The questions we get every day

Typically 15–30 minutes anywhere in Miami. Rush hour on Biscayne, a drawbridge, or a street at the far edge of the city can push it longer, and if it will, you are told that on the call rather than left watching the street.

The service call starts at $29. What the job on top of that costs depends on the lock: a residential lockout, a rekey and a transponder car key are three different pieces of work at three different prices, and one number on a web page would not tell you the truth about any of them. Tell us what has happened and you will have the full figure in a couple of minutes, before anyone sets off.

Fully insured, yes — cover is in place on every job before a tool touches your door. We are not currently licensed in Florida, and we would rather tell you that here than let you find out afterwards. If a licence is a condition for your building or your insurer, say so when you call and we will tell you straight whether we are the right people.

Almost never. The great majority of lockouts are opened with picks and tension tools, which leave the lock working and the door untouched. Some locks genuinely cannot be opened that way — certain high-security cylinders, or a lock already broken inside. When that is the case you are told before anything is drilled, what it will cost to replace, and the choice is yours.

We cover Miami, neighbourhood to neighbourhood — Downtown, Brickell, Wynwood, Little Havana, Coconut Grove and the rest of the list further down this page. If your street is not obviously on it, call 929-678-6646 and you will get a yes or a no, not a maybe.

No. Nothing is due before the work, nothing is held against a card, and there is no deposit to book a visit. You pay once the job is finished and you can see it is finished. If we turn up and cannot help you, there is nothing to pay at all.

Card and cash, settled when the job is done. If you need a receipt for a landlord, an employer or an insurance claim, ask the locksmith on site and you will get one.

Yes. The line is answered day, night, weekends and holidays, because that is when people get shut out of their own homes. You will be speaking to a locksmith in Miami, not an overnight call centre taking a message for the morning.