Captain Locksmith dishonest, overcharging, taking advantage of people, unprofessional, scam artists Nashville Tennessee

My naive teen daughter locked her keys in her already running car. She called captain locksmith for assistance (googled it).

The woman over the phone never discussed a fee. I figured it would be 50-100$.

Later that day my step daughter told me that they charged her 165$. That seems outrageous! Last time I locked my keys in my car it ran me 55$.

I looked on the website and service fee on the website is suppose to be 15$. The technician charged my daughter 20$. He also charged her another 145$ to unlock her door which literally took less than 5 minutes from start to finish. He never quoted her or verbally explained to her that it would be 145$ + (according to him) an additional service fee of 20.00.

On the Captain locksmith website it estimates the cost at 75$ minimum and states that there is a $15.00 service fee. Now, it states that services begin at 75.00 and the price goes up from there...so...how much does 5 minutes of actual work cost...how does the estimated price of 75.00$ go up to 145.00$. When there were no problems whatsoever and it took him literally a couple minutes to perform this service.

I realize there is drive time... (could that be the service charge)? I wholeheartedly believe that this person took advantage of a young woman.

 I called in prior to my complaint call,  as a perspective customer,  to ask for a quote and they could only definitively tell me there was a 15$ service charge and that's it...no other quote or anything... I specifically asked how much and the woman wouldn't answer my question-she said it depends...then asked for the make of my car...so I asked her if it matters what kind of vehicle and she said, "No not really". She did  offer that the technician would go over the cost before any services were rendered-this did NOT occur in my daughter's case. At this point I feel that these people are liars, looking to prey upon people who don't know any better.

 When I called the customer service representative it was even worse. They claim that it costs what it costs. I guess it's up to the technician to decide if it costs 75.00, or 145.00...or whatever they want for the day? The charge doesn't seem to be based upon what they advertise on the web or based on service and the minimal time it takes. The customer service agent mocked me...was rude and condescending. He did offer to give us a refund for the five dollars extra she was charged (for the service fee) but offered nothing else for the obvious overcharge.

I attempted to explain that the technician never gave my stepdaughter a quote or heads up before he took (literally a minute) to unlock her door. The technician made small talk with my daughter but didn't discuss the actual service he was performing or the cost...my complaints fell on deaf ears. My complaints were met with sarcasm and the customer service agent ask me, "Well, why'd your daughter pay it then?" Honestly, she paid it because although she felt it too much, she doesn't know any better. This was her first experience with locking her keys in her car and having to hire a locksmith...unfortunately for her it was this unethical company. The customer service agent and I ended in a screaming match and basically I called him ignorant and he brazenly returned my sentiment. I am not proud of the heated exchange but I feel that this is a really unethical "business".  I did let him know that I will be issuing a complaint to the BBB and when I fumbled the name, he laughed and arrogantly corrected me. Honestly, it was the most argumentative, disrespectful and unprofessional call I have ever encountered with any business. Sadly, I cannot say that I was too surprised after what they did to my teen daughter.

 To make matters even worse! Now the window that the man chose to unlock is squeaking and making weird noises....seems like something is wrong with it! Now what are we suppose to do! Now, we have to pay more money to fix her window that this person broke? This isn't days, weeks, or years later...this is literally a couple of hours after he "jimmied" the lock.

Refunds

The company should refund my step daughter the 5 dollars overcharged for the $15.00 service fee.

The company should refund 70.00$ overcharge for the labor performed. According to their website service begin at 75.00 (without the service charge added). I think 75.00 dollars is a little high but adequate because that's what they advertise. Since the technician never discussed the cost until after he performed the service, very unethical and since there was absolutely no service issues or issues with my teens car and it took the technician all of 5 minutes from getting out if his car to finishing...75.00, fine.  The extra 70.00$ that was brazenly tacked on for whatever reason-should be refunded.

In total 80.00$ should be refunded to my  daughter.