Phone first and read this afterwards. A technician is dispatched while you are still on the line and usually reaches you in 20–40 minutes across Rivonia. If this is business premises, say so — an entrance that cannot be locked at closing time is handled differently from a house at midnight, and it changes what the technician brings.
What the dispatcher asks, and why each question matters
The short list of questions at the start of a call is not a script and it is not stalling. Each one changes which vehicle is sent and what is on board it, and answering them properly is the difference between one visit and two.
What kind of door, because a timber door on a mortice lock and an aluminium door on a multipoint mechanism want different tools. What the lock did before it stopped, because a key that snapped after weeks of stiffening points at a worn cylinder that will need replacing rather than simply opening. Whether you are in a complex or an office park, because somebody has to authorise a vehicle at the gate and that call takes time.
And whether anybody is shut inside — a child, an older person, an animal on a hot afternoon. Say that in the first sentence rather than waiting to be asked. It changes the priority of the call and sometimes changes the advice you are given while you wait. The same applies to a house lockout and to a vehicle.
Non-destructive entry, and when it stops being possible
Most doors open without damage, and that is the method attempted first on every callout. Manipulation of the existing mechanism costs you nothing beyond the callout and leaves the lock working afterwards, which is the whole point of it.
It stops being possible in three situations, and they are worth knowing because they change the price. A lock that is already broken internally cannot be manipulated, because the parts that would be manipulated no longer move. A high-security cylinder with anti-pick and anti-drill protection is designed specifically to resist this, which is exactly what you paid for when it was fitted. And a mechanism that somebody has already attacked with a screwdriver is frequently past the point of a clean opening.
Where drilling genuinely is the answer, it is explained before it happens, along with what it will cost to make good afterwards. A destroyed cylinder means a lock change on the same visit, and the replacement should be at least as good as what came out.
What the ten minutes before we arrive are worth
Almost all the avoidable cost in a lockout is incurred before anybody with the right tools has arrived. Not during the entry — before it.
Check every other door first, including the one you never use, and the door from the garage. It sounds obvious and it is skipped constantly, usually because of adrenaline. Then stop. Cards do not open modern cylinders but they do score them, screwdrivers mark frames, and a coat hanger through a window ends as glazing work rather than a lock job. A frame levered out of square is joinery, and joinery costs more than the callout would have.
Wait somewhere visible and lit — a neighbour, a car with the interior light on, a guardhouse if there is one. It is safer than standing beside your own door in the dark, and it is faster, because somebody visible at the address can be identified and let in immediately.
After-hours pricing, said plainly
Emergency work costs more than planned work. That is true of this trade everywhere and there is no version of it that is not, because somebody is being sent out at an hour when they would otherwise not be working.
What you should expect is a callout rate and a price band on the phone before a vehicle moves, and a firm figure on site before work starts. What you should not accept is a number that only appears once a technician is standing at your gate, or a request for payment before anybody arrives. Where the hardware itself needs improving, that sits under high security locks.
And if the situation can genuinely wait until morning, you will be told so. A lock that has stiffened, a gate that hesitates or a cylinder change after a purchase all cost less booked for a weekday slot, and saying that costs us the premium on the job. It is still the right advice.
Where a vehicle comes from, and where it does not
The vehicles are based in Rivonia and the ring runs across Sandton and the suburbs against it, in Johannesburg, Gauteng: Edenburg, Morningside, Morningside Manor, Sandown, Gallo Manor, Wendywood, Kelvin, Woodmead, Sunninghill, Paulshof, Petervale, Bryanston, River Club, Hurlingham, Atholl, Sandhurst, Strathavon and Benmore Gardens.
If you are outside that, you are told rather than sent a vehicle that arrives too late to be any use. It costs a job and it is the only honest answer in a trade where the whole product is how quickly somebody gets there.
Within the ring, the arrival window depends on where you are, what the hour is doing to the traffic, and whether there is a gate between the vehicle and your door. Every suburb is listed on the suburbs we cover from Rivonia page.
What to do if you cannot reach anybody
It is worth having a plan that does not depend on one number, because no single locksmith is available every minute of every day.
If the line is engaged, send a message rather than redialling repeatedly — a message with the address, the type of door and whether somebody is shut inside can be actioned the moment the line clears. If somebody is shut inside a vehicle or a room and the situation is deteriorating, phone emergency services rather than waiting, which is the right call even though it costs us the job.
And if you are outside the ring, phone anyway for an honest answer about whether we can reach you in time. Everywhere we do cover is listed on the Rivonia locksmith service area page.
What an emergency actually is
It is worth being precise, because the difference between an emergency and a booked job is a real amount of money.
A property that cannot be secured. Somebody shut inside — a child, an older person, an animal in a closed room or a car on a hot afternoon. A door on the only entrance that will not open. Keys missing with something on the ring that points at the address. A business that cannot lock up at close of trading.
Everything else is a booked job at a lower rate: a stiffening lock, a gate that hesitates, a slider that wants a hookbolt, an upgrade that has been on the list since autumn. You are told which of the two you have rather than sold the callout, and the booked version is covered under lock repair.
What it costs to wait until morning
Sometimes nothing, and sometimes a great deal, and the difference is worth understanding before you decide.
Waiting is free where the property is secure, nobody is shut out or in, and the fault is on a door that is not the only way in. A snapped key in a store room while the house is open is a morning job, and booking it costs meaningfully less.
Waiting is expensive where a door cannot be locked, because that is a night with the property open, or where a mechanism is seizing and being forced, because forcing it converts a service into a replacement. When you phone, you are told which of the two you have.