Fortresslocksmiths24h Reviews 68

I've used Fortress on and off for over 30 years and they used to be great, with helpful, experienced locksmiths who were able to explain the pros and cons of various options to a layperson. Those people appear to have vanished and the current young team seem uninterested in providing that quality of service and a bit put out that you might want it. In the end I resorted to calling an online lock company who were amazingly helpful. Such a shame as I'd always prefer to support a local business where possible.

my call out cost me £638.40 dont use this service !! making high profit from vunrable situations !!¬

My Dad locked himself out of his house. Called this company, they charged £597 to drill through and replace the lock. It’s just naked profiteering. Avoid this company.

We had a locksmith change our locks and put a "high security" lock in that costs £185 before VAT. Unfortunately it was not a turn-thumb lock and we called them back out to change it the next day (which was done free of charge). The locksmith left the box behind and I looked up the manufacturer Versa and the model number. It comes in at £13 RRP. With VAT we paid £222 for a lock that costs £13. The type of locks online for a 3 star Euro Cylinder comes in about £50-£70. We phoned them back and they said they would get the locksmith to come back and put the right one in. Haven't heard from them since. I have pictures of the invoice and box of the product that was installed.

I contacted this company to fix a door that wouldn’t open. I was given a quote for the call out of 49 pounds but not told about the cost of the job. When the person arrived, I was told about the parts needed which turned out to be exorbitant. I felt unable to do anything about it as the lock had already been taken off the door. When the person returned, having gone away to purchase these parts, I was then offered a choice of an additional lock which was needed for the door or a cheaper, less effective alternative. I was not told about this beforehand and I also found out that a 20 per cent charge was also added to the bill because it was the weekend. Again, this was not told to me in advance. The final bill came to over 838 pounds for call out fee, labour and parts. My door and door frame was also damaged by the locksmith when carrying out the work. The mess left behind was also not cleared up. I phoned the company to complain and the person at the end of the phone was rude and evasive. The company’s website mentioned on the invoice does not exist. I have been left feeling sickened by the experience and will be contacting the Trading Standards Authority. I would advise everyone who has had a bad experience to do the same.
Date of experience: 17 August 2024

Liars, cheats, inhumane. RUN AWAY as fast and far as you can. You have been warned.

My vulnerable and aged neighbour got charged £850 for changing the lock to her house and half an hour's work. They must have seen her coming. Its left her very confused and very unhappy.
Good on you Fortress, it must make you proud!

Disgusting company - absolute rip off merchants.

My neighbour lives in sheltered housing. After accidentially losing her keys, she called the housing association and they gave here this company's number.

They charge £120.00 call out fee and £239.00 for drilling the lock, a task that takes 30 seconds. I used to work in ironmongery and had I not had to go out, I would have done this myself.

They then demamed £160.00 to replace the barrel. This would cost around £40 and can be fitted in under 30 seconds. She refused to pay it and the operator made a big fuss about it. In total, she was ripped off to £430.00 for a task that anyone could have done after watching a one minute video on You Tube.

Not only is my neighbour elderly, English is also not their first language. Avoid this company at all costs.

Avoid for good! Absolutely scammers taking advantage of people in need

Very expensive, beware, we paid £500 to change a lock on a Sunday.

This outfit is NOT TO BE TRUSTED! A very personable young man came to do the job. When asked in advance as to how much the job would be he replied that he would have to assess it. Next thing it was done and I was charged over £700 - this without letting me know in advance. When I remonstrated I was fobbed off by a very unpleasant man! DO NOT USE THIS OUTFIT

Fortress Locksmiths attended out of hours for a door not locking. I requested quote which was never given. The workman presented me with an invoice of £909.60 for supposedly changing the lock which he did not do. Contact later with three other locksmiths diagnosed only an alignment problem costing on average £70.00 plus out of hours fee £100.00. I am elderly and live alone so, being anxious, I paid up. Subsequently the company did not respond to my 'phone calls. I am now following the advice of the Master Locksmiths Association, CAB, Trading Standards, Action Fraud, the Police and my MP in pursuing this matter.

