National locksmith companies are more often than not the middle men, they work by sub-contracting work out to local locksmiths, often that are newly trained and lack in experience, and charge significantly more than the average going rate.
When you call a national locksmith company then it will be a call centre representative that you speak to and not actually a locksmith themselves, in most cases you wont get a chance to speak to a locksmith until they turn up at your door.
When you are speaking to the staff member at the call centre they will ask for your address so that they can find a locksmith on their system that is close to your area to g carry out the work. There is no guarantee that there will be a locksmith local to you and if this is the case you will be charged more depending on how far the locksmith has to travel. The locksmith that arrives at your property will have no say in the cost of the job as they will have been told how much they have to charge by the national company, this includes and hourly rate and parts which are usually drastically marked up plus VAT.
More often than not these extra charges will not be quoted over the phone and you will only know about them after the work is completed and you can no longer change your mind and find a cheaper local locksmith to come and do the work for you. The locksmith that carries out the work at your property will keep around 40% of the fee and the rest will go straight to the national locksmith company, this is why their prices are so extortionate, even more so if it is an evening or weekend call out!
You will find that there is no after care with a national locksmith company, if there is a problem with your locks after the locksmith has left, the call centre will pass the blame onto the locksmith that did the work but there will be no way of you contacting them yourself, instead you will have to find a new locksmith to come and resolve the problem which will obviously cost you more money as the new locksmith company didn’t cause the problem.
How To Spot A National Locksmith Company?
Newspapers – when a national locksmith advertises in the newspaper there will often be a reference number in the top or bottom of the add that they wish for you to quote to them when you call.
Google – When you find a locksmith on google, the national locksmith companies are usually the ones with the sponsored adds (Google AdWords).
Won’t Speak To A Locksmith – You won’t speak to an actual locksmith when calling a national company, it will just be a call centre representative that will quote you a price and send out a locksmith.
Card Details – A national locksmith company will often ask for card details over the phone before any work has been carried out. This is something that a local locksmith will never do.
If you need a reliable local locksmith to carry out any lock, key or security work at your home or business then contact Access Locksmith Solutions today – 01405 881646