** Updated - see original review, owner's false claims, and my response below. Based on response, I…read moream
I called all star to have a cylinder installed in a lock in my condo. They quoted $45 for the service call + whatever parts. They weren't able to give an estimate, until they saw the lock. I assumed it would be whatever retail cost ($20 or so for a cylinder) + some very high amount of mark up. Figured $150-$200 in total. When they got there they quoted $450 for the work in total. To be fair, they did quote this and I had already gone through the inconvenience of scheduling and coordinating, so I just wanted the work done. That would be unremarkable, 3-stars and not even worth a review.
However, before starting the work, they asked if I could pay Zelle, and I told them no, that I would do bill pay from the bank. Locksmith seemed fine with that and did the work. Afterward, he again asked if I could do Zelle, and if not if I would be able to give my credit card info, and was quite pushy about it. I had to remind him that he asked before, and he didn't need to do the work if he needed Zelle.
Every other tradesmen I have worked with had done net 30 payment, and that would seem standard- especially at this very expensive price point. (Over $800/hour!)
Work was fine quality, just poor communication all around, and did not meet my expectations for service at this high price. 2 stars.
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Response:
Hello,
Thank you for your feedback.
We'd like to respond to your review in order that you wrote it:
1) PRICE.
While you were thorough in your description of the job you've missed an important detail, which is matching new cylinder to the key cuts of your preference. This service is called rekeying service and it costs additional. Also you were pretty close with price assumption we charged you 269.00 for the cylinder ( including labor / installation ) and 155.00 to reconfigure your cylinder to your key, and we also waived the svc fee of 45.00 for you, in actuality it came out less then 450 if you do the math...
2) ZELLE.
Our technician had communicated with you that in order for us to give net 30 days for payment we must have a ongoing relationship with the company that we do business with, what you have failed to mention was that we had spoke for first time and you did not have an account with us to request 30 days payment. In general when we give the option is 5-10 days.
Zelle payment option was simply suggested and was NOT pushed in any shape or form. We have also offered you to make a payment via credit card upon completion of the job however you hung up on our representative after which we granted you "check payment" option.
3) JOB QUALITY
we appreciate your honesty about the quality of the job.
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1) The charges that they listed were not was on the invoice or described - though the total was what was quoted on the job, after they showed up. I was invoiced $45 for the service fee, $269 for the cylinder and $100 for the rekey. Like I said before, this was much more than "$45 service call + parts needed for the job". I did not complain that more was charged after the quote, instead that the vague price quote was misleading and encourage others to be more thorough in their due diligence if they should decide to use this company. I was also extremely clear to them about needing the rekey - and provided the key cut to them prior to them coming to install the lock so that they could come prepared with the lock keyed.
2) This is not true - technician never explained that they do net 30- I never even requested net 30 days. I just said that this was pretty standard practice in the industry. When the technician showed up, and provided the quote, I did inform him that I would like to pay by check, and he was fine with this when he did the work. Then after the work was completed, he insisted that I pay by Zelle or credit card, and they do not accept check payments. I had stepped out of a meeting, to take the call, and had to return - I told the technician this, and I told him I would call him back later, which I did. I did not "hang up" on the representative. When I called back, I told him that I would be paying via check, like we had discussed prior to the work - which the technician accepted, with some grumbling. So in a way I suppose that was "granted," but under protest.
I will also note that after I left the review, Joey called and left a voicemail saying that he wished to "resolve the issue for you so we can both be fair with each other and come to an agreement." When I called back, he asked if I had sent the check already, when I informed him that I had, he offered to "extend a discount on future work". To be clear, I was not looking for any sort of accommodation when I wrote this review, nor would I have accepted any adjustment in price in exchange for removing the review. I felt it was important to share my experience with others who were considering doing business with All Star Lock Smith.
