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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Anna Tims

‘I was charged £1,406 after my key snapped in my door’: how to protect against locksmith fraud

A key broken off in a lock
Locksmiths demanded more than £1,000 when a key broke in a lock. Photograph: Samantha Brown/Stockimo/Alamy

A key snapped in the lock as my son and his young babysitter tried to open my front door. The babysitter searched online and called a locksmith quoting a £49 call-out charge.

The locksmith claimed the key could not be extracted and insisted the entire locking mechanism had failed and would need to be repaired at his workshop, at a cost of around £400.

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