Fortresslocksmiths24h Reviews 

As all other comments said, this is a SCAM- please avoid, the comments on google reviews are all fake. They (2 guys from Romania) came to my flat today, saying over the phone the charge will be approx 59 pounds for opening the lock and a range of 100-200 for changing to a new lock. Once they arrived I asked what will be the actual price but they kept saying they don't know yet, clearly this is their tactic in order to give you final bill that you must pay. The final bill was 622 pounds! The bill included absurd charges such as labour for each action they made, emergency charge, cost of each small peace they change etc. The actual cost of such work is 150 pounds max. I submitted a complain via Ombudsman Services, and waiting for legal actions.

I was charged £780.60 to "change my lock"
Didn't need replacement. This company are con merchants. PLEASE DO NOT USE them.
The correct charge to allow access should have been £68 + VAT. BEWARE!!!!

Quick response and polite-ish locksmith but shocking prices. £125 callout plus £250 to drill a lock plus £300 for new lock plus VAT. Only find prices once they arrive on site and then you are under pressure to pay to complete the job. Other locksmiths will provide a quote first. 2 quoted me between a third and half the cost, one was no fix no fee.

On Sunday 21st May they charged me £528 and another locksmith said that they would have charged under two hundred pounds and that Fortress Locksmiths are criminals as they charged an old lady over £800. I called them out as my lock was broken and I could not shut my front door and wanted to go out later that day. They seemed respectable on their web site.
They only told me about the £220 charge for changing parts of the Cylinder but not about the £100 labour charge and the Sunday call out charge £120. The £528 does include £88 VAT. I have suggested that they refund half of what they took as they did warn me about the £220 and add £44 VAT would make £264. It is a pity that we do not take joint action to recover our money. I have written to my MP and the law needs to be changed so rogue locksmiths are not allowed to operate. I have contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau. I have E Mailed UK Fortress Locksmiths and even told them that I am doing my best to get them into trouble with the police. I spoke to them on the phone and they assured me that five hundred pounds is reasonable and they doubt it could be done for under two hundred pounds and they take up to two weeks to answer E Mails. I will not wait for two weeks as I will be contacting as many people as I can in the mean time. It might end in the Small Claims court my claim.
UP DATE AUGUST 20TH 2023.
I took it to the Small Claims Court and got a Default Judgement and I got a provisional Visa Card Reversal from my Building Society.
I suggest everyone defrauded by that company goes to the Small Claims Court and tries to get a Card Reversal if you have paid by card and after you have the Judgement in your favour. The Building Society refused before the Judgement to do a Visa Card Reversal but agreed after the Judgement.

It is true that you cannot call the police but you can report them to the police through Action Fraud. Either report them on line or phone 0203 123 2040. Monday to Friday 12 to 8 PM. I have also had a phone call from Staffordshire Trading Standards Authority which is near the companies head office that they are gathering evidence for a possible criminal prosecution as they have done it to many people quoting one price and getting more than that price in the end. You can ring 01473 260677 to tell them what happened to you.

This company should be shut down!!!They are criminals who pressure elderly people to pay extortionate prices because they are scared of them.They charges an 80 year old friend £850 to change 1 lock When I got there she was still shaking And said she was pressured into paying this.We are speaking to the police now!!

Do not use this company hopefully they will be in prison soon

Worst company ever !!!!! DO NOT ever use them! They came on a Friday as I forgot my keys inside my flat. They charged me £65 for call and fee, £179 to open the door and £129 to replace a simple cylinder lock. The total plus VAT was £447,60.
I have never seen that in my life. This company should close its door !!!!!!
They are absolute THIEFS and it’s probably a scam !!!!!

SHOULD BE ABLE TO GIVE A ZERO!! Ripped off an old person - despicable!!! Can’t believe these people have been able to get away with this thievery for so long. Am going to report to Trading Standards Commission but feel it maybe a waste of time from what I read! Where’s the equaliser with the need them!! I can only hope Karma will catch up with them soon! DISGUSTING 🤬

Never ever use this company. Total scam.

