Unethical Business Practices

I had a key break in an internal door. I could not get the loose piece out of the lock so I called a locksmith which I found after a quick Google search. M.S.D. Emergency Locksmith was the first on the list so dropped them a message and they responded to say someone would be at the premises at an approximate time. They do tell you upfront that the call out is R200 and they will quote depending on the job once they've inspected...all sounds reasonable so far. The locksmith that arrived was shown the door and only asked to open it. I had to get onto a call so asked him to inspect and advise. Locksmith ended up drilling through the old lock (rendering it completely unusable even though this was a 6-month-old Yale 2 lever lock), got the door open, and installed a cheap 2 lever lock in its place...this was all done without him coming to me with a quote as we had earlier discussed. Locksmith then presents me with a bill for R2400!!!

This comprised of the call-out, a R1000 opening fee, and another R1200 for simply slotting in a VERY cheap lock in place.

These prices are not only over the top but the business practice, in my opinion, is simply unethical.

Do not fall for these tactics.

Insist on an upfront quote before work is started. If work is done without your explicit consent then you have every right to reject the quotation thereafter.