When You Need a Locksmith Right Now
Most people call us on the worst day of their week. Locked out in the rain. Key snapped off in the front door at midnight. Home broken into and the back door won’t shut. Car keys locked in the back seat with the kids.
We’ve been doing this since 1996, and there’s very little we haven’t seen.
You’ll speak to a working locksmith when you call, not a call centre and not a booking agent. We’ll ask you a few questions, tell you what it’s likely to cost, and give you an arrival window we can actually meet.
We aim to be with you within 30 minutes, and often are. But we cover Greater Melbourne and we’re honest about traffic and distance — so rather than promise you a number that sounds good on a website, we’ll give you a real ETA once we know where you are and what’s happened. If we’re going to be longer than we said, you’ll hear from us before the window closes, not after.
Some of the Calls We’ve Taken
A newly married couple locked out of their Airbnb on their wedding night.
Passports shut inside a safe that wouldn’t open, hours before an international flight.
House keys lost on the other side of the world, with someone standing at the front door waiting to feed the cat.
A shop that couldn’t close because the front door wouldn’t lock, and staff waiting to go home.
Car keys stolen from a gym locker, with no way of getting home.
Someone locked inside a bathroom. This happens far more often than you’d think.
Someone locked out on a balcony. Also more common than you’d think.
Children and dogs shut inside houses and cars — the calls we drop everything for.
Welfare checks, with police or worried family at the door and someone inside who isn’t answering.
Thirty years in, there isn’t much left that surprises us. Whatever’s happened, you won’t be the first.
Service Tiles
Emergency Locksmith Services
Locked Out of Your Home
It happens to everyone eventually. We open locked doors across Melbourne at any hour — houses, units, shops and offices — without damaging the door or the lock, and get you back inside quickly. Ask about our free spare key: if we can cut one for your lock on the spot, it’s included.
Learn moreLocked Out of Your Car
Keys on the seat, doors locked, and nothing you can do about it. We open cars of every make and model without damage — including prestige and late-model vehicles with electronic systems, and vehicles that have deadlocked themselves so the buttons and handles no longer respond.
Learn moreRepairs After a Break-In
Being broken into is a horrible thing, and the priority is making the place secure again tonight. We repair damaged locks and doors, fit replacements where repair isn’t possible, and get your home or business closed up properly.
Learn moreBroken Key
Keys snap — usually in a worn lock, usually at the worst moment. We extract broken keys from any type of lock without damaging it, and cut you a new one on the spot.
Learn moreLost Car Keys
Don’t tow it and don’t wait days for a dealer. We make replacement keys and remotes for nearly every make and model, from scratch, at the roadside. Lost or stolen keys deleted from the vehicle, new ones programmed. Same day in most cases.
Learn moreLock Repairs
A lock that’s stopped working is an emergency when it’s the only thing between your house and the street — or when it’s a shop door that won’t lock and your staff are waiting to go home. We repair jammed, stiff, seized and failing locks, and where a repair isn’t sensible we’ll tell you that instead of charging you for one.
Learn moreWhat It Costs
We tell you the price before we start. No hourly rates that grow, no call-out fee bolted on at the end, no parking charge that appears on the invoice.
These are our minimum service call charges. They are starting figures, not the price of your job.
Standard hours |
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm | from $220 inc. GST. |
Saturday |
- | — from $330 inc. GST. |
Sunday and public holidays |
- | from $440 inc. GST. |
After-hours weeknight |
$300 | $330 |
Minimum charges current as at August 2026.
How we price a job properly
The service call covers our attendance and the first part of the work. What your job actually costs depends on what it involves, and we can’t know that from a two-minute phone conversation.
So this is how we prefer to work, and it’s how we’d encourage you to work with us:
Call us and describe the problem. We’ll give you a verbal estimate on the spot, based on what you tell us.
Then send us a text with photos. The lock, the door, the key, the vehicle — whatever’s relevant. It takes you thirty seconds.
We reply with a written quote on the same thread. A real figure, in writing, that you can read before you commit to anything.
We do it this way because a quote from a photograph is a quote we can stand behind. A price guessed over the phone from a description is how people end up arguing on a doorstep at midnight, and we’ve got no interest in that.
If something on-site turns out to be different from what we were shown, we stop and tell you before we continue. You decide whether to go ahead.
