GREAT SOUTHERN LOCK
Guide · Consumer
How to avoid a locksmith scam
The scam has a script, and once you have read it you will not fall for it. Two minutes now is worth several hundred dollars later.
- 24/7
Answered every hour
of every day - Inside the hour
On site across
Melbourne’s inner suburbs - No fix, no fee
Can’t open it? You
don’t pay a cent - Insured & ABN
Public liability cover
ABN registered
How it works
Emergency work attracts predatory operators for an obvious reason: you are stressed, it is often late, and you are not in a position to shop around. The pattern is consistent enough to be described precisely.
You search, and you find a listing with a local-sounding name and a national number. You ring. You are quoted a very low figure — often a call-out fee dressed up as a total. An unmarked car arrives, usually with a driver who is not the person you spoke to. You are told the lock is “a security lock” and will have to be drilled. It is drilled, quickly, and replaced with cheap hardware. The invoice is several times the quote, and you are standing in a doorway at midnight being asked to pay it.
The warning signs, before you call
- No physical address, no ABN, no real business name. Legitimate operators have all three.
- Generic branding. “Locksmith Melbourne” type names with no identity behind them.
- A price that is much lower than everyone else’s. It is not a bargain, it is a hook.
- Vagueness about who is coming. Lead-generation operations sell your job on and add a margin.
The three questions
Ask these on the phone, every time, of anyone:
- “What is the total, including call-out and GST?” Insist on a total, not a starting figure. If the honest answer is a range, that is fine — a range is an answer. “We’ll see when we get there” is not.
- “Are you the person attending?” You want to be speaking to the tradesperson or their business, not a call centre selling the job.
- “What is your ABN?” Ten seconds, and you can check it on the Australian Business Register.
At the door
Two things should happen before any tool is used.
First, you should be asked to prove you have a right to be there. Photo ID and something linking you to the address or vehicle. A locksmith who does not ask is either careless or is in the habit of opening doors for people who should not be behind them. Neither is reassuring.
Second, you should be given a firm price and agree to it. If the number at the door is higher than the number on the phone, that is the moment to stop — not after the work.
“It will have to be drilled”
This is the line that costs people the most money, so it is worth understanding.
Drilling is sometimes genuinely necessary. Some high-security cylinders are specifically built to resist picking, and a seized or damaged lock may leave no other route. But on ordinary residential hardware, drilling is usually a sign of a locksmith who cannot pick the lock — or one who makes more money replacing it than opening it.
A reasonable operator will explain why this particular lock cannot be opened non-destructively, tell you what the replacement will cost, and wait for you to agree. If the drill comes out within two minutes of arrival, something is wrong.
If it has already happened
If you have been charged far more than you were quoted, you have options. In Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria handles complaints about misleading conduct and unconscionable pricing, and the ACCC covers misleading representations under Australian Consumer Law. If you paid by card, talk to your bank about a chargeback. Keep the invoice, photograph the damaged lock, and write down what you were quoted and by whom while it is fresh.
The simplest protection
Find a local locksmith before you need one, and put the number in your phone. Five minutes on a Sunday afternoon, when you are calm and can actually read reviews, is worth more than any amount of care at midnight.
Talk to a person
Every question on this page has a specific answer for your actual lock, car or building. One call, straight to the mobile, 24 hours.
- No call centre
- Price before any tool comes out
- ABN 73 112 836 867, insured
Questions
Common questions
Do locksmiths have to be licensed in Victoria?
There is no standalone locksmith licence in Victoria for mechanical work — cutting keys, opening doors, changing and rekeying cylinders — which is exactly why the checks in this guide matter. Electronic security is different: installing, repairing or maintaining alarms, cameras, safes and electronic access control is a licensed activity under the Private Security Act 2004, administered by Victoria Police. If someone is fitting that kind of equipment, you can ask what licence they hold. For everything else, what you can verify is an ABN, a real business identity, public liability insurance, and whether the person quoting is the person attending.
How do I check an ABN?
Search it on the Australian Business Register at abr.business.gov.au. It takes about fifteen seconds and it tells you whether the business exists, what it is called and whether it is currently registered.
Is a very low quote always a scam?
Not always — but a figure well below everyone else's is worth one more question: is that the total, including call-out and GST? Most of the time the low number turns out to be the call-out fee alone.
How do I know if a locksmith is legitimate?
Four checks, all of which take under a minute. Ask for the ABN and look it up yourself at abr.business.gov.au. Ask for a firm price on the phone and see whether it holds when they arrive. Ask whether they carry public liability insurance and can produce a certificate of currency. Ask whether the person attending holds a current National Police Check you can see at the door. An operator who will not answer those on the phone is telling you something.
How do you know you can trust a locksmith?
You are letting a stranger work on the thing that keeps everyone else out, so the bar should be high. Trustworthy signs: a named business with a real ABN, a fixed quote before work starts, a marked vehicle, identification offered rather than requested, and a willingness to explain what is being fitted and why. Untrustworthy signs: a call centre that will not name the business, a very low phone quote, cash-only pressure on arrival, and a drill produced before a pick.
Does Bunnings have a locksmith?
Bunnings cuts basic mechanical keys at some stores and sells locks, but it is not a locksmith. It cannot cut or program a transponder or smart car key, cannot rekey a cylinder to an existing key, cannot open a locked door, and does not attend call-outs. For a spare house key on a standard cylinder it is a perfectly reasonable option. For anything involving a car, a lock that is already shut, or matching several doors to one key, you need a locksmith.
Locked out, or need a key cut right now?
One call goes straight to the mobile — no call centre, no queue. You speak to a locksmith, not a switchboard. Can't talk? Text a photo of the lock and we'll come back with a firm price.
Related