Austin Premier Locksmith

$ 150 to drill a hole in a door lock — less than 30 min max. I will kick the door in before I ever use Austin’s Premier Lock & Key again. After he said he normally billed $ 180 to drill a hole and ruin the door knob, he would do $ 150 — he then asked me if I was normally a happy person. The only thing premier about Austin’s Premier Lock & Key is their price.

Wow, I wish I could give 0 stars for this company. First off, the operator on the phone lied about the cost to Re-​key 6 locks in my rental home. Every year I have my home re-​keyed and normally I pay $ 100 – 150. Like a idiot, I called this place and was quoted on the phone $ 30 service Fee and $ 15 per lock. I said Great! Scheduled appointment for 10am the next morning. The service guy never called or showed up the next morning until 12:30. After the service guy finished the job, I get a bill in front of me approx $ 300. WTF, he charged me $ 30 service fee, $ 30 per lock and $ 10 labor fee per lock!!! Do not use these guys just a bunch of cons to take advantage of customers. Call a real locksmith to do the job and not these guys.

I wish I could leave zero stars. The call center lied about the prices. I wish they would have been honest about the prices when I called. I would have called someone else. Call center told me it would be $ 55 to unlock the front door to my house but the tech got there and said $ 150. I freaked out and he came down to $ 120 and I was so frustrated at that point I just said yes. Then the guy couldn’t even unlock the front door so we had to use the garage door and climb in the tiny window from my garage to my kitchen. They suck!

Where to begin… it took them 75 minutes to get to me when I live right in the center of town. They quoted me $ 55 plus 10% discount. When they arrived he tried to charge me $ 150. Needless to say I refused and called the «business.» His boss relented almost immediately and gave it to me for agreed upon price of $ 55. So not only are they con artists but they not even good at their con. Still never received that 10% discount after everything. Save yourself the trouble and call somebody else next time.

I scheduled an appointment for 6:30pm tonight… got a call saying it would be more like 7. At 7:30, I call to see if they’re on the way… only to get told they will call someone else and give me a call back. At 8:15, I finally called and cancelled. Terrible customer service. I wish I had read the reviews first…

I echo the prior poor reviews and wish had checked Unilocal before my colleague booked Avi White (owner and sole locksmith, I believe) at Austin’s Premier Lock & Key.
This unscrupulous operation charged over $ 500 to rekey some locks, or $ 32/​lock, about triple the normal $ 12-​$ 14. In addition, Avi charged both a service call and labor (normal practice is one or the other). My associate did not catch the overcharging before swiping our company card.
I initially thought the ludicrously high amount was a billing mistake. Avi was slow to respond to multiple calls (took a couple weeks) and his tone was belligerent. He only became responsive when I mentioned posting a review. He promised to come back after conferring with his «boss,» but that was over a week ago and no call-​back.
Reading the other reviews, the overcharging and poor service seem to be a systemic pattern with this company.

They are THE WORST!!! This is a total scam company. They prey on people who need help. Disgusting. I locked my keys in my car and the door wasn’t even closed all the way. They told me one price over the phone and then charged me double that price. They said they had to use a special tool because it was a newer car — it was an 04 camry! And I saw the tool they used, it was basically a long stick. Completely ridiculous. Do not use these jokers.

I also wish I could leave no stars. Highway robbery is what this guy does. BUYER BE VERY AWARE. A simple door lock and service call for an honest locksmith might have been as much as $ 100. This unfortunate tale comes while I was on vacation and my business partner locked herself out of the office without her cellphone or keys. She found a nearby office and used their phone to find a locksmith. (Our usual guy’s phone number was stored in her cell phone and she could not remember his last name.)
She chose Austin Premier locksmith out of three possibilities given by information. She reached a service, left her name and number and he called back within 5 minutes. The guy claimed he would be there in 35 minutes. Took him an hour and 5 minutes. During this time he did not return her call again.
When he arrived, he quickly got the door unlocked (while claiming the handle must be replaced) but then «accidently» locked it back when my partner said she didn’t want a new door handle. At that point he said, «well I can’t unlock it so I’ll have to drill it out to open it.» He then proceeded to drill the door lock effectively RUINING my door handle and leaving me no choice but to replace it.
Luck​ily​.as soon as he got our simple (and now ruined) door unlocked (for the second time), my friend refused for him to do any additional work. The entire process took 15 minutes and he charged her $ 200!!! He refused to take a business check demanding cash or credit card only.
I did call my usual guy to replace my ruined handle and I urge you to be very careful should you choose to gamble on Austin Première Locksmith. This guy is not honest.

I wish I could leave no stars at all. This service was awful. I had locked my keys in my car and called for someone to get them out. Rhett was late, and he wanted to charge me $ 150 to get into my car (WTF?!) when I had been quoted $ 35. I tried to haggle it down but he wouldn’t go under $ 100 (STILL ridiculous). He was also a jackass to my boyfriend when he attempted to get the price down, and extremely rude to me when I signed the credit card receipt. Don’t give me attitude, Rhett. You’re already swindling me. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to do it MORE. Never ever use this service, if you know what’s good for you. And Ace Locksmiths apparently contracts APL out to get your keys out of your car, so don’t call Ace either.
When I called the place to make a complaint, the owner pretty much plugged up his ears, told me I was wasting my time, and hung up on me. The people who run and work for this company are unethical, rude, and have no concern for decent customer service – only for profit. Better to let these guys close and give the business to someone else.

Yair saved me on my Volkswagen Jetta. I could not find a key or someone other than the VW dealer to cut it. (It is a lazer cut key.) The VW dealer wanted a whole lot of money to cut one. Other lock smiths wouldn’t even touch it. Yair cut a key for me lickity splickity at a fraction of the price! He’s a nice guy too!