On after-hours callouts
We take calls around the clock, and we do genuinely turn out at three in the morning.
We’re also a small team of working locksmiths rather than a switchboard. Once in a while a call rings out — because whoever’s on is already under a car with both hands full, stuck in a lift, in a basement car park with no signal, in the bathroom, or halfway through dinner with his kids.
If that happens, send us a text or try again shortly. We do come back to you.
After-hours rates exist for a reason, and if your situation can safely wait until business hours, you’ll pay less by waiting.
If you’re locked out, if your property isn’t secure, or if you can’t get to work in the morning — call us now, whatever the time. If a spare key gets you through the night and the job can wait until Monday, we’d rather tell you that than charge you a weekend rate for something that didn’t need one.
Payment
Cash, EFT, Visa, Mastercard and Amex on-site, or an online invoice link you can pay by card from your phone.
Our Guarantees — And What They Actually Mean
No Fix No Fee
If we can’t complete the job, you don’t pay. No charge for our labour and no charge for travel — including where we discover partway through that the job can’t be done. You pay for work that gets done, not for an attempt.
No Damage Guarantee
We don’t cause accidental damage. Not to your door, not to your frame, not to your paintwork, not to your car. That’s the guarantee and we stand behind it without qualification.
It’s worth explaining what “no damage” actually means, because the phrase gets thrown around loosely in this trade.
The overwhelming majority of our work is non-destructive — the lock opens and is left exactly as we found it. Occasionally that isn’t possible, and the way in is a destructive bypass: precision drilling of one small, replaceable component inside the lock.
That is not the same as wrecking your lock, and it is nothing like wrecking your door. The door isn’t touched. The lock hardware stays where it is. One part comes out and a new one goes in.
When that’s the right call, we tell you before we start, we explain exactly what’s involved, and we don’t proceed until you’ve said go ahead.
So: nothing damaged by accident, nothing done without your say-so, and no surprises.
The Price We Agree Is the Price You Pay
You get an accurate quote before we start work. If something on-site changes what the job involves, we stop and tell you — you decide whether to continue. You’ll never be handed an invoice with numbers on it you haven’t already agreed to.
Our Work Is Guaranteed
Twelve months on our workmanship. Locks and hardware carry the manufacturer’s warranty — at minimum twelve months under Australian Consumer Law, and most quality locks we fit carry five, ten or twenty-five year manufacturer warranties.
In practice, claims are rare. That comes down to fitting good products properly, and thirty years of knowing which ones last.
That said, we stand behind what we do. If there’s a problem with our workmanship or with a part we’ve supplied, we want to hear about it — even if it’s outside the warranty period. We’d rather know and sort it out than have you tell someone else instead.
The Free Spare Key
Most of our locksmiths carry a key machine and a range of blanks in the van.
So when we open your door, if we can cut a spare key for your lock there and then, we will — and the first one is included in the price of the lockout you’ve already booked. No extra charge, no upsell.
It means you walk away from a lockout with a spare in your pocket, which is the single best way to avoid needing us again. Additional keys beyond the first are $11 inc. GST each.
We can’t do it every time. Some keys are restricted and can only be cut with authority from the system holder. Some are patented and have to come from the manufacturer. And some are oddball or imported blanks that simply aren’t on the van. If yours is one of those, we’ll tell you and explain your options.
Beware of Locksmith Scams
If you’re searching in a hurry, you’ll see ads offering a locksmith for $19, $29 or $45.
Those aren’t prices. They’re bait.
The way it works: an operator quotes an impossibly low figure to win the call, turns up, declares the lock “high security”, drills it out, and hands you a bill for a thousand dollars or more. You’re left with a wrecked lock, an invoice bearing no relationship to what you agreed, and a stranger who now knows where you live, has your card details — and quite possibly walked away with a copy of your key.
Here’s the reality check. When The Boss was a lowly first-year apprentice in a South Yarra locksmith shop in 1996, a service call cost $55. That was before GST existed.
There is no version of the world where a real locksmith attends your house in 2026 for less than that and does the job properly.
Read our full scam warning — what the ads look like, how the switch works, and the questions to ask before anyone comes to your door.
Why People Call Us
1
We’re a family business, not a franchise.
The Boss has owned and run 24H Melbourne Locksmith since 1996. When you call, you speak to a locksmith. Nobody sells your job on to whoever picks it up first.
