Complaint Rating:

Company information:
USA Locksmith
Virginia
United States

First, I would like to say THANK YOU to all of the other people who have posted their experiences with this company. You saved me from making a huge mistake.

My husband and I needed our attic door opened. (It was locked, we didn't know where the keys were and someone was coming the next day that needed access to the attic to install a new a/c unit.) I looked online until I found what I thought was a local locksmith company, so I called. They told me that they would be there at 11, and the charge would be $55 plus labor. That's great, I thought- so I waited. 11 came and went, no one showed up. I called again, they told me that there was an emergency with a woman being locked out of her car and her baby was inside, so my technician had gone there instead, and that another technician was on his way. This technician called me about an hour later, and told me that he was 2 minutes away. Again, I thought, great! They're late, but that's okay- they'll get it done.

30 minutes went by- so I called the number that the technician had called me from. He told me that he had gotten in a car accident, and he was waiting on the police- so they would have to send me another technician. I called dispatch at this point. (This was about 1:00) They said there was another person on his way. I said fine, getting a little perturbed. Then I decided to google this company, and I found this website. I also found the better business bureau website, talking about locksmith companies ripping people off that had practices suspiciously like this one. At that point, I decided that I was going to cancel my appointment- it was 1:50 and no one had shown up, and the more I read the more uncomfortable I got, being a woman, in my house, all alone. So I called the number back and told them that I would like to cancel my appointment, because I had been waiting and they were now almost 3 hours late. The guy who answered the phone was incredibly rude, after I told him this, and argued with me about canceling, telling me that the locksmith had driven 40 minutes to come do this job and he was only 5 minutes away. I said that I had heard that already today, and I didn't care- I wanted to cancel, because they hadn't kept their end of the deal. He hung up on me.

A minute or so later, my phone rings. It's him again, and he says (in a very nasty tone) "I forgot to tell you, there's a $55 cancellation fee." I said, "Oh no there's not- I'm not paying- you guys didn't show up!!" Then- this is what scared me- he got really nasty. He started telling me that he was going to call the police and have me arrested- when I talked back to him, incredulous that this is even happening, he told me that I had better turn myself in right now, because they were going to come and arrest me. Verbal intimidation of the worst kind. I told him to go ahead and have the police come to my house, I would like to explain to them what was going on and get their opinions, and that he didn't even have to call if he didn't want to- I would. Then I hung up the phone.

2 minutes later, there's a knock on my door. When I looked outside, it was a man in an unmarked regular white car, with no uniform on, nothing. After my confrontation on the phone, there was no way in the world I was opening that door being a young woman at home by myself. I was literally shaking with fear (that they would try to open my door, being locksmiths and all) and anger (because of the way I had been treated).

The man hung around for a few minutes, called my cell phone 3 times, and then left. I also received a call from dispatch at this time- I didn't answer. I called my husband and told him what had happened. He asked for the number and called them, and let them know that in no uncertain terms that if they ever called his wife and threatened her again, that there would be huge consequences. They were backpedaling furiously with him, apologizing and saying that they couldn't believe that I was treated that way.

From my experience, this company seems to prey on women. Beware! I can only imagine that if they were trying to use that kind of verbal intimidation on the phone, that in person it would have been so much worse. Scary.

Thank you to everyone who shared your experiences- you saved me a great deal of trouble, and probably money.