Locksmith Near Me: Local Locksmith V’s National Locksmith

Local Locksmith Doncaster

National Locksmiths more often than not are middle men, they take calls from customers in a call center, then farm the jobs out to newly qualified locksmiths that need the work. Usually you won’t actually speak to a locksmith until they turn up at your door, not only do the locksmiths employed by national companies lack experience, but the price quoted is usually double the going rate that a local locksmith would charge.

When you get through to the call center of a national locksmith company, they will often request your name and address so they can check their database to see what locksmiths they have closest to your address. As the locksmiths they use tend to be inexperienced the work that is done may not be the best and could even end up costing you more money if you have to get another locksmith out to fix their mistakes. When the call center sends a locksmith to your property, they instruct them to charge by the hour and add on marked up cost of parts and VAT which usually leads to a hefty bill in itself.

It is not common practice for call center staff to make you aware of additional charges that you will incur, you only tend to find out about these from the locksmith after work has been completed, by which time it is too late for you to change your mind about using them. The locksmiths that work for national companies only keep 40% of the bill they charge you, the rest lines the pockets of the national company, this is why their prices are often extortionate, in particular out of hours work and weekends.

National locksmith companies have large overheads such as, call centers, call center staff, marketing, advertising, google adds, these are all things that encourage them to bump up the price that their customers pay for even the simplest of jobs.

National locksmith companies rarely offer after care, so if after the locksmith has left something goes wrong your on your own, the national locksmith will just fob you off and blame the locksmith that carried out the work, who you wont be able to directly contact yourself meaning you will have to call out a different locksmith to come and fix the issues.

Spotting A National Locksmith Company

If you are looking in a newspaper, then the adverts for national locksmiths usually have a reference code at the top or bottom of the add that they ask you to quote when you call them.

On Google or other search engines national locksmith companies tend to have a strong presence on the sponsored listings and AdWords.

When you call a national locksmith company you wont have the option to speak to an actual locksmith about the issues your having, you will just be given a price on the phone, which is likely to rise after the job has been completed, and the locksmith sent out to your address.

When you call the call centers it is common for them to ask you for your card details over the phone before the job has been completed. This is something that a local locksmith would never do so if you haven’t already realised that it is a national locksmith company you are dealing with this is a huge giveaway.

You wont be given a quote by the call center staff until you have given your address, this is so that they can see how far the nearest available locksmith is to you, the further away the more it will cost and the longer you will have to wait for them to arrive!

By taking your card details it also means that if you wish to cancel your booking for any reason, they can automatically charge you a hefty cancellation fee.

Overall, national locksmith companies are well known for overcharging and poor workmanship so be vigilant when calling a locksmith to ensure that the local locksmith you are calling truly is local. By contacting a local locksmith, you will get to speak with the locksmith straight away, they will offer advice over the phone along with a fair quote for the work that needs to be done. Most local locksmiths have plenty of experience and often come highly recommended so when you know you have booked a local locksmith you can be sure that the work will be completed to a high standard and at a fair price.

Using national locksmith companies can be very costly in more ways than one, support your local locksmith in Doncaster by calling Quick Locks UK today – 01302 272 192