don’t rush into an agreement with a locksmith that’s just contacted you via social media, if they are genuine they won’t be offended if you ask for their website address and other details.