Locksmiths in the villages
 

Far too many local locksmiths are greedy, unethical, or simply feel that "Villagers" are stupid enough to pay just about any price. How do I know this? I am a former federal contracting officer and cost and pricing specialist. I competed services for a living. In zip 32162 the arrange rate per hr is either 75 dollars flat or a service call fee of $35 and $45 per hr respectively. I took the time to seek out pricing on what a good locksmith should charge for changing installing (1) one standard door lock that included drilling holes, etc.
I call nearly every available locksmith listing in the area and prices ranged from stupid to laughable. I got on average "that will be a initial $40 service call fee (portal) and the cost of the job which will be $120 to $170 for simply drilling a hole (that one locksmith would take him 2 hours to do because it was so damn difficult). The job only took 15 minutes. Had I had the tools for the template it probably would have taken me 30 minutes. So I learned what to expect "blow smoke up the A___ of any dumb Villager willing to believe what they said."

Finally I called and found one locksmith by the name of Matlock's Lock & Key in Leesburg at 352-742-2490, that did NOT try to do anything other than be realistic, truthful and was downright honest. He said he could come right now if I needed him, and he'd do the simply job I wanted for his "standard price" of $35 portal fee and $45 flat. Total job cost was $80 which I was happy to pay.....not the BS $200 job everyone else was quoting me. Also, Mr. Handyman had the highest price tag of all, they quoted me over the phone $260 for this simply 15 minutes job. BOY AM I IN THE WRONG BUSINESS!!

To make a long story short....I want all Villagers needing locks changed, door rekeyed, etc...that Matt at Mattlocks's Key did what he said he do for the price quoted...did a fantastically quick and perfect job and he is ETHICAL.
He quotes a price for all the SAME, and not one price for this job and another price for a higher amount that some do. It's the same price for the same type of job no matter who you are or where you live.

THE REASON I WROTE THIS: is I love ethical contractors and HATE those that try to take advantage of peoplel in the Villages simply because "they must have more money" that others in the area. Shame on high priced locksmiths!! Call MATT at 352-742-2490 if you need service and tell him you saw what Mr. Knauer wrote about him on talk of the villages.

I am not getting a dime for writing or saying this....

Good information. Thank you.

I had a lock rekeyed yesterday at the lock shop at 466 and 441 it cost me $17. To pull the lock and take it to the lock shop get it rekeyed and reinstall the lock was one hour of my time.

I really like Howard Hansen 708-785-1115. He's a retired locksmith living in TV. His prices are more than fair. So far as I know, he doesn't charge a service call fee (but I could be wrong).

thanks for his number too.l

We have been very pleased with Dave Kaiser of Access Safe and Lock. 352-272-4776.
We found him to be reliable and reasonable. He gave us good suggestions for making our home secure.

He's great
 

Howard is my brother!

I used Dave yesterday and would also highly recommend him.

Thanks for taking the time to post and inform us. It is not only locksmiths taking advantage.

We have had a lot of work done and found people charging up to 4 times more than some estimates we get. Thank you all contractors who do not overcharge. You can get excellent work at fair prices but you need to shop around to avoid the wolves.

Also, when you get a reasonable estimate for one job and decide you want them to do more work....get another estimate before you start. Twice we have been caught on this. The first job was reasonable but asking if they would just do this little job as well cost us dearly. The cost was so outrageous (hanging two easy to do pictures over $200) just crushed our opinion of them. Please be cautious. They don't come with signs that read wolves R us.

Howard Hansen changed my locks too. He was prompt, professional, & more than reasonable with his cost. I would highly recommend Howard for a man that knows what he's doing & being very personable to boot!!