Locked Out? Call and We Will Give You a Real Arrival Time
Hours: Every day, 8:30 AM to 8:45 PM, no after-hours calls. Price quoted on the phone, confirmed at the door, before any tool comes out.
House and apartment lockouts
Non-destructive entry first: picking, bypass, or a decoding tool, so your lock still works when we leave. Drilling is the last resort and you hear about it before it happens. Bring ID or something that ties you to the address, such as a lease, a bill, or a neighbor who will vouch, because we will not open a door for someone who cannot show they belong behind it. Apartment renters: your manager may have a key and may be faster than we are at 2 p.m. on a weekday, and after 8:45 PM the manager is the call to make.
Car lockouts
Most makes and years, keys locked inside or lost. Have ready: the plate number, the make and model, your ID, and where exactly the car is. "The lot behind the restaurants on Mission" is a big lot. Downtown parking structures, the Harbor lots, and beach parking along The Strand are where we do most of these. If the key is lost rather than locked in, tell us the year and model on the phone and we will say whether we can cut a replacement or you need the dealer.
Shop and office lockouts
Storefronts along Coast Highway and Mission Avenue, offices near the Civic Center, and the Harbor Village shops. Aluminum storefront doors have their own hardware and we carry it. If an employee left with the only key, plan on a rekey on the same trip so it does not happen twice.
What we charge to open a door
The trip charge is part of the lockout fee, not on top of it. There is no after-hours rate because we do not run after hours; the last calls of the day go out before 8:45 PM. Damaged or high-security locks can run higher and you hear the number before we start. Every lockout price, published.
Lost the keys, not just locked out?
Getting in is half the job. If the keys are gone rather than on the kitchen counter, whoever finds them has your address on the tag or on the mail in the bag they were in. A rekey the same visit makes the lost set useless and costs less than lying awake. How a rekey works and what it covers.
Lock damaged?
A lock that failed, a key that snapped in the cylinder, a door forced by someone else: we extract, repair, or replace on the spot with hardware from the van, and reinforce the strike while we are there. Repair and replacement, including after a break-in.
How to spot a lockout scam
Oceanside gets the same lead-generation locksmith ads every city does: a "$19 service call" that becomes $300 at the door, a call center that dispatches an unmarked car, a tech who drills first and explains later. A few checks:
- Ask for the price before work. A real locksmith gives a number on the phone and confirms it at the door.
- Ask for the license. California locksmith companies carry a BSIS LCO number. We give ours on the phone, and you can check it on the state's license search.
- Look for a marked vehicle and a tech who can say the company name. Ours, and the person who answers the phone.
- Be suspicious of "we have to drill it" on an ordinary residential lock. Most open without damage.
Drive times inside the city are honest, not heroic: Downtown to Ocean Hills or out to Morro Hills is a 20-to-30-minute run in normal traffic, and we tell you the real estimate from wherever the van is. Vacation-rental guests locked out near the Pier in the evening: try the host's lockbox first, then call us. Backup entry for hosts, so this call never happens.