Ebay car keys

[Forest Cobbler]

I suspect that this has been covered before, and no doubt there are strong feelings out there about the subject, but here goes anyway.

 

If a customer brings in a blank car key that has been bought from ebay (other online sites are available), would you:-

 

a. Cut it for them?

b. Give them the money back if it doesn't work?

c. Offer any advice on programming, because they think it's going to start the car, and you are pretty sure that it won't?

 

 

Many thanks, Valerie (Hiding behind the door, to avoid the flack.)

[hakeemz]

perfectly valid questions, no need to hide

i make it absolutely clear to customer that i am happy to cut them and 99% sure they will work but wont provide gurantee , so if the dont work i'm afraid i wont be hels reponsible, if they buy my blank it will come with key part guaranteed to work..

as for programming, most of them have done their research (not necessarily with correct conclusions) and dont ask, but if asked i will help as much as i can regardless who it is where they bought it from or even if they are just asking...

[Lee]

a. yes

b. I don't guaaentee them & make it clear from their blank I won't replace them if they go wrong (Usually mentioning if I use my blanks then they are guaranteed, which usually brings the "you can do these" conversation)

c. No advice, knowledge is power & a valuable commodity which you can sell.

 

Lee

[grahamparker]

Exactly the same as Lee.

[hakeemz]

I also will attempt to code in keys even when I know they won't work and charge for that service.

[Lee]

amuses me, you wouldn't buy disks or pads off Ebay & then take them into Mercedes & ask them to fit them! this has always been a funny practice sporn of ill adviced members of the public. whos to blame? us as an industry?

[hibsjo(SCO)]

Ill always cut them and tell them they wont work the way they think it will.

I charge the same price for me using my own blanks, which constitutes a contract, ive cut something for it to work so it needs to at least turn in the lock.

If it doesnt then i will replace like for like.

if you accept to do a job you have to accept the concequences!

 

its like some guys dont accept liability if shoes burst while you are stretching them?

how does that work?

do the job and do it properly.

 

mistakes do happen.

 

carry on!

[rapidlocks]

i will not cut or program a key not supplied by ourselves unless its purchased to vin from a main dealer and supported by a main dealer reciept .

 

if i wasnt mobile id consider cutting only , but no one wants to pay for a mobile service just for cutting .

 

i turn these away daily , it makes me laugh the amount of times people call me a liar when i tell them a 2nd hand peugeot remote or 2nd hand renault card bought from ebay wont program into their car , they always no best , even when they call back and book in for a new one when it didnt work .

 

if you cut it you must guarantee the cutting element .

 

i broke 1 viper cutter on some tough chinese alloy key , certainly wouldnt want to risk these again .

[hibsjo(SCO)]

I must admit had someone in on sat with rover 75 blade it was as hard as nails eventually cut it on bd laser but would not of been happy breaking a cuuter on it.

ffs

carry on!

[Forest Cobbler]

" if you cut it you must guarantee the cutting element ." - Rapidlocks (sorry, still haven't figured out how you get those quote boxes to work)

 

I think that this is where we are most unsure about where we stand legally. Obviously, we take as much care as if it was our own blank, but, can the customer say "You've ruined my key" if it doesn't turn in the lock even after a couple of attempts, and then demand that we replace it?

 

This hasn't happened yet, but I fear it may only be a matter of time and we'd like to be prepared.

 

Thanks, Valerie

[St.Am92]

I charge them £20 for laser and tibbe , £10 for double sided. I guarantee the cut,your taking the money for it so legally you would be responsible.Why turn easy money away?

[oggkey]

i cut them a pound cheaper than my blanks! and offer no guarantee on the blank, why should i replace somthing the customer has got off ebay cheap? people always want cheap!!(i also like things cheap!!) i always say the chances of it not working is slim, but somtimes problems happen!(keys move or jump out of machines, etc!) if they ask about programming i will help with the best of my knowledge!

[redcap]

Taken directly from our website:-

 

Ebay

 

Please Note: We DO NOT and WILL NOT cut any blades, or attempt to program any keys or remotes bought from Ebay, or any other third party supplier.

 

Please do not waste your time, or ours, by asking!

 

Why Not?

