USA LOCKSMITH HELD MY CREDIT CARD HOSTAGE AND CHARGED ME $600 FOR FAULTY SERVICES! ATLANTA New Jersey

Fellow Consumers,

You MUST know that on Saturday, August 16, 2008, a technician from USA LOCKSMITH charged me nearly $600 for what should have been a nominal fee for locksmithing services.

When I arrived at my Atlanta home from the airport on Saturday night, after two weeks in Africa, I had to call a locksmith to grant me re-entry into my apartment due to lost luggage that contained my house keys.

The dispatcher on the phone, RICHARD LAWSON, quoted me a fee of $55 for the call. The technician, named ABRUM, called for directions and confirmed the $55 fee.

When he arrived, ABRUM claimed that he could not pick my simple locks (which both required an identical key) and proceeded to unnecessarily DESTROY both locks. He then claimed that he could not leave them as they were, and quoted me a price of $75 each for replacing both unnecessarily destroyed locks. I was expecting to pay a total of $210 for the job, but when I asked for the total, the locksmith charged me $577.80!

He REFUSED to return my credit card, never presented me with a paper bill, and to this day I don't have a single piece of documentation for the charge. My card was charged nearly $600 for the service, and he didn't even give me keys to one of the locks! Both of them were shoddily installed and had to be replaced the following day by a professional locksmith. I had to call the police, and I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Again, the following day, I had to enlist the service of a professional locksmith of over 40 years who knew the SCAM quite well. My locks could have easily been picked, and they were unnecessarily destroyed. I have received the most evasive, unprofessional, and horrendous "customer service" from this company, which even hung up on the officer who needed to speak with them for my police report.

Please warn EVERYONE about this USA LOCKSMITH scam. I found this company on the internet from a kind neighbor's computer, and NO ONE SHOULD CALL THIS COMPANY EVER AGAIN!

Dismayed doctoral student
Atlanta, Georgia
U.S.A.