Take action
You were overcharged. Here is the ladder.
Eight steps, in the order that works, from stopping the money to reporting the advert. Most people do step three and give up. Steps four and five are the ones with teeth, and almost nobody uses them.
Do this first if you paid by card. Some rogue traders set up a Continuous Payment Authority so they can take further money later. Ring your bank, use those exact words, and cancel it. Your bank must action a cancellation request. Do not wait to see whether anything is taken.
- 1
Stop the money moving
If you have not paid yet, do not pay cash and do not sign a blank or vague job sheet. Offer card payment.
Ring your bank now if a recurring payment was set up
Some rogue traders set up a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA) on your card, which lets them take further payments later. You can cancel a CPA, and your bank must action that request. Say the words "continuous payment authority" — they are the words that get the right answer.
Ask about chargeback or Section 75
Debit card payments can often be reversed by chargeback. Credit card payments over £100 may be covered by Section 75, which makes the card provider jointly liable. Both routes have time limits, so ring early rather than after you have finished arguing with the trader.
- 2
Gather the evidence while it is fresh
You are building a file. Ten minutes now is worth more than ten hours later.
Keep every physical thing
The invoice, the old lock, the new lock and its packaging. Parts are evidence of what was actually fitted versus what you were charged for.
Photograph everything
The work, the door, the invoice, the vehicle if you saw it. Timestamped photos are hard to argue with.
Save the paper trail
Texts, emails, the advert or web page you called from, your call log showing the time and number. Screenshot the advert — those pages get changed.
Write down what was said
What you were quoted on the phone, what you were told on the doorstep, and by whom. Do it today while you remember the wording.
- 3
Put your complaint to the trader in writing
Formally and in writing, even if you expect nothing. Every organisation below will ask whether you tried.
Email, not a phone call
State the quoted price, the price charged, and what you want — a refund of the difference. Give a deadline of 14 days.
Name the legal position
Under UK consumer law a service must be performed with reasonable care and skill, and where no price was agreed in advance, only a reasonable price is payable. An invoice is a claim, not a verdict.
- 4
Report to Trading Standards
This is the enforcement route. Reports build the case that eventually stops a repeat operator, even when your own money is not recovered.
Find your local Trading Standards office →
Trading Standards has local offices with a national directory of consumer help.
Go through Citizens Advice too →
Citizens Advice give free consumer advice and pass reports through to Trading Standards. This is the normal front door.
- 5
Report the advert to the ASA
The route almost nobody uses, and one of the most effective. If the advert said "from £39" and you were charged several hundred, that is a misleading advert, and it is a separate offence from the overcharging itself.
Report a misleading or scam online advert →
The Advertising Standards Authority handles misleading advertising, including online ads. Attach your screenshot of the advert.
- 6
If they claimed a trade body membership, check and report it
A great many rogue traders display badges they are not entitled to.
Verify on the association’s own site →
Search the Master Locksmiths Association directory for the company name. A logo on their website proves nothing.
The MLA has no power over non-members — there is no government regulation of locksmiths — but they record complaints, and a false claim of membership is something they take seriously.
- 7
Leave an honest, factual review
Not a rant. A dated, specific account of what you were quoted and what you were charged is the single most useful thing for the next person searching at 2am.
Stick to verifiable facts
Quoted figure, charged figure, date, what was done. Facts are far harder to get removed than opinions, and far more useful to read.
- 8
Write to your MP about the regulation gap
The underlying reason this keeps happening is that locksmithing is not a licensed trade in the UK. Anyone may advertise as one, lawfully. That is a political choice, and it can be changed.
One paragraph describing what happened to you carries more weight than any campaign leaflet.
Why bother if you will not get the money back? Often you will not, and it is worth being honest about that. But Trading Standards act on patterns, not single reports, and the ASA acts on adverts. The report you file tonight is what makes the case that stops the same operator charging somebody else next month. It takes twenty minutes.
Related: how the scam works, step by step ·what it should have cost ·check the figure against the range ·checking a locksmith is genuine
This page is general information for the UK, not legal advice, and it cannot see your invoice. For anything substantial, take free advice fromCitizens Advice. We take no fees from anyone and are not affiliated with any organisation named here. Checked 27 August 2026.