GOLDEN LOCKSMITH
5385 Lincoln Ave
CypressCA90630
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Member Reviews
Scam artists:
My neighbor went for a walk with her dog and accidently got locked out of her house at 9pm on a Wednesday night. So I did a quick Google search of local locksmiths and found Golden Locksmith Cypress who I immediately called. Being after "normal" business hours, I expected a lock picking fee to be expensive and questioned the gentleman who answered the phone as to the cost of the service call. I was told $29 for the trip charge and $20 for the lock, depending upon what it was, but if it was something special, the technician would tell me before proceeding. Honestly, this pricing sounded fishy to me and I questioned further, "You mean if I have a standard lock, your technician will come out and get my neighbor in her house for $49?" I was assured that this was indeed the case- unless I had a special lock requiring special tools. Still feeling like I was being sold a bill of goods, I continued to question the gentleman, "So I am not going to be charged some outrageous $200 or $300 fee to get me neighbor in her house, right?" Again I was told, not unless you have some specialty lock and then you will be notified by the technician before the lock is opened. I agreed and was told the technician would be to my address in "10 to 15 minutes".
10 minutes later I get a call from the technician who tells me he will be to my house in 15-20 minutes. 30 minutes later, he arrives. We go with my neighbor to her front door and are told by the technician, that it is a special lock that is very difficult to pick. So I suggest we take a look at the back door- a standard slider. We walk around, the technician takes on look at the slider door lock and comments, “Yes, this is a good one.” Using nothing more than a pick, tension wrench, and a bump key (standard locksmith tools) the technician had the door open in 2 minutes.
He then pulled out his ticket book and wrote an invoice to my neighbor for $200. When I questioned him, he came up with a laundry list of “standard” charges… none of which were covered by the guy I spoke with on the phone during my initial call. My neighbor, happy to be back in her house, told me not to worry, and she just paid the man.
I see this as highway robbery- quote a low price, wait until you have someone over a barrel, and then increase your price by 400%. I honestly expected to pay $150-$200 for a locksmith to come out given the time of day- and would have easily agreed to those numbers if I was told upfront by an honest person. But after careful, detailed questioning on the initial call, I was assured it would be $49 unless otherwise notified by the tech before he proceeded. Not only was the lock a standard issue lock that was picked using standard, no specialty tools, but the tech never once said anything of his “extra” fees.
My recommendation: stay away from this locksmith and use another locksmith service who will give you honest straight forward answers the first time and not set you up to be taken advantage of.
10 minutes later I get a call from the technician who tells me he will be to my house in 15-20 minutes. 30 minutes later, he arrives. We go with my neighbor to her front door and are told by the technician, that it is a special lock that is very difficult to pick. So I suggest we take a look at the back door- a standard slider. We walk around, the technician takes on look at the slider door lock and comments, “Yes, this is a good one.” Using nothing more than a pick, tension wrench, and a bump key (standard locksmith tools) the technician had the door open in 2 minutes.
He then pulled out his ticket book and wrote an invoice to my neighbor for $200. When I questioned him, he came up with a laundry list of “standard” charges… none of which were covered by the guy I spoke with on the phone during my initial call. My neighbor, happy to be back in her house, told me not to worry, and she just paid the man.
I see this as highway robbery- quote a low price, wait until you have someone over a barrel, and then increase your price by 400%. I honestly expected to pay $150-$200 for a locksmith to come out given the time of day- and would have easily agreed to those numbers if I was told upfront by an honest person. But after careful, detailed questioning on the initial call, I was assured it would be $49 unless otherwise notified by the tech before he proceeded. Not only was the lock a standard issue lock that was picked using standard, no specialty tools, but the tech never once said anything of his “extra” fees.
My recommendation: stay away from this locksmith and use another locksmith service who will give you honest straight forward answers the first time and not set you up to be taken advantage of.
