Questions We Answer Every Day

Typically 20 to 40 minutes anywhere in the service area, which runs from Waterville up through Utica and Whitesboro. We're based in Chadwicks, so the southern half of the county usually sees the faster end of that range. When you call, you'll get a realistic arrival window along with your exact quote, not a number invented to keep you waiting around.

Yes. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year, holidays included. Most locksmiths around here keep weekday business hours, which is no help when you're standing in a parking lot at midnight. Night calls get the same treatment as day calls: a full quote before we dispatch and a 20 to 40 minute arrival window inside the service area.

Eleven towns in Oneida County: Chadwicks, Sauquoit, Washington Mills, Clayville, New Hartford, Utica, New York Mills, Yorkville, Whitesboro, Clinton, and Waterville. That's the whole list for now. We don't serve Rome or Herkimer yet, and we'd rather say so up front than quote you a long wait. If you're on the edge of one of these towns, call (916) 969-8748 and we'll tell you honestly whether we can reach you quickly.

Your location, what you're locked out of, and for car work, the year, make, and model of the vehicle. That's enough for an exact quote and an arrival window. If it's a house or business lock, knowing the brand helps, but don't worry if you can't tell by looking. A quick photo or a plain description does the job.

Yes. We open locks for people who have the right to be behind them, so you or someone you authorize needs to meet us on site with ID. For a house, that means ID showing the address or another proof of residence, like a piece of mail plus your ID. For a car, it's registration or title, which we can check once the door is open. It protects you as much as anyone.

It depends on the job, but here are real numbers: the service call is $39 and gets credited toward the work, car lockouts start at $75, house lockouts at $85, and rekeying runs from $30 per cylinder plus the service call. Those are honest starting points, not teasers. Before anyone drives out, you'll hear the full price for your specific job, and that's the number you pay.

Because $19 gets clicks. Those ads usually route to a call center, and the tech who shows up quotes the real price at your door, when you're in no position to argue. We don't run that play. You get the complete price on the phone before we dispatch, and if you don't like it, you've lost nothing but a phone call.

The price we quote on the phone is the price you pay, no matter what hour you call. We built this business around being available around the clock, so a 2 a.m. lockout isn't a special occasion that triggers surprise fees at the door. Every job starts the same way: a $39 service call credited toward the work, and a full quote before we head your way.

It covers the trip: a stocked truck and a working locksmith at your door. It's credited toward whatever work you approve, so it isn't stacked on top of the job as a separate surprise. If you decide not to go ahead once we arrive, the service call is all you owe. Every quote we give before dispatch spells out exactly how that number factors in.

For standard jobs, yes. Lockouts, rekeys, and most key work quote cleanly once we know the vehicle or the lock. When a job has a genuine unknown, like a safe that's been drilled before or an ignition someone already worked on, we'll tell you the range and what would move the number before we dispatch, not after. No work starts until you've approved an exact figure.

If the hardware is in good shape and you just want old keys to stop working, rekey. It runs from $30 per cylinder plus the service call, and it's usually the cheaper fix by a wide margin. Replace when the lock itself is worn out or flimsy; new locks start at $65 each plus hardware. We'll look at what's on your door and tell you which one actually makes sense, with the exact price settled before any work starts.

You need to change who the keys work for, which usually means rekeying rather than replacing. Previous owners, their relatives, old contractors, and old housesitters may all be holding copies, and rekeying makes every one of those keys useless in a few minutes per lock. It runs from $30 per cylinder plus the service call, quoted exactly before we come out. If some hardware turns out to be worn, we'll say so and price a replacement before touching it.

Sometimes. If the keyway is iced up, warming the key gently and working it in slowly can free things. What you shouldn't do is force it: cold makes brittle keys snap, and a broken key in a frozen lock turns a quick fix into an extraction. We see plenty of this every winter, since lake-effect cold is hard on locks. If it won't give, call (916) 969-8748 and we'll get you sorted.

Yes, install and setup both. We'll also give you a straight opinion on whether the model you picked suits your door, because some don't play well with older or misaligned frames, and it's better to hear that before it's mounted. If you haven't bought one yet, we can suggest options at a couple of price points. Installation gets quoted exactly up front, like everything else we do.

Yes, and you don't need to tow the car anywhere. We come to it, cut a new key, and program it on site. A basic cut key starts at $120. A transponder key, the chipped kind most cars have used since the late 1990s, runs from $180 cut and programmed. Give us the year, make, and model when you call and you'll have the exact price before we dispatch.

Usually, yes. Fob programming starts at $95, and we'll quote the exact figure for your vehicle before heading out. One honest warning: aftermarket fobs from online marketplaces are hit or miss, and a fob that's locked to another vehicle or simply defective can't be programmed by anyone. Give us the part number or the listing when you call and we'll tell you whether it's likely to work.

For most vehicles, yes, and the bigger difference is often logistics. A dealership typically needs the car brought to them and may take days for a key to arrive. We come to your driveway and handle cutting and programming on the spot, transponder keys from $180 and fobs from $95, with the exact price quoted before we drive out. For some very new or exotic models the dealer genuinely is the right answer, and we'll tell you when that's the case.

Stop turning it. The deeper the fragment gets worked in, the harder the extraction. We pull broken keys from ignitions and door locks without damaging the cylinder, and we can cut a replacement on the same visit. This is a winter specialty around here, since hard freezes make older keys brittle. Call with your year, make, and model, and you'll have the full price for extraction plus a new key before we head out.

No. New York State doesn't license locksmiths, so anyone advertising a New York locksmith license number is telling you something about themselves. Judge a locksmith by behavior instead: a complete price quoted before dispatch, non-destructive methods before any talk of drilling, an itemized receipt when the work is done, and a real local address. Ours is 3480 Oneida St in Chadwicks. A locksmith who won't commit to a price until the truck arrives has already told you what you need to know.

Almost never, and never as the first move. Picking and bypassing come first, and the large majority of lockouts open without any damage at all. Drilling is a last resort for locks that have genuinely failed or high-security cylinders that defeat everything else, and we'll explain why and price the replacement before touching a drill. A locksmith who reaches for the drill in the first five minutes is taking a shortcut for their benefit, not yours.

Because the alternative is a stranger with tools opening any door someone points at. Before we open a home, we verify you have the right to be there. For a car, we check ownership or registration once the door is open. It takes a minute and it's not personal. The day you're on the other side of that door, you'll want the locksmith working on it to be just as picky.

You tell us where you are and what's going on, and you get two things on the phone: an exact price and an arrival window, usually 20 to 40 minutes inside the service area. The truck comes to you. On arrival we confirm the quote and your ID, do the work, and hand you an itemized receipt showing what you were quoted and what you paid. No add-ons at the door, no drama.