My elderly neighbours locked themselves out on the 12/4/24 at about mid day fortress locksmiths quoted about £270 in total to replace lock, finished billing them £982 no receipt when we contacted them and demanded a invoice we were to to F… off, we got a invoice a few days later after repeated calls to them,
and every items were grossly overpriced didn’t even fit the lock properly, and I was only a simple euro lock, stay away from these scammers.

Crooks DONT USE charge more than quoted and took more money than on invoice and new locks fitted n they are loose , complained n told to F…off don’t use

I am the 54th review that also means I’m the 54th person that got scammed:(
I was locked out of a room where I live which is my main room I would of slept on the sofa till the morning but I had candles burning and it was a very strong door, I called Fortresslocksmiths24h and asked how much it would be to come and open and he said all together it will be £144 pound I asked 3 times to make sure this is the payment for the whole service and he said yes and told me he will send someone out right away, I said if it was ok to pay when he gets here and he said it’s fine but he will need a bank card to prove I can pay for it this already sounded fishy but it was such an emergency and I had I was panicking , he said he will not take any money form the card it was just like a security deposit, I know some business do this so, after saying that he took the £144 straight away he arrived and said yes this will now be into an extra £350 which made it just under £500 I told him I did not have this money and there is no way I could pay that he got really aggressive with me and left the premises so I paid £144 to be abused,
I then had to pay another locksmith £150 and he come and sorted the job professionally with so much respect I had so much sentimental value items and couldn’t risk it catching fire, it turned out the customer service was in fact the actual guy who came so that was another lie I cannot get hold of anyone from this company as it does not really exist, I do not know how this is legal and he has done it to so many of us
I am seeking legal action against them but will probably have no luck please avoid and if you are reading this and it’s too late I wish you all the best.

Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

Complete Scam - as every review below - quoted one price then charged my daughter another. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY EVER.

Do not trust them. They tried to rip me off. Quoted 850 for work that costed me 200 from another genuine lock smith. Look for MLA certification.

Called this company out at 5 pm as the nearest locksmith to me location wise, as was locked out. It was 5 pm and getting cold a dark. I was quoted £275 for the call out. The guy came quickly and drilled through the old lock and replaced it giving me the choice of three and prices. I chose a like for like which he said would be £125. He was very polite and finished the job in about 10 minutes. He said with the call out, the new lock, labour and vat the total cost came to £686.40. Seriously....no invoice given either.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

This is an update on UK Locksmiths cheating me out of money on 21st May 2023. They charged me £528 just for repairing a lock when he said about two hundred pounds for repairing the lock.
UK Fortress Locksmiths are now refusing to pay a County Court Judgement of £299 or call it the Small Claims Court This includes £35 court costs. They ignore my E mails. The court order was made on the 20th July 2023. I won by default because UK Fortress Locksmiths did not bother to contest my claim which was made under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 section 51. I got a card reversal from Nationwide Building Society in August 2023. In October 2023 that Card Reversal was reversed so my credit of £299 was taken away because Nationwide say it is a Civil Dispute not a Visa Card Dispute. I have now appealed to the Banking Ombudsman. Waiting to see what happens. Not sure if that fails whether I should send in the Bailiffs or get a Third Party Debt Order which would cost over a hundred pounds and UK Fortress Locksmiths might be able to get out of paying it. Someone told me that UK Fortress Limited address is a private address so the Bailiffs might not go in so a Third Party Debt Order would probably be more likely to work. I am going to try and give UK Fortress Locksmiths bad publicity by phoning radio programmes. It is a good idea for as many people as possible who have been cheated by UK Fortress Locksmiths to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau and Action Fraud which is a department of the Police so action might be taken against UK Fortress Locksmiths. The National Citizens Advice Bureau advised me to go to the Small Claims Court and the Local Citizens Advice Bureau advised me to try and get a Card Reversal when the Lock Smiths refused to pay after I got the Court order. Citizens Advice can also complain to the Trading Standards office and Staffordshire Trading Standards office told me that as the Locksmiths have cheated other people they are gathering evidence for a possible criminal prosecution. It is a good idea for people to complain to their MPS so it should become a criminal offence for a business not to pay up without reasonable excuse if a reward by the Small Claims Court has been made against them. My MP said Parliament is not likely to have time in this Parliament to change the law and no one else has complained about not being paid after a Court Judgement.