It happened to be my birthday.  In the morning, I decided to treat myself to a little birthday gift of a morning walk to my favorite bakery.  I was on cloud nine, enjoying my berry cheese danish, eager to get started on my work day.  Unfortunately when I got home, I discovered that I had locked myself out of my house!

At first, I didn’t panic because my neighbor has my spare key.  My smile faded when he couldn’t find it.  He dug around his apartment for an hour and felt terrible that he couldn’t help me.  So, I borrowed his phone to call a local locksmith.  I called 411 and got 3 numbers.  The first one I didn’t get a chance to write down.  The 2nd one was no longer in service.  The 3rd one, the one I wanted to use, took me to voice mail.

As my panic to make my 11:00 conference call approached, I searched the Internet from his phone for a locksmith.  I dialed the one on top of the list and I was delighted to hear the voice of a female dispatcher who told me I could get a locksmith within 20 minutes and that he’d call me on my neighbor’s cell phone.  Shortly thereafter, he called me with a 408 area code.  I asked the locksmith if he was local and he said yes.  He then told me that he was about 35 minutes away and it would cost me $95 for the service.  I agreed, hung up the phone, returning it to my neighbor, and went home to wait.

…and wait…and wait…and wait.

After an hour had passed, I walked over to my other neighbor’s house and asked him to call a locksmith on my behalf.  He called American Lock and Key and Rick, the manager, said they’d be over in about an hour.  At this point, I had no choice.  I’d already missed my conference call and my ability to do the day’s work was ticking away.  So I waited.

Then a green truck that had “American West” and 408 area code phone numbers blazoned on the back window drove up.  I thought, at first, that he was with American Lock & Key.  My neighbor, Andy, asked the driver if Rick sent him and he said “Yes”.  He also asked if the safe installation down on Cannery Row went okay, and he said “Yes”.  After Andy saw that the situation was handled, he left.

It turns out that the driver’s name is Ben.  Ben spent 5 – 7 minutes opening my front door lock, bottom lock only, using a few tools and some lubricant spray.  Once he opened my door, I handed him my Wells Fargo credit card.

It dawned on me that Ben was the first guy who called me with the 408 area code phone number and said he was only 35 minutes away.  I asked Ben to explain why 35 minutes became 2 hours, and he said “there was a little bit of traffic”. When I asked where they came from, he avoided stating a city and said “down the hill”.

He then presented me a bill for $515.00!  I asked him to explain it and he said the $95.00 was to show up at the door and the remaining $419.99 was to open the door.  I thought about refusing to sign it, but I did it anyway….flabbergasted at the total bill. I knew in my gut that I would fight it.

Not more than 5 minutes after Ben and his 2 passengers left, Tom from American Lock & Key showed up at my door.  I was confused, thinking that maybe they were all part of the same group after all.  I told him that his partners came and I’ve already paid $515, so I hoped I didn’t have to pay him, too. Tom said no, and he called his manager, Rick, to alert him as to what just happened.  Rick said I was scammed by these out-of-the-area locksmiths and Tom encouraged me to call my bank to cancel the transaction.

Later that same day, I asked my first neighbor to give me a record of all the phone numbers that I called from his phone.  I discovered that the number I dialed and got the female dispatcher, 831-664-9880, is tied directly to Pick Squad Locksmith, based out of the San Jose area.  I then left two messages to speak with Sean, the owner.

The next day, I got ahold of Sean Sami, the owner of Pick Squad Locksmith. I told him that Ben lied to me that he was local, that his quote of $95 was inflated to $515, and that I will not pay the full amount charged.  Sean requested that I send a picture of my door lock and he will investigate the matter.  He understands that as a business owner, he needs to make certain his contractors are not misrepresenting his company.  Sean told me that he already paid $350 to this contractor for performing the service, but he will reply to me after I send him photos of my lock, and see if he can adjust the total bill.  Since that day, Sean will not return my emails and avoids my phone calls.

So, why am I writing this?  I am painting this picture to illustrate that when you misrepresent your business, you’re in for a whole lot of trouble.  If you lie about who you are, charge way more than you quoted, and operate your business without integrity, you might get away with it a few times… until you meet a gal like me who will persistently seek justice.

The first lesson I want you to take away from today’s article is this:  Make sure you have a spare key that you can access.

The second lesson is:  Avoid calling Pick Squad Locksmith at all costs. They have many complaints against them, and they reportedly do not operate with a license. I have notified the California District Attorney’s office, the Monterey County District Attorney’s office, the Better Business Bureau, Wells Fargo, the news team of KSBW, the California Department of Consumer Affairs, and my own attorney.

The final lesson is this:  Never allow your contractors, your support staff, or yourself to misrepresent your business. If you do, you will find that the gains you made from being dishonest will disappear when an unhappy client seeks retribution.