Now I know for sure I've been scammed! I had the unfortunate chance of calling them after me and my husband got locked out of our house. The engineer turned up and said he can't open the front door because it had a safety lock!!! The door was a simple double glazed and wooden door with a simple door latch plus and we didn't lock it!!!! I was baffled when he told he would have to drill through the door and remove the latch from outside. I said to him I had a similar issue a couple of years and the locksmith managed to open the door latch in 2 minutes. This engineer then went to his car and got his wallet with simple tools, pretending to open the door but I can tell he was incompetent. The whole story about having to break the latch was a ploy to charge for breaking and replacing the lock which was not necessary. We then asked how much it would cost to break the lock and got told £245 plus VAT. I gasped and said to the engineer you're having a laugh. Thankfully my husband and I had the sense to say no thank you but he still went ahead and charged us £106 callout fee. I called their office and the man on the other line told me 'what's wrong with you' for daring to question their extortionate call out fee. I ended up hanging up on him and paid these cowboys £106 for doing naff all. These cowboys aren't transparent about the cost upfront and lure you in until they lock you onto the job and pretty much intimidate you into paying their unfairly high prices. Day light robbery and they should be referred to trading standards for treating customers unfairly and blackmailing them into paying high prices that they don't tell you upfront. VERY DISHONEST COMPANY WHO ARE A COMPLETE SHAM. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!

This company are scammers they ripped me off for £730 to change a door lock when locked out it took him only 15mins to replace the lock, they told me the lock was £275 +VAT but they didn’t tell us there was a labour charge of £199 and a call out charge of £120, the locksmith pretended he couldn’t speak or understand English but when he wanted payment he spoke very good English. Beware of his so called Boss in the office or hiding in the car, he is so rude, he was shouting at me, screaming down the phone I have never experienced such behaviour before as a customer, it’s so bad these people are criminals I will not employ them ever again.

SCAMMERS - DO NOT USE OR TRUST!!

These cowboys are unprofessional and scammers! Their strategy is to quote a price, do the job, then add extras on top such as call out charge and labour cost. Then they threaten to board your door if you do not pay! illegal practice and have been reported to company house!

Just as a follow up to this cowboy 49 Queen St Newmarket , I don't know how much good it will do but Suffolk Trading Standards have been informed and are now aware if they were not before about this Rip off merchant. More than pleased to offer Trading Standards photos of a) the shoddy job and b) his receipt .

I rate them negative/minus.
My 90 year old father-in -law was scammed out of £1.708.80 by these unscrupulous fraudsters. Looking at some previous reviews I’m bewildered why these lot can continue to get away with stealing money from unsuspecting elderly people and others.
I am discussed and angry that my father-in-law was led to believe that the cost was high because of the type of locks supplied and that these were specialised security locks.
The locks are nothing special and can be purchased from lock shop direct for £12.58 including vat. Each. TSS 5 lever dead locks.
To make things worse these locks were swapped out for a more reputable make. One of the old locks was becoming stiff and difficult to operate. This was a worry and enough for my father-in-law to seek the help of a locksmith.
I didn’t know of any the above until the work was completed. I was utterly shocked when I was made aware.
If anyone has any suggestions as to what could be done about these rogue traders to stop them ripping off others. Also on how they can be taken to task to claim money back. I have a copy of the invoice dated 28th October 2022 from Uk fortress locksmiths, Newmarket. Thanks to anyone that could give any helpful advice.

I just want to reiterate all of the reviews below DO NOT CALL THIS COMPANY THEY ARE FRAUDSTERS/SCAMMERS!

I've had a similar experience with prices extortionately ballooned, a broken door left, half the lock installed and a bill worth £650 for a simple lock change.

DO NOT CALL THEM!

