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Cardinal Lock & Key Real prices · Durham, NC

Durham, NC · licensed · lockouts 24/7

The locksmith who publishes real prices.

Every price we charge is printed on this website — lockouts, rekeys, smart locks, car keys, after-hours adders, all of it. The number you approve before we start is the number on your invoice. That's the whole pitch.

  • NC Locksmith Licensing Board licence #2417 (fictional)
  • Bonded & insured to $1M
  • 4.8★ across 214 unfiltered reviews
Locksmith in work overalls fitting a new deadbolt into a dark wooden front door with a cordless drill
House lockout $95–$140 — the real number
the price before the work

A firm number, in writing, before anything is picked, drilled, or installed. If the job changes, the number changes first — and you can say no at no charge.

after-hours, printed

One flat $40 evenings, one flat $85 overnight, Sundays and holidays. On the visit, not per lock — and never invented at the door.

card · invoice · itemized

Cards accepted on every job and an itemized invoice every time — parts, labor, trip fee, broken out. “Cash only, no receipt” is somebody else's business model.

why we publish everything

How the “$19 locksmith” actually works

Bait-and-switch dispatch networks are this trade's plague — regulators log thousands of complaints a year. Here's the play, step by step, so it never works on you. Not with us, not with anyone.

  1. step 01

    The bait

    An ad says “$19 service call.” Read it again: that's the price of someone showing up — not of opening, fixing, or replacing anything. The real menu doesn't exist.

  2. step 02

    The switch

    An unmarked car arrives. The tech looks at your completely ordinary lock and declares it “high-security” — it can't be picked, it has to be drilled. This is almost never true.

  3. step 03

    The drill

    Thirty seconds of drilling destroys a lock that a licensed locksmith would have picked open. Now you need their replacement lock, at their price, installed at their “special rate.”

  4. step 04

    The bill

    $300–$800, cash only, no itemized invoice, and the company name on the receipt doesn't match the ad. Tomorrow the phone number is dead. Regulators log thousands of these a year.

How to spot a real locksmith in 30 seconds

  • A real price range — with a firm ceiling — quoted before anyone is dispatched
  • A marked vehicle, a photo ID, and a licence number you can look up
  • Cards accepted and an itemized invoice offered without being asked
  • A local street address you could walk into tomorrow
  • Picks first; drills only with your permission, after quoting the replacement

our answer

Every price on this site is the price we charge. The number you approve before we start is the number on your invoice. Our licence number is on the van, the quote, and the invoice — and the whole price book is one click away.

services · prices included

Six things we do, with the numbers attached

what happens when you call

Three steps, no surprises

  1. step 01

    The range, on the phone

    You describe the job; we quote the range from this website — including the arrival window and the after-hours adder if one applies. The top of the range is a ceiling.

  2. step 02

    The firm price, at the door

    The tech confirms the exact number in writing before touching anything. Different job than described? New number first — and you can say no, free of charge.

  3. step 03

    The work, then the invoice

    Done, tested, cleaned up. Card or check, itemized invoice, 90-day workmanship warranty. The invoice matches the approved number — every time.

unfiltered · 4.8★ · 214 reviews

What the invoice-matchers say

All ten, four-stars included →

★★★★★ · House lockout, 11 pm

“Quoted $95–$140 plus the $85 overnight fee on the phone. Invoice said $220. Picked the lock in about six minutes, checked my ID against my mail before starting. Exactly what the website says happens.”
Tamika J. · Old West Durham · June 2026

★★★★★ · Rekey after closing on a house

“Five cylinders rekeyed to one key. The math on the invoice matched the price book on their site line for line — $125 for the visit and first two, $24 each after. Handed me the old pins in a little bag.”
Roberto M. · Trinity Park · May 2026

★★★★☆ · Smart lock install

“Great work, honest price, and they wiped the factory codes in front of me. Four stars only because the arrival window was 2–4 and they rang at 3:50. They did call at 3 to warn me, which I appreciated.”
Dana W. · Hope Valley · May 2026

where we work

Durham first, honestly quoted farther out

Lockouts inside Durham usually see us in 20–40 minutes. Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough get a longer window — and we quote it up front instead of promising fifteen minutes we don't have.

Arrival windows by zone →

locked out right now?

Skip the reading. Call.

Photo ID handy, phone charged, exact address ready. We'll quote the range and the real arrival window on the call — and the price won't grow on your doorstep.

no bait · no switch

One call. One honest number.

Tell us what's wrong and we'll quote the range from the price book on this site — with the after-hours adder, if there is one, said out loud before we roll.

Mon–Sat 8 am – 6 pm · lockout line answered 24/7

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