Acertifiedlocksmith.com
reviews and complaints

I came home from work last Sunday night and found myself locked out of my house with bad damage on my garage doors and front door. Earlier in the day I received a phonecall from my friend, Magan Johnson who had stayed at my house while I was at work. She told me that she had locked herself out on the balcony and was stuck in the chilly rain for hours waiting for a locksmith that your company connected her with, who said he would be there in 15 min. When Eddie arrived over 3 hours later (after Magan had the fire department come save her from the balcony), he attempted to get into the house via the garages. There are 2 separate garage doors, and he attempted to force them open, both doors were bent at the top so badly that one was broken from the automatic opener mechanism and neither would open when I got home. Since he had drilled out the old deadbolt and rekeyed the house, I no longer had a key to my house. I had to drive over 60 miles to get the new key. Also, where Eddie had removed the old lock and placed a new one, there are scratches and nicks all over the door. The new lock does not fit the space or match the door handle.

I locked myself out of my apartment this morning and I used my neighbors phone to call information. I was in a hurry to get a business, so they put me in touch with "A Certified Locksmith". I got a phone call from a guy who said he would be at my place in about 30 to 45 minutes.

Before I get into the details, a local company who I should have called in the first place helped me get into my apartment 2 years ago when I locked myself out. They charged around 85 dollars, which was reasonable. So with this in mind, the guy arrived and in 3 minutes, he had the door open.

He told me to come down to his van and he said well since this was a complex lock and this was an emergency call, he would have to charge 140 dollars!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told him that the price was ridiculously expensive. He said well since this was an emergency, he needed to charge more. I told him that I didn't tell anyone that it was an emergency, I just wanted to get into my house. He said well if you made an appointment it would have been cheaper. And I said what is the difference between calling a locksmith to come and open my door, and making an appointment for one to come to open my door.

I was extremely angry but wrote him a check anyway and he went on his way. This whole situation didn't sit with my right, so I did some research. It turns out that "A Certified Locksmith" is a dispatch company that basically farms out independent contractors across the country. The company when I talked to them never said that this would cost more because it was an "emergency" and never told me that if I made an appointment it would be cheaper.

I decided to call the department of consumer protection in Connecticut and gave them the guy's name that came to my place. They said they had no record of him and that he was not registered to do work in the state of Connecticut. That is against the law and a big deal.

I am going to file a complaint with the state and hopefully I will make some progress on this.