UK Fortress Locksmith LTD, 49 Queens Street CB8 8EX BEWARE of this company. They are an organized crime-based company. SCAMMERS. They have just scammed us by over £1000. A gear box was charged for £500 and the cylinder for £400. A callout fee of £90, a drill for £189 and labour for £180. Just to change a faulty door. The gearbox would've cost about £30-50 and the cylinder about the same. We called them repeatedly to address the issue but we have been constantly fobbed off. This has been an awful experience and we do not want anyone else to go through this. So you are now being WARNED don't ever think of using this company. They are the altimate scammers.

These guys are scam artists

They charged me £693 to chnage a lock. £185 for a yale secure barrel that costs £29.

Cant believe I paid this.... no scruples.

The real Fortress locksmiths get 3 calls a day

UK Fortress Locksmiths are SCAMMERS! They wanted £710 to replace a lock. Not what they quoted in advance! The locksmith present just added one outrageous charge after another, including a "call-out charge". Look online--legitimate locksmiths don't charge a "call-out charge". Not even a nighttime emergency. Daytime. Weekday. Nothing but rip-off artists. AVOID!!!

con merchants that play on the elderly, they charged my elderly parents £1046.40 for a lock, avoid at all costs, luckily i contacted the bank that charged there money back.

My elderly parents called these cheats to fix a single uPVC door lock which had jammed. These scoundrels charged them nearly £1,500 to replace a lock! . Avoid these scammers at your peril!

Do NOT use this company.

I called them and was quoted £55 call out and £59 to change the locks. I agreed this but when the locksmith turned up he said it was £55 call out but £129 to change the lock and the office had given me the wrong information. As I had to get into the house and had already waited I had no choice but agree it, once he'd drilled out my lock he then told me the replacement lock would cost an additional £129 on top of what was already quoted, and this was before VAT.

As I had no lock at this point, I felt I had no choice but to agree, then I realised the locksmith smelled of alcohol which concerned me.

I called the office to say I had been given the wrong information and the very aggressive man on the phone shouted at me saying I had not been given the wrong advice. I had no lock on the door at this point so felt I had no choice but to go along with getting a new lock put on, the locksmith said he would do me a deal and knock some of the price of the new lock off, which was kind of him, taking the total cost to £312, however as I had been quoted £116 initially I was concerned, and called the office back after he had gone, also, it was not a very good job, there were only 2 keys instead of the 3 he had said the lock came with, and very messy.

I spoke to Sarah on the phone to complain she had misled me with the original quote, she was extremely rude and unprofessional, shouting at me and saying "What? did you expect us to give you a free lock?" when I asked her to stop shouting at me she continued saying "I am shouting at you as you are not listening". She would not give me customer service number (don't bother -they have no staff with the skills to do customer service anyway) and so I emailed in my complaint.

I received a response today in which the so called duty manager of customer care Nicolas I got my name wrong, said "we are sorry you feel bad" then went into a 4 page rant about what a terrible person I was to lie about the locksmith smelling of alcohol, saying the company had allegedly asked other customers if he had smelled of alcohol and they all said he didnt (which I am sure did not happen!) and that I was trying to ruin his career and family. Nicolas ended his email saying "You should be ashamed!!" I am delighted he put this in writing as I can pass it on to his manager (if he has one). The company seemed to deliberately take advantage of the fact that I was a woman alone locked out of my house and I am sure they do this all the time, clearly none of their staff operate professionally.

If you are locked out of your house and want to pay an extortionate amount (the locksmith told I was lucky I wasn't charged thousands!) for a shoddy job whilst being shouted at by no less than 2 customer service staff, and if you further want your complaint to be answered by a duty manager giving you an abusive rant and saying "shame on you!" for complaining, then use this company.

If, on the other hand, you want a professional and competent locksmith then avoid this company like the plague!!!

I fully anticipate further abusive response from the company in reply to this review - if you need any further proof as to why you should not use them!