I have written reports on lock damage for 16 years, and the most expensive invoices that land on my desk are almost always built from charges that should never have existed. So let me put it in black and white right away: a slammed door that was not locked is never drilled open. Anyone who drills it and then sells you a new lock is cheating you. Full stop. A fair daytime door opening costs between 80 and 150 euros, at night or on a weekend 200 to 250 euros at most. Anything above that has to be justified and named in advance, otherwise something is wrong.
As an expert witness I take apart invoices that end up in dispute. Insurance, lawyer, landlord quarrel. And I see the same tricks every time. Let me show you the line items that have no place on a clean invoice, concretely enough that you will spot them yourself next time.
The fantasy charges that belong on no honest invoice
A serious firm bills for what it did. Nothing more. These lines are pure invention.
- Drilling a slammed door. The latch, the angled bolt that clicks shut when you pull the door, can be pushed back with a card or a thin strip of metal. Three minutes. Drilling is only needed when the door was genuinely locked and the cylinder blocks. On a door that was only pulled shut, it is sabotage of your property, nothing else.
- A flat 60 or 80 euro callout fee on top. A fair firm in Frankfurt either does not charge for the drive or names a small amount in advance. Not a surprise lump sum that only appears on the bill.
- A safety check or materials nobody ordered. If nothing was replaced, there are no materials. A cylinder still sitting in your door costs you nothing.
- Weekend and night surcharges stacked on each other. There is one surcharge, not three. I have seen invoices with a night surcharge, a weekend surcharge and a holiday surcharge for one and the same job. That is brazen.
- A disposal fee for a cylinder. A removed cylinder weighs 80 grams. There are no disposal costs for it. Never.
- An express or rush surcharge. An emergency service is fast by definition. Charging extra for that is billing the same service twice.
Remember one rule of thumb. If a line item has a name you do not understand, ask. If the technician cannot explain it in one sentence, it is invented.
What an honest door opening in Frankfurt really costs
Here are the ranges I rate as fair in my reports. This is not wishful thinking, it is the market price of proper firms in the Frankfurt area as of 2026.
| Service | Fair price |
|---|---|
| Open a slammed door, daytime | 80 to 150 euros |
| Locked door, daytime, drilling needed | 150 to 250 euros |
| Door opening at night, weekend, holiday | 150 to 250 euros |
| Standard replacement cylinder, part only | 15 to 40 euros |
| Security cylinder with drill protection, part only | 60 to 150 euros |
| Callout | 0 to 30 euros, named in advance |
If the total reads 480 euros for a slammed door, something is off. That matches what we lay out openly in our pricing overview, and the ranges in our guide to locksmith prices in Germany. Anyone who works transparently has no problem giving you these figures in advance on the phone.
A word on the cylinder. If a replacement really is needed, do not let the cheapest 12 euro hardware store cylinder be sold to you as a security product. A sensible cylinder carries a test to DIN EN 1303 and, where security matters, drill and pull protection. Brands like ABUS, BKS, Winkhaus or EVVA deliver that. What you really need to watch on the DIN marking is in our guide to DIN standards and resistance classes.
The classic case from Gallus
Last month a pensioner from Gallus came to me with a 510 euro invoice for a slammed flat door at 7 pm. Drilled open, new standard cylinder, emergency surcharge, express callout, disposal. The door had not been locked, he confirmed that to me himself on the phone, he had only popped out to the bins. Three minutes of work that should have cost maybe 130 euros. We challenged the rest through the consumer advice centre, and part of it came back. The key point: he had kept the invoice and had not paid cash without a receipt. That is exactly what saved him.
And last week in Nordend a similar case, only the other way round. A young tenant called me because she was unsure whether 145 euros for a genuinely locked door opened at night was in order. It was. Completely fair, cleanly itemised, with an address and tax number on the receipt. I say this so no false impression forms. Most firms in Frankfurt work correctly. It is the few 0800 call brokers who ruin the picture.
Locked out and in a hurry?
Price quoted up front, vetted partner business, ~22 minutes on site.
How you can already hear on the phone that it will be expensive
The expensive job announces itself long before anyone stands at your door. Watch for these signals.
No price range on the phone
Someone who flatly refuses to give a range and only says we will see on site wants to pressure you later, when you are locked out in the stairwell and no longer in a position to haggle. An honest firm tells you on the phone whether to expect 100 or 200 euros.
Only an 0800 number, no Frankfurt address
These call centres often are not in Frankfurt at all. They pass your job to whoever pays the highest commission, and that person recovers it through your invoice. Ask for the address and the city. If someone dodges, hang up.
Pressure, cash, no receipt
Insist on a proper invoice with company name, address and itemised charges. That is your right. Anyone who wants cash only and issues no receipt has something to hide, and afterwards you have no basis to reclaim anything. How to expose these firms safely is set out in detail in our guide to spotting a locksmith rip-off.
What to do when the invoice is already in your hand
It is not over just because you signed. From my work as an expert witness, in this order:
- Do not pay the full sum in cash if you can avoid it. Say you will transfer the money. That buys you time to check the line items.
- Secure the invoice and photos. Photograph the door, the old cylinder if you have it, and the invoice. Note the time.
- Challenge inflated items in writing. A service that was never performed, such as drilling a slammed door, you do not have to pay for. That is profiteering and in part fraud.
- Bring in the consumer advice centre. They help free of charge with wording the objection.
- For rented flats, inform the landlord. Who ultimately pays for a lock change depends on why it was changed. More on that in our guide on who pays for the lock change.
My advice as an expert
On the phone, ask three things. The price range. The callout price. And whether they drill on a merely slammed door. If someone answers evasively, hang up and call the next one. You lose two minutes and, in the worst case, save 300 euros.
In a real emergency our emergency service is there around the clock, with the price up front and no invented charges. If a replacement is needed, see what a clean calculation really costs under lock replacement. An honest firm has nothing to hide. Not on the phone, not at the door, and certainly not on the invoice.