 

There are four main reasons:-

 

The majority of keys and remotes sold on Ebay are second hand. Even those remotes sold as new are often actually used electronic parts placed inside a new shell. Many of these keys and remotes use transponder chips which cannot be reused. Once programmed they become ‘locked’ to that vehicle and cannot be reprogrammed to another.

 

Others contain the wrong type of transponder chip. Attempting to programme the wrong chip to your vehicle can, potentially, cause irreparable damage to the immobilser unit and/or ECU, costing £0,000’s to replace.

 

Many of the genuinely ‘new’ keys are also cheap Chinese copies. These often use substandard metals in the blades that can damage our our cutting machinery. With replacement blades for our cutters costing as much as £95 each, we are not willing to take any risks with them.

 

Most of the descriptions on Ebay are wrong. We often see adverts for remotes claiming that they are suitable for several different models. We KNOW that each of these models uses a completely different remote with a different part number and that they are not interchangeable, so the chances are that you have bought the wrong part anyway, even if it looks the same as the one you already have!

 

But I bought my remote/key from the dealer.

 

Then please ask the dealer to program it! As stated; we do not programme ANY third party keys or remotes*. If you need a key and/or a remote, we will be pleased to provide you with a competitive quote. This includes supply, cutting and programming.

 

*There are one or two very rare exceptions to this rule. However, owners of relevant makes and models will be appropriately advised when telephoning and checks will then be made to confirm the provenance of the required parts.

 

 

.....despite the above; we still get calls on a daily basis to cut/program ebay crap. Some people (especially those who have bought second hand Renault keycards) get pretty shitty when informed that they might as well have flushed their money down the toilet.... but a lot come back at a later date to get the job done properly.

[jkamboj]

I cut between 10 and 15 keys every month (Honda Lexus side winder cut keys). Charge good price to compensate the machine's wear and tear and of course cutter use. These ebay keys mainly from China have very poor quality metal and these do damage the cutter. That's why the I have to keep the cutting cost adjusted to the damage it can cause to the cutter and machine.

 

I do guarantee my keys to work after I cut these. If there is an issue with the key (customers keys are so damaged that the machine's wise fail to hold these, then, I simply say sorry, I can not cut your key). The main problem with Honda (high security side winder cut) keys is that these are too worn out to hold these keys in the wise of the key cutting machine. And most of times, the two sides have difference in wear out, one is greater than the other, even if I cut this key, the cuts on both sides vary depending upon how much is the wear out on the side of the keys. I simply say no to these customers who have the too much worn out key. I do not have high security key cutting machine by code. So I simply tell them to go to the dealer to get the key cut. Dealers in Toronto GTA area do not cut customers keys.

 

The customers are getting wiser and wiser, we have to change our game plan accordingly, If I would not cut their key, some one would, so why to loose a customer and money.

 

Jas

 

Regarding damage to the machine, I would never use my EZ code machine to cut customer's key, I use regular machine to cut these keys, I have another machine which cut high security keys for Honda and Lexus and so on, which I use for cutting customer's keys. Not worth damaging expensive machine or cutter.

[hakeemz]

its not just dodgy hard metal that stops me guaranteeing the cut key, the fact that some of these chinese copies are different in size from the original blank they are supposed to be copies of, means that you cant guarantee the work..i have had blades that at a glance will look the same and even in machine vice would fit the same as genuine but first cut and you notice that width of copy blank was not correct (too wide or too narrow) leaving eiether too much on side or too little..now i can turn away £12 or simply say i will cut it but wont give gurantee for aforementioned reason.. and put the money in the till ..simples..

[Forest Cobbler]

Thanks, this has been really informative.

I can't say that we've noticed any damage to the cutters due to the hardness of the blanks, but thanks for the warning.

Valerie

[Phil Morland]

We don't cut ebay car blanks as we cannot offer a guarentee on the blank. Also, due to the hardness of some of the blanks we have noticed excessive cutter wear when we did do them. It's usually very easy to convert customers over to our own blanks once they realise they will then get a fully gaurenteed key.

 

Phil.

[grahamparker]

Why do you need to guarantee the blank? you did not supply it.

 

Keep your old cutters for doing them,if they snap then it's no big deal.

 

I have only snapped one and that was cutting a fiat punto blade on the triax so i put the price up to £15.00(used to be £10.00)

and have not snapped any since but since they are old cutters and as i am using the triax i can cut any

key safe in the knowledge i can guarentee it will work.

