Doctor Key Locksmith Services

I called for their services and let them know me and my sick child was locked out of my house and waiting in the car. The guy who answered the phone stated that he would send a driver within 30 minutes and to please call him if I go with someone else. I made the call at 6:40 since then I have called multiple times and he stated please give them 10 to 15 mins more each time I called. Completely unprofessional it is not 8:15 I am no longer getting an answer from the company. DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY I WARN YOU. If I could give no or negative starts I would but it doesn't allow me to.

We just had our new home finished and had different keys for EVERY door. I called 24 Hour Doctor Key and not only were they there within an hour (even though it wasn't urgent), but they were SO professional, quiet and fast!

They explained different options, made a reasonable recommendation, sent me an invoice through text + did the whole thing without waking up my sleeping toddler!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Good service. Tony got here in 25 mins.
Our key no longer work for the door and Tony replaced it in 20 mins.
The installation of the new keypad lock was great.
He also gave me a discount.
Good service.

Excellent, timely, helpful technician. Thanks much for front door lock fix...

On a Saturday night, our front door wouldn't latch and kept blowing open, and we worried about our cat getting out. The technician from 24 Hour Doctor Key arrived within 45 minutes of my call. He fixed the latch in 5 minutes. He noticed that our deadbolt was also not working and took another 5 minutes to fix that. Then we asked for three keys for our back doors. He provided those right away. As for price, I can't really comment because I didn't shop around. It seemed like a reasonable price for fast service on a Saturday night, for a business located in Palo Alto.

Highly recommend.

Very responsive, fast service, even on Thanksgiving day!

The owner and technician were prompt to respond and fixed our lock issue within a few hours even though it was Thanksgiving!

I got locked out of the house after a halloween party yesterday and Jay came right away to the rescue. It was almost midnight when I called, and Jay came down to help in less than 15 mins. I'm so grateful for people like him that gives services like this even in late hours.

Look no further! Don't waste your time calling around. These guys are AMAZING.

Tony and his team are Rockstars! It's not by accident they have a 5 star rating; Not only did they easily resolve my issue, Tony was so responsive, flexible and super nice.

Lost the only car key to 2014 Subaru. Called dealership and they wanted close to $800 to replace and reprogram key AND I had to get the car to them...ohh and they wanted FIVE days to complete do the work.

Tony scheduled a technician to come to me at a time that worked for my schedule. Right on time as scheduled Philip arrived, 27 minutes later - Philip was done! ... cost, a fraction of what the dealership "quoted". I could not be happier or more pleased with the service and entire experience. Philip was personable, professional, and efficient.

Thanks you!

Customers beware! Prices are not fixed (not listed on website and technician asked me to remind him how much he quoted me during the visit more than once). Services felt both predatory (taking advantage of customers in emergency situations) & deceptive (misleading customers about pricing & final products).

EXPERIENCE OVERVIEW
*Quick update: within 24 hours of posting this review, Mike from Doctor Key contacted me and offered me a $100 refund in exchange for changing my review to a glowing recommendation - PROCEED WITH CAUTION*

On Tues 11/13/18 @ 6-7 pm I called 24 Hour Doctor Key for roadside assistance as my car key broke off in my ignition. Upon arrival I showed the technician, Simon, my broken key fob which still had working functionality for remote entry into my car (lock, unlock, trunk access) but the metal key had become detached from the fob & I was unable to start my car.

Simon gave a cost estimate of: 1st key @ $250, 2nd key @ $175, $120 to program both keys = $545 total (Note: the quote for 2 keys was to have a spare to prevent emergency assistance in the future). I expressed reservations about the estimate b/c it seemed high. I knew I needed to move forward with 1 key but told him I wasn't sure about the 2nd without competitor estimates since it was after hours & I left a message with Honda. Simon assured me his price was not only competitive but better than what a dealer would offer me - stating they'd charge ~$500 for 1 key for a 2007 Honda Accord. With his assurance, I agreed to move forward with 2 keys.

Later Simon gave me 2 keys & immediately I noticed they were different from my original as they didn't include a fob to allow remote access to the car. Instead, both keys were "after market valet" style, manually unlocking and starting the car. When asked why it wasn't an identical replacement as expected, he said that could only be provided by Honda. I expressed disappointment in not knowing that upfront as it would have changed my decision to purchase a 2nd key but felt obligated to pay for services rendered.

On Wed, 11/14/18, I discovered my car battery was dead because the overhead light was left on by Simon. Feeling uneasy about the night before, I called Honda to get an estimate for a replacement key which they quoted $160-175. I immediately contacted the Locksmith and spoke to Mike to request a refund for the 2nd key in exchange for me returning it. It took multiple calls and texts before they responded, refusing my proposal. Instead, they offered to return to my home and provide a 3rd key that would include a fob, at a cheaper rate than the dealer. Outraged and surprised that suddenly they were able to offer an identical key product, I refused to give them anymore money or business. Later on due to the inconvenience of a "valet key", I worked with Honda to have a 3rd key made for $171.11.

The guy was attentive and unlocked the door for us in less than 5 minutes. He used a good squirt of WD-40 in each keyhole then used tools to unlock the door. There were a couple glitches:

* On the phone he gave his estimated time of arrival as 25 to 30 minutes. It was noisy on his end of the phone, another guy talking loudly in the background. It took closer to 45 to 50 minutes before he arrived. He apologized. (Although the address for this business shows as being located in Palo Alto, his phone number is at a Texas area code. I found that a little weird, but maybe he just moved recently or something.)

* At $275, the cost kinda felt like a kick in the gut, but we had to get back in the house so... He explained the price broke down as $25 for the drive out, plus $125 per lock (deadbolt then doorknob). Conveniently he took credit cards, swiped it on a device on his mobile phone.

He did look at the situation before starting any work and gave a clear assessment and estimate before beginning work, explained which door he'd try first and why, which seemed sensible. He didn't charge for trying the first door because he couldn't unlock it. The second door he did unlock he opened without damaging.

He asked us to give him a review on Yelp. I figured taking everything into account I'd give him 4 stars so I looked him up by the name on his receipt, which was "24 Hours Locksmith and Security Systems." To my surprise, that name matched a 1-star Yelp business with a different name from the one I'd found on my mobile phone: "24 Hour Doctor Key." That place had the misfortune of having the first review be negative. Hard to recover from that, I imagine. It appears he changed the name of his business on Yelp, but didn't change it on his receipts. I did feel a bit baited and switched and compelled to dock a half star.

In the end, this particular service call merited 3.5 stars. I'm rounding up to 4 here because I figure he's probably just trying to earn a living (giving the benefit of doubt on previous unlucky listing).

Update: I am bumping this review up to 5 stars because Tony drove back over and dropped off my credit card which I had inadvertently left with him without realizing. Oops! Also he explained that he does live in Palo Alto, newly moved from Texas. He strikes me as a decent guy.