Locksmith

anonymous

Can anyone recommend a good locksmith in the neighborhood? I have a deadbolt I need installed and in the past I've had to deal with shoddy installation. Thanks!
RAH

emily

For anything like this, I'd recommend calling Pintchik. (If you're new to the neighborhood: that's the giant hardware store at Bergen & Flatbush.) I've always found them really helpful, and they seem to have a small army of handyman-type people whom they employ to do various small installation jobs.

sje

The hardware store, the mom-n-pop one on Flatbush, just a block up from Pintchik, is run by Chris, a lifelong locksmith, and was owned by his locksmith Dad before him. Chris has gotten me back into both my shop and apt. after I locked myself out more times than I care to remember. He's incredibly skilled, affordable & makes house calls. *Highly* rec'd. Pinkchik is for many things, but when it comes to anything locks, Chris is my main go-to guy.

emily

Thanks sje...I'll have to keep that in mind, too. I don't usually lock myself out of things, but every time my mother visits me (regardless of where in NY I'm living) she wants me to install more locks. :roll:

emily

Probably anyone seeing this post will already be convinced about the place on Flatbush, but just in case you're searching the forum for "locksmith" please take note of this warning provided by a friend of mine:

red wrote: NEVER USE BROOKLYN LOCKSMITH, OR SPEEDWAY LOCKSMITH[/color]. They will overcharge you and give you a piece of crap. The full story:

Two weeks ago the front-door lock broke and we were literally trapped in the apartment, so I called Brooklyn Locksmith out of the yellow pages (they also do business as Speedway, on the very next page in the phone book). Although I requested a brand-name lock—and admittedly, at the time I didn’t know much more than Medeco or Baldwin—the man they sent installed something called a MaxTech, and charged me more than $300 for it (plus $75 to break the old lock, plus tax = $405). The lock looked pretty shoddy, as did the box—it had no paperwork of any kind with it, no warranty or anything, so I quickly jumped online and Googled the model number. Would you believe Google came up with ZERO hits? It’s such a no-name, generic lock that not a single online vendor carries it. Even leaving off the model number, I couldn’t find any ratings, nor the company’s own web site. At this point I was certain it was a piece of junk, so I fought with him to get the bill reduced—that $405 is after a 10% “discount.” I seethed, knowing I’d been taken, but I didn’t know what else to do. Apparently I’m not as savvy a consumer as I think I am.

The other day S noticed that the lock was already loose in the cylinder, and since then I’ve done enough research at hardware stores to be absolutely certain that I was sold a piece of junk—everyone assures me this lock should not have cost more than $50, plus a reasonable installation fee. I called Brooklyn Locksmith several times over the course of the day today, asking to speak to the manager, who—no surprise—was never there. Finally, the secretary assured me that the manager himself would come to look at the lock this afternoon. She swore that they were only interested in my satisfaction. Instead of the manager, though, the original worker, Shahar, rang my bell just after 6PM. Shahar tightened the lock with a drill and insisted that everything was all right, and refused to replace the piece of junk with a Marx or some other trusted name brand. He was just an employee, he said, and I should call his manager, which I immediately tried to do. Guess what? He wasn’t in. The man I did speak to, who wouldn’t give his name, laughed at me and hung up when I told him I wanted a new lock. S and I have been forced to spend another $60 to buy a REAL lock at the hardware store, which we’re installing ourselves. I’m disputing this with American Express and I’ve filed a complaint with NYC’s department of consumer affairs, but I’m still shaking with anger. Clearly these cheats are not honest businessmen, and are only out to take advantage of people who are vulnerable in an emergency. If you’re ever in a situation like mine, save yourself a LOT of grief and don’t call Brooklyn Locksmith, or Speedway. They’re nothing but trouble.

Oh, and for the record, they seem to have an awful lot of phone numbers so I’ll include them all here. DON’T CALL ANY OF THEM:

718-969-3535
718-969-3636
718-591-7622
718-591-3121
800-852-8996

That is all. And remember: Spread the word!

ana.log

sje wrote: The hardware store, the mom-n-pop one on Flatbush, just a block up from Pintchik, is run by Chris, a lifelong locksmith, and was owned by his locksmith Dad before him. Chris has gotten me back into both my shop and apt. after I locked myself out more times than I care to remember. He's incredibly skilled, affordable & makes house calls. *Highly* rec'd. Pinkchik is for many things, but when it comes to anything locks, Chris is my main go-to guy.

I agree that Pintchik is not the place for keys or locks. I had keys made there and they didn't even work. I did have a good experience with American Locksmith at 95 St. Marks Place, 718-857-1418.

pensodyssey

This one time... last summer, I was waiting for my girlfriend to show up. It got later and later and I kept hammering away at the vodka and other assorted chemical delights. I lay down on my bed, popped a dvd in, and... fell asleep. I was woken by my girlfriend by my bedside... which was odd because she didn't have keys to the apartment.

Lurking ominously behind her in the doorway to the bedroom was a rather large, sweaty man.

Turns out she spent about 2 hours banging on the door, and when I didn't respond, she panicked and called a locksmith. At 3 in the morning. I got up and found my living room showered with metal shavings, and the sweaty man asking me for $300. I was still rather disoriented, so he had to drive me to the 24 hour bodega at 6th and Dean to get the cash.

The kicker came when he turned around from the driver's seat and said in a thick Russian accent, "Buddy, yoo shoodn't dreenk so much."

So I got punched locks, extortionist charges, and a lecture in self-restraint that evening.

Moral of the story: Don't have a girlfriend. Life's just easier that way.