All reviews of Andras
Review about: Fantastic Services
Emergency Locksmith
Initially contacted Fantastic Services for an emergency locksmith following getting locked out of my house. Two men arrived in an unmarked van with no uniforms or IDs. They looked at the lock and immediately claimed that it will need to be drilled because of the type of lock it is and that this will already be £150. Once destroyed they said that a "high security British standard lock" will be £325. They also billed for the call-out charge of Fantastic Services, which was already charged by that company. They tallied up a total of £748.80 and reassured me that I would be able to get this money back through home insurance. Finally, they charged £784.80 (switching up the numbers of the total).
Looking into this I found out that I have been a victim of what is referred to a a locksmith scam (Google it, it even has a Wikipedia entry describing this situation). We later found out that a replacement lock costs about £70-90 and that drilling the lock without trying alternative ways of opening it and claiming that it's a "high security" lock is a major red flag for a scam. The Master Locksmith's Association also states that you should not ever be billed more than £200-£300 for an emergency locksmith call-out.
While the customer services team was responsive and respectful, there was, at no point, an admission of fault or the fact that this was a scam and I was presented with all sorts of justifications for the price. After a painstaking process taking over a week and more stressful conversations with the gaslighting locksmith company called 24H Locksmith, 158 Uxbridge Road, W13 8SB, ran by a man named Christian Mihai Oltean (Company No. 14972013) that Fantastic subcontracted I ended up getting £224 back. This makes the eventual total £560, wich is less but still a very high price for what the job was and the emotional toll that all this took is not something that this compensates for.
I contacted Fantastic Services because they have high ratings and what happened was exactly what I was trying to avoid. It appears that they do not vet the companies they subcontract and then defending them in the complaint process was extremely disappointing. If they have taken responsibility for their error I may have considered a higher rating but this was beyond nightmarish in the end.
If you ever get locked out of your house take a deep breath, and then go to the Master Locksmith Association’s website and find a provider there that does emergency callouts and will give you an exact quote over the phone.Dear customer,
It was a pleasure for our customer care team to arrange a 60% refund from the initial price back to your Bank account.
Our team remains at your disposal.
Kind regards,
Fantastic Services
Dear Andras,
Thank you for your feedback.
We are quite concerned to hear about your most recent experience.
What you have described is far from the standard we strive to achieve as a customer-oriented company.
Please accept our sincere gratitude for your time, patience, and cooperation throughout the resolution process. Your willingness to provide us with valuable feedback has been instrumental in helping us address the issues you encountered.
Kind regards,
Fantastic Services