Van’s Lock & Key Service

This locksmith has helped me twice. Once I had an old skeleton key lock that had a broken piece inside. I took it in and they repaired it. They made a new leaf spring making the lock fully functional. Another time I had locked myself out of my house and they came within 20 minutes got me inside in 5 and only charged me $ 75.

I’ll definitely use Van’s again. They managed to make a copy of my ancient, worn out car key which took nearly an hour! They were courteous, professional and did a great job. They also charge about half what the dealer charges to program new keyless entry fobs.
I was also considering purchasing some other lock items for my home and they actually advised against it because they felt I didn’t honestly need the items I was considering. I very much appreciate their honesty. It may have cost them a sale in the short run but in they’ve gained my loyalty in the long run.

Worst customer service ever. My lock service was done by a younger guy, who seemed to be really nice. He changed out our lock at a pretty reasonable price. After 6 months, the lock wouldn’t open or lock, so we called them to see if we can get someone out to fix it. They denied that fact that they installed this lock (even with our receipt), and that they weren’t responsible for any of the damages. They even rejected coming out to fix the lock (we were going to pay for what needed to be fixed). We had to call a different locksmith to come out and fix the lock and it cost me $ 300 (almost double the installation). The new locksmith told us that when the installation was done, the locksmith had not lined up the locks correctly and that the locks breaking down was inevitable.
I called back to let them know that this had happened, and the guy that answered the phone denied any kind of responsibility and instead, yelled and hung up on me. He kept repeating «I have three customers on the other line. I don’t have time for this».
They MAY be nice when giving you the installation or selling you their products, but I have never faced this bad of service EVER for wanting some kind of help after their foul work/​installation.

So this was a happy ending to an unpleasant surprise.
Here’s what happened:
My daughter lost one of two keys we received when we bought the Jeep. I thought, ‘no big deal’, assuming I could up to the local hardware store and have a copy made.
Not so fast, Buckwheat!
It turns out the Jeep has a special key with a microchip in it, requiring a special computer to enter a secret code and synchronize the key with the car. A little research on-​line revealed you can program a third key yourself, using the car’s computer — BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE TWO ORIGINAL KEYS! If you have lost one, your are about to enter a lost key nightmare.
Why didn’t the dealer tell us when we bought the car to get a third key made, just in case we lose one?
My guess is, if they don’t tell you how expensive replacement keys are, you won’t really think about it until you need one. And at that point, most people figure they have no choice but to go to the dealer to get a new one made.
You see, a Jeep dealer is more than happy to have you bring the Jeep in, cut and program a new key for you, but this will cost you a minimum of $ 200! Maybe as much as $ 300, depending on the dealer!
HOLY PRICE GAUGING, BATMAN!
I’m pretty sure the key provided by a dealer is made out of ordinary plastic and metal, not silver or gold. Not even silver or gold plated. So why $ 200 — $ 300 to make a replacement key for the one you lost? Dealer profit is the only answer.
So I called several locksmiths, but they could not help me. Two of them referred my to Van’s Locksmith Service in Aurora. After discussing my situation on the phone with them, I brought in my special micro-​chip key blanks ordered on-​line, and they cut and programmed them for me. The new keys work GREAT!
And Van’s charged me $ 50 to cut and program two keys. A dealer would have charged me four to six times that.
Very pleased with Van’s service and the end result.

We lost the keys to our car (ignition and lock) and came here to have one made. They made us a key for $ 100 and instructions to program it to our car (took half and hour and it was SO easy)
So, the price was great.
One of the guys who worked there was really rude, but the lady and the other guy who helped us were nice. I just hate it when people have bad customer service, and the one guy was being rude to his coworkers in front of us and was kind of ignoring us. This might just be a personal pet peeve, but to me it warrants 3 stars instead of 4 stars.