One thing I believe might quell this problems is to hold all advertisors responsible. Yes, Charge them with aiding and abedding. It can be done especially in the states that are licensed. The licensed states would only have to prove that they were enabling unlicensed individuals and companys break the law, and in unlicensed states it would be a little harderer because one would have to prove much more. I am one that is not a big fan of licensing but I do recognize it as a tool for enforcement. If you ever noticed all of the phonys advertise they are licensed when truly they are not. Even where licensing is not required they say they are licensed.

Anyway the Bust of these Few what I consider total sleaze bags is really nothind as I believe they are only lower level pawns. The money being made is mind boggling. I dont have an exact figure but I believe it is probably hundreds of millions by now nationwide and collectively.

Google needs to address this problem as they are taking money from these types of companys also. Google run-local locksmith the 29.00 service locksmith that does not charge 29.00 locksmith service but much more. They will not give an exact quote and suprise the victim/consummer of the real charge many times after they do an opening. In Northern Illinois they are the top google sponsored ad in every community. Is Google responsible? I say yes. Will they Listen? I think a class action lawsuit will do the trick. I know that this is already being discussed between some attorneys who are licking their chops.

This is far from over and like a forest fire every ember of this problem needs to be doused. To the ones out there who are actively fighting this please keep up the good work.

Mike Bronzell
Keyman424@aol.com

If you call any of those companies, you’ll find they are still quoting what Dependable and the spin-offs have been quoting for a long while: “$39 for the service fee, and $15 or more for the labor”. When the customer responds, “But what about the $29 I’m seeing on Google?” then they drop that “service fee” by $10. So now it sounds like at least you got a $10 break, and it’s still cheaper than “those other locksmiths” (those “expensive guys” that are honestly naming their flat rate… and who are, ironically, actually the much cheaper guys).

Regardless of calling themselves “”$25 Locksmith”, the overall charge is in the end still $100 or more.

People really need to pay more attention to what’s said on the phone. The scammers are never going away. So it’s up to the consumers to be more pro-active by listening closer and thinking it through. In fact, even these news stories get it wrong. The scammers don’t say $54 and then “overcharge” as the news reporters keep reporting. They say, “$39 for the service fee, and $15 or more for the labor”. That sounds like it adds up to $54 — IF you’re not paying attention to the most important part of what just got said. Which is the “or more” part of it. And most people miss the implication of that, somehow.

Almost daily I get a customer who turns my flat fee of $60 down, because he’s going to go with the “cheaper locksmith” who quoted him, in effect, “Somewhere between $54 and infinity”. Or because he’s going to go with the $25 guy in Google’s sponsored links who quotes him (in effect), “Somewhere between $40 and infinity”.

The scam is easy to avoid. Just get a total price. Don’t deal in approximates. Then hold the locksmith to it (preferably in writing before he touches your car). Last week a guy complained to me, “That other guy I called said it’d be somewhere between $40 and $95!” So, that particular scammer did actually name his full price. Problem was, as the customer himself explained: “I assumed it would just be $40! After all, it’s a Chevy not a Rolls Royce!” So it wasn’t an issue an overcharging so much an issue of misleading the customer. The customer didn’t understand why he’d been given a price range. He was told it had to do with the difficulty of the car, and customers tend to assume that inexpensive cars are the easier cars (which isn’t necessarily true). They are not wanting to show up and assess the car, the way they lead customers to believe. They want to show up and assess YOU. At the very least, they intend to leave with that “service fee” for having just showed up. They have the customer on a recording saying “Yes” to their “$29″ or “$39 service fee” and they think it’s their legal right to collect on that (in spite of the fact that nothing else they said was forthright enough to be honest, which I think legally would nullify any agreement made on the phone).

No the “$25 Locksmith” and “$29 Locksmith” stuff is just their “service fee”. It’s deceptive advertising.

As Google reacted to an Attorney General who reacted some years after people started reporting this stuff, I wouldn’t expect Google to catch on to the deceptive Sponsored Links any time soon. You have to call the people to know that they’re screwing customers. You can’t judge just by what their spamming strategy is, or by whether their address is a brick-n-mortar shop or not.

I don’t know if Dependable is alive and kicking. But I do know there are several other companies out there. They’re not just the long lists of phone numbers with weird business names and fake addresses. They’re also moneyed-enough to buy full page ads in the yellow pages, and sponsored links on Google. Those are the guys still taking the most calls from the most customers and ripping them off. Via deceptive advertising, not just deceptive price quotes on the phone.

Google cleaned the Maps good (I’d scored it 6.5 out of 10). PPC is still widely polluted.

NO company in the industry charging $25/ $29 for the service, neither do Dependable (if you know what I mean).