 

Do the maths i usually cut 2 a week on average so thats an extra income of £1500+ each year, personally i don't

have any problems cutting any key supplied by the customer, it's all part of what we do to make money.

 

Suppose it's the same as fitting heels supplied by the customer on stilletos, we do that as well but charge full price.

Sometimes it's just easier to do the job rather than worry about what can go wrong cause most of the time nothing does.

[completelocks]

I actually had a guy trying to convince me that the the ebay key he had bought for his 52 plate corsa was a master key and he could use it to programme others once I'd cut it.

 

Obviously i told him that wasn't possible on Vauxhalls. He was insistent he'd read it online and it was possible. I charged him a tenner to cut it, and never saw him again.

[Simes]

amuses me, you wouldn't buy disks or pads off Ebay & then take them into Mercedes & ask them to fit them! this has always been a funny practice sporn of ill adviced members of the public. whos to blame? us as an industry?

 

You say that Lee, but how many shoe repairs out there are happy to sell stick on sole kits? Same principle isn't it?

 

I will cut blades bought off ebay but warn customer of possibility that the key may not go in the lock (I have found some have a poor profile or are too thick) I have the advantage of being on a car park so the vehicle is normally there to check.

 

I always advise that the key will not start their vehicle. I usually find people coming in with remote keys unprogrammed.

Had one recently with a BMW key which he claimed was already working (he meant the buttons operated the door. I went out and let him try the key and observed his disappointment with a chuckle when it wouldn't start. Then took his money for cutting the key. I don't mind people making mistakes but it amuses me when they make out I don't know what I'm talking about, so get a great deal of satisfaction in being proved right!

[jkamboj]

The worst ebay key I have and I do come across is for Kia Forte from Taiwan.

 

I found out that the major difference why there is a problem in cutting the key is its width (cut side measurement). The Korean keys have the width of 8.35 mm while the USA-made keys are almost 8.7 mm wide. This difference in width makes a key cutters job from difficult to near impossible.

 

The second difference is in the quality of metal.

 

The third difference in these two type of keys is the depth of grooves in the key.

 

Still, I cut these keys and all the keys I have cut worked, only thing is that we have to use our knowledge and skills to make sure the cuts are of right depths.

 

Grahamparker have already did the calculation on the volume of business, why to let the customer go away.

 

Carry on.....

 

Jas

[actionman]

i will not cut or program a key not supplied by ourselves unless its purchased to vin from a main dealer and supported by a main dealer reciept .

 

if i wasnt mobile id consider cutting only , but no one wants to pay for a mobile service just for cutting .

 

i turn these away daily , it makes me laugh the amount of times people call me a liar when i tell them a 2nd hand peugeot remote or 2nd hand renault card bought from ebay wont program into their car , they always no best , even when they call back and book in for a new one when it didnt work .

 

if you cut it you must guarantee the cutting element .

 

i broke 1 viper cutter on some tough chinese alloy key , certainly wouldnt want to risk these again .

 

some peugeot remotes can be reprogrammed to a different car. Providing the transponder is a seperate carbon type that can be easily replaced. Like 206 remotes for example. It's a very simple process. I've had a few cheapskate customers buy used Peugeot remotes off ebay then asked me to change the transponder & blade

[Stanley Mishap]

In the past we have been quite happy to cut e bay blanks at a price for a customer ,

but last summer we cut a merc - telling the customer that `as its not our we could not guarantee it `

 

it came back - we tried again - he then threatened to smash the shop up !!

 

now we don`t touch ANY keys (especially e-bay) not supplied by us - and it seems this is the policy of Timpsons and all the local locksmiths around me.

 

They usually come to you because EVERY ONE has turned them down anyway ...easier life.

[worcesterlocksmith]

i dont cut them as most are to tuff for the blades i tell them timsons will cut it for you

[Ridgeback]

I snapped a BD Laser cutter last year on a customers HU100 horseshoe. Thought it was good as it wasn't the usual gold coloured hard as nails Chinese crap.

As soon as it started cutting you could hear it struggling to get through it. I couldn't get to the emergency button in time.

Fortunately, the cutter was due for changing.

Any enquiries now, I just point them to Timpsons, saves any aggravation.