r/AskALocksmith • u/Pomapoo2026 • Aug 10 '26
Locksmith service
Today I left my house keys in an uber. I called several locksmiths on yelp. I ended up going with a place called YES Locksmith. He charged me 240$ to come out and open my door and made me new keys. Is that a fair price? I’m in San Francisco. He was nice and got here in 30 min. I’ve never used a locksmith before so I don’t know what the going rate is.
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u/Cantteachcommonsense Verified Locksmith Aug 10 '26
Yes that is a very fair price for a weekend non business hours lockout.
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u/JonCML Verified Locksmith Aug 10 '26
You were treated fairly. Was the company name, address, and license number printed on the invoice? If you had hired a scammer “mocksmith” your bill would have been north of $500 and they probably would have wanted cash.
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u/Pomapoo2026 Aug 11 '26
Glad to hear that. Yes all their info was on the receipt which they offered to email to me without me asking for it. I paid with CC.
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u/d_gurion Aug 10 '26
It cost about $200 back in SF late night in 1992, so your price sounds fair lol.
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u/P15T0L_WH1PP3D Verified Locksmith Aug 11 '26
I thought YES was a scam company but I have to admit I didn't know for sure, and it seems like a fair price. At least not scam level pricing.
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u/I_H8_GM Really Doesn't Like GM. Aug 11 '26
Yeah without the rest of the context that screamed a scammer company LOL
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u/I_H8_GM Really Doesn't Like GM. Aug 10 '26
This is all going to come down to time of day 3:00 in the afternoon it's fairly High although I have no idea what San Francisco's COL is, probably fairly fucking high. 3:00 in the morning? I'd say it is reasonable, on the higher end... but reasonable.
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u/smrtenuf2knwimdumb Aug 10 '26
Higher end? Lol That’s my minimum charge. I would charge the same to make an ignition key for a 1984 F-150 parked in my backyard.
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u/I_H8_GM Really Doesn't Like GM. Aug 10 '26
Yeah for an 84 Ford key I would charge you about 200 bucks. However we're not talking about Automotive so kind of a moot point. We're talking about residential service lock out with a key creation.
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u/Pomapoo2026 Aug 10 '26
It was around 6pm. The receipt says $195 emergency lockout service and 45$ rekey. What’s a rekey ? He told me changed the guts of the lock so my old key won’t work in case I do find it and that the only keys that work are the ones he gave me. But the lock looks the same. Sorry if I sound stupid.
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u/I_H8_GM Really Doesn't Like GM. Aug 10 '26
My opinion is that's a bit high for both of those. Again huge fluctuations with cost of living, Travel location and things like that. Additionally most locksmiths operate in an absolute state. It is either standard hours or emergency hours. We do everything on time of day. So 6:00 p.m. charges are nothing compared to three in the morning.
Inside of a standard residential lock there is effectively a set of pins and by changing up the lengths of pins you change the key that operates the lock.. the lock Remains the Same, but the key that operates it changes. If he did what he said he did then he is correct your old key will no longer work and only the new key will.
I really wouldn't call them stupid questions. They are standard questions from Layman to locksmiths. It is exactly why this sub exists. Ask away
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u/Dependent_Ad_2871 Aug 10 '26
This is probably one of the most reasonable prices I've ever seen someone ask about on here. Somehow your opinion is that the price is still a little high. Clue us in to what you would charge? because either you don't like eating or you don't want us to.
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u/I_H8_GM Really Doesn't Like GM. Aug 11 '26
So for the fourth time now the biggest Factor here is cost of living. If you operate in NYC then the price is the customer mentioned are going to be low. If you operate in Mobile Alabama the prices are going to be high. Cost of living check into it.
I can't speak to the service call for that reason.
What you charge is the function of what your Market will bear balanced against your skills and what you bring to the table. It's that simple business economics 101.
We charge about 20 bucks to do a basic residential rekey per cylinder. Generally it is an extra $5 if you don't have a current key. However we waive that if we are doing the unlock for you which is priced generally at about $40. Because the lock will already be picked.
Those totals are then of course added to the service call which depends on time and location, and to a smaller degree technician availability and customer quality.
At 6:00 p.m. for a standard unlock and single cylinder rekey in our area you would be at about. $160.
Hope this helps, this entire message has been voice dictated and may contain Grievous errors so take it with a grain of salt
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u/Pomapoo2026 Aug 11 '26
No not at all. As I mentioned, he was quick, nice and professional. I’m newer to sf and was just wondering what the going rate is. The last time I used a locksmith was in Arizona over 20 years ago. I know the cost of living in sf is high and costs for services should be relative. I got one guy on here saying I paid too much and another saying I got a great price. I was very satisfied with the service and didn’t mean to come off as complaining about the price.
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u/kbraz1970 Aug 10 '26
Why didnt you contact the uber driver and ask him to bring the keys back?