"That's not what you said on the phone"
The engineer finishes a lockout, the door is open, and the customer looks at the card machine. They are sure they were told one figure on the phone. What they have forgotten, or were never told clearly, is that the figure was the call-out charge and the new cylinder is on top. Now the engineer is standing on a doorstep at 11pm arguing about money with someone who has had a bad night.
Sometimes the customer is right. The person who answered the phone quoted from memory, did not ask whether it was a uPVC door or a wooden one with a mortice lock, and gave a number that would only have been true for the easiest version of the job. The engineer then has to choose between charging properly and losing a review, or discounting and losing margin.
Either way, there is nothing written down. Your word against theirs, and they are the one who can leave a one-star review with a photo of the invoice.
Quotes are spoken, bills are itemised
Most locksmith firms price a job as call-out plus labour plus parts, sometimes with an out-of-hours uplift. That structure makes sense to the trade. It makes very little sense to someone who is locked out and hears a single number. The gap is built into how the quote is given.
- Whoever answers quotes from memory, and each person rounds differently.
- The questions that change the price (door type, lock type, whether the key is snapped in the lock) are not asked every time.
- Out-of-hours uplifts and weekend rates are mentioned by some staff and not others.
- The quote is never sent to the customer, so there is nothing for either side to refer to later.
- The engineer arriving on site does not know what was said, so cannot manage expectations at the door.
Where the arguments leave you
The obvious cost is the discount given to end an argument. The less obvious ones are bigger: reviews that mention being overcharged, card chargebacks when a customer disputes the payment with their bank, and complaints that eat the office's morning. Locksmiths are already a trade that customers approach with suspicion because of the minority who overcharge. Every dispute feeds that suspicion, even when your pricing was fair.
Engineers feel it too. Nobody enjoys finishing a job and then having to defend a bill they did not quote.
A quote that is asked, priced and sent the same way every time
We build a short quote tool that the person answering the phone uses while the customer is still on the line. It works on a phone or a laptop, so the on-call engineer can use it at night as easily as the office uses it by day.
- A few questions in a fixed order: what has happened, door type, lock type if known, whether anything is broken or snapped, and the address.
- Pricing comes from your own price list, including call-out, labour bands and typical parts, with your out-of-hours and weekend rules applied automatically.
- The tool gives a clear spoken script: the call-out, what is included, and the likely range if parts are needed, worded the way you want it said.
- The customer gets a text straight away with the breakdown and the reference number, so they have the same figures you do.
- The quote attaches to the job in your job management system or a simple job board, so the engineer sees it before they arrive.
- If the engineer finds a different job on site, they update the quote on their phone and the customer approves the new figure by text before work continues.
| Moment | Today | With the quote tool |
|---|---|---|
| Phone call | One number said from memory | Set questions, priced from your list |
| After the call | Nothing sent | Text with breakdown and reference |
| Engineer arrives | Does not know what was quoted | Sees the quote on the job |
| Job turns out different | Argument at the end | Revised quote approved by text first |
| Dispute later | Your word against theirs | Timestamped quote and approval on file |
The pricing decisions stay yours. We do not set your rates; we make sure the rates you have chosen are quoted the same way by everyone.
Doorstep conversations get shorter
Customers arrive at the end of the job already knowing the likely figure, because it is in their messages. When the job changes, the conversation about money happens before the work, not after it. The engineer can point to the text rather than to their memory.
The office gets a record of what was quoted against what was billed on every job. That shows which quotes routinely end up higher, which is often a sign that one question is not being asked or one part is priced wrong in the list.
Is your quoting causing the arguments?
- Different people in your business quote different figures for the same lockout.
- Customers regularly say they were told a lower price.
- Nothing is sent to the customer after the phone quote.
- Your engineers find out what was quoted from the customer, at the door.
- You have had a chargeback or a review about being overcharged in the past year.