Scam taking advantage of emergency situations. At 6.18pm yesterday me and my partner returned home to discover our front door lock suddenly stopped working. Our key was turning in the lock but the door was not unlatching. We called this company in urgency 6:40pm after trying everything we could such as WD40 From our neighbour, we explained that we need to get inside urgently to our dogs. We were told it would be a £45 callout and they would be here in 20 - 30mins. We were happy with that so booked. We waited in the freezing cold ringing them again to ask where on earth they are… we were appalled the engineer arrived at 7:58pm. We waited 1hr 18min. Not 20 - 30mins.When the guy arrived he said he would need to drill the lock. I said how much will that cost, and he said £229. We agreed to £229 and he started drilling. It took him 18 mins (8.16pm) to get inside and we were happy. He offered to install a new lock and said cheapest is £79, so we agreed. The man had no idea what he was doing at this point. This man now attempted to install the lock over and over again, breaking 5 cylinders. The 6th attempt he was finally successful and at that point me and my partner were embarrassed for the guy. It was now 10pm, so taken him 1hr 44mins to install a new lock. He did not have a clue what he was doing in our option.At this point we were expecting £45 callout, £229 to drill lock and £79 for a new lock to be installed, so £353. Which we thought was a lot and felt the job should not of taken anywhere near the time it took and 5 broken cylinders. But it is what had been said and we agreed to.We were horrified to be handed this invoice at 10:05pm:- labour open door by drill - £229- Supply new lock - £249- Fitting lock - £109- Callout - £89Total - £676 + VAT = £811.20I looked at it and said “NO WAY, £811.20.His response was but i went through 5 cylinders. So he was charging me more because he broke 5 cylinders as he didn’t have a clue what he was doing. I said we agreed £45 callout, which is now £89 + VAT = £106.80. So £106.80 just for a callout. That was never discussed and never agreed. The drilling of the lock was said to be £229, he did not say + VAT. So drilling if the lock is actually costing me £274.80.Then we agreed to install the cheapest lock at £79, again he did not say plus VAT so assumed that was the price including VAT. Yet was was charged is £249 + VAT = £298.80 for supply new lock. Then labour for new lock at £109 + VAT = £130.80. Absolute scam.The man demanded we pay there and then by card and can not leave until paid. I have never felt so vulnerable and taken advantage of.I said i could not pay £811.20 and i should not be paying for the fact he broke 5 lock cylinders. Thats his error and his fault as clearly is not correctly trained. I assume this company's engineers are paid a percent of there sales, hench why they want to charge to much.After repeating i can’t afford that. The guy changed the receipt suddenly to the below:- labour open door by drill - £229- Supply new lock - £179- callout - £89 Total - £497 + £99.40 = £596.40The prices are clearly made up and taking advantage of customers. No transparency, as we asked all prices and had agreed to £353.00. In all honestly we expected money off due to the wait time being 1hr 18mins, not 20 - 30mins. Then we were shocked the lock change alone took 1 hour 44. Breaking 5 cylinders repeatedly. expecting me to pay for his incompetence and lack of knowledge on the job he was doing. Appalled i was forced to pay £596.40 for the most appalling experience and cow boy attendance. This company must not be used and please do not ever consider using them. You will regret it if you use them and you will be ripped off and exploited.
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