I'm very upset with how the owner of Buckley's just handled my first locksmith experience. I purchased a 2009 Honda Fit for my daughter's 16th birthday last week. It only came with one key so I purchased a remote key fob from Amazon that has the metal to cut for the key, as well. Called Buckley's yesterday to see if they could cut the key for me and the gentleman said they could. The man who could do it (the owner) would be in the next day and would charge me between $10-$40. I asked if I needed to have the car with me and he said that I just needed the key to be cut and the key to be cut from, not the car.
I arrived the next day and explained my needs to the man who was working, presumed to be the owner. He seemed shocked when I told him I programmed the remote myself and asked me, "and it worked?", which I responded that it did. He took the key, cut it, then explained that he needed the car because he had to eyeball the code because my key was old and worn, so he needed to check that it worked. He had "practiced" on a dummy key, basically, so he didn't mess up my key. I told him that the guy the day before on the phone said I didn't need the car; to which he scoffed and acted like I was dumb for not having it or knowing that I would. It was a little inconvenient to have to drive home to check the key, but I appreciated his help so I did it without complaint. The key worked my door but didn't start the car. When I went back and told him that, he scoffed again and said that was because he hadn't programmed the key yet. I assumed that was part of his cutting process and let him finish.
When he was done, he charged me $40 for the key to be cut and $3 for the dummy key. I did think it was silly he was charging me for the dummy key when I didn't ask for that key, but it was $3 so I didn't argue. When I went to start the car with the new key, it cut right off. I went back up to tell the guy and the first thing he said was, "it didn't start?" as if he knew what he did would not work. He then told me that was because he didn't program it. As a person who isn't a locksmith, I was confused. He said that he should've known when I said I programmed the key, I just meant the remote to the doors. Then explained that there are two pieces to be programmed within the key, which I didn't know. He then asked for $60 more to program the key.
I find that ridiculous for a couple reasons... one, as a professional and an expert at his craft, I feel like he should've explained to me the cost of the services he would need to complete to achieve what I asked for. Acting like he thought I had already programmed the actual key is a lie because he asked if it worked, and I said yes. But there was no way I could've started the car because the key was not cut. So obviously we were speaking of the remote fob being programmed, not the transponder. Another difficulty I have is that he charged me $3 for one key and $40 for another that do the exact same thing. Both keys only open the door, so why are they priced so vastly different? He said it was "for his time", but I feel like his time should've also covered programming the key to do what I asked him to.
This owner was arrogant and rude from the moment I walked up to him, and even worse when he realized I was unhappy. He even told me it was fine with him if I was unhappy. He clearly doesn't care about being friendly or welcoming to new customers. Which I should've known by the fact that he is still not allowing customers inside "due to covid". The table in front of the door blocking customers was my first sign to walk away; I'm just sad that I missed that cue. Now I'm out $43 and have a key that basically does nothing for me. There are plenty of locksmiths out there; go to one who will be upfront and honest.
I gave two stars instead of one in an effort to be gracious, because I did appreciate his work to cut a key that he said was old and "didn't code properly", according to him. He was either being helpful there, or dishonest... at this point, who knows? But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. read more