Locksmith Company Charged My Card Without Doing The Job?

BK700

I booked a locksmith for today but told the company to have the engineer RING me before he set off to come as i wasn't sure i would be able to make the appointment time.

So i wasn't able to make the appointment, they rang and my phone was dead and despite me telling them not to come unless i answer the phone they came out anyway. They told me that they had taken PICTURES of my house and spoken to a neighbor.

They charged my card for the full job £196 and said if i tried to dispute it they would take my to court on illegal disputes. She said i should have read the terms and conditions before booking. I said no, i booked over the phone and got your number off yell.com so its your job to tell me the terms and conditions on the phone.

They never told me they would charge the full amount if i didn't show for the appointment.

What grounds do i have to stand on here guys? Are they allowed to take pictures of my house? And charge me £196 saying its in the terms and conditions but not even making we aware of them when i ordered the service?

The supervisor i spoken to on the phone was extremely unfriendly and put the phone down on me. So i do plan to do a chargeback once the payment clears on Tuesday. At the end of the day they have been paid for a job that they did not do. And considering i did not book through the website or find the number on the website surely its not my responsibility to magically know the terms and conditions without being told them.

wealdroam

BK700 wrote: »

I booked a locksmith for today but told the company to have the engineer RING me before he set off to come as i wasn't sure i would be able to make the appointment time.

So i wasn't able to make the appointment, they rang and my phone was dead and despite me telling them not to come unless i answer the phone they came out anyway. They told me that they had taken PICTURES of my house and spoken to a neighbor.

They charged my card for the full job £196 and said if i tried to dispute it they would take my to court on illegal disputes. She said i should have read the terms and conditions before booking. I said no, i booked over the phone and got your number off yell.com so its your job to tell me the terms and conditions on the phone.

They never told me they would charge the full amount if i didn't show for the appointment.

What grounds do i have to stand on here guys? Are they allowed to take pictures of my house? And charge me £196 saying its in the terms and conditions but not even making we aware of them when i ordered the service?

The supervisor i spoken to on the phone was extremely unfriendly and put the phone down on me. So i do plan to do a chargeback once the payment clears on Tuesday. At the end of the day they have been paid for a job that they did not do. And considering i did not book through the website or find the number on the website surely its not my responsibility to magically know the terms and conditions without being told them.

Can I respectfully suggest that if you cannot make an agreed appointment then the onus is on you to inform the other party as soon as you realise you are going to break the agreement?

And yes, they are allowed to take pictures of your house. :rotfl:

Bogalot

You booked the locksmith for a specific slot and he was therefore unavailable to do other work for that period. Why should the locksmith be out of pocket for your failure?

BK700

So they have a right to charge me for the full amount of the job without telling me that this was part of the terms and conditions or even reading me the terms and conditions when booking?

How likely is it that they will take me to court if i do chargeback the transaction?

naedanger

BK700 wrote: »

I booked a locksmith for today but told the company to have the engineer RING me before he set off to come as i wasn't sure i would be able to make the appointment time.

So i wasn't able to make the appointment, they rang and my phone was dead and despite me telling them not to come unless i answer the phone they came out anyway. They told me that they had taken PICTURES of my house and spoken to a neighbor.

They charged my card for the full job £196 and said if i tried to dispute it they would take my to court on illegal disputes. She said i should have read the terms and conditions before booking. I said no, i booked over the phone and got your number off yell.com so its your job to tell me the terms and conditions on the phone.

They never told me they would charge the full amount if i didn't show for the appointment.

What grounds do i have to stand on here guys? Are they allowed to take pictures of my house? And charge me £196 saying its in the terms and conditions but not even making we aware of them when i ordered the service?

The supervisor i spoken to on the phone was extremely unfriendly and put the phone down on me. So i do plan to do a chargeback once the payment clears on Tuesday. At the end of the day they have been paid for a job that they did not do. And considering i did not book through the website or find the number on the website surely its not my responsibility to magically know the terms and conditions without being told them.

I think it will depend on what was said on the phone. Did they say their charge would be £196 for attending? Did they agree to call you prior to attending and to only attend if you answered?

bris

You made an appointment and you failed to meet it, they are entitled to be paid.


What we need to know is what the £196 payment was actually for. It seems very high to be a call out charge. Was there a lock involved? They should mitigate the loss, any hardware should either be deducted ( at their ridiculous price ) or given to you.

Mr.Generous

make sure your phone is not dead and ring to cancel! You can't seriously reserve an appointment but only go ahead if you answer then let your phone die. Offer 50% of the bill and see if they will settle for that.

agrinnall

If they're really charging you £196 simply for call out then I'd suggest you should spend some time finding a more reasonably priced locksmith. When I locked myself out and needed a locksmith to get access to my house the charge was £70 even though it was outside business hours.

Gavin83

BK700 wrote: »

How likely is it that they will take me to court if i do chargeback the transaction?

I think the chances of the chargeback being successful is slim to be honest. You don't just ask for a chargeback and they do it, it doesn't work like that. They'll approach the locksmith who will tell them they attended the property and you weren't available at which point the bank will close the chargeback.

Essentially you are in the wrong here. However the charge does seem high. I'd be approaching them asking for a breakdown of how the £196 was reached and then ask them to remove anything unreasonable. They have as much a responsibility to mitigate their losses as you have to be there at the time you booked.

To answer your other question yes they can take pictures of your house. How else would you expect them to prove they attended?

BK700

naedanger wrote: »

I think it will depend on what was said on the phone. Did they say their charge would be £196 for attending? Did they agree to call you prior to attending and to only attend if you answered?

They never said the charge would be £196 for attending. They said that we do not have a call out charge, the hour of labor will cost £160 plus any additional charges for replacement lock parts. They also stated that my card would only be charged after completion of the job. They did not state that they would charge my card if i wasn't able to attend.

Also just got some updated information from my mother. Apparently when my phone was dead today they called her number. And asked if i was available, she said no i was out and busy.

I mean surely this was more than enough to say do not come? especially considering i told the agent to call before coming.

bris wrote: »

You made an appointment and you failed to meet it, they are entitled to be paid.


What we need to know is what the £196 payment was actually for. It seems very high to be a call out charge. Was there a lock involved? They should mitigate the loss, any hardware should either be deducted ( at their ridiculous price ) or given to you.

When i made the booking they said the charge was £160 for a hours labor then any additional costs on top for parts of the lock they need to change. When i called today she said the £196 was for the 'hour' of labor charge when they clearly did not spend more than 10 minutes at the property and certainly not a hour.

Gavin83 wrote: »

To answer your other question yes they can take pictures of your house. How else would you expect them to prove they attended?

So taking a few pictures gives them the 'proof' that they attended my property for long enough to charge a £196196 'hour' of labor charge?

[Deleted User]

BK700 wrote: »

So taking a few pictures gives them the 'proof' that they attended my property for long enough to charge a £196196 'hour' of labor charge?

At least you've got change from a quarter of a million. Not all bad.