Majority of us hire the services of a locksmith at some point; be it for making a duplicate car key or breaking the home lock in case of loss of the keys. As a homeowner, you may at some point find yourself in a position where you find yourself locked out of your home or car because of loss of your keys. It is only at such time of emergency that you would start looking for a locksmith to help you unlock the door. Whilst there are many locksmiths in the market, not all of them can be reliable.
You would always want to hire locksmiths who do not tend to take advantage of the people’s emergency and vulnerability and overcharge them for their services. Many people believe that the best way to look for the best locksmith in Broken Arrow is to do an online search for a local handyman service. However, what most people don’t realise that many local fraudulent locksmith service providers tend to plague the online directories by imitating the genuine and legitimate locksmiths. In many cases, the scammers do not operate from the local shop; and in some cases, they are not even a professional locksmith.
So, to ensure that you avoid hiring an unskilled worker and solve your locked-out problem without become a soft victim of a scam, take your time to research about the service provider. Considering the following tips will help you avoid becoming a victim of a scam.
1.Hire a local locksmith
Doing a background check is perhaps the best way to verify whether the locksmith is trustworthy or not. You can check their website and other online review sites to know about the quality of their services. You can also try calling them; check if the number provided is a local number. Also, make sure to check the local directory to see if the company is registered with the local authority or not. If the service provider is not registered, you can look for another service. Verify the address given on the website and personally check if they have a physical office.
2.Check the license and the ID
Another effective way to ensure that you hire a credible locksmith service is to ask the person arriving at your doorstep for their identification number and license. Many states in the US require the locksmiths to have a license for operation, without procuring the license it would be illegal for them to operate in the state. A reputed service provider will ask you for your id to verify if the car or home they are unlocking actually belongs to you.
3.Get an estimate
One of the hallmarks of reputed and credible locksmith service providers is that they have a very honest and transparent pricing policy. No matter what services you request, they would first provide you with an estimate for the service, which entails the details like the nature of work, the tools they would use, and the estimated time required to resolve the issue. If the service provider does not provide you a written estimate beforehand, chances are high that they are fraudster and charge higher fees.
4.Enquire about the additional charges
One of the most common ways used by locksmiths to scam people is adding additional charges for their services. For instance, some locksmiths may charge more than the amount quoted on their website, citing reasons like emergency charges. Some even fool people with the claims that the lock is un-repairable and needs to be changed and charge hundreds of dollars for the replacement lock. It is therefore imperative that you ask about the additional charges applicable. The reliable locksmith in Broken Arrow makes sure that they honour the price quoted on their website and never cheat people.