2
We turn up when we said we would.
If we’re running late you’ll hear from us before the window closes, not after it.
3
We carry stock.
Locks, cylinders, blanks and hardware are on the van. We don’t open your door, assess it, and come back tomorrow with parts.
4
We repair before we replace.
If a lock can be fixed, we’ll fix it. Replacing something serviceable to make an extra hundred dollars isn’t how we’ve stayed in business for thirty years.
5
We’re across the whole city.
Greater Melbourne, all hours. Not one van covering everything from a shed in the outer east.
6
Our technicians are qualified and vetted.
Every one holds a current National Police Check. You’re letting someone into your home at 2am — you should know who.
Need a Locksmith Now?
Call 0435 247 999 — any hour, any day, anywhere in Greater Melbourne.
You’ll speak to a locksmith, get a real price, and get a real arrival time.
Areas We Cover
We cover Greater Melbourne, 24 hours a day. Standard rates apply within a core area bounded by the M80 Ring Road, EastLink, Melbourne Airport, and the surrounding middle-ring suburbs. Beyond that, additional travel charges apply — we’ll tell you any surcharge when you call, before we dispatch.
All enquiries are welcome, including outer-metro and fringe locations.
One thing we’ll be straight about: we don’t accept every job. If you’re a long way outside our area, or we simply can’t get to you in a sensible time, we’ll say so on the phone rather than string you along — and we’ll point you toward someone who can help if we know of anyone nearby.
We cover as much of Melbourne as we can, as often as we can. We try very hard. But we can’t cover all of it, all of the time, and you’re better off hearing that in the first two minutes than an hour later.
Emergency Locksmith — Frequently Asked Questions
Getting Someone Out to You
Yes. We take calls around the clock and we do turn out at three in the morning. You’ll be speaking to a locksmith, not an answering service taking a message for the morning. We’re a small team of working technicians rather than a switchboard, so very occasionally a call rings out because whoever’s on shift already has both hands inside a lock. Leave a message or try again shortly and we’ll come back to you.
We aim for 30 minutes and often manage it. But we cover Greater Melbourne, so the honest answer depends on where you are, what time it is and what the traffic’s doing. Call us, tell us your location, and we’ll give you a real arrival window rather than a number that sounds good. If we’re going to miss it, we’ll ring you before the window closes.
We’ll call or text when we’re on the way and again if anything changes. You won’t be sitting on a front step wondering.
Honestly? That’s your call, not ours.
If it matters enough to you to pay after-hours rates to have it sorted tonight, then it’s an emergency and we’ll treat it as one. We’re not going to sit in judgement over whether your problem is serious enough. You know your situation better than we do.
Two things to be clear about, though.
We decide the order we attend in. A child or a dog shut in a car goes ahead of a jammed letterbox lock, every time, and that isn’t negotiable. If something genuinely urgent lands while you’re waiting, we’ll tell you and give you an honest revised time.
And you decide whether to use us. If the price for tonight doesn’t suit you, wait until business hours or call someone else. No hard feelings either way.
If you’re locked out, if your home or business isn’t secure, or if you can’t get to work in the morning, call now. If a spare key gets you through the night and the job can safely wait, waiting until Monday will cost you less — and we’ll tell you that rather than take the after-hours money.
One request, and we’d rather say it plainly than be quietly annoyed about it. Here’s the minimum scale, so there’s no confusion about what “after hours” adds:
- Business hours (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm): from $220
- After hours, weeknight: from $330
- Saturday: from $330
- After hours, Saturday: from $440
- Sunday / public holiday: from $440
- After hours, Sunday / public holiday: from $550
If you’re not willing to pay at least the figure for the time you’re calling, please don’t ring at 4am to ask the price. Every one of those calls wakes a locksmith who has to be up working in a few hours. The numbers are here, in public, so you can decide before you dial.
Yes. Locks fail on Christmas Day the same as any other day.
No, and we’d rather say so. If you’re well outside our area or we can’t reach you in a sensible time, we’ll tell you on the phone and point you toward someone else if we know of anyone. We cover as much of Melbourne as we can, as often as we can — but not all of it, all of the time.
