Locksmith Consumer Alert

By Michael Finney

Aug. 12 - State regulators announced Friday they are disturbed by a spike in the number of complaints about unlicensed locksmiths in the Bay Area. 7 On Your Side has been investigating similar complaints for nearly a month.

The state Department of Consumer Affairs issued a consumer alert today -- warning about unlicensed locksmiths accused of shoddy work and price gouging. We've heard from several consumers with just those types of complaints.

Karen Cunningham: "I thought you know, this is a scam, this is a rip-off, this is wrong. Plain wrong."

Karen Cunningham of Brisbane is talking about what happened when she and a colleague called All Around Locksmith for help after they got trapped inside her office.

She says two men showed up and drilled the lock open within 15 minutes.

"They handed me a bill for $641," she says. "We were both so stunned. We were just looking at these people thinking, `I smell a rat, I smell a big, big, fat rat!"

That's what Linda Foreman of Pacifica thought too, when she too called All Around Locksmith for help with a broken deadbolt on her horse trailer.

Linda Foreman: "The lock couldn't be picked, that took them 5 minutes. They said they were going to have to drill it."

Linda says less than a minute after the drilling started, the lock popped, the door opened and she got the bill.

Linda Foreman: "They came back out and told me the bill was $95 for the call and $260 for the drilling, so the total was $355."

She argued and managed to get the price down to $260.

While there's no law preventing locksmiths from charging whatever they want, there is a law requiring them to be licensed.

Charlene Zettel, California Department of Consumer Affairs: "They need to submit their fingerprints and have a criminal background check before they are allowed to be a licensed locksmith."

All Around Locksmith faxed us a license for a company called "(A) 24 Hour Locksmith," saying "All Around" is one of its fictitious business names.

But the state says there must be a license for each individual name.

Al Anolik rented office space to men who claimed to be locksmiths. A few weeks later, Al says he noticed the locksmiths' door was ajar, and opened phone bills were scattered on the floor of the empty office.

Al Anolik: "I'm concerned for the people in the building because if they know how to pick locks, I don't want them picking locks from the other tenants."

He called his security manager, William Low, who copied phone numbers off the open bills and he decided to set up an experiment.

He had a friend call the locksmiths to her home.

William Low: "I see individuals removing the lock saying they were measuring the locks. I asked them for license, they say pay us $150 before we do anything, pay us money to assemble the locks back."

While he called police, William says the two workers took off, dropping a book of receipts from dozens of other jobs.

Al has security camera tape of his locksmith tenants. William identified one of the men on the tape as one of the men he confronted previously.

William Low: "That's him, right there. No doubt in my mind, it's him."

We showed the video to Karen, who identified both men on the security cam as the same two who worked on her lock.

7 On Your Side also called one of the numbers off the phone bills, and again, the same two men showed up, bearing the same business card for "All Around Locksmith."

They refused to give us their license number, and when the police were mentioned, they took off, leaving their unmarked van behind.

State regulators say Bay Area consumers need to be extra careful when hiring a locksmith.

Charlene Zettel, California Department of Consumer Affairs: "The most important thing for consumers to do is to make sure that the locksmith that they hire is licensed."

Get that license number and verify it before having any work done, and consider reporting any suspicious activity.

Al Anolik: "Like the Supreme Court says, you know pornography when you see it. You know a scam when you see it!"

"All Around Locksmith" is not on the list of companies the state released Friday, and its owner promised to fix the company's licensing issues with the state.

To see the list of locksmiths the state is investigating, and for information on how to check a locksmith's license, visit:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/press_releases/2005/0812_bsis.htm

To verify a locksmith company or locksmith employee's license, visit:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/bsis/lookup.htm

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Some 'Local' Businesses Aren't What They Seem

If you've ever been locked out of your house or car, you know how handy it is to have a local locksmith. But the term "local" seems to have many interpretations.

Sherry Press, who owns a locksmith company, is proud of her establishment's longevity.

"(We've been here) for about 27 years and we're a local business," she said. "People know us and people know that we've been around."

Press spends thousands of dollars on advertisements, many of which appear in various yellow directories along with those of other locksmiths. But some of these other companies may not be what they seem.

"There are other businesses that are putting ads in, or they just get phone listings and addresses that they're not at," said Press.

She gave us a few examples of misleading advertisements in a yellow directory. The first address, about a block away from her business, led us to a cemetery -- a locksmith may have once been there, but obviously not anymore. The second address had a business, but it wasn't a locksmith.

