Key stuck in lock

humbug83

Hi,
Apologies if this is in the wrong section.

My sister recently locked herself out of her flat and then she got some spare keys cut. Then, the other day she left her main key at my house and had to use one of the spares that the neighbour had. This snapped in the lock and they had to call a locksmith who managed to get it out (the charge was £150).

The spare key was obviously not very good quality if it snapped on the first use. Can she ask the key cutter to reimburse the locksmith's fee?

Gigglepig

I think she's unlikely to have the locksmith charge covered since this is likely to be completely out of proportion to the cost of having a key cut, but I think it would be reasonable to at least get a complete refund of the price paid for the new cut key (and possibly a free replacement.)

Personally I'd go to the place that cut the key, explain the situation and ask for my money back plus a free replacement key.

Would her home insurance cover it?

DaftyDuck

I have no knowledge of the legalities, but I wouldn't have thought it wrong to try to claim the locksmith's costs from the keycutter. If the key cut had been of good quality/properly cut, the ensuing bill would not have been necessary. It was as a consequence of the poor work done.

Whether one could prove it/get anywhere with the keycutting company, I don't know. I'd guess they'll have "terms & conditions", and it might exclude consequential loss. Whether that's fair & legal... I'm not versed enough to call that judgement.

ormus

the courts (and consumer laws) generally uphold any product refund costs. but very rarely any further loss.
no one can predict any consequential loss, and therefore its impossible to calculate.

as for the 150 quid, you were ripped off.

humbug83

I told her to check her insurance but she said something about they might charge excess (?).

Anyway, she rang the key cutting place this morning and they said she should bring the key in to the shop before they decide what to do. They charged £8 apparently to cut the key but the locksmith said he could have done it for £2.50!

As for being ripped off, the cost for the locksmith might have been higher because it was a Sunday plus the fact it was quite urgent as my sister has 3 month old twins and they needed to get back into their property.

MrsAtobe

No harm in asking for a contribution as a goodwill gesture . They can always say no.

Russe11

ormus wrote: »

the courts (and consumer laws) generally uphold any product refund costs. but very rarely any further loss.
no one can predict any consequential loss, and therefore its impossible to calculate.

as for the 150 quid, you were ripped off.

Maybe the charge included a new lock, garentee on work, VAT, call out charge.

If it was just the case they took the housing and mechanism off and took out the broken key and put it back you could say it appears a rip off, but then businesses have to make money some how.

SatanicHare

Just playing devil's advocate here, but would the key cutting place not be entitled to ask for proof that the door is fitted and functions' correctly, i've seen a few keys broken because doors are poorly aligned and require excessive force to be applied when turning the key. Not saying that this is the case here but if someone wanted me to pay £150 compensation.....

humbug83

SatanicHare wrote: »

Just playing devil's advocate here, but would the key cutting place not be entitled to ask for proof that the door is fitted and functions' correctly, i've seen a few keys broken because doors are poorly aligned and require excessive force to be applied when turning the key. Not saying that this is the case here but if someone wanted me to pay £150 compensation.....

Well I suppose the locksmith they called out would be able to clarify this if necessary.

As far as I know, they've never had any problems before.

martyn05

I'm a locksmith, I charge between £45 and £65 to remove a broken key (depending on time of day / day of week). £65 for a Sunday night and I would have been there straight away because of the little ones. Did the locksmith tell you his price when you rang him? £150 is well excessive. If a locksmith does not want to do night or weekend work they will usually quote the customer a silly amount and hope the customer goes elsewhere but if the customer accepts this large amount then he is onto a winner. Did you get an invoice?