Cost
Our minimum service call, current as at August 2026:
- Business hours (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm): from $220 inc. GST
- After hours, weeknight: from $330 inc. GST
- Saturday: from $330 inc. GST
- After hours, Saturday: from $440 inc. GST
- Sunday / public holiday: from $440 inc. GST
- After hours, Sunday / public holiday: from $550 inc. GST
Read those as starting figures, not as the price of your job. They cover our attendance and the first part of the work. What the whole job costs depends on what it involves, which is why every job gets quoted properly once we’ve seen the details.
Yes, in writing, before the job is booked.
Here’s the honest limitation: what we can give you on the phone is an estimate. A locksmith who quotes you a firm price from a verbal description has either guessed or is about to change it on your doorstep.
So we ask you to text us a few photos — the lock, the door, the key, the vehicle, whatever’s relevant. From those we send back a written quote on the same message thread. You read it, you confirm it, and only then is the job booked.
That written figure is what you pay. If what we find on-site is genuinely different from what we were shown, we stop and tell you before continuing rather than adjusting the invoice afterwards.
No. The figure we agree includes our attendance and our time. We don’t add parking, fuel levies, or an hourly rate that keeps running while we work.
No Fix No Fee. Not every emergency job is an opening — it might be a repair, a key, a rekey or a make-safe — and whatever it is, if we can’t complete it there’s no charge for our labour or our travel. That applies even where we discover partway through that it can’t be done.
Cash, EFT, Visa, Mastercard or Amex on-site, or we’ll send an online invoice link you can pay by card from your phone.
Because they aren’t real. $19, $29 and $45 are bait figures used to win the call — the actual bill arrives after your lock has been drilled out, and it won’t look anything like the ad. When The Boss was an apprentice in South Yarra in 1996, a service call was $55, and that was before GST. Nobody is attending your house in 2026 for less than that and doing the job properly.
How We Work
No. The overwhelming majority of our work is non-destructive — the lock opens and is left exactly as we found it. Occasionally the only way in is a destructive bypass, which means precision drilling one small, replaceable component inside the lock. Your door isn’t touched and the lock hardware stays where it is.
When that’s the situation we tell you before we start. Usually that conversation is about what happens with your keys afterwards rather than about money, because you’ve already been quoted over the phone and the price generally doesn’t change.
What we guarantee absolutely is that we won’t cause accidental damage to your property.
If we can, yes, and the first one is included in the price. Most of our locksmiths carry key machines and blanks in the van. Some keys are restricted or patented and can’t be cut on-site — we’ll tell you if yours is one of those.
A qualified locksmith holding a current National Police Check. We’ll give you the technician’s name when we confirm the job, so you know who to expect.
Yes, and it isn’t a formality. No locksmith can verify who owns a property, so what we require instead is photo identification from the person on-site instructing us. We photograph it on the job and it’s stored in ServiceM8, our job management system — not on the technician’s phone. It sits against the job record for easy retrieval if it’s ever needed, though in practice it rarely is.
It’s what stops a locksmith opening someone’s front door for a person with no right to be there. It also means that if a dispute about the job ever arises, responsibility sits with the person who asked for the work — which is exactly where it belongs.
That’s the usual situation on a lockout and it’s not a problem. Tell us when you call. At the door we’ll accept whatever you can reasonably give us — a photo of your licence on your phone, a neighbour who can vouch for you, something that connects you to the address. Once we’re inside, we do need to sight photo ID and photograph it before we leave. That part isn’t optional.
Yes. Lockouts, lost keys, broken keys, ignition problems and key programming across cars, motorbikes, trucks and plant equipment. Roadside, in most cases.
Twelve months on our workmanship, plus the manufacturer’s warranty on any lock or hardware we fit — a minimum of twelve months under Australian Consumer Law, and most quality locks carry five, ten or twenty-five years. Claims are rare, because we fit good products properly. And if something does go wrong with our work or a part we’ve supplied, we want to hear about it even if it’s out of warranty.
Call 0435 247 999 and you’ll speak directly to a locksmith — not a receptionist, not a dispatcher. Tell us what’s happened and we’ll give you an estimate on the spot.
If you want to go ahead, send us a text with your name and address. Photos of the lock or door help if you can manage them, and for a vehicle we’ll need the make, model and numberplate. We reply on the same thread with a written quote, you confirm, and we send back a booking confirmation showing the technician’s name, your arrival window and the agreed price.
It takes a couple of minutes, and it means everything’s in writing before anyone turns up at your door.