Buyer Beware! When It Comes to Selecting an Automotive Locksmith for Your Car

As reputable bonded and insured Car Key Locksmiths with a long history of reputable business in the Minneapolis St Paul Metro area, we run into and hear many sad tales.

Unfortunately, there has been and continues to be a plague of rip off artist who periodically infest the local locksmithing scene.

Read what the US Federal Trade Commission says on the subject:

Finding a Locksmith

If you’ve ever locked yourself out of your car or home, you know what a hassle it can be. Your first thought is to get someone to help you out of your situation. If a family member or friend can’t deliver a spare set of keys, your next call might be to a local locksmith. But before you make that call, consider this: According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, some locksmiths advertising in your local telephone book may not be local at all. They may not have professional training. What’s more, some of them may use intimidating tactics and overcharge you.

When “Local” Is Really Long-Distance

Consider this scenario: A company far away from your town chooses a name for its business that is very similar to the name used by a local locksmith. The company advertises in the phone book or on the Web using a local telephone number and local address. When you call the number, you’re actually connected to a call center in another city. What’s more, there’s no locksmith shop at the address listed.

You may be quoted a price on the phone, but when the locksmith arrives, often in an unmarked vehicle, he may want significantly more money. The locksmith also may accept only cash.

Some who claim to be “local locksmith” companies have multiple listings (sometimes 30 or more separate listings in a single phone book) with different names. But the calls to each of these numbers go back to the same central number in a distant city where operators dispatch untrained individuals to do the job.

You can read their entire post on the topic here: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0089-finding-locksmith

We encourage you to pay particular attention to this suggestion they make:

In Case There’s a Next Time

Once you’ve found a reputable locksmith, keep the company’s name and contact information in your wallet and address book at home or at work. You also may want to program this information into your home and cell phones. This can save you time and trouble the next time you need these services.

We want to be that locksmith. You can trust our years of experience, our strong record and excellent reviews. We have built our business on referrals from satisfied customers.  We work with most of the Car dealers in the Twin Cities area on a repeat basis.

We offer quick and reliable service at a reasonable cost.