Fixed prices for door opening

The price depends on whether the door has slammed shut or is locked, and on whether it is daytime or night, a weekend or a public holiday. No minimum prices, no haggling on site. The amount on our website is the fixed price for a standard flat door.

Step 1 = opening only (travel included). Step 2 = optional cylinder fitting 49 €. Step 3 = daytime or night/weekend rate. Step 4 = material and complications – this is not the night rate.

A flat door with a euro profile cylinder that can be opened without damage. Multi-point locking, VdS-approved or high-security cylinders, drilling: a different fixed amount – given before we carry on.

Door slammed shut: 99 € Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm, at other times 149 €. Door locked: 129 € during the day, at other times 179 €. There are no other prices for a normal flat door. Which one applies depends only on whether the door has slammed shut or is locked, and on when we come.

The higher price applies Mon–Fri 6 pm–8 am, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in Baden-Württemberg. It is a separate fixed price, not a surcharge on the daytime price.

Travel within our service area and the opening itself. No VAT is charged (small business under § 19 UStG). You pay the amount we tell you on the phone.

A new cylinder is not included in the opening. Doors with multi-point locking, specially protected cylinders, drilling and jobs outside the service area are not on the price list either. For these we give you a fixed amount beforehand.

Be careful with adverts showing very low prices that only become more expensive on site. Be careful too if no clear price is given on the phone, or if you are pressured on site to pay cash immediately. A trustworthy locksmith tells you the price beforehand and writes an invoice.

Wednesday, 2 pm, flat door slammed shut, key inside: 99 €. Saturday, 10 pm, door locked, key lost, new standard cylinder on the same trip: 228 € plus material, typically 25–50 €. In both cases we tell you the amount on the phone.

The higher price applies on all statutory public holidays in the state. These are New Year’s Day, Epiphany on 6 January, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1 May, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, Corpus Christi, 3 October, All Saints’ Day on 1 November, and Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not statutory public holidays. If they fall on a day from Monday to Friday, the normal time-of-day rule applies.

Thursday at 5:30 pm, door locked, key left at work: 129 €. Easter Monday at 11 am, flat door slammed shut, key lying on the kitchen table: 149 €. Tuesday at 9 am, door slammed shut, key lost while out, new standard cylinder fitted at the same time: 148 € plus material, typically 25–50 €. In all three cases, the call-out within the service area is already included in the amount, and you know the total before we set off.

It is 5:45 pm, and you are standing outside your door. Does the daytime price apply now, or already the other one? Simply ask us directly on the phone. Before we set off, we tell you which amount applies, and that is what it stays. So there is no discussion about minutes at the door. The same applies in the morning shortly before 8 am, or in the night before a public holiday.

If the property management or a relative calls on your behalf, clarify beforehand whose name the invoice should be made out in. That saves queries and corrections later on. The invoice lists each item separately: the opening, the fitting and the material. Keep it safe, ideally with your other documents for the flat. Whether an insurance company or your landlord will cover anything is best asked directly with them.

Sometimes there is more to do than the door. The letterbox key was on the same bunch, or you would like an additional lock fitted at the same time. Mention this on your first call. The letterbox and the additional lock have no list price, because they are built in very different ways. You still hear the fixed amount for them beforehand, so that you know the total. That way the trip is worth it twice over, and you do not need to arrange a second appointment.

Many people think a locksmith has to fit a new cylinder every time a door is opened. That is not true. With a door that has slammed shut, the cylinder is not touched at all, and even after a locked door has been opened, it usually keeps working. Changing it is your decision. It is mainly worthwhile if the key has gone and you do not know who has it. If the key is simply inside, you generally do not need a new cylinder.