Description

I needed a new mailbox lock—this is a lock the size of the average adult thumb, non-urgent in every way, and attached to a mailbox the landlord could've replaced for under $100. I expressed all this over the phone. I called this particular locksmith only because their sticker was ON my building's mailboxes; I know now that the sticker was not pasted by the landlord or any building residents, and that numerous Yelp users reported these stickers having been pasted by strangers on their building and repeatedly replaced after their removal. The quote I received on the phone was $60—which I was later told was ONLY the fee for the visit itself, completely separate of service costs. The second the smith was on site, the cost was $375—and he was there, with tools in hand, telling me he didn't have all day to wait around for my decision, leaving me to make a call on the spot without my landlord's consent. If I declined the replacement, I still "owed" him $60 for showing up and would have to pay an additional $40 atop the $375 to have him come back a second time. I consented to the swap, and the job was done in fewer than 5 minutes, no exaggeration. His partner stood in the doorway of my apartment the entire time, as though he were actively monitoring me or at the very least blocking my exit path while they did what they had to do to execute their scam. I paid $375 cash and only with strong insistence got a "receipt" to give to my landlord. He itemized the receipt, comically enough, and the call fee was listed as $75 versus the $60 quoted over the phone. The remainder of the receipt showed $150 for opening—a 60-second task—and $150 for lock replacement, despite the vastly unequal burdens of those two tasks and the simplicity of either.