Run Local Locksmith

On July 26th 2010 I contacted Run Local Locksmith to come to my house and open a locked door and change the lock. The locksmith came and while he was trying to open the door, I could not help but notice that he was using a screwdriver (forcing it onto the keyhole) to jimmy the lock. He did this repeatedly and I asked if this would not damage the lock and he said no. He jimmied the lock for a while until the door opened. He changed the lock and told me he was done. I paid him $229.00 for the service and he told me there was a 30 day warranty and if I had a problem I could call him back. The house for which this service was done is on sale so I went in the house and went right out and locked the door. Upon locking the door, I realized that the key would not lock properly. It took me a while to get the door to lock and I thought it was because the key was new and would take some getting used to. Since the house is on sale, I handed the key over to the Realtor so he could show the property. The Realtor went to the house on Monday August 2 2010 to show some potential buyers and the key would not open. The key could turn both ways in the lock but would not open the door. Since there was a warranty on the work done, I called the locksmith. I realized then that this company, which has a Virginia number, operates from Michigan and contracts people to do their work and there is zero accountability. On the call I made to notify them about the defective lock, I was transfered 6 times and was on the phone for a total of 57 minutes before I spoke to someone who told me that a supervisor would call me. No one called and I called again the next day and started the process again, this time holding and being transfered for a total hold time of 49 minutes. They finally located the contactor who had worked on my lock and had him come to the house to fix the problem. He came and tried to charge me $145 for the service. I refused to pay because the lock was under warranty and the locksmith then told me he had added new hardware and was charging for that. There was no new hardware added. He had just switched the lock. He then refused to give me the key to the house until I paid for the service. I refused to pay and hired a new local locksmith to replace the lock again. Run Local Locksmith advertises online as being on time and charging $19 for their services. They are never on time and charge exhorbitant prices for similar work done by reputable locksmiths who charge much lower than this rip off locksmith. One would think that a warranty would cover any problems that arise within the 30 day time frame. In this case, the key never worked properly from day one and I gave them the benefit of doubt. Do not use this company. They are a rip off and they are not a local company.