Call-Out Charges – what are they and when are they applied and Locksmith prices plus who applies them? Here our Pricing Policy.
I Am a 24 Hour Locksmiths. This means I respond to calls any time of day or night.
It is a practice within the locksmith industry that requests a locksmith’s attendance at short notice. An emergency, such as a person being locked out of their home, will incur an emergency call out charge (call out charge).
CALL OUT CHARGE
This call-out charge is also the customer being charged the locksmith’s prices and normal hourly rate or fixed cost for the job. Pricing Policy Higgins Locksmiths, A call-out charge is made irrespective of the time of day or night along with the locksmith’s hourly rate or fixed cost. A call-out charge isn’t customarily applied where work is pre-booked and is not urgent or an emergency. And this is why I advertise no call out charge for pre-booked work.
Normal hourly rate
Some Locksmith Companies decide not to invoke this charge. Pricing Policy Higgins Locksmiths is fixed. At Higgins Locksmiths, we DO NOT CHARGE an Emergency Call Out Charge (“Call Out Charge”). We always charge our hourly rate or fixed cost. It is My price policy NOT to attend an address free of charge, regardless of circumstances.
When a company declares that they do not apply a call-out charge (“No Call Out Charge”), it doesn’t mean that a locksmith will attend an incident or come to quote for work free of charge unless stated. It means that they will still apply their regular hourly rate/fixed cost but will not apply an additional call-out charge for attending at short notice. ie. in an emergency. If I feel the need to add a call out charge, then i will add one if it’s required.
Hourly Rates and fixed costs
I operate in County Durham but cover the whole of the North East. Pricing Policy Higgins Locksmiths, several factors dictate my hourly rate/fixed cost, such as;
A) The time of day or night or weekend
B) The geographical location (postcode)
C) The type of job I am required to undertake
D) Local charges/Tolls
E) Weather issues
F) Locksmith prices
It is impossible to show on this website every conceivable charging possibility. However, based on the factors (A) to (D) above, here are some examples of Locksmith prices.
Examples of Pricing Policy
i)The time of day or night – My standard labour charge for attending an address for general locksmith work between 9 am and 5.30 pm in County Durham £45. This hourly rate would rise to a maximum of £90 per hour between the hours of 5.30 pm and 8 am. Our hourly standard labour charges apply throughout the country during normal working hours. 9 am – 5.30 pm Monday – Friday.
ii) Weekend Call Out Charges – Starting from 5.30 pm on a Friday till 9 am on Monday, the hourly rate changes. Saturday & Sunday from 9 am – 5.30 pm is £55 per hour. This hourly rate will rise to a maximum of £110 per hour between 5.30 pm, and 9 am on both days.
iii) The geographical location – (B) If we received the same type of call as in (i) above but to an address in the outer country area as opposed to inner-city areas, the hourly charge between 9am, and 5.30pm would be £85 and £155 between 5.30pm and 9am.
iiii) The type of job I am required to undertake – (c) Locksmith work covers a multitude of variables from opening a simple cam lock on a cupboard through to opening and fitting mortise (Mortice) locks.
iv) Local Charges/Tolls – These are charges made by local government or private companies to access certain geographical areas, cross certain bridges or use certain tunnels. This may incur a local charge or toll. For example, if I had to use the Tyne Tunnel then we will charge for that toll charge.
GENERAL LOCKSMITH PRICES
v) Danger issues, forced entry and bad weather issues have a “danger” or “forced entry” charge. When the air temp is below -1c to -5c, we have a danger fee of £40. If there is excessive snow, such as 1-2ft or a flood, and a normal vehicle cannot access the location. I will charge a danger fee of £80. If I am in any danger at all due to an issue through evictions, then I will set a danger fee of £100 or charge up to £100 if I suffer any injury due to a forced entry or break tools on a forced entry.
I never attend any job without giving my hourly labour rate or fixed cost. This has to be agreed upon by the customer prior to us regarding the job.
Where I think new parts will be required, if possible, I will give a range of what I believe the cost of the new part will be eg £15 to £28 for a standard rim cylinder. If we feel that we cannot confidently quote for parts based on the customer’s information. I will quote our hourly rate/fixed cost and inform the customer that there may be parts required, which will be quoted on site.
PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT US
All hourly rates/fixed fees, parts, and additional toll charges will be subject to VAT.
Where an hourly rate is charged, I will always quote a minimum charge of one hour. This is regardless of the time spent at the address up to one hour e.g. 1 to 59 minutes
If the first hour is exceeded, I charge thereafter in 15-minute intervals. In the example given in i) above we quoted an hourly rate of £45 and were on-site for 1 hour 10 minutes we would charge the first hour at £45 and the 10 minutes would be rounded up to 15 minutes for charging purposes. Therefore the cost would be £55.75.
Our hourly rate starts from the time I arrive at the site (agreed address). If for whatever reason the person I am meeting i.e. The householder, landlord, tenant, a bailiff is late, the waiting time incurred by me will be charged.
When I receive instructions to attend an address, I will always call the customer back to confirm the ETA. If the customer wishes to cancel our attendance, they may do so without charge as long as I receive notification by telephone no less than one hour before our agreed ETA. If cancellation is made less than one hour, I will charge the equivalent of ‘one hours labour’ as a cancellation charge. Failure to attend the agreed date and time will result in an additional charge of £20 for the first non-show and followed by an amount of £45 for every other missed appointment.
Priced Per Job
Priced Per Job, this is where I can give you a price based on the information I receive from you. If I believe I can fix the job that you have described to us via communication. I may give a price per job. If this fails to be the case, I will notify you or the attendee of the price change, such as if I quote £75 for the job’s labour. Still, then the job ended up taking 4 hours as we were given misleading information such as my lock is broke. The door had totally dropped or jammed, and you fail to mention these facts when asked.
This is misleading information for a lower price. Then I will go back to the standard rate per hour charged in 15-minute intervals after the first hour. If you cancel the job due to this, then I can still charge a fee for attending. This can be our hourly rate plus a call-out fee and for any materials used up to that point.
Recording Of Calls
Calls may be recorded for training and security reasons, and this includes mobile phone calls.
Before calling, please read the terms and conditions and pricing policy. Please note you agree to these when booking us via any form of communications.