When the locksmith listed at the cemetery was contacted by phone, a woman said the address was a misprint -- the directory's mistake. But at another phone number in the directory, the same person picked up. She explained that the addresses were "virtual locations," and that the business uses mobile crews dispatched from other boroughs.

Press readily admits to competitive concerns, but adds people should worry for other reasons.

"Locks are a security issue in your home," she said. Because of these advertising practices, "you have no idea who this is coming to your house. You think you're dealing with local business in your area, but you're not."

Phantom listings are common in many business directories, and it's difficult to verify every physical address. Many view this as both legal and smart business -- though Illinois consumer authorities recently cracked down on the practice.

If you hear the term "virtual location" remember that, by definition, "virtual" means existing in essence or effect, but not in actual fact.

FindArticles > Chicago Sun-Times > Aug 1, 2005 > Article > Print friendly

Out-of-state locksmiths picking on locals

Stephanie Zimmermann

Anna Franz was desperate.

Accidentally locked out of her Wheaton home, Franz and her three young children -- the youngest clad only in a diaper -- were stuck in their backyard, and dinner and bedtime were approaching.

So Franz did what most people would do -- she checked the yellow pages and called what she thought was a local locksmith. What she got, however, was an out-of-state company that, according to many complaints and consumer authorities, manipulates local phone listings to obtain customers, some of whom are charged artificially high prices at a time when they're most vulnerable.

To make matters worse, some of the locksmiths don't actually pick locks but drill them out instead, replacing them with inexpensive hardware but charging a bundle.

"I was with three little kids, late in the evening. . . . I didn't want to cause a confrontation because I was alone," said Franz, who was charged $534 on July 18 to get into her house, about four times the price other locksmiths charge.

One company is being sued

The company that sent the locksmith that Franz used -- Price Line Locksmith Inc. of New York -- is being sued by the Chicago Consumer Services Department for alleged consumer fraud involving other cases. A trial is set for Aug. 24, and the city seeks fines and a ban on doing business in Chicago.

Meanwhile, police in Streamwood are investigating a case in which a locksmith allegedly charged a 67-year-old man $1,709.20 on July 15 to get into his locked house, Deputy Chief Jim Gremo said.

In Bolingbrook, police have investigated at least eight phony addresses for locksmiths in that village.

Local locksmiths say the overcharging scheme allegedly used by Price Line and other locksmith dispatching companies has been going on for at least a year, and Chicago isn't the only city to be hit.

By listing local addresses with phone numbers that ring into an out-of-state call center, these companies convince consumers that they're dealing with a neighborhood business, critics say.

In Chicago, many of the addresses listed on the Internet, in the yellow pages and through telephone directory assistance for Price Line and other out-of-state locksmith companies aren't even real locksmith business locations, said Mike Bronzell, vice president of the Illinois Indiana Locksmith Association.

Bronzell said he has found locksmith business addresses that turned out to be a pizza parlor and a Chinese restaurant.

Some call it 'an ingenious scheme'

"They've got so many baloney addresses . . . when someone gets locked out of their house, they call 411 and they get these guys all the time," Bronzell said. "It's actually an ingenious scheme."

Price Line's president, Gilad Gill of the Bronx in New York, could not be reached for comment. A woman who identified herself as the wife of Moshe Mustaki of Skokie, Price Line's registered agent in Illinois, said Mustaki would not be available to comment.

Steven Fine, Price Line's attorney, said Friday he would not talk about the city's lawsuit or any of the other consumer complaints. "I'd be more than happy to talk to you after the case is over," Fine said.

The schemes work because people locked out of their home or car are vulnerable, said Don DeFreitas, owner of A Absolute Lock & Security in Hanover Park and treasurer of the Greater Chicago Locksmith Association.

DeFreitas said he usually charges $95 to open a house and $85 to open a car -- and he always asks the owner for identification.

DeFreitas and others want the Illinois Professional Regulation Department to crack down on locksmiths that operate without a license, use phony addresses or gouge customers.

As for consumers, DeFreitas says they should ask locksmiths for their Illinois license number over the phone, and then demand to see the license in person.

If a locksmith company's phone service asks for your state or ZIP code or seems unsure about your address, it's probably not a local locksmith, DeFreitas and Bronzell said. The same thing goes for a locksmith service that can't offer you its exact local street address.